Esper X Family – Chapter 326 – Progression Blocked

Across the ocean, in the Yunited States.

For the past few nights, massive pillars of light had been shooting into the sky.

Many people had long grown numb to this apocalyptic phenomenon.

At first, everyone thought it was the end of the world.

But when they realized that these towering light pillars wouldn’t actually threaten their lives, they simply watched them as a form of entertainment.

The ones who truly had to worry were the Yunited States politicians.

They were the ones primarily responsible for bearing the pressure.

In just one week’s time.

Numerous bases had been leveled to the ground.

Relevant technical personnel were being mowed down like grass.

Vast wealth was slipping through their fingers like water.

Those research results were all mountains of gold!

Which one of them hadn’t been built upon massive investments?

And yet, before the semi-finished products could even be released for profit, they were all completely destroyed.

It would be a lie to say that the investors weren’t heartbroken!

They desperately wanted to find the culprit for negotiations, even willing to give up most of the profits just to beg them to stop completely.

If they had to be even more humble, they would plead for them to slow down, to give them time to evacuate their assets.

But reality was cruel.

The culprit’s speed of action was like a government seizure.

One night, one firework, one giant crater.

Accompanied by a large number of high-level Yunited States players logging out of Earth Online permanently.

Such efficient action left the remaining higher-ups trembling in fear.

But the highest authority, Byron, was unreachable.

They could only rely on their own means to survive.

Even now, some still believe that it was the work of Dragon Country.

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Therefore, Fang Ze, the representative of Dragon Country’s Countermeasures Bureau, had to tune in to the same fixed program every day.

Begging, bribery, threats, and outrage.

All kinds of ugly faces showed Fang Ze the diversity of humanity.

They couldn’t care less about how the people of their own country were faring, only whether the money in their own pockets was dwindling.

Facing these “vampires” in human skin every time, Fang Ze felt an urge to eliminate them for the people.

“A bunch of doomed men. It shouldn’t be long before those useless scoundrels are cleaned out of the political arena.”

In the lounge.

Fang Ze stared at the action plan in his hand, lost in thought.

The Yunited States side was anxious, yet somehow not too anxious.

There seemed to be an internal power struggle within the Sentinel Organization.

Divided into the Surrender Faction and the Perseverance Faction.

The former wanted to retreat unscathed and preserve their lives, sending people to hand over the research project data they were responsible for.

They also proactively “found” the remaining missing Dragon Country citizens.

Their goal was to offer a pledge of allegiance, hoping to avoid being casually cleaned up by the mysterious Dragon Country assassins.

Fang Ze accepted everything they offered.

This was, after all, the stance the Yunited States should have taken.

Why didn’t they do this before?

Only when facing death do they kneel and beg for mercy.

As for the Perseverance Faction, that was Byron’s faction.

That guy still showed no sign of appearing, as if the losses during this period were insignificant.

Even now, he still hadn’t made a statement.

Fang Ze was starting to wonder if he had been driven mad by the pressure.

The only explanation was that these Yunited States leaders might have something wrong with their minds.

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The Countermeasures Bureau’s next step was to give them a thorough overhaul.

Whether the Surrender Faction or the Perseverance Faction lived or died would not be decided by the Countermeasures Bureau.

It would be decided by Sequence Zero.

The Countermeasures Bureau couldn’t stop their actions anyway.

The Surrender Faction had simply knelt to the wrong person.

“Heh, it’s their fault for provoking the wrong people. If they hadn’t captured their companion, they might’ve survived a little longer.”

Fang Ze let out a cold laugh, showing no pity in his eyes.

All he could do was handle the aftermath for the Yunited States.

On the other side.

The culprits who had thrown the Yunited States into chaos were having a small meeting.

“Speedrun! We must speedrun the Yunited States! I want to see rivers of blood, I want to become the Great King of the West ¹ Explained in chapter 83. Historical figure known for his massacres. and kill all the capitalists!”

A petite, silver-haired girl was giving a simple, easy-to-understand speech.

Or rather, a unilateral declaration.

The fission body had been in the Yunited States for too long.

Although it hadn’t been half a month yet, she still needed to return to Dragon Country for important matters!

Since Tu Sheng had invited her, why stay in the Yunited States?

To watch the capitalists bare their teeth?

It wasn’t as fun as matching wits with the Prophet.

Ye Yao glanced at Mu Luo and Gu Wenxin.

“Old Mu, Old Gu, when killing bad guys, don’t rush, but you must be fast!

No need for boring ceremonial stuff, speedrunning is the one true way!”

Actually, they hadn’t been destroying one Sentinel sub-base per night.

That efficiency was far too low.

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Ye Yao had initially been slow because she wanted to see the Yunited States higher-ups cry from anxiety.

So, the Sentinel bases were dismantled slowly.

After dismantling one, she would let Mu Luo and the others move freely.

And their free time was usually spent clearing out Yunited States’ underground organizations.

Leaving nothing but desolation in their wake.

Territories of gangs that struck fear to ordinary Yunited States citizens became dead zones overnight.

Not to mention organized criminals, even unorganized criminals were taken out as cannon fodder.

Thus, a pile of bodies would accumulate overnight.

The cleanup speed couldn’t keep up with the production rate.

In fact, the Countermeasures Bureau had already sent people into work.

They were mainly responsible for handling the aftermath.

Although the intervention of foreign forces was a provocation to the Yunited States.

The Yunited States was now so severely crippled it had no time to manage such matters.

Order was on the verge of collapsing.

The Countermeasures Bureau intervened precisely to prevent a complete collapse.

While Sequence Zero handled the source of the chaos, the Countermeasures Bureau seamlessly took over from the local administration.

Yet, even so, Yunited States society was plunging into unavoidable turmoil.

Ye Yao could only say that Mu Luo and the others had tried hard enough.

This country was like a living hell.

The historical legacy of a system that bred conflict had created countless villains.

There were cockroaches everywhere!

Gu Wenxin had actually pushed his mental power past the 6,000 mark just by mowing them down.

One had to consider that killing a bunch of non-Esper villains would probably only increase his mental power by a few decimal points.

And Mu Luo hadn’t even set foot in several major regions.

That alone proved just how much filth the Yunited States contained.

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To truly neutralize the Yunited States completely, it would be impossible in a short time.

Unless Ye Yao lent Gu Wenxin her 40,000 post-fission mental power.

Otherwise, they could only deal with it bit by bit.

“That being the case, we have to capture the chief culprit first.”

Ye Yao looked at Mu Luo, her motivation for speedrunning very strong.

There was quite a lot for the fission body to do once she returned.

There was no need to linger in the Yunited States. She could just finish the main quest first before heading back.

And bring the cute An Qi along with her.

She could leave the aftermath to Mu Luo and the others.

“Mu Luo, haven’t you found that Byron guy yet?”

According to Mu Luo’s intel, Sentinel leader Byron was the Yunited States’ biggest BOSS.

It seemed that once they took him down, everything could be settled ahead of schedule.

So, the question was, where was he hiding?

Mu Luo shook his head: “Wait a little longer. I’ll find him as soon as possible.”

Couldn’t find the BOSS room.

Progression blocked.

Ye Yao didn’t pressure Mu Luo, but instead felt a familiar sensation.

This old bastard Byron is so good at hiding, just like those dark rats of the Sanctuary!

“That Byron… could he be the Sanctuary’s ally in the Yunited States?”

Author Note

I’ve activated the family card!

One of the benefits of having a driver’s license is being able to drive for relatives.

Caused a huge delay and almost crashed the plane!

Text: Ba ga ya lu ² Bakayarō, basically “dumbass” in Japanese.