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Chapter 296: Hero of the Fire

"I must transport you immediately, find a secluded place first!" urged Chen Xuan.

Just a minute ago, a large number of vehicles suddenly arrived here. From afar, he spotted several familiar figures, such as Xiao Canong, Jiang Siqi, Little Pigeon, and others... The appearance of the Execution Team indicated that the Mechanism had targeted the Hongda Daily Chemical Factory. The reason for their visit was obvious.

Although he was aware that some information had been leaked, he didn’t expect the Mechanism’s actions would be so grandiose. After all, apart from the Execution Team agents of the Dimensional Limit Mechanism, he also saw quite a few TV interview vans, police cars, and hospital ambulances. A regular fire attracting so many specialized vehicles, and even barricading the area around the factory, was quite unusual, leading even passing civilians to stop their cars and join the onlookers.

This made the relatively remote section of the third ring road one of the most congested areas in Jiang City, with the wide dual six-lane road now completely jammed.

Chen Xuan had just inquired with Officer Tian about where their personnel had arrived, and the response was that they were still on the way.

In other words, the police cars that had arrived were unrelated to the capture plan.

These various groups that had arrived at the chemical factory so quickly must have obtained information from other channels.

Apart from the Mechanism, Chen Xuan couldn’t think of a second possibility.

He just couldn’t understand why the Dimensional Limit Mechanism had to make such a big deal about it. Could it be true that Xiao Canong was completely unaware of the Awakening Agents?

If the other party knew the inside story and wanted to investigate the "malicious leave" of Honglian and Wang Baihu, they should act at night as quietly as possible. After all, the two were nominally still members of the Mechanism, and too much commotion would be a blow to the Jiang City branch’s reputation.

"What about Honglian?" asked Lin Qing.

"Doesn’t she have the King’s Castle ability? Teleporting out of the factory should be no problem." Chen Xuan remembered that when he fought her, she teleported away with a bomb as a parting gift. "Anyway, taking leave and then wanting to work overtime isn’t an unforgivable mistake. As long as you’re not on the scene, everything else is manageable."

Chen Xuan wasn’t too worried about Honglian and the others, but Lin Qing absolutely could not be seen by any witnesses or discovered by the Mechanism. If Honglian was suspected of contact with the masked woman, both of them would have big trouble.

On the other side, Wang Baihu was visibly freaked out, "Why would Captain Xiao come here? What should we do? We need to hide quickly! If he finds us, we’re done for!"

"Don’t panic! They might not be clear about the situation here!" Honglian’s tone was rather calm, but her constantly clenched fists betrayed her internal unrest. "Anyway, let’s get the people out first and then find a chance to evacuate. Miss Lin, I’ll try my best to cover you. As long as you get over the wall, you’ll have a chance to get away..."

Lin Qing shook her head, "It’s pointless. The information I got says that the four directions surrounding the chemical factory are all barricaded, with Mechanism agents monitoring every road. This place is already surrounded."

Honglian fell silent.

Seeing her uncertain gaze, Lin Qing couldn’t help but feel an urge to tease her—if she deliberately didn’t leave, how would the other party choose? Would Honglian immediately distance herself, letting Lin Qing fall into the Mechanism’s hands, or for the sake of a recently acquainted Ability User, she would defy the Mechanism to let her escape?

If she pushed Honglian a step further, would she see her preemptively breaking away from the Mechanism?

Or would such pressure lead the other party down a path entirely different from history?

What are you doing; this is the future leader of the Resistance!

And you are just an ordinary warrior under her command, never even having met her in reality because of the decades between you... Is this thought not too audacious?

Lin Qing couldn’t help but chuckle.

Honglian and Wang Baihu looked at her in surprise, completely unable to comprehend why she could still laugh at such a moment.

"...It’s my fault, this is more than enough."

"What’s wrong?"

"What do you mean by ’more than enough’?"

The two asked in unison.

Lin Qing approached Honglian, cupping her face in her hands, "Thank you for considering me to such an extent. This might be why the World Ability Center values you. But there’s no need to worry about me; remember our encounter at the botanical garden? That was not just an illusion..."

"Transport me now." She said to Chen Xuan in her mind.

"No one around you?"

"No need, I’ll disappear right in front of her. It’s not like it’s the first time." Lin Qing paused, "Besides, this is the only way to truly relieve them of their concerns."

Chen Xuan immediately understood what she meant. If Lin Qing couldn’t truly escape danger, Honglian and Wang Baihu would be under great pressure to lie... No matter how flawless their story, it would eventually become evidence of betrayal against the Mechanism. While Honglian could handle it, Wang Baihu might inadvertently spill in his hesitation. Therefore, it was necessary to make them believe that this "flaw" did not actually exist.

"I’ll be in touch later." Lin Qing playfully winked at her.

Meanwhile, Chen Xuan activated the guest recall function.

In the next second, Lin Qing vanished without a trace in front of them.

"She’s gone?" Wang Baihu gasped, "Is it invisibility?"

"No..." Honglian reached out to touch the space in front of her, finding nothing at all, "No wonder these Wanderers dare to openly challenge the Mechanism, this is their real trump card."

"Same teleportation as you?"

"Much more powerful than mine. They probably don’t need any preparation work and can leave whenever they want."

"If she had this means, she should’ve said so earlier. It almost made my heart stop!" Wang Baihu patted his chest, looking relieved. As long as Lin Qing wasn’t there, the crime of betraying the organization wouldn’t fall on them, "Huh?"

"What’s wrong?" Honglian looked at him.

"Your face is a bit red... Are you okay?"

"Is it?" she touched her cheek, "Uh... probably got scorched, the air here is over thirty degrees as it is. Who knows how bad it is upstairs. We should get out."

The two hurriedly carried Yang Tieshan out as quickly as possible.

From going in to getting out, they spent just over nine minutes.

Even though the fire had already approached the entrance, Honglian waved her fingers, transporting the burning equipment and materials away, swapping them with factory items that hadn’t caught fire, instantly suppressing the blaze.

Just as they retreated from Building 2, they were momentarily stunned to find a crowd already gathered outside.

Not only that, Honglian even saw several cameras.

The flashlights were firing non-stop.

"They are out, they are out!" shouted someone.

"Great, they saved someone!"

"Are there more people inside?"

"Seems... no more." Wang Baihu reflexively replied.

"Good, if no more, put out the fire!" With a command, several streams of water gushed from the fire engines, shooting into the factory from multiple angles. The flames lapping around the windows immediately retreated, replaced by dense, rolling white steam.

"Could you tell us what exactly you discovered in the factory?"

"We heard there’s a plan for a superpower crime here, is that true?"

Just as they handed Yang Tieshan to the medical staff, a group of people pressed forward with microphones, and camera lenses homed in on them.

Honglian opened her mouth but wasn’t sure how to answer.

Damn, what’s this all about?

At this moment, a man stepped out from the crowd and blocked them. He stood with the sunset behind him, his figure enveloped in golden light so bright that they couldn’t make out his features. Just seeing his sharp, multicolored suit, she knew the man’s identity.

"Everyone, please remain calm. My people are quite exhausted now. Please give them some space for peace, so they can rest properly." Xiao Canong raised his hands, signaling to everyone on the scene, "As for what kind of conspiracy was being plotted using the Hongda Daily Chemical Factory and what kind of dangerous battle the Mechanism agents had to endure to contain the disaster, I will explain to you in detail next!"