Chapter 67 - 65: Broad-Minded Spirit Patient

Jiang City is a large city built around the rolling Yangtze River.A ghost ship drifting along the river into the urban area is undoubtedly a very serious matter.

The big shots and high-ranking officials of Jiang City are paying close attention; now, military vehicles are arriving at the Yangtze River Bridge, bringing hundreds of armed soldiers.

Underground traffic has been completely paralyzed!

The Yangtze River Bridge must not suffer any loss!

If a few cross-river bridges encounter problems, traffic will be severely affected!

Ten miles of riverbank have been set as a caution zone; most people inside the caution line have been temporarily evacuated, but outside the line, crowds have gathered to watch the excitement.

"Peanuts, seeds, eight-treasure porridge!"

"Cola, Sprite, mineral water!"

"It’s raining, it’s about to rain, boss, buy a raincoat!"

Hang Yu was dumbfounded to find the place crowded with people, from university students carrying single-lens cameras to small vendors with tricycles selling drinks and snacks.

Damn.

Don’t they fear for their lives?!

Where’s the panic?

Where’s the sense of crisis?

Where are the city enforcers? Aren’t they managing this?

Hang Yu underestimated the gossip-driven curiosity and action power of the citizens.

After all, with Celestial Net, the military, and Spirit Relief Association experts as a buffer and armed police maintaining order, coupled with a distance of nearly ten miles from the riverside, it appeared safe.

Everyone was curious about what happened near the river and the mystery of the ghost ship, so they flocked to watch the spectacle.

Not everyone who came here was just watching the excitement, though.

Hang Yu found a registration point, filled out a form, and signed a disclaimer.

With this, he could freely enter the caution zone—Spirit Relief Association and many brave citizens entered through this channel.

When Hang Yu had just finished the paperwork and received his pass,

suddenly, a shout echoed in his ears.

"Look, Celestial Net, it’s the people from Celestial Net."

"That’s Liang Qiu, the goddess, she’s quite famous online."

What?!

Hang Yu looked over.

A black jeep stopped near the caution zone.

Three individuals emerged, not dressed as soldiers nor police, donning long black trench coats, equipped with firearms and Spirit Realm weapons, exuding a cool demeanor.

Among them was a woman with an alluring and seductive figure, her short hair barely reaching her shoulders, her dynamic and heroic aura drawing much attention.

This was none other than Liang Qiu, deputy team leader of Celestial Net’s Seventh Action Squad.

Beside her stood a resolute-faced, tall and sturdy crew-cut man, Liang Dong.

The siblings followed a middle-aged man who seemed to hold higher status than them; he possessed eyes as sharp as a hawk and moved with the iron-blooded aura typical of military personnel.

Unfortunately, running into an acquaintance and being recognized would be bad news!

Should he use stealth to get past them? But the area ahead was too open.

The stealth duration was only thirty seconds, likely not enough.

Hang Yu scratched his head in thought for a few seconds, his eyes scanned the surroundings, finally locking onto a small stall.

He walked up to the stall, "How much for this Atoman mask?"

Stall owner: "Cheap, only eighty bucks!"

"An Atoman mask for eighty bucks and that’s cheap?" Hang Yu was shocked, "You might as well just go rob people!"

"Hey, young man, watch your mouth! Don’t you know it’s hard to get stock now? Selling it for eighty, it’ll be a hundred in a few days!"

Hang Yu pondered for a moment.

He felt the stall owner was right.

The global transportation network is virtually paralyzed.

Major cities are gradually becoming isolated islands.

What kind of situation would happen under these conditions?

Of course, products can’t be shipped out from production sites, distributors and retailers face stock shortages yet can’t buy goods, the purchasing power of money declines.

Anyone with some basic economic knowledge understands that when liquidity of money slows down, a severe economic crisis is bound to happen.

Various products can’t be bought even with money.

Supply and demand relations will undergo significant changes.

Can such a situation not lead to inflation?

If the appearance of the Spirit Realm wasn’t like a black hole absorbing large amounts of stagnant funds from society and bringing some liquidity, currency value would already be as worthless as paper, and the economy might have already collapsed.

This is why the prices of Spirit Realm assets are frighteningly high now.

"Alright, eighty it is. Give me an Atoman mask, I want the Tielo Atoman one."

Hang Yu completed the transaction with the vendor using WeChat Pay, buying an Atoman mask for eighty yuan.

......

At this moment, Liang Qiu and Liang Dong were following behind the sharp-eyed middle-aged man.

Liang Qiu glanced over the crowd watching the spectacle, noting the citizens gradually entering through the passage. Her gaze carried a hint of concern, "Captain Luo, is it really appropriate to let ordinary citizens into the danger zone directly?"

Liang Dong also said, "I think so too. What if something happens to them!"

"It’s a special period now, and we can only make do with what we have. You should also know that we are severely understaffed," the Celestial Net captain surnamed Luo shook his head. "The situation is worsening day by day, and we can’t protect everyone. People need to grow, and growth comes at a price."

Liang Qiu and Liang Dong fell silent.

Before joining the Celestial Net, one was a detective, the other a special police officer.

Both siblings were justice-driven policemen, and because of that, they felt uneasy. However, Captain Luo was stating facts; Celestial Net was indeed short of hands.

"Don’t worry, times have changed. There are skilled individuals among the public too. The person who saved you last time is the best example, isn’t it? Never underestimate anyone," Captain Luo said with a tinge of regret. "It’s just a pity we don’t know his identity. It would be great if such a skilled person could be used by Celestial Net."

At this moment.

Laughter erupted from the crowd.

The three of them looked towards the sound and were stunned.

A man wearing a Tielo Atoman mask walked through the entrance under everyone’s watchful eyes and entered the caution zone.

After entering the caution zone, he immediately picked a shared bicycle, whistling casually as he swaggered past the three of them.

Liang Qiu: "..."

Liang Dong: "..."

Captain Luo: "..."

The three of them fell into silence, making the scene quite awkward.

Captain Luo cleared his throat and said, "Uh, go tell the people below that if someone seems to be mentally unstable, it’s best not to let them in to cause trouble."

Hang Yu smoothly entered the caution zone.

He biked for twenty minutes, getting relatively close to the river.

The fog was getting denser, but he could still barely see.

This area was lined with Jiang City’s most expensive office buildings and river-view apartments. It’s the dream of many young people in Jiang City to own a house here overlooking the river.

As for now? Heh!

This place was desolate, overrun with deep weeds and shrouded in fog, giving off a lifeless, eerie vibe.

Hang Yu felt like he had crossed into the world of Silent Hill!

Teacher Su and the skilled individuals from the Spirit Relief Association were likely operating in this area, but their exact positions were unknown.

But right at that moment.

A hunched figure appeared in the mist.

Hang Yu fixed his gaze, it was nothing but the "Fishman Slave Labor" he had seen online, a low-level sub-intelligent species similar to goblins, merely a level 1 monster!

Hang Yu spotted the opponent, and the opponent spotted Hang Yu.

The Fishman Slave Labor let out a hissing shriek, brandishing a hammer as it charged towards Hang Yu’s location.

Whish!

A glint of cold steel flashed!

The Fishman Slave Labor fell stiffly to the ground.

A knife was embedded in its head, with only the handle left visible.

The razor-sharp blade had penetrated the skull entirely, taking it down with a single attack.

After all, Hang Yu was already a level 3 Combat Professional.

The Fishman Slave Labor was merely a level 1 ordinary monster, so Hang Yu throwing a Flying Knife with full force, hitting the vital spot, was enough to deal with this weakest Fishman Slave Labor in one blow.

Screech!

A sharp brake.

Hang Yu halted in front of the Fishman Slave Labor’s corpse.

It was an ugly monster resembling a cross between a human and a fish.

Except for the broken hammer in its hand, it had no other equipment. Its skin surface was covered in fish scales, and there were webbed membranes similar to duck feet between its fingers and toes, with a dead fish head on top.

Quite ugly indeed!

Hang Yu picked up the hammer, threw it into the Storage Space via the Spirit Realm Assistant, and checked its attributes.

"Broken Slave Iron Hammer," Level 1, gray low-grade equipment, Physical Attack +1, Durability 2/10.

Hang Yu frowned.

This broken hammer was basically the most trash equipment.

What was more frustrating was that its durability was almost depleted.

Hang Yu guessed it must have been damaged in the forced world barrier crossing.

The usage value of this equipment is low, but it could still be exchanged for some money, or perhaps given to Old Lady Wang for decomposition to recover some materials. With luck, it might even decompose into Crystal Stones.

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