Chapter 73 Evening Breeze "...Little Red? You're back!"...
Shu Qing didn't know when she would be able to openly present herself to her parents with Jiu Su. However, her unsuccessful search for her behind-the-scenes target clearly didn't have the patience to wait any longer. The very next day, the trending topics were dominated by the hashtag #ThirdCaseOfSupernaturalBodyOutOfControl#, with news reports everywhere.
This out-of-control accident occurred in City X in the Midwest.
The previous incidents that spiraled out of control, whether suppressed by the Supermarket Administration Bureau or erupted outright, all occurred in major cities in the east. Therefore, all cities in the east are on high alert and on high alert, and dare not be negligent in the slightest.
This time, however, the local flood control bureau was unprepared. Due to the long distance and the inability of headquarters to arrive in time, they were unable to control the situation. Flash floods and torrential rains submerged half of the district, and rescue efforts are still underway.
Shu Qing sat in the conference room of the H City Supermarket Management Bureau and sighed helplessly.
This meeting held by the H City Supermarket Management Bureau was not a strictly operational meeting—but in reality, it wasn't much different from one. Shu Qing was diligently checking documents in the archives when the person in charge dragged her into the meeting room.
The atmosphere here was so solemn it was less like a discussion and more like a funeral. Shu Qing sat there, feeling almost suffocated by the heavy air.
Not only her, but everyone in the conference room looked like they were about to be crushed. The big screen displayed not only trending topics and social news, but also the overwhelming workload and the terrible consequences of "what if this work is not done well".
"Across the country, people are launching initiatives to clean up supernatural beings in human settlements," Shu Qing silently read the words on the screen. "Tens of thousands of people have already signed the online petition, and the number continues to grow..."
The host tapped on the large screen and called on Ms. Shu, asking, "Ms. Shu, what are your thoughts?"
His original intention was that Shu Qing interacted more with netizens and had a large fan base, so she might have better ideas than others when facing such a surge of public opinion.
“Me? I think that no matter what the reason, leaving a real signature online is still too…” Shu Qing swallowed the word “stupid”, “too dangerous. This joint letter is public, any Tom, Dick, or Harry can get their real signature from here, who knows what they will do with it.”
The person next to him was taken aback. "This is something the cybersecurity department should be handling..."
The host understood her meaning, and someone immediately contacted the cybersecurity department. Whether it was advocating that everyone stop signing or quickly blocking the joint letter, it was all within the purview of our colleagues.
Shu Qing cleverly deflected some of the work and breathed a sigh of relief. She then directly answered the host's question: "Online public opinion is merely a reflection of reality. As long as the current problems remain unresolved, these opinions cannot be suppressed."
“Besides, our own authority… oh, ‘public credibility’ is currently at a low point.” She continued, “I think at most we can issue a popular science article explaining that even if low-level monsters below a certain level get out of control, their harm is limited. At least we can avoid having one abandoned supernatural pet, which will also reduce the pressure on ourselves.”
Her suggestion was exactly what the Supermarket Management Bureau was planning to do, and the host nodded silently.
The next topic of discussion was mainly the conflict between supernatural beings and humans in H City, which had little to do with Shu Qing. Even so, no one in the room signaled for her to leave, and Shu Qing showed no intention of leaving, remaining calmly seated at the long table and participating in the discussion.
For a fleeting moment, she was distracted and thought: Little Red, you were absolutely right to worry.
As long as she shows even the slightest intention to participate in this matter, the Super Management Bureau will immediately take her under its wing and treat her as one of their own, without even needing the higher-ups to intervene.
But in reality, she didn't have any other choice to begin with.
The meeting lasted for nearly three hours, during which Shu Qing was bombarded with cases of conflict between monsters and humans—the online petition signed by tens of thousands of people had not received a response, and at this time, people in various places had begun to spontaneously "clean up supernatural beings".
They unilaterally labeled the "Extraordinary Organisms Protection Law" as an "evil law," and taking advantage of the fact that the law does not punish the masses, they began to "act righteously," which we can call the radical faction.
But not everyone in this world is so indiscriminate. Some people who keep superhuman pets can't stand it and stand up to stop it, only to be accused of being "traitors." The conflict then spread from the conflict between humans and monsters to the conflict between humans.
Even the superhuman pets couldn't stand seeing their owners being bullied by radicals, so they rushed out and bit people. In this way, the war was brought back to humans and monsters, and the cycle continued, growing ever stronger.
The elites in the capital were busy suppressing the monster out-of-control incidents, while branches in various regions were frantically putting out fires everywhere. Everyone in the Super Management Bureau was so busy that they didn't even care that it was already past working hours when the meeting ended, and rushed to their respective posts. Shu Qing had no choice but to stay and work overtime with them for half a day.
When she walked out of the Supermarket Management Bureau, the moon was almost high in the sky. Shu Qing took a bite of a piece of chocolate, sent a message to Shu Tong, and drove home.
It had been a long time since I had worked overtime, but this time I was busy until midnight again. Shuqing was a little tired while driving, and she drove onto the overpass in a daze.
At this time of day, there weren't many cars on the road, mostly trucks. Those who were going home had already gone inside, and those who liked to go out were too scared to show their faces due to the recent monster outbursts and various conflicts.
Shu Qing stopped at the red light and peered out. Aside from large trucks, there were only a handful of other vehicles on the road ahead. The once bustling road was eerily silent, with only faint voices carried on the wind—probably two drivers talking.
Her gaze fell again on the dark phone screen. Silence reigned, the screen reflecting the surrounding night, illuminating her slightly weary face, and—
Shu Qing's pupils dilated, and the extraordinary energy detection dial on her wrist suddenly jumped up by a number, with a few clusters of firelight jumping out from the reflection of the screen.
In an instant, a raging inferno erupted in the silent night, splashing earth and rocks like water droplets. The overpass, spanning half the sky, swayed in its death throes before collapsing with a deafening roar.
Amid the explosions and screams, Shu Qing's vision was filled with white mist. She didn't feel the immense impact she was supposed to experience; instead, she felt a sudden loss of weight.
As the white mist gradually dissipated, she realized she was sitting in a pile of ruins. Her new car, bought just a few months ago, was completely totaled; the windshield was cracked like a spiderweb, the passenger seat was a horrible mess, and only the driver's seat, where she was, remained strangely and abruptly intact, like a layer suddenly pasted onto the ruins.
Shu Qing looked up, her eyes reflecting the towering flames ahead. She grabbed her phone, which had survived alongside the driver's seat, and sent her coordinates to the traffic management bureau's group chat, along with a photo.
This is the first catastrophic event in H City since the outbreak of the supernatural organism out-of-control incident.
Within three minutes, the field team from the Supermarket Management Bureau arrived with the fire brigade at breakneck speed. While putting out the fire, they cleared the area and even borrowed Niannian. They quickly figured out what had happened: there was a "radical" at the scene who, while waiting at a red light, saw the driver of the neighboring car put his superhuman pet out of the window for some fresh air. So he rolled down the window and started cursing.
The owner of the neighboring car, who still keeps an extraordinary pet, naturally had a certain attitude towards radicals. He didn't back down and cursed back. After a few rounds, he triggered his extraordinary pet's illusion magic.
This wouldn't have been a problem in itself; illusion magic is considered one of the least destructive abilities among supernatural beings. Otherwise, the car owner wouldn't have dared to take it out. The problem was that it was at a traffic light intersection, and even worse, there was a large truck right next to it carrying... liquefied gas, which is highly flammable and explosive.
The car behind accidentally rear-ended another vehicle under the influence of the illusion, and then... that's what Shu Qing saw.
It's hard to say who's at fault, and there's no way to hold anyone accountable, because both the two people arguing and the supernatural creature that directly caused the accident died on the spot and became part of the death toll in the news.
Their thoughts and ideas will only be used by people of different stances as weapons to attack each other... As for everything else, whether it is career or life, ideals or emotions, it will all dissipate like smoke, and no one will know it anymore.
Shu Qing watched the whole process on the display screen, sighed silently, and after reporting that she was safe to Shu Tong, she joined in the count of casualties and the rescue efforts.
She hadn't eaten dinner, and after working for a while, her vision started to blur. Just then, a hand handed her a piece of milk candy from the side.
Shu Qing subconsciously said "thank you" and took it. It took her a couple of seconds to suddenly come to her senses and abruptly turn around.
Jiu Su stood silently beside her, her eyes fixed on her with an inscrutable expression.
"...Xiao Hong?" For a moment, the sadness and depression in Shu Qing's heart were overshadowed by surprise. "You're back!"
Jiu Su smiled at her.
Shu Qing quickly tore off the candy wrapper, popped the candy into her mouth, and asked, slightly muffled, "You came as soon as you heard the news? How come so fast? Weren't you still in City A just a few days ago?"
"No, I wanted to come back and pick you up," Jiu Su said softly. "I didn't expect to run into this."
"Pick me up?" Shu Qing thought to herself, could it be that Xiao Hong has finally come to her senses and wants to go with me to find the truth behind the scenes?
“Yes, we’ll take you to the capital.” Jiu Su continued, “Nowhere is safe right now, but the capital is a bit better.”
Shu Qing looked at him. In just a few days, he had become much thinner, his bone structure even more pronounced. His face was also unusually pale, almost like a faded paper doll, as if a gust of wind would cause him to dissipate into the night.
In a daze, she recalled that memory from her past life, and the old emotions suddenly enveloped her, causing her to tremble involuntarily.
Jiu Su thought she had been chilled by the night wind, so she took off her trench coat and draped it over her, then held her hand to warm her up.
This gentle hug was different from the one that felt so close yet so far back then. Shu Qing had pulled herself out of her past emotions and took his hand in return.
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