Chenxi City, unknown base.
The piercing alarm blared continuously. Rose rubbed her throbbing temples, her heart filled with a deep sense of powerlessness.
Without the Doctor, they were like a body without eyes and a brain, stumbling in the shadow of the Divine War.
"Captain! The Corpse Disassembly Immortal's power..."
The staff member looked at the monitoring screen, his voice trembling:
"His Domain has already spread to the South City. A quarter of Chenxi City is now covered in blood mist."
"And... it's still expanding!"
"Does it affect ordinary people?" Rose forced herself to calm down.
"According to the latest information received..."
The staff member continued to analyze: "Aside from causing panic and chaos, no direct harm to ordinary people by the blood mist has been found so far."
Rose nodded, her brows furrowed even tighter.
Perhaps there was no direct harm, but...
The blood mist itself, enveloping the city, was the greatest terror.
For a moment, she couldn't think of a countermeasure.
This was the norm when facing an Outer God: unsolvable!
Since the Outer Gods' arrival, humanity's win rate against them had been despairingly low.
"By the way, has headquarters replied?" Rose asked.
At the beginning of the Divine War, they had sent the highest level of alert and preliminary analysis to the Martial Artist United Council Headquarters.
The staff member looked troubled and said in a deep voice:
"Headquarters replied that as long as the Corpse Disassembly Immortal doesn't cause large-scale casualties, they want us to stand by."
"Headquarters said they've already dispatched an S-Class Martial Artist for support."
"S-Class?" Rose frowned tightly: "Didn't you emphasize the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's threat Rank in the report? An S-Class Martial Artist can no longer contend with it; we need a Saint."
The staff member shook his head helplessly and said:
"The situation has been reported in detail, but headquarters' reply is that they can only dispatch an S-Class Martial Artist for now."
"Alright... continue monitoring."
Rose waved her hand wearily, a deep sense of powerlessness welling up in her heart.
....
Time passed in suppression and panic.
Rose practically lived in the monitoring room, listening to staff reports every day.
"That fast...?"
Looking at the latest report, she frowned.
Within the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's Domain, their embedded agents sent back news:
There were over ten thousand contact reports.
This meant that tens of thousands of people had actively or passively entered the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's Domain.
And these tens of thousands of people....
Were very likely to become the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's new "dependents."
After all, who could refuse temptation?
Especially in this precarious apocalypse.
The most terrifying aspect of Outer Gods was that they could always easily find the weaknesses in human nature.
"Captain, the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's Domain has already covered half of Chenxi City." The staff member beside her said with a dry voice: "Over thirty million people... have been caught in that blood mist."
Rose looked helpless and said tiredly:
"Is there any good news?"
"Yes." The staff member pulled up the data: "The Corpse Disassembly Immortal's Domain expansion has temporarily stopped. It currently covers half of the city."
Rose breathed a sigh of relief.
At least... it had stopped for now.
"Also, Captain, the S-Class Martial Artist sent by headquarters has arrived!" The staff member added.
A flicker of light crossed Rose's eyes, and she stood up to greet her.
Inside the base, on a small plaza.
The armed helicopter landed steadily, its hatch opened, and a woman in combat gear with a cold demeanor stepped out.
She had a beautiful face, but her eyes were sharp.
"Captain Rose?"
The woman's gaze fell on Rose.
"Yes, that's me."
Rose nodded and walked over to her.
"My codename is Haitang. I need to see the data first." The woman said concisely.
"Okay, this way please."
Rose immediately led her into the core monitoring room.
Haitang quickly scanned the encrypted files, video records, and energy spectrums on the screen.
Her brows furrowed tighter and tighter.
"The Doctor was too arrogant."
Haitang spoke coldly, with an imperceptible hint of anger:
"If I had been notified when this Corpse Disassembly Immortal first appeared and its power hadn't fully recovered, I would have had at least a seventy percent chance of sealing it."
"At least... I could have delayed its arrival by several centuries, buying us enough time."
Hearing this, Rose was startled.
As an S-Class Martial Artist, she only dared to speak of sealing, not killing?
And that was when the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's power hadn't recovered?
At that time, Rose remembered very clearly...
Even as an O Level Martial Artist, she could defeat the Corpse Disassembly Immortal's Physical Body.
Haitang seemed to see through Rose's thoughts, her gaze sweeping over her:
"A BOSS-level Outer God isn't as easy to deal with as you think. At that time, I did have a chance, but now..."
She paused, then said helplessly: "Headquarters sent me here not to engage it in direct combat."
"Then why?"
Rose looked puzzled.
"To ensure your safe evacuation." The woman's calm words delivered an answer that made Rose and the others' hearts palpitate.
Haitang said no more, found a spot, and sat down cross-legged.
Under Rose's astonished gaze, the skin between Haitang's eyebrows slowly split open, and a crystal-clear third eye suddenly appeared.
Rose gasped.
This was an S-Class Martial Artist, whose life form had long surpassed the mundane, stepping into the Domain of the non-human.
And above S-Class, the legendary Saints...
Were said to possess divinity, and could be called demigods.
The third eye between Haitang's eyebrows rotated rapidly, the images in its pupil constantly flickering. Her face visibly paled at a rapid rate, and fine beads of sweat seeped from her temples.
"Pfft!"
She spat out a mouthful of blood, and the vertical eye closed with it, leaving only a faint trace.
"How is it?"
Rose asked eagerly.
Haitang's face was pale, and she said weakly: "I have glimpsed a corner of the future. Immediately notify the base to collect all ancient relics, and everyone must leave Chenxi City at once!"
"Leave?" Rose exclaimed: "Abandon the sixty million people here?"
"There's no other choice. Execute the order."
Haitang's voice rose a few points, leaving no room for doubt.
"Yes." Rose's face showed bitterness as she picked up the communicator and issued this heavy command.
Haitang looked at the screen, which showed Xuan Hao's past images.
"He's really troublesome. In the past, I've already lost the ability to see the past. As for the future..."
She closed her eyes again, seemingly savoring the scene she had just witnessed.
"Past... future?"
Rose was completely shocked by this ability that defied common sense.
"The Doctor's assessment... was wrong."
Haitang slowly opened her eyes: "This Corpse Disassembly Immortal is not a BOSS-level Outer God. Its Rank is..."
"Old One!"
Rose felt as if struck by lightning, her face instantly turning ashen.
Old One-level Outer God!
Among the Outer Gods known to humanity, they were existences like natural disasters.
The arrival of every Old One signified a catastrophe for civilization.
....
At the same time, Financial Street Central Building.
Xuan Hao stood quietly. Having devoured the last trace of the underground Outer God's Origin, his mental Domain had already covered half of Chenxi City.
Spirituality was like an ocean, nourishing his Primordial Spirit.
The three heads had solidified, exuding an ancient and majestic Qi.
"Buzz!"
Above the sea of mist, the left and right heads emitted wisps of mental fluctuations.
"Hmm?"
Xuan Hao's mind stirred slightly.
In the eyes of the left head, a scene was reflected:
He was trapped in a spatial rift, and a mysterious eye was trying to penetrate the barrier of time and space, peering into his past.
"Want to see my past?"
A cold light flashed in Xuan Hao's eyes, and a giant palm clenched in the Void Realm.
"Crack."
The prying eye was crushed to pieces.
In the eyes of the right head, another blurry scene appeared:
An unknown room, a woman with a vertical eye split open between her eyebrows, seemingly related to some future possibility.