The loading dock was about fifteen kilometers away from the tenement building complex. To avoid attracting attention, all the witches moved out separately, each taking a taxi to the destination.
Roland was the last to leave. He still drove the dilapidated van, carrying Phyllis, Faldi, and others out of the complex.
Since participating in the joint extermination operation of the Martial Artist Association, he had become more mindful of personal combat equipment. Although he couldn't be as comprehensive as the Association, he could still buy some civilian goods to imitate.
For example, the portable walkie-talkies he bought on a certain website not only came with Bluetooth headsets but also claimed to have an effective communication range of up to five kilometers—although in actual tests, he found that this distance would drop sharply to less than two kilometers when there were building obstructions or complex electromagnetic environments (many base stations). But considering the huge discount that came with the price of less than two hundred yuan and the offer of even more discounts for bulk purchases, Roland resolutely equipped each ancient witch with one.
At least this thing was more convenient and discreet than using a mobile phone.
He always felt that the scenes in movies where protagonists and antagonists were wiped out because their phones suddenly rang at crucial moments were too deliberate. If he encountered such a thing, it would be too stupid.
Faldi, who had tracking and positioning capabilities, naturally became the information processing center.
"Your Majesty, Betty's team has arrived near the loading dock and successfully met up with Ling."
"Tell them to hide first and wait for the main force to arrive before taking action," Roland said without turning his head.
"Yes. Tongen's team is about five minutes away, but she may not have enough money."
"Uh… ask if anyone has extra, and help her pay when she arrives."
"Wait, she said the driver overheard their conversation and has agreed to waive the fare."
"Okay…" Roland couldn't help but roll his eyes. Why did he never encounter such a good thing when he took a taxi?
Faldi's phone rang again less than five seconds after she hung up. "Your Majesty, Flash says the car she's in seems to be taking a detour, and the destination doesn't seem to be the loading dock."
Roland frowned. "What's her location?"
Before he could finish speaking, he heard a dull thud from the earpiece.
Then came a series of noises such as swishing—hissing—banging.
Finally, everything fell silent.
He rubbed his forehead. "Um… let them take another taxi, and make sure they don't get caught on camera when they leave."
"I understand, Your Majesty," Faldi said, covering her mouth.
Thus, it was almost an hour later when everyone arrived at the dock area.
The first group to arrive had even cracked open a pile of sunflower seeds.
Fortunately, the enemy seemed to be using the dock as their temporary stronghold and hadn't noticed the arrival of the witches at all. If this were a pursuit battle, they probably would have fled without a trace long ago. Roland suddenly felt that he should buy a few more vans next time to avoid similar embarrassing situations from happening again.
He cleared his throat and looked at Ling. "What's the enemy's current situation?"
"Your Majesty, the Fallen Ones are mostly in the loading area, and there are at least thirty of them. The outer ring of iron boxes has their sentries. It's not difficult to avoid them with Tongen's ability. The lights on the inner river side of the dock are very bright, so I didn't dare get too close. I could only take a distant look—most of the enemies are gathered in that area, but there are too many places to escape around. If a battle breaks out, it will be difficult to ensure that none of them escape."
Ling's ability allowed her to completely blend into the shadows, giving her a stealth ability at night that was no less than Nightingale's. She could be called the perfect scout.
Roland pondered for a moment. "In that case, let's lure them out and annihilate them. As long as we stay away from the riverbank, we can cut off the enemy's escape route into the river and completely surround them."
"The theory works, but… how do we attract them?" Phyllis asked.
Roland smiled and pointed to himself. "I heard they're attacking martial artists everywhere. Now that they see a lone one, there's no reason for them to let me go."
……
After all the witches disappeared into the dark night, Roland emerged from his hiding place and slowly entered the storage yard area, completely pretending to be a passerby who had accidentally wandered into the area.
The storage yard was silent at this time. Besides his footsteps and the occasional chirping of insects, no other sounds could be heard. The dim yellow light came from the direction of the dock, and here it was so faint that he could only vaguely see the outlines of the stacked boxes around him. This undulating, crisscrossing "wall" seemed to form a gloomy maze, and it didn't seem like anyone would come here.
The cheap wholesale walkie-talkie came in handy at this time. Tongen reminded him that there was movement among the Fallen Ones hiding in the dock.
Apparently, the sentries patrolling the outskirts had noticed the fluctuations of natural power on his body and reported the situation to the group. The only thing that surprised him was that the enemy didn't act immediately but let him wander back and forth.
Until the floodlights in the storage yard were suddenly turned on, and the entire area became like daylight in an instant!
In the dazzling white light, Roland vaguely saw a dozen figures slowly emerge. After his eyes adjusted to the sudden burst of light, he found that he was completely surrounded.
The leading man wore a mask printed with a strange pattern. Whether in terms of aura or appearance, he was distinctly different from the surrounding Fallen Ones. Roland noticed that the pattern on the mask looked like a door about to open at first glance.
In addition, the two people beside the man didn't seem like ordinary Fallen Ones. Their eyes were not dull, and they were still wearing the robes of the Martial Artist Association.
"Good evening, lost unfortunate one," the leader said surprisingly politely. "Although I don't know what wind blew you here, you should understand that there is absolutely no chance of escape now. Instead of wasting your energy on meaningless things, you should listen to me quietly."
Roland looked around. Sure enough, he saw the figures of Fallen Ones in front, behind, left, and right.
"Don't be afraid. I don't have any intention of killing you. On the contrary, this may be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for you—I have just come to this world and need your help." The man spread his hands. "Don't rush to refuse. Please allow me to introduce myself: I am the messenger of the gods, Alpha, from your so-called 'erosion'."
According to the original plan, Roland should have put on a panicked expression at this moment to make the enemy relax, but for some reason, looking at the other party's polite and controlled attitude, he suddenly wanted to rush up and give him two good face-breaking punches.
"You are the monster that invaded Prism City?"
"Invaded is not accurate, because this place should have belonged to the gods," Alpha said unhurriedly. "Now it's just time to return it. Listen well, lost one, your so-called martial artists will definitely fail. Instead of returning to nothingness, you should pledge allegiance to the gods."
"It's normal that you can't understand now. There will be plenty of time to talk about the truth of this world later. Putting aside those illusory promises, I can now show you the most direct benefit—power." He held out a finger, and as a red light bloomed from his fingertip, intense magic power surged out. "I can inject it into your body and make you far stronger than you are now."
"Lord God's Envoy is not deceiving you," the two men beside the man echoed. "I only awakened recently, but now I feel like I have endless power!"
"And it won't make you lose your mind and become as crazy as the Fallen Ones."
"What if I don't agree?"
"Then I'll have to make you like these monsters—they may be a little weak, but they are obedient enough." Alpha shrugged. "On one side is the truth of the world and powerful power, and on the other side is the annihilation of consciousness and becoming a puppet with a bottomless thirst for natural power. You should be able to make a wise choice."
"Your Majesty, all personnel are in position," Faldi whispered in his earpiece.
Roland curled his lips. "Let me tell you what the truth of the world is. I created this world, and I don't want to give it to anyone—so you also have two choices. One is to actively hand over all the cores and then die here; the other is to be killed by me, and then I'll spend some effort to collect your cores. Which one do you choose?"
"Ignorant fool!" the betrayed martial artist shouted. "With you alone?"
"No, haven't you noticed that you are already surrounded?" Roland reached out and snapped his fingers. "Kill them."