Chapter 318: Unexpected Visitor

Through the quiet rainy night, the silence was broken by the occasional roars of unknown creatures, gunshots, car crashes, explosions, and—strangest and most unsettling of all—the persistent cries of an infant woven into the chaos.

These various sounds only highlighted the unnatural quietness within the detention center.

Despite being packed with people, no one dared make a sound.

Guards and detainees huddled together obediently in the cell, quietly waiting for the chaos outside to pass.

*Flick!*

In the uncomfortably quiet atmosphere, Lu Xin lit a cigarette. As many eyes immediately turned towards him, he gave a slightly awkward shrug and offered, “Want one?”

The surrounding guards and detainees exchanged glances. The young guard who’d bought the cigarettes took the pack and started handing them out one by one. It seemed like an unconscious effort to save Lu Xin the trouble, distributing them for him. Lu Xin watched the cigarettes disappear rapidly with a slightly odd look in his eyes, but after a moment’s hesitation, he didn’t have the heart to stop him.

Everyone huddled in the cell, silently smoking. No one dared to sleep.

“Brother, what… what the hell is going on out there?”

After some time, one of the guards finally mustered the courage to ask Lu Xin.

“Madmen.”

Lu Xin answered softly, smoking silently under everyone’s gaze.

“Madmen?”

The guards and detainees in the adjacent cells stirred uneasily, their faces full of confusion. “Those are madmen?”

“That can’t be right. I saw madmen at the circus before, they weren’t like this?”

“Circus? I’ve seen them in the Wasteland before, and they weren’t like this either. You could kill those with guns…”

“…”

Facing their confusion, Lu Xin flicked his ash. “It’s simple. They’ve mutated.”

“Mutated?”

A collective gasp echoed around the room.

Panic gripped everyone’s hearts. “Holy crap, madmen can mutate?”

“We’re screwed! Mutated madmen appearing inside the High Wall… Is it going to be chaos all over again?”

“…Hey guys, if things go south again, will you let us go?”

“…”

“It’ll be fine.”

Seeing the panic around him, Lu Xin felt the need to educate them and dispel their fears. He smiled, “It won’t be chaotic like before. All the major High-wall Cities have experience now, plus there are… special people protecting them. Besides, a lot of targeted technology has been developed. Even if we encounter madmen, it won’t be as messy as it used to be.”

“No matter how strong the madmen are, one blast from a high-frequency electro-ion cannon will wipe out a whole bunch of them!”

“…”

Lu Xin’s explanation, or perhaps the casual tone in his voice, had a noticeable calming effect on the others.

They visibly relaxed, and the guy who had been clamoring to leave earlier fell silent.

Lu Xin could feel their admiration in their gazes, and it felt quite pleasant.

“Brother, what do you do for a living?”

An older guard pulled a pack of cigarettes with purple filters from his pocket—the kind he usually saved for himself.

He carefully tapped one out and offered it to Lu Xin.

Lu Xin glanced at him, dropped his nearly finished cigarette butt to the ground, and stamped it out. He took the pack, offered the tapped-out cigarette back to the guard, took one for himself, leaned into the flame someone offered, and lit it with a soft sigh.

“I work at a business company in Qinggang. Just got promoted recently, I’m a supervisor now.”

“Impressive, impressive! So young and promising…”

“Exactly! You can tell this big brother is someone important. Must make good money, right?”

“…”

A chorus of flattery rose around him, then someone asked, “Big brother, how’d you end up in here?”

Lu Xin took a drag from his cigarette and sighed, “I shot someone with a gun.”

The others immediately tensed up. “Holy crap! Inside or outside the wall?”

Lu Xin said, “Inside the wall.”

The group grew even more tense. “Did they die?”

Lu Xin shook his head. “Probably not.”

“That’s good, then…”

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. “Shouldn’t be too serious, right?”

“Not necessarily…”

An old guard asked worriedly, “Did you bring a gun into the city?”

Lu Xin replied, “No, I snatched it from a police officer nearby.”

Everyone froze. “Holy crap…”

Lu Xin continued, “Then, right in front of them, I emptied two magazines into him.”

The crowd gasped in shock. “Holy crap…”

Lu Xin added, “The guy probably has connections, his family isn’t ordinary…”

“…”

The others were too stunned to speak.

Seeing their panic, Lu Xin started to worry too. He quickly asked, “Normally, how many years would that get me?”

The old guard sucked in a breath and lowered his voice, “Little brother, you’re in deep trouble. Snatching a gun, aggravated assault, plus pumping that many bullets into him… his chances of survival aren’t great. And if his family really does have connections and high status, they could pressure the Administration Hall… I reckon… if you’re lucky, you’ll be sent to the Wasteland for life…”

Lu Xin was dumbfounded. “Holy crap…”

…

While they were talking, the chaos outside had subsided sometime during the night. The faint light of dawn now filtered through the small window.

Everyone had been tense all night. By now, some of the more relaxed individuals were already leaning against the wall, asleep.

*Clack, clack, clack, clack*

Suddenly, the sound of hard-soled heels clicking on the concrete floor echoed from the corridor outside. The sound drew closer, followed by the clang of an iron door opening and closing. Inside the cell, many people snapped alert, scrambling up to look outside.

Lu Xin hadn’t slept well either, worried he might really be sent to the Wasteland for life.

He looked up towards the sound. It didn’t sound like madmen.

“Who is Lu Xin?”

Soon, the footsteps stopped in front of the cell. Several figures stood there, dressed in military uniforms or black suits. They had stern, capable faces devoid of expression. Even seeing the guards and prisoners crammed together, some disheveled and half-asleep, their expressions didn’t change as they asked coldly.

“Huh?”

Lu Xin raised his hand, surprised. “That’s me.”

He immediately worried. *Are they here for me this early because of the shooting yesterday?*

“So it’s you?”

The men sized up Lu Xin, who was nervously holding up his pants with one hand, then stepped aside.

*Clack, clack, clack*

The clicking footsteps resumed, and a short-haired woman in a fitted, casual black suit appeared outside the bars.

She glanced at Lu Xin, suppressing a smile. “Did you have a good night yesterday?”

“Ah, this…”

Lu Xin stared at the woman, astonished. He rubbed his eyes hard before finally recognizing her.

“Chen… Team Leader?”

The short-haired woman outside the bars was indeed Chen Jing.

Lu Xin never imagined that, under these circumstances, Chen Jing would suddenly appear before him.

“Open it!”

Chen Jing finally let a smile slip but quickly regained her serious expression and stepped aside.

Actually, the iron bars weren’t locked; the guards had entered voluntarily last night.

Lu Xin walked out, still holding his pants up. Meeting Chen Jing’s gaze—serious on the surface but hiding amusement—he felt rather awkward.

Running into an acquaintance from Qinggang in Central City, who was also his leader, and in a detention center no less… And…

…He didn’t even have a belt right now.

“Bring his things over.”

Chen Jing noticed Lu Xin’s predicament and said to the person beside her, “Especially his belt.”

With that, she led Lu Xin out. After walking down the long corridor, they saw that in the lobby, the monster corpse from last night was gone. Only patches of black scorch marks remained on the ground, cordoned off with conspicuous lines.

Lu Xin’s belongings hadn’t been touched. His bag, the contents of his pockets, and his belt were brought over.

“Let’s go. There are important matters waiting.”

Chen Jing waited for Lu Xin to sort himself out, then smiled at him.

“We’re leaving already?”

Lu Xin was somewhat surprised. He couldn’t help glancing back at the cell block and then at the people accompanying Chen Jing. Feeling it wasn’t quite right, he asked quietly, “I was locked up here because I shot someone…”

“Isn’t it bad to just leave like this?”

“…”

“What?”

The people with Chen Jing were taken aback, giving him strange looks.

*What’s wrong with him? Did he get addicted to staying here?*

Chen Jing let out a soft breath, turned to Lu Xin, and stated loudly with a serious expression, “Mr. Lu, we’ve already investigated last night’s incident. Zhao Hui, the quality inspection supervisor of Dadi Group’s warehouse department, is suspected of being involved in the leak of confidential materials from an experimental base subordinate to the Central City Research Institute. Furthermore, Gao Ting, the person in charge of a certain convoy from Hongling City whom Zhao Hui contacted, also had malicious intentions!”

“As a citizen of Qinggang acting heroically, you did what needed to be done and should be commended for it!”

“Of course, snatching a service weapon from a Satellite City Seven police officer and inflicting serious bodily harm on Zhao Hui are severe violations that require punishment. However, considering the current emergency requires your cooperation, and given that you voluntarily returned the empty gun and surrendered after the shooting, showing a good attitude towards admitting guilt, a lighter sentence can be considered!”

Saying this, she produced a paper stamped with a red seal and formally addressed Lu Xin, “Qinggang’s Central City office has now officially submitted an application to the Central City Administration Main Hall to temporarily release you to assist in handling an urgent Pollution Incident.”

“Your pending punishment will be offset by meritorious service or compensated through a fine.”

“Of course.”

She put the paper away, finally unable to hold back her smile, but still said seriously, “The fine has already been paid for you.”

“Ah, this…”

Lu Xin stared blankly at Chen Jing, suddenly feeling touched.