At this moment, the fire in Jeanne's hand lacked the violent turbulence she usually controlled. Instead, it possessed a peculiar, chilling pressure that made one feel cold all over. This was Jeanne imitating the fire those souls had manifested; since they could achieve such a feat using their own strength, there was no reason she couldn't do the same. However, they had certainly taught her a lesson today—she had never imagined that fire could be used in such a way. She just didn't know how effective this specific flame was; it didn't seem quite as reliable as her fists.
"Alright, alright, I get it. Put your 'divine power' away! Looking at that thing makes my skin crawl."
By now, the white light in the sky had vanished without a trace. And along with the light, the sun-like fire in the heavens had also disappeared. Consequently, this sudden mutation that had drawn so much attention—this great disaster in the videos that looked like it might annihilate Lungmen—had ended in an oddly anticlimactic, "anti-climax" fashion.
Looking back at the entire operation, aside from the injured officers, the greatest loss was actually a foreign company—and the lenses of the photographers outside. Everyone looked at the site with dazed eyes, feeling as if they had just experienced some "Unbelievable Tale of Lungmen." If not for the bottomless pit before them, many officers would have even suspected they had been under the influence of a hallucination.
"When you get back, you can have someone look into it. Those who had the fire enter their bodies will have a mark appear over their hearts—it looks like the symbol on my flag."
As Jeanne spoke, she pointed to the black dragon flag in her hand. Then, while the others weren't paying attention, she allowed the banner to dissolve into tiny glimmers of light and vanish. This was her latest discovery: those possessed by this fire would manifest a mark where the fire gathered at the heart, serving as a sign of that "time bomb." The appearance of the mark meant the person had been targeted by the resentment within the flames. The mark would only disappear on the day they died.
"Thank you. This helps a great deal," Ch'en replied, feeling quite pleasantly surprised. She had originally thought that tracking down every perpetrator would exhaust a massive amount of the LGD's resources. Although making arrests based on this might be slightly outside the rules—and might even lead to the wrong people being caught in some cases—given the special circumstances of this incident, they would treat it as a unique case handled with unique methods.
"Hey! Pink Sausage Dragon, what on earth are you doing?! If you're planning something over there, can't you tell me in advance? My eyes!"
Outside, Swire, who had been blocking the reporters, finally recovered. However, the white flash had made her eyes ache, and they began to tear up as soon as they hit the wind.
"Am I still supposed to block the reporters?! if there's no danger inside, I'm not stopping them anymore!"
To her knowledge, the only dangerous thing left in that company was the fireball. If not for the fear of it exploding, she wouldn't have worked so hard to keep the press back. It wasn't like violent crimes hadn't happened before; as long as there was no danger, the LGD usually allowed reporters entry, provided they didn't disrupt the scene. However, even if they were allowed in now, those reporters likely wouldn't get much news. After all, the "tools of their trade" were all broken.
"Let them in. Once the prisoners are sent back, the only thing left is to dig the secret room back out. Though, I don't think we'll find much else."
Ch'en sighed and finally agreed to let the reporters in. As things stood, if they delayed any longer, who knew what those people might fabricate? She knew all too well how flexible the moral bottom line of these journalists could be; for a headline, those fellows would dare to use a single blurry photo to claim an alien invasion!
"Sigh, there's no way around it. Every time we handle a case, these guys follow us like hyenas smelling blood, looking to stir up trouble." Ch'en glanced at her communicator and spoke helplessly to Jeanne and Lemuen. It was clear she truly disliked the press, yet these reporters were, to some extent, following Lungmen's rules, so she had no reason to block them.
"Then we'll head back first. We'll contact you in a couple of days."
Jeanne had originally intended to go to the LGD to check on the situation, but seeing the current mess, she decided it was better not to join the fray. She could foresee that the LGD would be the eye of the storm. As "unauthorized personnel," it was better for them to wait until the dust settled.
Besides, her deal was essentially complete—and very thoroughly at that. As for the subsequent handover, she'd leave that to the Ursus people. Furthermore, she really did need to rest. After releasing that Noble Phantasm, she felt her entire body's mana was depleted, and she was experiencing occasional bouts of dizziness. This feeling was even more exhausting than the last time she had used it. Jeanne felt she needed a good sleep to alleviate this hollowed-out feeling.
"Alright then. You two follow the transport vehicles back. If I find anything else, I'll come looking for you."
Ch'en noticed Jeanne's poor state and took the opportunity to let them leave. If they stayed any longer, the reporters would surely catch them. Since the transport vehicles were leaving at this time anyway, Jeanne and Lemuen could simply follow them back to the LGD and then head off on their own. Conveniently, two people with their level of combat prowess could act as guards to prevent any attempts to intercept the transport on the way.
"So, there's nothing left for us here? What kind of nonsense is this!"
In a hidden corner, Lin Yuxia watched the transport vehicles receding into the distance, then looked at the group of elites she had brought out, and couldn't help but complain. What was she supposed to do now? She couldn't step forward, yet she couldn't just keep watching. From start to finish, she had been nothing more than a spectator.
She had thought they would eventually team up with the LGD to eliminate the disaster once and for all! That was how it was supposed to go, but what on earth happened? The problem was that she still had a crowd of subordinates under her! Was she supposed to tell them the matter was over and they were all going home in such a pathetic fashion? What had they even come for? Just so a few of them could end up with "tattoos" on their chests? What kind of mess was this? Was there even any accurate intelligence?
"That is the situation, Miss Lin. We shall take our leave. Lord Wei is still waiting to discuss some things with these two 'honored guests'."
The Blackshadow beside her spoke. Seeing that there was no longer any possibility of a threat to Lungmen's safety, he prepared to leave. As for the two Ursus agents, they had already been "invited" away earlier. Governor Wei had personally inquired about the situation more than once; it seemed he required accurate intelligence on exactly what had transpired.
"I suppose it has to be this way, doesn't it? At least the ending is good. We're withdrawing."
Lin Yuxia flicked her tail unpleasantly, turned, and led her elites away as if they had never been there.
"Mm, the child is still too young... bringing a whole group over only to return in such a gray and dusty manner. How can those men feel good about that?"
From his own hidden corner, the Rat King watched his daughter lead her people away. Only after a long silence did he speak to himself. His Savra subordinate stood by with an embarrassed expression, weighing whether he should respond and what he should even say. Ultimately, the young man decided to say nothing. Since he wasn't good with words to begin with, he figured it was best not to go looking for trouble in an area where he lacked talent.
He stood there like a wooden post, silently watching the Rat King mutter about this and that. He knew that what he should do was take the opportunity to impress his boss and pave his way up in the gang, rather than being an "invisibility tool." But he didn't know how.
"Forget it. Children have their own destinies. I'll just worry about cleaning up the mess after she causes one."
After standing for a long time, the Rat King seemed to have found peace with the situation and turned to leave. But before he departed, he cast a deep, meaningful look toward the tallest building in Lungmen. Inside that building, an Old Lung seemed to sense it; he turned to look out the window toward the exact direction where the Rat King had been standing.