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The massive commotion of the spaceship departure also attracted many subway station residents and members of the Fireline Band.

"Why did they just fly off?"

"No idea... they were still building the camp this morning."

"Damn it, aren’t they afraid of attracting the Celestial Patrol?"

"The question is, where can they go? The spaceship can’t even leave the Jiang City limits..."

The sounds of confused and suspicious discussions rose and fell.

Chen Xuan’s heart sank to the bottom.

The mechanism’s response was far too quick... If calculated by time, even if they detected something wrong with Lin, they shouldn’t have had enough time to verify.

"Single-direction check mechanism," Lin Qing suddenly said in a low voice. "There must be an issue with the single-direction check!"

"What’s that?"

"It’s a kind of communication check conducted by one party without the other party’s knowledge. It could be messages sent automatically at intervals, or a connection built with abilities..." she quickly explained, "It’s meant to prevent traitors and avoid the troops being picked off one by one. The rebel special task forces have used similar techniques."

Was it because Lin didn’t know he was being checked that he didn’t notice anything?

No... Even if Lin knew about this, it wouldn’t be stored in the important parts of memory. When faced with a rush of massive information, it’s normal for him not to notice such minor details.

What surprised Chen Xuan the most was that the mechanism didn’t even attempt to save Lin.

What if she’s still alive but severely injured?

Or could it simply be a mistake in the check mechanism?

They didn’t even verify the information’s credibility before leaving their teammate behind and moving away?

"Yuyan, you’re all here." Huang Gou squeezed out of the crowd and quickly walked to their side, followed by Ji, who was obviously attracted by the commotion.

"Why did the mechanism leave without a word? Didn’t they promise to help us deal with the phantom subway?" Ji grumbled discontentedly.

"The phantom subway plan... I’m afraid it has to be put on hold." Lin Qing hesitated for a moment before saying, "From the beginning, the mechanism never intended to help us; they just wanted to use us for an experiment."

"Experiment?" Ji tilted his head. "Yuyan, you’re acting strange. You’ve been attacking the mechanism since you saw us today, but before, you supported the band cooperating with them."

Lin Qing was speechless.

There was no way she could tell them she regained her memories.

"I trust Yuyan," Huang Gou said firmly. "There must be something difficult for her to disclose, but she wouldn’t harm us."

"What’s the use of your trust," Ji scoffed. "We’ve prepared for this for years; it’s not something we can stop just because she said so."

"Then what should we do? We can’t just ignore Yuyan’s warning."

"How about..." The young girl hesitantly looked at Lin Qing, "You continue staying in the Fireline Band? As long as you’re in the team, what you say will definitely be heard."

"That’s another matter," Lin Qing said with difficulty. "Anyway, don’t rush into action. Wait and observe the mechanism’s movements first."

Observe... the movements.

Chen Xuan frowned. He truly didn’t understand why the mechanism would leave the Binjiang Garden Subway Station without investigating. Since they completed the Curse ceremony, not acting immediately suggested they wanted to see the effect of the band’s encirclement of the phantom subway. But fleeing now would mean admitting there’s an issue?

With the effects not yet clear, how will the mechanism carry out the subsequent plan?

Woo——Woo——!

Just then, a piercing alarm suddenly echoed throughout the area.

The crowd’s discussions were drowned out.

"What’s going on now?" Huang Gou scratched his head.

"It’s the subway station’s emergency alarm," Lin Qing immediately said. "There was a similar alarm when a thunder phenomenon and nuclear strike appeared in the west before."

Chen Xuan suddenly realized that the incident she mentioned was precisely when he, Honglian, and Xu Xuanling intruded into the Celestial Patrol territory.

"Anyway, once the alarm sounds, everyone nearby should take shelter in the subway station." Ji shrugged, seemingly accustomed to such sudden occurrences. "Let’s go; we’ll know what’s happening once we’re inside the rally point."

Typically, such warnings are issued minutes to tens of minutes in advance, so the outside crowd wasn’t too panicked. People orderly entered the subway station, with the 2nd Layer plaza area almost filled with heads everywhere.

Just as everyone was still puzzling over why the rally point sounded the alarm, the large screen on the wall suddenly lit up, and a middle-aged man appeared in the center of the image.

Even without an introduction, Chen Xuan knew who he was.

Because below, there was a scrolling message: "Survivor Mutual Aid Association Chairman issues an emergency announcement to all Jiang City rally points."

"Isn’t that Chairman Ding?" someone in the crowd murmured.

"A message from the Survivor Mutual Aid Association? That’s rare."

"Is the channel connected?" The man turned his head to look aside.

"All connected," a voice came from off-screen. "You may begin."

"Residents of Jiang City, I am Ding Huaiyuan. There is an important matter I want to tell everyone," Ding Huaiyuan said with a serious face. "Just now, our alert radar detected a fast-moving object heading toward Earth. The supercomputer estimates a high probability of it landing in Jiang City."

This caused an immediate uproar on site.

"Meteor?"

"Can’t be. If it were a meteor... there wouldn’t be such a formal announcement," everyone discussed.

A bad feeling surged in Chen Xuan’s heart.

"We’re still assessing the object’s threat level, but we’ve confirmed it’s not a meteor—it’s a man-made entity, traveling at approximately 30 Mach, with a trajectory originating from the Moon," Ding Huaiyuan continues. "Everyone, please look——"

A blurry photo appeared on the screen.

The moving object was dark red, spindle-shaped, which was unnaturally aerodynamic for space without air resistance. To demonstrate the object’s size, the broadcaster considerately placed a model truck next to it for comparison.

"Whoa... is it that big?" Someone nearby gasped.

"It must be as big as thirty or forty trucks..."

Or rather, it’s as large as a building.

"I see." Chen Xuan couldn’t help muttering to himself. "This is the mechanism’s response."

"What response?" Lin Qing caught his murmuring.

"It’s the Dimensional Limit Mechanism firing this thing from the Moon to strike at the nano-living body... no, to strike at all enemies! It’s a lunar weapon!"

Lin didn’t know about this weapon at all; she only knew the mechanism had built many peculiar facilities on the Moon, including shipyards, automated factories, and various large-scale experimental devices. But judging from the current scene, Chen Xuan immediately understood what this thing was—it’s equivalent to a super electromagnetic cannon, capable of accelerating thousands of tons to the first cosmic speed, thereby causing devastating destruction.

They might not be waiting for the band’s action against the phantom subway but looking for a perfect firing opportunity.

Once a suitable trajectory appears, the mechanism will strike impatiently.

The camera cuts back to Ding Huaiyuan. "According to calculations, it will impact Jiang City in about 11 hours, at 2:15 AM tomorrow morning. From this moment, all subway station rally points must prepare for impact resistance, cancel outside search operations, and prepare over a week’s supply of water and food."

"We cannot intercept this impact. Good luck to you all."