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"Hey... look over there!" Huang Gou suddenly pointed towards the Sha River, shouting excitedly, "Am I seeing things, or is something falling off its leg?"

Chen Xuan turned his head and saw the steel structure shaking violently. It seemed to be struggling not to collapse, but the shadow above was steadily descending. The confrontation was clearly putting massive pressure on the structure itself. The frames on its legs, like high-voltage towers, were bending like bamboo strips, and steel beams thicker than adults were buckling and bending under the force of gravity.

The contraction of the structure also caused a change in volume, forcing some seemingly insignificant steel bars and iron plates out of the deformation area, falling from the sky. It was only when they crashed to the ground with a roar that people realized how heavy these seemingly insignificant "components" really were.

Chen Xuan finally understood where that sense of discord came from when he first encountered the Celestial Patrol.

Its long legs, though enormous in scale, were quite loose in structure, like a grotesque monstrosity of various steel parts randomly pieced together. It didn’t seem very sturdy at all, yet it was impervious, easily slicing through buildings without a scratch. Even knowing about the overall rigidity of the nano-living body didn’t make it any less jarring to the eye.

But now that feeling was gone.

It was as if it had transformed from something unreal into a tangible entity, with every steel beam and frame having its own weight. They now had to bear the load of their own weight while also contending with the planet’s gravity.

Simply put, from this moment on, the Celestial Patrol had a weakness.

"Why did it extend so many legs? Is it trying to support itself?" Lin Qing suddenly realized.

"That’s probably it..." Chen Xuan replied in a low voice, "We only saw four legs before because it could support its entire body with just those four... or, even more extreme, it could suspend itself in the sky without any support."

In his heart, he actually leaned towards the latter.

Otherwise, with such a massive city hanging in the sky, the survivors of Jiang City would surely have noticed, no matter how fiercely the dust storm blew. Moreover, the base still had radar, and mechanisms could still air-drop supplies in, which was enough to prove that it could allow itself to exist between the material and the non-material. It was this mind-boggling ability that enabled it to create phenomena that defied common sense.

For instance, the Celestial Patrol often appeared without warning, completely still one moment, and the next, its steel legs would step out of the storm.

Or, people could enter Jiang City freely, yet couldn’t leave even a step - no matter which direction they tried to escape from, they’d be intercepted by the Celestial Patrol.

Now, all these questions had answers.

It did not reside in any one area.

Nor did it need to move to pursue humans.

In some sense, the Celestial Patrol was Jiang City itself.

As they spoke, the city’s skyline dropped several hundred meters lower, and the most feared scenario finally occurred: due to the close proximity, the inverted building tops of the Celestial Patrol collided with Jiang City’s skyscrapers. The steel towers struck the concrete floors like hammers, producing resounding crashes like rolling thunder!

Soon, the skyscrapers could no longer bear the load and snapped in half from the middle. A building that could accommodate tens of thousands of people collapsed with a roar, transforming into a massive plume of dust. The tremors of its impact could be heard even from tens of kilometers away.

Huang Gou swallowed hard, "I remember there was a subway station beneath that building..."

Faces around him turned deadly pale.

This was completely beyond their imagination.

Modern cities had exceptional resilience against nuclear strikes, and subway stations were constructed underground, making the modified stronghold nearly impregnable. However, this scene suggested otherwise. When a force could crush skyscrapers like sandcastles, hiding underground offered no escape from calamity.

Vast amounts of building debris would cover the entire subway station above, blocking all air circulation passages and entrances. The subway tunnels below were occupied by nano-living bodies, making escape impossible. The final outcome would be suffocation in the foul and dim basements.

"If it all collapses... what will happen to us?" someone couldn’t help but ask.

No one replied.

For the answer was obvious - the entire Jiang City would become a dead zone.

This was the price the Dimensional Limit Mechanism decided Jiang City would pay: to be destroyed along with the Celestial Patrol.

As the Celestial Patrol descended closer to the ground, more buildings crumbled and collapsed upon collision. The sky grew increasingly dim, and sobs emerged from the crowd. Chen Xuan also prepared to evacuate with Lin Qing. Fortunately, the descent finally halted.

Hundreds of steel giant legs firmly supported the metallic city above, preventing it from entirely closing the gap with the ground.

Ultimately, the Celestial Patrol stopped at a height of about a hundred meters above the ground, completely blocking the sand-filled sky behind it. Many skyscrapers in the city center pierced into the inverted building cluster, the two seemingly fused as one. If someone were to climb those skyscrapers now, they could even directly reach the Celestial Patrol’s city.

In the gap between Jiang City and the Celestial Patrol, the afternoon sun barely managed to shine through, giving this dark world a gilded edge.

The other light source came from the steel jungle overhead.

Its streets and towers alike twinkled with countless firefly-like lights, and in the pitch-black darkness, it gave the illusion of gazing at a starry sky when looking up.

"The Celestial Patrol... is protecting us!" an unexpected voice shouted, "The Evangelical Association wasn’t wrong!"

"What nonsense are you spouting?" someone immediately retorted.

"Isn’t it? It’s like a shield protecting us, helping us deflect the meteor strike!"

"The nano-living body is an intelligent entity, of course, it would respect us!"

"That’s right, otherwise why would it reveal its form from the sandstorm? With its capability, it could have wiped us out a long time ago!"

For a while, the conflicting viewpoints clashed, but gradually... the voices praising the Celestial Patrol won out.

"The Evangelical Association was right, we can coexist!"

"How ridiculous we were before, thinking the stronghold’s ancient shielding devices could deceive the Celestial Patrol’s eyes."

"Thank you, Celestial Patrol, for everything you’ve done for us!"

"The meteor strike is in 11 hours, everyone let’s pray to the Celestial Patrol!"

Many people even kneeled down and began to bow towards the steel jungle above.

"Absurd!" Lin Qing couldn’t help but whisper, "It’s only because of the mechanism that it revealed itself—"

Chen Xuan pulled her back, shaking his head to signal her not to argue.

This series of counteractions by the mechanism was top secret, known only to this task force and the mechanism’s high command. Besides, even if she said it, no one would believe it. Just as some praised, why wouldn’t the Celestial Patrol, present everywhere, choose to annihilate humanity? With its perception covering the entire Jiang City, even without attacking the subway station directly, it could have wiped out every search team venturing out for survival resources.

Since the Celestial Patrol had lost its impregnable strength, it now faced limitless orbital bombardment from the mechanism. Without a doubt, a single mass projection of a few thousand tons couldn’t destroy the Celestial Patrol. Even without overall rigidity, its sheer volume couldn’t be ignored. The question was merely how many kinetic projectiles to launch once the mechanism found the bombardment effective.

The Celestial Patrol, already struggling with its own gravitational battle, couldn’t possibly withstand indefinite attacks.

This night promised to be a sleepless one for Jiang City.