The Countdown Ends

"You've been suspended? Why?"

Xu Qiang paused for a moment, then seemed to realize something, and forced a smile, saying, "You don't need to worry about me. There's not much pressure on me. How could personnel appointments and removals be influenced by public opinion?"

"I'm not worried that you won't be able to handle it."

Lu Bai got up and walked to the window, glancing at the police tape that had been put up below the Inpatient Department.

He said in an almost flat tone, "Now I'm not only not worried about pressure from above, I even suspect that even if you wanted to dismiss me, the higher-ups wouldn't approve it."

Xu Qiang on the other end of the phone fell silent. Since it was explained so clearly, he naturally understood what Lu Bai meant.

To put it bluntly, this whole situation has put the Special Affairs Bureau in opposition to the public.

Online arguments are about stances, emotions, and volume, not the truth.

After all, the truth is not important in the realm of public opinion.

The public believed that the Special Affairs Bureau was corrupt and a bureaucratic department.

As long as everyone on the internet says so.

Even if it isn't, it is.

As time goes on, if Lu Bai is not dismissed, public resentment towards Lu Bai and even the Special Affairs Bureau will only grow stronger.

If they add something even more explosive then, coupled with the hot-blooded, fanatical masses, I don't even want to think what might happen.

"So you're firing me first? We were a bit slow to react."

Lu Bai calmly added, "I hope my guess is wrong."

It's too late for me to come forward and clarify or apologize now.

At first, I thought the mayor was just creating public opinion to pressure the Special Affairs Bureau into firing him.

In hindsight, we were somewhat careless.

It's truly unexpected that Parasitic Organism would use this method; there was absolutely no consideration for this aspect.

Of course, it's more likely that there were deathmatchers involved in the game itself.

Lu Bai hung up the phone.

He casually tugged on the cord, opening the Blinds to their widest opening so he could see the view outside.

After watching him finish the call, Yao Yi hurriedly asked, "Brother Lu, what did Director Xu say?"

"Didn't you hear? I told him to fire me first."

Lu Bai turned slightly to the side, his tone as gentle as ever.

This is probably one of the advantages of this body; at least it prevents him from feeling frustrated by anything, allowing him to stay calm at all times.

"Why? Others may not know, but Director Xu, don't you know? No one in the entire Special Affairs Bureau has taken down more Parasitic Organism than you. Why are you being fired?"

Yao Yi didn't understand the situation and thought that Xu Qiang had said on the phone that he couldn't withstand the pressure, which led to Lu Bai's decision.

Lu Bai joked, "Even if I wanted to resign, the higher-ups might not agree."

Yao Yi: "Huh?"

Just then...

Bang~ Bang~ Bang~

There was a knock on the door, Tong Shujuan pushed it open and entered, carrying a stack of insulated food containers.

She stared at Yao Yi, who was playing on her phone in the hospital bed, and shouted in dissatisfaction, "You moved to the seventh floor without even telling me? Don't you want to eat lunch?"

Are you teaching me how to do things?

Yao Yi replied with a stern face.

To everyone's surprise, Tong Shujuan's eyes widened immediately upon hearing this.

Yao Yi immediately backed down. "Uh, well, I was busy speaking up for Brother Lu online."

Because of her work at the Special Affairs Bureau, Tong Shujuan naturally already knew about this matter.

She immediately lost her playful mood, placed the insulated food container she was carrying on the small table, and looked at Lu Bai, who was standing by the window with his back to everyone.

"Team Leader Lu, things have come to this point, let's have dinner first."

... having eaten and drunk their fill.

Tong Shujuan put the dishes and chopsticks into the insulated container. Before leaving, she saw Lu Bai walk to the window again and stand there. Thinking that he was feeling down, she immediately felt sorry for him and gently comforted him.

"Team Leader Lu, don't worry too much about this. We all know what kind of person you are. Anyway, the internet doesn't remember anything. At worst, we can just disconnect from the internet for a few days."

Lu Bai returned her a harmless smile, then turned his head away again.

Seeing this, Tong Shujuan sighed silently, not knowing what else to say. She said goodbye to Yao Yi and left alone with the insulated box.

The afternoon passed quickly.

With Yao Yi watching over him, Lu Bai didn't need to keep an eye on online opinions and could focus all his attention on the System Panel that appeared in front of his retina.

[00:00:05]

[00:00:02]

[00:00:01]

As the countdown ticked down second by second, it gradually reached zero.

[Bite!]

[Successfully acquired the current Deathmatch Arena Node.]

[Double Points Reward loaded.]

[Current points: 32, current ranking 1/187]

Lu Bai exhaled a breath of stale air and sat back down on the bench.

From this moment on, all the "Node" locations obtained by the deathmatch participants will be displayed as Lu Bai's location.

If nothing unexpected happens, quite a few deathmatchers should start making moves.

He was actually quite happy to see this situation; he no longer needed to specifically seek it out, as the deathmatchers would come to him on their own.

Seeing that Lu Bai had finally sat down, Yao Yi assumed he had come to his senses and couldn't help but say, "Brother Lu, why don't you clarify things online?"

My main injury hasn't healed yet, so I can't play games that require using both hands. I can only browse news to pass the time.

Therefore, Yao Yi witnessed the entire process of the escalation of public opinion firsthand, and it now seems to be getting even more intense.

How can we clarify this?

Lu Bai stretched and said with a chuckle, "You say you think you're a better team leader than me? Then why don't you come up here and let's give it a try?"

"Uh, but does that mean we just do nothing?"

Yao Yi was somewhat helpless. He had been trying to explain for Lu Bai, but unfortunately, he was powerless and couldn't make any waves.

As the two were chatting, a cell phone suddenly rang.

Lu Bai took out his phone and pressed the answer button.

You might be right.

Xu Qiang's first words were tinged with an unconcealable gloom.

"Oh?"

"Just as you guessed, the suspension request was rejected by the higher-ups."

Xu Qiang didn't know whether to laugh or cry, "The reason given was that public opinion shouldn't interfere with government decision-making."

Having anticipated this outcome, Lu Bai was not surprised.

He nodded thoughtfully. "Then write me a resignation letter now, and send it out in the name of the Special Affairs Bureau."

After saying that, he hung up the phone.

The worst-case scenario is that the resignation letter can't even be sent out.

He certainly wouldn't place all his hopes on this.

Since the "Node" has already been acquired, he doesn't need to stay in the hospital any longer, at least not in a place where too many people know about it.

Seeing Lu Bai stand up and walk towards the ward door, Yao Yi blurted out, "What's wrong? Where are you going?"

Lu Bai waved his hand and casually explained.

"Go lay low for a while, and call me if anything happens."