Chapter 97: The Silent Weeping

“What exactly is going on?”

Lu Xin gazed down at the hair-raising scene below, his voice unconsciously deepening.

He’d seen plenty of people cry before, both in his mind and in dreams, but never like this. Never so many, all weeping silently, numbly, like actors in a silent film…

Perhaps not tens of thousands, but still a dense, terrifying mass.

The sight induced an unreal sense of panic.

“I don’t know either…”

Gecko’s voice was a mixture of anxiety and helplessness as he threw up his hands. “I came here for backup, expecting to deal with some tough pollution source! Who knew I’d walk into *this*? They just stand there, not moving… Watching them almost made me start crying too… I already checked, there’s no pollution source around…”

…

Hearing Gecko’s words, the few soldiers on the High Wall instinctively turned their heads to glance at them.

Undisguised shock and fear were etched onto their faces.

Their numbers were pitifully small compared to the crowd below the city.

Most importantly, despite being equipped with powerful weapons, none of the people below showed any fear as they faced the gun barrels. They just stared silently, weeping quietly. This filled the soldiers’ hearts with an indescribable sense of absurdity. It was an eerie feeling, a sense that the guns in their hands offered no real protection against the crowd below.

Normally, when so many people surged towards the High Wall, large numbers of City Patrol Soldiers should have already arrived as reinforcements.

But now, chaos reigned within Second Satellite City, tying up most personnel. They were left with only a handful of soldiers to defend this section.

The arrival of Gecko and Lu Xin had clearly given them some hope.

But seeing Gecko equally baffled only increased their pressure.

If this growing crowd of silent weepers suddenly made a move, they had no idea how to respond.

…

…

“Suggest holding back for now.”

“We need to first investigate why these people gathered here, whether they’re polluted or under influence.”

Han Bing’s voice came through the channel.

During his previous training, Lu Xin had learned that pollution and influence were essentially the same concept.

Influence was simply a milder form of pollution.

However, when dealing with more complex situations, the Information Analysis Team differentiated: those affected by pollution sources or mental monsters were uniformly termed ‘Polluted individuals’, whereas those whose will was distorted by an Ability User were described as being under ‘influence’.

But in reality, the pollution caused by a pollution source and the distortion caused by an Ability User were fundamentally the same.

Even without Han Bing’s reminder, Lu Xin wouldn’t act recklessly. He asked in a low voice, “What have we found out so far?”

“We’ve only received a preliminary report submitted by the Second Satellite City B3 Investigation Team.”

Han Bing spoke softly over the channel: “The citizens gathered at the South Wall exhibit characteristics of being drawn to the High Wall under the influence of some unknown will, confronting the stationed personnel and weeping silently. Their numbers are still increasing, and they follow no fixed route.”

“No signs of aggression have been detected yet, but the possibility of sudden attacks cannot be ruled out.”

“No significant fluctuations in mental power have been detected from the gathered citizens so far, but the abnormality is extremely obvious.”

“It has been confirmed that communication is impossible, thus persuasion or threats are ineffective.”

“The situation has not yet reached the threshold for using weapons for prevention or dispersal…”

…

Lu Xin nodded.

The B3 Investigation Team Han Bing mentioned was the squad specifically assigned to investigate mental pollution incidents in Second Satellite City.

Ability Users, especially stable ones willing to be recruited, were rare.

But similar investigation teams existed in every satellite city, usually several groups.

Cheng Hui and his three team members, whom Lu Xin had worked with before and were currently protecting Red Moon Elementary School, were one such group.

They were all personnel transferred from the military or the Security Hall, specifically trained to investigate and analyze Special Pollution Sources.

Previously, they were even tasked with resolving pollution sources themselves.

However, even with extensive experience and advanced protective gear, people without abilities were extremely vulnerable when facing pollution, suffering extremely high mortality rates.

Therefore, now that Headquarters had recruited more and more Ability Users, these investigation teams often only performed auxiliary investigation work, providing intelligence and support.

“What about the Core Key and Logic Chain?”

Lu Xin asked quietly.

Facing so many people below the wall, he instinctively lowered his voice, afraid of startling them.

Han Bing’s voice went silent for a moment, seemingly consulting with others, then replied, “Nothing found yet.”

Lu Xin fell silent.

Every abnormal phenomenon had an underlying core key and logic.

Finding this core key was the only way to resolve the situation easily.

And discovering the logic behind it allowed one to predict potential changes.

But finding nothing meant facing a vast and unknown terror.

Unknown, because they didn’t know how it would erupt.

Terrifying, because they didn’t know the potential consequences.

…

…

“This is a huge mess…”

While Lu Xin was listening to Han Bing, Gecko tilted his head slightly, seemingly listening to Tie Cui’s analysis on his channel. His expression turned strange. “So we just stand here doing nothing ’cause we don’t know jack? How about we just knock ’em out with a load of tranq darts?”

After hearing Tie Cui’s reply, whatever it was, he added, “I don’t need tranqs, you already drive me crazy…”

Then he said, “So what if you have kids? I’m still in…”

And finally declared fiercely, “Fine! Even if you’re a 300-pound hag with a 20-year-old kid, I’m still in!”

…

After listening to the report, Lu Xin frowned, also looking down.

As far as the eye could see, there were only tightly packed faces, illuminated stark white by the searchlights on the High Wall.

Every face bore glistening tear tracks.

Lu Xin noticed these people didn’t even seem to blink. They just stood like wooden figures below the High Wall, crying silently.

He could normally perceive the presence of Mental Monsters, but now he saw nothing.

Finding nothing meant they could do nothing.

They didn’t dare open fire, nor did they dare forcibly drive them away, because any reaction might trigger an unknown mutation.

His training courses on Special Pollution Sources had made this abundantly clear.

When encountering such an obviously problematic situation, one must not intervene with any non-essential means before clarifying the underlying logic.

Because without understanding its specific characteristics, any interaction with this group—be it a seemingly normal sentence, gesture, or action—could potentially trigger a violent mutation instantly.

And this was precisely why Gecko and the others were currently at a loss.