Chapter 1497: The Plan Succeeds

"What are you doing?" Ye Yang slapped away the hand reaching toward him from the person crouching beside the wheelchair and demanded sharply.

The person who had tried to grab Little Eleven opened his mouth to explain, "Got shoved and almost fell over—didn't mean to scare you, you timid little thing."

"Stop crowding, move aside!" The armed guard stepped forward and shouted loudly, and the packed crowd finally opened up a passage.

Yu Shou, whose field of vision had narrowed from losing one eye, pushed the wheelchair out of the crowd to the rest area and apologized quietly, "Brother Ye, I didn't see that person reaching out—is Eleven hurt badly?"

"What are you saying? With this many people, bumps and knocks are inevitable." Ye Yang comforted his good brother, pulled out the air toxin detector from his backpack, confirmed the air here contained no toxins, and instructed the little girl whose nose was bleeding and whose eyes were tearing up, "Eleven, hold your breath, I'll clean up your nosebleed."

This was during the activation of the Level One emergency disaster-response procedure, and everyone was required by regulation to wear a protective mask at all times, but Eleven's nose was bleeding and the mask had to come off for cleaning.

After Eleven held her breath, Ye Yang removed her protective mask, twisted tissue into a paper plug and stuffed it into her bleeding nostril, then used another tissue to wipe the blood from her face.

Yu Shou immediately reached out, "Brother Yang, give it to me, I'll throw it away."

"Alright." Ye Yang handed the bloodstained tissue to Yu Shou.

Yu Shou tossed the tissue into the nearby trash bin, and Tan Qi quickly pulled a candy she had just bought from her backpack, unwrapped it, and popped the piece into Eleven's mouth.

Giving her only one piece was to avoid drawing the attention of those vicious wolves onto her.

Zhang Hongda took Tan Qi's small bag and Ye Yang's bag, stuffed them into his own backpack and held it against his chest, so as not to attract the attention of the would-be robbers onto Tan Qi.

An explosion had occurred at the Agriculture Department, so Xia Qing and Tan Junjie couldn't get over for the moment; here, Zhang Hongda had the highest combat power, so having him carry the supplies was the safest option.

Ye Yang lowered his head and instructed Little Eleven, "After eating the candy, take two sips of water, otherwise your teeth will rot easily."

Little Eleven, eating candy through her protective mask, obediently nodded. She keenly noticed that the three people watching her had indeed shifted part of their attention to the trash bin.

Two minutes later, disaster-response personnel came by to spray disinfectant and took away the trash from the bin along the way.

The magnetic fields of those three people who had been watching her and the trash bin simultaneously shifted from aggressive to mild when the garbage was carried off.

Mama had said this proved the person who took the garbage was in cahoots with the bad guys.

Mama and Uncle Ye Yang's plan had succeeded—she could keep staying in the territory to study. The eyes of Little Eleven, head lowered and eating her candy, grew brighter. She stopped locking onto those three people with her magnetic sense and began paying attention to the people around her.

Uncle Ye Yang was also very happy, Sister Tan Qi was very angry, and Uncle Yu Shou's magnetic field fluctuation was… sad?

Was he sad because she was hurt? Little Eleven kept firmly in mind her mama's instruction and did not look up at Yu Shou, because mama had said that any unnecessary move from her now could bring new danger.

She could pretend to sleep now, wait for Auntie Qing to come and meet up with them, and then she'd be safe.

Eleven, having eaten the candy and taken two sips of water, yawned and closed her eyes.

Seeing Little Eleven's head drooping lower and lower, Ye Yang's heart truly ached for this child of only five. He adjusted her sitting posture so she could lean against him and sleep more comfortably.

Hui-Three Inner City, outside the Agriculture Department.

Along the passage that had already been cleared, speeding ambulances and emergency-management vehicles stopped one after another at the Agriculture Department's blown-out main gate; personnel got out and began rescue and disinfection operations.

Xu Di, captain of the Agriculture Department's Disaster-Control Team One, pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Our squad's mission is complete; team members, begin carrying out routine tasks. Sister Qing, you've worked hard—you can rest now."

The other team members quickly followed up with thanks to Xia Qing; without Xia Qing joining them, Team One could not have completed the mission so quickly.

Xia Qing, who was heading downstairs, replied, "Everyone's too kind. I'm an Agriculture Department employee too—this is my duty. Captain, which departments have requested sniper support?"

"Sister Qing, hold on, I'll check."

Xia Qing was a cadre of the Agriculture Department, but her post was in the territory outside the safe zone, so she had no routine duties inside the Agriculture Department building, but could go out to provide support.

A minute later, Xu Di replied, "The Research Institute, the Outer City Hospital, and the Outer City Administrative Hall have successively sent us requests, hoping you can go over to support them."

The Inner City Administrative Hall had not sent an aid request, and the five members of Ye Yang's squad had not called Xia Qing for help either, which meant they hadn't run into danger on their end. Hearing Zhu Li, Zhao Ze, and Shi Zhong were inside the Tang family restaurant and had already reported safe to Xia Qing; the three employees from the Ninth Center were in the mall and were also uninjured.

Since none of the people she had brought needed her aid, Xia Qing decided to make a trip to the Hui-Three Research Institute to see the situation there with her own eyes.

Follow her idol's advice and obediently stay inside the Agriculture Department? Not a chance—if she sat idle, she probably wouldn't even get a sip of water before being conscripted for a new mission.

Not every sniper mission required a top-tier sniper to carry it out, but during disaster response, the presence of top combat power—including top-tier snipers—at the disaster site could boost morale and lift confidence.

In the past, Xia Qing had been the one whose morale was boosted, whose confidence was lifted; now, she was the confidence of the disaster-control team members.

Xia Qing pressed the walkie-talkie button. "Captain, I'm requesting to go support the Research Institute."

Going to the Research Institute required passing through the Inner City Administrative Hall, which was perfect for dropping off Tan Junjie to reunite with Tan Qi.

He Zhongzhen, who was following behind her, immediately spoke up, "Sister Qing, may I go with you?"

Xia Qing reminded him, "It's very dangerous."

"I'm not afraid." The chance to team up with a top-tier sniper was too rare; as an observer, He Zhongzhen absolutely could not miss this opportunity.

Two minutes later, Xia Qing, Tan Junjie, He Hui, and He Zhongzhen got into the Blue Dragon Squad armored vehicle, its roof and body plastered with conspicuous disaster-response vehicle markings, and left the Agriculture Department, which reeked of disinfectant.

Arriving outside the gates of the Inner City Administrative Center, Xia Qing, carrying her sniper rifle, knocked open the gate and sent Tan Junjie inside.

Seeing her father and Sister Qing arrive, Tan Qi's tears fell uncontrollably.

"She's the top-tier sniper Xia Qing!" Someone in the hall recognized Xia Qing's identity from her firearm and protective suit and couldn't help exclaiming in a low voice.

A stir ran through the hall; everyone's gaze fell on Xia Qing.

Tan Junjie hurried forward a few steps to reunite with his daughter. Xia Qing's gaze swept over the sleeping Little Eleven, she nodded toward Tan Qi and the others, nodded in greeting to the disaster-response personnel there as well, and then left the Administrative Hall, heading to her next mission site.

After Xia Qing left, the people in the hall looked again at the frail, disabled personnel from the territory huddled in the corner, and a hint of wariness crept into their eyes.

After arriving at the Research Institute, Xia Qing and He Zhongzhen joined the disaster-response sniper squad there and received their assignment.

Arriving at the location specified by the mission, Xia Qing spotted Zheng Kui at a glance—he was driving a wrecker, clearing obstacles from the road.