"What... is... this... urgh!"
The city guard closest to the scene could barely control his physical reaction. He leaned against the roadside and vomited a large amount of bile, then looked back at the object in the woman's hand with lingering fear.
A brain, or more precisely, an object resembling a brain!
This was what had been dug out after cracking open Wang Bing's skull. It seemed to be related to contamination, possibly even a mythical artifact... But was this something a normal person could do?
Directly smashing the brain of a contaminated object, fearlessly getting so close to such an eerie thing - wasn't she afraid of getting infected? Wasn't she afraid of dying?!
Rachel couldn't figure out why the city guards were still so on edge after she had dealt with the source of contamination.
Although such anomalous objects often covertly spread contamination and were difficult to trace without careful investigation, the fact that they preferred to hide indicated they weren't capable of causing much direct harm.
For instance, breaking open the anomaly's hiding place and then using a stick to sever its nerve endings to the skull was enough to kill it cleanly and efficiently.
Another middle-aged city guard seemed more composed. He solemnly said to Rachel, "We've contacted the Department of Contamination Control. They'll send people from the Purification Division. Would you mind waiting here with this object for a moment?"
Rachel had no intention of keeping this trophy. Though she wasn't sure about the current market price for anomalous objects, judging by these people's reactions, she guessed it probably hadn't depreciated much.
"I'm not trying to steal it. I just helped you remove it. Otherwise, if it stayed in its nest, other accidents might happen," she said amicably, naturally extending the electric baton to dangle the "brain" in front of the middle-aged city guard. She then watched as he fell silent for a few seconds before quickly walking over to his colleague who had just vomited.
"Urgh!"
Rachel raised an eyebrow slightly. She seemed to have overestimated the mental toughness of city guards... Were they letting just anyone become a guard these days?
No, she shouldn't casually look down on a city.
Rachel seriously considered another possibility. Could it be that Suhai City was so safe and secure that anomalous objects were extremely rare, and most people had never encountered many types, leading to their current inability to cope?
This guess seemed more plausible. Moreover, they had just mentioned the Department of Contamination Control, which existed before she was frozen!
The Purification Division was something she'd never heard of before, probably similar to the Awakening Division... With "purification" in its name, it sounded fancy and important-sounding.
So Rachel felt reassured. Indeed, she shouldn't underestimate future cities. Who knew how much progress humans had made while she was out cold? Perhaps awakened individuals like her wouldn't even be qualified for the Purification Division anymore.
The guards, having finished vomiting, carefully cordoned off the bodies on the ground while wearing gloves to avoid contact with blood. They also called for more manpower to disperse the curious onlookers and maintain order at the scene.
Rachel leaned against a corner, her eyes scanning the surroundings. She saw curiosity, surprise, and fear from the surrounding humans. A few were trying to get closer with phones to take photos, but they were quickly stopped.
Li Xiang, who had been on duty guarding the city gate, couldn't resist his curiosity and approached after his shift. When he saw the vagrant woman at the center of attention, he was shocked.
"Hey, you... did you do something wrong?" Li Xiang asked in a small voice, squeezing through before being driven away. He couldn't understand why she was surrounded by city guards when she had just been about to look for work.
Although the vagrant woman wasn't being held at gunpoint and was even holding a guard's electric baton with a strange object dangling from it, Li Xiang could tell from the guards' wary looks that her situation wasn't good.
Rachel smiled at him and replied, "Nothing's wrong. I just helped out a bit."
"Helped?"
"Yes, helped catch a wanted criminal. They need to take me to make a statement, but we have to wait here for a while first."
"Is... is that so... Are you still looking for work then?"
Rachel nodded, "Yes, I am. I wonder if the Purification Division is short-staffed. I'd like to try applying there. Maybe I could land a government job."
Li Xiang froze on the spot. What had he just heard? The Purification Division?!
It was a very familiar name, known and feared by all.
But Li Xiang wasn't afraid. Not only was he unafraid, he used to be quite familiar with that place. However, it was precisely because of his familiarity that he knew it was full of freaks whose strength far surpassed ordinary people.
Li Xiang repeated nervously, "You want to go to the Purification Division? They're taking you there? And you actually want to apply!"
Rachel frowned and corrected him, "They're not taking me, they're inviting me. I'm a helpful citizen... well, not a citizen yet, just a kind-hearted vagrant."
Li Xiang wanted to say more, but he was driven back along with the other residents by the approaching city guards.
At that moment, a small aircraft landed nearby. The wind it kicked up made everyone squint. The all-black aircraft could almost completely blend into the darkness, only revealing its cold, imposing presence under the lamplight.
Li Xiang recognized the emblem and thought to himself, the Purification Division has arrived!Chapter 8
Three figures in long black cloaks disembarked from the aircraft. One went to liaise with the city guard on site to handle the removal of the three corpses on the ground. The other two came directly to Rachel - a man and a woman, both appearing to be in their late twenties.
"Hello, I'm Li Wen," the tall woman extended her hand first. She had an oval face with monolid eyes and looked kind and approachable. "Level 3 Purifier from the Purification Division, under the Suhai Division of Pollution Control."
Rachel dusted off her hands and shook Li Wen's hand warmly, introducing herself: "Hi, I'm Rachel, twenty years old, single with no bad habits, law-abiding, patriotic and public-spirited. If there's an opportunity to serve the motherland, please do consider me."
Li Wen hadn't expected this "person" - described as extremely dangerous and miraculous in the communications - to be so... talkative.
Seeing the sincerity in Rachel's eyes but unsure of her background, Li Wen could only respond awkwardly: "I'm sorry, recruitment is handled by our HR department."
Rachel asked eagerly, "Do you know about internal referrals?"
Li Wen: "...Not really."
"Oh." Rachel looked disappointed.
She had just been in a long sleep, not come from another planet. Naturally, she hadn't planned on hiding away to live an ordinary life. With the anomalous objects still around, retirement wasn't an option. Even if the sky fell, she wouldn't feel comfortable leaving everything to tall people.
It's just that between paying out of pocket and getting reimbursed by the government, Rachel preferred the latter...
"I'm Li Xianghong," the man interjected after the two women finished talking. "Also from the Suhai Division, a Level 3 Purifier like Li Wen. May I ask, are you of mixed otherworldly descent?"
"Huh?" Rachel had never heard of otherworldly beings before. What were those?
Thinking he had just guessed wrong, Li Xianghong stroked his chin and said: "If you're not of mixed otherworldly descent, then you must be a follower of some otherworldly lord, and a favored one who's drunk their sacred blood."
"Would you mind telling us which lord you follow? As you know, every follower possesses power equivalent to an ordinary eldritch artifact, so the Suhai Pollution Control Division needs to keep records."
Rachel took a moment to process this information, recognizing each word but feeling like it was gibberish when strung together. She finally managed to utter: "Huh?"
Li Wen looked at the young woman who seemed to have been wandering just yesterday and asked gently: "Is it inconvenient to say? Is there some hidden circumstance, or... did you escape?"
Li Xianghong glanced at Li Wen and warned in a low voice: "Be careful what you say."
Li Wen nodded and said to Rachel: "Don't worry, we're not followers of any otherworldly beings. You don't need to be afraid. He and I are just a bit stronger and more agile than ordinary people."
"So you're Awakened too?" Rachel asked. She finally understood the latter part of what they were saying!
"Awakened? What exactly do you mean by Awakened? We don't have abilities like controlling bullets as you do. You must have 'awakened' through blood bestowed by otherworldly beings, right?" Li Wen was trying to calm the girl's nerves and ease the palpable sense of danger, in order to bring her back to headquarters smoothly.
She explained openly, "Li Xianghong is my brother. We survived a pollution spread incident. Luckily, we didn't degenerate into pollutants and managed to maintain our sanity through various methods. That's how we gained strength and reflexes beyond normal humans."
Rachel nodded and said: "The Awakening I'm talking about is just like your situation. My awakening process was similar to yours."
The only difference was whether one survived after being contaminated by an eldritch artifact or after swallowing one.
Li Wen and Li Xianghong quickly exchanged a glance. It seemed the girl's background was mysterious and she was intentionally concealing information. Such blatant lies likely indicated a connection to powerful otherworldly beings. They deduced there was a high probability she had defected from an otherworldly being's side.
This wasn't the first time they'd encountered such a case. People who followed otherworldly beings for power but tried to escape due to long-term enslavement and abuse were often caught and subjected to even more cruel treatment.
Perhaps some had successfully escaped, but once accustomed to otherworldly blood, the withdrawal symptoms of losing power and becoming vulnerable could drive a person mad. These people would ultimately choose to crawl back, becoming slaves to the otherworldly beings once again.
She maintained a normal smile and said: "Is that so? So you're the same as us. This is truly incredible. Why don't you come back to headquarters with us? We can talk more about some things there."
Li Xianghong cautiously added: "If you're not willing, we can also find a place to talk. Please be assured, we just want to understand your intentions in coming to Suhai City. We have absolutely no ill will towards law-abiding citizens."
If there were illegal activities, even if they couldn't win in a fight, they'd have to see it through to the end.
Rachel thought to herself: Is this for real?
They're inviting her to Suhai City headquarters - that's practically the same as submitting a resume in person, and with free transportation!
She replied with sincere eyes: "I'd be very happy to go with you. It's all in service of the people."
Li Wen forced a smile: "If you say so."