Rushing upstream, he found the sewage outlet!

Director Yang was stunned on the spot, exclaiming in disbelief, "Lin Yuan?? What is he doing over there? Isn't he a real estate agent? How can he help you?"

Hearing this string of questions, Team Chen replied with a wry smile, "He came to help with a funeral by playing the suona and promoting houses. He also discovered this case."

"And he seems to know a lot!"

As soon as he said this, Director Yang was completely bewildered, his head buzzing.

Team Chen felt that there was no reply from the other end of the phone for a few seconds, and a wave of helplessness washed over him.

He could probably guess what Director Yang was feeling right now; it was indeed too unbelievable.

However, now was not the time to be in a daze. He quickly asked, "Director Yang, please send more people over quickly, and also call for some medical personnel. Everyone in this village is poisoned, and we don't have enough manpower."

Director Yang suddenly snapped back to his senses, shock and panic intertwined in his eyes. He realized that now was not the time for surprise.

He stood up from his seat, took a deep breath, and replied in a deep voice, "I understand. You've worked hard. You must stabilize the scene. I'll arrange it immediately!"

"Okay!"

After hanging up the phone, Director Yang looked out the window, his expression solemn, appearing to be in a daze.

The reason he didn't immediately arrange for manpower to help was because his intuition told him that the severity of this matter was beyond imagination, and it was far from something he, as a Director, could solve alone.

The poisoning incident involved too many people, spreading throughout West Sea City.

Once the public learned the details, could he suppress it?

Clearly, he could not.

After much thought, Director Yang took out his phone and dialed Li Secretary.

Logically, he should have reported the situation to his direct superior.

But after all, this matter was not as simple as solving a case; it concerned the public's morale, and the police alone could not solve the problem.

Soon, the call was connected.

Li Secretary asked in surprise, "Director Yang, why are you calling me? Is something wrong?"

"Something big has happened, Li Secretary!"

Hearing this, Li Secretary's expression changed, becoming serious instantly. He asked, "What happened?"

Ten minutes later, the call ended, and Li Secretary immediately rushed to Secretary He's office at a hundred-meter sprint speed.

As for Director Yang, he immediately mobilized the police force and medical personnel from the bureau to quickly go to the village to investigate the case.

Bang!

The office door was pushed open forcefully.

Secretary He, who was working, turned his head in surprise to look at the doorway, frowning.

Before he could ask, he heard an exclamation: "Secretary, something big has happened!!"

Looking at the panting Li Secretary, Secretary He calmly asked, "What happened? What's wrong?"

Hoo~

After taking a deep breath, Li Secretary said with a terrified expression, "Just now, Director Yang called me. They found that all the villagers in a mountain village have mercury poisoning!"

Hearing this, Secretary He's expression changed slightly, and he asked with a serious look, "Mercury poisoning? Did someone poison them? Are there any casualties?"

"No! Currently, there are no casualties. We don't know if it's man-made yet, but it has been confirmed that the fish and water in the Big Lake nearby contain mercury elements."

"We even held an event by that lake the year before last. You personally attended, do you remember?"

Boom~~~

As soon as he finished speaking, Secretary He suddenly stood up, his eyes wide, staring intently at his Secretary and exclaiming, "How is that possible? Isn't that lake a key protected water source in our city? Didn't they say there were even white sturgeon there? And don't the local people make a living by fishing?"

At this point, Secretary He suddenly paused, then his face changed dramatically, and he froze there.

He finally understood!!!

Originally, he was still wondering why only people in one village were poisoned, and no one had died. Logically, it shouldn't be a particularly big deal.

Even hearing that the Big Lake was polluted, while shocking, wasn't enough to cause alarm.

But the moment he remembered that the fish from that lake were sold externally, he completely couldn't sit still!

Just as Director Yang thought, this was no longer as simple as one village being poisoned or the Big Lake being polluted.

Instead, it was a major case affecting the entire city!

Just thinking about it sent shivers down his spine.

Although it seemed there were no casualties at the moment, if it hadn't been discovered early and the villagers had continued to fish and sell them...

What would the consequences be?

Years later, there would inevitably be a major news report: a certain mountain village in West Sea City collectively died of mercury poisoning.

West Sea City residents massively poisoned, the entire city plunged into panic.

By then...!

Unimaginable. Once the higher-ups held him accountable, what would he say? What would he report?

When he participated in the event before, he specifically helped promote it, making the aquatic products here sell well throughout the city, and even many outsiders came specifically for them.

Now, he had become one of the culprits.

Therefore, what seemed like just a common poisoning among villagers in a small mountain village actually involved the lives of how many people and his own future.

Thinking of this, beads of sweat unconsciously appeared on Secretary He's forehead.

Li Secretary stood by, not daring to breathe, watching attentively, ready for orders at any time.

The next second, he saw Secretary He's grim face, and he ordered in a heavy tone, "Immediately contact all major Hospitals in West Sea City and have them immediately establish an Experts emergency department for mercury poisoning. Each will send out medical teams to various communities, commercial buildings, etc., throughout the city, to provide free blood tests for every citizen."

"Especially the communities near the mountain village, send more personnel to ensure that every citizen can be tested. Once poisoning is found, send them to the Hospital for treatment immediately, and the Government will bear the cost."

"In addition, contact the communication department to send a text message to every West Sea City resident, asking them to go to the nearest station for blood tests, and then notify the TV station and radio station for urgent city-wide publicity."

"Finally, contact the traffic police team and have them send more personnel to various streets to direct traffic, patrol the entire city, and publicize with loudspeakers, urging the public to get physical examinations, on standby 24 hours a day, to avoid large-scale panic. Then call Director Yang and tell him to seal off the Big Lake, prohibit anyone from fishing, and recall and dispose of all fish from the Big Lake that are for sale in the market."

"Oh, right, tell the driver to wait for me downstairs. I'm going to the scene immediately."

After hearing the Secretary's instructions, Li Secretary nodded in agreement, "Okay!"

He turned and left immediately to make the calls.

Lin Yuan, on the other hand, still had no clue.

Team Chen, after asking the villagers about some situations, still couldn't figure out why the Big Lake was polluted, so he had to wait for support on the spot.

Just then, Lin Yuan suddenly walked over and suggested, "Team Chen, I suggest we go a bit further upstream and then test the water quality to see if the mercury content is similar."

"With such a large lake, it's impossible for the mercury content in every part of the water to be uniform, right? If we can find where the concentration is higher, we might find some clues."

As soon as he said this, Team Chen's eyes lit up, and he immediately slapped his thigh, exclaiming in surprise, "Good idea! It has to be you, Lin Yuan. Let's go, let's go, let's set off now."

With that, he pulled Lin Yuan's arm, called the doctor responsible for the tests and a few Police Officers, and drove upstream in a police car.

They drove for about five minutes, at least one or two kilometers from the mountain village.

After getting out of the car, the group collected some water by the lake and tested it with instruments.

But the moment the results appeared!

Everyone was stunned, their faces filled with excitement!

The doctor responsible for the tests exclaimed excitedly, "Team Chen, the mercury content in the water here is significantly higher!"

Hearing this, everyone realized something was wrong.

This area was upstream. Logically, water flows downstream, so the mercury content downstream should be higher. Why was it higher the further upstream they went?

Team Chen immediately raised his arm and shouted, "Let's go, continue upstream and see if the pollution is worse."

The car drove for about another two kilometers and slowly stopped.

This time, everyone watched the doctor's tests with anticipation.

The results were as expected, and everyone was overjoyed.

Because the mercury content here had increased again.

From the current three test results, the further upstream they went, the higher the concentration. Didn't that mean the source of the pollution was upstream?

Thinking of this, everyone was full of drive, heading upstream, testing every so often, as if the answer was right before their eyes.

But when they had driven about ten kilometers, they found that there was almost no sign of human habitation.

All around were lush trees, stretching as far as the eye could see.

Due to the sparse population, the weeds on the ground were also very thick.

If it weren't for the main road being a concrete road, they would have thought this was an undeveloped, desolate area.

Sitting in the car, everyone gradually felt the atmosphere becoming a bit oppressive.

Although nothing was clearly wrong, there was a sense of impending storm.

Just then.

The Photographer asked in surprise, "Brother, do you hear something?"

Lin Yuan pricked up his ears in confusion, frowning, "What sound?"

The other people in the car also listened curiously to the sounds outside the window, but heard nothing.

But the Photographer had a mysterious expression and said firmly, "No, there's a sound... and it's getting closer. Listen carefully!"

As soon as he finished speaking.

Team Chen immediately exclaimed, "There really is! I hear it too, like the sound of a very small waterfall."

Lin Yuan listened carefully again upon hearing this, and sure enough, he heard it too!

The few of them exchanged glances, then nodded in understanding, preparing to get out of the car to check.

After getting out, the sound of flowing water was even more obvious. Not only them, but also the people in the car behind them heard it.

Holding sticks, everyone blazed a trail towards the direction of the sound.

As they got closer, the sound of flowing water grew louder and louder.

Until they reached the end of the bushes, suddenly, the Photographer exclaimed again, pointing forward and shouting, "Brother, look over there... the sound of water is coming from there."

As soon as he finished speaking, he immediately covered his mouth: "Ugh~ What is this smell? It's so bad!"

Everyone felt a smell like rotten eggs instantly hit the top of their heads.

The smell was simply incredible. They all quickly covered their mouths and slowly moved towards their destination.

But when they arrived at the location of the outflow, seeing the outlet, everyone was shocked!

They saw a huge pipe, over a meter in diameter, emerging from the soil on the lake bank.

Large amounts of disgusting, foul-smelling black water were continuously gushing out of the pipe, splashing onto the lake surface and creating countless bubbles.

It looked like a black waterfall. Wherever it reached, the lake water was dyed a disgusting color.

Looking into the distance, the color of the lake surface was gradient, becoming clearer the further down it went.

Recalling the water quality downstream before, who would have thought that the water upstream was so dirty?

Could such water still be called good water quality?

They would probably even complain about the smell if it were used to flush toilets.