Fractured: I became Her【Genderbend LitRPG】

Chapter 138: The Beginning of Turmoil

[Mission Name: Elegy of the Southern Wind]Mission Description: Undercurrents surge in Torrent City of Southwind Province. The Radiant Church and other factions remain locked in a tense standoff. During this delicate and perilous period, creations from the Church of Steam's special project slowly advance into Torrent City. Upon receiving this news, followers of the Radiant Church refuse to await their fate passively, a single spark could ignite everything! Your mission is to ensure the Church of Steam's secret weapon remains intact!

Mission Difficulty: High!

Mission Hint: Your forces remain limited for now. The key lies in leveraging minimal strength to influence all factions, but beware, if the forces you manipulate collapse upon your weak position, the consequences will be irreversible.

The moment this mission was announced, it even alerted the player of military district commanders who had been working diligently in the towns surrounding Torrent City, preparing to control vast territories through rural encirclement of urban areas.

Players who had already grasped fragments of the fractured situation through various means instinctively sensed something significant.

A small number of players logged out to seek assistance on the forums.

Beyond Southwind Province, players from the central continent regions, the four northern counties and five southern counties all began posting help requests. This unprecedented game-wide coordination provided The Fourth Calamity with novel experiences while simultaneously dealing them a heavy blow, for this game didn't await their progression like traditional virtual online games.

Time wasn't on the players' side.

Torrent City, Upper District, City Hall.

A hurried city official witnessed a chilling scene as he prepared to depart. Fanatical believers surged like tides from all four directions toward City Hall, chanting hymns to the glory of the Sun Gods while marching in perfect unison with torches held high. Their synchronized footsteps and holy songs made the City Hall building tremble!

"By the Gods, what do they intend?" a government employee murmured pointlessly.

"The very Gods you invoke are enabling their actions," the official replied, wiping cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief while subtly twisting a special button on his collar.

For the first time, riotous believers surrounded and stormed City Hall like crashing waves.

The City Hall guards stood no chance against such numbers, forced to retreat while resisting, falling back into the building and ascending to higher floors.

At 7:05 PM that evening, Torrent City's command center became paralyzed, incapable of issuing any effective orders.

Torrent City, Upper District, Soaring Eagle Guard Headquarters.

This had once been the city's security center, its polished Two-Headed Eagle Emblem representing Torrent City's pride.

Yet now, raging flames consumed the waving eagle standard.

The ground was littered with remnants of thrown objects such as stones, bricks, leaflets, torches, even bloodstained spears. A steel helmet, likely belonging to some guard, lay abandoned and trampled until it crumpled. The silver Two-Headed Eagle Emblem was smeared with grime and dust.

Several Transcendents brazenly broke their agreement and ambushed the central police headquarters. The police’s own Transcendents, already weak in normal times, had no will to resist and could only flee in disarray.

Enraged believers streamed through the police station’s main entrance, dragging out officers one by one to be beaten and humiliated.

An elderly white-haired officer struggled to his feet, refusing to kneel before the banner bearing the Sun Holy Emblem. His defiance angered the guarding believers, who denounced him as a stubborn heretic for rejecting the chance to repent before the Sun Gods.

The old officer spat a bloody mouthful on the ground, tilting his head back to coldly mock the furious fanatics.

The next moment, the sound of bones being brutally shattered echoed from Eagle Square...

Torrent City, Upper District, major transit hubs.

As the believers began their assault, clergy of the Radiant Church already prepared, they set up barricades on the roads. These included barbed wire with iron thorns, menacing spike barricades, and flaming metal barrels. The obstacles hindered soldiers who had mobilized independently to suppress the riots; with few armored vehicles in the city’s garrison, they couldn’t simply smash through.

Many officers hesitated to fire the first shot, not yet grasping the severity of the situation.

The credibility of Torrent City’s bureaucrats and politicians was notoriously poor, and scapegoating subordinates was common. If defenders who should have been heroes were instead sacrificed to appease public anger, who would dare show courage?

The fervent believers, unleashing pent-up violence, showed no signs of restraint.

Or rather...

The radical faction of the Sun Gods had never intended to hold back when they launched this riot. As if desperate for the whole world to hear their voice, buildings began to catch fire, and terrified cries drowned out even the holy hymns.

Under the night sky, the ever-bright city of Torrent was creating a hellscape in the name of divinity.

“This is only the beginning!”

Luminous Cathedral, its prayer hall packed with fanatics. Garfield, leader of the radical faction, preached with fervent devotion, moved to tears as if hearing a sublime melody.

“Everyone! Fight for the gods, advance! Eradicate all unclean heretics! We will launch this holy war, we will write its sacred history! Raise the banner of divine conquest, and let our brothers and sisters everywhere rise in response! Let this be our offering for the first millennium of the gods’ reign, long live the Sun!. The fervent atmosphere surged toward the prayer hall’s dome, where the stained-glass images of the Sun Gods grew strangely dim and gloomy.

This force, composed mostly of Transcendent clergy, charged toward their assigned targets. The Armory of the Church of Steam was their true objective.

The current unrest and bloodshed are merely a diversion.

If they could obtain large quantities of Steam Armaments, then seize control of Torrent City's port and key transportation routes, capturing both the industrial and upper districts, it would represent an unprecedented victory for the radical clergy of the Radiant Church.

The Radiant Church, having struck first, already held certain tactical advantages.

Meanwhile, near the crucial railway connecting the central district to areas outside the city, after repelling some reckless fanatics, these players equipped with their own weapons and armor witnessed an exceptionally heavy-gauge train. Its body welded with reinforced steel plates and revealing dark cannon muzzles, it slowly entered Torrent City with laborious steam whistles.

"That thing must pack a serious punch!"

A player swallowed hard, watching this war machine embodying the Church of Steam's military power operate smoothly. It would undoubtedly pour fuel on the flames engulfing this bustling city under the night sky.

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