The area around Wangwan Apartment had nearly turned into a battlefield.
Security patrols and special operations teams attempted to come in and maintain order, but they were forcefully pushed back by the defenders outside.
The firepower, equipment, and combat training displayed by those people were among the elite of the elite.
Even the special operations teams could not advance their lines even a bit.
As soon as Xiao Qin got close to the nearby aerial tramway, she was stopped by the controlled security personnel, who politely urged her to turn back.
Seeing Qin Xuezhong in full combat armor and armed, the person looked a bit wary, secretly signaling for backup.
Xiao Qin didn't hesitate and directly displayed her chip authorization—a dazzling golden level 7 that almost blinded the security personnel.
The highest commander on-site was only a level 7 as well, the supervisor for the security department's special operations team in Xigu City.
Receiving news that a colleague of the same level had arrived, he hurried to see if they could bring a breakthrough to the completely suppressed situation.
However, when he opened the information, all details were classified.
Name, department, resume, photo—everything was missing, not even the gender was visible.
Xiao Qin kept the faceplate of her combat armor closed, meaning the supervisor couldn't see anything.
— Initially, he thought a level 7 authorization holder would be a leader bringing reinforcements, but unexpectedly, it turned out to be a lone combatant?
"Hello! Um... are you all alone?" The supervisor's tone revealed an undeniable disappointment.
Xiao Qin nodded silently. "I need to go in for a special mission."
The supervisor shook his head quickly. "You saw the situation over there; our people are already having a tough time holding the line. I can't let you in."
Qin Xuezhong smiled slightly. "Since you can't break in, why not let me take a look? I might be able to help you turn the situation around."
She pretended to be calm, but inside, she had already prepared for the worst.
— Just a moment ago, she discovered a brain under her bed, and the clue to that thing was hidden in the chip replacement pod in Wangwan Apartment… What if someone was looking for the safe house to obtain something inside?
Hearing Qin Xuezhong's words, the supervisor hesitated and asked, "What do you plan to do?"
"Let's see first."
Xiao Qin pressed the accelerator, heading towards Wangwan Apartment.
Her movements were smooth, but she soon found herself unable to smile.
Through the observation lens of her armor, she saw a violent explosion occur behind the heavy artillery, and several tower-like heavy armors fell directly from the shattered balcony of a mansion!
The automatic analysis function on her observation lens promptly displayed a message: [79th floor].
Xiao Qin's heart jolted.
The 79th floor—wasn't that her home?!
Yu Zhezhong and the little black cat were still inside!
Her hands began to tremble slightly, and she quickly made a magnifying gesture in front of her.
The lens zoomed in.
The once warm-lit living room was now a pile of ruins.
Initially, while worrying about the brain, she thought that when she returned home, Yu Zhezhong would likely still be doing housework, and the little black cat would probably be waiting by the window for her.
But now...
In the image from the observation lens, there was no little black cat.
Only a dusty Yu Zhezhong, holding a gun, standing amidst the debris.
Due to the distance, Qin Xuezhong couldn't see how Yu Zhezhong was doing. All she saw was a torn apron fluttering in front of his chest.
Since Xiao Qin had never really been on a battlefield, her first reaction upon seeing the holes in the apron was that Yu Zhezhong might have been shot!
Given the situation on-site, it was quite likely.
Yu Zhezhong was alone, and the enemies before him were simply innumerable!
Moreover, the enemy had the energy to block the special operations team outside... they were exuding a confident attitude.
She originally wanted to call for reinforcements, but now she was deep into the combat area and was affected by data interference.
The black space unexpectedly cut off communication again.
Xiao Qin silently reminded herself to pay attention to this in the future.
Just as she was distracted, a series of machine gun bullets swept toward her, creating a dense pattern of bullet marks on the windshield.
Xiao Qin quickly backed away and pulled the flying car higher.
The main combat height was around the 79th floor; at a higher altitude, the enemy had merely deployed defenses and likely had no excess energy to control such a large airspace.
She watched the armed flying vehicles quickly approaching Yu Zhezhong and, feeling bold, came up with a daring idea.
She quietly retreated, maneuvering to the back of a tall building for cover, then suddenly yanked the control stick to make the car soar rapidly upward.
Soon, Qin Xuezhong hovered at a very high altitude.
Even from this height, some onlookers had parked their cars nearby to watch the commotion below.
First, she reconnected to the black space, summoning anyone available for rescue. Then, she clicked a few buttons on her control interface to call the fifth family to send her their sky manor.
Although she had never been there, she had the contact information for the butler and commander on board.
That thing was originally a converted sky mother ship designed to protect important figures, and all its weapon systems were intact, even housing a permanent elite internal guard from the fifth family.
In fact, this was one reason she was reluctant to go there.
But now, it was time to make use of it.
Whether it was reinforcements or the sky manor, it would probably take a while to arrive, but Yu Zhezhong likely couldn't wait that long.
Having done all this, Xiao Qin opened the car door.
At her current height, she was over a thousand meters, and the entire city appeared much smaller.
The sparks from the battle looked like small fireworks.
She intended to jump from here, gliding to the top of the three combat aircraft using the auxiliary wings and jet engine hidden in her armor.
If it were an ordinary person, entering the enemy's detection zone would lead to immediate detection and likely getting shot down in the air.
However, she could use the virtual void of her consciousness to dissolve all signals reaching her, creating a blank space without data feedback.
Additionally, for her night exploration of the old room, she had specifically chosen a stealth armor from Yu Zhezhong's equipment that featured light-absorbing and refractive coatings.
This made it extremely difficult for both radar and optical cameras to detect her.
Moreover, this was already a wildly unexpected plan.
As soon as the car door opened, a gust of wind mixed with raindrops rushed in, whistling through the gaps in her armor.
Qin Xuezhong took a deep breath and jumped.
Her movement was so sudden that it caused gasps from nearby onlookers in their cars.
Once she left the vehicle, she felt like a small piece of black detaching from the night sky, merging back into the dim rainy night and falling along with the raindrops.
The tail wings and the hidden jet engine on her back occasionally adjusted her posture and direction based on her line of sight.
It felt as if she were a lightweight leaf drifting down towards her target.
---
At the same time that Xiao Qin opened the car door, the commander inside the central combat aircraft had just issued orders.
"Deploy chemical weapons! Use both gas grenades and surface corrosive agents. This kid can dodge all he wants, but can he escape the air?!" the commander snarled.
"Boss, this is a residential area..." one of the subordinates reminded.
The commander waved his hand. "Doesn't matter! Just control the range; there won't be a problem! We have one minute left; hurry up!"
"Yes, sir!"
---
Before the weapons officer could open the red button cover, the entire combat aircraft suddenly shook.
"What happened?!"
"Unclear! The body monitoring shows no response!"
"Wait! Someone's on top!"
With this alarm, a harsh grinding noise and slight vibrations entered the cockpit.
"Stabilize the aircraft! Units 2 and 3, clear the top of unit 1! Hurry!"
But it was too late.
The armor on top of the combat aircraft was not thick; it wasn't designed to withstand direct impacts but to deflect bullets.
In less than three seconds, a small alloy drill head pierced through the top of the cockpit.
As the drill pulled out, a pitch-black figure emerged, looking like the Grim Reaper.
It was none other than Qin Xuezhong, who had just dropped down.
She used the compressed drill on her combat armor to create the hole, then pulled out the already disengaged high-energy compressed hand cannon and stuffed it inside.
Then, she leaped forward.
The jet engine was pushed to its maximum as she flew toward the room.
Behind her, the unit 1 combat aircraft suddenly expanded and then exploded.
Countless fragments shot outwards, hitting the nearby unit 2, causing it to wobble and fly off some distance.
Xiao Qin had a bit of bad luck; a piece of debris struck her rear engine, causing her to lose power and balance just as she was about to reach the room.
Yu Zhezhong, who had just been hiding behind a wall due to insufficient firepower, was shocked to see a black figure suddenly take down a combat aircraft and then fly towards him.
That armor... was the one he had picked out for Qin Xuezhong!
Qin Xuezhong was back?! And she had been hit?!
Watching Xiao Qin's unsteady flight, Yu Zhezhong wanted to open his arms to catch her and prevent any injuries.
It wasn't until she got closer that he realized that the medium armor weighed at least 400 kilograms!
With the force of the engine, the kinetic energy was unimaginably high.
Forget about catching her; if they collided, his survival would be in question!
Just as he was about to dodge, the fire following Qin Xuezhong came sweeping in, kicking up debris on either side of him.
The rest was blocked by Qin Xuezhong's armor.
He had to lean against the wall, hoping she wouldn't crash into him.
Xiao Qin naturally noticed the issue as well.
She activated the small engines on her arms and legs to slow down, trying to land as quickly as possible in hopes of using her feet to friction against the floor.
The armor jolted heavily, but she managed to land somewhat smoothly on the floor of her home, the heavy steel claws on the soles leaving two terrifying cracks in the ground.
As she approached Yu Zhezhong, her speed remained high.
With no other choice, Xiao Qin clenched her fists and slammed into the wall beside Yu Zhezhong's head.
Amidst dust and debris, the armor finally came to a stop.
Through the faceplate, Qin Xuezhong could almost hear Yu Zhezhong's anxious breathing.
A strange and amusing thought flashed through her mind.
— My first time wall-slamming someone, and my hands ended up stuck in the wall. How embarrassing; what should I do?
Yu Zhezhong visibly sighed in relief and quickly said, "Back to the equipment room! Their firepower is too strong!"
"No."
To his surprise, Qin Xuezhong shook her head.
Because she had just received a message—sent from the military-grade directional data antenna of the sky manor, penetrating the strong electromagnetic shielding, communicating directly to her.
The message was simple.
[3 seconds until arrival at the battlefield.]
Protected, Yu Zhezhong watched as two incredibly bright blue beams fell from the sky behind Qin Xuezhong, as if responding to her call.
He immediately recognized them—the main cannon pulse laser beams of the sky battleship!
The cannon's mouth was an exaggerated meter wide, capable of easily annihilating any target within 10 kilometers in low-power mode within the atmosphere.
The main cannon's laser shot through the air like a flash of lightning, disappearing in an instant.
The two combat aircraft suspended in the air first exploded and then had their explosive energy consumed by the laser.
In the sky, only a cloud of ashes and some remnants of metal remained, falling to the ground as if they were effortlessly wiped away.
At the same time, a continuous humming sound came from above.
Everyone looked up.
It was an exaggeratedly large giant airship, resembling an island in the sky.
Its underside was filled with various weapons and defensive systems, rapidly descending from above, creating strong wind pressure that knocked everything around askew.
— It was Qin Xuezhong's sky manor.
Those with keen eyes could still see the red glow from the cannon's barrel, not yet dissipated.
It looked like a fearsome demon baring its fangs, casting shadows over the ground below, welcoming its master.