"Bang!"
The gunshot seemed like a harbinger. Despite the sparse crowd on the street, the ensuing chaos resembled a disaster movie. Some people couldn't help but scream at the top of their lungs, others pulled their companions while shouting "Run!", and some frantically knocked on nearby doors, begging for shelter...
Qi Yuan carefully analyzed the situation, realizing that the screams came not only from the street but also from nearby residents, who shrieked from their balconies before retreating inside.
As the crowd scattered, he stood out like a sore thumb, remaining motionless amid the chaos.
"Rat-tat-tat—"
Handguns no longer sufficed for the firefight, as the sound of heavy machine guns filled the air, their muzzle flashes illuminating the area ahead.
Qi Yuan spotted the mother and child from earlier, trembling and huddled together. The child had wet himself in fear and couldn't get up from the ground, while his mother struggled to drag him along, making slow progress.
As they blocked the path of panicked people, someone ruthlessly pushed them down.
The child's wailing revealed his regret, "Mommy, I'll never run out like this again!"
He couldn't help but cover his forehead, feeling a headache coming on. Crying loudly in such a situation was dangerous.
If he hadn't encountered them, the child might have gotten his mother killed.
"Get up."
Miya frantically covered her son Mendoza's mouth, nearly crying herself, but children's behavior is heavily influenced by emotions, and a sense of desperate suffocation surrounded her.
Suddenly, a cold yet melodious female voice rang out, and for some reason, Miya felt her emotions settle.
She looked up in bewilderment, searching for the source, and saw a cloaked woman walking past them toward the explosion site...
Miya realized that her son had stopped crying, and like her, was staring in the direction where the lady had gone.
Miya nervously called out in a soft voice, "Ma'am, it's dangerous ahead..."
Despite the lady's distinguished bearing, Miya didn't want her to get involved in danger, knowing that anyone who dared cause trouble in Santos's territory was no ordinary person.
Miya hated Santos but had to admit that paying protection money and following rules in his territory was far better than living in the chaotic areas.
However, the cloaked lady didn't respond and continued walking against the fleeing crowd.
As if infected by her presence, the fleeing people stopped to stare in her direction.
No one mocked or tried to stop her – the mother and child had already tried that.
Besides, their instincts told them this lady was powerful, and perhaps Santos would meet his match today.
"Who is she?"
Someone muttered under their breath.
Most people present didn't recognize her, as they were too busy trying to survive, but a small group of internet-savvy individuals couldn't help but speculate.
One person exclaimed, "That's the symbol of the organization with all SSS-level Superhumans!"
All eyes turned to him, suspecting he had stuttered and added two extra "S"s.
Even having all S-level members would be shocking enough – that was about the limit of what a nation could achieve with all its resources.
Noticing their skeptical looks, the person boldly shouted, "It's true! They're SSS-level Superhumans!"
Miya couldn't help but gape. Was that lady really that powerful? Even Santos was only S-level.
She had heard that major nations had SS-level Superhumans, but they were few in number.
...
After using her ability to calm the mother and child's emotions, Qi Yuan quickly reached the edge of the battlefield.
Both sides of the conflict quickly noticed this special presence and unanimously avoided Qi Yuan.
Someone appearing here without reason was either foolish or extremely powerful, and from their aura, no one believed it was the former.
Thus, a vacuum zone suddenly appeared on the battlefield.
Qi Yuan quickly surveyed the scene. Although she had arrived quickly, despite the machine guns and explosives, this was still just the prelude – the real game-changing Superhumans hadn't appeared yet.
Apart from some collapsed buildings and injured civilians who had fled, only the fighting factions remained.
She had sensed this outcome earlier, but seeing it in person still made her exasperated. Should she be impressed that this gang organization, even before the advent of supernatural abilities, had distributed emergency supplies to ordinary people?
They truly understood sustainable exploitation.
The news quickly reached Torres, Santos's subordinate who was in charge of this area.
"...A woman in a cloak, face unclear in the darkness..."
The subordinate's description made the experienced Torres break into a cold sweat. In their line of work, everyone knew who they could and couldn't mess with.
Cloaks had recently become extremely popular, with two powerful organizations setting the trend. Those wanting to hide their identities all chose such attire.
Even when copycats encountered the real deal, with masked individuals leaving no survivors among imitators, the black market sales of mask-wearing outfits kept rising.
The reason was simple – who dared to gamble whether they were facing the real thing or not?
In contrast, there were fewer imitators of the mysterious organization, as their members had all shown at least half their faces. Besides fans, few wore similar attire.
Thinking of the most likely possibility, as the shadow of death loomed over his head, Torres anxiously looked in the direction his subordinate had indicated.
His enhanced abilities as a Superhuman allowed him to clearly see that figure, and a chill ran through him. Torres immediately shouted, "Retreat immediately, we'll take this territory later!"
Whether she was real or fake didn't matter – they could reclaim the territory later, just with more effort, and his people could make amends through meritorious service.
But if she was real, even multiplying their combined strength by ten wouldn't be enough to match her power.
His subordinate had never seen Torres so terrified, almost screaming, his face red and neck veins bulging, spittle flying.
"Y-yes, sir!"
The subordinates, better equipped than government forces, immediately used their radios to relay the order.
Qi Yuan walked slowly across the battlefield, not just for show but to intimidate both sides.
However, planning to play for a day before dealing with the monster collaborating with the drug cartel, she needed to mark it first. If the SS-level monster received news and fled, she wouldn't be able to catch up.
So, when deciding to stop this firefight, she had used illusions to conceal several copies of herself leaving the scene.
She couldn't slow down her pace while waiting for her copies to relay information – just standing there would look foolish.