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Chapter 189 A Happy Ending is Best

"Everyone, Captain Xiao wants you to come over!" A member of the logistics team called out to everyone.

The four of them re-entered the reception building. The ground had been cleaned up, and the broken floor-to-ceiling windows had been covered with tarpaulins, making it impossible to tell that a fierce battle had taken place here.

After such a serious accident, the entire Wuhuan Machinery Park was requisitioned. The police, military, research units, and maintenance agencies divided up the building like a cake, and the agencies' offices were located on the first floor.

When everyone entered the room, they found that Honglian had already arrived and was arguing with Xiao Kanong about something.

"...We didn't do this, but now the internet is treating us like heroes!"

"So what? Don't the newcomers deserve the title of heroes for their bloody battles?" Xiao Kanong said calmly.

“I didn’t say Jiang Siqi and the others weren’t worth it, but you’re manipulating public opinion and forcibly attributing credit that doesn’t belong to the organization to the execution team!” Honglian argued indignantly.

"Sister Honglian..." Xiaojiu called out timidly.

That's when she noticed her teammates had arrived.

“Good idea.” Xiao Kanong clapped his hands. “You all should listen to this and see if your group leader’s protest is reasonable.”

Honglian suddenly fell silent.

“What, you think it’s hard to say? Then let me say it.” He cleared his throat. “According to the intelligence analysis afterward, there were two... or even three Wanderers in the park at the time. Their codenames were Demon, White-Clad Immortal, and Flesh Butcher. Demon’s ability was to cultivate puppets. He turned nearly half of the park’s employees into his minions, and you stepped forward to stop the enemy’s rampage.”

"But the demon himself was not destroyed by you. He was defeated by two other wanderers working together. Honglian witnessed the white-robed immortal flying to the rooftop."

Actually, everyone found out about this afterwards.

After all, the sudden collapse of all the puppets was both lucky and suspicious, so they would naturally ask Wang Baihu and Honglian for information.

Her idol was truly amazing! Jiang Siqi secretly clenched her fist, regretting that she couldn't get a photo with her...

“Our disagreement lies here. I instructed the logistics team to attribute all the credit for defeating the demon and rescuing the survivors to you, while covering up the existence of other wanderers,” Xiao Kanong said with a smile. “But Honglian believes that the public should be told the truth: there are other righteous messengers besides the organization.”

"The problem is that there is no video recording of their battle. I think involving the other two Wanderers will weaken our publicity efforts and also cause doubt and unease among the public: How can there be so many Wanderers in Jiangcheng, and the security department is completely unaware of it? Is there any dereliction of duty involved? In other words, doing so will not only dim your heroic aura but also add a lot of pressure to the partners of the Limitless Agency. Therefore, I do not agree with Honglian's point of view. What do you think?"

After he finished speaking, he took a sip of tea and waited for everyone's reaction.

Wang Baihu and the others looked at each other in bewilderment.

After a moment of silence, Jiang Siqi was the first to raise her hand and say, "I agree with the captain's opinion."

This is a heroic title she earned with her life; how can we let it be tarnished?!

Team leader, I'm sorry, but most people just like simple symbols most of the time; the truth isn't that important. Besides, this truth is meaningless; it can neither bring the victim back to life nor affect the impact of this event.

She silently bowed to Honglian in her heart.

"I also support Boss Xiao," Han Yuhao said second. "Who knows how those Wanderers started fighting? Maybe it was just infighting over the distribution of spoils. If we portray them as good people now, what if they aren't? Besides, I think Wanderers don't care about other people's opinions at all. Otherwise, if they wanted to be famous, wouldn't they just join the Limitless Organization?"

Honglian frowned. "I don't care about public opinion, but using the logistics team to create such a blatant publicity stunt—"

Xiao Kanong interrupted, "Strange, isn't this what the logistics team does? Fabricating evidence, deceiving, manipulating public opinion... Did Captain Wan give the logistics team extended leave before I arrived?"

“Uh…” she suddenly stammered.

"It's just that back then you felt that covering up the deception had nothing to do with the execution team, that it was all done by logistics, so you could stay out of it. But today the execution team is the biggest beneficiary, so you feel uncomfortable and think it's wrong to deceive the public?" The captain smiled slightly. "Don't forget, the Maintenance Agency is a team, not just one or two groups of people."

“Sorry, Honglian… I also think the captain has a point.” Wang Baihu rubbed his nose. “The relationship between the organization and the official departments is still very fragile. We shouldn’t complicate things if we can simplify them.” Xiaojiu spoke up last, “Xiaojiu thought about it, but Xiaojiu can’t figure it out, so you can decide.”

Honglian couldn't help but sigh, "Alright, I understand, the minority shall obey the majority."

“That’s right.” Xiao Kanong nodded in satisfaction. “The enemy has been eliminated, and you have gained honor. It’s a win-win situation. In addition, I have contacted headquarters. The headquarters will provide a huge amount of compensation to the families of the victims of this incident, hoping to ease some of their grief.”

"Is this a good idea?" Han Yuhao questioned. "Their deaths were all caused by the demons; the mechanisms weren't at fault at all, were they?"

“That being said, living a false life is still living… Before we take action, at least these people can speak and be with their families, even if they have long since become puppets of the devil.” Xiao Kanong, on the other hand, clearly held a different view. “We’ve burst this bubble, so we can’t say we’re completely unrelated. Besides, compared to the image of the Maintenance Agency, this amount of money is nothing, but for the families of the deceased, it’s equivalent to a lifetime of financial security… As I said before: a happy ending for everyone is the best outcome.”

Hey... how much money are they actually planning to give?!

Jiang Siqi thought to herself, "If this is the case, then in the future, whenever someone with the ability commits a crime, the victim will probably think of the 'protective agency' (the authorities responsible for safeguarding rights)."

Wait, could this be the captain's purpose?

"I'm sure you've all guessed why I've kept you here," Xiao Kanong continued. "Starting today, the Jiangcheng branch will conduct multiple large-scale investigations into the eroded area and release the actual footage to the public. Even if we find Elori, we will not close this intrusion point."

"Won't the repeated entry and exit of ability users into the eroded area cause the erosion to expand further?" Honglian asked worriedly.

"Yes, but expanding the scale is controllable and much less impactful than the Wanderers. Besides, with so many people dead, do you think it's entirely up to us to decide whether to open or close it?"

"Could it be..."

Xiao Kanong nodded. "That's it. Those people have already tasted the benefits of the botanical garden's encroachment on the world."

bang bang bang-

Suddenly, gunfire erupted!
"It's coming from upstairs!" Honglian immediately judged. "The enemy is here again?"

"Don't worry, there are police officers and armed police above us, and Wang Qianduan is also there. If the situation is urgent, he will notify me," Xiao Kanong said calmly.

A dozen seconds later, a man rushed into the room, "Captain Xiao, Director Fu wants you to go to the top floor immediately!"

Judging from his clothing, this person should belong to the police.

“Let’s break the meeting and go over there together,” said Xiao Kanong, standing up.

Everyone went up to the roof and found that a steel staircase had been erected in the center of the destroyed building. The top of the staircase connected to a platform that passed right through the eroded area.

At the bottom of the stairs lay a construction worker, clearly dead, with multiple bullet holes in his body, blood slowly flowing out, forming a small pool of blood beneath him.

The shooter's face was ashen, seemingly completely unprepared for what had happened.

“This person’s eyes… are a bit strange…” Under the illumination of several searchlights, Honglian keenly noticed that the worker’s eyes were much larger than normal, almost three times the size.

"Director Fu, what happened?" Xiao Kanong asked as he stepped forward.

“A man named Gong Qiang from the construction team mutated and suddenly started attacking other workers with extraordinary strength. In desperation, we had no choice but to fire our guns.” Director Fu’s expression was quite grim. “Someone said that Gong Qiang had entered the erosion zone for a short while while the platform was being installed.”

"How long exactly?"

"Nobody can say for sure. It could be as short as half a minute, or at most the time it takes to smoke a cigarette. The safety officer clearly reminded them to avoid the corroded area when installing the superstructure!" Director Fu frowned, probably already considering how to write the report. "What exactly is going on? Can you explain it to me clearly?"

"It's hard to say, but it's nothing more than four things: harmful radiation, bacterial infection, mental pollution, and ability influence," Xiao Kanong said confidently. "Rest assured, the Vientiane Agency has ample experience in exploring such a world... and our agents are willing to lead from the front."

(End of this chapter)