Chapter 361: Crisis
“All tourists, due to a sudden situation, the scenic area will be temporarily closed. To ensure your personal safety, please follow the instructions of the nearest staff and leave the scenic area as soon as possible. Please take care of the elderly and children, and protect your personal belongings.”
The piercing alarm bells, accompanied by the anxious words of the announcer, echoed throughout the resort. The previously relaxed and lazy atmosphere on the beach was swept away by the urgent alarm, instantly transforming into a noisy but orderly scene of crowd evacuation.
“Something happened?”
The young girl standing on the high embankment frowned deeply, her face solemn as she looked at the crowd evacuating towards a safe location in the distance.
Kazumi had initially thought that the police car flashing its lights was just passing by to somewhere else. After all, the peaceful and leisurely resort she was in didn’t seem like a place where major accidents would happen.
But reality was contrary to her expectations. The current situation, which was so urgent that it required an announcement to close the entire park and evacuate the crowds, could no longer be simply explained by ordinary murder cases.
However, thanks to the simplefolk customs of this damned superpower world, despite the emergency, the resort tourists were not overly panicked. Instead, they evacuated to a safe place in an orderly manner with the assistance of the surrounding staff and police officers.
After all, for the civilians in this world, sudden dangerous situations were not uncommon; it could even be said that they had experienced them before.
Moreover, with highly developed monitoring and early warning systems, and the protection of heroes who were psychics, as long as one did not deliberately stay in a dangerous area for a long time, they would generally not be harmed.
“Is that… even the coast guard has come?!”
After understanding the current situation, Kazumi did not feel particularly rushed and planned to slowly evacuate towards a safe area.
Firstly, these warning measures were often more noise than action, and problems could generally be resolved by heroes. The evacuation of the public was purely to protect people’s safety and prevent unnecessary harm. Secondly, given the girl’s own weak physical strength, if she didn’t use her powers, she would just be a skinny ordinary girl, and she probably wouldn’t be able to run very fast.
But before Kazumi could reach the stairs of the embankment, the black figures that appeared on the distant coastline made the girl’s previously calm gaze turn solemn again.
White waves rolled, creating one crest after another. With the ebb and flow of the tide, the figures that appeared on the beach were none other than a whole team of coast guard soldiers wearing diving masks and diving suits. The leader in the front was even a burly, exposed, alien creature with a robust body over two meters tall, a terrifying triangular shark head, and an incomparably fierce aura. The surging tidal energy instantly matched the hero [Mad Shark] in the girl’s knowledge base.
“This is a bit much.”
This was probably the difference between the civil police and the armed police in their past lives. When the civil police handled cases, onlookers might even crowd around to watch the excitement. But if the armed police were dispatched, people would probably hurry to find a safe place to hide.
The girl withdrew her gaze from the distant coastline. Even with her big heart, she knew at that moment that something big was about to happen in this place. Looking at the distance between her location and the safe zone where the crowd was evacuating, Kazumi quickened her pace and headed towards the embankment exit.
Although she had her recovered abilities as a backup, even if she encountered real danger, she would not be as defenseless as ordinary people, entrusting all hope of survival to strangers and their professional ethics. However, in a situation where there might be multiple professional heroes, using her abilities would be no different from self-destruction. Therefore, unless it was absolutely necessary, the girl would not easily use her abilities.
“My area is not an emergency evacuation zone, so it should be relatively safe, but…”
The girl muttered to herself as she walked to the exit stairs of the embankment. In fact, compared to her own safety, Kazumi was more worried about the dining area where Sato Shinichi and his classmates had gone. That area had the highest population density in the entire resort, and it was also a priority evacuation target for the police. At the same time, it would also be the preferred target for terrorists seeking revenge on civilians.
Although the girl would not feel any sadness even if all her classmates died, if the dog she had raised for so long was harmed because of such an incident, she would probably feel a little uncomfortable for a short while.
“Huh?”
Just as Kazumi was about to use her abilities to summon a Corpse Crow to check the situation over there, a golden figure running against the flow of people in the distance made the girl exclaim in surprise.
“Sato Shinichi, you idiot!!!”
The cold and stern expression on her face was replaced by a moment of emotion, but it was quickly followed by a trace of anger that did not fit her character at all. Looking at the blond young man who broke free from the crowd, ran towards her, and waved at her, Kazumi was both angry and touched.
When did this troublesome guy get the special script for a Mary Sue who drags others down?!
What difference did it make between running here towards her in the opposite direction of the safe zone and seeking death?!
It was pure unnecessary worry! She didn’t need him to save her at all!
The boy’s figure was getting closer and closer, exceptionally conspicuous on the empty beach. However, the girl’s complaints and angry words couldn’t be spoken when she saw the boy’s serious and worried expression. In the end, she could only heave a long sigh, pull up the hem of her pants, and quickly walk down the stairs, running in the direction Sato Shinichi came from.
“Kazumi!”
Sato Shinichi ran very fast. Thanks to his excellent physical strength, even though he ran all the way, he didn’t pant much, only his chest rose and fell slightly as he raised his hand to greet Kazumi. Upon seeing the unharmed girl, his expression turned relaxed and relieved.
“What are you doing here at this time!”
Looking at the boy standing there with a silly smile, the girl walked down the steps with light, cheerful steps, but her face still showed a proud and angry expression. She couldn’t help but complain to her boyfriend below.
“To take you to a safe place… Careful!!!”
Sato Shinichi happily rubbed the back of his head in response to his girlfriend’s complaint, but the next moment, the expression on his face instantly turned to horror. He let out a roar, and a burst of air erupted from the ground beneath his left foot, and he lunged towards Kazumi’s location.
“What…”
Kazumi saw the momentary change in the boy’s expression and instinctively wanted to dodge, but the whole world was already spinning under an unstoppable great force, accompanied by a strong sense of weightlessness.
When her vision recovered, she found her neck being gripped by a thick, scarred arm, and in front of her, a sharp ice cone, exuding a chilling aura, was suspended a few centimeters from her neck.
Casually observing the fierce figure hugging her from behind with her peripheral vision, and then looking at the ice bridge rapidly approaching them in the distance, the girl gently twisted her right hand behind her back. She slightly pressed down with her right thumb, and a command echoed in her heart.
[Little Black, don’t come out!]
(ps: If I stop for a while, it’s hard to maintain the rhythm. I struggled with this chapter all night and can’t quite get back into the feeling, damn it.)
