After a few minutes, the last centipede was also decapitated by Chen Yifei, leaving it completely lifeless.
"Huff..." Chen Yifei slowly stood up from the pool of blood, the only one standing amidst the deadly fog.
Chen Yifei scanned the surroundings, and the residents peeking from behind their windows paled in fear, immediately lying flat on the ground to avoid eye contact with this living demon. Chen Yifei had eliminated all the troubles on this street, making him the biggest trouble on it now.
Chen Yifei walked down the street, and faint sobbing sounds echoed from one of the ruined buildings.
Amidst the shattered remnants of the front door, a woman was hugging her child and kneeling in front of a mutilated body beyond recognition, tears streaming down her face.
Chen Yifei recognized this family. During previous Spring Festivals, he had brought Chen Muyu to their house to share candies and oranges.
Seeing this scene, Chen Yifei didn't feel much. Perhaps due to the influence of the divine path on his mind, his empathy was almost completely erased. Even though this family had once been close to him, he now felt like he was watching a movie or a performance, devoid of any emotional response.
"Did that monster knock on your door just now?" Chen Yifei asked.
The woman stammered for a moment before frantically nodding.
"Did you answer?"
"W-we answered..." The woman's body trembled uncontrollably as she looked at the corpse in front of her. "I tried to stop him from responding, but he insisted on asking who was knocking. Then the monster outside said something about looking for... a king?"
"And then?"
"Then we realized something was wrong and stopped talking, but it still burst in and..." The woman's voice choked up.
"Officer Chen Yifei, we were also knocked on, but we didn't answer..." Just then, Mr. Xu cautiously opened his door. "I heard disasters have their own domains and ways of killing. That monster... doesn't it kill based on knocks at the door?"
Chen Yifei looked at Mr. Xu curiously. Despite his timidity, the man was quick-witted.
"Judging from the current situation, it's highly possible," Chen Yifei nodded.
Chen Yifei had heard of the existence of "disaster domains" before, but so far, he hadn't fully deduced this particular disaster's domain ability. It was suspected to be able to control human bodies through shadows... and to kill through knocks at the door.
Without lingering, Chen Yifei continued walking forward.
A total of eight families on Cold Frost Street had been attacked by the disaster, with almost every household suffering losses. Some, like the one just mentioned, had only lost one person, while two others had been devoured entirely, leaving behind only shattered flesh on the ground.
This was even after Zhao Yi managed to escape and warn Chen Yifei... If they had been even slightly later, the casualties would have doubled.
"Disaster invasion on Hanyue Street! Five of them have appeared!"
"Four on Cold Wind Street!"
"And several here on Cold Snow Street... Damn, they're charging at us!"
Panicked voices of law enforcers echoed through the walkie-talkie, followed by a series of static noises.
"It's not just Cold Frost Street..." Chen Yifei's expression turned solemn.
"This is Xi Renjie. I've cleared Cold Wind Street and am on my way to Cold Snow Street now." The walkie-talkie crackled again, finally bringing good news. As a second-stripe law enforcer, Xi Renjie possessed considerable combat strength.
"How's it going on Chen Yifei's end?" Han Meng's voice chimed in.
Chen Yifei picked up the walkie-talkie and calmly replied,
"Cold Frost Street has been cleared."
"You've killed them all?" Xi Renjie's voice betrayed his surprise.
He had fought against these disasters before and knew their strength. For Chen Yifei, a newcomer who had just embarked on the path of the divine warrior, to clear an entire street in such a short time was truly astonishing.
Chen Yifei nonchalantly hummed in response.
"Oh, where have you been?" Chen Yifei seemed to remember something.
"I'm on my way to the steel factory."
...
Amidst the dense fog, a black blur flashed across the sky above the third district!
The wind howled, flapping the trench coat etched with four stripes. Han Meng's calm eyes fixed on the approaching factory district as he spoke slowly,
"This is a breeding disaster. Without eliminating the mother, the offspring will be endless... You clear the streets first, I'll handle the mother."
Han Meng put away the walkie-talkie and his figure streaked across the night sky like a black meteor, landing steadily in front of the factory.
The wind from his coat's hem blew up gravel and dust, creating a vacuum in the fog. Han Meng gazed at the dark, writhing factory before him, his eyes narrowing into a dangerous slit.
"This is troublesome."
Han Meng's arrival seemed to disturb the shadows within the fog. The jet-black factory churned violently, and upon closer inspection, countless slender centipedes crawled across its surface, surging towards Han Meng like a wave.
This factory area, unbeknownst to many, had been transformed into a nest of disasters, and now, a dangerous intruder had appeared in its midst.
"For it to breed such a terrifying number of offspring in just a day indicates that the mother is at least a fifth-tier creature..." Han Meng held a gun in one hand and reached into his pocket with the other, pulling out a cigarette and placing it between his lips. He lit it with a lighter.
He took a deep drag, and an orange flame flickered in the fog. Simultaneously, an invisible domain expanded beneath his feet.
He aimed his gun at the oncoming wave of shadows and murmured,
"Judgment... commences."
Bang!!
Invisible bullets left the barrel, instantly creating a several-meter-wide vacuum zone in the black wave. All the centipede shadows along that path were simultaneously deconstructed into molecules, dispersing into nothingness.
Dense shadows poured out of the iron gates, expanding in all directions before converging on Han Meng, numbering roughly a hundred.
Han Meng pulled the trigger repeatedly, tearing gaps in the wave with the power of Judgment, but as the shadows converged from all sides, his area of movement rapidly shrank. Relying solely on the single-barreled weapon's firepower was insufficient to ensure his safety amidst a sea of enemies.
Viewed from above, Han Meng resembled an island about to be engulfed by shadows, with the "water level" rising rapidly, threatening to sweep him away.
Han Meng frowned as he was about to be overwhelmed. Suddenly, he raised his hand,
An iron rod snapped off by the centipede shadows vibrated and flew into his palm!
Han Meng held the gun in one hand and the iron rod in the other, spinning it rapidly between his fingers before slamming it into the ground!
Dong!!
Visible ripples swept in all directions, cracking the earth beneath.
The power of deconstruction mingled with these ripples, shattering the nearest dozen centipede shadows on the spot. The area covered by the domain transformed back into a vacuum, as if an invisible giant hand had forcibly erased everything within. The terrifying destructive force of the path of Judgment was on full display at this moment!
Han Meng's gaze locked onto the factory. He forcefully pulled the iron rod from the ground and hurled it like a javelin, and a black thunderbolt streaked across the sky in an instant!
Boom!!!
The towering steel factory was punctured by a gaping hole tens of meters wide, the thick walls seemingly evaporating into thin air. Through the hole, a massive centipede could be seen coiled within, its sole dark red maw slowly turning in this direction.
Standing atop the shattered earth, Han Meng's gaze pierced through the churning black waves, locking onto the colossal creature within the factory.
"I've found you."