Chapter 55: Put on the Fire to Roast

At night, Yang Yi and Li Mingliang's group wandered around Wuming City as usual, with surveillance cameras on standby everywhere.

But after a whole night passed, it remained calm and undisturbed, making one almost suspect that the monsters that had been ravaging Wuming City for seven or eight consecutive days had already fled entirely.

Now, not only did Li Mingliang's team mutter to themselves in their hearts, but even Wei Chang'an and Chen Chen Yushu didn't know what to say.

As dawn broke, Yang Yi and the other Awakened walked back.

"They can't stay hungry forever; they'll come out eventually! Let's see who outlasts whom!" Qian Ming said fiercely.

"Yes, Captain Yang, just stay here for a few days; it's a perfect chance to tour the scenic spots of Wuming City," Sun Sun Yaxi added. "The local citizen forum is buzzing with discussion; hearing you've arrived has made many sleep more peacefully at night."

"Brain-Sucking Beasts haven't consumed human brains for two consecutive days; they might not be able to hold back tomorrow. Let's wait a bit longer," Li Mingliang said as well.

Before Yang Yi arrived, some had secretly hoped to give her a wake-up call or watch her make a fool of herself, trying to assert dominance over this S-rank Awakened who was currently at the height of her fame, given how truly thorny the situation here was.

Indeed, after Yang Yi had been here for two days, she had made no progress whatsoever.

This should have satisfied the tiny bit of resentment in their hearts, but the fact that all the Brain-Sucking Beasts in the city had retreated upon hearing of her arrival and were now holed up refusing to emerge instead proved once again that the reputation of this number-one Awakened was no mere boast.

Li Mingliang and the others had long concluded that the Brain-Sucking Beasts could detect the dark matter fluctuations on Awakened individuals and would choose to attack ordinary people in places where Awakened ones couldn't reach.

But the moment Yang Yi landed, she shook the entire city's Brain-Sucking Beasts into not daring to emerge easily; even in remote surrounding areas, there were no more incidents of attacks on people. This was quite intriguing.

Did this indirectly prove that, in the perception of the Brain-Sucking Beasts, Yang Yi's individual strength far surpassed that of all the Awakened in this place combined?

Strength isn't blown up by words; it's revealed through comparison.

So, even though Yang Yi still hadn't seen a single Brain-Sucking Beast on the second day, everyone's attitude toward her became even more respectful than the day before.

When returning to Lihao Hotel for breakfast, Director Zhou called again to ask about the situation; learning it was the same as the previous night, he could only laugh bitterly.

"Shu Province is pressing us, and they even complained to me, asking why you weren't sent there first, claiming the threat from anomalous creatures there is even more severe."

"Sigh, I originally thought that for S-rank threats like the Fire Demon and Mist Town, you'd solve them in a day; today you'd run to Fu Province, tomorrow to Shu Province, and these two A-rank threats would be handled with ease?"

"I didn't expect to fall into the trap of empiricism again. The forms of anomalous creature threats are all over the place; encountering something as mysterious as the 'Smiling Mushroom,' even strength can't be brought to bear. Like this time with the Brain-Sucking Beasts, if they're holed up underground, unless we turn the entire Wuming City upside down, it's indeed quite difficult to handle..."

Director Zhou never liked to bully subordinates with his authority; his attitude toward Yang Yi was even more kind and amiable. After rambling for a while, he said, "If tonight is still like this, fly to Shu Province tomorrow! They're pressing too hard; they're about to slam the table on me..."

There was not a shred of blame or urgency in Director Zhou's words; instead, he attributed the responsibility to himself.

Even if this was a tactic, it still made Yang Yi feel quite embarrassed; having made no progress in two days, she also felt a bit awkward.

"Then I'll fly to Shu Province tomorrow morning!" Yang Yi said while stirring her soy milk, speaking to Director Zhou on the other end of the line.

The moment the words left her mouth, everyone in the restaurant who had been quietly eavesdropping on her call looked up at her; the Awakened ones managed to keep their expressions normal, but Director Wu from the Municipal Party Committee Office, who was responsible for hosting them, immediately looked anxious.

After Yang Yi hung up the phone, Director Wu hurriedly said, "Captain Yang, you absolutely cannot leave! Our Wuming City has only been peaceful for two days; citizens have just relaxed their guard. If you leave now and the Brain-Sucking Beasts come out to eat people again, won't that cause panic among the populace once more?"

Moreover, to soothe local citizens, they had already released news on local media that Yang Yi had come to resolve the anomalous creature crisis; the calm of these two days happened to prove the effectiveness. Now, just as the entire city's citizens were rejoicing, if Yang Yi left and the Brain-Sucking Beasts returned, how could they handle the fallout?

"Captain Yang can't just live in Wuming City forever! The anomalous creature threat in Shu Province is also A-rank; let's solve the trouble there first, then come back here to grind it out slowly..." Wei Chang'an said. "If the Brain-Sucking Beasts keep hiding and won't come out, there's nothing we can do about it."

Since he and Yang Yi were both from the Capital Awakened Administration Bureau and had jointly experienced the Mist Town incident, he naturally stood on Yang Yi's side.

"I'll take another look tonight," Yang Yi said.

Back in her room, she stood by the window as the sun rose in the east and the entire city began to regain its vitality.

She was staying in the best suite on the top floor of Lihao Grand Hotel, overlooking half the city district.

Cars and pedestrians on the roads gradually increased; most people still wore thick helmets, hurrying along.

For these two days, that vague sense of being watched kept appearing; if this was the reason the Brain-Sucking Beasts were hiding, then as long as she stayed here, they would keep holed up, perhaps even shifting their base to other cities.

A countermeasure must be devised to catch them all in one net...

Just as she was pondering, Yang Yi suddenly saw a group of people below holding red banners arriving at the entrance of Lihao Grand Hotel; they then formed a line and began beating gongs and drums, shouting something in unison.

Just as she was listening carefully, the suite butler arrived in a hurry: "Captain Yang, a group of citizens below has spontaneously organized a welcome team, saying they thank you for coming here to resolve the anomalous creature crisis..."

Was this really a spontaneous organization by citizens? So quickly? Or...

Yang Yi said nothing; seeing her silence, the room butler cautiously fell silent.

"You may leave!" Chen Chen Huanyue walked into the room and said to the room butler.

After he left, Chen Chen Huanyue immediately said, "Yang Yi, this group is organized by someone behind the scenes; they don't want you to leave Wuming City."

"I can understand; after all, I haven't resolved the Brain-Sucking Beast issue yet." Yang Yi wasn't angry; it was for the safety of the entire city's people, so it was forgivable. She didn't mind them using some harmless little tactics against her.

Director Zhou asked her to go to Shu Province this morning; those present at the time were only the other Awakened, the reception staff from the Municipal Party Committee Office, and the hotel employees. It would be easy to guess who organized this.

It had been only about two hours since then; the other party reacted so urgently, their methods were a bit crude, and the appearance was rather ugly. It seemed that upon hearing she was leaving, they were truly panicked.

"You're at the height of your fame now; they just want to use your reputation to pressure you! They can't resolve this crisis themselves, yet they don't want to bear the evil name of incompetence, so they're using you as a scapegoat, turning public opinion against you. They're putting you on the fire to roast! If you can't resolve the Brain-Sucking Beast issue in Wuming City, how will people discuss you?" Chen Chen Huanyue looked even more anxious than she was, a thin layer of faint anger coloring Bai Xi's pale cheeks.

"How else could they discuss me? Saying I'm all talk, an incompetent person who was pushed onto a pedestal!" Yang Yi said lightly.