After deciding to change his perspective on the world, Ling Ke would naturally no longer make use of that all too convenient power of Omniscience.
He sealed it away decisively.
Not only did he cut off the power to predict the future as he had before. He also banned the light screen that could observe any location in real-time.
Otherwise, all his efforts would be meaningless.
If he had to describe it, his current state was a bit like those gods who had lived for hundreds of millions of years in another Japanese fantasy world, bored to the point of sealing their divine power and going to the labyrinth city named "Orario" to seek amusement.
Of course, there were still differences.
Ling Ke did not plan to suffer for no reason.
He came to have fun, not to become the joke.
Therefore, first of all, after the successful completion of Project Broken Branch, he could now revive infinitely in the Theater of Domination himself. His safety was no longer an issue.
Secondly, he had a bad temper and would most likely not put up with anyone.
Unless the other person's personality happened to be agreeable to him, like that girl in The Sundown Alley who only wanted to live an ordinary, carefree life.
Otherwise, if he really ran into someone who didn't know what was good for them...
Rules could be followed, but they could also be broken.
If someone really annoyed him, he wouldn't mind flipping the table on the spot, switching directly back to administrator privileges to erase the problem at the rule level.
That was a bit of a general and abstract description.
But that was the gist of it.
In short, the current Ling Ke could be said to do whatever he pleased.
And because of this, acting temporarily as the Trailblazer Caelus and no longer possessing Omniscience, he did not know that Namba City was about to face an unprecedented catastrophe.
In the original historical trajectory of the current era, this city had actually held out until the Twelfth Honkai Eruption broke out before the Flower of Destruction was planted.
Now, however, fate had already reached out and seized its throat.
On the street.
"The temperature's dropped too fast lately, hasn't it?"
"I heard it even hailed in Komadori Prefecture yesterday."
"Yeah, the hail was as big as a fist. My second uncle's car got smashed."
"I heard it even killed a lot of people."
"Is that scary?"
"Yeah."
"Komadori Prefecture isn't that far from here, is it? We won't have any problems here too, will we?"
"Who knows..."
Ling Ke walked casually through the crowd as scattered Far Eastern dialect sounded around him.
He already knew some Far Eastern language, and with the Synesthesia Beacon from the Trailblazer Model, he had no trouble understanding everything even without using Omniscience.
He aimlessly glanced around at the bustling city.
He listened to people talking about the weather.
They discussed the major events unfolding in the international community.
For example, news about the Superhumans.
And, for instance, how to deal with the frozen tsunami spectacle in Nagazora, a city that had not been destroyed as it had in the original history.
With the major events, there was no shortage of minor ones.
Some people crowded into the supermarket, fighting over time-limited sales on eggs and chicken breasts.
Others stood before the fruit section, clutching their wallets and hesitating for a long time, struggling with whether to buy some watermelon to satisfy a craving.
Yes, Far Eastern watermelons were never cheap.
Some sat at the bar of an izakaya, complaining about their dehumanizing boss with colleagues who had also shed their tight, cheap suits and loosened their ties.
One man, his tongue already stumbling, said his work pressure was so high that he could only sleep three hours a day, living worse than livestock.
After speaking, he raised his glass and drained his frustration along with the liquor down his throat.
Others gathered to discuss celebrities.
For example, how wonderful Eden's new album was and how many hundred thousand copies it had sold.
Then someone sighed in admiration.
"She's truly amazing. As expected of the world's number one superstar, the artist of The Golden Courtyard."
As fans of Eden, the others also puffed out their chests, as if they shared a small part of that glory.
Ling Ke passed through another intersection.
The foot traffic here was heavy.
Most people were rushing on their way.
For ordinary people, the pressure of life was never light, and they couldn't afford to waste their time each day.
Even students had the weight of their studies pressing down on their shoulders.
At this moment, Ling Ke stopped before a commercial street.
Occasionally, he could see a few young female students gathered together chatting about gossip.
Speaking of which, it was quite a sight. With the temperature having dropped sharply recently, they were clearly bundled in thick coats on top, and some had even wrapped scarves around themselves, yet they still wore pleated skirts on the bottom, exposing their knees and calves.
He knew that many schools in the Far East had this style of uniform.
But...
'Aren't they cold?'
'Aren't they afraid of getting chronic leg pain in the future?'
Of course, including these minor details in the local customs...
'This place is truly peaceful,' Ling Ke sighed in his mind.
'Who could have imagined that beneath this scene hides the crisis of civilizational extinction, which will occur in half a year at the latest?'
'What a pity. If this civilization cannot find a way forward, this peaceful atmosphere will only last for a few more years at most.'
'In fact, they can only enjoy it for these last few days...'
*BOOM!!!*
His thoughts were abruptly cut short.
Ling Ke froze, his eyes snapping to the front.
At the edge of his vision, the top of a building exploded.
Fire tore through the roof, hurling glass and rebar into the sky. A second later, the shockwave tore downward, spreading a web of cracks across the walls.
The entire building swayed several times.
Then, it collapsed to one side.
*BOOM!*
The ground trembled.
Ling Ke felt a heavy vibration ripple through the earth beneath his feet.
Dust and smoke billowed from the wreckage.
Dark gray ash rose like a wall, sweeping outward in all directions and carrying rubble and glass shards.
After witnessing the scene, many people around Ling Ke instinctively crouched down, shouting in alarm.
And then...
They didn't run away.
After a brief moment of shock, these people's first reaction was to pull out their phones with practiced ease, hold them high, and frantically film the collapsing building.
*Click.*
*Click.*
*Click, click.*
They looked just like the onlookers in a tokusatsu show, the kind who are too stubborn to run away even as Ultraman fights monsters in the city.
"..."
Ling Ke was speechless.
On one hand, he truly couldn't understand the behavior of the people around him.
On the other hand...
He had just been lamenting how peaceful the city was.
And before he could even finish his thought, this happened.
*Do I have the jinx?*
Ling Ke's mouth twitched slightly as he muttered under his breath.
"I was just speaking casually. It's not like I was casting a reverse-curse."
Then, his gaze sharpened as he looked closer.
The situation was now clear.
At the site of the collapsed building, a swarm of red and black alien monsters had suddenly appeared.
And among these monsters, several Superhumans leaped dozens of meters into the air.
Some unleashed lightning.
Others spewed fire.
Some swung out wind blades.
Others condensed ice spikes and shot them forward.
All kinds of attacks crisscrossed in the air above the district, forming a dense barrage of projectiles in an instant.
The power of a single attack was not something to be underestimated.
At the very least, it was at a level that ordinary citizens were completely powerless to resist.
Among them were several even stronger individuals.
Even though they had not yet truly started fighting, just using basic attacks with each casual strike caused street after street to be devastated.
Even the hard iron and stone pavement could not withstand the damage.
Let alone the people made purely of flesh and blood who were standing on those streets.
The bloodshed had already begun.
For "strong individuals" with supernatural powers, many times, there might still be a chance of survival even when facing a meteorite falling from the sky.
But ordinary people were different.
Especially certain ordinary people who had no idea of the danger and did not prioritize their lives in the first instant.
A tiny piece of flying stone or debris was enough to erase their existence.
Now, such things were happening more and more frequently all around them.
Some had not even come to their senses.
Some had not even had time to let out a scream.
Some people just stared down in bewilderment, seeing their shopping bags tear open as eggs and chicken breast rolled all over the ground. The next second, half of their companion's body was gone.
Someone knelt on the spot, their lips moving up and down, but no sound came out.
Someone covered their ears, their gaze fixed, unable to move their legs even as the people around them dragged them away.
Those "weak" who had already lost something before they could even react, let the negative emotions in their hearts grow deeper and deeper in fear and helplessness.
Compared to them, Ling ke was so calm it was almost cold.
He even had the leisure to pay attention to other things.
Like...
'So these are the "Impostors" Kali created.'
He sighed inwardly.
'This is the first time I've seen them from this close.'
You know, the little girl's method of using these pawns to cause chaos really reminded him of his own style back in the day.
And it was obvious that the Honkai Beast Genes Kali had recently acquired, the gene bank she held in her hands, had already become very rich.
Just like the old Ling ke, who had a huge pile of useful game character templates.
Speaking of which, the human side should really be grateful.
Grateful that among the High-ranking Honkai Beasts Kali had secretly recruited, there were no beings like Mayuri and Mitra who possessed mental perception abilities.
Otherwise, neither the Newborn World Serpent Headquarters nor the important research facilities within the Mu Continent would be considered safe havens anymore.
And now, in Namba City, tens of thousands of citizens were gradually falling into deeper chaos amidst the deafening noise.
"It's the Superhumans causing destruction again!"
"What's the point of the Act?"
"It's just for show!"
Cries of anger and curses rang out all around.
Gradually, some people noticed something was wrong.
"Those aren't the Superhumans who signed the Act!"
"How can there be so many?"
"Just how many Superhumans are there in this world?"
"What about the Superhumans who signed the Act? Aren't they supposed to handle this kind of thing?"
Someone finally started to panic.
Ling ke had already retreated to the entrance of an accessory shop on the side of the commercial street.
He had no choice.
The street was now packed with people, chaotic and crowded.
Boom!
Ahead, another building collapsed with a deafening roar.
The air in Namba City grew heavier with turmoil.
Even though many police officers were struggling to maintain order, it was useless.
Panic, like invisible water, seeped out along the streets, alleyways, subway entrances, and the cracks of shop doors.
Yet, the perpetrators paid no mind to this.
To them, it was just a passing thought of attack.
A reflexive dodge.
A casual counterattack.
But in those split seconds, the decades of effort of the "majority," of the "weak," were enough to be reduced to nothing.
Even their lives had to be paid as an unwarranted price.
From beginning to end, there was never any fairness to speak of.
Because in this world, in this kind of environment...
No one had the patience to listen to the voices of the "weak."