[Audience Expectation +5]
[Current Expectation: 78%]
This was yet another fluctuation in audience expectation—Chen Ling had lost count of how many times it had changed. All he knew was that the current expectation value had reached an unprecedented peak.
As Chen Ling pulled the trigger, the power of deconstruction surged forth, instantly blasting a hole through the center of the approaching city gates. The steel locomotive, carrying terrifying momentum like an unstoppable bullet, crashed into the gates with a thunderous impact!
BOOM!!!
In an instant, the train tore through the deconstructed gap, shattering the entire gate with overwhelming force. Countless fragments scattered into the city like shrapnel from an explosion, while wind and snow mixed with dust obscured the walls.
The crowd behind the barricade felt the ground tremble and gasped, their eyes fixed on the gates as they held their breaths in suspense.
The train’s whistle roared through the howling wind as a massive black steel shadow emerged from the abandoned hellscape of despair… Only then did the crowd finally get a clear look at the train.
It was a train wreathed in blizzard and ice, its body scorched black, with several cargo carriages twisted and deformed as if having endured unimaginable devastation. Before everyone’s eyes, it smashed through Aurora City’s gates and surged out from the haze of dust and smoke!
SCREECH!
A sharp metallic shriek erupted from the train as the brakes were slammed to their limit. Sparks sprayed from the wheels, leaving long, black skid marks on the wide, straight avenue.
The ear-splitting screech forced the crowd to cover their ears. At the same time, an icy gale swept into the city with the train, lifting their clothes and hair—a cold unlike anything the citizens of Aurora City had ever felt, as if it came from the depths of hell, making them shiver uncontrollably.
"It’s… this cold outside Aurora City?"
"Why does it feel like the temperature is completely different out there?"
"I feel frozen to the bone… How did they survive such a blizzard?"
"…"
As the crowd murmured among themselves, a figure in a black coat atop the city walls finally exhaled in relief as the train entered the city…
Han Meng gazed at the battered train, his eyes flickering with guilt and complexity. He didn’t know how this train had crossed the Gray Realm, but the survivors aboard had undoubtedly endured unimaginable suffering… If he hadn’t come to Aurora City and had instead remained in District Three, perhaps more lives could have been saved.
A faint cracking sound came from the walls. The three enforcers bound by [Judgment of Sin] let out simultaneous growls, forcibly breaking free from the chains and regaining their mobility!
From the moment Han Meng restrained them to now, only about forty seconds had passed but those fleeting seconds were an immense humiliation. Not only had they failed Aurora City’s orders, but they had also been suppressed in public by an outsider… Their fury burned in their eyes!
They rushed toward Han Meng, their three domains unfurling once more. A terrifying aura locked onto the black-clad figure like the gaze of death itself, ready for a fight to the death.
Yet Han Meng didn’t resist at all.
He stood calmly on the wall, watching the gradually slowing train, allowing the three enforcers to seize him without lifting a finger.
In an instant, they had Han Meng under control. Gripping his shoulders, they snarled in rage, "Traitor Han Meng! You defied headquarters’ orders and openly questioned Aurora City! What do you have to say for yourself?!"
Han Meng didn’t even glance at them. His eyes remained fixed on the train as he replied indifferently, "I have nothing to say."
There was no need for him to fight anymore… because his mission was already complete.
On Falling Leaf Avenue, as the train gradually slowed, waves of enforcers and judges rushed out from the city, surrounding the steam-belching train in an impenetrable blockade.
Meanwhile, the crowd behind the barricade watched anxiously, their eyes filled with anticipation as they waited for something.
HISS—
The train came to a full stop in front of White Dove Plaza. The steam valve released a sharp whistle, and as the mist and smoke dispersed, the figure standing atop the locomotive finally came into clear view.
It was a young man in a blood-red coat, a gun in his left hand, its barrel still smoking. His calm, deep eyes slowly swept across the square.
"Is that the heretic Chen Ling the enforcers were talking about?"
"Seems like it. He’s so young… looks about twenty?"
"Wait, isn’t that an enforcer’s coat he’s wearing?"
"It is… but it’s covered in blood, so it looks red. How many people has he killed?"
"…"
As they scrutinized Chen Ling, Chen Ling was also examining this city—utterly foreign to him…
Parks, streetlights, kites, towers… Compared to this, the seven districts truly were as backward as factory dormitories. Beyond the bare necessities of survival, they had nothing. This place actually resembled a livable city—one much closer to the "cities" of the previous era in Chen Ling’s memories.
"No wonder everyone wants to enter Aurora City," Chen Ling chuckled softly.
Rustling sounds came from below as disheveled figures cautiously peeked out from the train doors, nervously surveying their surroundings. Most of their faces were frostbitten or burned, their clothes tattered—they looked every bit like refugees.
"Aurora City… We really made it into Aurora City!"
"Dad… it’s so beautiful here! There are so many colorful birds in the sky!"
"We’re saved! My child is saved!"
"So this is Aurora City…"
"…"
The injured with broken legs, the mother clutching her dying child, the man covered in burns, the girl so starved she could barely stand… One by one, they stepped off the train under the crowd’s gaze. Their eyes held not just joy but also confusion and unease.
They were like savages emerging from the wilderness, stepping into a city for the first time. Everything around them was unfamiliar—the people wore clothes they had never seen before, their faces clean, their hands free of scars and calluses… In the distance stretched endless rows of houses and streets.
At the same time, the citizens of Aurora City behind the barricade whispered among themselves as they observed the newcomers… For most of them, this was also their first glimpse of the world beyond the walls.
The people inside and outside the city stared at each other across the enforcers’ human barricade, the stark contrast between their two worlds laid bare in this moment.
Then, a series of crisp clicks shattered the fragile silence.
Countless gun barrels rose from among the enforcers, all trained on the blood-red figure atop the train—as if facing a mortal enemy!