Chapter 532: Sins of Black Grass

Because of Black Grass they made huge profits—yet now they are paying an enormous price for it?

After listening to Han Bing’s theory, Lu Xin fell into deep contemplation.

Suddenly, he found it all rather amusing.

Sure, Heichao City’s insomnia pollution has spawned disturbing phenomena; nearly everyone deprived of sleep bears a pitiful, haggard weariness. But when you consider the cause of this insomnia, it hardly deserves our sympathy.

Of course, many people in this city do deserve sympathy.

Whether it’s the quick-tempered front desk girl who, left to her own devices, goes upstairs to gather tenants’ corpses, or the middle schooler who earns a living singing on the streets to care for her brother—these people are truly pitiable.

Moreover, there must be many other innocent souls dragged into this mess, just like them.

Yet it seems inevitable that the very city, which built its wealth on Black Grass, must suffer such a calamity.

Born of Black Grass, doomed by Black Grass—does that sound unreasonable?

……

……

“If this were a formal investigation, we’d need to verify from multiple angles,”

but he continued, “But since we currently lack that capability, we must temporarily base our plan on this logic.”

Han Bing explained, “I just warned our Single Soldier team—henceforth we mustn’t casually consume any food, cigarettes, or even water from Heichao City. I already had Mr. Gecko fetch our prefiltered drinking water. As long as the city’s water undergoes three levels of filtration it should be safe, but under no circumstances must we eat their food.”

“In addition, I alerted Group Leader, ordering his subordinates to steer clear of Black Grass, though the chances are slim.”

“Not that we expect much,”

he added, “Group Leader himself admitted it’s far easier to order his men to cut people down than to wean them off this substance.”

……

Lu Xin nodded, fully understanding what Group Leader meant.

Seeing Han Bing’s serious expression, he sincerely complimented, “No need to stress too much—you’re doing great.”

In fact, you’re doing more than great.

Before coming to Heichao City, most Ability Users tended to feel superior to ordinary people.

For instance, ordinary people have almost no resistance when pollution hits.

In a way, having an ordinary person in an Ability User team was as good as having a dead weight.

But during their time in Heichao City, Han Bing’s performance had made Lu Xin see her in a new light.

Whether it was stocking up on cigarettes beforehand, opting to go undercover at the slightest abnormal reaction from a Heichao City liaison, or even being cautious enough during meals to avoid their food…

These meticulous details had largely prevented their Single Soldier team from crashing and burning without anyone noticing.

Of course, it might also have delayed the completion of this mission.

Not to mention, while considering every little detail, she also devised a detailed investigative plan that uncovered crucial clues.

To put it simply, at first Lu Xin was worried that protecting her might divert too much attention.

Now, he feared that he wouldn’t be able to demonstrate his professionalism and capability as a team leader in front of this young lady…

After all, even Ability Users care about their pride!

Especially when it’s your first time leading a team on a business trip!

……

“It’s not like that…”

Han Bing picked up on the sincerity behind Lu Xin’s compliment and, a bit bashfully, smiled and said:

“I only worry that I’m too useless and might hold Mr. Lone Soldier back, so I need to work even harder.”

She then rubbed her eyes and continued, “However, even though we’ve made this discovery, many problems still remain.”

“For example, while we’ve confirmed that Black Grass is the key to Heichao City’s widespread pollution, how do we sever this pollution logic?”

“Where exactly is the source of Heichao City’s pollution?”

“What exactly are these monsters, spawned from the city’s collective sleep, really?”

“And most importantly, how on earth do we clean a city completely tainted by pollution?”

“……”

Listening to Han Bing’s detailed explanation, Lu Xin immediately grasped the heart of the problem.

To eliminate pollution, you must either cut the pollution logic or directly remove the source.

Yet Heichao City’s dilemma lay in the fact that even if we understood their pollution logic, there was no way to cut it off.

“Just as Group Leader can’t keep his men away from Black Grass, we can’t rid the entire city of it.”

Han Bing leaned in and whispered, “This isn’t something any single Ability User team can handle alone.”

“Especially when there are clearly some terrifying opponents lurking in this city.”

“……”

Lu Xin gave a nod.

At least half of what Han Bing said was true—the situation in this city was undeniably hopeless.

It was like watching people knowingly rush to their doom, with nothing you could do but watch them fall into the abyss.

“If we can’t sever the chain of logic, our only option is to try and locate the source of the pollution.”

“Also, because of the nature of this pollution logic, we can’t trace the source through it. If a pollutant can siphon sleep from those mutated by Black Grass using its own traits, it can hide anywhere in the city—and there could be many of them, just as Mr. Lone Soldier observed in the Ghost Building.”

“To clean it up, we need to know how many of these mental monsters there are, and where their source lies.”

“At this point, it’s an overwhelmingly labor-intensive task.”

“……”

At that moment, Lu Xin suddenly remembered something and quickly laughed, “I’ve got something to show you.”

He sat down with Han Bing and pulled out some documents from his Black Bag.

These were the meeting materials he had retrieved from the meeting room during his reconnaissance of Tianhe Security’s Ghost Building.

Held immediately after that mysterious operation, these documents were almost certainly linked to that incident.

“Ghostfire Project Action Summary?”

At the sight of the documents, Han Bing’s eyes snapped open in alert.

Tilting her head, she read the heading and her expression grew more serious.

“Previously, in Heichao City’s distress call to Qinggang, they mentioned that this massive pollution was due to an unforeseen backlash during the Moon Eclipse Research Institute’s operation to clean the surrounding S-level forbidden zone.”

“And the nearest S-level forbidden zone to Heichao City is that Ghostfire Marsh area mentioned by Xu Kun…”

After a brief pause, Han Bing recounted the information she had gathered.

“Unfortunately, regarding Ghostfire Marsh, all we know is its name. We have no idea what mysterious creatures lurk within or what the nature of the pollutant is; Heichao City’s distress call didn’t mention any of this.”

“……”

Lu Xin gave a small nod.

In fact, before departing, Chen Jing had specifically warned him not to trust Heichao City too much.

Whether the incident in Heichao City was caused by an accident during the cleanup of Ghostfire Marsh or if it was the result of some covert Mental Overlord experiment gone awry remains unknown.

No one could say for sure.

“Project: Ghostfire Marsh S-level Mysterious Creature Capture Plan”

“Operation Level: S-level”

“Mission: Assemble the ‘Worthless Lives’ to capture and stabilize the mysterious forces of Ghostfire Marsh”

“……”

The documents only detailed part of the entire plan.

Moreover, whether out of caution or for other reasons, many key details were encrypted.

Han Bing quickly flipped through the documents. From the accessible information, she gleaned enough to understand the gravity of the situation, and a look of solemn resignation spread over her face.

“Section Chief Chen was right to warn us,”

she said, looking up at Lu Xin. “These documents explain why Tianhe Security’s higher-ups ordered Captain Xu Kun to round up those ‘worthless lives’ from the depths of Heichao City. Though we still don’t know their overall plan, it’s reasonable to suspect that Heichao City and Tianhe Security intend to capture the mysterious creatures in Ghostfire Marsh.”

“The lower-level folks were merely a part of the plan—used to stabilize and weaken the mysterious creatures’ power.”

“But judging by the results, that plan seems to have failed.”

“So those supposedly expendable people all returned unscathed, only to be stricken with severe insomnia.”

“Tianhe Security’s higher-ups even convened a meeting in Building Nine, only for it to turn into a nest of monsters.”

“……”

Lu Xin chuckled, “In short, they essentially met a huge death?”

Han Bing glanced at him and laughed, “Mr. Lone Soldier seems to think they deserve it, huh?”

“That obvious, huh?”

Lu Xin rubbed his face and smiled.

“If that’s the case, then our next steps are crystal clear…”

Han Bing’s expression visibly lightened as she smiled, “At least from these Tianhe Security documents, it’s clear that they only played a peripheral role. They were merely cooperating with some operations. So in all of Heichao City, the only organization capable of working with Tianhe Security like that…”

“…is the Heichao City Administration.”

“Even Tianhe Security, which was on the fringes, ended up turning their base into a monster nest after the operation failed.”

“So what does that say about the Heichao City Administration, the main body of the operation?”

“If there’s one source for this pollution, it’s reasonable to suspect—”

“that the source lies at the very pinnacle of power in Heichao City…”

“……”

At this point, Lu Xin’s eyes lit up, “Then can we just head straight to the Heichao City Administration?”

“……”

Han Bing paused and looked at Lu Xin, laughing, “Mr. Lone Soldier seems eager to take on Heichao City by himself?”

“Well…”

Lu Xin was momentarily stunned, “That obvious?”

“Actually, even if Mr. Lone Soldier really did that, he might still have a chance of winning—but it wouldn’t be that simple.”

Han Bing covered her mouth and laughed, “Just because the pollutant hides at the top of Heichao City’s power structure doesn’t mean it’s located inside the Administration.”

“Besides, if we rashly barge in and alert them, they might mobilize the entire city against us. Even if we can defend ourselves, facing the might of a whole city would be a headache.”

“So right now our task is to catch them slipping—a way to pinpoint their exact location.”

“……”

Lu Xin suddenly understood, nodding briskly, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”

“I’ve been extra careful during this infiltration so as not to alert them and jeopardize our plan…”

“……”

Han Bing sincerely complimented, “Mr. Lone Soldier, you really handled this professionally. It’s a pleasure working with you.”

Lu Xin felt a mix of bashfulness and pride.

Mr. Gecko suddenly shifted uncomfortably, glancing around the large room, feeling utterly out of place.

“Clatter……”

At that moment, hurried footsteps echoed in the corridor, followed by rapid knocking at the door.

Mr. Gecko rushed to open it and saw Red Serpent standing anxiously at the doorway, followed by Group Leader and several subordinates.

“Captain, something’s wrong…”

Red Serpent stepped in quickly and, lowering his voice, said to Lu Xin,

Lu Xin looked puzzled, “What’s happening?”

Before Red Serpent could answer, he swept his gaze across the room, grabbed the Remote Control, and turned on the Television.

On the screen, a scene with snowy interference emerged. After a brief shuffle, the image stabilized to reveal a looping emergency news report. The host, his heavy makeup unable to hide dark circles under his eyes, stated gravely: “We have just received word that criminals broke into the Tianhe Security base of Satellite City Three in Heichao City last night and stole highly confidential materials.”

“Hidden surveillance cameras captured clear images of the criminals, which are now being broadcast along with the news.”

“We urge all citizens to report any suspicious activity immediately and help nail these offenders down as soon as possible!”

“Bounty: 3 million Alliance Coins!”

“……”

Everyone’s eyes shifted to Lu Xin as they focused on the enlarged surveillance snapshot in the lower right corner of the screen.

“This…”

Lu Xin was utterly stunned.

He frowned at the screen, confirming it was indeed him—squatting, smiling, and patting what looked like a dog’s head.

Not only had it been captured, but the image was also unmistakably clear…

……

An eerie silence fell over the room as everyone stared dumbfounded at the image of Lu Xin, busy ‘petting the dog’ on screen.

“Chuckle…”

Mr. Gecko couldn’t help but burst into laughter first.

Lu Xin cast a withering glance at Mr. Gecko; he immediately shut up, his face turning serious.

But after a brief pause, Mr. Gecko suddenly laughed out loud, “Captain, didn’t you say you were extra careful during the infiltration?”