"Has Meng advanced?"
Feeling the intense aura emanating from Han Meng, Xi Renjie's eyes were filled with surprise.
Previously, when he saw the Shadow Centipede invade the district, Xi Renjie thought Han Meng had perished in battle. Unexpectedly, he was not only alive but had advanced to the fifth stage of the "Judgment" path... Han Meng was now likely the first law enforcement officer in not just District Three but the entire Seven Major Districts to reach the fifth stage.
Chen Yifei stood among the crowd, watching this scene with great interest.
He was also curious about what skill the fifth stage of the "Judgment" path entailed.
As Han Meng raised his gun, the sunlight in the mist dimmed slightly... Before the raging flames, the fluttering black windbreaker suddenly emanated an irresistible aura of authority, like an absolute ruler within its range, like a gun of judgment gazing into the abyss.
"The Verdict of the Major Sin, commence."
The moment Han Meng's words fell, intricate patterns spread wildly from under his feet, instantly covering the earth within the jurisdiction of the court.
The surging wave of shadows suddenly halted, and in the next instant, the rocks and soil beneath them were deconstructed and reassembled, transforming into chains that simultaneously bound them, forcing them to prostrate on the ground!
Even the mother body, which was also a fifth-stage creature, was not exempt. More than ten thick chains, like serpents, climbed up its body. Even though it was charging forward with all its might, its speed was gradually slowed, ultimately immobilizing it a hundred meters away from Han Meng.
Under the gaze of all, the entire Shadow Centipede clan prostrated on the ground before the raging flames, resembling countless "defendants" awaiting trial, locked in prison chairs.
At this moment, the fiery flames illuminated half of Han Meng's face, casting a shadowy blade-like silhouette.
He was the judge of this court and the only entity that could move freely within this domain.
Without knowing when, his pupils had taken on a hint of dark red. Those eyes, which seemed to be able to see through everything, gazed at the entire clan prostrating on the ground. After a long while, a low voice, like an unquestionable divine oracle, reverberated over the prostrating clan.
"In this court, the Ghost Taunting Abyss, the eighth broodling offspring of the Centipede clan..."
"For trespassing into our territory, slaughtering civilians, and devouring human flesh;"
"The verdict of the major sin... guilty."
"The punishment is death by fire."
As the words fell, Han Meng calmly squeezed the trigger.
Click –
A slight sound emanated from the barrel, but no bullet was fired.
At the same time, the raging flames behind Han Meng seemed to come alive, and a blazing pillar of fire, tens of meters wide, erupted, resembling a fiery sword of wrath wielded by the god of fire, crashing down onto the prostrated wave of shadows!
Boom!!!
The tumbling flames instantly engulfed over a hundred Shadow Centipedes, and their piercing cries overlapped, nearly splitting the eardrums.
Those black shadows struggled frantically in the dancing flames, like shackled prisoners dancing. Everyone outside the inferno watched this scene in stunned amazement!
The over hundred Shadow Centipedes had nearly wiped out half of District Three, but Han Meng only needed to squeeze the trigger once to annihilate them all in the inferno... This was the first time they had seen a fifth-stage individual in action, and it was also the first time they had directly felt the terror of the "Judgment" path.
"Chen Yifei, what's wrong with you?" Hearing the repeated swallowing of saliva beside him, Xi Renjie turned around, puzzled.
"...Nothing, it's nothing."
Chen Yifei closed his eyes to conceal the desire in his pupils. He held his head and spoke in a raspy voice, "I feel a bit unwell... I'll leave first."
Before Xi Renjie could say anything else, he swiftly distanced himself from the battlefield... Chen Yifei found an unoccupied spot and frantically stuffed his nose with dirt to block out the aroma of the roasted meat, finally letting out a slight sigh of relief.
Recalling the scene just now, Chen Yifei suddenly felt that his choice to replicate the "Judgment" path was an extremely correct decision.
The inferno continued to burn, with a large number of Shadow Centipedes being incinerated within. The prostrated mother body roared in fury, its massive body suddenly twisting, violently breaking the chains binding it, and furiously charging towards Han Meng!
Han Meng's shot had sentenced all the offspring present, but as a fifth-stage calamity, the mother body could not be easily burned to death.
Its body whipped up a fierce wind, temporarily tearing a path without fire in the inferno. Its dark red holes emitted a dense array of shadows, like countless tentacles, simultaneously grasping towards that black-clothed figure.
Han Meng's body slightly arched, and in the next moment, he turned into a blur and shot up into the sky. The countless shadow tentacles missed their mark on the ground and instead tightly pursued him into the clouds.
Han Meng, half-airborne, squinted his eyes slightly. His dark red pupils gazed down, locking onto that massive centipede mother body once again.
Under the fierce wind, he raised his gun again:
"Ghost Taunting Abyss, eighth broodling of the Centipede clan... For heinous crimes, the punishment is annihilation."
As Han Meng squeezed the trigger, the deconstructive force seemed like an invisible sword crashing down from the heavens, instantly annihilating the shadow tentacles that were almost grabbing his ankles into nothingness. The mother body also seemed to sense extreme danger, quickly crawling to one side to dodge, but still had a small part of its body shattered by this shot.
Having advanced to the fifth stage, Han Meng's strength had entered a new level. The range within which he could disintegrate matter had been magnified several times. As he continuously squeezed the trigger, one by one, giant pits with radii of tens of meters silently appeared on the ground, like an invisible meteor rain.
"Is this what the fifth stage is like..." Xi Renjie looked at the black-clothed figure battling the mother body, his eyes filled with longing.
The other law enforcement officers also watched this scene in stunned amazement, as if gazing upon a deity.
At this moment, Chen Yifei was thinking about something else... If a fifth-stage law enforcement officer already had such terrifying combat prowess, how strong must the high-ranking law enforcement officers in Aurora City be?
Under Han Meng's judgment, the mother body's form was already shattered. While dodging the deconstructive force, it hurriedly crawled towards the convergence point of the Gray Realm deep within the steel factory...
It was afraid.
At this point, it was no match for Han Meng at all. The only way out now was to escape back to the Gray Realm... But Han Meng would not give it this opportunity.
As the mother body stumbled through the inferno, seeing that deep pit getting closer and closer, a black-clothed figure descended from the sky, steadily landing before the pit. The dark gun barrel was aimed at the dark red hole on the mother body's head.
"I uphold the justice of human civilization..."
"And sentence you to death."
Bang!!!
The massive head of the mother body was instantly annihilated into nothingness, like a piece of eraser passing over, leaving only an extremely neat fracture... Crimson blood seeped out from its broken body as it heavily collapsed onto the ground.
The flames licked at its body, gradually turning it into charcoal. Under the tense gazes of everyone, that raggedly dressed black-clothed figure stumbled out.
Seeing this, everyone felt a sudden relief and erupted into cheers. They crowded around the black-clothed figure as he walked slowly, their eyes filled with admiration and awe.
Han Meng silently walked out of the crowd. As he passed Chen Yifei and Xi Renjie, he lowered his voice and said,
"You two... follow me."