Ye Nai clicked on the link, indeed it was local news about the sudden incident in the afternoon.
He summoned the keyboard and his fingers flew as he rapidly responded to the ssage.
"Just went to take a shower. That really is in the news, huh? They got it done so quickly? Luckily, it’s just a back view, I didn’t show my face."
"Is that really you? Were you shopping there?"
"Yeah, I bought a few new sets of sports underwear, and just as I walked out of the mall, I ran into the situation."
"We’re going to make small talk now, not hinting at anything."
"Wait a sec, I’m starting up my computer."
It seed like they were about to ask sothing, so Ye Nai quickly went to the spare bedroom, pulled out the computer, turned it on, connected to the internet, and opened up the group chat.
"Alright, I’m online now."
Subsequently, the group chat window on the computer changed as Sister Da Ma initiated the group video call.
Ye Nai answered the call and casually hit the screen recording button.
Sister Da Ma, Old Pan, and Da Liu, the three team leaders, quickly appeared on cara, each with the backdrop of their own rooms.
"Did you encounter anyone when you were leaving the mall?" Sister Da Ma asked first.
"Be more specific, otherwise I can only say that there were people everywhere outside the mall, it’s a shopping plaza teeming with people."
The three team leaders all laughed.
"Alright, let’s try this again. Since you were at the scene, did you notice anything unusual about the Five-clawed Vine?" Sister Da Ma cleared her throat lightly, changing the question.
"There were residues of the Wood Elent Superpower. I ntioned it to the firefighters who were there for the rescue," Ye Nai replied, feigning confusion as he tilted his head, "Did they find the person? Was it really human sabotage?"
"The whole situation is a bit complicated to explain."
"I was there, and I participated in the rescue, so I am involved in this, right?"
"Yes, the surveillance footage captured a group of people skulking around the flower beds."
"And then? Did I encounter anyone suspicious when I was leaving the mall?"
"Let’s synchronize our tilines, why don’t you tell us what you know."
In the group of eight team leaders, Old Pan was the eldest. He stopped beating around the bush and laid out the information he had at hand.
"How old did the shadows caught skulking on the surveillance footage look? When I exited the mall, I bumped into a group of teenagers in the throes of puberty. They went around into the mall, and one of the teens in a light green windbreaker had traces of the Wood Elent Superpower on him. Right after that, the Five-clawed Vine sprouted by the flower beds, and I went up to rescue the people."
From Sister Da Ma’s video feed, there was a slight commotion, seeming to co from off-cara, where teammates responsible for communication and intelligence were seated beside them.
After a while, Sister Da Ma, Old Pan, and the team leaders all shook their heads in unison.
"No good, you weren’t captured leaving the door, only the footage of those teenagers going in is available."
"Yeah, if you’d just taken a couple more steps, standing outside the doors, you could’ve been captured in the footage."
"So, it’s those teenagers who were causing the trouble?"
"Essentially, yes."
"What do you an by ’essentially’? If you find them and compare the superpower traces on them, wouldn’t that give you a conclusion?"
"By the ti we found them, several hours had passed, and those kinds of traces are very ti-sensitive, there was nothing left on them."
"Can’t you just have them display their superpowers again for comparison?"
"I heard that’s exactly where we’re stuck."
"What do you an?"
"It’s said that those teenagers co from well-off families, with parents holding relatively high social status. Although underage Awakeners are subject to special laws, their parents insist they’re minors and uncooperative, and we can’t attack them to force them to fight back - that would be like extorting a confession through torture."
"So now we’re looking for indirect evidence to nail them?"
"Right."
"Does my evidence count for anything?"
"It’s sowhat useful. You clearly identified the presence of Wood Elent Superpower residue on the person in the light green windbreaker, and indeed, he’s the only Wood Elent Awakener in their group."
"But my evidence only goes so far, without anything more conclusive."
"Yeah."
"Tsk, I passed right by them and didn’t connect them to the Five-clawed Vine. I was too naive, thinking that a bit of superpower residue on them ant at most they’d sprouted a couple of flowers."
Ye Nai felt sowhat annoyed and a bit ashad.
But deep down, she was relieved that she had acted against those teenagers in ti.
"If you have power and don’t use it for good, then you shouldn’t have it at all."
Aside from a few youths, those wrapped up by the Five-clawed Vine included mostly won, the elderly, and children. Although the mutant plants were killed in ti, preventing any casualties, if it weren’t for this "in ti," other Wood Elent Awakeners would need to fight off the Five-clawed Vine to save people, a struggle that could easily kill the frail elderly and children first.
"No, this isn’t your fault. You can’t just accuse an underage Awakener of causing destruction in a crowd without any proof," Sister Da Ma waved her hand to stop Ye Nai from dwelling on it.
"Another question, when you went to save them, did the Five-clawed Vine struggle or fight back?"
"No, it was as if it were dead," Ye Nai said, suddenly realizing she hadn’t thought of this before, "Right, I saw the Five-clawed Vine sprout up and curl back after wrapping around people, but there was no movent when I rushed over to save them."
"That’s because the mutant plant was already dead."
"... Huh?!" Ye Nai was surprised, "It died that quickly? Was there a big shot passing by the street who took action?"
The three team leaders all had pained expressions on their faces.
"We wish there were a big shot, but no one has co forward to admit it."
"To assassinate a mutant plant that quickly, that big shot must be extrely powerful, right?"
"Insta-kill a mutant plant, insta-kill - you know? Those with the power to do that are top-tier. There aren’t many like that in the whole country, and now we’re all over trying to figure out which big shot ca to East Ridge City without announcing themselves."
"An insta-kill? But this artificially cultivated Five-clawed Vine, even if it’s strong, it’s not that strong, right?"
Ye Nai scratched her neck uneasily, the suddenness of it all making it difficult for her to accept the identity of "a big shot capable of insta-killing."
"Even if it’s artificially cultivated, a Five-clawed Vine is still a Five-clawed Vine. Anyone else would need ti and effort to kill it. Being able to insta-kill indicates serious strength."
"Then this big shot is really impressive," Ye Nai expressed with an admiring look, "Wasn’t there any residue of the big shot’s superpower at the scene?"
"That’s the weird part, there wasn’t any. Otherwise, we wouldn’t still be looking for the person."
Ye Nai imdiately beca serious again, her brows furrowing.
"If such a big shot wanted to do harm, it would be deadly."
"You’re telling ," the captains all looked troubled.
"So what now? The big shot saved people effortlessly, but what about the troublemaking teenagers? No one died because the big shot was strong, but that doesn’t an they showed rcy."
"All the existing evidence is indirect, and with the stature of the parents involved, it’s likely they’ll just be taken back for their parents to step up their education."
"If parental influence were effective, we wouldn’t be in this situation," Ye Nai retorted.
"True, there’s nothing we can do."
Ye Nai felt parents could hardly be relied upon. Rebellious teenagers in their youth weren’t keen on listening to their parents’sermons. If past lessons had been effective, they wouldn’t have done sothing like cultivating a deadly Five-clawed Vine in a crowd.
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