"I still want to report truthfully," Sun Hang said after thinking for a moment. "What if the fireball appears again?"

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure."

"Phew..." Sun Hang vaguely heard that Candle Dragon seemed to let out a long breath. "Your choice didn't disappoint me... Compared to me, you are a more qualified Hunter."

"Whoa, so you're here to test me?"

"No, it's not a test. Whatever choice you make, I will agree," said Candle Dragon. "I'm not going to bend over just to give officials at the Lizhou City Management Committee some face... For them, the appearance of the fireball is an unforeseen disaster; but who will the citizens who died in the disaster appeal to for justice?"

"Uh, there's something I need to clarify," Sun Hang said.

"What is it?"

"You'd better not imagine me to be so noble. I just find faking it very troublesome... I have no interest in being a hero, and I'm not at all concerned about so-called merits," Sun Hang said.

This statement was really quite honest—after all, in his dealings with Pei Zongjun, the other party had allowed Sun Hang to set the terms himself... the achievement of eliminating the fireball was indeed negligible to Sun Hang.

"You... are more interesting than I imagined," Candle Dragon said after a few seconds of silence.

"Hey, haven't you left yet?" Sun Hang suddenly asked.

"Anything else?"

"Got any paper? Damn it, I think I forgot to bring some paper."

As soon as he finished speaking, a small pack of tissues was slid in through the gap at the bottom of the stall door.

"There's more if that's not enough."

"That'll be enough... By the way, did you come to the bathroom and sniff the smell just to tell me this?" Sun Hang asked suspiciously. "Aren't you going to use the bathroom yourself?"

"Otherwise, we need to coordinate our stories in the report we submit. Otherwise, if we contradict each other, won't it be awkward?" Candle Dragon laughed.

"True." Sun Hang nodded, but then realized that Candle Dragon outside couldn't see his nod. "Speaking of which, where are Zhong Ling and Yang Qi? Where did they go?"

"The Puppet Master is helping the Lizhou City fire brigade extinguish the remaining fires with the eerie remnants, and Mr. Yang should be with her."

"Could you please follow them? In case any more eerie creatures emerge from the ruins..."

"Hmm, even if you didn't say it, I was planning to head over," Candle Dragon replied. "When it comes to firefighting, I can be quite handy."

The sound of footsteps gradually faded away, and Sun Hang glanced at his phone and discovered that the local media in Lizhou City had already portrayed him and Candle Dragon as heroes who saved the entire city, with the news headline proudly showcasing the backs of him and Candle Dragon rushing into the sea of fire.

"The photo is quite nice," Sun Hang commented.

The civilian communication network hadn't fully recovered, but to stabilize the public mood, the Federation Government had opened a portion of official-controlled news portals to release all sorts of announcements, reminders, and positive news... It wouldn't be long before these photos appeared on the homepage of various news websites.

Sun Hang suddenly realized something... Given the Federation Government's way of doing things, even if he reported that the fireball disappeared on its own and that he and Candle Dragon did nothing, the Federation Government would likely still attribute the credit to the two of them.

Just like Yang Qi once told Sun Hang—the Federation needs heroes, and so do the people.

Candle Dragon surely knew this too. Regardless of the choices they made, the outcome would be the same.

"How amusing."

Sun Hang flushed the toilet, rubbed his slightly numb knees, and pushed open the door to leave.

The camp was still bustling—with medical personnel, the City Defense Army, the Investigation Bureau staff, the Sheriff, and firefighters all rushing between the tents, phone calls ringing continuously, and occasionally, vehicles from the Public Security Bureau would speed past the camp with sirens blaring.

Standing in the middle of the bustling crowd, Sun Hang felt a momentary illusion that he was an outlier, completely out of place with the world.

News had already arrived from Tianfu City, instructing Sun Hang and his group to stay temporarily in Lizhou City and not return to Tianfu until post-disaster arrangements were more complete. Lizhou City had also prepared a five-star hotel for Sun Hang and his team to stay in.

Seeing no further reason to remain at the command camp, Sun Hang sent messages to both Candle Dragon and Yang Qi before opening a navigation app and entering the hotel's name.

The hotel was not far from the command camp, less than five hundred meters away... However, when Sun Hang reached the hotel, he found a heavy chain lock hanging on its front door, with a sign next to it stating "Closed during special circumstances."

As Sun Hang pondered whether to return and ask for guidance, a black sedan nearby opened its door, and a young man in a black suit, sporting a bow tie, quickly ran toward Sun Hang.

"Hello, you must be the special guest arranged to stay at our hotel by the Management Committee?" the young man politely said to Sun Hang. "I am the lobby manager of this hotel, here specifically to wait for you."

"Uh... isn't the hotel closed?" Sun Hang asked, pointing to the locked door.

"Not just us—all hotels in Lizhou City have ceased operations," the lobby manager replied. "But the rooms you need have already been prepared. Where are the others?"

"They're still busy; I came alone."

"Alright, please follow me."

The lobby manager led Sun Hang to the back of the hotel and entered through a small door marked "Staff Entrance." They passed through a storeroom and an employee dressing room, then through a warehouse filled with various supplies before reaching a dark lobby illuminated only by two small lights at the reception desk.

The lobby manager went behind the front desk, retrieved a room card and a set of toiletries from the cabinet, and placed a business card on top of them before handing them to Sun Hang, saying, "All the service staff have gone home, and only myself, two security personnel, two cleaners, and a chef are maintaining the hotel operations. If you need room service, just call the number on this business card using the internal phone."

"By the way, why don't you all go home?" Sun Hang inquired curiously as he took the items. "Do you get overtime pay for working at this time?"

The lobby manager sighed. "To be honest, it's not that we don't want to go home; we can't. Those who stayed behind aren't locals of Lizhou. We usually eat and sleep at the hotel, so for us, this is our home in Lizhou."

"Oh, I see..." Sun Hang didn't ask further and headed toward the elevator with his belongings.

To save energy, the entire hotel building was kept with minimal lighting. As Sun Hang walked, his shadow on the corridor walls elongated and shrank, resembling some eerie creature lurking in the shadows.

"Feels a bit like the paranoia from a horror movie," Sun Hang chuckled at himself, stepping into the elevator.

The elevator was well-lit, and Sun Hang examined his reflection in the mirror-like interior.

"What exactly are you?" Sun Hang asked his reflection.

The reflection posed the same question to Sun Hang.

Sun Hang did not answer.

Nor did the reflection.

With a 'ding', the elevator stopped on the twenty-second floor.

The room card the lobby manager gave Sun Hang said "2201". The first room he saw upon exiting the elevator was his.

Opening the door, Sun Hang didn't bother taking off his clothes and immediately flopped onto the bed.

A wave of drowsiness hit him... By his count, he had almost gone forty-eight hours without a proper sleep.

But as soon as he closed his eyes, the image of the white-haired girl suddenly appeared in his mind.

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