Chapter 51: Cleanup Aftermath

The stark contrast between the frantic chaos and the sudden silence was jarring.

“What happened?”

Tie Cui noticed the abrupt silence too. “What happened?” she asked urgently over the channel, her voice tight.

Nearby, Gecko, still clutching the iron wire ball, paused for a moment before whispering:

“The secondary pollution source has been cleared…”

Tie Cui sounded even more shocked than when she first heard about the secondary source. “Was it him…”

“No!”

Gecko swallowed hard before whispering, “I can’t explain the specifics right now, but it’s not what you think.”

“Switch back to the original channel!”

Although clearly confused herself, Tie Cui made a quick decision. Once their channel reconnected with Lu Xin’s, her voice came through again, “Mr. Lone Soldier, has the secondary pollution source been cleared?”

At that moment, Lu Xin stood before the pile of toppled shelves. He and his sister watched Mom’s figure vanish into the red moonlight. Even he was surprised and somewhat baffled by this turn of events. But clearly, the pollution source was dealt with. The little girl seemed gone, and the chilling sense of danger had evaporated.

So, hearing the question in his headset, he slowly replied, “Yes!”

“Well done.”

Tie Cui clearly had many questions, but when she spoke, it was only a word of praise.

When her voice sounded again, she was speaking on a different channel, “Support Team can move in!”

…

…

*Thud, thud, thud, thud…*

Just a few minutes later, the heavy, rhythmic sound of footsteps echoed. The factory building door was forced open, and a group from the Support Team rushed in. They wore heavy black protective suits, helmets with glass face shields, and even had holsters fitted to their legs. Upon entering, they immediately headed towards the workers inside.

They were highly trained, their movements synchronized. The first four charged straight for the Factory Manager, Zheng Yuanxiong, carrying a long case. It looked like glass, but its corners were reinforced with steel, and the material was clearly far stronger than ordinary glass.

At first glance, it looked like they were carrying a glass coffin.

They placed Zheng Yuanxiong, still deeply unconscious and bound hand and foot, into the glass case. After securing three heavy locks on the left side and connecting oxygen tubes, they hastily carried the case back out.

The whole process took less than twenty seconds. Their professionalism was unnerving, making one wonder about their previous line of work.

During this time, other Support Team members had rushed towards the remaining workers in the factory building.

Working in pairs, one quickly fitted the workers with special masks—glass eye shields connected by canvas straps to covers for the nose and mouth. The other bound their hands and feet tightly with plastic zip ties. Then, with a push, the workers toppled over. Carrying them head and foot, the pairs quickly rushed out of the factory building.

Watching their swift and efficient work, Lu Xin felt a strange sense of aesthetic appreciation.

Throughout this, the workers remained completely unresponsive, like soulless husks, offering no resistance.

“They’re lucky…”

Gecko appeared beside Lu Xin sometime later, smiling. “It was only moderate pollution, mostly influence with less erosion. They can still be saved. The Support Team will take them to a special treatment center for psychological treatment!”

Lu Xin’s interest piqued. “Can they be cured?”

“At least half of them can be fully cured!”

Gecko answered softly, “But having gone through pollution like this, there will inevitably be some aftereffects. The treatment center just ensures they won’t pose a threat to others. Even after being treated and cleared, they’ll likely experience a period of depression and listlessness. Those with families and happy lives might recover faster, maybe even fully.”

“But likewise, some will never escape the grip of depression. Some might even…”

He mimed falling from a height with a sigh. “Nothing to be done. Their mental power was too severely damaged.”

…

Lu Xin understood what Gecko meant.

He also knew the feelings of those patients suffering severe mental damage.

He had experienced that life where everything felt gray, where oppression threatened to consume him entirely.

Unable to feel happiness, rarely even anger, only endless despair and hollow emptiness.

How many people could endure such a state?

…

…

“But this is a great result!”

Gecko laughed. “Look how many people are in this factory building! Nearly a hundred. If we hadn’t intervened, probably none of them would have survived. So, even if only half of them recover… what’s that old saying? Saving one life is better than building a seven-story pagoda… Between the two of us, we’ve basically built a skyscraper today, right?”

He clapped Lu Xin on the shoulder. “Besides, the number fully cured will definitely be more than half, at least seventy percent!”

Lu Xin nodded. He could do that math.

And even if he felt a bit down, it wasn’t because they couldn’t save everyone; he wasn’t that naive.

He was just reminded of that bleak existence, and it resonated with him.

“You did great work, brother!”

Gecko smiled and asked Lu Xin, “I’m really curious, how did you deal with that little girl?”

Lu Xin keenly sensed that, on the channel, even Tie Cui’s breathing seemed to quieten.

He understood they all wanted to know what he did, perhaps even feeling a bit nervous.

But how could he explain this?

Just now, he and his sister couldn’t help at all; it was Mom who resolved it…

However, following Lu Xin’s usual caution—while he trusted the Special Pollution Cleanup Department to some extent and even hoped they could analyze and cure him—he wasn’t keen on revealing every detail, every secret. He had his own ideas about what to say and what not to say. So, he didn’t rush to answer, just smiled:

“Didn’t you see what happened earlier?”

“See what?”

Gecko shrugged helplessly. “All I saw was you crouching next to the little girl and snatching her toy…”

“This toy is physical.”

Lu Xin glanced at the ground where the plush toy still lay, its body and head separated.

So he smiled and said, “So I thought I’d try scaring her. Turns out, it was quite effective…”

“This…”

Gecko glanced at the plush toy on the ground and signaled a nearby Support Team member to collect it.

Then his expression turned somewhat exasperated. “So you snatched the secondary pollution source’s toy, twisted its head off, and that scared it so much it retracted all its mental power and returned to its origin?”

Lu Xin thought seriously for a moment. “That’s right!”

“This…”

Gecko circled Lu Xin, muttering, “Buddy, that doesn’t make any sense…”

Lu Xin asked, “Can’t you guys do that?”

Gecko slowly shook his head. “I’ve never even heard of such a thing…”

Lu Xin adopted a thoughtful expression. “Then that must be your problem…”