"You're helping me, right? I don't like this feeling."

John replied flatly, glancing at the rearview mirror.

The Internet Surveillance hasn't given up the attack.

But they are indeed compromising, most notably, the all-weather V9 hovercar overhead has disappeared.

Ground troops have also been massively redeployed.

Kenichi Sora is serious.

The Internet Surveillance must breach the Starlink firewall within a limited time, and hunt down a "dragon" in cyberspace, otherwise, they will be hit by a satellite.

Cyberspace is filled with countless casualties.

Many legendary hackers have been alarmed, crawling out from deeper, more mysterious corners, linking into the intranet to become part of the big event.

John didn't ask in detail, but he had a hunch:

There's something else helping Kenichi Sora, otherwise, just with that digital soul soaked in virtual games, it wouldn't have caused such a big commotion, nor withstood the ever-increasing hacker legion.

Buzz——

The sound of something cutting through the air interrupted John's wild thoughts.

Two "Eagle Falcon HC-European Edition" drones were chasing them.

They are the new active equipment of Internet Surveillance, extremely fast, swooping past glass curtain walls in a crossed spiral, weaving through the gaps of buildings, locking onto Silver Rider 577's vehicular systems from a kilometer away.

But in just one round, they gave up the remote hack.

Black Light remains sturdy.

What followed was the most primitive bullet barrage, the Eagle Falcon HC switched to peak light machine guns, sweeping along the route John was escaping.

The crystal of Silver Rider 577 got scratched,

The honeycomb coating malfunctioned, flickering like it was speeding through a storm.

This type of bullet, though not as large in caliber as the hovercar's weapons, carries electro-corrosion and intelligent tracking, and with quantity stacking, even the most precise systems would be physically compromised.

The drones are fast and agile in turning.

The high city sky is also more spacious than asphalt roads.

John couldn't shake them off or shoot them down, he could only watch the vehicle's error reports, letting the armor wear accumulate continuously.

[Focus on driving.]

Sora returned.

Almost simultaneously, the gunshots outside the window stopped.

The two drones crashed one after the other onto the asphalt road, scattering debris everywhere.

John took the opportunity to switch routes, avoiding the blockade.

The surroundings quieted down considerably.

He even found time to switch radio channels, taking a glance at the city outside the window.

The municipal administration was alarmed.

Highways are completely closed.

The situation of the Starlink's fall is being broadcasted on every public screen.

ECPD's armored vehicles have rolled out of the warehouse.

A swarm of "black birds" flew in the sky—emergency groups, firefighters, news broadcasters, illegal media, and even routine transport drones were all mixed in.

The Internet Surveillance projected road surveillance onto city billboards.

Many people have noticed, in between crisis news, there's a wanted notice.

Too many eyes.

There's absolutely no escape.

So Kenichi Sora decided to divert the public's attention a bit.

Zzz, zzzzzz, bang!

Centered around apartment number 013 on Dan Street, automatic vending machines on both sides, smart vehicles, and advertising projections hovering on building surfaces all turned into mosaics, exploding with sparks after an extremely piercing electric sound!

Two signal relay stations burned down.

The West District's network fell into a semi-paralysis, forced to switch signals, relying on the municipal backup server for operation.

Half of the drones fell.

The other half were mostly drawn in by the sudden chaos.

The city was in chaos.

A reminder sounded from the car's voice system.

Dang, dang——

The Special Event Handling Action Team (SAT) was on duty.

The city's bottom line was touched.

Ordinary citizens, even usual police, have to avoid the area reported on the news in the shortest time possible, otherwise, they would be turned into mince meat.

John switched the radio channel, raising an eyebrow even more.

The army stationed at the Border Wall was mobilized.

Eden City was experiencing its first military seizure and full lockdown since independence.

John lowered his body, and along with a string of peculiar whistling sounds, looked up, unexpectedly seeing a pitch-black bat-wing fighter jet sweep across the clear sky.

A genuine military product.

It drew a curve, destroying an approaching satellite, and only a few seconds later did he hear the terrifying explosion sound, the blazing remnants plummeting with thick smoke onto the wasteland.

Whoosh——

A missile flew in from afar.

John never served in the military, but anyone with eyesight would recognize that distinctive tail flame as a missile.

It practically rose from the horizon.

The explosion target was far away, with only a faint tremor reaching.

[The European Space Agency is involved too.]

Sora was explaining.

His tone was flat, his voice without emotion.

John didn't speak, silently racing down the street, passing through those congested, honking, raging vehicles.

The speed exceeded 150, rushing into the beltway.

Silver Rider 577 was still accelerating, each turn making the side shock absorbers fully compress, and the tire screeching becoming sharper.

The citizens were evacuating.

The city was going crazy.

John could even see some idiots smashing things, even extremists holding hand-written signs declaring a "new round of corporate wars" standing around police-controlled checkpoints.

Beep beep.

Buzz——

The vehicular system was taken over.

The speedometer numbers plummeted.

Sora folded the bed of the Silver Rider 577, wind noise isolation initiated.

The city's clamor was instantly isolated outside, leaving only the vehicular data on the car window glass, and the gently swaying blue ripples.

[The operation is about to begin, you cannot die in a car accident.]

A mechanical voice was announcing.

John didn't rush to respond but shook his head, sighed.

"You're crazy."

Outside the window, it was already a sky full of yellow sand.

Silver Rider 577, taken over by AI and driving automatically, was heading towards the wasteland, the route becoming more and more familiar.