Chapter 1770: The Public Painting
It was unknown whether the barriers erected within the city could withstand the explosion of the "Mini Mushroom Cloud," but at the moment of the blast, all the space items deployed inside the city had indeed completely failed. In that fleeting instant of failure, Xu Huo, who had been on the rooftop, vanished. Coupled with his parting words, both the players within the city and the aircraft all headed toward the district government.
Xu Huo could control the timing of the mutual interference between temporal and spatial items, so after leaving the city, he put away "Three Seconds of Life" and used a teleportation item to arrive directly at the district government.
In front of the main building of District 019's government headquarters, there was a very spacious plaza. Originally, defensive items and instruments had been arranged both inside and outside the plaza. However, due to the events of the past two days, some ordinary people had come to gather in the square for protests. Coupled with the malfunction of the intelligent system, the district government had also been evacuated, so there were now fewer defenders here.
But that didn't mean Xu Huo could waltz in. He had originally planned to use "Gentleman's Poise" to complete the instance over the plaza. Unexpectedly, as soon as he entered, a powerful gravitational force suppressed him. At the same time, two players appeared on the roof of the main building, looking down at him as he landed on the ground.
Having slapped the district government in the face, the government players naturally held a grudge against him. If the higher-ups hadn't yet issued a kill order, Xu Huo would probably already be a human-shaped target by now!
But that didn't matter. He unfolded his Spiritual Realm and simultaneously opened over a dozen portals around himself. Through these portals, he scattered the photos he had prepared in advance.
The photo paper from District 019 was as soft as ordinary paper. When they drifted through the air, air currents could easily fold and curl them. Therefore, people standing at lower elevations or on the ground could often only see part of the content on the paper. At this moment, the faster players had already arrived, and residents who were originally not far from the district government also launched their aircraft. The sky-flying papers immediately filled their field of vision. Someone couldn't help but reach out and grab one. Unfolding it, they found it was a painting.
To be precise, it was a photographed painting.
The painting was "Ember Maiden." The title and Master Solan's signature were clearly marked at the bottom. It was also similar to the photos previously released on the Message Collection Terminal, except this time it was the complete painting.
In the painting were two bound women, the dazzlingly colorful gems that stretched out and squeezed their living space, and the faces on the gems, each with different expressions.
The names "Xia Xi Duolaiti" and "Fragrance," written on the corners of their clothes, were read aloud. At the same time, because the message on the Message Collection Terminal spread quickly enough, someone soon recognized the faces on the right side of the gems. These faces weren't entirely unfamiliar; they sometimes appeared in important news, belonging to big shots in District 019. But at this moment, their faces were turned toward the bound women, appearing cold and cruel compared to the women's pained expressions.
As for the faces that Xia Xi Duolaiti was facing, there was no immediate reaction. Perhaps those who knew them were already dead, or they might have been symbolic representations. However, not long after, someone on the Message Collection Terminal claimed to recognize "Fragrance."
The information about Fragrance was similar to what Xu Huo had seen before, but the person who recognized her was from Ember City, so they knew more details. Not only did someone accurately state Fragrance's birth and death years, but they also mentioned where she had lived, her neighbors, and her husband's name. More importantly, an elderly person recalled that when the Tiantianle Group was recruiting workers, Fragrance had also gone. Since the mines required physical labor, women were weaker than men but would receive the same wages, so mining groups never hired women. Shortly after Fragrance's husband died, she cut her hair short, disguised herself as a man, and followed the group. Her neighbors were all poor people. No one exposed her; they covered for each other and let it slide. In the end, like the other miners, she never returned.
"So she was pregnant..." An unfinished sentence seemed to reveal the reason Fragrance disguised herself as a man and risked entering the mine. She was pregnant, her husband had died, she had no relatives, and no good job. Without money, she couldn't support herself or her child.
Master Solan could easily stir people's emotions. Yet, even without such masterful painting skills, the woman's calm yet blood-and-tear-stained face deeply touched those who saw the painting. Her eyes were closed, and people couldn't help but imagine what she looked like with them open, imagine the despair she felt when, pregnant and struggling for a sliver of hope, she was suddenly cut down by an unexpected man-made disaster. And she was just one of the many who died in the mines.
At this moment, a hundred years of time had been compressed. The victims of the mining disaster were no longer just a cold, impersonal number, but real, living people...
"Who are the people on the gems?" This question had become the most pressing concern for the people of District 019.
Since the faces on the right matched people from the district government and mining groups, the left side should correspond to the victims.
Just as the crowd was frantically trying to verify the identities of the faces in the painting, Xu Huo had already clashed with the government players several times. After being knocked flying for the umpteenth time, he tried to escape through a spiritual portal. However, the approaching player threw out several spiritual jammers in quick succession. The spiritual portal flickered unstably and then disappeared. At the same time, Xu Huo was grabbed by the throat and slammed hard onto the plaza floor!
The defense barrier couldn't withstand the powerful impact. Xu Huo immediately spat blood. While "Holder's Demise" and "All Things Want to Cut Everything" were both blocked by the opponent's items, he activated two traits: "Written Intensity" and "Important Notice."
"Written Intensity" could force everyone within a five-hundred-meter range to stare at him, while "Important Notice" could create a half-minute time freeze, though with only a 90% coverage rate. But he was lucky. As the people near the plaza turned their heads, the government player gripping his neck paused for a moment.
Before "Ember Maiden" was made public, if the government players had forcibly killed Xu Huo, it might have caused some negative repercussions, but it wouldn't have been entirely irredeemable. However, the government didn't want to create a crack in its good reputation. After all, the mining disaster happened a hundred years ago. What the government personnel did back then had little to do with most of the current government staff. There was no need to tear open that old wound.
Xu Huo had first bombed the city and then stormed the government building. This was practically slapping the district government in the face. The government players were certainly intent on killing him. But now that "Ember Maiden" had been made public—not only seen by those present but also widely spread on the Message Collection Terminal—if he died at this moment, it would look like a cover-up!
(End of Chapter)