Chapter 121 - 118: Saintess Jenny?
When the taxi arrived, Jenny scrambled out, tossed twenty USD at the driver without asking for change, and rushed toward her aunt’s front yard.
Her aunt’s house seemed to be some distance from the Bevo District, but in the taxi, Jenny had checked her phone’s map app. The straight-line distance was just under a kilometer.
’That’s basically right on top of it!’
She walked up to the front steps and pressed the doorbell several times, pulling out her phone to call just in case her aunt wasn’t home.
A set of footsteps echoed from inside the house.
Jenny immediately started shouting through the door.
"Aunt Susan, it’s Jenny! I think it’s time I invited you over to my place. My dad, he... uh..."
The Door opened, but the person standing there was neither her aunt nor her late uncle. It was an unfamiliar, heavyset woman.
"Hahaha, Jenny, you’re here!"
Her aunt’s voice called out from down the hall.
"Come in, come in! Jenny, my little sweetheart!"
Her aunt hurried over, a wide smile on her face, and together with the kind-looking heavyset woman, ushered Jenny inside.
Jenny was startled the moment she stepped inside.
The house was packed with people!
The living room was adorned with candelabras and even a large Cross, but it couldn’t have been a very solemn prayer service, since platters of fruit and pastries were also laid out.
Jenny wasn’t religious, so she didn’t really understand any of it.
"Come, come, let me introduce you all! This is my niece, Jenny! Ever since she was a little girl, I’ve thought of her as a gift from the Lord to this world!"
Jenny groaned inwardly.
’Here we go again. Aunt Susan is about to launch into her spiel about how I’m a Saintess sent by God. For heaven’s sake, Auntie, your niece isn’t even a virgin, let alone a Saintess!’
Sure enough, Aunt Susan’s next words made Jenny wish the ground would swallow her whole.
"The very first time I saw her after she was born, I knew she was perfect and flawless! In my heart, my little Jenny is destined to be canonized!"
’Oh, enough, Auntie! People only get canonized after they’re dead, and I’d like to live a few more years!’ Jenny desperately wanted to shout.
The men and women in the living room had apparently heard Susan’s speech before, and they offered Jenny understanding smiles.
Once the initial awkwardness passed, the atmosphere grew warm again.
Her aunt’s guests were indeed all churchgoers, and devout ones at that. They had gathered at her house to pray for the Bevo District and for all who were sick.
When the atmosphere felt more relaxed, Jenny quietly pulled her aunt aside.
"Auntie, why don’t you come to Los Angeles with me? Mom and Dad miss you!"
"Miss me? Your *father*? Don’t be ridiculous! I doubt he even remembers I exist."
Jenny forced an awkward laugh.
"People can change, Auntie. Besides, you haven’t visited us in ages. Please, just come back with me this time, okay?"
"You’re such a sweetheart. Why don’t you stay and have fun here for a few days first? Then you can go home and get ready, and I’ll come to Los Angeles next month!"
"Next month? No, no, no, Auntie, I think we need to go immediately. Uh, tomorrow!"
Jenny had no intention of saving all of Saint Louis; she simply didn’t have that kind of power.
Her Mentor had made it clear to them: if they encountered danger, their first priority was to save themselves. This wasn’t cowardice; it was about preserving their strength and ensuring the Hope of the Association wasn’t snuffed out.
Of course, Jenny planned to contact Feiya shortly to have her inform their Mentor about the situation here. However, she wasn’t very optimistic that Dawn would intervene, because there were simply too many government officials on site.
’Hopefully, they can handle it themselves. Or, at the very least, keep things from getting worse.’
On an emotional level, even though Jenny understood Dawn’s mission, she didn’t want to see the Association’s precious strength diminished at a time like this.
Given that terrifying sensation from earlier, even if the Association intervened, they would likely suffer casualties.
Aunt Susan didn’t quite understand Jenny’s urgency, but she could vaguely sense her precious niece’s anxiety.
"Is something wrong between your mother and father?"
Jenny froze, giving her aunt a bewildered look before it dawned on her.
"Yes, yes, you’re right! Auntie, I really can’t hide anything from you! Please, you have to go, quickly! I don’t want them to get a divorce!"
"Those two... what on earth are they thinking? Jenny, sweetheart, don’t you worry!"
"Okay!"
"I’m going to call your dad right now and give him a piece of my mind!"
"Okay! Wait, what?! No, no, no! Auntie! Don’t call him! I’m afraid he’ll lose his temper with you, too. The best thing to do is show up in person. Yes! That’s it! Let’s hurry and pack your bags!"
Jenny grabbed her aunt, ready to drag her upstairs, but at that moment she glanced up and saw the sky outside the window.
"Oh no. Oh no, no, no!"
"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!!!"
Jenny screamed like a madwoman and tackled her aunt to the floor.
Startled, the people in the living room saw what was happening and instinctively dropped to the floor as well.
Within seconds, bodies were hitting the floor with a series of THUDS.
More than ten seconds passed. Then half a minute. Nothing happened.
One by one, the guests got back to their feet. Her aunt dusted herself off and helped Jenny up.
Everyone stared at Jenny, bewildered.
"Uh, hehe... Just kidding..."
A drop of cold sweat slid down her neck as Jenny instinctively glanced back toward the sky over the Bevo District.
’I clearly saw a vision of a violent shockwave about to hit. Was it just an illusion?’
’No, that’s not it!’
’The Mentor’s Magic Power!’
’It’s gotten so much weaker!’
’If the total amount of Magic Power Qin Xiaoxia stored in my body was a 1, now it feels like it’s down to 0.7. An illusion drained nearly thirty percent of it? You have to be kidding me!’
"Auntie, you really have to come with me to Los Angeles!"
’And I need to find a way to tell the National Guard, or whoever those people from the "Nineteenth Organizational Department" are, to organize an evacuation!’
...
Outside the quarantine line of the Bevo District, Norton frowned as he stared into the now-empty neighborhood. At the moment, only a few Soldiers remained inside, conducting patrols to ensure no one was left hiding.
Suddenly, however, a group of Soldiers came rushing out from up ahead.
"Quick, medic! Medic! We have someone collapsing! I repeat, someone is collapsing!"
The Soldiers yelled into their communicators, their voices loud enough to be heard outside the cordon.
Medical personnel immediately rushed over to help.
Norton stood just outside, watching as the group hurried past him.
’One... two... three...’
He counted silently. Over the course of a few minutes, a total of nineteen Soldiers were carried or stretchered past, all of them clutching their chests in agony.
’That’s significantly more than the last time,’ Norton thought. ’And the timing...’
Norton dug his nails viciously into the back of his hand.
He recalled that the French data on the Death Maze Zone indicated a safe exposure time of six hours, yet he had limited the Soldiers’ patrols to no more than two hours.
And yet, cases were still emerging!
’What the hell is in there!’
...
「Qingzhen, the Association’s Secret Realm.」
Qin Xiaoxia emerged from the Crystal Forest, clutching a Magic Energy Crystal. He held a phone in his other hand, his expression grave.
"Tell her to focus on protecting herself. If the situation gets out of hand, she needs to escape Saint Louis immediately. Make her understand: she can’t save that place alone. She is not to sacrifice herself needlessly. Dawn cannot afford to lose her!"
Su Su had already hung a ’Temporarily Closed’ sign on the door of the House of Destiny at the amusement park. Work was the last thing on her mind.
Her left hand, gripping her phone, was pale from the pressure, and faint CRACKING sounds came from the device’s casing.
"Okay, I’ll tell her. In that case, Mentor, are we...?"
At the edge of the Crystal Forest, Qin Xiaoxia repeatedly tossed the Magic Energy Crystal into the air and caught it. The bulging veins on his forehead betrayed the calm in his voice, revealing his inner turmoil.
’It’s not just you lot who are afraid of the unknown. I’m scared too, you know!’
He sighed.
"I’ll head over there myself. Let’s just hope it’s something within our ability to control."