Chapter 67: The Manhattan Project
The racers gathered to watch the devastation in fearful silence.
Mel and Hardy had stepped out of their vehicles, while Holster, Bucket, and a few other of Orient’s passengers climbed down from the spirit-train. Yuan canceled Gun Demon Incarnation to avoid wasting his qi. The thought of them turning on each other hardly crossed anyone’s mind, even Coyote’s. There was nothing left to fight over besides a nuclear cloud roaming over the ruins.
Was Slash even alive? The thought of taking revenge on that crook paled in Yuan’s mind compared to the danger Manhattan represented.
“What the…” Hardy gulped in shock. “Did he… did the Khan blow up his own city?”
“Did he lose control of his power?” Mel asked Yuan, recalling their previous conversation. “That’s what you were worried about, wasn’t it?”
“No,” Yuan replied with a scowl. The skull cloud had begun to dissipate to reveal a massive crater spewing a massive amount of smoke where Battletown used to stand. Part of him hoped the likes of Jared LaChair survived the disaster, but he wasn’t keeping his hopes up. “That’s a nuclear cultivator’s Authority.”
The siblings stared at him in utter disbelief. As for Coyote, he suddenly vanished in a blur of speed without a word and ran straight at the city. Did he intend to loot the ruins, or did he mayhaps have a loved one he intended to check upon? Whatever the case, Yuan knew deep within his bones that he would only find death.
A sharp surge of qi erupted behind Yuan. He and the twin racers turned to find Arc stepping out of the train, a Barrier restraining her Authority within a meter of herself.
“Yuan,” she said.