Most of the security chiefs from various places were punctual people. Xu Chuyao sat down, and not long after, the screens on the walls began lighting up one after another.
“Good afternoon, Miss Xu, and greetings to all colleagues.”
“Honored to meet you all.”
About a dozen people attended the meeting, representing security departments from over ten cities. Not all were from the major cities; roughly one-third were, while the rest came from second-tier cities and county towns.
“The places they are in aren’t too far away,” Wei Lin nodded slightly and said to Xu Chuyao, “You know, the time difference.”
Some places were currently in the dead of night, deep into sleep.
The only screen that didn’t light up was the one in the lower-left corner. Its network signal showed a normal connection, but there was no image or sound.
Wei Lin walked over to check the display equipment, then took out his phone and tried contacting the other party.
“No answer. Maybe something urgent came up. Forget about it for now, Miss Xu. Please begin.”
Missing the security chief from a certain county town wasn’t important. Most people here didn’t even know him.
All right.
Xu Chuyao cleared her throat and straightened up, sitting upright. For the first time, she began the video conference in her absolutely central role.
“You all know me, so I won’t introduce myself. You also know the reason for this meeting. During my explanation, if you have questions, please raise your hand first.”
Then, she narrated the incident that happened a few nights ago. On a whim, she had stayed a bit longer at the warehouse collection point. Unexpectedly, she encountered more than a dozen members of the Clown Gang sneaking in to steal Soulstones. So, she dealt with them on the spot.
“Regrettably, our successful interception was just a fluke. The Clown Gang has had consecutive successes in other places, stealing many Soulstones. As for how dangerous these Soulstones are, just look at what happened in Freiden Free City. Although their utilization rate of the Soulstones is not as advanced as Professor Swina’s, whenever an explosion occurs in a densely populated area, casualties are inevitable.”
Xu Chuyao quickly finished explaining the situations faced by security departments across various regions.
The person on the screen in the upper-left corner raised his hand. Judging by his appearance, he seemed to be a foreigner.
“Go ahead.”
“Miss Xu, thank you for your explanation. May I ask how we can avoid such incidents?” He spoke in the common language with a slight accent, “Would strict checks on incoming personnel to prevent them from bringing Soulstones inside be effective?”
“That won’t work,” Xu Chuyao replied directly. “Checkpoints are always infiltrated by people somehow, either by mixing in, bribery, or having insiders.”
Even the secret transportation of Soulstones was known by the Clown Gang, along with exact locations and shift changes. This was no ordinary insider situation it’s possible that the people giving orders are compromised as well.
“Then what can we do?”
“If they want to explode, there’s no stopping it, so we must prepare in advance,” Xu Chuyao said, raising her fingers one by one.
“First, as soon as you detect a Soulstone, immediately disperse the crowd, using the most extreme measures if necessary. Remember this: the moment an ordinary person is exposed to the Soulstone’s light, they’re already beyond saving.”
The most extreme measures meant rushing forward to grab and throw the affected away, ideally like Shen Ning, who used powerful gusts of wind to blow them away. Even if they got hurt, it was better than turning into a monster.
“Second, immediately after the incident, clear the area exposed to the radiant light. Don’t hesitate or worry. The radiation from the Soulstone has no effect on Spirit Power Users.”
The security chiefs from various places lowered their heads to take notes. Usually, there would be secretaries and assistants helping record meetings, but this time, due to a certain level of confidentiality, the chiefs had to write everything themselves.
Xu Chuyao paused for a moment, giving them time to write and allowing herself to think briefly.
“Third, we already know that the Supreme Society purely uses the Clown Gang, but the Clown Gang themselves are not idiots. The Yaha Tower Battle is still fresh in our minds. They wouldn’t repeat the same mistake of blocking their own escape routes. So for us, the fact that the Clown Gang doesn’t prefer suicide attacks is actually good news. This means that even if they place Soulstones in crowded areas, they will wait until they’ve fled before activating them.”
She stopped briefly, then continued, “You can inspect public venues irregularly every day to search for suspicious items.”
Someone raised their hand.
“Miss Xu, if we find Soulstones, what should we do?”
“Try to disable the triggering device—whether it’s timed or remote-controlled. If all else fails, carry the device to a less crowded area and run, or if you’re really dumb…” Xu Chuyao reached out her small hand, sweeping in a circle, “…throw it forcefully into an abandoned building or somewhere empty. Let inorganic materials consume the Soulstone’s energy.”
The chiefs pondered this briefly, then resumed taking notes.
At that moment, an intermittent strange laughter suddenly rang out:
“Ha, risky, hahahaha, hehe risky ah, jiejie jiejie!”
The chiefs, busy writing, looked up in confusion, indicating the laughter wasn’t from themselves.
“Miss Xu, miss~ you really… speak so well~”
The laughter came through a keyed microphone, not a free mic, so there was background noise each time the speaker talked, as if from a chaotic place.
Wei Lin spotted the source of the voice and said, looking at the blacked-out screen in the lower-left corner, “Bennet, what’s going on?”
This was the person who hadn’t appeared at the start and couldn’t be reached by phone. At first, they thought he had urgent matters elsewhere. Now they realized he had been there all along but had only opened one-way video, preventing others from seeing or hearing him.
No wonder the network showed a normal connection all along.
“Miss Xu, what you said is really excellent. If I had heard you earlier, maybe this place wouldn’t have become like this.”
Bennet spoke with mixed emotions—hope, guilt, helplessness, and sighs.
But in the next moment—
“Just kidding! That’s not true. Because I was the one who started the fire! Ha lao ah lao hahaha haha ji ah!”
The screen lit up, revealing a chapel. The Soulstone was placed atop a Divine Statue, its blue light seemingly enveloping the entire world.
People worshipping in the chapel writhed in pain and sorrow as strange crystalline growths sprouted on their bodies, gradually turning them into monsters.
“Ha lao fu ha, ah hahaha ji ah!”
The camera shifted direction, showing a gaunt, wild-eyed face laughing wildly on the screen. The chiefs who saw this scene furrowed their brows tightly.
Bennet, the security chief from a small eastern town, had apparently gone mad.
“Let’s watch, under the divine light, one by one people fall, and one by one monsters rise. They pounce on the poor humans, tearing their flesh and blood apart!”
He sang out, “Why did it stop halfway? Let’s follow the camera. It turns out this person is mutating too.”
“What a philosophical scene! When you are in hell, the only way to survive is to fall together and become a demon…”
And—
Wei Lin quickly found the main computer’s keyboard and operated furiously, cutting off the other chiefs’ connections, leaving only Bennet connected.
“Miss Xu, the meeting has to be canceled. I have to forward this video to the superiors immediately and report what’s happening here.”
Xu Chuyao stood up as well, patting the white silk knee-high socks under her shorts.
“Then I’m heading back?”
“I’m afraid I can’t escort you.”
Obviously not. Xu Chuyao hadn’t asked for an escort.
Walking out of the conference room and passing the reception hall, Ma saw a white-haired girl sitting inside, eating a piece of tea cake. The pot of red tea on the table was still steaming, with several refills already taken.
Seeing Xu Chuyao come out, the girl swallowed her tea cake in two or three bites, neglecting the red tea, and hurried over.
“Finished the meeting?”
“No, but it had to be cut short.” Xu Chuyao sighed, “Something big happened.”
Shen Ning blinked. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. It was just a video conference. The incident happened far away.”
“Oh.”
Then she lost interest.
“Where are we going now? To the streets for patrol?”
“No way. I have to get back to school immediately. Something serious happened.”
“…”
Looks like it really was something.
The situation was not only serious but enormous. Xu Chuyao had just returned to school when the old class teacher sent a message asking her to come to the Principal’s Office in the administration building.
There, she learned about the aftermath. Upon receiving the message, the small town where Bennet was stationed quickly organized personnel to head to the chapel shown in the video. But the security chief was nowhere to be found. The scene was filled with over a hundred mutants rampaging. The chapel’s Cross and Divine Statue were stuck upside down in the ground, resembling a true hell on earth.
Afterward, Bennet’s video was posted online, and he even recorded the entire conference. However, the higher-ups reacted swiftly—the video was deleted almost immediately, with only a few people having seen it.
“Miss Xu’s voice is really pleasant, and her words were excellent—closer to the truth than the Prophet’s. I believe everyone should listen to her.”
He said this at the end of the video. Perhaps this was the reason he decided to share it.
In the office, Principal Lü waved at Xu Chuyao.
“Director Jian just sent a message. He wants to talk to you later, so I had Teacher Yu come find you first.”
Xu Chuyao nodded and found a chair to sit down, calming her somewhat dazed mood.
Bennet’s outburst was too sudden. Even the Prophet had been startled.
After a while, Principal Lü brought over a notebook computer. On the screen appeared Long Jun’s worried, furrowed face.
“I’ve seen Wei Lin’s report, but since you were on the scene, I want to hear your account once more.”