248: Chapter 248 The Princess of the Capital Burns the Corpse

The image from the Wan City Radio Tower was enlarged by Liu Qing.

The man in the white cloak raised his head, the cross-shaped crystal core pendant on his chest glinting in the light.

Tang Qiqi was stunned for two seconds in B2.

"President before the apocalypse, Pope after the apocalypse? This career jump is even more absurd than me switching from a coser to an electrician."

No one laughed.

Su Xiaonuan held her tablet, her voice very soft.

"Boss Lin, should we respond?"

Lin Yuan withdrew his gaze.

"No need."

He had no interest in studying how a politician from the old world put on a god's skin.

He is in Wan City.

Then bury him along with it.

"Proceed as originally planned."

The order was given.

Tiangong No. 1 resumed operation.

The outer wall corpse processing site.

The snow was stained black by corpse grease.

Cart after cart of Wan City attacker corpses were pushed in front of the incinerator.

The air was filled with the smell of burnt flesh and disinfectant.

Jiang Yun, wearing the grey work uniform of the corpse incineration team, stood at the end of the line.

She received an iron hook, a pair of old gloves, and a piece of anti-poison cloth.

A staff member handed her a temporary work assignment sheet.

"If you damage the tools, contribution points will be deducted."

Jiang Yun looked at the black blood on the iron hook.

"Has this thing been washed?"

The staff member closed the sheet.

"You can spend contribution points to exchange for a new one."

Jiang Yun shut her mouth.

Her contribution points were currently zero.

The Capital Princess package subscription failed to renew.

Beside the corpse pile, Zhou Heng was busy calling people over.

After Fat Dragon died, the web of personal favors in the outer circle collapsed.

Who was capable, who was lazy, who was gossipy—Fat Dragon used to be able to tell at a glance.

Zhou Heng could suppress them, but he wasn't familiar with these messy accounts.

Several managers were slacking off in the chaos.

Three carts of corpses were missing from the registration sheet, and the disinfectant powder didn't match up either.

Zhao Ya rushed over with the logistics inventory sheet.

She saw that empty iron chair by the furnace.

Fat Dragon used to love sitting there, cursing while holding a cigarette.

Zhao Ya stopped.

The next second, she slammed the sheet onto the ground.

"You fat bastard!"

"We agreed you'd come back after the fight to eat mashed potatoes with garlic!"

"I even saved a whole basin for you!"

No one spoke.

Several outer circle managers lowered their heads, pretending to be busy.

Someone muttered quietly.

"Once Fat Dragon is dead, no one in the outer circle can keep things under control."

"Captain Zhou can't manage everything."

"What the Wan City broadcast said isn't entirely false..."

Jiang Yun heard it.

She didn't speak.

She used to think that it was enough for rules to be written in documents.

Now she realized that rules also needed someone to stand by the cesspit and kick the slackers back in.

Fat Dragon was that kind of person.

Crude. Dirty. But useful.

A corpse cart was pushed toward the incinerator.

The one pushing the cart was a stooped laborer, his face covered with a cloth, revealing only his eyes.

When he approached the base of the furnace, he flipped his wrist.

A homemade black canister rolled under the corpse pile.

The fire licked it. The canister cracked. Pfft.

Black-green mist seeped out from the gaps between the corpses.

The two laborers at the very front coughed, then collapsed to the ground.

Blood welled up from between their fingers.

"Corpse poison!"

The line scattered.

The corpse carts crashed into each other, blocking the retreat.

A dozen or so laborers were trapped, with poison mist in front and the corpse pile behind.

Zhou Heng led his people charging back.

"Seal off the processing site!"

"No one is allowed to run past the yellow line!"

Zhao Ya's face turned pale.

She saw a female worker collapse by the furnace and instinctively rushed in.

Captain Han Xue grabbed her by the back of her collar.

"If you go in, you're just adding another corpse."

Zhao Ya struggled.

"She's still alive!"

The outer circle managers pushed the responsibility onto each other.

"I'm not responsible for this side!"

"Who took the disinfectant powder?"

"Retreat first, wait for the Esper to come!"

No one dared to approach the poison mist.

Jiang Yun stood outside the yellow line.

The Green Lotus Fire in her palm flared up an inch. Then it stopped.

She grew up in the core area of the Capital.

She had seen battle reports, seen casualty lists, and seen Adam use a calm tone to say "necessary loss."

Risk her life for a group of laborers. Was it worth it?

These people were still calling her the Capital Princess yesterday.

She retreated half an inch on her tiptoes.

For some reason, she suddenly thought of her mother.

"I'm sorry, this time Mom won't hide."

"Mom will use everything to ensure your safety."

The next second, she stepped into the poison mist.

Captain Han Xue looked up. "Jiang Yun!"

The Green Lotus Fire spread out along the ground.

It didn't explode the corpse grease. It didn't roll up the corpse pile.

The line of fire burned through the black-green mist, strand by strand.

The poison mist was burned into grey-white smoke and dust.

The sound of the fallen laborers coughing up blood lessened.

Someone lying on the ground looked at her.

That look wasn't awe. It was stunned disbelief.

This daughter of Adam was actually standing in the corpse pile saving them.

Jiang Yun raised her hand, and the Green Lotus Fire burned open a narrow path.

"Drag the corpse cart on the left away."

"Those who can crawl, crawl."

"Those who can't move, let the people next to you drag them out."

No one moved.

Jiang Yun said coldly, "If you want to die, keep staring at me."

An old laborer's leg had been contaminated by the corpse poison.

Jiang Yun raised her hand. She flicked the Green Lotus Fire. The poison mist dispersed.

"Crawl!"

The old laborer scrambled out of the fire line.

Captain Han Xue reacted the fastest.

"Patrol team, follow her line of fire and go in."

"Two people per group, drag the wounded."

"Zhao Ya, count the heads!"

Zhao Ya wiped her face and picked up the sheet.

"The living, report your numbers! The dead, shut up!"

The situation began to stabilize.

Sweat beaded on Jiang Yun's forehead. The Green Lotus Fire continued to burn forward.

When she burned to the base of the furnace, she suddenly stopped.

The poison mist wasn't scattering randomly.

It was following a grey-black oil trail, snaking toward the laborers' rest shed.

There were heating stoves over there. There were ration boxes. And dozens of ordinary people who had just changed shifts.

Jiang Yun turned her head.

That stooped laborer who pushed the corpse cart was blending into the crowd, retreating outward.

His sleeve was bulging.

Jiang Yun raised her hand.

A wisp of Green Lotus Fire flew out.

The line of fire burned through his sleeve.

A second corpse poison bomb canister fell out, which he had been clutching tightly in his arm bandage.

The whole place went quiet.

The laborers looked at the black canister, their expressions changing.

This wasn't an accident.

Someone wanted to turn the entire processing site into a source of corpse poison.

The man turned to run.

Jiang Yun stepped forward.

The Green Lotus Fire wrapped around the shell of the bomb canister.

The flames burned away the earthen shell bit by bit, but suppressed the poison liquid inside from spreading.

Her hand was very steady. Even steadier than when she signed papers at the Capital conference table.

The canister was burned into an empty shell.

Jiang Yun raised her leg. Crack.

The man's knee shattered, and he knelt before the laborers who had just been rescued.

He opened his mouth to shout.

"Lin Yuan is a ty—"

Zhou Heng smashed his gun butt down. Teeth flew into the snow.

"Try using my Sir's name to scream one more time."

The man's mouth was full of blood, leaving only whimpers.

Captain Han Xue opened the wartime regulations.

"Wan City spy."

"Spreading corpse poison."

"Execute on the spot."

She raised her gun. Bang. The body fell.

Captain Han Xue continued reading.

"Three managers of the corpse incineration team derelict in their duties: contribution points cleared to zero, demoted to laborers."

"Those who concealed the whereabouts of the disinfectant powder, handed over for investigation."

Several managers' legs went weak and they knelt down. No one spoke up for them.

Jiang Yun completed the last circle of purification. The Green Lotus Fire extinguished.

She stood in front of the incinerator, her face covered in ash, her fingers still trembling.

Not from fear. From exhaustion.

A rescued female worker supported her companion and whispered, "Thank you... Captain Jiang."

She didn't know Jiang Yun's name; she only knew that when those people from the Capital arrived, they called her Captain Jiang.

Jiang Yun glanced at her. "I am not your captain."

The female worker didn't argue.

A second laborer spoke up. "Captain Jiang."

A third. "Captain Jiang."

The voices were not in unison. Nor were they loud. But it spread.

Zhao Ya held the logistics sheet.

"What are you shouting for? Contribution points won't be given out more just because you're sweet-talking."

She lowered her head to write.

[Jiang Yun.] [Outer Wall Corpse Incineration Team.] [Special War Merit: Purified corpse poison, rescued seventeen laborers, exposed one Wan City spy.]

Main control room. Su Xiaonuan received the record.

She only approved four words. [Distribute according to regulations.]

Jiang Yun's watch vibrated. The contribution points arrived.

Not many. But clear. Each item was written clearly.

She looked at that string of numbers. For the first time, she didn't feel it was an insult.

Wang Xue stood behind the medical observation window in the distance, watching her daughter's disheveled and ash-covered appearance.

"Better than washing dishes."