Welcome to the Ability Shop!

Chapter 267 Victorious Return
The retreat was arguably the most uncertain part of the entire plan; recalling guests once a day was far from enough to take everyone with them.

The only way is to open the store inside a building!
Chen Xuan immediately opened the roller shutter door, restoring the shop to business operations. After that, there wasn't much he could do. When the shop would be able to respond to customer inquiries, and to what extent the doors would be open, were all unknowns.

After receiving the assembly notice, Lin Qing did not leave the core computer room immediately.

"Besides repairing, you should also be able to create, right?"

She asked the question while looking at the big screen.

She was now increasingly convinced that the strange device used by the repair shop in the second new Paris was N959.

The store definitely doesn't have any prosthetic parts that match her.

However, her arm was still repaired, and the simulation components were further enhanced, which was entirely its own creation.

“No, that won’t work.” But N959 disagreed, “My mission is to repair. If there’s no template or I don’t know the original function of the object, I can only return it as is.”

“Okay.” Lin Qing decided to rephrase it, “There must be an energy storage device in this building.”

In the future, any data-driven building will be equipped with a UPS-like device to ensure a stable power supply.

"Can you combine them together to create a super-large energy storage device?"

"Sure," N959 replied readily. "Enhancing performance is also a form of repair."

“Very good. Integrate it into the ammunition depot, and then install an overload switch. As for the template... just replicate it as an electrically triggered mega-bomb.”

There must also be a whole set of storage facilities for weapons and ammunition inside the building, which are then transported to various defensive turrets and armed robots via the building's internal transport system.

“I protest! This stuff threatens my health!” N959 shouted. “Even N21 and N5 wouldn’t push me to this point!”

"Really not?" Lin Qing asked back.

"Uh..." Its imposing manner suddenly vanished. "I guess... I guess..."

"Alright, I won't leave you here, and this isn't your final destination," she said bluntly. "As for your body... there will be better options later. But if you don't follow my instructions, do you think those demons won't be able to drag you out of the building after we leave?"

N959 immediately changed her tune, saying, "I didn't say it definitely wouldn't work, you can't lie to Wonders!"

It must be said that sometimes they are easier to communicate with than people.

Lin Qing then left the core computer room and returned to the lobby on the first floor via the same route.

Liu Shuyue, Ji Yun, and Liuli have arrived.

Through the broken gate, they saw that the outside was completely surrounded by various police vehicles, and a cordon had been set up on the open ground, with a large number of armed police officers hiding behind the vehicles, ready to fight.

"Why don't they attack?" Fu Jiaolu asked with some regret.

In the drill, the hunting team was tasked with the primary responsibility of the initial interception. As long as Chen Xuan did not announce a retreat, they had to guard the entrance on the first floor and prevent anyone from entering the building. This time, they were not carrying rifles, but rather two rocket launchers per person. In the words of the Immortal Master, they did not have a weapon advantage in this operation, so they had to rely on caliber suppression.

This new weapon is much more powerful; a single shot can blast a house to smithereens, making it a favorite of the horned deer. They thought they could finally put it to good use this time, but the enemy didn't even bother to come in.

"They're waiting for more specialized riot police to arrive." Lin Qing wasn't as optimistic. These people definitely already knew the attackers weren't ordinary thugs. Regular police were powerless to handle this level of conflict; things would only escalate step by step, from riot police to rapid reaction forces, and finally the regular army…

If the other side is willing to blow up the entire building to take them down, it will be difficult for Liu Shuyue and Ji Yun to protect everyone.

"Now that everyone's here, let's go upstairs." As she made the arrangements, she instructed Xiao Lü to move all the armed robots into the lobby to slow down the enemy's assault.

The lobby on the first floor will definitely have to be abandoned.

Once heavy firepower intervenes, the best strategy is to use the building's structure to maneuver against the enemy. The headquarters building also has many turrets and traps, so why not make the most of them?

Liuli tossed the burlap sack to the hunting team members and stood at the back of the group, knife in hand. Just as everyone was running into the evacuation stairwell, two large holes suddenly blasted open in the outer wall of the hall, and two drones entered through the holes, exploding directly above the hall!

Sparks flew everywhere, the lights in the hall went out instantly, and a large number of the robots that had just arrived collapsed.

N959 screamed, "My eyes!"

"What happened?" Liu Shuyue asked, puzzled.

"Don't worry about it, just keep going!" Lin Qing realized that the enemy had just launched an EMP attack. The fact that they could shrink EMP bombs to the size of those that could be carried by portable drones showed that this world's technology wasn't entirely useless. Fortunately, her entire body was made of military-grade cybernetic implants, which provided her with an extremely high level of protection against electromagnetic pulses, so she was basically unaffected.

However, the other side clearly didn't expect to eliminate the intruders by firing an EMP into the lobby on the first floor. At most, an electromagnetic pulse of this magnitude could cover one or two floors; it was merely a prelude to the attack.

Sure enough, with a muffled thud, a tracked armored vehicle smashed through the wall and rushed into the hall, kicking up clouds of dust. Immediately afterward, more than ten fully armed armored soldiers followed the path cleared by the vehicle, marching in in a line. They were completely encased in powered armor, standing easily three meters tall, and their guns had thick, long barrels; their appearance alone suggested considerable power.

The robots that weren't destroyed by the EMP also opened fire on the armored soldiers without hesitation, and the two sides immediately engaged in a fierce battle.

Seeing the newly deployed police force, Lin Qing felt relieved.

After being caught off guard, Paris police immediately raised their response level, but they didn't realize what kind of people they were fighting. The power armor was good on both offense and defense, but only against ordinary rioters.

"It's up to you now." Lin Qing patted Liuli's shoulder and then retreated into the stairwell.

Liuli nodded and returned to the hall.

She gripped the hilt of the sword with one hand, lowered her body slightly, and then unleashed a long-awaited strike—this time, the feeling of swinging the sword was superior to any before, as if she had entered a new realm: it was not a strike for stability, nor a fulfillment of duty, but rather a strike she wanted to deliver, a strike she wanted to receive someone's praise.

For a swordsman, even the most exquisite skills are a pity if no one appreciates them.

Fine white threads wove a dense net.

The next second, countless flashes of light swept across the entire hall, slicing through not only the two sides engaged in the melee, but also the ceiling, pillars, beams, and walls—everything was cleaved in two! Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of reinforced concrete tearing apart, the massive entrance hall collapsed with a deafening roar! The ceiling, over ten meters high, plummeted from the top, crashing heavily onto the slashed floor, causing the first floor to collapse under the weight, burying everything movable underground!

As a result, anyone else who wants to enter the building will have to clear the rubble first.

Liuli sheathed her sword with satisfaction and turned to leave.

On the other side, Chen Xuan suddenly saw that the walkway outside the store had turned into a dark corridor, and the emergency evacuation signs were emitting a faint green light.

Connected!
It doesn't matter which customer's follow-up request the store responded to.

But why did the power suddenly go out over there?
Without thinking twice, he rushed outside the store, contacting Lin Qing on his walkie-talkie while trying to confirm which floor the store was located on.

"Hey, can you hear me!?"

“I can hear you, we’re all together!” It wasn’t Lin Qing who answered him, but Liu Shuyue. “Ajiu sensed you, you’re not far from us, about thirty meters above us. Wait a moment, we’ll be there soon!”

By the way... Ji Yun's Heavenly Cloud Skill can cover the entire building, which saves him the trouble of locating it.

A vertical distance of thirty meters, or eight or nine stories, was a mere minute's walk for the villagers, who moved with incredible agility. Soon, the hunting team and others retreated into the shops, followed by Liu Shuyue and her group, who were bringing up the rear. Meanwhile, muffled explosions echoed intermittently within the building, indicating that riot police were clearing more entrances and launching a full-scale assault from multiple floors.

But they clearly couldn't catch up with Chen Xuan.

After Liuli returned to the store, Lin Qing smashed the cover of an emergency evacuation sign nearby, took out N959, and then gave the order to the overload power storage device.

Unseen by the public underground, an extremely bright ball of light broke through the outer shell of the container, carrying a stream of high-temperature plasma as it rushed towards the densely packed ammunition boxes around it.

What happened next was no longer their concern.

Chen Xuan pulled down the roller shutter, shutting out all the noise.

(End of this chapter)