“Ah?”
Watching the jubilant crowd and hearing them chant Liang Shuguang’s name, Bai Feifei wavered for a split second.
The people, ignorant of the truth, still adored Liang Shuguang. They had no idea that the higher-ups had merely distorted the truth to maintain stability.
Yet seeing them like this, they genuinely seemed happy. Was her choice really the right one?
The dark truth she knew stood in stark, jarring contrast to the cheering and rejoicing of the people before her.
The sheer absurdity of that contrast gave her the illusion that the entire world was unreal.
In her mind, Xu Mo chuckled with a sigh of admiration. “The stage Liang Shuguang has set up is quite fascinating... He did a pretty good job.”
Then, he teased the somewhat dazed Bai Feifei, “What, lost already?”
“If other people’s actions and reactions can sway your judgment, it only proves you aren’t being true to yourself.”
Hearing Xu Mo’s words, Bai Feifei let out a long breath. She folded the flyer neatly, slipped it into her pocket, and turned back toward her room.
“It’s nothing,” she said. “Time is running out. I should get ready.”
“Tell me, what did you say to Wan Qianhong last night? Let’s talk about how we’re going to make our move.”
Her voice regained its composure. It was as if the more her heart wavered, the more resolute she became.
Observing her state, a satisfied smile played on the corners of Xu Mo’s lips, one that even he didn’t quite notice.
“Mmh, she adjusts quickly.”
At the same time, as Bai Feifei returned to her room, Xu Mo clearly sensed several heartbeats hidden in the street corners suddenly steadying themselves.
When Bai Feifei had first stepped out, those heartbeats had experienced a distinctly abnormal spike in rate.
Realizing this, he nearly burst out laughing.
It seemed quite a few people were keeping a close eye on them before the grand ceremony.
But of course. After all, the entire city now knew exactly what kind of figure Bai Feifei was. She was no longer the nobody she once was; they were bound to be extremely tense about her presence.
Those watchdogs were working hard, keeping guard for so long.
“Heh, interesting. Quite amusing. If I have some free time later, I might play around with them.”
...
Two days flew by. In truth, the common people found it hard to understand why the City Lord had only allowed three days for such a grand ceremony, as if he simply couldn't wait another second.
During these forty-eight hours, Dawn City ran like a tightly wound machine, spinning at a frantic pace.
The media personnel of the Yan family rushed about as if pumped full of stimulants, packaging the City Lord's abdication ceremony as an unprecedented, spectacular event.
The streets were repainted, and flags were planted along every main thoroughfare to prevent guests traveling from afar from seeing too much of the city's dilapidated state.
The invited big shots from various regions, as well as personnel from the World Scavenger Headquarters, had also arrived in rapid succession over the past few days.
Other cities relatively close by, such as Crescent City and Black Mountain City, had also dispatched their own Edgerunners, who rushed over at top speed.
Naturally, Turing City, a world-renowned metropolis, also had its own representatives this time—Xie Xuan and Xie Jin.
In fact, the two of them simply hadn't left.
Watching the internal revelry of Dawn City and the dense clusters of flags and slogans, these visitors couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion.
But they quickly noticed that among the names the public cheered and discussed, there was another exceptionally dazzling name alongside Liang Shuguang—Bai Feifei!
In all the publicity campaigns, whether discussing the resolution of the threat or the clearing of the North District's aberrations, this woman’s name appeared over and over again.
On various flyers and slogans, her exposure rate was terrifyingly high, second only to City Lord Liang Shuguang!
It was as if they were terrified people wouldn't know who she was and were deliberately promoting her.
“What on earth is Liang Shuguang trying to do this time? He’s making such a massive fuss.”
“He even specifically summoned all of us, claiming there’s a major discovery to be announced regarding the Evil Gods of the Old Days?”
“Who is this Bai Feifei anyway? Sounds like a girl’s name.”
“I’ve never heard of her before. Apparently, she’s Dawn City's great hero. Where is she? Let's go meet her ahead of time.”
“What? No one knows where she lives? It’s classified?”
The representatives fell into a flurry of discussion. Some were shocked, some curious, while others thoughtfully made a mental note of her name.
Regardless, for Liang Shuguang to build up such momentum for her, this person's significance was definitely anything but simple.
What they didn't know was that the very person they were discussing was currently staying in an inconspicuous room—one that also happened to be the most heavily guarded, tension-filled spot in the entire city.
Countless Dawn City Scavengers watched the place from the shadows, their expressions tense, monitoring every single move of this ticking time bomb.
No one knew what kind of outrageous stunt this woman might pull at any given second. If it were up to them, they would have preferred to place her under house arrest before the ceremony even concluded!
However, given Bai Feifei's current strength and status, no one could do such a thing anymore. They had no choice but to quietly monitor her from the shadows.
In a shadowed corner of the street, a man kept his eyes fixed on Bai Feifei's room, communicating covertly through his walkie-talkie.
“She hasn't come out at all?”
“No,” a lowered voice replied from the other end. “She only seemed to step out once yesterday morning to look at the parade, then went straight back inside. She hasn't emerged since.”
“Then what is she eating?”
“Yeah, what is she eating?”
Static filled the channel for a moment before another voice chimed in.
“Wan Qianhong seems to have gone inside twice. Not sure what for, probably delivering food.”
“Our wiretaps can't pick up their conversation.”
The team leader fell silent for a moment before speaking in a grim tone.
“Keep an eye on Wan Qianhong as well. During the ceremony, we must be extremely cautious with both of them. Report their locations at all times.”
“Bai Feifei isn't a criminal right now—she’s a hero. But if she makes any suspicious moves, report it immediately and let the higher-ups make the call. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Understood!”
A few low acknowledgments crackled through the walkie-talkie, and the channel fell silent once more.
Right at that moment, under the gaze of over a dozen pairs of eyes, the door opened.
Bai Feifei stepped out!
More than a dozen pairs of eyes locked onto the door simultaneously, every hidden sentry's nerves stretched to their limit.
In the shadows, they could feel their own breathing growing heavy.
This was bad. According to the schedule, the ceremony was set to begin tomorrow.
“Is this woman... really unable to stay quiet after all?”
Everyone held their breath, their minds racing. The team leader had already clenched his fists, rapidly calculating his options in case an emergency arose.
Then, under the intensely tense gaze of every single watcher, Bai Feifei walked out to the open space in front of her door, stopped, flapped her arms, and hopped up and down twice like a lunatic.
Literally just hopped twice.
Then she turned around, walked back inside, and shut the door.
Everything happened so blindingly fast that it felt like a hallucination born of getting out of bed too quickly.
The watchers: “??”
Rate on N.U.
