The Crisis Averted and Swire's Resentment / Wrapping Up and Reuniting

With a running start, Hoshiguma used Hannya to push through the unfinished wall, creating a hole. The three of them immediately filed out through the hole.

The three of them trudged through the narrow alley connecting the front and back streets... but just as they were about to quickly cross the alley, the intersection was blocked by people.

More than thirty people were waiting at the intersection of the back street, eyeing the three of them menacingly.

Not only that, but even more people emerged from the hole and attacked them.

The tranquility of the Black Street was completely shattered by the clamor of voices. Hoshiguma really couldn't figure out where all these people came from. She even suspected that someone had turned this place into a base without her knowledge.

But now is not the time to figure these things out.

Hoshiguma and Chen stood side by side, beginning their breakout through the vast crowd. Fortunately, it was a narrow alley, so their chances of encountering the enemy were not large.

With Chixiao and Hannya flying about, the thugs were no match for them. Their weapons always accurately struck down those who tried to attack.

If any are missed, Swire's chain hammer will teach them what a hammer is...

The group attacking them was descending at a visible rate. Even though some of them started handling their crossbows again, in close combat, they couldn't avoid hitting their own comrades.

Even if a few daring individuals tried, their crossbow bolts were always intercepted by Swire's companions. Amidst screams of pain, they abandoned the idea of using crossbows.

Even with their numerical advantage and the ability to wear down the three through rotating attacks, they couldn't overcome the exceptional skills of the three senior superintendents. With Chen, Swire, and Hoshiguma's skillful teamwork, they were actually beginning to see victory...

The sight of over twenty people lying on the ground, groaning in agony, was incredibly shocking.

Seeing that he was about to lose, the leader, who was hiding in the shadows, kicked away the others who were trying to stop him and yelled, "What the hell are you waiting for?!"

As he finished speaking, two bundles of crudely made mineral bombs were suddenly thrown down from the high-rise buildings of the abandoned buildings on both sides of the narrow alley.

"That's...?!"

With his keen intuition and battlefield sense, Chen immediately noticed the two bundles of things falling rapidly.

Upon seeing what it was, her pupils constricted sharply as painful memories of the past flooded her mind, causing a throbbing pain in the area where she had been injured.

Others might not recognize what it was at first glance, but Chen, with his tragic past, immediately recognized what was being thrown down... It was an ore bomb!

In the narrow alleyway, the blast wave could have caused the entire alley to collapse, and they would have had no chance of escaping alive.

Watching the mineral bomb draw ever closer, like the Grim Reaper's scythe about to reap lives, Chen used all the strength he had ever mustered to throw Swire beside him away.

Before Swire was thrown out unexpectedly, could even curse the damn dragon, she caught sight of the two rapidly falling bombs due to the sudden change in perspective...

The lit fuse, the rapidly falling explosives, her comrades who couldn't get out of the way in time... In that instant, Swire felt as if she was about to lose something...

P. S.: Oh my god, this one is over 4300! That's a bit scary. I went over the limit again. Editing this one is exhausting... Time for bed. Goodnight everyone.

Chapter 33 The Crisis Resolved and Swire's Melancholy (3000 words)

Lady Luck never bestows blessings without reason, but if someone is extremely unlucky at a certain point in time, their luck might just turn around the next moment.

Swire was being thrown towards the exit of the narrow alley, stared intently at the falling explosives in the distance, feeling as if time had slowed down.

She didn't understand why Chen's strength had suddenly become so great... and why his first thought was to throw her out... but she... was truly unwilling to accept it!

Swire wanted to change the outcome, to save her friends, even if it was just an attempt. But no matter how frantically she calculated and thought, the final answer remained unsolvable, a dead end.

Because in just a few seconds, the ore bomb falling from the sky will explode.

The shockwave and Originium fragments from the explosion will instantly fill the narrow alley. The shockwave, Originium fragments, and scorching heat will kill everyone in the alley.

Thinking about what might happen next, Swire felt not only unwilling but also overwhelmed by a sense of powerlessness.

These intense emotions caused Swire to instinctively close her eyes, because she didn't want to see her friend reduced to shattered pieces or charred remains.

The moment she closed her eyes, her active brain started working at high speed due to various stimuli.

Countless scenes and images flashed through Swire's mind like a revolving lantern.

One moment it's the horrific scene she might witness later, the next it's the covert kidnapping scene from the past... Blood, brains, corpses—these images made her feel nauseous and terrified.

However, Swire's state didn't last long, because a scene from when she was rescued suddenly flashed through her mind... That warm memory calmed her emotions and dispelled the other unpleasant images and scenes in her mind...

Then, as if struck by a sudden thought, Swire abruptly opened her tightly closed eyes and stared intently in the direction of her two companions, as if trying to etch their images deep into her mind.

Although fear still lingered in her heart, and there was nothing she could do or change at that moment... in the end Swire refused to be a coward who closed his eyes and ran away from everything.

Even if she can't change what's happening now, she should remember it... and ensure that her comrades' sacrifice wasn't in vain...

However, despite thinking this way and trying her best to calm herself down, Swire's resentment, anger, and sadness still surged uncontrollably, eroding her heart.

If it were possible, if a miracle could truly happen, she desperately hoped that someone would come to save her friend, just as they had saved her during the kidnapping incident...

This time, unexpectedly, a "miracle" answered Swire's lingering hope. Just as she was about to fall to the ground and the tragedy in the distance was about to unfold, a pair of warm hands caught her steadily.

"Canned Food, smash them!"

"Meow!"

As a familiar voice came from behind Swire, the sky above the narrow alley suddenly changed. A giant cat suddenly appeared from a ring that had been thrown out at some unknown time. The cat let out a loud cry and then crashed rapidly towards the ground.

In an instant, a chill swept through and enveloped the entire narrow alley at an extremely fast speed.

The mineral bomb that had received special attention from the Canned Food also instantly went silent. When it fell to the ground, it had already turned into a motionless block of ice.

The moment the massive can hit the Canned Food, the Swarm of people who didn't have time to react were knocked unconscious, while Chen and Hoshiguma, whom it deliberately avoided, were shivered by another wave of "cold air".

"..."

A moment later, Chen glanced at the shrunken Canned Food after she finished, then at the creature lying haphazardly on the ground, before turning to Pardofelis and Swire in the distance and saying, "Thank you, we'll thank you properly later."

"Swire, you go check the scene. Hoshiguma and I will go chase after those bastards who threw those ore bombs!"

Before Swire could react, Chen quickly grabbed his sword and charged out with Hoshiguma, his target clear.

After what happened today, the two of them will not let these guys get away with it, especially those who threw the ore bombs earlier... They will definitely make them pay the price!

After watching her two friends, who had survived the ordeal, disappear from sight, Swire finally realized what was happening, and somewhat embarrassed, she broke free from Pardofelis's support and stood up on her own.

To be honest, she really didn't expect that a miracle would actually happen at that crucial moment... and that this miracle was from Pardofelis, the one who had left her with such complicated feelings...

However, regardless of the nature of this "miracle," Swire felt fortunate at that moment.

That's great... I don't have to face sadness, I don't have to face parting, I don't have to see my friends on that inspection team's list of dead.

That's wonderful...

Thinking about it, Swire couldn't help but turn her back, because she didn't want to let others see her pathetic state.

Pardofelis was delighted with this, as she saw it as a perfect opportunity to slip away.

After all, she knew perfectly well what would happen to her if she stayed here and waited until people realized what was going on. She definitely didn't want to end up in jail.

While Pardofelis could indeed escape, that would be a waste of time; she'd be better off buying more goods instead.

But before the cat could take two steps, she stopped. Her perky cat ears allowed her to keenly detect the almost inaudible sobbing.

"..."

After hesitating for a moment, Pardofelis helplessly shrugged, then took out a tissue from her pocket, silently handed it over, and casually comforted her, "Hey, don't be sad, it's all over now, and nothing serious happened."

"..."

Upon hearing this, Swire silently accepted Pardofelis's tissue. After wiping away her tears and calming herself, she suddenly turned around and grabbed Patto's wrist, saying earnestly, "Pardofelis, you're the Lungmen Thief, aren't you?"

"!"

Pardofelis admitted that she was nervous and even sweating profusely the moment she was caught. But as a seasoned shopper, her observation skills were still top-notch.

Cat glanced briefly at Swire's face and quickly realized that everything from her expression and movements to her words and micro-expressions pointed to a possibility.

Just as she had guessed, Swire now possessed some evidence regarding her sourcing of goods...

But so what? Would Pardofelis admit it willingly? Of course not! She's not stupid; with insufficient evidence on the other side, why would she willingly walk into a trap?

"Haha, how could that be?" Thinking this, Pardofelis scratched her head and responded with a laugh.

"..."

Upon hearing this, Swire was holding Pardofelis's wrist, remained silent for a moment before nodding in agreement and saying, "That's true, how could you possibly be a master thief..."

Although that's what they said, the little tiger's grip on the cat's wrist didn't loosen; instead, it tightened even more, as if afraid the person in front of it would run away.

"However, there's one thing I'm curious about, Pardofelis: why are you here at this time?"

As she spoke, Swire looked up at the person in front of her with a serious expression, waiting for her answer.

"Haha... We were just strolling around here when we happened to notice the commotion."

Although Swire's eyes were slightly red and she looked pitiful, not a single word she said made Pardofelis nervous and guilty.

Just as the cat was frantically trying to think of a way to escape, a scene in the distance suddenly caught her eye, and she quickly said:

"Ah, it seems the Lungmen Guard Department officers have all arrived?"

"Huh?"

Pardofelis's words unconsciously made Swire look towards the narrow alley leading to the back street, and sure enough, a large group of special police officers were there, heading in an orderly fashion.

In that brief moment of Swire, Swire's wrist, which she had been holding, was suddenly pulled away forcefully. When she hurriedly turned around, all she could see was a receding figure disappearing into the distance...

"... Am I really that scary? Seriously!"

Looking at that retreating figure, Swire suddenly felt a strange mix of resentment and complex emotions welling up inside her...

She would have let them go after asking the questions, even if the answers were false.

"Forget it, we'll settle this score later!" With that, Swire turned around with a fierce expression and directed the newly arrived police officers to handle the situation at the scene.

A short while after the cat left, Chen and Hoshiguma returned to the scene with the criminal.

The radical terrorists who fled earlier were not difficult to capture. Apart from their vicious ways, they had not received rigorous military training, so their evacuation was a horrific affair.

No one wanted to stay behind, and they were unlikely to be able to conceal their tracks. So, Chen and Hoshiguma quickly caught up with them.

After an extremely violent process, almost all of the thugs who threw mineral bombs and attacked police officers were captured, except for a very few who managed to escape by blending into the crowd.

"..."

Although the people had been beaten and captured, Chen, Hoshiguma, and Swire all felt a headache coming on as they looked at the Swarm of thugs in front of them.

P. S.: Revising is so painful, the more I revise, the messier it gets, the more I add, it's driving me crazy!! I worked on it until almost 2 a. m. last night and I still wasn't done.

I originally planned to merge them into one post this morning, but if I post them together, it would be over 5000 words, so I'll separate them. I'll update it later after I finish editing the rest.

Chapter 34 Conclusion and Reunion (3000 words)

"What should we do with these thirty or forty people? Not only are they infected, but most of them are severely ill." Chen turned his gaze away from the thugs in front of him and said meaningfully to Swire.

"Yes, what's the best way to handle these thirty or forty people?" After hearing Chen's words, Swire raised her eyebrows slightly and then asked her a question that seemed to have nothing to do with her.

After a brief examination by medical staff, the increasingly serious and dire physical conditions of these thugs were laid bare before the three men.

It's no exaggeration to say that even without this incident, most of these people wouldn't have lived much longer...

This is precisely what troubles the three of them: the prisons outside the slums don't have many places or conditions to accommodate Originium infection. Mild to moderate cases are manageable, but severe cases like this, which are almost fatal, simply don't have a good place to be accommodated.

Because in many people's eyes, the existence of a person with severe Originium infection is a trouble in itself, and an even bigger trouble in death, because a mishandling could turn them into a new source of infection.

However, this is only the current situation. In fact, if we could go back a while, these people would have been relatively easier to contain.

However, since the incident involving Jiu and Chen, orders have been issued to gradually stop the Lungmen Guard Department from interfering in matters related to the slums.

It's fair to say that, except in special circumstances, the Lungmen Guard Department hardly cares about things in the slums anymore.

"..."

Chen looked at Swire, who was giving irrelevant answers, Swire that said she knew nothing, and was clearly shifting the blame, and couldn't help but twitch his lips.

However, for some reason, she ultimately did not say anything directly, but instead turned her gaze to Hoshiguma was standing to the side.

"..."

Noticing her old friend's gaze, Hoshiguma blinked innocently. Clearly, she didn't know why the "battle" had suddenly turned against her.

"Hoshiguma, how do you usually deal with Oripathy in the slums?" Chen asked.

"... Hmm... fill it into the concrete wall, or just bury it somewhere."

Hearing Chen Leng's unexpected question, Hoshiguma was silent for a moment because she didn't really want to talk about these things, but under someone's gaze, she finally gave the answer.