The Natives of This World Are Fierce
Chapter 52 - 51: The Return Trip and "Where the Nightingale Flies
Personnel from the 19th Organizational Department conducted a detailed week-long investigation, comparing information from the other survivors who gradually regained consciousness.
The information they gathered was inconsistent—chaotic, even.
Among those who awakened later, some had no memory at all but now suffered from severe anxiety and claustrophobia. Others, like Baru, could recall the period of trembling agony but not what came after. Still others heard the sounds of a torrential downpour and the "black-robed figures" fighting, but had temporarily lost their sight.
The other three people found in the same location as Baru also had conflicting memories. Some accounts differed on the number of rescuers, while others recalled subtle variations in the languages spoken.
In comparison, Baru was the one with the clearest and most coherent account of all.
One thing, however, was certain: the ones who eliminated the anomaly at the mine were a mysterious faction that had existed since ancient times.
They had likely struggled against similar, strange existences throughout history and remained prepared for them to this day.
This was indeed an exciting clue, but it was also a bewildering one.
Norton and his subordinates spent days sifting through historical records for any possible connections.
It wasn’t that there were no results, but that there were too many!
Indeed, humanity’s rich imagination is a credit to itself, but sometimes, it’s also a real pain in the ass.
A casual search for hero stories about saving the world or vanquishing evil yielded dozens, even hundreds of results. A deeper dive could easily multiply that number tenfold.
Even after filtering out the obviously unreliable tales, it was still like finding a needle in a haystack. Or, more accurately, it was like staring at a vast ocean, completely overwhelmed.
But this was at least some good news, wasn’t it?
At least when they reported to their superiors, they’d have something of value to say.
Based on Baru and the other survivors’ accounts of the phrase "Darkness Returns," which they had pieced together from the mysterious black-robed figures, Norton and his department members pulled several all-nighters to write a detailed fourteen-page report.
The report focused on speculations and recommendations concerning the "Darkness Returns" event.
It recommended that preparations be escalated at the national level.
As for *how* to prepare... well, despite its increased funding and authority, the 19th Organizational Department’s jurisdiction didn’t extend that far. That was for the higher-ups to assess.
Norton, however, was privy to some external intelligence. A file once shared by the intelligence bureau indicated that Hua Country had recently, and rather covertly, begun a large-scale project they called a "civil defense generational upgrade."
...
A fine drizzle fell from the sky.
A sea of black umbrellas dotted the cemetery grounds.
Today was the funeral for the Hercules Company employees who had lost their lives.
All ten survivors, having been preliminarily cleared of any threat of anomalous infection, attended the funeral.
It went without saying that Baru and his group would be there, as colleagues and brothers-in-arms. Jack and Joseph, feeling they had all gone through the ordeal together, also attended.
The seven coffins being interred actually contained only clothing; the crystallized bodies had been confiscated by the government.
The official reasons given were their potential danger and value for research.
For this, the immediate families of the seven men received substantial compensation for their emotional distress.
Though they weren’t active-duty soldiers, Hercules Company executives still draped a national flag over each coffin.
Before the coffins were lowered, Baru and the six other surviving company employees from the incident personally removed the flags and presented them to the families of the fallen.
An elderly mother, a grief-stricken father, a sorrowful wife, a clueless child...
Facing one solemn face after another, Baru’s heart grew heavy.
He glanced toward Jack and the other two. The three of them, standing in the same corner, met his gaze.
’My brothers, your blood was not shed in vain! I will avenge you!’
...
Meanwhile, after a tearful and reluctant farewell from Jenny and the others, Qin Xiaoxia was on a flight back to his home country.
Qin Xiaoxia, returning with a rewarding haul, was naturally content. Those who saw him off were equally filled with hope for the future.
They really wanted to get visas right away and go to Hua Country with Qin Xiaoxia and Su Su, but they had their own mission.
Dawn had been in decline for too long. The organization needed to not only restore its strength, but also its eyes and ears. More importantly, it needed to extend its reach.
Restoring the organization’s influence across the United States—or even just in the Los Angeles area—would require a great deal of work, to say nothing of re-establishing a branch.
They might face some insurmountable obstacles along the way, but what encouraged them was this: aside from the four Quasi-Knights, Jenny and the others each had a strand of Qin Xiaoxia’s Magic Power stored in each of their arms.
These two strands of Magic Power would draw a small amount of their physical and mental energy each day—no more than the equivalent of a ten-minute jog—which was enough to keep the strands from dissipating.
When needed, the Magic Power could aid them. Especially when facing disturbances from the Outer World, these strands were two life-saving talismans.
Regardless, one could imagine that in the near future, this group would become frequent flyers on international flights.
...
Cui Ying was a reporter for an online media outlet.
Like every aspiring journalist, the proud and ambitious Cui Ying once dreamed of becoming a famous reporter or news anchor—in short, a prestigious, high-paying position that people would respect.
Unfortunately, society is a giant rectangular grinder. With the exception of a few lucky souls, it’s the same for everyone else: the more your ideas stand out, the more crushing it feels when they’re ground smooth.
After five years in the industry, Cui Ying felt stuck in mediocrity. Besides making a bunch of friends in the news business, she had little to show for her career.
It wasn’t that she hadn’t done anything meaningful; at the very least, she had goals and she tried.
Cui Ying was, in fact, quite disgusted with the current state of her industry.
She believed that many media outlets had abandoned the basic professional integrity of a journalist, devolving into a twisted state where they no longer verified facts or thought critically, caring only about grabbing eyeballs.
Her primary dream of becoming a famous anchor seemed insurmountably difficult, so Cui Ying developed an equally difficult "side dream."
To change the culture of the entire news industry!
To that end, Cui Ying started a group chat with a thousand members, managing to attract a number of like-minded journalism professionals.
While this group consisted almost entirely of people who weren’t doing particularly well in their careers, Cui Ying, as the group’s founder, at least got to experience a little of the pleasure of being in charge.
Naturally, a group like this couldn’t change the industry, but sometimes, happy accidents happen.
Her side dream remained unfulfilled, but this large group of people did manage to work together to launch an online, text-based independent media outlet.
They posted all sorts of strange and bizarre content, which attracted a loyal fanbase.
They didn’t just write whatever they wanted. True to the group’s founding principles, they would meticulously verify every story and every rumor, even conducting on-site investigations when possible.
For instance, if their outlet, "Where the Nightingale Flies," published a missing person notice with a photo, you could be sure that you wouldn’t later find out the picture was a stolen childhood photo of some celebrity. They would never, for example, fabricate "plastic seaweed" fake news just for clicks.
This was one of the reasons they attracted such loyal fans: they didn’t just make things up.
This morning, while sitting at her desk bored and browsing the web, Cui Ying suddenly saw an admin post a picture in their group chat.
It was a rather horrifying photo of a child, whose face looked as if a large section had been scraped away.