Chaos was the only theme in the scrap iron square at that moment.
The mountain of steel, formed from countless discarded engines, had, with a destructive force, completely and permanently wiped the Iron Fist Gang's proud eastern defensive line, along with their carefully placed sniper nests, from the map.
The earth trembled, and the surviving gang members wailed. A colossal cloud of dust, a mixture of rust, dirt, and blood, billowed into the sky, shrouding half the square and dragging everything into chaos.
After several seconds of dead silence, the spectating residents erupted in terrified screams. Like a disturbed hornet's nest, they began to flee in all directions, completely breaking through the human wall the Iron Fist Gang had formed to maintain order.
High on the platform, "Butcher" Hake's ferocious face was, for the first time, stunned.
He couldn't comprehend what was happening before him.
This wasn't an explosion, nor was it an attack. This was... a natural disaster. A divine wrath that had descended only upon his Iron Fist Gang.
"Hold your positions! Everyone, hold your goddamn positions!" he roared himself hoarse, trying to regain control of the situation.
But his voice was drowned out by the roar of the collapsing mountain and the screams of the crowd.
And just as everyone's attention was captivated by the earth-shattering collapse, directly beneath the high platform, the iron grate of an inconspicuous sewage outlet was silently pushed open from the inside.
Shi Lei's massive body emerged from underground like an agile brown bear.
There was no hesitation in his eyes. Seizing the opportunity, he pulled three "smoke pellets," specially made by Ling Feng for this operation, from his coat and hurled them with all his might towards the high platform.
This was no ordinary smoke. Upon impact, the three spheres burst open, releasing not a grey-black smoke, but an extremely thick, white fog—a mixture of phosphorus powder and chemical catalysts that was intensely irritating to the senses.
The dense fog instantly swallowed the entire platform. It not only blocked vision but also severely irritated the eyes and respiratory tract.
"Cough, cough... Damn it! What is this stuff?!"
On the stage, Hake and his personal guards were instantly overcome, their eyes tearing, their vision blurred.
Now!
Shi Lei, like a true beast, charged up onto the platform in a few great leaps.
He ignored Hake, who was still swinging his machete wildly in the fog, and with the fastest speed possible, he took out a sharp cutting dagger and sliced through the ropes binding the two children.
"Don't be afraid! Uncle's getting you out of here!" He scooped up one of the terrified children under each arm.
"Damn it! Feng, there's one more!" Shi Lei growled anxiously into the air. Auntie Wang was still tied to the cross, and Hake, having recovered from his initial panic, was now charging in his direction, guided by the sound.
"Die!!"
Hake's machete, whistling through the air, chopped down viciously towards Shi Lei's back.
Shi Lei had no time to dodge.
However, the blow, which seemed certain to land, paused unnaturally in mid-air for a fraction of a second, as if it had been gently pushed by an invisible hand.
That slight push was enough to divert the blade from its original path, causing it to slam into the iron plate at Shi Lei's feet.
CLANG!
Sparks flew!
Shi Lei felt a chill run down his spine, but he had no time for fear. He immediately rolled away, dodging Hake's second attack.
Meanwhile, dozens of meters away from the platform, on the roof of an abandoned building, Ling Feng stood with his eyes closed, his brow furrowed.
He was like a ghostly battlefield commander, every movement in the square clearly displayed on his invisible "mental map".
A moment ago, it was he who had used his telekinesis to precisely interfere with Hake's attack.
But he could do much more than that.
The Iron Fist enforcers who were trying to break through the fog to surround Shi Lei suddenly found their automatic rifles inexplicably jammed.
Some were struck in the knee by a small stone that seemed to fly from nowhere, forcing them to their knees.
Others were tripped by their own shoelaces in a bizarre fashion, sending them sprawling.
For a moment, the platform was a scene of chaos and cries. The elite of the Iron Fist Gang were being toyed with by an unseen, untouchable, and strange power.
This miraculous display created the last, precious few seconds that Shi Lei needed.
With a roar, he used his massive body to smash the cross holding Auntie Wang, then hoisted the unconscious woman onto his shoulder. Supported by the two children, he scrambled and rolled off the platform.
"Trying to run?!"
Hake finally broke through the fog, his mechanical eye locking onto the backs of Shi Lei and the family.
However, just as he was about to give chase, he was frozen in his tracks by the scene before him.
In the open space between the platform and the crowd, on the ground littered with metal shards, thousands upon thousands of screws, iron plates, and steel balls, as if given life, slowly floated up from the ground in defiance of gravity.
They converged into a surging, rotating tornado of steel, humming and roaring, forming an insurmountable barrier of death.
The entire square, everyone who was still conscious, whether they were gang members or fleeing residents, stared at this miraculous, almost magical sight, and fell into a dead silence.
At that moment, a voice echoed across the square.
The voice was not loud, not high-pitched, but like a ghostly whisper, it clearly entered the mind of every single person.
"From this day forward,"
"The era of the Iron Fist Gang..."
"Is over."
The moment the voice fell, the steel storm disintegrated, and countless parts clattered to the ground.
The dust still lingered.
On the high platform, only "Butcher" Hake was left, standing alone like a clown stripped of his clothes. For the first time, an emotion called "fear" appeared on his ferocious face.
He frantically looked around, trying to find the source of the voice.
But in the square, apart from the chaotic crowd and the collapsed ruins, there was no trace of the mysterious, ghost-like attacker.
Only that declaration, like a final judgment, continued to echo in everyone's heart for a long, long time.