Beginning with the Ubume Bird-Chapter 568 - 64: Return
The following day was shrouded in a continuous drizzle.
Wild pigeons flapped their wings and cooed noisily, settling on a balcony.
San Francisco’s "News Report" devoted a full page to an accident that had occurred a few days earlier. A black-and-white photograph, which took up a quarter of the page, showed the face of Chang Yu bathed in flames. The headline was sensational: "Riots! The Steam Demon’s Midnight Revenge."
The husband, with bandages around his neck and arms, set down the newspaper and donned his coat to go outside.
"Remember to take an umbrella, Drake."
His wife called out from the kitchen.
"I know."
The husband responded gruffly. His name was Drake, a detective at the San Francisco Police Department, who had been injured in the recent Steam Demon incident.
"Daddy, are you going to work?"
Their six-year-old daughter asked, wearing a pink lace dress.
"Yes, my sweetheart."
The gloomy expression on the husband’s face lightened a bit.
"Are you going to catch the bad guys?"
The daughter unfolded the newspaper, and Chang Yu’s terrifying face leapt off the page.
"..."
There was a moment of silence before the husband squatted down and gently rubbed his cheek against his daughter’s forehead.
"Child, some people can’t be simply classified as good or bad, these things are too complex for you, and I would rather you never understand them. I promise you, my duty is to the stability and safety of this city, and I am willing to give my life for it. There are some things that I would do exactly the same if they were to happen again, and I would not regret them."
Georgia Street, the office of the San Francisco "News Report"
"I’ve read the follow-up report on the Steam Demon, it needs more editing."
The editor-in-chief adjusted his glasses.
"I don’t understand, you’ve sent my piece back five times already."
The young reporter couldn’t help but retort.
Taking up the manuscript, the editor-in-chief read, "In summary, we can see that the Steam Demon incident is but retribution for the racists with blood on their hands. What is more fantastical is that a cruel and barbaric massacre against certain races is quietly transpiring on our land. The proud spirit of democracy in San Francisco weeps!"
He jabbed at the manuscript: "Look at what nonsense you’ve written."
"Sir, perhaps you think..."
"Don’t think I don’t know!" shouted the editor-in-chief: "You’ve been seduced by that Frenchwoman’s charms! Not a single good thing comes from the French. This is a slanderous affront to San Francisco."
Still indignant, he lifted the reporter’s manuscript high: "These few insubstantial words of yours could bring you enormous trouble! A madman kills a few people, causes a few explosions and some chaos, and what does that change? I’ll tell you, he changes nothing."
The reporter, scolded by the editor-in-chief, left the office.
Everywhere on the streets, "Steam Demon" newspapers circulated, and people’s complexions changed at the mention of this Chinese man with a mask, a giant brass arm armor, and a harsh raspy voice. He became a household name overnight. Even some shopkeepers sensed an opportunity and started publishing novels and staging plays about "The Night of the Steam Demon’s Revenge."
Dorothy stood quietly at the entrance of the newspaper office, gazing at the heavy rain on the streets.
"I’m sorry, Miss Dorothy, I did my best."
The reporter said, lowering his head in shame.
Dorothy smiled gently: "It’s all right, Hans, you did what you could. At the very least, I suppose I have repaid his care for me."
"What did you say?"
Hans asked.
"What I mean is, who knows what the future holds?"
The proposal to redevelop Chinatown had been shelved, and the city hall defaulted to letting the Chinese people rebuild their own houses on the ruins and ashes. After such a tragic experience, the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce was determined to establish a hospital in New Chinatown to shut the health department’s mouth. But many Chinese still slept in the streets.
Raindrops fell into a sewage pit, reflecting the face of a dirty little child. As the cold rain continued to fall, he squatted in the rain like a dark rat, exposing his buttocks.
The child looked up at the drizzling sky with a expressionless face, his buttocks raised.
In the sewage pit, an eerie, thick fog swirled wildly along with the figures of people in black cloaks.
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"You have completed this Yan Fu event (Gold acquired with a base value of over 100,000 US Dollars), and an additional four Yan Fu events (Terrifying Mermaid, Mystery of the Madman, Giant Lake, Exploring the Abyssal Mouth). Your current total count of completed Yan Fu events: 18."
Carnage Progress: 30%
"Esteemed Walker of Yan Fu, please note, the Book of Creation and the Words of the Great Sage are detected by Hou Tu as low-intensity hazardous items, it is recommended you proceed with the direct handover of the Yan Fu event."
"Handover."
The Book of Creation should contain a wealth of peak technology from the R’lyeh era, but on one hand, Li Yan himself had no intent to spend too much effort on these things and had achieved no results after reading it for several days. Chang Yu managed to tinker with "Ascenders" stuff in just one night, which clearly showed his own lack of talent, not to mention the entanglement with the Super Ancient Ghost.
More importantly, Li Yan instinctively felt that if he were greedy for the technology in the Book of Creation, it would bring even greater troubles to himself in the future.
Once bitten, twice shy, Li Yan did not wish for a second Zhang Yichu to come calculating against him.
"Your rating for completing this Yan Fu event is: Excellent Luck (top notch!)."
"Settlement begins!"
An endless black deep sea, bizarre creatures of deep trenches, huge colorful industrial equipment, towering chimneys, railway tracks spreading across oceans and lands, and...
A massive strike, epidemic eradication efforts, fires, men’s charred faces, blood flowing everywhere, a turbid giant moon, grand fireworks.
The settlement report is as follows:
Excellent Luck rating points: 600
Purchase rights quota: 250% (top notch!).
Current Yan Fu points: 3100
You have obtained five chances to draw with the power of any random inheritance.
Draw completed.
You have acquired [Heritage: Fin of Sea Cow Narlingw], [Heritage: Pearl of Sea Cow Qimeng], [Heritage: Tail of Zhu Yan·Chihao][Armillary Sphere][Heritage: Heart of Zhou Rao·Jibian]
The first three heritages can be exchanged for an Awakening Degree of 8%, 9%, 13% respectively, with the Tail of Zhu Yan of the highest quality, and not too far behind Wu Zhiqi.
Heart of Zhou Rao can also be exchanged for 8% Awakening Degree, but importantly, this is a rare Human Immortal class Yan Fu Heritage. Zhou Rao is a nation of tiny people, skilled craftspeople, recorded in the Classic of Mountains and Seas·Southern Scripture of the Overseas.
[Armillary Sphere]
Quality: Ordinary
A Western Han artifact, able to observe celestial bodies, but the accuracy leaves much to be desired.
Aside from its archaeological value, this object is clearly useless, but at this moment, the superiority of one’s Earth Endurance became evident once again.
"Esteemed Walker, I have screened the auction house listings for you. Someone is offering a high price of two thousand points to purchase astronomical instruments from before the Eastern Han. If there is no other use for it, you can try contacting the buyer, the details are as follows..."
Li Yan obviously had no interest in astronomy and soon confirmed the delivery with the buyer, directly receiving a remittance of two thousand Yan Fu points.
Your gains from this Yan Fu event are as follows.
