Just as the people, terrified by the sudden gunfire, began to flee in panic, they realized that at some point, every possible exit had been blocked. Standing there in silent formation were rows of black-clad men—completely different from those who had come with Renzan Momoki.
They stood perfectly still, without a word or any visible emotion. Yet, each held a submachine gun, the barrels aimed squarely at the crowd. The message was clear—if anyone dared make a move, they would open fire.
No one doubted it, because before them lay a line of bodies—most of them from Renzan Momoki's own men. However, it seemed these newcomers weren't intent on slaughter; most of the fallen had only been shot in the arm or leg, as a warning.
Only a few corpses bore bullet holes through vital spots—those had likely been the ones who refused to heed the warning, trying to fight their way out and paying the ultimate price. Their deaths alone were enough to make the rest freeze in place.
Chu Lian and her group were unaware of the situation outside. Inside, the men who had drawn their guns were each shot once in the arm by Inori Yuzuriha. Whether by design or precision, each bullet bloomed into a flash of dazzling violet light—the mark of Deathblow. Even though none were fatal wounds, the pain was unbearable. The men dropped their weapons, clutching their arms and wailing in agony, stripped of all courage.
These weren't elite soldiers—just petty gangsters who had clawed their way up to rule a few city blocks. They had never faced anyone willing—or able—to crush them outright, and so they'd grown complacent. Now, faced with someone like Chu Lian, who could fight a hundred men alone, all thoughts of resistance vanished. Those who had foolishly believed a gun would give them safety crumbled after witnessing the pink-haired girl's flawless marksmanship.
"Wh-who the hell are you people?" Renzan Momoki's voice trembled. His so-called power base had collapsed completely—hundreds of men defeated without landing a single blow, his strongest warrior felled by a single strike, and now, even guns couldn't save him.
Both the godlike maid and the emotionless pink-haired girl with the gun radiated a suffocating pressure that crushed him utterly.
"I should be the one asking you that," Chu Lian replied coldly, slipping off her white silk gloves and tucking them neatly into her pocket. With a flick of her hand, she brushed her hair back and fixed him with a frosty gaze. "Who gave you the order to act now? Who's the one behind all this?"
At this moment, White Chu Lian still slumbered—Dark Chu Lian remained in control. It wasn't that she refused to let the original Chu Lian awaken—it was that she could feel a greater danger looming over this place. Until that threat was gone, she wouldn't rest.
In recent days, Chu Lian had unconsciously allowed her to emerge multiple times. Each time, Dark Chu Lian had handled the crisis perfectly—but frequent awakenings would eventually drain her. If she stayed active too long, she wouldn't be able to aid Chu Lian again for some time.
That was why she refused to fade away just yet. She couldn't bear the thought of waking up again to another nightmare like the first time she was born. Too much killing, too much blood—she was tired of it.
"I don't know what you're talking about," Renzan stammered, wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I'm just the boss of this district's syndicate. I heard someone at Miss Sakurako's Café injured my son. I thought it was a good chance to unify Akihabara, so I came here." His tone was trembling and deferential—he didn't even dare call himself 'old man' as usual.
Chu Lian sneered. "Do you take me for a fool—or do you think that story's flawless? A small neighborhood syndicate with over two hundred members, guarded by samurai and carrying M4A1s from America? You expect me to believe a group like that could exist in one of Akihabara's poorest districts?"
"Furthermore," Chu Lian continued, her tone calm but sharp as a blade, "as the boss of a local syndicate, don't tell me you know nothing about this area. You should be well aware of Kujou Sakurako's background. Yet even knowing that, you still chose to move against her territory. Should I take that to mean there's someone powerful backing your courage?"
Her voice wasn't loud, but every word hit Renzan Momoki like a death sentence. His courage wasn't born of bravery—only fear. Fear of fleeing, and fear of what might happen if he failed the ones who sent him here. He had only stayed this long because he was hoping his backers would step in.
But now, with no sign of them even after all this time, he finally understood—he had been abandoned. A disposable pawn.
The more he thought, the more his sweat poured. After half a minute of silence, he couldn't take the pressure anymore. With a trembling cry, he dropped to his knees and begged, "I'll talk! I'll tell you everything I know—just please, let me live!"
A faint smile flickered across Chu Lian's lips. So he wasn't entirely stupid. At least he knew when to choose survival over secrecy. Cowards like him were contemptible—but as enemies, they served their purpose.
However, before she could even ask a single question, a crimson burst of blood exploded from Renzan Momoki's temple. His body went limp and collapsed instantly.
"Well, well… so there's a sniper too," Chu Lian murmured, expression unchanged. "Seems someone's getting impatient. I wonder—was it a group from the Otherside, or someone else entirely?"
She hadn't expected much from him, but his execution confirmed her suspicion—he knew something worth silencing. Still, she felt no disappointment. She had little interest in secrets that led nowhere. Half-truths and conspiracies only caused unnecessary trouble.
If his death brought out the ones hiding behind all this, then it was a price well paid.
But before she could ponder further, something strange happened.
As Chu Lian's gaze shifted toward the direction of the sniper, Renzan Momoki's corpse twitched—then slowly rose to its feet. His lifeless eyes were bloodshot, veins pulsing unnaturally beneath his skin. His once neat teeth elongated into sharp fangs, and his fingers stretched into three-inch claws that glinted like steel hooks.
The pressure emanating from his body made even Dark Chu Lian's instincts flare in warning. The man who had posed no threat moments ago now radiated pure danger.
"A zombie? Or a mutated variant? Damn it—how could something like this appear here?" she hissed, stepping back. Even if she hadn't predicted this turn, her combat instincts were razor-sharp. With her spiritual awareness acting as an internal radar, she sensed the incoming attack just in time.
With a powerful stomp, she propelled herself backward several meters, watching as the transformed Renzan lunged forward—straight into one of the black-clad men, tearing into his flesh with inhuman ferocity. Within seconds, he dropped the mangled body and turned his blood-soaked face toward her, charging again.
The man he had devoured began to twitch moments later—then, grotesquely, stood up again and lunged at another nearby victim.
Because the exits were sealed, most of the bystanders had been focused on the center of the chaos—on Chu Lian. None of them noticed what was happening at the edge of the room until it was too late.
When they finally saw the corpses moving—the dead rising and attacking the living—pure terror erupted. Screams filled the air as people scrambled toward the exits. This time, no one stopped them… but once they reached the doors, another line of black-clad men appeared, trapping them between two forces.
Now, only Chu Lian—still darting and evading—and the zombified Renzan remained in motion at the center, surrounded by over a hundred staggering corpses.
Fortunately, those monitoring the scene had already jammed all outgoing signals before the lockdown began. No footage, no calls, no cries for help could escape this place. Anyone inside could only receive, not send, transmissions. Otherwise, the horror unfolding here would have drawn the world's attention—and no one could cover it up then.
"Strength—20. Endurance—16. Agility—barely 12," Chu Lian muttered under her breath as she moved, swiftly dodging another lunge. "Since the body's already dead, the virus must have reconstructed its cells—granting it near-infinite stamina. Its skin's as tough as alloy, and those claws… they're sharper than steel. What kind of virus could possess such powerful infectious and mutative properties?"
As she weaved between the swarming undead, she analyzed calmly, calculating the numbers in her mind. But even she couldn't hide a faint frown at the results.
Meanwhile, somewhere in Tokyo, a man sat before a massive wall of screens, his expression grave. On one display, Chu Lian's battle against the horde played in real time. He studied it in silence for a long moment before issuing a quiet order.
"Open the encrypted channel. I want to contact Yanjing."
His female secretary nodded and walked to a nearby terminal. Her fingers flew rapidly over the keyboard. Moments later, the main screen split into several floating windows—one showing Chu Lian fighting, the others filled with shadowed figures whose faces were hidden in darkness.
"You've all seen the situation," the man said, his tone sharp and controlled. "What's our next move? We've spent years setting this trap to draw them out. We can't let them slip away again."
It was shocking—his Mandarin was flawless, spoken with the accent of someone long immersed in Huaxia's inner circles.
"Heh… no need to panic," came an elderly voice from one of the screens. "The sniper's already been locked on—he won't escape. What interests me more are these zombies. Fascinating, aren't they? Such perfect specimens for research… their existence alone is enough to rewrite everything we know about bio-modification."
As the old man's voice echoed through the encrypted channel, the secret meeting truly began.
In that moment, somewhere beyond the world's awareness, the curtain was quietly lifting—revealing a future that would soon grow stranger and more extraordinary than anyone could imagine.