Would Zhuang Heng believe it? Not necessarily.
But Zhuang Heng needed an explanation, and the City Defense Force Headquarters needed an account of what happened.
And the excuse of a “Level 4 Ability User” was enough to shut many people up.
Whether it was true or not, the City Defense Force would have to send an actual Level 4 Ability User to investigate.
Because for a small city like Panshi City, the presence of a Level 4 Ability User was enough to impact its stability and security.
Panshi City didn't dare to gamble.
And this was exactly what Su Wan wanted.
Although her current strength was only at the Level 3 Late Stage, the Rule Power of the Terminal Station was enough to ensure that any enemy who stepped into her domain would never return.
Level 4? Even if a Level 5 came, they would have to kneel.
Su Wan pulled back her thoughts and quickened her pace.
The silhouette of the Terminal Station gradually appeared in her field of vision.
From a distance, the gray building still stood silently on the edge of the ruins, blending into the surrounding desolation.
But Su Wan could feel that a tense atmosphere was currently permeating the building.
Her mental power quietly spread out, like invisible tentacles probing into the building.
The first-floor lobby was empty.
The registration desk was closed, the Star Coin Exchange Machine was on standby, the convenience store doors were locked, and the lights in the medical center were off.
In the corridors, there was none of the usual hustle and bustle.
All the doors were closed, with faint light peeking through the cracks.
The tenants without combat capabilities—the elderly, women, children, and the injured—were currently hiding in their respective rooms, holding their breath and not daring to make a sound.
They all knew that there might be danger outside.
And all they could do was not cause any trouble.
Su Wan’s mental power continued to extend.
Second floor, third floor, fourth floor...
The situation on every floor was roughly the same.
The tenants were hiding in their rooms, waiting quietly.
Those tenants with combat capabilities, such as members of the Order Maintenance Team, veteran tenants with experience as hunters or scavengers, and several Low-rank Ability Users who had volunteered, were currently stationed at various scouting posts by the Central Hub.
On the roof, the four Sentry Machine Gun Turrets (Heavy Version) had entered combat status. The muzzles of the 12.7mm heavy machine guns were pointed outward, with armor-piercing rounds and high-explosive rounds loaded alternately, ready to fire at any moment.
The two Guardian Energy Turrets stood silently on the expanded platform, their muzzles glowing with a faint blue light, having completed their charging.
On the perimeter of the building, the Security-Patrol Type robots were patrolling back and forth along preset routes. Their appearance was more rugged than the C-series, with striking warning signs printed on their alloy shells and non-lethal weapons mounted on their mechanical arms.
At the first-floor entrance, Black Rat stood guard with several members of the Order Maintenance Team.
They held their respective weapons, and although their faces were tense, their eyes were determined.
Behind them, the two robots, C1 and C2, stood silently, their electronic eyes flashing red, ready to execute their master’s orders at any moment.
The entire building was like a precisely operating machine, with every part in its place, waiting for the potential storm.
Su Wan withdrew her mental power and approached the building noiselessly.
Shadow-Hide was activated, and her figure became an invisible phantom in the darkness as she crossed the lobby.
No one noticed she had returned.
The door to Room 102 silently opened and closed.
Su Wan sat down by the bed, closed her eyes, and contacted the Central Hub through their mental link.
“Lifting the Level 1 Alert.”
【Command confirmed.】
【Sending instructions to all robots and the Order Maintenance Team...】
【Level 1 Alert has been lifted.】
【All scouting posts are beginning an orderly withdrawal.】
【Building entrances and exits will reopen within five minutes.】
In Su Wan’s consciousness, that precisely operating machine began to slow down gradually.
On the roof, the muzzles of the Sentry Machine Gun Turrets reset from their combat posture and entered standby mode.
The faint blue light of the Guardian Energy Turrets faded, and the muzzles slowly lowered.
In the corridors, the tenants hiding in their rooms almost simultaneously received a notification from the Central Hub via their room communication devices:
【Alert lifted. All tenants, please resume normal living order.】
There was silence for a few seconds.
Then, in a corridor, the first door opened.
A middle-aged man poked his head out, looked left and right, and after confirming everything was fine, turned back and shouted into the room, “It’s over, you can come out.”
Immediately following that, more doors opened.
People walked out of their rooms, gathering in twos and threes, talking in low voices.
“Is it over?”
“It’s over, the alert is lifted.”
“What exactly happened earlier? Did the City Defense Force attack?”
“I don’t know... it seems it was a false alarm...”
“It’s good that it was a false alarm, just good that it was a false alarm...”
The tense atmosphere dissipated bit by bit.
Although most people didn't know what had happened, the news of the alert being lifted was enough to put their minds at ease.
In the first-floor lobby, the registration desk reopened.
The Star Coin Exchange Machine woke up from standby mode, processing the materials handed in by the vagrants.
The convenience store doors opened, and the shelves were filled with freshly restocked goods.
The lights in the medical center turned back on, and three white-painted Basic Medical Robots had already begun attending to the patients in line.
Everything returned to the usual hustle and bustle.
Su Wan leaned back against her chair and slowly exhaled.
Just then, the system’s prompt sounded in her mind—
【Ding! Progress updated for Main Quest “Rise of the Shelter - Final Chapter”—】
【Current Progress: 121/10,000!】
Su Wan was slightly startled.
She had been gone for over ten hours, and more than a hundred new tenants had been added.
This speed was even faster than she had anticipated.
【Current Points Balance: 156,800 points (Points updating in real-time...)】
Su Wan looked at the number and did a quick calculation in her head.
One hundred and fifty-six thousand points was still far from enough to purchase a Level 4 Potion.
But the growth of points was continuous, with rent, service fees, and convenience store profits coming in every day.
As the population grew, the rate of point accumulation would also increase.
What Su Wan wanted most right now was a Level 4 Potion.
The points to buy the potion weren't the issue; the key was unlocking the potion.
She had to personally kill a Level 4 Ability User.
Su Wan believed that before long, an actual Level 4 would set foot on the Terminal Station’s soil.
When that time came—
She would have her Level 4 Potion.
...
Outer City branch, Command Office.
Yan Pengcheng took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down.
He picked up the communicator on his desk and dialed the encrypted channel for Zhuang Heng’s office.
The call connected, and Zhuang Heng’s raspy, low voice came through the communicator, cold as a winter pool.
“Speak.”
Yan Pengcheng’s back instantly straightened.
Even through the communicator, even with Zhuang Heng currently far away in the Inner City, that invisible pressure still transmitted through the airwaves, making him involuntarily tense every nerve.
“Commander Zhuang...”
“Something has happened to the 3rd Mobile Brigade.”
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