Chapter 28: Chapter 28 Do You Call This Special Effects?
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After watching for a while, it was still the same old flavor.
Jiang Lu was quite satisfied.
It was just a pity that he had just come out of "Infinite Prison" and currently didn't have much of those worldly desires.
He still turned his attention to the Spirit Realm.
Previously, there had been a slight mistake, not paying attention to the type of Spirit Realm and accidentally entering multiplayer mode.
Although, in terms of rank, it was like a bronze player straying into a gold match, the result was more akin to a king-level player entering a gold match.
For the past few days, except for the times he acted alone, he felt extremely constrained and frustrated.
It was time to let loose!
The beast slumbering in his heart awakened... Argh!
Thinking this, he couldn't be bothered to choose and simply filtered for single-player Spirit Realms, matched his level, with difficulty S, random matching!
...
[Spirit Realm Name: Wasteland Rebirth]
[Paradise City]
[This place was once an oasis]
[The nuclear war devastated this land, and this city was buried by the sands]
[The survivors, after decades of effort, finally cleared all the pollution and constructed a new safe zone]
[The scorching sun was able to illuminate the survivors' hope, but lurking in the darkness, were the contaminated infected and the weeping souls in hibernation]
[As the sheriff of Paradise City, you've noticed that the infected and the souls outside the safe zone have become increasingly restless recently]
[You have realized something]
[Perhaps the safe zone will no longer be safe]
[The only one who can stop all of this... is you]
[Number of Exorcists in this session: 1]
[Difficulty: S]
[Mission Objective: Prevent the disaster]
[Note ①: Time passage rate is 1:100 (i.e., one second in the real world is 100 seconds in the Spirit Realm)]
[Note ②: You have equipped a random Spirit Realm entrance effect; do not panic, no matter what happens]
"Sheriff?" Jiang Lu was quite pleased with the role he was to play this time.
As everyone knows, sheriffs could loaf on the job, mooch food and drinks, even freeload on brothels, occasionally collecting some protection money, living quite the carefree life.
However, he did not understand the second note. What's there to panic about an entrance effect? There was only one Exorcist, himself. Even if it was some heaven-defying effect, wouldn't he be the only one to see it?
With Jiang Lu's tolerance, he did not believe any effect could make him panic.
...
Whoosh!
A loud rumbling noise erupted beside his ear.
Jiang Lu turned around.
It was an airplane that looked as if it was cobbled together by hand, strange and crudely made.
"?"
Only then did Jiang Lu notice that he was standing atop a building roughly forty or fifty stories high, looking down to see the vehicles and people on the road resembling little toys.
Adjacent to the high-rise he stood on was an even taller skyscraper.
The airplane's wing nearly grazed him as it flew straight toward the building beside him.
The next moment, less than fifty meters away from Jiang Lu in a direct line, a violent explosion occurred.
Jiang Lu admitted, he panicked.
In the blaze, his face was cast in a bright red glow; searing blasts of air made it impossible for him to open his eyes, nearly flipping him over.
The explosive mushroom cloud, like a volcanic eruption, sent bricks and debris, along with tongues of flame, scattering in all directions. The originally azure sky was dyed a hazy gray by the smoke of the blast.
Jiang Lu faced this apocalyptic scene, like an unyielding warrior contending with nature in his mortal flesh.
A passing journalist in the chaotic crowd below just happened to capture this moment.
The image of the diminutive sheriff against the collapsing skyscraper, confronting the disaster head-on, was so stunning, yet so desperate.
Excitement flickered in the journalist's eyes: "This photo is definitely award-winning; no, it's legendary, it will elevate me to sainthood!"
...
Looking at the photo titled "The Unyielding Warrior in Disaster" published in the news, Jiang Lu fell silent.
You call this an effect?
"Young Jiang."
A voice calling him jolted him back to reality.
"Ah?" Jiang Lu looked up in confusion: "What's wrong, Chief?"
He was now the Sheriff of Paradise City, and sitting before him was his immediate superior, the Security Minister Feng Yuanzheng.
This was a somewhat overweight middle-aged man, his bald spot glaringly obvious without the sheriff's hat, and in the sunlight, the thinning area on his head was almost blinding.
"You've really made us sheriffs look good this time, your photo will likely be remembered for generations,"
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Feng Yuanzheng laughed contentedly, "Your sheriff's uniform is like a medal that will forever be branded in the hearts of the citizens of Paradise City!"
"You should be more concerned about this attack..." Jiang Lu asked faintly.
Bang!
Feng Yuanzheng suddenly slammed the table, startling Jiang Lu.
"I was just about to talk about that!" he fixed his gaze on Jiang Lu and spoke earnestly, "After a high-level meeting, we believe that this attack originates from the exiles outside Paradise City."
"Exiles?"
"That's right." Feng Yuanzheng laced his fingers together, placing his hands on the table with a serious face, "Paradise City does not have the death penalty, so those who commit serious crimes are exiled to the wasteland beyond the security zone. They have always been attempting to counterattack Paradise City and transform it into a haven for crime."
Looking at the other party, openly responsive to questions, Jiang Lu's expression became somewhat strange, "As a sheriff, don't you find it odd that I don't know what an exile is?"
"Aren't you a newly appointed sheriff?"
"Oh." Jiang Lu nodded, praising, "Such a meticulous setting."
"This attack is a signal. Now that Paradise City is in a critical state of survival, the organization has decided to have you infiltrate the exiles and dismantle them from the inside!"
Jiang Lu's smile froze.
Suddenly... it wasn't so meticulous.
"If the organization wants me dead, just say so."
"Why would you say that?" Feng Yuanzheng looked puzzled, seeing it as a great opportunity to achieve unparalleled merit.
"The exiles have just carried out a daring act, and you want me to go undercover?"
Jiang Lu gestured repeatedly with his hands, "That's inappropriate, I think it's inappropriate."
"This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity." Feng Yuanzheng coaxed, "Think about it. When the time comes, your deeds, coupled with this picture of your silhouette, will make you a great hero! Isn't that a beautiful thing?"
"A beautiful thing? A beautiful demise!"
Jiang Lu was reluctant, "What if I die out there?"
"How could you die? You just need to be a little careful."
"Do you want to listen to what you're saying?"
Seeing that bribery was ineffective, Feng Yuanzheng started to manipulate, "Look, you've just joined the job, it's the perfect time to make a name for yourself. So many people out there are craving this opportunity and don't have it."
Standing up, he gently closed the door of his office, adopting a posture of having a heart-to-heart with the door closed, trying to shorten the distance between him and Jiang Lu.
"You need to think carefully about this. So many people want to climb up but don't have the means to, either because they have no mission or because they lack the ability. You, my friend, you have the ability and such good luck, to encounter such a great opportunity. If you can't seize it, how can you stand out?"
Upon hearing this, Jiang Lu pondered for a moment and asked, "If it's successful, will I really stand out?"
"Didn't I just say? You'll become a great hero!"
"Will I get a house?"
"Yes."
"Will I get money?"
"Yes."
"Will I get a wife?"
"Whatever you want, you'll have!"
Jiang Lu questioned suspiciously, "Your wife as well?"
"I..." Feng Yuanzheng choked for a moment, but remembering the strict orders from above, he frowned and nodded, "That too!"
"Then call her over now."
Feng Yuanzheng held his breath, hesitated for a long time, but finally clenched his teeth, "Wait here!"
He then called his wife, telling her a client from some corporate enterprise had arrived and inviting her to accompany them. It wasn't his first time doing such a thing.
"Holy shit, bro, you're really going to do it?" Jiang Lu was shocked.
Prior to this, the exiles' attack on the building hadn't given him a concrete idea of the dangers involved in the operation, but with one sentence, Feng Yuanzheng had done just that.
"In a while, just pretend to be the general manager of Oasis Group, don't blow your cover."
Not to mention, Feng Yuanzheng really knew how to handle things; he always remembered to advise when it mattered.
"Bro, I was just kidding." A shocked Jiang Lu promptly stopped him.
"My wife... she's very pretty."
For some reason, Jiang Lu even felt that the other man was more excited than himself, nearly scaring him out of his wits.
He had actually encountered a tough nut to crack!
"It was really just a joke, Minister, don't take it to heart." Jiang Lu ultimately declined Feng Yuanzheng's offer.
"So... you agree?" Feng Yuanzheng asked.
"I... suppose I agree..."
Although he vaguely felt the exiles were probably related to the goal of attacking the Spirit Realm, he hadn't expected the story pressure to be so intense, starting with going undercover.
Hearing this, Feng Yuanzheng breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good."
"But how am I supposed to do it? I've never been an undercover agent. Do you have any kind of manual for me to learn from?"
"Don't worry about that for now." Feng Yuanzheng lit a cigar and slowly said, "Your current priority is that you need to commit a crime!"
"What did you say?"
"Commit a crime!" Feng Yuanzheng exhaled smoke and said ferociously, "You have to commit an atrociously inhuman crime so that you can be thrown out of the safety zone without raising the exiles' suspicions!"