Chapter 243 - 240: Blood and Rain

Chapter 243: Chapter 240: Blood and Rain

Twenty minutes after victory was declared, in front of the Special Security Team building.

Qin Xiaoxia stood quietly, gazing at the sky. Magic Power radiated from him, and his surroundings responded in kind, broadcasting a magical sentiment across the skies of Kyoto City.

Behind him, under the building’s awning, stood Tao Xingzhi, Su Su, and several high-ranking members of the Special Security Team.

"Mr. Yan, how heavy will the rain be?"

An aide asked the question.

He glanced back at the expectant or skeptical eyes watching him.

"It’s going to be heavy."

The wind began to pick up, and vast, dark clouds gathered in the sky.

Although Qin Xiaoxia’s Magic Power was far greater than before, it still wasn’t enough to influence the weather of the entire Capital using only a Reaction Technique.

He wasn’t just relying on his own Magic Power. The Red Demoness was also supporting him from within the Kyoto Secret Realm by channeling the full power of the Association Secret Realm.

The dark clouds gradually expanded until they covered the entirety of Kyoto City.

At a certain moment, Qin Xiaoxia reached a hand to the sky and began to chant in the Magic Language.

"Hades, Gillian Doya."

A Magic Silk Thread flashed for an instant, and countless white symbols flickered within the clouds above.

WHOOOOSH...

A torrential downpour instantly began to fall, helping the cleanup crews wash away the filth of the battlefield.

The crew of a fire truck was hosing down a bloodstain on the street. They were surprised by the sudden downpour, but they also seemed to have been prepared for it.

"Good thing it’s supposed to stop within the hour. If it rained this hard all night, Kyoto City would be completely flooded by morning..."

Rainwater mixed with blood. The cleanup work would not be finished before dawn.

And even though Su Su’s divination had confirmed the threat was over, the relevant departments in Kyoto City would remain on high alert for a long time, just in case any aberrant creatures had been missed in the sweep.

This wasn’t out of disrespect for the Dawn Crystal Ball Witch, but rather a reflection of the Special Security Team’s deeply ingrained doctrine of vigilance.

...

Somewhere near the Huannan Sea, Huang Jiutian and an Evolver colleague stood up from their chairs.

Along with the Soldiers beside them, they tilted their heads back to look at the sudden, torrential downpour.

"Captain Huang, does this mean we sat here half the night just to get carried to victory?"

Jiutian chuckled and "shot" her with a finger gun.

"What? You mean you actually wanted to fight them here?"

"No, no, no, no..."

She glanced back sheepishly and stuck out her tongue, as if to say she wouldn’t dare. A moment later, she was cheerfully swinging her braids again.

"But we’ll still make it back for the victory celebration, right?"

Her words made everyone around them laugh.

...

The first light of dawn appeared once more in the east. The past night in Kyoto City had been anything but peaceful.

"Good morning, viewers, and welcome to the morning news... Last night, law enforcement agencies in Kyoto City conducted a joint operation against a transnational criminal syndicate, dismantling their local hideout and restoring a safe and stable environment for the public... The alleged crimes include premeditated murder, fraud, and illicit activities..."

...

"According to information obtained by our reporters from the relevant authorities, the recent threat to public safety posed by an invasive species of vampire bat in Kyoto City has been brought under effective control after several days of tireless effort. However, residents are advised to remain vigilant and avoid going out at night. We believe it won’t be long before the authorities fully resolve the situation..."

...

"Good morning, listeners. Traffic is flowing smoothly on most major roads in Kyoto City this morning, but we’re seeing heavy congestion on routes such as XXX... and so on. We recommend taking an alternate route... Last night, a city-wide surprise inspection by the traffic police resulted in the arrest of XX drunk drivers..."

"The sudden torrential rain last night was caused by weather patterns that have been developing since the beginning of autumn..."

...

The various news reports all touched upon the events of the previous night in some way, but for the average citizen listening, they would never grasp the heart-stopping terror that had unfolded.

But while the vast majority of the public remained unaware, a considerable number of people were still affected, and there were even a great many direct eyewitnesses.

The emergency lines for the Kyoto City police department hadn’t stopped ringing since morning.

People were calling to report smashed signs on their storefronts, stolen or damaged vehicles, or the sudden discovery of large bloodstains in what looked like a crime scene.

Aside from emergency repair services, the busiest people that morning were the cleanup crews, rushing to locations that hadn’t been properly sanitized to wash them down again.

Of course, there were also insurance companies busy processing claims, and government officials visiting various businesses, residential complexes, and hotels to negotiate compensation for the damages.

Other police officers were tasked with finding eyewitnesses. For those who had seen something but were unsure what, the police would conduct a token "investigation," asking them what they saw of the "criminal syndicate’s arrest" and if they knew any of the "culprits."

Most ordinary people, when faced with a police investigation, would comply obediently. Fearful of trouble, they would deny any involvement, and after being warned they’d be under observation for a while, they wouldn’t dare say another word.

Some witnesses were more difficult to handle, such as those in the hotel who saw Blaise in action, or, even more problematic, the survivors who had narrowly escaped from the maws on the Spirit Mothers’ abdomens.

These cases required special personnel to provide an explanation—be it a sudden outbreak of disease or an attack by a wild animal. It didn’t matter if they believed it; they still had to sign a non-disclosure agreement.

But the most troublesome issue of all was, by far, the dead.

At the Special Security Team Headquarters, no one had slept a wink all night.

A cigarette dangled from Tao Xingzhi’s lips as he flipped through various reports on the previous night’s battle. An aide, a new report tucked under his arm, brought him a cup of coffee.

"Thanks. What’s this?"

Tao Xingzhi took the coffee and, seeing it had no sugar or milk, nodded in satisfaction. Then he took a large gulp, his brow furrowing.

The aide handed him the report he’d been carrying under his arm.

"The list of fatalities from the incident."

Hearing this, Tao Xingzhi set the coffee down on the table and rubbed his temples.

"Leave it here."

He opened the file. The first page was the casualty statistics for all participating units.

A total of 42 front-line Soldiers and police officers were killed in action. Eighteen were critically wounded with disabling injuries, and five sustained minor injuries.

Tao Xingzhi wasn’t surprised by the high number of dead and critically wounded. That was the nature of fighting these aberrations; if you failed to evade an attack, you were more likely to die than live.

The process of compensating the families of these fallen warriors had already begun. He was confident that they wouldn’t repeat the mistakes of the past—no hero would be made to shed blood on the battlefield only to shed tears back home.

However...

He turned to the page on civilian casualties.

The total number of women who had been parasitized and transformed into Spirit Mothers was six hundred and thirteen. The number of friends, family, neighbors, and passersby they had killed—leaving not even a corpse behind—was over two thousand.

In an era of peace, it was a staggering number.

How to weave a benevolent lie, and how to deliver compensation within that lie without causing the families further pain, was a critical and difficult challenge.

The fact that a large portion of these victims were entire families wiped out in the incident brought no comfort whatsoever.

’I just hope we won’t be forced to brand some of the deceased as members of a "criminal syndicate" out of sheer necessity.’

...

The repairs and abnormalities in certain parts of the city seemed insignificant when seen against the backdrop of the entire, sprawling metropolis of Kyoto City and its tens of millions of people.

For most people, the bustling, vibrant city of Kyoto seemed no different than it had been the day before.

For the few who did talk, their speculation and idle gossip about the "unrest" last night were no different from rumors about a celebrity affair or a health scare over some new food. It was just another piece of city gossip, destined to be forgotten once the novelty wore off.

Online, however, certain websites and forums were starting to buzz with activity.

Some people had even uploaded videos of what they called the "scene of a criminal arrest gunfight," attracting a large crowd of online gawkers who watched and liked the posts.

Others posted about hearing noises last night that sounded suspiciously like gunshots.

With so many posts, it was only natural that some people started stirring the pot. However, a large number of the instigators were actually government-affiliated astroturfers.

They subtly derailed the conversation threads.

Only the most troublesome posts were dealt with by being "404’d"—deleted entirely.

P.S. Third Chapter for Saturday.