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Chapter 186 The Second New Paris
The tracer rounds, accompanied by a piercing silencing sound, swept over their heads, exploding into bursts of flame.

If you enter the time-stop perspective at this moment, you can see that there are also a large number of ordinary warheads mixed in with these tracer rounds. Apart from not emitting light, they are just as deadly as tracer rounds. The delayed fuse will cause them to explode at a fixed altitude, and the countless flying shrapnel is enough to destroy the incoming fighter jet.

Chen Xuan had never used the Divine Eye Technique so frequently before. He used two Qi swords to deflect the rapidly flying bullets in front of him, while the other six swords covered his and Elori's heads to prevent them from being hit by shrapnel. He also adjusted the position of the Qi swords to protect them according to their direction of movement every second.

The three of them fell faster than in free fall.

Shrapnel struck the sword like a storm, bursting forth in a series of fiery bursts!

Just as Chen Xuan could feel the softness of the sword blade entering his body, he could also hear the mournful cry of the Qi Sword at this moment—although the Thousand Thoughts Sword had no pain sensation, the actual feedback to Chen Xuan was that his spiritual energy in his body dropped rapidly.

In addition to the energy consumed by the Divine Eye Technique, Chen Xuan felt dizzy and lightheaded in less than twenty seconds.

He never imagined that he could withstand the strafing of anti-aircraft guns all by himself.

Twenty seconds was enough time for Liu Shuyue to plummet to the ground.

The roar of the machine guns came to an abrupt halt.

The streets were lined with numerous houses, which acted as a barrier, causing the enemy's attacks to lose their target.

Seeing that Chen Xuan's face was a little pale, Liu Shuyue immediately said, "Don't cast any more spells. If you run out of spiritual energy, it will damage your foundation."

After saying that, she bent down, put Chen Xuan's two arms on her shoulders, and carried him on her back.

The latter wanted to say that he could still walk, but seeing how effortlessly Liu Shuyue walked, and considering that it would indeed save a lot of effort, he simply went along with her suggestion and reached out to put his arm around her.

"And you? Are you alright?" Chen Xuan asked Elori.

The girl nodded quickly. She looked a little frightened, but she was unharmed.

Not everyone has the opportunity to experience what it feels like to have high-explosive warheads exploding one after another in their head.

It's no wonder she was frightened.

Although they had escaped the direct hits of the anti-aircraft guns, the crisis was not over. Once they could no longer fly, the enemy gained the speed advantage, and the annoying buzzing sound returned.

The three left the Champs-Élysées and plunged into the winding alleyways beside it, intending to use the complex terrain to shake off their enemies. Along the way, Liu Shuyue set up various formations, including the Maze Formation and the Hidden Dragon Formation, but the insect-faced monsters were always able to pinpoint their location, even if they hid inside houses.

Chen Xuan now realized the situation was tricky.

Individual enemies are not very strong, but their numbers are too great, and if the fight drags on, they will eventually falter.

If they take to the air, they'll be targeted by anti-aircraft guns, and their fate might be even worse than in ground combat.

Now, insect-faced people are blocking their way from all sides of the neighborhood, and there are also flying scouts in the sky, so their range of movement is getting smaller and smaller.

The three of them were suddenly caught in a dilemma.

"We must break through again." Liu Shuyue suddenly stopped and said resolutely, "While I still have spiritual energy, I should be able to protect you."

“Fly,” Elori agreed. “I will try my best to take care of myself.”

However, at that moment, a rusty manhole cover in the middle of the path was lifted up. Chen Xuan almost reached out and stuck his Qi sword into the gap before he realized that there was a person hiding under the manhole cover!

The man peeked out from under a gas mask and waved at them, "Viens ici, vite!"

Before Chen Xuan could understand, Elori excitedly grabbed his hand, "He's calling us over!"

Is it in French?
Seeing that Chen Xuan was still hesitating, the other party took off the mask and goggles, revealing human eyes.

"Je ne suis pas un ver!"

Even without an angel translating, he could roughly guess what the other person meant—this person was trying to prove that they were not an insect.

The sound of the pursuers' wings was already close at hand.

Chen Xuan nodded to Liu Shuyue, and the three of them moved closer together. Seeing this, the other party quickly put on his mask, crawled out of the well, and let them enter the well first.

The opening wasn't narrow, and there were iron ladders along the walls, making it easy to slide all the way to the bottom. Once all three had reached the bottom, the stranger closed the well cover, then slid down to the ground last. He then took three rings from his pouch and handed them to them. "Mettez-le!" Elori exclaimed in surprise, "These are... the Rings of the Mind?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Xuan suddenly realized why neither the invisibility talisman nor the illusion array could help them escape the pursuit. It turned out that the enemy was not tracking them by sight, smell, or hearing, but by some kind of telepathic ability.

The ring was just an ordinary brass ring, with a small bulge in the center, as if it were wrapped around something.

Chen Xuan put it on his wrist and immediately felt a faint coolness coming from the point of contact with his skin.

Seeing that all three were wearing rings, the man finally felt relieved. He turned on the overhead light and pointed to himself.

“Viens avec moi”

Elori volunteered to translate, saying, "He said, 'Come with me.'"

The three walked silently through the waterways. This place may have once provided drainage for the city, but it had long been abandoned; the ground was completely dry, and the walls were riddled with cracks of varying depths from plant roots. At first, they could only move forward by bending over, but after walking about a hundred meters, they came to a confluence of waterways, where the space suddenly opened up considerably.

In the middle of a ditch that is three or four meters high and more than ten meters wide, there is a cable car.

"Go inside," the man said.

There were no cables or wheels on the cable car, so how could it possibly move? With that thought in mind, Chen Xuan calmly got in.

Regardless, this person helped me out of trouble, so I should give him more trust.

After everyone boarded the cable car, the man stood at the front and operated it for a while. Suddenly, red lights lit up on the surrounding walls. Then, two thick steel gates slowly rose from the ground, cutting off the entire ditch from one end to the other!

There's electricity here?
Chen Xuan raised an eyebrow in surprise, and this door didn't seem like a facility that should exist in an abandoned city.

No... Even in Paris before it was abandoned, it's impossible to install such an exaggerated automatic door in the sewers.

It was clearly built to target those insect-faced monsters.

A moment later, the concrete ground beneath the cable car slid open to both sides, revealing a huge and deep tunnel below.

The cable car dipped slightly, and the clicking sound of the locking mechanism engaging came from the bottom.

Pulled by the winch, the carriage began to descend slowly, entering the real underground world!

With the help of the indicator lights, Chen Xuan could clearly see that this angled tunnel was not at all like a deserted place. Its concrete walls were solid and smooth, and there were dense pipes installed above the corners. Every ten meters or so, there was a recessed ceiling light. At a glance, it looked like a starry river avenue.

Only then did the man breathe a sigh of relief.

He took off his hood and mask, revealing his face.

Chen Xuan's first impression of him was that he looked like a typical European: short, light brown curly hair, a big nose, long eyes, around thirty years old, with a slightly cynical smile on his lips.

"My name is Raphael, and yours is Raphael."

The three of them politely introduced themselves.

“You know, seeing living people in old Paris is a rare thing,” Raphael laughed. “When I first noticed you, my colleagues were betting on how long it would take for you to mutate.”

"Mutation?" Chen Xuan asked. "Will they become like those insect-faced people?"

“That’s right. When a person is exposed on the surface, they will change within two hours at most, let alone you who have approached their lair.” The man nodded. “I know you have many questions in your hearts, and my compatriots are just as curious about you…that’s why you were able to meet me.”

What he meant was that there was a reason for offering his help.

Chen Xuan didn't mind exchanging information; it was better than being completely in the dark. "Where does this cable car lead?"

“Of course, it’s our city.” Raphael walked to the window and opened his arms—the cable car was just emerging from the tunnel, and the surrounding space suddenly expanded a hundredfold, with the brightness also increasing dramatically, as if jumping from night to day! The dome was covered with strips of lights, resembling long, glowing dragons, with countless flying machines shuttling back and forth around them, appearing busy and orderly; below the cable car, there were towering buildings, and vehicles and pedestrians flowed endlessly on the roads.

“…Welcome to the Second New Paris,” he said, enunciating each word clearly.

(End of this chapter)