Chapter 404: The Silent Crisis
by xennovel“Report the latest updates!”
At that moment, the Emergency Information Processing Conference Room of the Special Pollution Cleanup Department at Qinggang Main City Headquarters buzzed with tension.
Chen Jing’s face turned pale as she clenched her fist tightly, slamming it down on a stack of files.
Before her stood a row of operators at computers and several Investigation Team members who had just rushed in with the latest intelligence, nearly crowding together. Only after Chen Jing shot them a stern glare did they hurriedly form a line to report, one after the other:
“The Investigation Team that entered Tashan Town still hasn’t returned any news.”
“We attempted to contact several groups near Happy Town settlements, but received no response.”
“Now, in the wasteland, an eerie silence prevails for some unknown reason.”
“Qinggang seems to have turned into an isolated island…”
“…”
Chen Jing’s eyes reddened slightly as if on the verge of anger. She quickly shut them tight.
When she opened them again, her expression had calmed. In a low, controlled voice she said, “Tell me anything we still don’t know.”
“Yes!”
A person from the back squeezed forward, flipping through his documents and urgently reporting, “After receiving the report on the field and transmitters from Mr. Lone Soldier and the Information Gathering Team on the deceased, the observation personnel have set up a temporary monitoring team. They are preparing to activate the hidden monitoring devices we previously deployed at various locations outside the city. Using targeted tracking algorithms, they hope to confirm the existence of that death field.”
He paused briefly at that point.
Chen Jing immediately looked up at him and asked, “Then?”
The reporter continued, “The hidden monitoring devices showed no response.”
“No response?”
Chen Jing’s face darkened instantly. “How is that possible?”
The reporter appeared troubled but went on:
“Earlier, in order to monitor the situation, we had set up about ten long-range observation posts at various gatherings in the wasteland.”
“They housed our hidden monitoring devices – essentially the eyes of Qinggang.”
“But when we contacted each gathering point, we unexpectedly found that none of them responded.”
Chen Jing crumpled a sheet of paper in her hand and said in a low voice, “Every single one?”
The reporter nodded, “Yes.”
A heavy silence filled the entire office.
Outside Qinggang City, the major settlement points – extensions of Qinggang and its eyes –
now seemed to be failing to show what Qinggang needed to see.
Instead, they evoked a sense of looming danger.
“I have something to report,” someone declared.
At that moment, another person stepped forward, exclaiming, “Five minutes ago, we intercepted a signal from Mr. Lone Soldier!”
Chen Jing’s face darkened further as she hurriedly summoned someone to receive the signal.
“Investigation task… complete. Now… initiating… cleanup…”
“…”
The signal was extremely poor, rendering Lu Xin’s voice garbled and intermittent.
Silence fell over the conference room. After two cycles, a researcher hesitantly spoke:
“What was Mr. Lone Soldier’s investigation result?”
“What kind of cleanup task is he planning now?”
“His report… isn’t complete!”
“…”
Evidently, many shared these concerns.
Chen Jing glared at them and said, “Under these circumstances, the fact that he even managed to report is a rare achievement.”
Turning her attention to the reporting staff, she asked, “Anything else?”
The man immediately responded, “After receiving Mr. Lone Soldier’s report, the City Defense Department initiated the deployment of covert agents outside the city. Fortunately, we received a response, indicating that some of those hiding outside are still okay…”
“According to their latest information, they have already scanned Happy Town and, shortly after Mr. Lone Soldier’s report, detected a powerful psychic power burst southwest of Happy Town, nearly a hundred miles away.”
“By capturing and calculating the peripheral mental radiation, we can roughly infer that its core…”
“Boasts a total psychic power exceeding one hundred thousand!”
“…”
Upon receiving this report, the bustling conference room fell silent in an instant.
Someone accidentally knocked over a cup, throwing everyone into a flurry.
One hundred thousand in psychic power.
“…”
Chen Jing exhaled deeply and, after a long pause, whispered, “Who is our opponent?”
A man in military uniform stepped forward and handed over a dossier marked with numerous red lines, stating gravely:
“We just received a consolidated intelligence report from Minister Shen, detailing the recent movements of various factions. Among them, one old adversary of Qinggang, active in the North, could very well be behind such upheaval…”
“Technology Church!”
“…”
Instantly, the conference room fell into profound silence.
Many merely upon hearing that name felt their hands tremble.
The calm they had maintained now threatened to crack under the strain.
The reporter continued, “Previously, we received a report on Mr. Lone Soldier tracking the Knight Orders releasing a Mental Bomb inside Qinggang. We then organized specialized intelligence personnel to analyze it. Although the report was brief, it revealed some startling details—for instance, while no one could approach an S-rank forbidden zone, a member of that Knight Orders could hide within it.”
“That indicates that the Knight Orders know more about Happy Town than we do. Furthermore, City Defense has been investigating their background since then and managed to obtain important data from the sole survivor of that group. They are likely the peripheral Knight Orders of the Technology Church, who routinely carry out tasks on its behalf.”
“In summary, the Technology Church has long mastered the secret of freely moving in and out of Happy Town.”
“It is now certain that the formation of the field is associated with the Queen of Happy Town.”
“Thus, we can preliminarily conclude that this time our adversaries are working in tandem—the Technology Church and the Queen.”
“…”
The atmosphere in the conference room had grown oppressively heavy.
Then, suddenly, the meeting room door was pushed open by a woman in a professional suit.
“We just received new intelligence.”
She gently placed a file in front of Chen Jing and whispered, “Multiple settlement points—including Songshan Town, Blackwater Town, Bai Ni Town, and Qinghe Town—along with the Knight Orders have detected anomalies. They have mobilized armed forces to converge on the vicinity of Happy Town.”
“The people we’ve planted in these settlements haven’t relayed any valuable information.”
“We tried broadcasting on their common frequency, but received no reply.”
“In short, the leaders of these settlements… seem to have lost it.”
“…”
The atmosphere in the meeting room grew even more oppressive.
Countless people were already frowning in concern.
Dark wastelands, revived corpses, hastily mobilized armies of the living, and a mysterious field.
What exactly is Qinggang facing now?
“…”
“The living… and the dead…”
Chen Jing’s tone hinted at numb resignation.
With the remote monitoring devices cut off, further anomalies at the settlement points, the observation posts around Happy Town compromised, and the complete annihilation of the Information Gathering Team, it seemed that as High-wall City, nearly all our external eyes and ears had been blunted. Considering everything, we literally only know that danger and chaos loom outside, nothing more.
“Mr. Su’s signal is coming in…”
Suddenly, someone murmured softly. The room’s occupants immediately looked up.
A kind, round face appeared on the screen. However, the usual smile was gone, replaced by a somber, austere expression as the person said, “Colonel Chen, I’ve just received the latest news. Does it sound familiar to you?”
“Familiar?”
Chen Jing’s mouth twitched as she replied, “Four years ago, right?”
The entire room fell silent while Chen Jing, with a touch of self-mockery, continued, “They brazenly entered Satellite City No. 4, spreading their so-called gospel and truth, and right before our eyes, they took so many people away.”
“We wanted to do something, yet we found ourselves completely stymied, forced to watch as they took the people away…”
“That remains the greatest disgrace in Qinggang’s history.”
“…”
On the screen, Mr. Su nodded slightly and asked, “Then, what do you suggest?”
Chen Jing fell silent.
Inside, she harbored endless anger, resentment, and a deep sense of humiliation.
But she had to admit that beneath it all, there was also fear.
Facing the chaos outside and the eerie silence, Qinggang had indeed become an isolated island.
So, as an island, what can we possibly do?
“…”
Meanwhile, in the adjacent office, four people sat quietly.
Gecko took the top seat, scratching his head in mild frustration.
Drunkard quietly opened his thermos cup, taking small sips of his drink.
A young person, appearing hardly more than a child, diligently worked on his homework.
A flamboyantly dressed woman was carefully applying lipstick in front of a mirror, occasionally pressing her lips together.
“I… it’s not that I don’t want to go…”
Gecko, frustrated, had long tugged at his hair until several strands were about to come out before he suddenly raised his head.
He no longer feared Drunkard and looked him directly in the eye, “Really, I’m all about loyalty!”
“The Captain has saved me so many times; how can I just abandon him?”
“But as you heard in the report, things outside are in utter chaos…”
“Compared to the Technology Church and that Queen, what difference do we merely ability users and ordinary people make?”
“We might very well die…”
“I trust the Captain’s strength, but he honestly just isn’t capable of protecting us, so…”
“That’s why nothing will happen to the Captain—who would dare mess with his family?”
“We really don’t need to go out; we can just wait here…”
“…”
The room fell silent; no one answered, each absorbed in their own thoughts.
After a while, Drunkard chuckled, “Little Tiger, you sound very confident in Little Soldier?”
As soon as she spoke, Gecko nervously ran his fingers through his hair in distress.
“But it seems you aren’t that sure either…”
Drunkard laughed softly, “If you were as confident as you claim, you wouldn’t be fretting about whether to go out or not.”
Gecko looked up dumbfounded at Drunkard’s youthful, unlined face:
“Old man, what should we do now?”
“…”
Not far from the Special Cleaning Department, in a solitary small building,
Service Team personnel watched with some concern as Doll sat quietly on a sofa. Ever since that guy had left, Doll had been sitting there, staring at the muted television playing endless infomercials.
They had heard about the situation outside, but dared not tell Doll.
Instead, they sat in quiet silence for some time.
Suddenly, Doll turned to look out the window at the rainy, desolate night.
After silently gazing for a long moment, she suddenly stood up.
She quickly donned her skirt, put on a mask, laced up her shoes, and grabbed an umbrella.
Glancing around one last time, she also grabbed her untouched dinner—a box of glutinous rice cake.
Then, with light steps, she descended the stairs.
Without a word, she crossed the empty lobby and stepped out into the misty, sorrowful night.