“Well said, young man!”

Cheng Yun applauded Philip from the side.

Philip wouldn't have said these things originally.

These were all things his friend had told him before, and he was surprised to find that he remembered them clearly at this moment.

Every segment, every sentence.

Two years ago, Philip was still studying. The City Lord sent people to the school to investigate his friend, secretly speaking with students individually.

At that time, those people promised Philip that if he truthfully reported his friend's inappropriate remarks, he would be guaranteed a position as a City Guard after graduation. At the same time, they would also counsel and educate his friend to help him get on the right path.

They guaranteed that no responsibility would be pursued.

Philip instinctively knew he should cover for his friend, but to inherit his father's business and to satisfy the important figures sent by the City Lord for the investigation, he still spoke.

He naively thought that his friend would at most receive a verbal warning.

A few days later, he personally saw his friend “drown” by the reservoir.

Since then, his friend's words have constantly echoed in Philip's mind.

Because it was a secret conversation, no classmates blamed him afterward, but Philip knew he had done something terribly wrong.

He knew, but he never had the courage to say it, and the guilt had always tormented this “good boy.”

It was precisely because of this that when Cheng Lei approached him, the “loyal and competent” Philip didn't think much and immediately decided to help her behind the City Lord's back.

He knew he owed his friend, and he owed this city.

This was his only chance for atonement.

“Moreover, we can't blame all our hardships on the apocalypse!

“Although our Oasis City doesn't have technology as advanced as the Celestials, every one of us has dreams in our hearts.

We want to build our homeland better, but in reality, in every aspect, there's always a force,

like quicksand, pulling us back, preventing us from using our strength! We can only repeat the hard days, day after day!

“I'm not educated, so I can't articulate what kind of force it is, but it truly exists! It's dragging us down, preventing us from living good lives!”

“I must be civilized, I must be reasonable!” Philip constantly admonished himself in his heart.

If he just kept cursing, he would truly become the thug that Cole called him.

“I am a City Guard. Last night, I shot and killed my captain! Because he was trying to steal a baby's life-saving medicine and was about to shoot the baby's parents!

“Yes, I killed someone, but I am not a thug! I killed a criminal! I protected this city!”

“City Lord, if you deny even this, then you truly are not fit to rule this city! Let someone with more conscience and ability take over this important job! Just as Mr. Cheng Yun said, give the city a way out!”

Cole didn't care whether Philip had killed his captain; too many such things had happened recently.

But that last sentence, which concerned power, made him feel as if he were sitting on pins and needles.

“This is standard rebellious behavior, a first-degree felony! What are the Guards waiting for? Shoot him on sight, immediately!

Shoot!”

On the grand steps, the two dozen “selected” loyal Guards looked at each other, and none of them raised their guns immediately.

Philip smiled, neither retreating nor hiding.

The citizens around him also didn't hide.

This is it—

Two years ago, you murdered my best friend, but you cannot kill his ideas.

Tonight, you can shoot me too, but the citizens will remember what I said, and that's enough!

“Shoot! What are you afraid of!”

The Secretary snarled at the Weibin Chief, her beautiful features twisted with ferocity.

The Weibin Chief stiffened, raised his automatic rifle, and aimed at the unmoving Philip.

“Watch out!”

Cheng Lei shouted a warning to her old classmate, but she was too far from Philip to help.

“Bang!”

At the crucial moment, Ye Xing pulled out a pistol from under his robe and fired the first shot in open armed resistance against the City Lord, killing the Weibin Chief.

The entire square instantly fell silent, time seemed to stand still, and he became the focal point of all gazes.

“Are kings, nobles, and generals born to their positions?!”

Ye Xing shouted hoarsely.

Receiving this signal, Cheng Yun's subordinates, who had long been ambushed in the crowd and were ready to act, became agitated and shouted rebellious slogans with fervor.

“Down with Cole! Down with Apollo!!”

“Down with Cole! Down with Apollo!!” The already emotional populace followed, shouting in unison, like a mountain tsunami, wave after wave of sound.

Thud!

Two Apollo security personnel in power armor jumped down from the second-floor balcony of the palace, a blast gun clicked as it was loaded, and they strode menacingly towards Ye Xing, the ringleader.

The situation escalated, and Omar ordered them to intervene in the conflict, demonstrating Apollo's irreversible and powerful military force,

to suppress the “riot.”

Oh no!

Cheng Lei was burning with anxiety.

At the same time, she heard a humming sound from above, somewhat like the roar of an airplane engine.

That was—

In that instant, she suddenly recalled what Xian Yu had said when they parted ways a few days ago.

“When the time is right, remember to look up.”

It's Cang Yuan!

Cang Yuan is here!

Cheng Lei looked up and saw two blue lights flash, one after another.

Almost simultaneously, the forearms of the two Apollo security personnel were severed by hypersonic projectiles, and their pierced armor erupted with bright, scorching molten metal.

Screams erupted, and the two men writhed on the ground, clutching their broken arms in pain.

The ones who fired were Xian Yu and Tart. Both were wearing sniper power armor, carrying two-meter-long individual electromagnetic cannons. They air-dropped using jetpacks and completed a highly difficult dynamic snipe during their decelerated descent!

“Yee-haw~~~~”

Tart was clearly having a blast, her arrogance extremely blatant.

“Come on, is there more? Only two is no fun! Watch me pick them off one by one, big sister!”

Accompanying the two in their air-drop were 38 other power-armored players. They shut down their deceleration engines about four or five meters from the ground, free-falling, and landing densely with hundreds of kilograms of weight, creating an astonishing momentum.

Truly divine soldiers descending from the heavens!

“It's Cang Yuan! Cang Yuan has sent troops to support our righteous cause!”

Cheng Yun's voice cracked with excitement; he had to let everyone present know about this.

“The City Lord has lost! The City Lord has lost!!”

Ye Xing also seized the opportunity to build momentum, frantically shaking the morale of the defenders.

“Guards! Defend the city!”

Cole issued his final order to the city defenders.

At this point, his forces were extremely dispersed: half were outside the city walls, about a quarter were defending the palace area (half inside, half outside),

and the rest were still patrolling the city, searching everywhere for “riot leaders.”

“Everyone immediately lay down your weapons and surrender!” According to Xian Yu's plan, Xian Yu did not fire the first shot at the Oasis City defenders but first called for their surrender.

The Guards on the palace's grand steps lacked cover and were no longer particularly willing to die for old Cole; they immediately threw down their automatic rifles and raised their hands in surrender without the slightest hesitation.

The Secretary's legs buckled, and she fell to the ground. She tried to crawl back into the palace, but her limbs wouldn't obey. She eventually gave up and curled up on the ground, clutching her head.

In the square, five large eight-wheeled patrol vehicles, relying on their limited firepower and armor, began rotating their turrets towards the Cang Yuan squad, attempting to earn merit for the City Lord in this crisis and gain promotion.

This was an utterly foolish decision.

Cang Yuan's side was well prepared. Several heavy-armored players immediately stood shoulder to shoulder in a line, raising their heavy ceramic-gold shields, executing a shield wall combined technique.

Thump thump thump!

After several bursts of three-round cannon fire, the 25mm shells fired by the patrol vehicles didn't even dent the ceramic-gold shields, only leaving some scorch marks.

A 300-year gap in armor and projectile technology—the disparity was despairingly vast.

“Counterattack!”

Xian Yu shouted the order, then, along with Tart, aimed at the targets and pulled the trigger.

This was a fully charged electromagnetic cannon shot.

The hypersonic tungsten carbide projectile penetrated the patrol vehicle's armor as easily as a bullet piercing paper.

The projectile entered from the front of the vehicle, piercing through the front armor, transmission, engine, turret ring, ammunition rack, crew compartment, and rear armor in a thousandth of a second, exiting the back of the vehicle while still retaining over 90% of its initial kinetic energy.

In an instant, the ammunition inside the hit patrol vehicle detonated, spewing raging flames from the hatches. The occupants didn't even have a chance to struggle out and were instantly shredded by the detonating shrapnel.

Players in firepower-type power armor also opened fire. Smart missiles first shot into the air, then attacked from above with a vertical trajectory, smashing down hard.

Boom!

The remaining players followed suit, opening fire. The blast guns rattled in a cacophony, and the severe overkill of firepower completely overwhelmed and shattered the five patrol vehicles that thought they had some strength, turning them into burning scrap metal parts scattered across the ground.

This was a signal that couldn't be clearer; anyone with a brain could understand it.

We offer you surrender to give you a chance to live.

Don't be ungrateful!