Who said this card is outrageous?

However, he was not in the mood to explain these things, nor did he intend to. He simply mentioned Ahri's identity as a "friend" and then once again indicated that he wanted to see the guest out.

Ruan Ruoshi dared not linger any longer, and hurriedly turned to leave. After taking two steps, she looked back at the two of them again, then quickly quickened her pace and disappeared into the night at the edge of the ruins.

Chapter 132 Post-Disaster Reconstruction

Ali stood beside Zhang Che, watching the little girl's hurried departure, and couldn't help but laugh.

"Master is very charming." Ahri's voice carried a hint of mischievous laughter. "Ahri feels that the sheriff seems to have a crush on you."

"Don't overthink it." Zhang Che withdrew his gaze, his tone calm. "It's probably just a life-saving grace, plus a bit of the suspension bridge effect. That girl is not even twenty years old yet, which is the most emotional time. She'll calm down and sober up in a few days."

As he spoke, Zhang Che opened the exquisite lunchbox that Ruan Ruoshi had brought. Inside, instead of the delicate side dishes he had imagined, it was similar to Uncle Wang's lunchbox: a base of staple food, topped with a layer of meat and some vegetables as garnish.

It's a legitimate "energy supplement," with enough calories and a generous portion size, enough to keep you full.

Ruan Ruoshi was, after all, a proper, officially employed sheriff, and she knew what kind of food people who had been busy all day needed most.

Although the quantity was rather large, it was only two boxes of food, which was nothing to Zhang Che at the moment, and he finished them off in no time.

Putting down his chopsticks, Zhang Che patted his bulging belly, a look of satisfaction on his face.

Unfortunately, the previous battle had damaged the nearby water supply system, so Zhang Che was unable to clean the lunchbox or wash up.

So he simply put the lunchbox away and wiped his face and hands with a wet towel. He then wandered around the ruins a couple of times to digest his food before returning to his bedroom to lie down.

We'll talk about it tomorrow.

……

The next morning, Zhang Che was awakened by a loud rumbling sound coming from outside.

Judging from the noise, it should be some construction machinery. But seriously, won't starting work so early disturb the residents?

Although he had only slept for less than five hours, thanks to the two bottles of medicine Zhong Huaiyuan had given him, his mental state was quite good, and he woke up in no time.

After changing into clean clothes, he pushed open the studio door and went out.

The sight before him stunned him: the street, which was a pile of ruins last night, had become a bustling construction site today.

Several excavators were clearing the collapsed wall, bulldozers were pushing rubble and debris to the roadside to form small hills, and cranes were slowly moving steel beams overhead.

Dozens of civil engineers wearing hard hats were scattered around, including some superhumans; meanwhile, several military trucks belonging to the city guards were parked on the street in the distance, loaded with building materials such as bricks, cement and steel bars.

It seems the higher-ups are quite efficient, but I wonder if they've fully discussed this attack.

Zhang Che stood at the edge of the ruins, watching the busy workers and machinery, his mind filled with these thoughts, when a civil engineer wearing a hard hat walked over to him and patted him on the shoulder.

The man was in his forties, with dark skin and calloused hands; he looked like someone who worked on the front lines year-round.

However, what was most surprising was the extraordinary aura emanating from the other party, which was not concealed at all, even though it didn't seem particularly strong.

"You must be the owner of this house?" The civil engineer asked casually, as if chatting with a neighbor. "Don't be sad. A house can be rebuilt. It's good that you're safe. Besides, out with the old, in with the new. Anyway, the city hall will cover all the costs. Just think of it as a renovation."

Zhang Che nodded but did not reply.

Seeing that Zhang Che had no objections, the civil engineer took out a piece of paper and a pencil from his pocket, squatted down, and laid the paper on a fairly flat stone slab.

"Come on, tell me what the original structure of your house was like? It would be best if you had the original design drawings." The civil engineer looked up at Zhang Che.

Because Zhang Che's house was the most severely damaged, they didn't dare to be the first to repair it. Instead, they waited for the owner to come out and inquire about the building's structure before considering how to fix it.

A house is a whole; if you rush to make repairs, it is very likely to cause structural damage, and more and more problems will appear after living there for only a few years.

Possessing near-peak third-tier mental strength, Zhang Che had an excellent memory. He quickly recalled the general structure of the house and assisted the civil engineer in drawing up the blueprints.

As for the original floor plan, this house was originally bought secondhand by his master, so where would such a thing be?

More than half an hour later, the drawing was finished.

Although not as precise as professional architectural drawings, the general structure and dimensions were clearly marked. The civil engineer glanced at the drawings a few times, nodded in satisfaction, and then folded them up and put them in his pocket.

"Alright, leave the rest to us." The civil engineer dusted off his hands and stood up. "At most, you'll be living in a new house in a month."

Zhang Che stood up and thanked him. The civil engineer waved his hand, turned and walked towards the excavator, then turned back after a couple of steps and called out to him, "By the way, if you have any valuables that you need to move, do it now. Otherwise, it will be too late when the machine comes to clean up the debris."

Zhang Che nodded, turned and walked into the ruins, and began scavenging out usable items from the rubble.

It's something to cherish, at least.

After packing his things, Zhang Che rubbed his stomach and decided to go to Uncle Wang's place for a meal, and also to see if he had been injured in yesterday's attack.

He dusted himself off and strode toward the Wang Guofu Card store.

Of course, he also summoned Gatomon. It had suddenly disappeared yesterday after he suffered a mental injury, which was probably why Ruan Ruoshi was so worried about him.

As for Ahri, keeping her around is a bit too conspicuous, since activating the card is just a matter of a moment anyway.

There were significantly fewer pedestrians on the streets than usual, but some people were still walking around.

Not to mention there are so many civil engineering guys working nearby, and even just providing services to them is attractive enough.

Sure enough, after walking a few steps, Zhang Che saw a breakfast shop owner frying dough sticks at the street corner. The oil in the pot was sizzling, and the aroma wafted across half the street.

Zhang Che glanced at it and bought some on a whim.

……

In contrast to Zhang Che's leisurely demeanor, the atmosphere at the city hall was extremely gloomy.

Finally, Luo Tongzheng, the president of the Adventurers' Guild, spoke first: "The guy I fought yesterday used very unfamiliar methods; he shouldn't be from the Southeast Province."

"However, his strength is rather average; he must have only recently advanced..."

"If I hadn't been injured, I definitely could have kept him!"

Reaching the level of a mid-level extraordinary being is already considered a minor celebrity, even in the provincial capital, let alone being a fifth-tier extraordinary being.

That's why Luo Tongzheng said that.

"Cough cough..."

As he spoke, Luo Tongzheng's face turned pale, and Lin Ruoxi, who was sitting next to him, quickly handed him a bottle of medicine.

Chapter 133 Struggle for Interests

After drinking the medicine, Luo Tongzheng's complexion improved significantly. He leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes for a few seconds, and then opened them again. The medicine was quite potent, but his injuries were too severe; one or two doses wouldn't be enough to resolve them. He was lucky if he could maintain his condition until the end of the meeting.

However, his remarks just now have given everyone pause for thought.

Binhai University President Xue Yan adjusted his glasses and looked at Zhong Huaiyuan: "Old Zhong, what's the situation with those people who were captured yesterday? Have you gotten any useful information from them?"

“No.” Zhong Huaiyuan’s face was still somewhat gloomy. “All three of them are seriously injured. Whether Ke Yuanzhou and that guy called Shuoshu can survive is still uncertain. The military doctors are trying to save them. They’ve done everything they can. The rest is up to their own fate.”

Zhong Huaiyuan's tone was deep, and his voice was several octaves lower than usual.

The city guards suffered the most severe losses in this attack because of the traitor Ke Yuanzhou.

Not only was the headquarters reduced to ruins, but even a fourth-tier superhuman was killed in battle.

Those are the backbone of the city guard. Everyone here knows how much resources and time it takes to train one of them.

Fortunately, nothing went wrong at Su Ran's secret base, otherwise Zhong Huaiyuan would have been furious.

That laboratory contains the city guard's most prized possessions; if even one of them malfunctions, it will be enough to make him heartbroken for years.

So no matter what, those two guys can't be allowed to die easily, especially that traitor Ke Yuanzhou. He must live until he spills everything he knows!

"I heard there's also a female archer?" Xue Yan pressed.

"Her condition is not bad. She mainly lost too much blood. Her vital signs have returned to normal now, and she should wake up by this afternoon at the latest," Zhong Huaiyuan said in a deep voice.

"That's good……"

It was a stroke of luck to capture three people alive. It would be best if we could pry some valuable information out of them. Even if we couldn't, we could still publicly execute them in front of everyone in the city to intimidate the enemy and give the victims an explanation!

……

Since an interrogation was still not possible, Zhong Huaiyuan brought up another matter.

"By the way, the mayor sent back some news." Zhong Huaiyuan put down his water glass, his tone slightly more relaxed than before. "The people in the provincial capital are very interested in this incident and said they will send people over to follow up. They will also discuss the development of the other entrance to the Void Rift."

There was a moment of silence on both sides of the conference table.

Based on their previous investigations, they have confirmed that the new entrance in the Echoing Rift connects to a small island located deep in the ocean, more than 200 kilometers from the coastline.

The island is quite large, and the surrounding waters are rich in resources, but because it lies too far out into the ocean, it is difficult for Binhai City to develop it on its own.

Even when Binhai City was at its peak, it wouldn't have dared to do this, let alone now.

Without the support of the provincial capital or even the federal government, they would be left with nothing but empty promises, which is absolutely unacceptable for Binhai City, which urgently needs a large amount of resources to revitalize itself.

As mentioned before, in the current Federation, the major cities are actually united by shared interests; no one will help you for no reason.

Now that Binhai City has suffered a major disaster and its strength has been weakened, it's already good enough that they won't kick us while we're down, but they will definitely not let go of the big profits they're entitled to.

The atmosphere became somewhat somber when this topic was brought up.

But there was nothing they could do; circumstances forced them to give up some things. Fortunately, after defeating the Heart-Eating Demon, they could use the information about this previously undiscovered supernatural creature to gain considerable benefits from the Federation; otherwise, they would have truly suffered a huge loss.

Moreover, as a rare pure mental supernatural being, the Mind-Eating Demon's mental control and parasitic abilities have considerable research value.

Xue Yan also stated that he could help connect people within the university alliance, and that many research institutes and universities in the Federation were willing to exchange this new material and species for resources that would be no less than the resources gained from developing that island.

……

Realizing that his own city guards were responsible for all of this, Zhong Huaiyuan couldn't help but slam his fist heavily on the table. The solid wood tabletop made a dull thud, and the water in the cup jumped up.

"It's all my fault for misjudging him!" His voice was low, but every word was filled with anger. "I even groomed that traitor Ke Yuanzhou as my successor, but I never expected that he would raise such a wolf in sheep's clothing."

Zhong Huaiyuan became increasingly agitated as he spoke, but he was eventually calmed down after being persuaded by several people.

He sat down again, picked up his water glass, and took a big gulp, swallowing down all the surging emotions along with the water.

Once the atmosphere had eased a bit, Mo Yuncheng finally spoke. The old man leaned back in his chair and tapped his fingers lightly on the table, drawing everyone's attention.

“Although Binhai City suffered significant losses this time, it doesn’t mean we have no leverage in negotiating with the provincial capital,” Mo Yuncheng said calmly. “Don’t forget, we still have the Megalodon.”

As soon as the words were spoken, the eyes of those who had been worrying suddenly lit up.

It's not that they didn't think of this; the main reason is that yesterday's attack was so egregious that almost everyone's attention was focused on it.

Moreover, the Megalodon's appearance was too brief, so brief that they weren't used to suddenly having such a reliable "ally".

In the previous operation to raid the Heart Eater's lair, the three [Mega Shark] cards demonstrated extremely strong combat power in the underwater environment.