Chapter 230: The Work Was Different

“How could something like this happen?”

Minister Shen strode hastily into another office.

His face was now livid. It was highly unusual for an urgent matter requiring his personal attention to arise while he was engrossed in security preparations for the Maritime Nation expert team’s visit. The rarer such an event, the clearer its urgency became.

This office was clearly prepared at short notice.

However, the number of liquid crystal display screens mounted on its walls exceeded even those at Qinggang City’s east gate Steel Drawbridge.

The screens showed densely packed footage: some featured Armed Personnel in Protective Suits sealing off a building; others captured scenes of terrified individuals struggling and shouting amidst arrests; and still others revealed detainees weeping inside interrogation rooms.

These images, arranged side by side, created an overwhelming sense of oppression.

“It’s Colonel Chen from the Special Clean-up Department…”

A staff member who had been waiting in the room immediately reported, “Within just one hour, she has issued arrest orders for nearly one hundred citizens of the Main City, sealed off three buildings, two shopping centers, and one Administrative Hall…”

Here, he paused, swallowing hard before continuing, “And it’s still ongoing.”

“At present, all Armed Personnel directly deployable by the Special Clean-up Department, along with the Guard Bureau Police Officers ordered to assist them, have joined the operation. They are engaged in apprehending targets, conducting interrogations, and enforcing isolation. We are severely understaffed.”

“She has now submitted a report on this anomalous incident to higher authorities and requested support from the City Defense Department.”

“…Arresting so many people…”

Despite his famously fierce temper, Minister Shen bizarrely restrained himself and asked, “What’s the cause?”

“Her emergency report cites an unidentified source of abnormal Contamination,”

The staff member placed a report atop the file in his hand, positioning it for Minister Shen to easily access. He continued his rapid, comprehensive briefing: “Everyone currently targeted for arrest is suspected of being affected by a certain anomalous Contamination.”

Minister Shen’s expression darkened as he snatched the file.

The staff member continued, “The incident has been reported simultaneously to Mr. Su and the Highest Administrative Hall.”

“But the immediate problem is the suddenness of these arrests. Many detainees are family members of Administrative Hall officials or individuals connected to major corporations within the city. The Special Clean-up Department has yet to provide them with an explanation.”

“Consequently, those affected are now panicking. They are flooding various channels with complaints and demands for release.”

“The Administrative Hall’s phone lines are nearly overwhelmed, and crowds are gathering outside the Guard Bureau demanding the prisoners’ freedom.”

“If not handled promptly, this could lead to severe consequences.”

“…Tell them to be silent.”

Minister Shen’s reply was resolute: “No matter who they are, anyone affected must be apprehended!”

“Yes…”

The staff member swallowed again, hesitating, “But the problem is… we cannot prove they are contaminated.”

“Hmm?”

Minister Shen snapped his head up, his gaze locking onto the staff member’s face.

…

“Te… Team Leader, we’re arresting far too many people…”

In the City Core of Qing Harbor Main City, along its busiest avenue, Chen Jing, who had arrived early and linked up with Lu Xin, now gripped her Walkie-Talkie tightly.

Silent and grim, she watched multiple chaotic arrest scenes unfolding before her, her brow deeply furrowed.

Beside her, a fully armed soldier voiced concern: “Continuing with arrests… this exceeds our jurisdiction.”

Chen Jing’s face remained expressionless. Instead, she looked towards the car ahead.

Inside that car, Lu Xin sat quietly in the passenger seat, pointing out each individual he identified.

This task had surpassed what Chen Jing could manage alone, so she had directly assigned it to an Information Analysis Team for recording.

Anyone he pointed out was to be apprehended instantly.

What should have been a logical procedure yielded an unforeseen volume of targets.

Confronting her subordinate’s apprehension, Chen Jing focused on the core issue.

She turned and asked softly, “What have the interrogations of the apprehended anomalous individuals revealed?”

“No results…”

The Armed Personnel responded: “All detainees underwent expedited testing and interrogation. Yet, no abnormalities have been detected—neither psychologically nor in terms of Psychic Energy readings. None show fluctuations beyond normal ranges. That means everyone we’ve detained appears to be an ordinary citizen. And this… is precisely why we’re concerned…”

“People in the Main City aren’t like those in Satellite Cities. Every arrest, every inquiry requires justification.”

“More and more people are questioning why we’re detaining them.”

“Even the Administrative Hall is struggling under the pressure!”

“…No signs of abnormality can be found…”

Chen Jing remained silent for a moment, saying nothing more.

From the very beginning, she had realized where the problem lay.

Including starting from the arrest of Xiao Yuan’s stepmother, Lu Weiwei, she had already noticed this sign. Lu Weiwei showed no abnormalities; not even the Watchdog, most skilled at detecting such things, could see anything. However, Lu Xin could detect her anomaly, and after her arrest, interrogation indeed confirmed that Lu Weiwei had been involved in the suspected “Mysterious Wish-Granting Incident” related to the Contamination Incident.

But after all, Lu Weiwei was only one person, and someone who had just gained the qualification to reside in the Main City.

Now, they faced nearly a hundred people already arrested, and many more hadn’t even been captured successfully.

In just two hours, the Wish-Granting Incident had escalated into large-scale Chaos capable of engulfing the entire Main City.

Yet even now, she hadn’t found conclusive evidence.

…

“Regarding the interrogations about their contact with the Wish-Granting Incident, what results did we get?”

Chen Jing asked swiftly and calmly.

“We extracted confessions from a few admitting they indeed encountered similar wish-granting events,”

a subordinate reported. “But many more flatly deny it, and we lack sufficient personnel or equipment to verify them individually. We haven’t even had time to interrogate the vast number detained. Based solely on the previous investigation report regarding the mysterious Wish-Granting Incident and the few existing interrogation records, it’s difficult to persuade the Administrative Hall and the City Defense Department to cooperate with our operations…”

“For one, most personnel our Special Clean-up Department can mobilize are currently deployed at the East Sea Grand Hotel, responsible for the security of the High-Level Talent Training Conference. Secondly, we cannot arrest any more people. We’ve already disrupted the Main City’s functioning. Continuing arrests…”

He paused before adding, “…might make others suspect us of ulterior motives.”

“…”

Chen Jing fell silent, then slowly asked, “What did the City Defense Department say?”

“No response yet.”

“Understood.”

Chen Jing nodded softly and walked towards the stopped vehicle ahead.

…

“Why aren’t we catching more people?”

Lu Xin was sitting in the passenger seat at this moment, looking out at the bustling street ahead.

He saw more and more people bearing abnormalities walking the streets.

It felt as though he had entered a terrifying playground. The street was filled with all sorts of Monsters. Though surrounded by quite a few people, they seemed pitifully few compared to that vast horde of Monsters, utterly powerless against them.

Especially as this sense of Chaos intensified sharply, he noticed the vehicle had stopped.

Consequently, his focused action of identifying those individuals one by one also ceased.

…

“Lone Soldier, how many abnormal individuals remain unarrested?”

Chen Jing’s figure appeared outside the passenger window, her gaze calm as she looked at Lu Xin.

“Many. Like that young man using a digital camera to film the arrests up ahead, he’s one,”

Lu Xin answered honestly, striving to be perfectly clear. “Furthermore, the deeper we go into the City Core, the more people we encounter. I see increasingly more anomalous individuals among them. Even in the immediate area I’m looking at right now, over a dozen show obvious signs. It’s the first time I’ve witnessed this many anomalies, this close, and we’re just… watching them…”

Chen Jing paused briefly. “Besides seeing them, do you have any other form of evidence?”

Lu Xin shook his head. “No.”

Chen Jing’s brow furrowed slightly. “If it’s only sight, it’s hard to convince others. We’ve already arrested many people, and not a single detection method has uncovered their anomalies. So I need to confirm something with you right now: regarding these individuals you directly see carrying anomalies… how certain are you, how confident, that they are actually contaminated?”

Lu Xin seemed perplexed, turning his head to look at Chen Jing.

Meeting Chen Jing’s face, devoid of any readable Negative Emotions, he nodded slowly. “Don’t you trust me?”

Chen Jing suddenly felt tense.

“I can understand,”

Lu Xin continued, even offering a gentle smile:

“When my ‘family’ first appeared, I doubted myself too. Was it just a Hallucination?”

“Otherwise, why couldn’t others see them? Only me?”

“It’s the same now.”

“If I report their anomalies, yet your tests find nothing… it’s reasonable for you to doubt me.”

“However… I can’t answer the question you just asked me.”

“…”

As he spoke, he lifted his gaze towards the front again. “Finding anomalies, pointing them out, that’s my job.”

“But believing in me… that’s your bosses’ job, isn’t it?”

“Right?”