Sir! Don't close the net!

A piercing gunshot rang out.

Chapter 155 The Outbreak of Fog

Carly crashed heavily to the ground, her hands scraping across the rough surface, her soft skin instantly torn open. A searing pain shot through her arms and into her brain. Her body instinctively jerked up, and what she saw was Sherry's body, thrown into the air, and splattered blood.

The cheers abruptly stopped, and both the homeless and the residents of San Die Quan stared blankly at the scene before them.

Carly knelt on the ground, staring blankly at Sherry lying not far away, her hands trembling as she raised them.

"Snow……"

"Shirley! Who fired the shot!"

Sitch, who had rushed over, stared wide-eyed. As his face became covered in blood, his expression twisted in anger. He charged out, grabbed the nearest homeless man by the collar, and roared.

Is that you?

The homeless man, terrified by Sitch's frightening appearance, even forgot that he had a gun. His legs went weak, and he immediately pointed at the residents of the San Die Quan who were also stunned on the side where the gunshot had come from.

"No, it wasn't me! It was them! They were the ones who fired the shots!"

Sitch immediately shook off the homeless man, his eyes bloodshot, and walked straight toward the residents of the Triassic Circle. The lingering smell of gunpowder in the air and the residents' guilty-looking attempts to evade him further aroused Sitch's nerves, making his expression even more ferocious and terrifying.

Hey—look!

"boom--"

Sicchi paused, his eyes taking in the still-smoking gun barrel and the boy holding the shotgun, his face filled with fear, seemingly still a minor. Sicchi's gaze slowly moved downwards, and on the boy's chest, bloodstains bloomed like roses. Sicchi felt a chill run down his spine, his knees buckled, and he collapsed to the ground with a thud.

The terrified boy instinctively pointed his gun at the homeless men who were frightened by the sudden shooting and pulled the trigger again. But this time he was unlucky; the bullet grazed a homeless man's face, drawing blood.

The searing pain was like the whisper of death brushing past him. The homeless man's pupils dilated, his head swaying uncontrollably from side to side, his right hand pointing in the boy's direction. "They fired! They wanted to kill us!"

A palpable fear spread through the smoke-filled air. The homeless, frozen in place, frantically pulled out the guns hidden on their backs. The residents of San Die Quan, also gripped by fear, drew their weapons and frantically pulled the triggers. The piercing gunshots shattered the balance of San Die Quan, and smog silently rose from the smoke.

Carly struggled to crawl to Sherry's side. Seeing the blood spreading, Carly panicked. She lifted Sherry's upper body, held her neck, and shouted repeatedly, "Sherry! Sherry, are you alright? Can you hear me?!"

Sherry's dimming pupils twitched, and her blood-stained right hand rose to touch Carly's cheek. "Carly, it's been so long... Where have you been all this time? You haven't come back..."

Carly felt a tightness in her heart and clung tightly to Sherry's gradually cooling body, curling up little by little.

Blinding flames, acrid smoke, roars that could drown out even the gunfire, screams, and a cacophony that gradually engulfed both of them—she...

The world that has been revealed is frantically squeezing her sanity.

"Carly... let's go..."

Sherry whispered in Carly's ear.

"Starting over..."

“We can’t leave,” Carly said, biting her lip hard.

The King in Yellow, the raven-mask-like insects in the underground factory, and the creatures that were modified into commodities.

They can't leave; that's just how hopeless this world is.

Shirley stared blankly at the sky, her right hand laboriously raised and pointed towards the city wall that isolated the Triple Circle from the outside world.

Why would she do something so foolish?

I don't know, but I just couldn't put my mind at ease. When I saw it, my body moved.

"Leaving this world... I'll definitely find it..."

"Roar--"

Inhuman roars rose like waves, and monsters, seemingly fused with the guns, opened their arms and charged at the surrounding buildings. Unoccupied buildings were easily smashed down, and the bullets swept out pulverized the collapsed houses.

William held tightly to his wife and child, who were trembling with fear from the terrifying noise.

“Mr. Puss...you will definitely be alright.”

Just then, a monster looked at the house where William was and immediately charged on all fours. But just as it was about to crash into the wall, a figure rushed out from the haze. A right hand wearing a black leather glove reached out, grabbed the monster's chin, and pulled it down. The monster spun around like a top and crashed heavily to the ground.

The monster shook its head from side to side, and with a heavy breath, it raised its head. Its cloudy eyes reflected a cold, strange raven mask and a lantern that shone with a blue, eerie light.

As if encountering a natural enemy, the monster shook its head left and right, immediately changing direction and rushing towards the Jurassic Circle, which was not covered by smog. The same thing kept happening in the smog-covered Triassic Circle. Plague doctors seemed to be the embodiment of smog, omnipresent, forcing all the monsters toward the walls of the Jurassic Circle.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

Inside the house decorated with lion patterns, Ryan sat with his legs crossed, whistling as he leisurely sliced ​​bread. The chaotic gunfire sounded like a grand musical movement, and he was enjoying it.

He wants to rise to the top; Carly must die, and her death must be meaningful.

Nothing is more meaningful than the leader of a revolution dying in a victory parade.

This meaning comes at a price. Whether it's a homeless person or a resident of the San Die Quan neighborhood, one side will inevitably lose control and go berserk. Once one side goes berserk, the other side will naturally follow suit, inevitably escalating into a gunfight. Just thinking about a gunfight started by a novice using a gun for the first time is terrifying. They might be killed by their own people in the next second. The best way to protect yourself and get the most benefit is to hide.

After the gunfight ended, he ran to Nemo and cried his eyes out, becoming the new representative of tragedy that Nemo needed. In order to make the performance more realistic, he did not tell his underlings how things would turn out.

Ryan had considered the possibility that the gunfight could escalate out of control, but he only considered it and didn't take it to heart. How many guns did they have, and how many people were in the three-circle? Once the guns were gone and so many people had died, both sides would naturally cool down.

"My life is about to—"

Before Ryan could finish speaking, the entire house began to shake violently. With a piercing cracking sound, half of the defenses painted with lion patterns were forcibly torn down, and thick smog poured in, with shrill cries emerging from within.

"Boss, I'm not feeling well—"

"Boss, why are you completely unharmed?!"

"Boss—help me!"

One after another, deformed monsters emerged from the thick smog, reaching out their grotesque hands, crudely fused with metal, toward Ryan. One of the monsters had its nose collapsed for some unknown reason.

Fear exploded in Ryan's mind in the most silent and intense way. Calmness and confidence were thrown to the back of his mind. Ryan threw everything at him and screamed as he rushed into the smog. But after running a few steps, Ryan slowed down because in front of him, there were similar monsters everywhere in the smog.

Chapter 156 Collapse

The world as Ryan knew it was shattered, both spiritually and physically. He couldn't understand what he was seeing. The streets were familiar, the sounds were familiar, but the people walking in them were no longer the easy-to-bully residents of the Triassic Circle, but strange monsters. The little brother who called him had also become a bizarre body that he couldn't understand, calling his name and reaching out to him.

An inexplicable fear gradually built up and finally exploded. Ryan screamed and ran away, throwing his arms off the ground.

Several streaks of deep red light flashed through the smog, arms and legs flew up and fell down, and screams, pleas for mercy and roars were all drowned out by the thick smog.

Wilson Parr was also roaring in anger.

"How did it turn out like this! This is just a run-down civilian district! Guards! Where are the guards?!"

Count Wilson Parr did not disappoint Nemo's trust. He was a coward from beginning to end, unable to help and constantly spreading negative energy and dragging things down. If he could, Nemo really wanted to kick Count Wilson Parr out, but the thought of Count Wilson Parr screaming and running around, attracting more monsters, would really make him want to vomit blood.

"Is it an attack?! Are the Cult of Steam and Steel unwilling to accept losing control of the wasteland and have decided to wipe us all out?! Damn it! Those hypocrites!"

Wilson Parr couldn't help but curse, and then a monster rushed into the corridor with incredible speed, heading straight for their location. Wilson Parr immediately covered his head and begged for mercy, while Nemo, who was using the wall to cover his position, attacked the moment the monster rushed through the door.

The sharp knight's sword pierced the monster's neck, and Nemo swung it with the monster's own strength, splitting it in two. The gushing blood splattered all over the ceiling.

"Ugh—Nemo! Couldn't you have closed the door?!" Wilson Parr shifted his position to avoid the dripping blood, but he was still exposed in front of the open door, and any monster that appeared would be the first thing to see him.

“My dear uncle, now those monsters can find us, and we can’t escape. Instead of closing the door and trembling like a mouse, we should kill the monsters that come one by one.” Nemo kicked the body that had been split in two into a corner. Behind him were many other bodies in similar condition.

“What on earth is going on?” Wilson Parr complained, clutching his head.

"I don't know," Nemo said, resting his sword on his hand and adjusting his breathing.

According to his plan, Carly would be shot during the victory parade instigated by Ryan. Whether it was Ryan's men or the Triple Circle's men who did it, Carly's death would solidify the legitimacy of the homeless people's parade as a whole, making the homeless people the victims as a whole, and he could then more justifiably exploit the situation.

As for whether there would be any injuries due to excessive force during the process, he didn't care. There would be verbal conflicts, but once it reached a certain scale, Puss would definitely jump out to stop it. Puss was already certain when he first saw him that the man who called himself a righteous sheriff was such a ridiculous and easy person to manipulate. Since Puss jumped out, the other ridiculous self-defense force members who followed suit would also jump out.

The struggle will end when both sides are at their most resentful and have suffered the least damage.

At that time, whether they are residents of San Die Quan or homeless people, they will only resent the Self-Defense Forces.

After all... people always tend to bully the easy targets.

But things went wrong! Everything went wrong! The smog that should only appear at night appeared during the day, enveloping the entire Triassic Circle, and then these strange monsters appeared.

"hateful--"

Nemo gripped his knight's sword tightly, veins bulging on his forehead.

"Why did it turn out like this?!"

Wilson Palburn wanted to say something more, but Nemo's unusually ferocious expression made him give up the idea, and he crossed his arms and remained silent.

Time passed slowly, and as no more monsters appeared, Nemo began to worry. After hesitating for a while, Nemo got up and strode out. Wilson Parr immediately screamed and followed behind Nemo, his fat legs swaying behind him.

"Nemo! Nemo, stop! It's too dangerous outside! Who will protect me if you leave!"

Nemo not only didn't stop, but even quickened his pace, turning from a brisk walk into a run. He heard something breaking, and the closer he got to the exit, the clearer the cracking sound became.

Finally, Nemo burst out of the long-open gate. The eerie fog was still flowing, but Nemo couldn't help but turn his head to look behind him. His pupils dilated and shot straight into the sky. The city wall that completely separated the Triassic Circle and the Jurassic Circle into two worlds was covered with monsters he had killed. As the monsters crawled, huge cracks spread across the city wall.

"Nemo! Ha-ha-Nemo, wait for me! Get me out of here! Get me out of here and you'll be the new Wilson Parr!"

Wilson Parr, panting heavily, swayed his large body and reached out towards Nemo, but Nemo ignored him, staring blankly behind him with a dazed expression like a believer witnessing the collapse of their faith.

Since there were no signs of monsters around, Wilson Parr relaxed considerably, muttered to himself, turned his head, and then froze in place.

Huge boulders and grotesque monsters crashed down together, causing the city wall, which had stood for centuries like the rules of this world and had never changed, to collapse in their direction.

"boom--"

A heavy roar, accompanied by a gale, swept through the entire Jurassic Circle. Dante, who was leaning against the gate leading to the Cretaceous Circle with his gun in his arms and his eyes closed, stared wide-eyed, his face filled with disbelief.

The city walls, clearly visible from any corner of the Jurassic Circle, have begun to crumble.

"What...what's going on..."

The black train roared past, and even the hurricane that always caused the city walls to collapse could not make it sway for a moment.

On the train, Norman held a wine glass, his gaze fixed intently on the seemingly slow but actually rapidly crumbling city wall. From his vantage point, he had a panoramic view of the world beyond the wall. Although still obscured by the wall, Norman felt the world had become brighter, and he began to act impulsively.

"This is... what you wanted to tell me?"

Norman raised his glass towards the crumbling city wall, while black rats scurried across the exquisite wooden table.

Is this your goal?

"Planted in our minds are still unbroken walls, and even further into the distance."

What are your thoughts on the world?

Chapter 157 Until Death

Norman once heard a saying.

There have always been only wolves in this world, not dogs. Dogs are simply the result of humans constantly selecting and adjusting genes to meet their needs. But no matter how many times they evolve, the fact that they are wolves has never changed.