Inside the armored vehicle, which wasn’t particularly spacious, the air was filled with the fragrance of sakura incense. Seven fully ard mbers of the Japan Special Assault Team held their weapons, their eyes fixed intently on Li Ang.
Should he provoke them into attacking him?
Li Ang’s breathing quickened slightly as he wrestled fiercely with his thoughts.
The SAT’s involvent in escorting him ant this wasn’t as simple as being treated as a suspicious person who had failed to report information. Perhaps the survivors had already given them a general account of what happened in the subway car, leading them to categorize him as a highly suspicious individual.
Li Ang didn’t want to spend the rest of his life in prison as an accomplice to the attack, or lie on an examination table as a perpetual guinea pig.
But if he summoned the black substance and exposed it for all to see, he would be ostracized from human society.
"Mr. Li Ang, you are a good person."
The SAT mber beside him took off her mask, revealing a woman’s face.
"...Huh?"
Li Ang was montarily stunned, not understanding why he had suddenly received praise as a good person.
The SAT officer said, "In the subway, when facing those attackers, it was you who stepped forward to save the others, right?
"At that ti, the subway’s surveillance caras and the servers storing the video footage had both been destroyed. If you had wanted to keep your identity hidden, eliminating the survivors in the sa train car who might have seen your face would have been the optimal choice. That would have increased your chances of not being discovered.
"But you didn’t do that."
...Had he been found out?
Li Ang’s facial muscles twitched slightly, and he said with resignation, "I’m not so depraved, antisocial individual."
"No, no, no, to maintain one’s basic morality after acquiring special powers far exceeding those of an ordinary person is already quite noble."
The SAT officer continued, "In this regard, I sincerely thank you on behalf of the citizens of Tokyo."
Seeing the officer’s sincerity, Li Ang’s tension eased slightly, and he ventured to ask, "Where are we going now?"
"To the Police Headquarters Seventh Headquarters. They’ve set up a command center there to investigate this organized attack."
The SAT officer noticed the subtle expression on Li Ang’s face and laughed. "Please rest assured, we’re definitely not suggesting anything like a concrete barrel."
Police Headquarters Seventh Headquarters was located in Tokyo’s Koto District, site of the infamous Tokyo Bay.
Rumor had it that when Tokyo gangsters wanted to dispose of bodies, they would put them in tal barrels, fill them with concrete, and sink them into Tokyo Bay.
That way, the bodies would never resurface, much safer and more reliable than placing them in tal cages.
"Ahem, okay."
Li Ang nodded. He was a citizen of another country and had just contacted his family. Mysteriously disappearing in a bustling district of Tokyo could potentially cause a diplomatic incident. Besides, many people in the hotel had seen the SAT officers escorting him away.
The Japanese authorities probably wouldn’t let him simply vanish without a trace.
Li Ang hesitated, then asked, "Do you know about my... abilities?"
"We heard about it from the survivors."
The female SAT officer nodded. "Don’t worry, you are not unique. There are other Special Ability Users in the world like you."
"What do you an?"
The SAT female officer said, "You’re aware of the teorite that fell into the Western Pacific a while back, right?
"That teorite actually exploded twice at high altitude. Its original volu was much larger, and the debris field was far wider than the few thousand square kiloters reported on TV. In fact, it covered an area with a diater of approximately six hundred kiloters.
"Your country, South Korea, North Korea, and Japan have all seen the ergence of Special Ability Users after contact with teorite fragnts.
"The recent multinational military exercises in the Western Pacific also revolved around these teorites with their peculiar properties."
So, it’s really the teorite’s influence?
Li Ang clenched his fists tightly, feeling a twinge of regret deep inside.
He had been very satisfied with his life: working sporadically, then going ho to play gas, watch videos, browse cat videos online, and occasionally travel abroad.
If only he had inford his classmates at Yin City University sooner and handed over the teorite fragnts...
BUZZ! BUZZ!
The female SAT officer’s phone at her waist rang. She answered the call, spoke a few words, then passed the phone to Li Ang. "A call from your country’s embassy."
Li Ang nervously took the phone; because he was still handcuffed, he had to hold the phone with both hands to bring it to his ear.
"Hello?"
"Hello, Xiao Li, right?" The voice on the other end was speaking clear, standard Mandarin, with an almost imperceptible regional accent. "I’m Lin Hongbo, a Counselor at our embassy in Tokyo. Are you in a Japanese SAT vehicle right now?"
Hearing the familiar Mandarin of his holand, Li Ang sighed in relief and nodded. "Yes, I am."
"Our superiors have already been inford. Fortunately, we have connections in Tokyo, so we learned about your situation ahead of ti and have intervened in the Japan police’s investigation," Counselor Lin said. "Otherwise, if the Japan police had quietly taken you away without your knowledge, things would have beco very troubleso."
"Sorry."
Li Ang gave a helpless, wry smile. Things had happened too quickly; only a few hours had passed between the black substance’s sudden eruption and the Japan police’s arrival to investigate. He hadn’t had ti to prepare for his identity being exposed, much less to proactively explain the situation to the embassy.
"No need for apologies. Self-preservation is only human nature," Counselor Lin said from the other end of the phone. "Opposing and combating terrorist extremist organizations is an international endeavor. Your actions in stepping up to save people were comndable, and that gives us a moral high ground in negotiations with the Japanese."
Li Ang continued to smile wryly and rubbed his nose. The sakura incense in the vehicle was growing stronger. In truth, at the ti, he hadn’t known about the black substance’s existence, nor was he clear on how to summon it. Hearing the Counselor’s praise made him feel rather undeserving.
"So, what now..."
"The current situation is quite complex. The international maneuvering over that teorite is still ongoing. Both we and the United States are trying to win over Japan, hoping to obtain teorite fragnts and the Special Ability Users who erged after contact with them. For now, just follow the SAT’s instructions. We’ll find a way to get you out."
Counselor Lin then asked, "Do we need to contact your parents or family?"
"...Not for now."
With the embassy’s assurance, Li Ang felt much calr. He had already called to tell his family he was safe. Contacting his parents again now would only cause them unnecessary worry.
"Alright, then we’ll contact your company and have them keep your job for you, officially listing you as on sick leave. As for the teorite fragnt you ca into contact with..."
Since the embassy knew his situation, they would naturally have ways to enter his ho. Li Ang said simply, "It’s at my place, on the shoe cabinet by the entrance."
"Okay," the Counselor said. "Anything else?"
"No, nothing at the mont..." Li Ang was saying when he suddenly felt a wave of dizziness, and the phone slipped weakly from his grasp. He fell back, and the last thing he saw as his vision blurred was the female SAT officer picking up the phone.
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