"Name."
"Ren."
"Did you bring your ID?"
"Yes, yes, I did." Nodding repeatedly, Ren pulled out his ID from his pocket. Although facial recognition systems were ubiquitous in ARC City now, he still habitually carried his documents, as they often helped avoid trouble.
"Living in the suburbs? This is the West District, why are you here?" The uniformed man asked, repeatedly comparing the photo on the ID to Ren, verifying his identity. "And who is she? Where's her ID?"
Her dusty hair was styled in a messy, old-fashioned bun, her face smudged with black ash from the roadside. She seemed to have been crying, making her face dirty, her original features barely visible.
Ren gently squeezed Kiana's hand, and she immediately understood.
She lowered her head slightly, hiding her unusual eyes. Due to the examiner's harsh questioning, her body trembled slightly. Then, she pitifully tugged at Ren's sleeve, hiding behind him like a startled deer.
"This is my girlfriend. Her ID was lost in the Honkai beast attack."
"Oh, I came to the West District for a medical check-up. This is the medical certificate I got this morning." Folding his thin medical report in half, Ren handed it to the examiner, having already slipped in two bills.
The examiner understood perfectly. He casually flipped through the medical report, actually taking the bribe when the camera wasn't watching.
However, when he felt only two bills, he gave Ren a dissatisfied glare. As a lucrative position, they were used to pocketing a few hundred or even a thousand dollars. If they came across someone with a shady background, they could even make a big haul. Two hundred dollars was beneath him.
With a forced, flattering smile, Ren said with some difficulty, "Sorry, the check-up took a while, and then we ran into a Honkai beast."
After looking back and forth between Ren and the girl, the examiner sighed.
Well, he was probably sick, might as well take what he could get.
Pretending to be diligent, the examiner neatly folded the medical report he had looked over and politely returned it to Ren, wearing a righteous expression. "Protecting citizens is our duty. Checking your ID is just to better collect information about the victims, so the government can provide aid after the disaster."
"If you don't register, you might miss out on government support. Are you sure you don't want to register her?"
Pretending to look hesitant, he glanced at Kiana, finally seeming to come to a decision. Ren shook his head.
"Alright, the facial recognition device is broken, just go over there and write down your names." The examiner led them to another building, familiar with the process, but was actually sneaking them through.
But this time, it seemed he had miscalculated. They had only walked a few steps when a military vehicle suddenly screeched to a halt. The vehicle was completely black and gray, with a small Ouroboros mark in the corner.
"Damn it, it's the people from Heliopolis Life Sciences."
Kiana heard the examiner's voice. She lowered her head, trying her best not to look at the people getting out of the car.
"Stop!"
Black gun muzzles aimed at the three of them. The examiner's face changed. He patted his uniform and retorted, "Who are you? How dare you interfere with the military's rescue efforts?"
"Military? You'd have to be legit for that." The Heliopolis Life Sciences person didn't give him any face at all. One of them raised the butt of their gun and smashed it into the examiner's face, knocking him to the ground.
"What are you doing?" The people guarding the checkpoint together noticed the change and rushed over, raising their guns.
While they were talking, the Heliopolis Life Sciences people had already taken the documents from the examiner and put them into a specialized testing device.
"Beep—Identity authentication error, unauthorized."
As the alarm sounded, the faces of the people stationed at the checkpoint immediately turned ugly. They were indeed not part of the regular army, but rather unofficial members affiliated with Schicksal. But now, with the world plunged into the Great Honkai, Schicksal's people were spread too thin. It was completely normal to use these auxiliary troops for support.
"We are officially authorized by Schicksal…" The leader of the group angrily spoke out. Heliopolis Life Sciences was just a large corporation in ARC City, how could they possibly stand up against Schicksal?
If he was really from Schicksal, then he should know that in Shenzhou, you could impersonate any faction, except for Schicksal.
Bang—!
Like a thunderclap, a bullet embedded itself in the man's forehead, followed by a spurt of blood blossoming in the sunlight.
"Did you think we were negotiating with you? No, we were just checking if the dead would bring trouble."
The voice from behind the mask was low. The moment the shot was fired, the gunfire became a continuous barrage. The poorly trained auxiliary members were just capable of shooting, nothing more. Compared to the prepared Heliopolis Life Sciences, it was a one-sided slaughter.
"Take everyone away!" After dealing with the armed forces, the people from Heliopolis Life Sciences didn't even bother to hide their intentions, they directly began to grab people.
Ren, who knew the plot, naturally understood that they were capturing test subjects, trying to use the entire city for Serpent's artificial stigma plan. With Schicksal not yet having focused its attention on ARC City, under the cover of the Honkai beast attacks, they weren't even trying to hide their actions.
Most of the survivors followed the official guidelines for evacuation. Only people like Ren and Kiana, who were separated from the main group, would come to the checkpoint area. Therefore, there weren't that many survivors here.
Clearly, the people from Heliopolis Life Sciences also understood this. These survivors who were separated from the main group were the most suitable test subjects, and even if they disappeared, it could just be attributed to the Honkai beast attacks.
"Ah!!!" Screams rang out as the people who were grabbed struggled desperately. But as a tranquilizer was jabbed into their necks, the scene quickly fell silent.
On the other hand, Ren and Kiana, who were the closest, hadn't been hit by the tranquilizers yet, but they had no chance to escape, and could only quietly wait to be caught.
Seeing that the two of them were about to be captured, Kiana, who had just recovered a bit of her strength, tried to use her Herrscher of the Void power. The sudden change altered their plans, she looked at Ren with some concern, who seemed to have been scared stiff.
Right, he was just a normal person. Such a bloody scene was something he had probably never seen before in his life.
"Capture those two as well." The leader said. He slowly walked over to the two, but as he got closer to Kiana, he seemed to have noticed something different about her hidden beneath the dirt. "That one kinda looks like the girl Schicksal is hunting down..."
Kiana's heart sank. Not caring about the damage the Herrscher's power would cause to her body, she forced her powers from her already heavily eroded body.
But before she could move, a dull sniper shot suddenly rang out. Then, that Heliopolis Life Sciences person's head exploded in a mess of gore.
Two hundred meters away, the eyes of a person on a rooftop glowed with golden light.