The weapon refiner is not doing her job properly

Chapter 159 Tragedy
Yun Fei quickly scanned the crash site outside the window, trying to spot any familiar figures amidst the thick smoke and wreckage.

He used his large, dusty, and greasy hands to press down hard on Shen Zhaoming's shoulders, which were trembling slightly from fear.

"Don't worry about them. Think about who Su Ninglong is. She's someone who can single-handedly take down a two-winged parasite. An accident like this won't kill her. She'll definitely be fine, and Lei Qingya is being protected like a baton."

He paused, his gaze sweeping over the groans of the injured and the chaotic rescue scene around him, before his tone shifted to an unquestionable command: "Now, use your strength where it's needed to be—save lives!"

As if to add a footnote to Yun Fei's words, the sound of sirens pierced through the chaotic noise, coming from afar like a beam of light piercing through the gloom.

Ambulances and police cars, their glaring lights flashing, were rushing towards the accident center in front of the Xinghang Building from all directions.

Shen Zhaoming wiped his face, revealing a gray-black handprint covering half of it.

As a net hunter, he adapted to unexpected situations faster than the average person. He steadied his breathing and said, "I understand. Save people first."

I got a gas helmet from the Starship Building and used repair spray to repair the nanosuit that was close to my body.

At this time, liquids sprayed from high altitudes to extinguish the flames and wash away the smoke cause toxic gases to be absorbed onto the ground.

Yun Fei and Shen Zhaoming worked together with the rescue team to pull the last survivor, who was still breathing, from the wreckage of a hovercar that had overturned and was almost crushed.

The man was covered in blood, his chest heaving so faintly it was almost imperceptible, and his vital signs were critically low.

Fortunately, the accident occurred right next to the Starship Building.

This massive transportation hub is equipped with a comprehensive emergency medical station.

The well-trained medical staff quickly and efficiently placed the seriously injured patients on the beds.

A portable ventilator was immediately placed over his mouth and nose, emitting a regular and powerful hum, and potent life-sustaining medication was quickly injected intravenously, temporarily stabilizing his dying embers.

Just as the rescuers were racing against time, two figures dressed in police uniforms, their faces covered in dust, squeezed through the chaotic crowd and appeared at the edge of the scene.

It was Lao Wang and Xue Wanshan.

Both of them had sunken eyes, wrinkled uniforms, and a deep weariness that lingered between their brows.

The days spent working tirelessly on the thorny case involving the Peak Club have not only failed to resolve the issue, but have instead opened Pandora's box, uncovering more chilling and similar horrific incidents.

They had just finished handling a related lead when they received an urgent notification that, due to their proximity, they were temporarily reassigned to participate in the initial rescue and order maintenance of this major incident.

A preliminary inventory quickly yielded heartbreaking results.

A total of thirty hovercars crashed in this sudden disaster.

The cold white sheet had covered thirteen lifeless bodies, silently displayed in a relatively empty corner, a shocking sight.

The cause of this tragedy is obvious: the crashed large hover trucks were equipped with powerful "aircraft cutters" that instantly paralyzed the power systems of all civilian hovercraft in a portion of the airspace.

Their target was clearly Su Ninglong and her group, with the intention of burying them along with innocent bystanders.

However, the general public and the Star Police were unaware of the bloody conspiracy behind it.

To uninformed bystanders and grieving families, it appeared more like a horrific, unexplained major traffic accident.

Therefore, the Star Police's primary task, besides maintaining order and rescuing the injured, is to find as many witnesses and potential suspects as possible, hoping to sift through the chaos to uncover valuable clues and reveal the truth of the accident.

Xue Wanshan's gaze swept across the chaotic scene and finally landed on Yun Fei, who was squatting by the roadside.

The professor, who was usually so spirited, now had a slightly vacant look in his eyes as he stared intently at the lingering smoke of gunpowder in front of him, his grime-covered hands resting unconsciously on his knees.

Beside him was a young man wearing glasses, his eyes scanning the crowd as if searching for something.

Xue Wanshan walked over quickly, holding two bottles of mineral water, and handed them to them. "Are you alright? Have some water."

Yun Fei seemed to be startled awake by his voice, his eyes focusing.

He took the bottle of mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp. The water slid down his chin, mixing with the soot on his face and leaving several streaks.

"Cough... It's alright, we're fine." His voice was a little hoarse, and there was still a trace of seriousness between his brows.

Xue Wanshan squatted down on the curb next to him and asked in a low voice, "Professor Yun, can you tell us what exactly happened just now?"

He had his own judgment. Given Yun Fei's strength and status, and the fact that he happened to be at the center of this bizarre tragedy, he definitely had more information than anyone else present.

“I’ll explain the details later,” Yun Fei put down the water bottle, propped himself up on his knees, and stood up. “I need to find Su Ninglong and Lei Qingya first.”

"Ning Long?" Xue Wanshan's heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition spread through her.

Which of the cases involving Suninglong wasn't earth-shattering?
Worse still, the disasters were not caused by her, but rather, like a persistent leech, they "automatically" came to her door when she went out, making her a walking source of "accidents".

"Don't look for me." A calm, even somewhat weak voice suddenly rang out from the street corner behind them.

Everyone turned around abruptly at the sound.

Suddenly, Su Ninglong's small figure appeared quietly at the edge of the billowing smoke and dust.

Her once-clean school uniform jacket was now covered in dust, and her face was somewhat pale, but her eyes were unusually bright. She looked directly at Yun Fei, speaking rapidly with an undeniable sense of urgency:

"Professor Yun, the next step must be entrusted to you... That thing isn't a parasite; it suddenly became a 'mysterious spirit.' Evacuate the crowd immediately..."

"Professor Yun, the task is now yours. Mystic Spirit, evacuate the crowd..."

Before she could finish speaking, her body trembled violently, and she began to cough intensely.

The cough came on suddenly and violently, as if it were trying to cough up all the internal organs, and the small shoulders were shaking violently.

As she coughed uncontrollably, the massive illusion array she had used to trap the assassin collapsed and dissipated behind her!
"puff!"

A mouthful of bright red blood spilled out of her tightly pursed lips without warning, dripping down her pale chin and staining her dusty clothes with glaring red spots.

At the same time, freed from the illusion array's restraint, the golden flakes flying everywhere were instantly exposed to everyone's view.

They swirled amidst the billowing smoke and flames, reflecting a cold luster that drew the attention of countless onlookers.

"Daddy, look! What beautiful golden butterflies!" Inside the Starship Tower, a Greenscale child, held tightly in his father's arms, innocently pointed at the magnificent yet deadly golden "light screen" and excitedly exclaimed. For many ordinary interstellar citizens present, this was the first time in their lives that they had witnessed so directly and up close the display of the "Spirit Master's" power—a power that transcended common sense, filled with danger and mystery.

Shock, fear, curiosity... a complex mix of emotions silently spread through the crowd.

The impact of what I saw was truly shocking: a powerful, mysterious, and almost inhuman superpower, controlled by a little girl who looked so young.

Many children forgot their fear, their little eyes sparkling with pure light as they stared intently at Su Ninglong and the gradually fading golden light behind her, their hearts filled with indescribable longing, fantasizing that one day they too could possess such magical power.

"Ninglong!" Yun Fei and Shen Zhaoming immediately ran towards Su Ninglong's location.

Just as they sprinted forward, the golden flakes seemed to be summoned by an invisible force, like a swarm of bees returning to their nest, spinning and converging at high speed, flying with unparalleled precision toward Su Ninglong's slightly raised hand.

The thin sheets overlapped one another, emitting a subtle yet dense metallic clicking sound, and in the blink of an eye, they reformed into a palm-sized, square, and inconspicuous dark gold metal block.

Supported by completing this final recovery, Su Ninglong's small body, like a kite with a broken string, softly fell backward.

"Catch her!" Yun Fei shouted urgently.

Shen Zhaoming stumbled, but managed to rush forward and steadily catch Su Ninglong's unconscious body.

Without pausing, as Shen Zhaoming caught Su Ninglong, Yun Fei's other hand swiftly reached for Wu Lie, which was disguised as a belt.

With a clear, resonant dragon's roar, the sharp blade pointed directly at the central area where the illusion array had just dissipated.

There, the three assassins who were originally trapped by the illusion array lay face down on the ground, motionless, like puppets whose souls had been ripped out, their fate unknown.

The fourth person, the light needle assassin whom Su Ninglong had specifically ordered to capture alive, stood up unsteadily in an extremely bizarre manner.

His head hung low, his body stiff as a rusty machine.

Most horrifyingly, the pair of originally cold mechanical prosthetic eyes in his eye sockets now swelled up to twice their original size, like inflated balloons.

What's even more chilling is that all the mechanically modified parts of his body—arms, shoulders, and even parts of his torso—had their original smooth alloy surfaces removed.

At this moment, countless eyeballs of varying sizes, covered in blood vessels, emerged densely.

Those eyeballs spun wildly, greedily scanning all living things around them.

A thick, charred black liquid continued to flow from its body, the liquid wriggling and undulating like tiny insects.

It exuded a strong, ominous aura, and several of its eyes stopped to stare at Yun Fei as he approached.

Yun Fei's thoughts drifted slightly.

It certainly doesn't resemble a typical mutant or parasite; it's more like a mysterious spirit.

It was just a resemblance. Having entered countless contaminated areas, Yun Fei knew that it wasn't a secret spirit, but perhaps a mutated monster.

A collective gasp erupted from the crowd, followed by uncontrollable screams of terror.

A thought flashed through Yun Fei's mind, and he suddenly shouted to those around him, "Don't look! Don't look! Everyone, close your eyes, look away, and don't look at those eyeballs. Otherwise, you will end up like them."

The surrounding star police reacted quickly and immediately understood Yun Fei's warning.

They quickly blocked their view with their bodies while shouting at the top of their lungs to the surrounding crowd, "Don't look! Don't look at that monster! You'll go crazy if you do!"

The parents, realizing what had happened, turned pale and immediately covered their children's eyes, while they themselves lowered their heads in terror and retreated.

The staff at the entrance of the Starship Building were even more astute and decisive.

While rapidly operating the control panel, they loudly announced over the loudspeaker in a calm yet unquestionable tone: "Starship Building Emergency Evacuation. All entrance gates will be closed in twenty seconds. Ten, nine, eight... repeat. Gates will be closed soon. Non-combat personnel, please enter immediately. You will be responsible for any consequences."

The cold, hard numbers of the timer are like a death knell.

Those who had initially clung to a sliver of hope, even stealing glances at the monster out of the corner of their eyes, could no longer bear their suicidal curiosity and scrambled towards the closing gate.

Those who couldn't get into the Starship Building ran away to distant places, wishing they had more legs.

Despite the Star Police's desperate warnings, some people at the scene stubbornly believed it was alarmist or were captivated by the incomprehensible horror.

Whether out of disbelief or attraction to its distorted form, they stubbornly stared at the monster covered in wildly rotating eyes, as if glued to an invisible spiderweb, unable to look away.

Just as the focus of this chaos shifted, Shen Zhaoming, carrying the "unconscious" Su Ninglong, quickly retreated from the danger zone.

His movement drew many eyes that were originally focused on the aberrant creature or the Starship Tower gate back to Su Ninglong.

Just then, a soft "click" was heard.

The square, dark gold "metal block" that Su Ninglong had just retrieved slipped from her limp little hand and fell onto the dusty, gravelly ground.

This was like pouring cold water into boiling oil.

Countless gazes instantly focused on that inconspicuous piece of metal, some of which quickly turned into naked greed.

"What...what kind of weapon is that? Did those golden things just now transform into it?"

"If even a little girl can take down a monster with it, it must be an extraordinary treasure."

"It's valuable, it could fetch a fortune on the black market, quick, take advantage of the chaos..."

Whispers and greedy thoughts silently arose among the crowd.

Those desires that were temporarily suppressed by fear and warnings were rekindled by the lure of the "unclaimed treasure".

Shen Zhaoming frowned, his eyes glancing at the greedy faces that were itching to pounce.

But he didn't stop to pick up the sacred artifact. Instead, he carried Su Ninglong and retreated even faster into the shadowy corner away from the crowd and the center of the battlefield.

Finally, the two retreated to a relatively secluded spot behind the ruins of an overturned billboard, temporarily escaping the sight of most people.

As soon as they landed, Su Ninglong, who was in Shen Zhaoming's arms, jumped down as nimbly as a cat, showing no sign of being seriously injured or unconscious.