MCL CH83

Chapter 83: Joseph is actually dead!?

Within the nearly fully opened rift, the flow of materialized energy could be vaguely seen.

A team, on high alert, had already assembled five kilometers away from the epicenter. In a vast, cleared area, only a neat line of vehicles remained. The group standing in front of the team had a solemn atmosphere.

If anyone were to pass by at this moment, they would undoubtedly be shocked by the faces that usually only appeared in international news. And at this time, the top ability users from multiple countries had gathered here, merely to prevent a worst-case scenario.

“Report—! Bzzzt—! All… pre… pared, bzzz, can… at any time… wel… bzzzt, come the full… opening of the rift… bzzzt—!”

Due to the continuously strengthening radiation fluctuations, even the surrounding communication equipment was clearly being interfered with. Amidst a chaotic sound of static, the communication from the other side could only be faintly pieced together.

After receiving and acknowledging the feedback, the assistant turned to look with some worry: “Director, the surrounding area has been properly arranged. Do you think you should…”

“I will remain here.” Pu Limo stood ramrod straight, not moving a single step.

He certainly knew what his assistant was worried about, but while his ability was indeed not suitable for front-line battles, he had absolutely no intention of retreating to the second line in this situation. A super-hazardous incident of a super S-class rift breach had never happened before. No matter what the worst outcome might be, his presence at this very moment, at the very least, expressed the attitude of the International Ability Management Bureau when facing the outbreak of a major crisis.

Moreover, he was not the only one staying here.

Pu Limo asked the man beside him: “Executive Gu, aren’t you returning with the convoy?”

To this question, Gu Beiqiu gave the same answer, even his expression and tone were identical to Pu Limo’s just now: “I will remain here.”

Pu Limo seemed to enjoy this dry humor: “I thought that if something really happened, it would be better for the management of various countries to have as many people left as possible.”

Gu Beiqiu retorted: “We still don’t know what happened inside, so how do you know something bad will definitely happen?”

It was not difficult to see from his expression that this speculation of his had no basis either. But compared to welcoming a world-destroying monster bursting forth, everyone of course hoped for a miracle to happen, even if the probability seemed less than one in a thousand.

“Prepare to go in.” Pu Limo sighed, looking at the top-tier ability users who had gathered from all over the world in a short time. He gave a solemn military salute, “I will await good news from all of you here.”

The ability users present also returned the salute one after another in the solemn atmosphere and strode forward resolutely.

The ground was littered with the wreckage of broken detection equipment, some of which even occasionally flashed with a spark of electricity.

If they hadn’t witnessed it with their own eyes, no one would have thought that a situation where all detection equipment simultaneously maxed out due to excessively high values would occur.

Just how powerful was the contaminant in this rift!?

Pu Limo stood his ground, his expression also somewhat inscrutable.

Just as another team was about to enter this rift of unknown future, he suddenly caught sight of something, and his expression immediately tensed: “Wait!”

The people in front had naturally also noticed it. As they paused their steps, all the ability users were instantly ready to enter combat at any moment.

The rift opening had almost reached the edge of being fully open. So now, were the contaminants inside about to break out of their nest?

The entire tense atmosphere was swept away by a teasing laugh: “Yo, why are so many people here to welcome my return?”

This voice was clearly…

“Samuel.” Pu Limo had already strode forward in a flash. The extreme ups and downs of his emotions made his tone even more tense, even as he breathed a sigh of relief. “How are you? Are you okay?”

“I’m fine.” Samuel smiled, but the miserable state of his entire body was somewhat unconvincing.

He had come out almost completely hanging on Yan Xingzhou. Not to mention being a far cry from his usual pampered and precious self, just looking at the deathly pale face caused by excessive power depletion made one seriously suspect that he might faint on the spot at any moment.

Before Samuel could speak again, Yan Xingzhou had already taken the arm hanging on his shoulder and casually tossed it to Pu Limo: “If you don’t want him to die, my advice is to skip the nonsense and send him for treatment directly.”

Pu Limo caught him with one hand and, without hesitation, arranged for a car to be brought over.

As Samuel was leaving, he couldn’t help but give Yan Xingzhou a deep look, hesitating to speak several times. It was only after receiving a confirming glance that he looked back at the undercurrent-filled rift: “Then I’ll… go back and rest first?”

“Go on,” Yan Xingzhou replied. “I’m here.”

Only then did Samuel nod and get into the car with peace of mind.

Yan Xingzhou turned to look at the other ability users present and said concisely: “The contaminant situation inside is a bit complicated. We were unable to complete the kill, so in the short term, it’s best not to arrange for anyone to go in and clean up the scene.”

Pu Limo’s gaze was still worriedly fixed on the direction Samuel had left. He only came back to his senses upon hearing this: “Even you guys were unable to kill that contaminant?”

“It’s not that we couldn’t, it’s that we couldn’t keep it. You can have your company’s personnel report to you after he has recovered.” The company personnel Yan Xingzhou was referring to was obviously Samuel. After speaking, seeing Pu Limo still looking hesitant, he spoke again, “Of course, if Director Sir doesn’t trust my words, you can also go in yourself and find something to do.”

As his voice fell, he slowly and methodically took a step to the side, revealing the rift opening that he had been blocking behind him.

Pu Limo: “No, I didn’t mean to distrust you.”

“Director Yan.” Gu Beiqiu, who was standing to the side, spoke up. At this point, he finally asked the question, “May I ask why only the two of you came out? Did you see anyone else inside?”

“I did.” Facing Gu Beiqiu, Yan Xingzhou’s previously polite tone suddenly became even colder. “You all outside should have noticed that something indeed happened inside the rift. Samuel’s stamina was excessively depleted, so I brought him out first. As for the others, they are temporarily staying inside to handle the aftermath. They will come out after they are finished.”

Gu Beiqiu was silent for a moment: “Were there any casualties?”

Yan Xingzhou silently lowered his eyelids: “Naturally, there were.”

The flat tone of his voice made the already relaxed atmosphere around them suddenly become heavy for a moment.

Casualties.

The identities of the several groups of people who had entered this rift one after another were naturally known to everyone present. Among these people, who exactly had suffered casualties?

“For specifics, it’s better to let a public official explain.” Yan Xingzhou didn’t give anyone a chance to continue questioning. It was still the same sentence, but his peripheral vision silently swept over the clearly completely scrapped detection equipment around them.

He could vaguely guess what had happened outside, and he wasn’t surprised.

After all, with the intensity of the contamination value Lin Xi had erupted with at that time, it would have been strange if it didn’t attract attention from the outside. He had brought Samuel out ahead of time this time precisely to stall for time and prevent another team from entering the rift and running into the situation inside. And now, it all depended on whether Lin Xi could come out. But no matter what, the maxing out of these detection devices was definitely not a bad thing. At least Pu Limo and the others wouldn’t be able to detect the changes inside the rift in the short term.

Yan Xingzhou could feel Gu Beiqiu’s scrutinizing gaze but gave no response.

Right now, none of this was important to him. Whether it was what kind of excuse to use, or how to explain the sacrifices that occurred in the rift, all he needed to do was—if Lin Xi couldn’t come out of the rift again, perhaps it was time to adopt another set of solutions.

It was unknown who exclaimed: “They’re out! Someone is coming out from inside!”

Yan Xingzhou also looked over at the sound. His already tall and straight figure tensed slightly in silence.

The distorted, flickering image finally coalesced into a tall silhouette. The people coming out from inside appeared in everyone’s vision one after another.

First was Lin Xi, then Su Qiuyin, and then—Joseph’s body, which they brought out.

After a brief, deathly silence, the entire scene erupted in an uproar.

Joseph!

One of the world’s top-tier X-coded ability users, Joseph, was actually dead!??

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