The Big Apple City riot began to worsen around 8 PM on the evening of February 4th.
What had initially been a normal gathering of unemployed workers and a peaceful protest later escalated into a violent incident of smashing, looting, and arson.
Police personnel from the entire Big Apple City and several surrounding cities were dispatched, but they did not immediately enter the Outer Rim. Instead, they guarded the various entry and exit points between the upper and lower districts.
Mass incidents are not a problem; after all, a free country will always have free people. They are full of vitality and do this every now and then, so it's really not a big deal.
However, if the unrest of mass incidents spread to the upper district, disturbing the lives of the middle class, or even interfering with the routines of high society, then the problem would be very serious.
The police personnel all felt that they must first stabilize the defense line. Only by ensuring the absolute safety of the upper district could they consider entering the Outer Rim to quell the unrest.
Of course, before that, many disasters and tragedies would certainly occur… But, perhaps, that is also life.
But at this critical juncture, Uncle Tanaka, Mayor, who had been behaving in a rather mediocre, even somewhat at a loss, manner for the Past two hours, suddenly slammed his hand on the table and displayed the most decisive performance since taking office. He directly ordered the police force to immediately enter the Outer Rim, quickly quell the riot, and rescue the ordinary citizens caught in dire straits.
The police, of course, showed some… confusion. However, under the pressure of Uncle Tanaka, Mayor, who seemed like a changed man, they finally entered the Outer Rim tremblingly.
It was almost 11 PM. Then, in the next half hour, the police did not encounter the dangers they had imagined. Many troublemakers seemed somewhat exhausted and a bit at a loss.
They arrested some of the ringleaders, and the riot gradually subsided.
The “Imperial Hounds” mentioned by Black Moon, who were the spiritual energy users working for the government—members of the Blue Guards—finally entered the urban area of Big Apple City. Their deployment speed was certainly fast; after receiving Uncle Tanaka, Mayor's request for reinforcement, they arrived at the scene within twenty minutes.
By this time, the thunderous clamor and riot in the Outer Rim were already nearing their end.
The 30 million citizens of this city were destined to have a sleepless night, but at least the riot that made everyone tremble and hide at home, afraid to go out, had truly stopped.
In a dark alley, an officer in a black military overcoat poked the half-remaining head of a Lumina Rebel on the ground with an iron skewer, shook his head, stood up, and said helplessly to the person next to him, “We are one step too late. His brain is too severely damaged; it will be difficult to extract memory data.”
“Can you confirm this person's identity?”
“It has been confirmed. It's Suna Desu, one of the leaders of the Lumina God Army!”
Although this organization had the fierce name “God Army,” it was actually just one branch of the Lumina separatist movement's rebel organizations. Although it was one of the largest organizations, it was still only “one of.”
As for this Lumina Rebel, only half of his head remained, but as a rebel leader for so long, his facial information had long been entered into the Commonwealth's military database. By comparing parameters with an information terminal, his identity could naturally be determined immediately.
“I remember, the Lumina God Army has been annihilated?”
“Yes, Commander. Two weeks ago, their main force was annihilated by the Outer Rim Fleet. All high-ranking officials were captured, except for this person who escaped.”
The person referred to as “Commander” was a stern-faced, gloomy middle-aged man with a general's star on his epaulet. His entire aura was quite in harmony with his black Internal Guard uniform, almost screaming “secret police chief.” But in reality, although he came from the military police, he was now engaged in a very glorious and righteous profession.
His name was Francis Morey, a Brigadier General in the Internal Guard and the Deputy Commander of the Blue Guards, the newly formed spiritual energy user unit of the Blue Star Commonwealth.
According to Uncle Tanaka, Mayor, he suspected that the Big Apple City riot was manipulated by spiritual energy, which is why he directly sought help from the Defense Committee.
Since it involved spiritual energy crime, it was only natural for him, who had served as a military police officer and a prosecutor in the Military Law Department, to personally take charge.
“Uncle Tanaka, Mayor's guess is correct. There are indeed spiritual remnants throughout the city… Someone was indeed trying to construct a large-scale spiritual energy array in Big Apple City. If we hadn't arrived in time and the other party escaped, the consequences at this moment would truly have been unimaginable.” The lieutenant colonel who had examined the head said to Francis Morey.
“Arrived in time? Escaped?” Brigadier General Morey swept a gloomy gaze over the other party and said coldly, “Couldn't it be that someone stopped them before we arrived? Otherwise, what happened to this dead Lumina Rebel?”
The lieutenant colonel was speechless, nodding with an expression of admiration, but inwardly he grumbled: Anyway, there's no evidence for any of this, it's all just wild guessing. You're the leader, so of course what you say goes.
“Start tracing the source of the spiritual energy array. At least find out where their spellcasting core is located!” Brigadier General Morey ordered.
spiritual energy user registration laws, like those in the Empire and the Alliance, must be passed quickly! If there is no strict monitoring of spiritual energy, such things will happen sooner or later!
As he mused, he looked at the half-remaining head of the Lumina Rebel, then at its headless corpse, and suddenly let out an “eh,” walking quickly over, crouching down, and touching a little bit of the liquid flowing from the other party's corpse.
Because the Lumina Rebel's blood is nearly transparent, it is difficult to determine whether it is blood or bodily fluid.
Brigadier General Morey rubbed the liquid on his hand, furrowed his brows in thought for nearly half a minute, then put it in his mouth and licked it, causing the lieutenant colonel beside him to immediately show a disgusted expression.
But the Commander seemed completely oblivious, even smacking his lips as if savoring some delicacy. After another half minute, he declared decisively, “Check which cargo ships transporting high-energy fuel have docked in Big Apple City in the Past week.”
Leaving aside how the big shots of the Blue Guards would follow clues and stage a multi-million-word detective drama, Yu Lian, who truly saved Big Apple City from crisis, was currently in a small bar a dozen kilometers from the scene, ready to drink celebratory wine with his comrades-in-arms.
Their location was one of the Kuki-gumi's strongholds in Big Apple City, appearing on the surface as a very stylish bar. The area was certainly not small, and it had three floors, yet its interior decoration was simple, unadorned, and understated, clearly a common public consumption spot, found everywhere in the Outer Rim.
It was indeed more tasteful and much more low-key than the Norman Gang's Viking Club, which had been burned to the ground.
The rest of the Kuki-gumi members filled the other areas, celebrating by drinking large bowls of wine and eating meat heartily, but they still remembered to leave the innermost and quietest booth in the bar for Yu Lian and Autumn Mountain Yawata.
As for Black Moon, he completely went offline after the incident and vanished without a trace.
“That Bishop Connors only received orders from a higher level of the cult to construct a spiritual array in Big Apple City, the purpose of which was to let this disturbance completely spiral out of control. As for the specific reason, he himself wasn't too clear,” Autumn Mountain Yawata now told Yu Lian, naturally referring to the information Black Moon had left before going offline.
“As for the Lumina Rebels, it is said that the Wanling Sect has always been in contact with these separatists, exchanging intelligence and resources. The Lumina Rebels have always harbored deep malice towards Earthlings, so it is only natural for them to participate in such an action.”
Above, that was all Bishop Connors knew. Since he had lost his value, there was naturally no point in keeping him to waste air.
His body was now discarded in a trash can in the Outer Rim, surrounded by his own audio evidence, and was probably about to be discovered by the police in a few minutes.
“Horley also doesn't seem to know about the All-Unification Church's conspiracy in Big Apple City. The Norman Gang, in the final analysis, is just a pawn. As for why they would collude to seek our business, I'm not too clear about that either…”
Yu Lian was not surprised at all. If a cult could genuinely cooperate, would it still be a cult?
He suddenly thought of something and couldn't help but glance around the bar, finding no sign of Sixth Uncle.
Yu Lian clicked his tongue twice inwardly, not asking further, while Autumn Mountain Yawata maintained an innocent expression of knowing nothing, and continued, “In any case, we have left enough evidence at the scene. Even if the Central Government is foolish, it should know what to do.”
This was indeed good news. However, even if the Commonwealth Government declared the All-Unification Church an illegal organization decades in advance, it did not mean that everything would be fine.
How to deal with it? How to punish? How to implement the punishment plan once it's decided? And what about those big figures who are said to have good relations with the Wanling Sect? All of the above still had to be debated.
Hopefully, Wang Jingyang can be a little more effective this time. After all, this involves spiritual energy crime, which is arguably within the Blue Guards' jurisdiction. If there's an opportunity, Yu Lian wouldn't mind offering him a little help within his capabilities… However, the Wanling Sect fell too early, and he really didn't know much about this organization.
In short, this disturbance, which caused over 300 casualties, countless economic losses, and spread throughout the entire Big Apple Outer Rim, was hereby declared over.
At least officially, and in the records of later history, that was the case.
Such a large disturbance, yet only “this many” casualties, and the unrest, after all, did not spread to the upper district; the middle class and high society were not impacted at all.
As a result, Uncle Tanaka, Mayor, even received commendation for his decisive action.
As for what caused this incident, everyone seemed to have completely forgotten.
However, as the saying goes, no matter what major events happen in history, life must go on.
“Speaking of Black Moon, are you still planning to continue your fake medicine business with him?”
“It's not fake medicine; it's affordable medicine for the welfare of the poor people in the Universe!” Autumn Mountain Yawata quickly retorted, pushing up his glasses, but then sighed, “I really hope to cooperate with him. Just Black Moon's friendship alone is priceless. It's just that his conditions are really…”
Yu Lian also sighed, “That's why I really think you should change your way of thinking. This is another immature little suggestion I'm offering to you all.”
Autumn Mountain Yawata was silent for a few seconds, pushed up his glasses, and said sincerely, “I'm all ears.”
“You've played Go, right? I don't need to elaborate on the concept of 'gold in the corner, silver on the side, grass in the belly,' do I? Brother Yawata, you grew up on Earth, in the most prosperous core area of the Commonwealth. But precisely because of this, it's easier to limit your vision. You must jump out of this small Blue Star and consider things from the perspective of the Universe.”