The Plague Doctor paid no attention to Lu Bai's side at all. He continued advancing toward the crowd with elegant, unhurried steps.
As more and more people contracted the strange plague, many of them fled in the opposite direction from the Plague Doctor. No matter how horrified they were, their instinct to survive still drove their bodies onward.
But even more people didn't run.
It wasn't that they weren't afraid. They had simply learned about the Plague Doctor.
This was intelligence the Action Department had confirmed at the cost of devastating casualties.
The moment you saw the Plague Doctor, it meant you had already been infected. It was only a matter of time before the disease took hold.
The reason they hadn't rotted away like the people near the Plague Doctor was simply that the disease was still incubating.
If they ran now, they would only spread the plague to more people.
That would be pointless.
Rather than cling to life only to die in agony, they might as well hope the "Guardian God" could protect them from the strange threat.
Strictly speaking, though, it was hard to say the public had much hope in this. It was more like trying to grab a fragile straw while drowning.
Across the scene, thousands upon thousands of people crowded the streets, gazing expectantly at Lu Bai, who sat cross-legged on an armored vehicle.
Honestly, Lu Bai considered himself emotionally stable.
But when he saw so many people looking at him with tearful, hopeful eyes, it was hard to say he wasn't moved in the slightest.
It was worth noting that, despite the huge crowd, the scene was far quieter than anyone could have imagined.
Beside the armored vehicle, the recording equipment in Observer Chen's hands continued faithfully documenting everything before him.
In