201: A shadowy figure?

Shen Mingyuan returned to the law firm and first categorized all the samples he had brought back from the riverside—scrapings from the inner walls of the sewage pipes, contaminated water samples, and those several peculiarly shaped "Water Hyacinth" plants.

He carefully labeled them, noting the time, location, and extraction point, then contacted a highly qualified third-party environmental testing agency he had worked with for years to personally deliver the samples for testing.

"Expedite this; I need a full analysis, especially a spectrum of heavy metals and characteristic organic pollutants."

He emphasized to the engineer receiving the samples, "In addition, please focus the analysis of these plants on the accumulation of pollutants within their tissues and... see if there are any abnormal biological characteristics."

Back at the office, he imported the photos and videos taken on-site into his computer and began organizing them systematically.

High-definition close-ups clearly showed the existence of the hidden sewage pipes, the pipe outlets completely blocked by strange plants, and the densely distributed abnormal aquatic plant colonies along the shore.

Every piece of visual material was accompanied by a rigorous written description, forming an intuitive chain of evidence pointing to the factory's long-term, hidden illegal discharge activities.

In Shen Mingyuan's view, the sudden explosion at the factory, rather than weakening the case, had reinforced its core claim in a dramatic fashion—that the factory's production activities involved serious and dangerous issues.

The explosion accident itself was bound to trigger strong intervention and investigation from departments such as emergency management and environmental protection. The official accident investigation report would likely become an irrefutable, authoritative piece of evidence in this case, used to support the existence of major flaws in the factory's facilities and chaotic management, thereby corroborating their illegal discharge behavior.

He meticulously arranged the existing evidence and began drafting legal documents.

His thoughts were exceptionally clear and smooth.

The residents' health damage records were linked to the pollution, the hidden illegal discharge outlets had been discovered and the evidence secured, and the factory itself had suffered a major safety accident that could be directly related to its illegal operations... several key elements supported each other, forming a solid logical closed loop.

Putting down his pen, Shen Mingyuan leaned back in his chair, his gaze sweeping over the orderly evidence folders on his computer screen.

As a lawyer, he rarely used the word "absolute" before a verdict, but at this moment, an almost certain confidence, based on solid evidence and professional judgment, filled him.

He was sure to win this case.

[Consciousness Space]

Han Chengyu's consciousness was burning, tortured by the third set of armor's convoluted "Decay-Stability" energy model. After yet another failed deduction, he stared at the erratic data streams, and suddenly, a mixture of Epiphany, relief, and a manic joy bordering on a breakdown instantly overwhelmed him.

"Fantastic! I'm starting to understand everything! Master Dao has succeeded! Hahahaha!!!"

[Detected abnormal fluctuations in the host's core thinking module; logical links are forming an irrational closed loop. Note: Your current 'understanding' is based on the accumulation of the 137th consecutive false assumption. The results of this derivation are invalid; core energy stability parameters are negative.]

The System's electronic voice cut in smoothly, as calm as ever.

[host, your state seems... somewhat overheated. It is recommended to immediately pause calculations and execute the Consciousness Cooling Protocol.]

[Real World]

The next day, Shen Mingyuan drove back to the vicinity of the Yuejin River. The scene before him was now completely different from yesterday.

The area where the chemical factory was located was cordoned off with layers of new yellow tape printed with the words "Emergency Response," and uniformed personnel stood guard at the entrance, strictly prohibiting any unauthorized personnel from entering.

Through the sparse gaps in the trees, one could see several spots within the factory grounds still emitting faint wisps of blue smoke, but the open flames had been extinguished. In their place were even more busy figures—many people in full white protective suits and masks were moving through the area, their movements cautious as they seemed to be systematically checking, transporting, and cleaning something.

The air was filled with a mixture of burnt smells, chemical solvents, and a certain... strange odor similar to when a large amount of vegetation is being processed en masse. Shen Mingyuan stood on a high slope outside the cordon, watching from a distance.

He saw some of the people in white suits taking clusters of dark green objects from the edge of the factory grounds and even further along the riverbank, placing them into specially made sealed boxes or thick black plastic bags.

"It seems it wasn't just the pipes; quite a lot of them 'grew' inside as well." Shen Mingyuan understood clearly. This explosion was indeed inseparable from the reverse intrusion of those Evolved Water Hyacinths.

Old Man Chen had also arrived nearby at some point, standing not far away with his hands behind his back, silently watching the cordoned-off factory grounds.

The creases on his face seemed to have smoothed out a bit, but there wasn't much joy in his eyes. Instead, there was a heavy sense of emptiness, like witnessing the sudden collapse of something massive.

"Uncle Chen," Shen Mingyuan walked over and greeted him.

Old Man Chen nodded, his gaze not leaving the people in white: "You're here, Lawyer Shen. Look at this scale..."

"Yes, the authorities have intervened fully. Accident investigation, pollution assessment, and... cleanup," Shen Mingyuan said.

"The village head just went house to house to notify everyone,"

Old Man Chen's voice was a bit raspy. "He said the higher-ups... that is, the court and environmental protection departments together issued a preliminary opinion, confirming that the factory's illegal discharge is a fact and that they bear an unshirkable responsibility for the damage caused to us.

The compensation plan... is already being drafted and put up for public notice. It's said to be... more than what we had estimated ourselves, if anything."

He paused, turned to look at Shen Mingyuan, his eyes filled with complex emotions: "This lawsuit... does it mean we don't need to fight it anymore?"

"Since the responsibility has been directly determined by the authoritative departments during the accident investigation and the compensation process has been initiated, our civil lawsuit has indeed lost its necessity regarding the main claims."

Shen Mingyuan gave his professional judgment in a calm tone. "Legal procedures are sometimes meant to reach justice; when justice is achieved through a more direct way, the procedures themselves can be simplified or terminated. This is a good thing."

Old Man Chen nodded as if he understood, then looked back at the factory grounds and murmured, "After all these years of trouble, I didn't expect... it would end like this." It wasn't through a long litigation process, but through a bizarre and tragic case of "bringing it upon themselves." His anger seemed to have been partially vented with that explosion; what remained was the exhaustion after the dust had settled and a genuine sense of relief after receiving the promise of compensation.

Not far down the slope, a few villagers who had heard the news gathered together, gesturing and pointing at the cordon, their faces mostly wearing expressions of vindication and triumph. The official news of the compensation had clearly spread.

He took one last look at the strictly controlled area, where the people in white were still methodically working, cleaning up this bizarre and bitter fruit bred from pollution.

"Let's go, Uncle Chen," Shen Mingyuan said. "The remaining matters can be left to the responsible departments. The result, it seems, won't be too bad."

Old Man Chen stood silently for a while longer before slowly turning around and following Shen Mingyuan down the slope.

Back in the village, the atmosphere was like a festival. The official news of the compensation acted like the best catalyst, sweeping away the gloom of the past few days. The villagers surrounded Shen Mingyuan, their faces beaming with simple joy and undisguised admiration. In their words, they had already credited the factory's explosion and the rapid official determination of responsibility entirely to this "big lawyer from the city."

"Lawyer Shen, you're truly the best!" someone said, giving a thumbs up. "We struggled for years with no progress, but as soon as you arrived, hey, you solved the factory and the problem all at once!"

"Lawyer Shen must have found ironclad evidence, and that unscrupulous factory got scared. They couldn't cover it up, so it blew up!"

"That's why they say you need to have education and methods! This time we really vented our frustrations!"

Shen Mingyuan tried to explain the accidental and complex nature of the explosion several times, but he was drowned out by the enthusiastic gratitude and the fully imagined "hero narrative."

Looking at those genuinely happy and relieved faces, he finally gave up his defense and smiled helplessly, letting them understand it however they wished.

Perhaps it was better to let them keep this simple happiness of "victory stemming from their own efforts."

Unable to decline their hospitality, he was ushered by the crowd to stay for the thank-you banquet that evening.

Although it was winter and the sky turned dark early, the bonfires lit in the village's open space and the hanging light bulbs made the atmosphere warm and bright.

The aroma of stew from a large pot was mouth-watering, and home-brewed rice wine filled the coarse bowls. Men, women, the young, and the old sat together, the sounds of talking, laughter, and toasting never-ending.

Shen Mingyuan was treated as the guest of honor, wearing a fitting smile as he blended into this simple and passionate celebration.

However, this boisterous joy did not last until late into the night.

Halfway through the feast, from the direction of the woodshed near the edge of the village, there was suddenly an agonizingly shrill chicken squawk, followed by the chaotic sound of poultry fluttering and struggling, which then stopped abruptly.

A middle-aged villager who was holding a bowl and laughing loudly froze at the sound and cursed:

"What immoral person is stealing chickens at this hour?" He put down his bowl, grabbed a flashlight leaning against the woodpile, and walked over drunkenly, "I'm going to see..."

Just as his flashlight beam swept across the darkness behind the woodshed, his voice was cut off as if he were being strangled. The next second, a distorted roar filled with extreme terror erupted:

"He—lp!!! There's... there's something!!!!"

The people around the bonfire fell silent instantly, looking over in shock.

The villager came scrambling out of the shadows on all fours, his flashlight already lost somewhere, his face pale as a sheet, pointing at the darkness behind him incoherently:

"The chickens... they're all gone! It's huge... something black... it's—it's chasing me!!!"

As if to confirm his words, from the ink-like darkness behind the woodshed came a heavy, sticky dragging sound, along with the terrifying noises of a massive creature snapping dry branches and rubbing against the ground as it moved.

A massive silhouette, its specific form difficult to distinguish, flashed past the edge where the flashlight's peripheral light occasionally swept. It was estimated to be five or six meters long, emitting a hair-raising, unnatural sense of pressure.

"Grab some tools!" Several brave men sobered up significantly and grabbed shovels and wooden sticks. The crowd was in a commotion as fear spread rapidly.

The giant creature in the darkness seemed to sense the gathering and noise of many humans. The unsettling dragging and rubbing sounds paused for a moment, then it quickly turned and headed in the opposite direction of the village, disappearing into the deeper darkness of the wilderness. The sounds grew distant and soon vanished into the night wind.

The villagers were still in shock, huddling together and aimlessly shining their flashlights at the open space, only to see several puddles of viscous, murky liquid mixed with chicken feathers and messy, giant drag marks leading toward the wilderness. Discussions, guesses, and cries of fear after the fact rose and fell.

Shen Mingyuan did not step forward with the crowd. He stood at the boundary of light and shadow, any trace of alcohol long gone from his face.

He stared into the darkness where the monster had disappeared, then looked down at the extraordinary drag marks in the soil, which were covered in some kind of biological slime, his brow furrowing tightly.

The dust from the factory explosion had not yet settled, the mutated plants in the river had just been cleaned up, and the sense of relief brought by the news of the official compensation had not even lasted half a day... the tightly wound string in his heart was plucked once again.

"No way..." he whispered to himself, a chill crawling up his spine. "Does this place... have other problems?"