The old minister’s face darkened with anger. He slammed the table and barked coldly, “Shut your mouth!”
Deng Yuqi wasn’t having any of it. She fired right back, “Shut what mouth? Am I wrong? Are you blind, or just pretending to be? Sixty-plus people from the Chongqing branch, plus thirteen well-equipped foreign mercenaries—eighty in total—went into the anomaly space and lost contact immediately. And now you want our Southwest Division Three to organize another team to go in? If you want us dead, just line us up and shoot us. Why go through all this trouble?”
“After all, this isn’t the first time you’ve made a decision . Back then, you knew it was a suicide mission, but you still ordered people to march into the slaughterhouse one after another. Oh, and afterward, they had to take the blame for you too. Pah! ‘For the greater good, for righteousness’—sorry, but I don’t have that kind of ‘noble consciousness’!”
The other two directors of the Southwest Division watched Deng Yuqi’s fiery outburst, itching to chime in, but they lacked her boldness.
In fact, within the entire Special Countermeasures Department, Deng Yuqi was the only one who dared speak to the old minister in such a tone.
The old minister’s face remained stormy. After a long silence, he finally managed, “When did I say this was entirely your responsibility? Didn’t I already state that headquarters would dispatch elite agents to assist and coordinate with you in resolving this Tier-4 anomaly incident? If you have any demands, voice them. Headquarters will provide whatever support we can!”
“Oh? Then how about handing over eight or ten anomaly-energy equipment pieces first?” Deng Yuqi deadpanned, immediately demanding an exorbitant price.
The old minister slammed the table again, this time genuinely furious. “Do you have any idea how few anomaly-energy equipment pieces exist nationwide? Should we just hand them all over to you?”
“You—! You—!” The old minister was so enraged he couldn’t even form words.
Shen Ge glanced at Deng Yuqi in surprise. He didn’t understand why she was so worked up over headquarters’ affairs—it was a stark contrast to her usual composed demeanor.
Clearly, there was history here.
That said, regarding the issue of anomaly-energy equipment, it wasn’t entirely fair to accuse headquarters of being “stingy” or withholding resources in the face of such a major crisis.
Before this year, anomaly incidents had been rare, occurring maybe once a year. Take the Rong City branch, for example—it had only been established a few years ago, and before Shen Ge joined, they had only dealt with six anomaly incidents in total.
Anomaly-energy equipment was crafted from the corpses of anomalies. Six incidents meant, at most, six anomaly corpses—some of which were damaged in combat or consumed in research.
So, while there might have been six corpses, the actual number of successfully crafted equipment pieces was likely fewer. And that wasn’t even accounting for enigmatic anomalies like the “Anomaly Brain,” which defied all research efforts.
As others began chastising Deng Yuqi for her insubordination and lack of respect, she scoffed. “When asked who would take the lead in handling this earlier, you all clammed up like mute fish. Funny how talkative you are now. If you want to lecture me on tradition, how about showing some ‘love for the younger generation’ too? Our Rong City branch is barely a few years old and the weakest among all divisions. Shouldn’t you esteemed seniors step up instead?”
The moment she said this, the “seniors” who had been criticizing her immediately fell silent. No one wanted to risk being volunteered for the Tier-4 anomaly mission.
“Pathetic,” Deng Yuqi muttered coldly before sitting back down.
Headquarters wanted to dump the Tier-4 anomaly incident on Southwest Division Three, but the three divisions refused to take the bait. Meanwhile, the other branches were too worried about diverting resources from their own territories. Unsurprisingly, the meeting ended without resolution.
Finally, the old minister slammed the table and declared that headquarters would dispatch elite agents with anomaly-energy equipment to handle the Chongqing incident.
The video conference ended, and the meeting room fell into silence. Everyone could sense Deng Yuqi’s lingering fury, and no one wanted to provoke her further.
After a few minutes, Deng Yuqi spoke. “Operations team, draft a reconnaissance plan. Captain Feng, you and Huo Yu will lead a team to scout the perimeter of Dongyu Street. Stay outside the restricted zone—I want intel on the anomaly space’s expansion speed, range, and direction ASAP.”
“Understood!” Feng Chengxiu stood and acknowledged the order.
Deng Yuqi continued, “Xiao Zhang, contact Lin Yin. If her mission hasn’t made progress, recall her immediately.”
“Wait—no, hold off on recalling Lin Yin for now.” Deng Yuqi reconsidered, then addressed the room. “The branch will operate under Tier-1 combat readiness. After Captain Yu and Captain Feng depart for Chongqing, Captain Yu and Section Chief Chen will remain here to monitor anomaly incidents in Rong City.”
Section Chief Chen frowned. “You’re going to Chongqing yourself?”
“Lin Yin’s mission can’t afford setbacks. Recalling her would mean wasting two years of preparation. I may be the branch director, but I’m also an elite agent. I have the authority to handle anomaly incidents,” Deng Yuqi replied.
“You’re the director of Rong City branch. If you go, it’ll look like our branch has no one else capable! Absolutely not!” Section Chief Chen argued, then glanced at Shen Ge—who was leaning on the conference table, idly arranging eggshells into a smiley face.
Noticing the stares, Shen Ge looked up and said calmly, “Uh, why’s everyone looking at me? I’m just a rookie. A city-level disaster shouldn’t fall on a newbie, right? Honestly, Director, unless you’re planning to take full responsibility, going there just means playing second fiddle to headquarters’ agents.”
“From what I know, it’s been five years since the last Tier-4 incident, back when Rong City branch didn’t even exist. Back then, anomaly incidents weren’t as frequent as they are now. But the truth is, the increasing frequency hasn’t made people take them more seriously—instead, their success against lower-tier anomalies has made them overconfident. They actually think Southwest Division Three’s meager manpower and equipment can casually handle a Tier-4 incident.”
“Heh. What a waste of those eighty-plus lives.”
That said, Shen Ge might have misunderstood headquarters’ stance. Given the scarcity of anomaly-energy equipment, it was clear that before his system awakened, anomaly incidents had been rare. The Special Countermeasures Department, perpetually on standby, simply lacked experience dealing with crises of this scale.
Especially for a Tier-4 incident capable of wiping out an entire city—the department had only encountered one before, and that was a self-inflicted lab accident.
Shen Ge smirked derisively and added, “If they truly took this seriously, they’d mobilize elite agents and anomaly-energy equipment from every branch nationwide, just like they did for the first anomaly incident. Then maybe fewer lives would be lost.”
“Ultimately, this mess will still land in Southwest Division Three’s lap. But let me make this clear—if they want our help, fine. They’d better hand over a list of anomaly-energy equipment. At least three pieces, plus post-mission rights to the anomaly’s corpse.”
Section Chief Chen said gravely, “Xiao Shen, that’s not the right attitude. This is an anomaly incident on our soil. The Chongqing branch director might be irresponsible, but we can’t afford to be. As elite agents, we have a duty—”
“No problem, I’m not refusing to go. But shouldn’t they provide support? The Chongqing branch was established around the same time as ours, and they had more anomaly-energy equipment. And now? Two elite agents missing in action… They want us to take responsibility but won’t offer resources? Since when does the world work that way?” Shen Ge retorted.
“Still…” Section Chief Chen wanted to persuade him further, but Deng Yuqi cut in.
She knew Shen Ge well—he wasn’t entirely self-serving, but if you wanted him to act, you had to align with his principles.
This incident was far more complicated than it appeared. The higher-ups had made a grave misjudgment, hoping to resolve the anomaly incident flawlessly while conserving strength to counter potential interference from the U.S.
But in anomaly incidents, there was no such thing as “flawless.”
Deng Yuqi was equally frustrated with headquarters’ decisions, but politics were beyond her control as a branch director from a “remote” region.
As Shen Ge had said—if headquarters acted decisively, Rong City branch would cooperate fully. But if they tried to dump the problem on them while holding back resources, then they couldn’t blame the branch for half-hearted efforts.
The meeting ended on a sour note. Shen Ge, however, remained unfazed. Unlike the others, he had eaten his fill during the meeting.