Chapter 54: Lockdown
Chapter 54: Lockdown
Lan Mu stayed at the Huaxin Hotel. He had just returned and took a comfortable shower.
After changing his clothes, he packed his luggage, though there wasn’t much to pack.
Carrying his things, he went to say goodbye to Yang Xiong. He had done everything he needed to do, so naturally, he had to leave now.
Yang Xiong and the others were still discussing how to save Li Wei when Yang Xiong suddenly received a phone call. After listening for a few sentences, his face lit up with joy.
“Is the news true?”
“Good! That’s great!”
He hung up the phone and saw Lan Mu walking in. He smiled and said, “You came just in time. Li Wei can be saved. Lan Mu, please go get Lin Chu.”
Lan Mu nodded and walked out of the room to find Lin Chu.
He understood that Yang Xiong must have already learned about what happened at the stadium.
When he and Lin Chu returned to the room, the atmosphere inside was extremely lively. Everyone knew about the Fox Demon incident at Dahan Mountain.
At the national stadium, a Fox Demon had appeared under the watchful eyes of the crowd. Something like that was impossible to cover up.
And clearly, the characteristics of this Fox Demon were exactly the same as those of the fox that had caused trouble at Dahan Mountain before, Charming dozens of police officers and making fools of the police.
The lawsuit, which was originally certain to be lost, took a sudden turn here. When Li Wei’s trial proceeded in court tomorrow, the police would be in an extremely passive position.
Because the reappearance of the Dahan Mountain Fox Demon overturned all the police’s evidence at once. Police officers giving false testimony was a fatal blow to their credibility.
The matter of the Nine-tailed Fox had caused too big of a stir, capturing everyone’s attention. No members of the public were paying attention to a small case like Li Wei anymore. No one would believe that a hypnotist had committed the crime.
A Fox Demon at the stadium had Charmed the masses, causing countless people to become infatuated and crazy.
It directly reshaped everyone’s worldview. Now, who didn’t believe in the existence of Fox Demons? Who still thought there were no Nine-tailed Foxes in this world?
As for that Asian red fox? It was totally weak, wasn’t it? Countless cameras had captured the Fox Demon’s appearance, completely surpassing all the women in the world.
After learning this news, Lin Chu was so shocked he couldn’t speak.
Only after Li Qinren repeatedly questioned him did he snap out of it and say, “A ninety percent chance of winning…”
“The police… even the government has lost credibility. To salvage this, they can’t stubbornly cling to their position without thinking. They will definitely deal with Li Wei’s matter quickly, downplaying it. And they will immediately focus their energy on the Fox Demon. If they can capture the Fox Demon in a short time, it would undoubtedly be the best way to grab everyone’s attention. No one would pursue a minor incident anymore.”
“Even if they can’t capture it, they will keep hyping up the Dahan Mountain Fox Demon incident these next few days. It’s a method to divert attention. The government will definitely use it!”
Lin Chu looked through the Fox Demon news that had just begun to explode and spread online. He made his conclusion while reading. “Li Wei’s lawsuit will definitely be resolved extremely quietly and quickly. The best option is acquittal.”
Hearing “acquittal,” Li Qinren breathed a sigh of relief, and Yang Xiong also laughed heartily.
Seeing everyone so happy, Lan Mu also smiled among the crowd.
“When Li Wei comes back, I’m going to throw a big banquet to wash away the bad luck,” Li Qinren said happily.
With Li Wei basically safe, everyone was excited. Only Lin Chu calmly walked over to Lan Mu’s side.
“You really called it. The Fox Demon appeared where everyone could see it.”
Lan Mu smiled and said, “Yeah… who would have thought there really was a Fox Demon.”
After saying this, Lan Mu ignored Lin Chu and went to talk to Yang Xiong.
Leaving Lin Chu alone in the corner, tilting his head, lost in thought.
“Brother Xiong, I’ve been away from home for many days. It’s time to go back.”
Yang Xiong was startled. He put his arm around Lan Mu and walked to the window, saying, “Brother, what’s the rush? Tomorrow, when the person is released, we have a big activity planned. I guarantee you’ll have fun with food, drinks, and entertainment. Everyone has been busy these past two days, and we haven’t really entertained you properly. Tomorrow, we’ll make it up to you!”
Lan Mu was speechless, unsure how to refuse. Yang Xiong’s enthusiasm made it difficult to decline. Finally, he said okay, he would leave the day after tomorrow, after tomorrow’s festivities.
Calculating the time, it had been three days since he changed back to human form. Leaving the day after tomorrow would make it five days, meaning he would transform again soon. Lan Mu felt his time was really not enough.
“It’s settled then!” Yang Xiong patted Lan Mu’s shoulder and went to attend to the others.
Lan Mu stood helplessly by the window looking outside. Suddenly, he frowned and thought to himself, “This is bad.”
He didn’t know when, but Chinatown now had many people in blue uniforms. They also had a large number of police officers assisting them. They were sweeping through every house and every alley, holding instruments that looked like hair dryers.
Feeling that something was wrong, Lan Mu hurriedly told Yang Xiong. Hearing this, Yang Xiong was also puzzled. He led everyone downstairs and happened to run into a group of police officers and one person in a blue uniform entering.
“Is there something going on?”
A police officer said, “Quarantine…”
“Everyone disperse, clear out.”
The police officers pushed through the crowded people, making way for the person in the blue uniform. The blue-uniformed person walked around with the instrument to various corners and rooms.
“Quarantine?” Yang Xiong walked out of the hotel and saw police officers everywhere in Chinatown, all conducting so-called quarantine procedures.
“What do you mean by this? Do you suspect we have an infectious disease here?”
The police officer said with a cold face, “I don’t know. Just routine procedure.”
“Nonsense, I’ve never heard of such a thing! I’ll ask the district chief.” Yang Xiong took out his phone to call. Just then, a man walked towards them, dressed differently from those in blue uniforms.
This man said, “No need to make any calls. All of you, come over here.”
With a wave of his hand, a group of police officers rushed up, grabbed everyone, and tried to take them away. Lan Mu was among them and was also seized.
“What’s going on? Are we criminals?”
“Yeah! What right do you have to arrest people?” Everyone spoke up in confusion.
The man ignored them. Instead, he shouted at some hesitant Malay police officers, “Immediately clear all people from this area! Everyone is to remain in the quarantine zone. Make sure not a single person leaves Chinatown!”
He used the Malay official language. The police officers, shouted at by him like this, moved more swiftly. They escorted everyone towards the direction of Zhenhua College. Not only that, every household in Chinatown was being treated the same way.
Hearing this, Yang Xiong became even angrier. He roared, “You are police officers, yet you listen to him and treat civilians so violently? And you’re herding everyone together? What dirty, filthy thing are you planning to do? Could it be…”
Not only Yang Xiong, but others also thought of a terrifying possibility. The entire street was full of Chinese people. Quarantining them under this name, what did anyone intend to do?
The police officers gave no response. Instead, that man, hearing this, turned back to look at Yang Xiong with a fierce gaze.
“Dirty and filthy? Hmph! In this world, nothing is greater or more sacred than what we are doing!”
“We are doing this precisely to protect humanity, to protect nature… Hah, why am I telling you this… Take them away!”
Nobody understood his words. No matter how they resisted, in the end, they were helplessly forced into Zhenhua School.
More and more Chinese people were brought in. The school playground was filled with Chinese people. Among them were also many students who were originally attending classes. They whispered to each other in confusion, not knowing what awaited them.
Outside, a person in a blue uniform asked that man, “The entire block has been cleared. We are conducting a carpet search. No abnormal radiation has been detected.”
“I know. 953 can turn invisible. Moreover, it has some method to conceal its radiation. Anyway, lock down this area to ensure it hasn’t left.” This man was Bai Ze. After learning that the Nine-tailed Fox was hiding in Chinatown, he immediately sent people to surround this block and urgently mobilized many police officers for the encirclement.
This time, he used infrared detectors, thermal sensing equipment, and acoustic detectors to form the encirclement. Unless the Nine-tailed Fox was immune to all of them, if it tried to break out of the encirclement, it would definitely reveal itself.
“But, Site, this containment operation is in a busy urban area. Isn’t our method too direct…” the blue-uniformed person said tactfully.
Bai Ze glanced at him and said, “Compared to the danger of 953, I don’t have time to contain it slowly.”
“The intelligence provided by Alpha-7 doesn’t guarantee we can catch it. After all, during those three minutes, it could have left Chinatown. If I don’t hurry up and lock it down, I might very well come up empty-handed.”
Seeing his subordinate nod in understanding, Bai Ze added, “As for the protests from the residents of this street, pay no mind. I’ve been very gentle already. As long as I successfully contain 953, applying for a Class-B memory wipe afterwards is a matter of course. These people won’t remember this operation of ours.”
“The top priority is to find 953!”
“Yes!”