Although the defense forces of Cheng'an District have been largely destroyed by the God of Courage, more soldiers have dispersed and integrated into the entire city, blending in with the residents.

The most complex and brutal form of modern warfare is urban warfare, with its intricate environments, dense architecture, invisible enemies, and murderous gunfire... All these factors make urban warfare filled with bizarre and unpredictable complexities.

For the Barbarians, invading without understanding the mode of modern human warfare, it's like having one foot in Hell.

Perhaps the elite forces among the Barbarians can sense danger in advance, even avoid sniper bullets, but for the majority, the bullets from sniper rifles, with their initial speed of three times the speed of sound, are absolutely lethal (the bullet's propellant has been replaced).

...

The number of refugees pouring into the Safe Zone is increasing, and the central square of the small city is filled with numerous tents. Everyone has a worried expression, and many are sobbing loudly.

These refugees come from Cheng'an District, and even more from nearby unfallen districts. As panic spreads, more and more citizens are migrating to the suburbs and countryside. Only a small part rushes into the Safe Zone, while more scatter into the rural areas around Hedong City or even leave Hedong, moving further away.

Chen Shouyi walked down the street, glanced toward the square, and then withdrew his gaze.

Rumors have gradually been confirmed: an existence suspected to be a Barbarian God is wandering continuously in Cheng'an District.

His power is terrifying, even once stopping all shells and rockets mid-air, returning them to their original paths in an instant, heavily damaging the stationed forces in Cheng'an District.

He sighed:

"Such an existence is truly terrifying. Even if it's not the Barbarian God, it's not far off. Even though I am now comparable to a Martial Artist, facing such a creature, I'm not much better than an ordinary person. Just one encounter and I'd probably be crushed to pieces."

At the intersection of the street ahead, a girl in a thick down jacket sat on several stacked red bricks, with a drawing board in front of her. Her lips turned a bit pale from the cold in winter.

"Big brother, do you want a sketch portrait?" As soon as she saw Chen Shouyi approaching, the girl quickly called out.

Chen Shouyi stopped immediately. Her face was youthful, looking about the same age as his sister. Her buff-colored down jacket was dirty in patches, and her stall was near the refugee camp, so it was apparent that she was a refugee.

"Five yuan a piece, very cheap. It's not like you're not paying. If that's not okay, four yuan will do." Seemingly sensing Chen Shouyi's hesitation, the girl immediately said.

Seeing the anticipation in her eyes, Chen Shouyi nodded, "Then draw one for me."

"Thank you, big brother." The girl showed a hint of delight, then apologized, "There's no seat here, could you please stand for a bit? It won't take long."

"It's fine, go ahead and draw!"

The girl breathed a sigh of relief, picked up the sketch pencil, and began drawing quickly.

After more than ten minutes, the drawing was finished. The girl handed the drawing to Chen Shouyi, saying with hopeful eyes, "Big brother, do you think it's okay?"

He took a look; the style was cartoonish, with a cold expression, tightly pressed lips, and no hint of a smile. It only bore a three to four-tenths resemblance to him. He chuckled inwardly and shook his head slightly, but he said, "It's drawn quite well."

Then he took out his wallet and pulled out a hundred-yuan bill, handing it over.

The girl took it with some embarrassment, "I don't have that much change right now, I'll go to the supermarket and get it for you."

"No need for change!" Chen Shouyi stuffed the wallet back into his pocket, waved his hand, and started to walk away.

The girl stood there, dazed, watching Chen Shouyi walk further and further away until he disappeared around the street corner.

...

At a garbage can, Chen Shouyi crumpled the drawing into a ball and tossed it inside.

Suddenly, he heard a sharp whistling from behind. Instinctively he reached to the left, catching a pebble in his hand. His face turned cold, and he tightened his grip, instantly crushing the pebble into powder, then turned around to look.

At one glance, his previously cold and stern expression quickly dissipated: "So it's you. I thought someone was playing a joke on me."

"Do you have eyes on the back of your head? How could you catch that?" Song Jieying came over, smiling as she pushed a bicycle.

She was wearing a wool coat on her upper body and black jeans below. Chen Shouyi thought himself quite handsome, but compared to this stylish androgynous woman, he still fell short.

"The sound of the wind and a sixth sense, it's nothing unusual." Chen Shouyi said nonchalantly.

His current perception was already 12.5, with a range of nearly two meters. Even if he closed his eyes and blocked his ears, anything that came near this range couldn't escape his detection.

"Having become a major Martial Artist, your tone is really different now, handsome. So how should I address you, General Manager Chen?" Song Jieying joked.

Women always have some advantage in social interactions, especially beautiful women. If it were a male Martial Artist, he probably wouldn't dare to make such jokes.

"Just call me Chen Shouyi!" Chen Shouyi also smiled slightly, looking at her bicycle frame. Dangling from it was a snakeskin bag with something alive inside, he asked, "What's that?"

"Just came back from a nearby village, bought an old hen and some cabbage, planning to make stew tonight."

...

The two chatted as they walked, and a few minutes later, Song Jieying stopped at the entrance of a small community, looked at Chen Shouyi teasingly with a smile, "I live here, want to come upstairs for a visit?"

"No, I've got things to do!"

Chen Shouyi indeed had tasks at hand. Next, he went to the new campus relocated from Jiangnan University.

Space in the Safe Zone was tight, and what was allocated to Jiangnan University was only about the size of a larger high school. It didn't take long for him to find Bai Xiaoling's cousin, Professor Guan Miao Guan.

In her office, as soon as Guan Miao saw Chen Shouyi, she stood up promptly and led him to a secluded corner.

"Why are you looking for me?" Guan Miao spoke while cautiously observing the surroundings.

Her husband was a jealous type, and if acquaintances saw her and spread the word to her husband, it would inevitably lead to quarrels.

"I wanted to ask, any research progress on the last sample of Divine Blood?" Chen Shouyi inquired.

"Not that quickly, many instruments aren't usable now, we can only perform preliminary testing. Why do you ask?" Guan Miao was puzzled, then realized: "You want to separate the tangible matter from the remaining Divine Blood, don't you?"

Chen Shouyi had nothing to hide, nodding. The situation in Hedong City was dire, with the Barbarian invasion and even the possible arrival of a Barbarian God, making him eager to enhance his strength.

If the remaining Divine Blood could be utilized, his powers could improve considerably over a short period.

"Forget about it, unless power is restored, there's no way to mass extract it."

A flicker of disappointment crossed Chen Shouyi's heart, but he hadn't expected much anyway.

"Isn't there any way to restore electricity?"

Guan Miao gave him a disdainful glance, having never had a good impression of Chen Shouyi, and mocked, "Anyone with some scientific common sense wouldn't ask such a question. If you were my student..."

"Shut up!" Chen Shouyi's face darkened as he approached, "Don't ask for trouble."

This woman really was asking for it!

Cornered against the wall, Guan Miao was like a lamb under a tiger's paw, her face turning pale. She threatened softly, "What are you planning? This is a school, you better not act rashly."

Catching the scent of her fragrance, Chen Shouyi felt a surge of emotions. He quickly controlled his breathing, suppressing the turmoil within, and took a few steps back: "Speak up!"

Now strong and vigorous, going through puberty, he was easily provoked. If not for his strong will and focus on his training, he'd long be consumed by his desires.

"A real brute." Guan Miao muttered quietly, no longer daring to provoke him: "Electricity still exists, the force field from another world is merely interfering with the flow of free electrons, and this interference has a quantifiable extent, with no impact on organisms.

Power laboratories have verified experimentally that once the voltage reaches 1200 volts, the current can flow normally. At 15 kV, this interference's effects will vanish completely, and electricity won't be consumed needlessly."

"So the mysterious force field from another world doesn't affect high-energy phenomena?" Chen Shouyi asked.

"You could say that, but powering a city isn't so simple. Our country's civilian electricity standard is 220v, while industrial is 380v, forming a complete industrial system. The current situation has overturned that entire system.

Though high-voltage lines can still transmit, all electrical appliances and machines will be unusable if they receive over 1200 volts of output.

Especially current electronic communications and chips mostly operate on low power, and when connected to over a thousand volts of high voltage, they'll be burnt through. With the current industrial and scientific conditions, focusing efforts for small-scale adaptive use is possible, but to restart electricity universally, even in the most optimistic scenario, will require at least five years."

ps: Covering for yesterday.

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