Chapter 162: Entering the City

[Audience Expectation +5]

[Current Expectation: 78%]

This was the countless time the audience expectation had changed. Chen Ling didn't have time to look at them one by one; he only knew that the current audience expectation had broken through its all-time peak.

As Chen Ling pulled the trigger, the power of deconstruction surged out, instantly opening a gap in the center of the approaching city gate. The steel locomotive, carrying terrifying kinetic energy like an unstoppable bullet, crashed into the city gate with a boom!

Thud—!!!

In an instant, the locomotive tore through the gap it had deconstructed, smashing the entire city gate into pieces with overwhelming force. Dense fragments flew into the city as if ejected by an explosion, and the wind and snow mixed with dust and smoke to obscure the city wall.

Everyone blocked outside the cordon felt the earth shake and looked toward the direction of the city gate with gasps, holding their breath nervously.

The whistle roared in the wailing gale, and a pitch-black steel shadow drove in from the abandoned, desperate purgatory... Only then did everyone finally see the appearance of the train.

It was a train carrying wind, snow, and ice, its entire body charred black. The cargo carriages at the back were even twisted and deformed, as if they had experienced unimaginable devastation and tempering. Under the gaze of everyone, it smashed through the gates of Aurora City and roared out from the hazy smoke and dust!

It came from the abyss, it stepped on flames, it was unstoppable!

Screech—!

A sharp hum came from the train. The brakes were pressed to the bottom, and blinding sparks erupted from the bottom of the wheels, dragging several long, pitch-black marks on the wide, long avenue.

This ear-piercing screech of the brakes made everyone unable to help but cover their ears. At the same time, a bone-chilling gale surged into the city with the train, blowing up their clothes and hair. It was a cold that the residents of Aurora City had never experienced, as if it came from the hellish underworld, making them shiver.

"Is it... this cold outside Aurora City?"

"How come it feels like it's not the same temperature as inside the city at all?"

"I feel chilled to the bone... With such wind and snow outside, how did they manage to persist?"

“……”

While everyone was whispering, on the city wall of Aurora City, a figure in a black coat saw the train enter the city and finally breathed a sigh of relief...

Han Meng looked at the scarred train, guilt and complexity flashing in his eyes. He didn't know how this train had passed through the Gray Realm, but the survivors on the train had undoubtedly experienced too much suffering... If he hadn't come to Aurora City but had stayed in the Third District, perhaps more people would have survived.

A faint shattering sound came from the city wall. The three Enforcers locked by [Judgment of the Seven Sins] roared simultaneously, forcibly breaking free from those chains and regaining their freedom!

From the time they were sealed by Han Meng until now, only about forty seconds had passed, but these few dozen seconds were undoubtedly a great insult to them. Not only had the order given by Aurora City not been completed, but they had also been suppressed by an outsider junior under the gaze of everyone... His anger was already burning in his eyes!

They rushed to Han Meng's side together, and three domains opened up once more. The terrifying aura locked onto the black-clad figure like the gaze of the god of death, ready to fight him to the death at any moment!

However, Han Meng didn't resist at all.

He stood calmly on the city wall, overlooking the train that was constantly slowing down, letting the three people's attacks approach his body without the slightest intention of making a move.

The three of them controlled Han Meng in an instant. They grabbed Han Meng's shoulders and roared angrily:

"Traitor Han Meng! Defying headquarters' orders and openly questioning Aurora City! What else do you have to quibble about?!"

Han Meng didn't even look at them. His gaze followed the train, and he replied faintly,

"I have nothing to say."

He no longer needed to resist or fight... because his mission was complete.

On Fallen Leaf Avenue, as the train's speed gradually slowed, a large number of enforcers and Enforcers rushed out from within the city, surrounding the steam-roaring train tightly.

A large number of citizens stood outside the cordon, looking toward the direction of the train anxiously and expectantly, as if waiting for something.

Hiss—

The train came to a complete stop in front of White Dove Square. The steam valve let out a sharp whistle. As the hazy smoke and steam dispersed, the figure on the locomotive also gradually became clear in everyone's field of vision.

It was a young man in a blood-colored coat. He held a gun in his left hand, with blue smoke still drifting slowly from the muzzle. His calm and deep eyes swept slowly across the entire square.

"Is he the heretic Chen Ling that the Enforcers were talking about just now?"

"Seems like it. He's so young... looks like he's only about twenty?"

"Wait, isn't that an Enforcer's coat he's wearing?"

"It really is... but it seems to be covered in blood, so it turned red. How many people did he kill?"

“……”

Just as they were sizing up Chen Ling, Chen Ling was also sizing up this city that was completely unfamiliar to him...

Parks, streetlights, kites, city towers... Compared to here, the Seven Districts were indeed as backward as the basic residential areas around a factory cluster. Aside from the simplest act of living, there was nothing else. This was more like a city where one could actually live, and it was also closer to the appearance of a "city" from the previous era in Chen Ling's memory.

"No wonder everyone wants to enter Aurora City," Chen Ling chuckled.

Rustling sounds came from beneath his feet. One disheveled figure after another poked their heads out from the carriage door, cautiously sizing up everything around them. Most of their faces were frostbitten or burned, and their clothes were tattered; they looked exactly like refugees.

"Aurora City... we really entered Aurora City!"

"Daddy... it's so beautiful here, and there are so many colorful little birds in the sky!"

"We're saved! My child is saved!"

"So this is Aurora City..."

“……”

Wounded with broken legs, mothers holding dying children, men covered in burns, girls so hungry they couldn't stand steadily... Under the gaze of everyone, they got off the train one after another. In their eyes, besides surprise, there was more bewilderment and helplessness.

They were like savages walking out of the deep mountains and forests, entering a city for the first time. Everything around them was so unfamiliar. Those people wore gorgeous clothes they had never seen before, their faces were clean, and there were no scars or calluses on their hands... In the distance were endless small buildings and streets.

And at the same time, the residents of Aurora City behind the cordon were also whispering as they looked at them... For the vast majority of them, this was also their first contact with the world outside the city walls.

The residents inside and outside the city, separated by the human wall of enforcers and the cordon, sized each other up. The disparity between the two worlds was displayed vividly at this moment.

Just then, the crisp sound of guns being loaded rang out, breaking this subtle silence.

Countless gun barrels were raised from the group of enforcers, aimed at the blood-colored figure on the train, as if facing a great enemy!