The ones who arrived behind Vodka were none other than Jeanne's group, who had just landed from the Wyvern. After descending, they had rushed to the area where the LGD was stationed.
At this moment, Gin looked at Vodka with a face full of helplessness. He hadn't expected this guy to still have the heart to provoke those two captives. Had he forgotten the time he accidentally leaked a secret while chasing an enemy and was nearly handled as a spy?
"Truly sorry to let you see such an embarrassing fellow. We shall take our leave first; the specific details will be discussed with Governor Wei."
Gin gave Vodka a kick with his size 48 driver's shoe, then bid farewell to Ch'en and the others, quickly leaving this place of trouble. Their purpose in coming was to intercept these fellows if they tried to escape through the sewers and to use official standing to block any Ursus soldiers who might appear.
That's right—the soldiers inside this company were still nominally part of Ursus, even though their files had been classified as "deceased." However, looking at it now, there had been no opportunity for him to intervene in either task. Instead, due to the sudden turn of events, he had been forced to show himself in this place. Although they had fought side-by-side underground, it didn't mean his relationship with the Lungmen Guard Department was good enough to stand around chatting. One must not forget: he belonged to the Ursus Imperial Guard. Even if they had fought together a moment ago, it wouldn't be impossible for them to be at each other's throats the next.
Ch'en watched the two receding figures without stopping them. These two were cooperating with Wei Yenwu; how to handle them would naturally be his decision. Since he hadn't sent her a message now, it meant he didn't want her involved in this matter. In that case, she would leave it to him. Besides, they had plenty of other things to resolve today. Even if those two were brought to the LGD, they'd just end up sitting in a room drinking tea.
The two hadn't walked far when they saw a figure in Black Armor (Blackshadow) standing before them. That Old Dragon truly couldn't sit still; how could he just let them leave like that?
"Lead the way!"
With those words, Gin and Vodka followed the Blackshadow to meet Wei Yenwu.
"What on earth happened in there! Why did so many of those things suddenly swarm out? And what's with this massive fire? Pink Sausage Dragon, are you listening?"
Seeing Ch'en return safely, a relieved Swire immediately pounced in front of her, firing off questions like a rapid-fire cannon, looking as if she wouldn't rest until she knew the truth. Ch'en, annoyed to the point of exhaustion, could only turn her head away and ignore her for the moment. In this situation, she could only wait for this "char siu cat" with bristling fur to calm down.
She looked up at the flames still raging in the sky, seemingly seeing the angry roars those Infected continued to unleash even after death. Only after Swire stopped her incessant questioning did Ch'en give her a general summary of what had transpired in the secret chamber.
Swire was quite shocked by the account. She hadn't expected such a company to be playing so many "tricks." She couldn't help but think of other companies in Lungmen; since Rhine Gold dared to do something this insane, were other companies doing the same?
"Those things can wait until later. Since such a major incident occurred, we have plenty of grounds for an investigation." Ch'en glanced at Swire, as if guessing her thoughts.
But clearly, now was not the time for that. The most important thing was how to handle the current situation and how to extinguish this sky-piercing fire. The flames were currently burning in the air with a technique that defied scientific explanation, giving the impression of a giant torch. Given the circumstances, wishing for the citizens not to notice was a luxury. According to reports from the rear, every major TV station and newspaper had sent reporters here. Their goal was to snatch first-hand information before their competitors—a speed race within the Lungmen journalism world.
"It's up to you now, Officer Beatrix! Until we finish handling this incident, do not let a single reporter in!"
Ch'en patted Swire's shoulder, putting on an expression of entrusting her with a heavy responsibility. However, judging by her tone, there was a hint of teasing and dumping of chores involved. Generally speaking, after such a major incident, accepting interviews should have been the duty of a Senior Superintendent like her. But compared to Swire, Ch'en was truly terrible at dealing with reporters. She'd rather fight dangerous criminals to the death than hold a press conference.
Another reason was that her current condition was truly unsuitable for an interview. Once those reporters saw her deathly pale face, tomorrow's headlines would be set. She could already imagine it—seconds after her interview, the internet would be flooded with titles like "SHOCKING! LGD Senior Superintendent's face is pale; the reason is actually THIS!" or "LGD Police face is pale, suspected encounter with a powerful enemy." Whether the impact was good or not was one thing, but the clickbait was definitely there. That meant hits and massive ad revenue; as for being invited by the LGD for "tea" afterward, that was a problem for later.
"How many times have I said it—don't call me Officer Beatrix! Pink Sausage Dragon, you're doing this on purpose, aren't you?"
Clearly, Swire had a big problem with the title "Officer Beatrix." She even wanted to grab Ch'en and shake her twice, but seeing Ch'en's poor state, she held back. Anyone could see Ch'en was in bad shape; if she hadn't been stubbornly insisting she was fine, she'd be in a Lungmen hospital right now. However, judging by the strength she used to stop Swire from calling an ambulance, her condition wasn't that bad. She just looked like someone who had suffered from extreme overwork and overtime.
"Forget it, I can't be bothered to argue with you. I'll take some people to the front to stop the reporters. You'd better speed things up on your end!" With that, Swire took a portion of the officers to intercept the journalists. As things stood, she could only try her best to deal with those fellows. However, bickering with them was exhausting, especially after spending so much energy controlling a large number of drones. She already had the faint beginnings of a headache.
At this moment, the fire seemed to have no limit, still burning frantically. Logically, a fire of this magnitude should have consumed the Originium by now, so why was it still burning? But unlike before, the flames stopped climbing after reaching a certain height. Instead, they began to gather in the air, gradually forming a sphere.
Witnessing this, no one knew how to react to this turn of events. They didn't know if this change was a blessing or a curse.
"Do you know how to extinguish that fire, Jeanne? We can't let them keep burning like this!" Looking at the flames still surging up from the giant pit, Ch'en spoke to Jeanne with a worried tone, hoping for assistance. She understood how angry the spirits ignited in that fire were; she felt the same way. But she couldn't allow the vengeful fire to continue; at this rate of accumulation, it would soon grow into a blaze that could burn down the entire block.
"You should understand that this is the fire of anger. This is the fury accumulated by countless experimental subjects over many years; it won't be extinguished so easily." Looking at the flames in the sky, Jeanne shook her head. "But don't worry, they won't harm the residents of Lungmen indiscriminately. You should be glad they didn't choose to seek crazy revenge on everyone. But those perpetrators... they're in for it!"
Hearing Jeanne's somewhat gleeful tone, Ch'en became anxious. But aside from Jeanne, who could create this fire, she couldn't find anyone else capable of extinguishing it. As for using water or earth to put it out, she heard they had tried that already. It wasn't "useless"—it was "completely ineffective."
At this moment, the gathered fire in the sky gradually grew from the size of a basketball into a massive sphere with a ten-meter radius. The giant fireball manifested above them, looking as if the blazing sun itself was about to fall from the sky.