A Helpful Citizen

A Helpful Citizen

Late at night, the Supervision Bureau building was still brightly lit.

Su Yuqing's upright figure was reflected in the glass curtain wall, his face blending into the city's nightscape, unreadable.

He had finally identified the Xenomorph that had attacked Feng Ling today.

It had been an employee at a foreign trade company, twenty-seven years old, named Ji Meixin. A month ago, she had quit her job and lost contact with all her family and friends.

—After Xenomorphs logged in, they were initially unable to adapt to human lifestyles, let alone handle ordinary work and social interaction. Quitting their jobs and cutting off contact were standard behavior for them.

After identifying her, Su Yuqing had the technicians trace Ji Meixin's address, then reviewed surveillance footage near her residence to track her movements.

As long as they could determine the target's hideout, the Supervision Bureau could carry out a purge operation based on the Xenomorph's type.

But he had not expected the technicians to discover three more Xenomorph suspects during their investigation.

Xenomorph abilities came in all kinds. Dealing with even one was already difficult, yet now a group made up of multiple Xenomorphs had appeared. This was undoubtedly a massive threat to the city's safety.

Su Yuqing immediately called his superiors to report the matter and request reinforcements.

However, the reply he received was: they would discuss it at tomorrow's meeting.

He heard the refusal behind those words. He hung up heavily and pondered in his office for a long time...

The prolonged silence made the assistant beside him uneasy as well. He asked quietly, "Captain, has Qingjiang City... been abandoned?"

Su Yuqing looked up at his assistant. "Why would you think that?"

Discontent was suppressed in the assistant's eyes. "Every time we discover Xenomorphs, headquarters never sends additional manpower. But whenever we recruit new Inspectors, they get transferred away within a month... Captain Su, this Supervision Building may look impressive from the outside, but it has long since become an empty shell inside. Shouldn't we report the situation to higher-ups? We can't rely on just you and Captain Zhou to hold the line every time something happens. There are more and more Xenomorphs. Sooner or later... sooner or later, we won't be able to hold on."

"How is it an empty shell?" Su Yuqing's gaze turned faintly cold. "Although Zhou Diao and I are the only Inspectors, we have sufficient firepower, outstanding combat personnel, and supporting departments such as medical and logistics. As long as we formulate a rigorous Action Plan, we can still eliminate Xenomorphs even without supernatural abilities."

The assistant sighed softly and lowered his head. "But it isn't fair..."

Su Yuqing's expression softened somewhat, revealing a trace of melancholy. "There's no such thing as fair or unfair. Qingjiang City lacks personnel, and so do the Supervision Bureau branches elsewhere. Right now, we have to make sure those key cities remain stable. Otherwise, the entire country will descend into chaos."

After thinking for a moment, he said to his assistant, "Call Zhou Diao and tell him to come over."

"I already did. His phone is off," the assistant replied.

Su Yuqing frowned, picked up his phone, and dialed Zhou Diao's other private number.

This time, the call connected quickly. An irritable male voice came through the phone. "Su Yuqing! I'm going to kill you! Do you know I haven't slept for three days while tracking that Xenomorph at Times Square?! I'd only been asleep for two damn hours before you woke me up!"

"A Xenomorph has been found in the West Villa District. We need your support." Su Yuqing explained the situation concisely.

"Fuck! Can't you deal with a Xenomorph yourselves?! Are the Special Forces all dead?! You expect me to handle every damn thing in Qingjiang City by myself?!"

"Zhou Diao." Su Yuqing closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "Four. We found four Xenomorphs."

The cursing on the other end abruptly stopped.

After a brief silence, Zhou Diao replied, "I'll be there in fifteen minutes."

Su Yuqing let out a breath. "I've already had the technicians monitor all nearby surveillance cameras. You need to probe their abilities, then break them one by one. The Special Forces and snipers will assist you from the side..."

Zhou Diao could not be bothered to listen and hung up.

"Captain Su! We found something!" A technician rushed into the office, panic on his face, and placed the laptop in his arms onto Su Yuqing's desk.

"We found a suspicious person wandering around the outskirts of the Villa District. Captain Su, could this be a fifth Xenomorph?!"

On the computer screen, a Small Truck slowly drove out of the Villa District and stopped outside the gate.

A young woman of around twenty got out of the vehicle. She seemed injured and limped into the Guard Room.

The surveillance camera had captured her face.

Su Yuqing could not help frowning, vaguely feeling that she looked familiar. "Zoom in."

The technician operated the keyboard, enlarging the surveillance footage and enhancing the clarity of the relevant pixels.

"She entered the Villa District around twenty minutes ago. There are no surveillance cameras inside, so we don't know what she did in there. There also seems to be someone in the passenger seat, but we can't see clearly."

The West Villa District had long been abandoned. Other than a streetlamp outside the gate, every other stretch of road was pitch-black. Being able to make out Feng Ling's face was already a stroke of luck.

Su Yuqing was taken aback.

Why was Feng Ling here? Shouldn't she be resting in her hospital room right now?

"Put me through to the eleventh floor. Tell them to check whether Feng Ling is in her room," Su Yuqing said.

The assistant immediately made the call. After exchanging a few words, his expression began to turn strange.

He looked at Su Yuqing hesitantly. "...The nurse said Feng Ling has been discharged."

Su Yuqing's expression changed abruptly. He snatched the phone from his assistant and demanded, "She was badly injured. How could you let her leave the hospital? When did she go?!"

The nurse who answered the call was startled. "She... she left after receiving two bags of blood. She didn't seem to be in serious condition, and we couldn't exactly stop her by force."

Su Yuqing frowned. "Did she say where she was going when she left?"

"No... But she borrowed two thousand yuan from one of the nurses. She said her phone had fallen into the river and that she would come back to repay the money once her bonus arrived."

Su Yuqing: "..."

How could this girl be so reckless?!

She had barely recovered and ran off to seek revenge. Did she think she had three heads and six arms?! Even if she had two Cards and was very strong, how much combat experience could she possibly have?!

Not to mention there were four Xenomorphs in that villa right now!

Four!!!

No wonder she had been injured in the surveillance footage. That was the price of being impulsive and rash!!!

The frustration in Su Yuqing's heart was beyond words. He had finally found a promising talent worth cultivating, yet before he could even establish trust with her, she had run off to throw her life away!

...Wait.

Su Yuqing suddenly realized something and looked at the surveillance footage again.

Feng Ling had already returned to the Truck. The image seemed frozen, without the slightest movement.

She had been injured, meaning she really had clashed head-on with a Xenomorph. But she had survived, which meant... she had won?

How was that possible???

Su Yuqing felt completely muddled. Both his thoughts and emotions were in a state he could not sort out.

If killing the Xenomorph at Tianshui Park had been quick thinking in a crisis, and driving back the Xenomorph at the Supervision Bureau had been sheer luck, then less than twenty-four hours later, she had killed another four Xenomorphs. What was that supposed to mean?

Was that something an ordinary person could accomplish?

Perhaps... the Xenomorphs in the villa had already left, leaving only one behind for Feng Ling to encounter.

Yes, that had to be it. If she had encountered all four Xenomorphs, there was no way she could have survived.

Hurried footsteps sounded outside.

A Dispatcher ran into the office, his face pale. "Captain Su! A citizen reported that they killed three Xenomorphs in the West Villa District! I-I need to contact the Special Forces, right?"

Su Yuqing looked at the Dispatcher in disbelief. "What's that citizen's name?"

The heroine did not appear in this chapter, but she was everywhere between the lines. Hehe~