Forceful Measures

Wang Yajing helped Ye Buyu up. "I've already notified the Social Security Bureau. Is that thing in there really so terrifying?"

A damp smell crept into her nose, carrying a hint of cold.

The mire was as quiet as ever, yet now, an invisible air of death seemed to hang over it.

Little Whale, is that thing a Blessed One?

Little Whale sounded surprised. "Oh, you're thinking along the right lines this time. Unfortunately, that's the wrong answer. Think of something worse."

Ye Buyu's pupils contracted. If it wasn't a Blessed One, was it some monstrous thing above them?

Something stronger than a Blessed One... could it be a Priest?

Little Whale's earlier words flashed through her mind: human Fourth Orders matched Blessed Ones, and Fifth Orders matched Priests.

She tightened her grip on Wang Yajing's hand, her fingertips trembling involuntarily. "What tier was Captain Hao Liang again?"

"He just reached the fourth tier. Why?"

"Are there any Fifth Order fighters in there?" Ye Buyu swallowed and pointed at the people out on the mire.

"No." Wang Yajing shook her head.

Fifth Order fighters weren't vanishingly rare, but they weren't potatoes you could find on every street, either.

"Do you have any recovery potions?" Ye Buyu rose unsteadily to her feet.

"Yes, but what are you planning to do?"

Before the words had fully left her mouth, Wang Yajing froze, her gaze caught by the sight of Ye Buyu before her.

Her body had stopped trembling. The confusion and fear on her face gradually subsided, replaced by a calm, unruffled anger.

She raised her weapon with absolute resolve.

"If they won't believe us, we'll just have to use force, right?"

Wang Yajing nodded, took out a recovery potion, and handed it over. Only after Ye Buyu drank it did she abruptly come to her senses.

She flexed her fingers. She shouldn't have left this sort of thing to Ye Buyu. As the older student, she should have been the one finding a way to solve the problem.

Yet the moment she heard Ye Buyu's voice, why had she handed over the potion? Why had she felt... that all she needed to do was obey?

She looked up at Ye Buyu's back and, for the first time, felt an entirely different kind of terror.

Biting out the stopper and pouring the recovery potion into her mouth, Ye Buyu aimed at the people arguing with Captain Hao Liang and Liao Yong.

The next second, several gunshots shattered the usual order.

Healing bullets struck three people. Captain Hao Liang and Liao Yong watched as all three dropped with a thud-one onto their knees, one face down, and one onto their back.

"..."

The person stuck kneeling turned green, veins bulging on their forehead.

"Care to explain?!"

Liao Yong grabbed the wooden boat, turned it around, and poured energy into it to get it moving.

"Explain my ass. Just thank us if you survive."

Ye Buyu raised her gun and shouted, "If you refuse to come back, don't blame me for using force!"

"What the hell? Are you here to cause..."

Thud...

"...trouble?"

Another bullet flew, and another person fell.

Ye Buyu's eyes turned cold. She said nothing more and simply kept firing.

Angry curses erupted, only to fall silent amid the successive gunshots.

Captain Hao Liang and Liao Yong seized the chance to start the group's wooden boat and send the team back to shore.

Wang Yajing warned her, "Keep this up and you'll turn everyone against you. They'll come after you before the Calamity even arrives."

"Isn't that perfect?!"

Ye Buyu cut her off, forcing a stiff smile.

She was utterly terrified herself, but she still had to do it.

"If they come after me, they won't go to the center of the mire. That's the right outcome."

Ye Buyu looked back, tugging up the corners of her mouth. "Look, they're leaving the center of the mire."

But they're all swarming over here.

Wang Yajing genuinely admired Ye Buyu. In such a short time, she had found the courage to use herself as bait to save others.

In a situation like this, a person's instinct should have been self-preservation. How could anyone deliberately place herself at the center of the storm?

It was like... setting herself on fire, holding the torch high, and telling everyone to come her way.

She really had been taught a lesson. Wang Yajing closed her eyes briefly, drew her weapon, and stepped in front of Ye Buyu to face the approaching crowd.

"If you're scared, you don't have to force yourself to do this. Life and death are in fate's hands, after all, and they made their own choices.

"But... I like your choice, and I like your courage even more. So I won't let anything happen to you here. Leave those people to me."

Ye Buyu gritted her teeth and nodded. She aimed past the furious crowd and continued firing at those farther away who still refused to withdraw.

Captain Hao Liang and Liao Yong sent the teams back one after another.

"You're all adults. Stop making trouble for us!"

Wang Yajing blocked the people blinded by rage.

"Everyone, calm down! This little delay won't cost you anything. You can go back after the Social Security Bureau finishes investigating. Haven't enough people died over a little greed?!"

The furious people glared with bloodshot eyes.

"Like hell we'll listen to your bullshit. That student started attacking us right from the beginning!"

"Bullshit! That was healing!" Ye Buyu shouted back.

Then she shot the speaker.

The person she knocked down visibly froze, their anger stalling as they stared blankly at their hand.

The wound on it was gone. They had no idea why they couldn't move, but was this thing really healing them?

Those beside them who could still move didn't see it that way. All they saw was a teammate unable to get up after Ye Buyu's attack.

"You still dare to shoot? Get out of my way!"

The person who couldn't stand grabbed their teammate. "Wait. Something seems wrong. Let's watch for a bit first."

"Huh? Watch what? Have you lost your mind? Anyone who attacks us should be killed!"

The person on the ground froze. "What are you saying?"

"I said we should kill her!"

The air went still for a moment. Then the crowd erupted. At some point, even those who hadn't intended to use weapons had drawn their blades.

Roars rose one after another as they shouted words that horrified even themselves.

What do you mean, kill her? She's a student. She was only trying to talk us out of it. How could we draw our weapons?

Why can't I control my body? These aren't the words I want to say.

"Kill... quick, run!"

A keen blade flashed downward, yet the wielder's face held even more terror than Wang Yajing's as she came under attack.

Wang Yajing knitted her brows, turned, grabbed Ye Buyu, and ran.

"Captain Hao Liang, Liao Yong, fall back!"

Something was wrong with their expressions. Had that big thing Ye Buyu mentioned already arrived?

A thin mist rose from the center of the mire, spreading outward in wisps.

Everyone realized something was wrong.

Ye Buyu gritted her teeth and downed another vial of potion, then tried giving an order to those she had healed.

"Take everyone and evacuate!"

Wang Yajing couldn't understand. "At a time like this, they won't listen anymore. How could that... be possible?"

The instant she looked back, she saw something words couldn't describe.

The people who had been unable to move suddenly sprang into action as though electricity had coursed through them. They shot to their feet and dragged the teammates beside them away from the mire.