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Chapter 188 The aftermath
……

Jiangcheng, within the Wuhuan Industrial Park.

It was already 9 p.m., and the area around the park was completely surrounded by police vehicles. The flashing red and blue warning lights formed a long cordon. Jiang Siqi sat on a flower bed next to the reception building, scrolling through her phone. The winter evening breeze that usually made her feel cold with just a slight breeze seemed to go unnoticed at this moment.

"Sister Siqi, put this on, be careful not to catch a cold." Someone handed her a thick blanket.

It's a little dove.

"Oh, thank you." Jiang Siqi noticed that she was carrying several blankets, probably prepared by the logistics team. "Um... have you seen the news online?"

"Yeah, I saw it." Kobato nodded. "You looked really cool fighting!"

Jiang Siqi couldn't help but grin foolishly, "Hehe... thank goodness, actually I was scared to death!"

Someone uploaded the lobby's surveillance footage online, including footage of reception staff suddenly changing their behavior and attacking guests, as well as government officials storming into the lobby, evacuating the crowd, and fighting the mutants.

It almost instantly became a trending topic.

Jiang Siqi has also been recognized by everyone, and her personal channel's followers have surged by nearly 200 million, with no signs of slowing down. Previously, when the TV station referred to her as an internet celebrity, she felt quite uneasy, but now, she is a true internet celebrity, and the name "Magical Girl Sitian" has become a hot topic of discussion.

The only reason she's not doing live streams right now is because the team leader has instructed her not to disclose sensitive information to the public for the time being. Otherwise, she believes her live stream would definitely set a new online viewership record.

Grandpa, Grandma, Dad, Mom, your daughter is truly a hero!
"As expected of No. 1, you're truly cold-blooded and ruthless. You can even laugh out loud at a time like this." A very unpleasant voice interrupted.

Jiang Siqi turned her head in surprise and saw the man with the earring walking over with crutches. He had changed into a white hospital coat, his whole body was wrapped in bandages like a dumpling, and he had a brace around his neck, looking exactly like a severely disabled person.

No, even in this condition, why isn't he taking sick leave?
Although the commander-in-chief ordered all operators to remain on-site to await further orders, this clearly did not include seriously injured operators. Even if he stayed in the mechanical park, he'd only be a hindrance!
Jiang Siqi twitched her lips. "Why don't you go to the hospital?"

"It wasn't a fatal injury to begin with, so why did I go to the hospital? They had to make me look like this and take a bunch of photos, probably to publicize how we risked our lives to save someone," Han Yuhao replied coldly. "Hmph, for me, this is far from my limit."

They're putting on airs again.

Jiang Siqi rolled her eyes. This guy was probably even happier than she was. Obviously, it wasn't just the internet celebrity Sitian who became famous. All the execution teams of the Weixian Agency had been filmed to varying degrees. They had all become the subject of heated discussions among netizens. However, the record of the four people fighting in the hall was the clearest.

For example, the man with the earring now even has a nickname: the God of Earrings.

It matches his name inexplicably.

"A blanket..." Little Dove carefully handed the blanket to the other person.

“You’re afraid of this guy too, I understand.” Han Yuhao’s tone held a hint of pity. “A person who only pursues power but has no heart is no different from a monster.”

Damn it, she's the one who's afraid of you!
"How can I not have a heart?" Jiang Siqi said irritably.

"How many people just died at the entrance of this hall? It wouldn't be an exaggeration to describe it as a field of corpses. Yet you dare to face the vengeful spirits of the dead, sitting on the flower bed just a foot away, completely unconcerned about what just happened. And our teammate Elori... is still missing, yet you not only show no concern but are also preoccupied with your own reputation. Isn't this proof of a heartless person?!"

The other party said righteously.

Jiang Siqi was momentarily speechless; she really hadn't expected the other person to be able to weave such a long and rambling argument.

She had naturally paid attention to the deceased. Hundreds of people had died at once, especially in Jiangcheng, a city with an extremely high level of public security, which was enough to cause a public outcry. It could be said that the execution team's soaring reputation was entirely built on this serious incident. The Maintenance Agency had already publicized the incident as an "invasion war from another world" and stated that it would fully support the national departments in winning this war. However, the word "war" felt somewhat distant to her, and since these people had already died before the Maintenance Agency's operation, and only empty souls remained, she always felt that the dead had little to do with her.

Whether they come or not, the employees of Wuhuan Machinery Factory cannot be saved.

Even without the intervention of the authorities, who knows how many people would eventually become puppets of the Wanderers.

As for the French girl, Jiang Siqi was naturally concerned.

But the problem was, showing concern was useless! She rushed out of the lobby and flew to the rooftop without saying goodbye to anyone, so no one knew what she was going to do. Then she disappeared along with the entire upper part of the building, leaving only a distorted space symbolizing decay.

Do you have to cry and whine to prove you care?
"Alright, there's nothing to argue about. I believe none of you are that kind of people." Wang Baihu walked over at this moment.

You could tell he looked tired.

"Brother Bird!" Little Dove breathed a sigh of relief and immediately handed over a blanket. "Where's Sister Red Lotus?"

“We’re still coordinating with the logistics team.” Wang Baihu looked at the two new team members. “You’ve worked hard. This is probably the biggest new recruit trial since the organization was established. You’ve performed much better than I did back then.”

“Isn’t this just common sense?” Han Yuhao said, arms crossed. “The newcomer should surpass the former.”

The deputy team leader has a good temper; if it were her, she would definitely have punched him. Jiang Siqi looked around, "Aren't we missing someone?"

“Li Xing?” the man with the earring scoffed. “He has a ten-centimeter-long cut on his leg and told me he’ll be in the hospital for at least half a month. Don’t count on him.”

Uh... although a ten-centimeter wound is scary, he's probably the kind of person who would never miss a paid sick leave, Jiang Siqi thought to herself.

"Does Captain Xiao have some other mission to assign us by keeping us here?" she asked Wang Baihu.

"What, do you want to face the countless reporters and victims' families outside?"

Jiang Siqi forgot about the bustling entrance and couldn't help but shrink back, "...I don't want to."

“So you’ll have to receive a short training session with psychologists and lawyers later. They’ll tell you what to say in public and how to manage your emotions.” Wang Baihu shrugged. “But these are minor details. I think he’s keeping you here for the most important thing right now.”

He raised his head and looked at the eroded space suspended in mid-air.

At this moment, a construction team was busy on the top of the building, and hundreds of searchlights illuminated the construction area as if it were daytime.

The engineers inspected the building and found that its structure was completely undamaged. The missing parts didn't appear to have been violently destroyed, but rather as if they had never existed in the first place. Therefore, they didn't need to build a ladder from the ground; they could start from the gap at the top floor and reach the eroded space in a maximum of five hours.

If the mirage-like erosion that appeared over Tianlu Park in Jiangcheng last time was difficult to approach, this erosion is obviously much easier to penetrate.

"Are we going to enter the other side of the erosion?" Jiang Siqi was stunned. "Isn't that something the organization forbids?"

At least that's how people in the organization taught us during the basic courses.

“Yes, but times have changed.” Wang Baihu said with a complicated tone, “Putting aside the fact that one of our agents is missing in the eroded area, we also need an explanation for the families of the victims in Jiangcheng. I don’t know if doing this is good or bad, but perhaps the era of being unrelated to each other is over.”

(End of this chapter)