"Fireworks?"
Xu Mo halted in his tracks, his face full of astonishment. He could already guess what was about to happen next, but he hadn't expected the other party to be so audacious.
The two additional armed helicopters that had arrived for reinforcements maintained a cautious distance of about a hundred meters, unwilling to approach the unresponsive No. 1 helicopter.
At that moment, as the No. 1 armed helicopter faithfully executed its automatic takeoff sequence and ascended to fifty meters, the thin wires attached below finally tugged away the wooden cover.
Almost simultaneously, with a deafening thunderclap, a bolt of blue-white lightning as thick as a barrel suddenly struck down from the sky, hitting the rotor of the No. 1 helicopter with pinpoint accuracy. A blinding electric flash, as dazzling as a miniature sun, flickered for an instant before all its circuits burned out. The helicopter, now trailing wisps of blue smoke, began plummeting downward.
Upon impact, the crash triggered a chain explosion—its fuel tank and onboard missiles erupting instantly. A small mushroom cloud shot into the sky, with flames soaring dozens of meters high, painting half the heavens in a crimson glow. The violent shockwave radiated outward, toppling fragile vegetation within a hundred-meter radius. Even the two approaching helicopters were nearly flipped over by the sudden turbulence.
This terrifying lightning strike shocked everyone on site. The military command center, having already lost track of its target, dared not risk more multimillion-dollar helicopters or dozens of lives. They immediately abandoned further search efforts. After recovering the unconscious pilot from under the roadbed, they hastily withdrew to a nearby air force base.
"What… was that?"
Xu Mo was also shaken to the core by the unexpected thunderbolt. Though he was certain it had something to do with the jelly-like white object the cat-faced woman had planted earlier, he couldn't fathom what kind of Apocalyptic Shard could summon such a devastating force. Even the Tyrant Queen, at full strength, would have a hard time taking that strike head-on…
"Like it? Here, have one."
The white-robed man casually materialized an identical "white jelly" in his hand and tossed it to Xu Mo.
Recalling the terrifying lightning bolt from before, Xu Mo nearly flinched and dropped the "white jelly" out of sheer reflex.
"Relax. It's perfectly safe unless planted," the white-robed man chuckled at Xu Mo's pale face. "This thing is called 'Taisui.' It's an Apocalyptic Shard-derived item produced through manufacturing-type abilities. It takes three yellow or green shards to create one, and while it's quite powerful, its application is a bit awkward. It's great for scaring people but not that useful in actual combat…"
Xu Mo still had no idea why this white-robed man was helping him repeatedly, but he could tell that the man possessed far more shards than he did. Since he already owed him a favor, he didn't mind owing a little more. Nodding his thanks, Xu Mo stored the "Taisui" in his shard space before asking, "I won't be polite then. How do I use it?"
"You've never heard the saying 'Provoking the Thunder God'?" the man smirked. "Just cover the top of this thing with anything, and the moment it's uncovered or removed, a lightning strike will hit within a one-meter radius. But remember—this is a one-time-use item. Once buried, it can't be moved again."
Listening to the man's explanation, Xu Mo suddenly recalled the silver-gray cubes produced by his enhanced "Shaved Ice Machine." Since this man seemed knowledgeable about Apocalyptic Shards, perhaps he could identify those cubes' real purpose.
"I have another Apocalyptic Shard-derived item here. Can you tell me what it does?" Xu Mo asked, flipping a matchbox-sized silver-gray cube into the man's hand.
The white-robed man examined the cube for a moment, then suddenly materialized a pitch-black Type 92 military semi-automatic pistol. He attached a silencer—apparently another shard-derived item—then fired off all forty-five energy rounds in the magazine. Afterward, he pressed the silver-gray cube against the gun's frame.
Like water being absorbed by a sponge, the silver-gray cube instantly fused into the weapon upon contact. The man fired another ten rounds before the gun finally ran dry.
Watching the entire process unfold, Xu Mo immediately realized—those silver-gray cubes were magazines for Apocalyptic Shard-enhanced firearms!
"Congratulations. That's a very useful manufacturing ability," the white-robed man said, noticing Xu Mo's subtle but unmistakable excitement. Yet, rather than showing any greed, he simply stowed away his weapon and asked casually, "Is your manufacturing ability still at a low level? A ten-round magazine is the smallest I've ever seen."
"Uh… yeah. Since I didn't know what it was for before, I never bothered upgrading it," Xu Mo admitted.
"How many of these magazines do you have right now?"
Although Xu Mo wasn't sure why the man was asking, he answered truthfully, "Besides the one you just used, I have nineteen more."
"That makes 190 rounds…" The white-robed man suddenly tossed him three unactivated green shards and said, "I'll buy all your magazines for these shards."
One shard's worth of material sold for three shards—after subtracting the cost, that was a 200% profit. Xu Mo had no complaints about the deal. He pocketed the shards and handed the remaining nineteen magazines to the man.
After stowing the magazines, the white-robed man glanced at his wristwatch and sighed regretfully. "Sorry, it's getting late. I have things to do, so I'll leave it at this for today… Be careful from now on. Even if you're not a wanted man, we independent Apocalyptic Shard wielders are still seen as major threats by the government. They'll do everything they can to eliminate us."
"Thanks, I'll remember that… Will we meet again?" Xu Mo asked, smiling in gratitude. He never intended to be a lone wanderer—having more allies among fellow wielders was always a good thing.
"I'd love to say something profound like 'Fate will bring us together again,' but honestly, I'm no mystical sage. I'd rather not invite a lightning strike upon myself," the man joked. Then, summoning his broad bronze sword, he stepped onto it and began levitating. Looking down at Xu Mo, he added, "Go to the first floor of the Commercial World building in Nanzheng City. Show an Apocalyptic Shard to the janitor outside the restroom, and he'll take you to a place called the World Fruit Trade Alliance. If you're lucky, we might meet there again."
"The World Fruit Trade Alliance?" Xu Mo smirked. So, the white-robed man was a member as well—it seemed he was fated to be entangled with that organization.
One man in flowing white robes soared away on his sword, while another, shrouded in shadows, slipped into the forest. Soon, both the white-robed man and the cat-faced woman had vanished into the vast mountains.
Alone, Xu Mo couldn't be certain whether the military would conduct another search of the area. After orienting himself, he took the safest route and swiftly left the hillside.
The citywide lockdown in Shang Shan City lasted only two days before the government buried the incident under a flood of distraction campaigns. The missing persons were never mentioned again.
The only visible change was that the Liangyuan Theater had been razed to the ground. A perimeter wall was erected around the site, and every day, workers and machinery half-heartedly constructed what was clearly a shoddy cover-up building. Meanwhile, a new theater and civic plaza were already breaking ground at a different location.