mijobooks Chapter 47 Undercurrents of Prosperity
Chapter 47 Undercurrents of Prosperity
The People's Day in Linchuan City is held annually on May 6th. It has been ten years since the municipal government established this festival.
Over the past decade, this festival, which belongs exclusively to the people of Linchuan, has become the most important day for the citizens.
The festive atmosphere even surpassed that of the increasingly diluted Spring Festival. Nowadays, even fireworks and firecrackers are banned during the Spring Festival, and the last trace of the festive spirit is gone. Most people simply stay home and have a reunion dinner. But People's Day is different. On this day, the whole city celebrates together, and most of the city's citizens take to the streets.
At eight o'clock in the morning, the central square in front of the city government building was already packed with people.
Citizens from all directions flocked to the square, and the energetic background music mixed with the boisterous voices made the entire square feel like a pot of boiling water.
A red banner hangs on the temporary main stage, where the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the completion of the new urban infrastructure projects will be held. These projects are mainly for the benefit of the people, with many leading local enterprises providing full financial and resource support for the construction of people's livelihood in Linchuan.
Therefore, this ribbon-cutting ceremony was particularly grand, with not only leaders from various levels of the city in attendance, but also representatives from major companies that have contributed to the project's construction.
Ordinary citizens were too busy watching the excitement and browsing the market to enjoy the festive atmosphere, and no one noticed how many vigilant eyes were lurking in the square.
The entire square and surrounding streets had long been under the tight control of the special task force led by Pang Daqiang and the field agents of the Supernatural Abilities Bureau. Personnel were hidden at every entrance, exit, corner, and blind spot in densely populated areas. They moved back and forth among the crowd, constantly scanning their surroundings.
In an inconspicuous makeshift command vehicle by the roadside, Su Xiaohe and key personnel from the technical department were on duty. The blue light on the computer screen flickered incessantly, updating in real time the city's surveillance footage and data on abnormal fluctuations at the scene.
Behind the main stage, Chang Biao and his assault team stood by, ready to respond. Everyone held their breath, appearing to be quietly on guard, but in reality, they were all on high alert, ready to rush out and deal with any emergencies at any time.
Chen Shi didn't stand in a fixed position, slowly weaving through the crowd. While everyone else was chatting and laughing, he remained on edge the entire time, silently spreading his senses to carefully discern any hidden malice amidst the thousands of well-intentioned emotions.
In reality, Chen Shi's abilities weren't that useful. He could only sense the emotions of someone like Sun Tiemei, whose level far surpassed his, under special circumstances. Normally, he couldn't.
But today's situation is a bit special. Phantom Wolf is in an environment with severely excessive noise, and his supernatural abilities are suppressed, which may give Chen Shi a slight opportunity.
At the command post in the square, Sun Tiemei stood quietly on the balcony of the government building. Her neat uniform made her stand out from the noisy crowd around her.
She looked down at the surging crowd below, her face devoid of any festive ease, only displaying calm and vigilance. The deafening music and the cheers of the people filled her ears, and her eyes were met with a bustling, vibrant scene.
But Sun Tiemei knew perfectly well that beneath this most prosperous and peaceful scene, the mad wolf Huanlang, lurking in the shadows, was watching this place intently, ready to strike at any moment.
Beside the stage, the band was already in position, and the music they were playing was so loud it made everyone's eardrums tingle slightly. The invited government officials at all levels and business leaders walked up to the ribbon-cutting platform in a predetermined order.
A round of applause erupted from the audience, but all the security personnel and members of the special ability team on duty were on high alert, vigilantly observing every move around them, ready to deal with any emergencies at any time.
However, the continuous high-decibel noise around the stage seemed to be suppressing the shapeshifting ability user lurking in the shadows, preventing him from easily revealing any weaknesses. So far, everything appeared to be stable and orderly.
Not long after, a complete piece of music ended, the high-pitched speakers fell into a brief silence, and the crowd below the stage also stopped making noise.
The host came on stage to introduce the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Then, a lady in a cheongsam walked onto the stage carrying a tray with scissors and headed to the center of the ribbon-cutting platform.
At this moment, the background music for the ribbon-cutting ceremony started playing again.
Chen Shi, who was mixed in with the crowd, suddenly became serious.
Within the invisible spectrum of emotions, a chilling, violent aura, carrying intense killing intent, suddenly erupted.
Chen Shi stared intently, observing carefully. He noticed that the woman's lowered profile was twitching and contorting uncontrollably, her facial muscles twitching constantly. This was a fatal flaw revealed when a shapeshifter approached a high-decibel sound source.
"Oh no! Stop that person on stage!"
Chen Shi quickly issued a warning signal, and Sun Tiemei, who was on guard nearby, received the alert instantly. Without hesitation, she jumped down from the height and landed directly in the center of the stage, blocking the etiquette lady.
The officials and businessmen on the stage were startled by Sun Tiemei's sudden appearance and were at a loss for what to do. At that moment, the hostess realized that she had been exposed. Her supernatural power surged instantly. She grabbed the scissors and threw the tray at Sun Tiemei, trying to take advantage of the moment when Sun Tiemei was resisting to bypass Sun Tiemei and attack the officials not far away.
With a wave of her hand, Sun Tiemei froze the tray in the air. Chang Biao, who had been lying in ambush behind the stage, led several assault team members to rush forward and instantly surrounded the assailant.
Chang Biao didn't waste any words and immediately engaged the assailant in combat, the sounds of fists and feet clashing echoing across the platform. This assassin was highly skilled in martial arts, ruthless and cunning, and showed no mercy in his attacks.
For a moment, even the several assault team members couldn't subdue her, but she knew that if she continued to fight, it was only a matter of time before she was captured. Having made up her mind, she used a desperate move to force back the team members in front of her, and taking advantage of the chaos in the crowd to cover her, she turned and fled hastily towards the outside of the square.
The security personnel stationed below saw someone fleeing and instinctively gave chase. A large number of people left their positions, creating a wide gap in the previously tight and impenetrable defensive line, leading to chaos and disorder at the scene.
Given the unstable situation around the stage, in order to ensure the personal safety of the high-ranking officials, the accompanying patrol team immediately took action, escorting the officials away from the stage temporarily, intending to move to an indoor lounge to avoid the turmoil and wait for the situation to stabilize before continuing the ceremony.
A squad of patrol officers stood in neat rows, escorting the group as they moved quickly forward. Most of the attention present was focused on the fleeing suspect and the pursuing team.
As the patrol team marched normally, an unexpected incident occurred. One of the two officers walking side by side suddenly moved and launched a sneak attack on his colleague. The attack was lightning fast, and the officer beside him had no time to defend himself and was immediately seriously injured and collapsed to the ground.
Without pausing for a moment, the assailant dealt with his companion and then, with a flash of movement and a chilling killing intent, charged straight toward the mayor at the front of the group.
The people present felt a chill run down their spines upon seeing this. Even if they immediately set out to stop it, it would be too late to prevent the assassination.