Darkness fell, but a light of cold, ruthless rationality flickered in John Doe’s eyes.

  The massive crushing hammer was descending with the weight of a thousand jun, yet he didn't retreat. He didn't even blink. On the edge of life and death, his brain entered an eerily "Absolute Calm" state—an instinct forged through countless battles between his hemophobia and Daoist Singularity's Tai Chi Heart Sutra.

  More importantly, he noticed a detail.

  Although the heavy infantry pouring out from behind the bulldozer moved with agility, their joints lacked the biological micro-tremors of living humans. When one soldier was grazed by a stray bullet, the wound didn't bleed red. Instead, it leaked a green, pungent chemical—Alchemical Coolant.

  "Modified corpses..."

  A surge of confidence welled up in John's chest.

  If they were living humans, flesh and blood, his hemophobia might have turned his legs to jelly. But facing these "biological machines"—drained of their last drop of human blood and filled with preservatives by the Necromancy Guild—his physiological fear vanished.

  In his eyes, this wasn't killing. This was dismantling a pile of moving, disgusting scrap metal.

  "I'm taking you apart!"

  Time seemed to slow down. John's left hand had already fished out three crumpled yellow talismans from his pocket. These weren't random scribbles; they were the results of a month spent in a dark room, practicing until his fingers nearly bled.

  Step One: Evasion.

  "[Life-Lock Talisman], attach!"

  John didn't stick the talisman on himself. Instead, he slapped it backhanded onto a piece of debris directly in the path of the falling hammer.

  The talisman burned, releasing a faint but distinct "False Life Signal" designed to interfere with necromantic radar.

  For the intelligent bulldozer that locked onto soul fluctuations, this momentary signal interference was like the target suddenly turning into a worthless rock.

  The crushing hammer stuttered for a fraction of a second—system lag caused by target re-acquisition.

  Only 0.5 seconds.

  But for John, it was enough.

  Step Two: Paralysis.

  Seizing the gap, he slid forward like a gecko hugging the ground, dodging the hammer's direct hit and diving straight under the bulldozer's chassis.

  That was where the armor was thinnest, and where the heat exhaust for the power core was located.

  "[Lightning Talisman], BURST!"

  John slammed the second talisman onto an exposed hydraulic pipe.

  ZZZ-POP!

  While it didn't summon a thunderstorm like Tesla's tower, the instant high-voltage current released by the talisman was enough to short-circuit the bulldozer's hydraulic system.

  The machine let out a metallic groan of agony. The hammer, poised to strike again, froze in mid-air before drooping impotently.

  Step Three: Elimination.

  Two heavy armored Scavenger soldiers flanked him. Their chainswords roared, aiming to slice this rat under the car in half.

  John didn't stand up. He rolled on the ground, grabbing a handful of prepared ammunition—Sticky Rice (another specialty bought from Singularity).

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  "[Immobilization Talisman] Plus Edition!"

  He wrapped the final talisman around the sticky rice and threw it like sand at the soldiers' feet.

  When the sticky rice hit the leaking green preservative fluid, it exploded like firecrackers—Crack! Crack! Pop! The burning sensation specific to necromantic creatures caused the soldiers to freeze, their internal alchemical circuits clogging momentarily.

  In that pause, John was already in front of them. The scalpel was short, but it sliced precisely through the power transmission cables of their exoskeletons.

  Click.

  No blood spray. Only green liquid splattered. John didn't blink as he reversed his grip and drove the blade into the control hub beneath the soldier's mask.

  The two heavy troopers collapsed stiffly, like toys with their batteries yanked out.

  The entire process took less than ten seconds.

  No flashy magic. No earth-shattering explosions. Only precise calculation, cold execution, and absolute control over his own physical limits.

  This was John's way of fighting now—dismantling the enemy like an actuary.

  "Boss! We're pulling out!"

  In the distance, Bone was carrying Margaret on his back, while Grace controlled a few surviving smart appliances (a robot vacuum carrying supplies), leading a group of terrified children and elderly people toward the back alley.

  "Don't look back! Get them out of here!"

  John gasped for air, climbing up from the mud. He saw more Scavenger troops flooding in. He knew this guerilla tactic wouldn't hold for long.

  "But you..." Bone wanted to argue.

  "Go! That's an order!" John roared.

  Bone gritted his teeth and vanished into the darkness.

  John stood alone in front of the clinic's ruins.

  This was the high ground of the street, a chokepoint that had to be held. If this fell, the shelter behind would be exposed to enemy fire.

  "Come on."

  John gripped the scalpel, his eyes resolute.

  But just then, a low, ancient growl came from beneath the shrine behind him.

  ROAR—

  The sound wasn't loud, but it carried a terrifying pressure.

  John turned around.

  He saw the grass turtle—Xuanwu—who usually shrank in its shell playing dead or stealing dried fish.

  It was no longer a palm-sized pet.

  Its body was expanding at an impossible rate. Ancient star charts lit up on its green shell, its limbs became thick as pillars, and its tail transformed into a menacing black snake.

  "This is..." John was stunned.

  Xuanwu ignored him. It took heavy steps, slowly positioning itself in front of John.

  It raised its head and let out a deafening roar at the sky filled with artillery fire and charging mechs.

  HUM—

  A pale green, hemispherical light curtain instantly expanded from Xuanwu's center.

  That was the Innate Ability of [Four Symbols · Xuanwu]—[Absolute Defense].

  Bullets, shells, even necromantic spells—everything bounced off the moment it touched the light curtain.

  "Master Turtle..." John muttered.

  "Don't just stand there, kid."

  Xuanwu didn't open its mouth (as a Divine Beast, it disdained speaking), but an old, steady voice rang directly in John's mind.

  "My old shell can't hold off this many people forever. Didn't you find a helper?"

  "Helper?" John paused.

  He suddenly remembered the "Defense Master" he had asked Grace to contact before the battle started.

  "Grace! Is it ready yet?!" John shouted into his wristband.

  "Ready! Ready! The signal is bad, but when the other party heard we wanted 'Non-Offense', he agreed immediately! He didn't even ask for money!" Grace's weak voice came through.

  "Then please... bring him out!"

  John raised the iPad.

  On the screen, an extremely simple, even crude icon of a wooden mechanism lit up.

  [Responder: Mo Di (Mozi)]

  [Title: Giant of the Mohist School / Universal Love & Non-Offense]

  [Class: Defense Grandmaster / Mechanism Art Grandmaster / Anti-War Pacifist]

  [Cost: 0 (For Peace).]

  BOOM!

  A beam of wooden-brown light landed on Xuanwu's back.

  From the light stepped a lean man with dark skin, wearing rough hemp clothes and walking barefoot. He carried a huge wooden box on his back, with a saw and an ink marker tucked at his waist.

  Mozi.

  He looked at the Scavenger troops frantically attacking the light curtain, shook his head, and sighed.

  "Offensive warfare is without the Tao; living beings suffer. Why bother?"

  He didn't waste words. He simply opened the wooden box on his back.

  It wasn't filled with weapons, but countless exquisite wooden parts.

  "Little brother, is this the place you want to guard?" Mozi pointed to the ruins behind them.

  "Yes." John nodded. "Even if I die, I have to hold it."

  "Die? There is no need for that."

  Mozi smiled, a smile filled with the confidence of a master craftsman.

  "Since we must defend, let us turn it into... an impregnable city."

  His hands moved like lightning, tossing the wooden parts into the air.

  A miracle happened.

  The parts assembled automatically in mid-air, attaching themselves to Xuanwu's light curtain and the surrounding ruined walls.

  [Mohist Mechanism Art · Non-Offense Barrier]!

  The defensive line, which was originally just a light curtain, instantly solidified.

  Wooden arrow towers rose from the ground (though they fired nets instead of arrows). Rows of wooden barricades blocked the intersections (coated with super glue). Even the paving stones on the ground flipped over, revealing trap pits underneath.

  Xuanwu's light curtain merged perfectly with Mozi's mechanisms.

  One Turtle, One Man, One City.

  On this night filled with smoke and death, they forcibly carved out an unsurpassable line at the entrance of the 13th Street—[Absolute Safe Zone].

  "Come."

  Mozi stood atop the wall, holding his ink line, his gaze calm.

  "Universal Love, Non-Offense. If you don't understand what Universal Love is, then I will teach you... what Non-Offense means."

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