A few days had passed since the department store incident.
Northveil had gradually returned to its normal operations.
Roadblocks were lifted one after another.
Commercial districts reopened.
Public transportation, which had been suspended for several days, resumed its regular schedule.
People began appearing on the streets again.
Shopping centers reopened.
Storefronts lit up once more.
People slowly returned to their familiar routines.
Some isolation facilities remained around the outskirts of the accident site.
Yellow warning tape still surrounded the most critical area.
Every day, the Pollution Processing Department sent inspection personnel to the site.
They repeatedly measured pollution concentrations.
Checked the air.
Collected ground samples.
Inspected the structural condition of the buildings.
Every piece of data had to be confirmed to have returned to safe standards.
Only after the final trace of pollution had completely disappeared would the isolation measures truly be lifted.
Every procedure was carried out according to the processing regulations Northveil had established over many years.
Not a single step was omitted.
The news media gave the incident only brief coverage.
The footage remained focused on the outskirts of the restricted area.
The anchor simply explained that the terrorist attack had ended.
The injured had received treatment.
The affected area had entered the recovery stage.
As for the pollution crystal, there was no public explanation.
All the outside world knew was that there had been a terrorist attack.
And that the Pollution Processing Department had successfully contained the incident.
Most ordinary residents had no idea that they had once been only one step away from true danger.
They went to work as usual.
They lived as usual.
They welcomed each new morning as usual.
Those who knew the truth remained silent.
The Administrative Center had once again returned to its usual bustle.
After the meeting ended, the various departments resumed their daily work.
New documents continued to arrive at offices.
New reports were continuously completed and archived.
Although the department store incident had ended, the related investigation was still ongoing.
The Intelligence Department continued organizing witness statements.
The Technical Department continued analyzing the pollution samples.
The Security Department reexamined key areas throughout the city.
In the end, all investigation results pointed toward the same conclusion.
The terrorist organization had only been the executor.
The person who had actually created the pollution crystal remained completely unknown.
The investigation had not stopped.
There was simply no new direction.
Every lead seemed to have reached a dead end.
There was no way to extend any of them further.
Meanwhile, Lucian had also ended his stay in Northveil.
The Jace Family had completed all the remaining negotiations.
His departure time had already been decided.
The day before leaving, Lucian stood alone in front of the window of his residence.
Snow was still falling outside.
The sky was gray and white.
Fine snowflakes continued drifting downward.
Covering the streets.
Covering the rooftops.
Covering the entire city.
The Administrative Center could still be seen in the distance, its lights shining through the snowfall.
Several government vehicles slowly drove out of the entrance.
Then disappeared into the snowstorm.
After coming to Northveil, Lucian had seen many things.
The pollution processing system.
Administrative operations.
The way ability users were managed.
The procedures for dealing with pollution incidents.
A city where ordinary people and ability users lived together.
And the way a nation truly operated when faced with danger.
He silently recorded all of these experiences in his mind.
There were many things that could not be learned from books.
Only by coming here personally.
Seeing them with his own eyes.
Experiencing them himself.
Could he truly understand their meaning.
He walked over to the desk.
Then picked up the notebook he had been carrying with him all this time.
He gently opened the final pages.
There was already quite a lot written inside.
Some entries were notes about Northveil's systems.
Some were observations of the Pollution Processing Department.
Others were simply a few short sentences recording things he had seen along the way.
Lucian picked up his fountain pen.
On the final page, he wrote several new lines.
His handwriting remained neat.
There was not the slightest pause.
After finishing, he read through it once again.
Making sure nothing had been left out.
Then he slowly closed the notebook.
And placed it back on the desk.
These notes would continue to be organized in the future.
They would also become part of his continued observations of the world.
The snow continued falling outside.
Lucian quietly looked toward the nightscape of Northveil.
He gently exhaled a cloud of white vapor.
Now.
It was time to leave.
Elsewhere, the Pollution Processing Department remained as busy as ever.
Personnel constantly moved in and out of the office area.
Terminals continued refreshing data from various regions.
Pollution monitoring.
Equipment maintenance.
Field reports.
Environmental analysis.
Inspection records.
All the work continued according to established procedures.
No one relaxed simply because the department store incident had ended.
For the Pollution Processing Department, the end of one mission meant the next one could begin at any moment.
Equipment needed maintenance.
Documents needed to be archived.
Experience needed to be organized.
Every piece of work would become an important foundation for the next operation.
Irina had also returned to her usual work rhythm.
She sat at her desk, carefully organizing the final processing report for the department store incident.
Several inspection reports were spread across the desk.
The terminal continuously displayed various sets of data.
She went through everything page by page.
Every number.
Every inspection result.
Every equipment record.
Each one was checked again.
Making sure nothing had been overlooked.
This had always been the habit of the Pollution Processing Department.
It was also Irina's own way of working.
After completing the report, Irina uploaded all the documents to the terminal.
She waited for the central database to finish archiving them.
A moment later, a notification appeared on the screen.
Upload complete.
She quietly shut down the terminal.
Then stood up.
Picked up her coat.
And prepared to head to the equipment inspection area.
Although the department store incident was over, all the equipment used during the operation still required routine maintenance.
Pollution protection suits.
Inspection terminals.
Containment equipment.
Transport containers.
Every item had to be checked again.
They had to be confirmed ready for the next mission at any time.
This was a rule the Pollution Processing Department had always followed.
It was also a discipline left behind by years of experience.
She walked out of the office.
Then passed through the long corridor she knew so well.
Along the way, people repeatedly nodded toward her.
Some were carrying inspection equipment.
Some hurried past with documents in their arms.
Others had just finished their night shifts and were preparing to return to their dormitories.
Irina responded to each of them.
Her pace remained steady.
Everything here was already familiar to her.
It had almost become a part of her life.
The department store incident was gradually becoming a thing of the past.
And Northveil continued operating at its own pace.
Meanwhile, Lucian had already packed all of his belongings.
Only one day remained before he left Northveil.
He took one last look out the window.
Then quietly exhaled.
A name slowly surfaced in his mind.
Irina.
Before leaving, there was one final thing he needed to do.
Say goodbye to her properly.
Lucian left his residence.
A cold wind carrying fine snow blew toward him.
The accumulated snow along both sides of the streets had already been cleared once.
The roads had returned to normal traffic.
Vehicles slowly passed through the city.
Pedestrians came and went.
Some people carried briefcases as they headed toward work.
Some pushed shopping carts into stores.
Children stepped on the remaining snow along the roadside.
The faint crunching sound followed their footsteps.
After the department store incident, the city had returned to its own rhythm.
It had not stopped because of a single accident.
Nor had it fallen into panic because of the danger.
Northveil continued moving forward.
Lucian slowly walked along the sidewalk.
He did not take a vehicle.
Nor did he deliberately hurry.
He simply walked toward the Pollution Processing Department at his own pace.
Along the way, his eyes constantly swept across his surroundings.
Street planning.
Traffic systems.
Patrol routes.
Public facilities.
Even the locations of roadside recycling stations and emergency equipment.
He would pause for a moment at each one.
Then silently memorize it.
These things seemed ordinary.
Yet together, they formed the true foundation of a nation's operations.
They were also the things he observed whenever he visited a new country.
After crossing two streets, the building of the Pollution Processing Department gradually appeared ahead.
The gray-white building still maintained its simple design.
Vehicles constantly entered and left the area.
The loading platforms continued moving up and down.
Many employees hurried into the lobby carrying documents.
Others pushed inspection equipment toward the storage area.
Although the department store incident had ended, the place had not become any less busy.
The Pollution Processing Department was never truly idle.
Because no one knew when the next pollution incident would occur.
Lucian stood across the street.
He did not immediately walk over.
He checked the time.
There was still some time before Irina finished her morning work.
So he simply stood there and waited.
The wind continued to blow.
Snowflakes slowly fell.
Pedestrians constantly passed by him.
Yet no one paid any attention to the quiet boy standing by the roadside.
Time passed little by little.
The entrance to the Pollution Processing Department opened and closed repeatedly.
Personnel came and went in shifts.
One group of transport vehicles after another was replaced.
Finally.
A familiar figure walked out of the lobby.
Irina was holding a file in her arms.
A terminal was in her other hand.
Her head was lowered as she checked a new notification she had just received.
Her pace was as steady as usual.
There was no impatience.
Nor was there any carelessness.
After the department store incident ended, she had returned to her familiar work rhythm.
As if nothing had ever happened.
Lucian looked at her.
The corners of his lips lifted slightly.
He was just about to step forward.
But his footsteps suddenly stopped.
Almost at the same moment.
His gaze slowly shifted to the other side.
Across the street.
A middle-aged man stood in front of a convenience store.
He held a cup of hot drink in his hand.
But his gaze seemed to occasionally fall toward Irina's position.
His movements were completely natural.
There was nothing deliberate about them.
An ordinary person would probably think he was simply waiting for someone.
Lucian did not move.
He merely withdrew his gaze calmly.
And continued looking in other directions.
Beside the bus stop.
A young woman sat quietly.
She was flipping through a magazine.
Every now and then, her eyes lifted from the pages.
Yet they never left the route Irina was taking.
A little farther away.
An ordinary sedan was parked by the roadside.
The person in the driver's seat had not gotten out.
The vehicle had not started either.
It simply remained there quietly.
As if waiting for something.
Everything looked completely natural.
So natural that there was almost no flaw to be found.
They did not communicate with one another.
There was no eye contact.
There was not even a single action that could prove their identities.
They appeared to be nothing more than strangers who had never met.
But that was precisely what made it more unusual.
This method of observation was not something improvised on the spot.
It seemed more like a habit developed through long-term training.
Lucian looked toward Irina again.
She was still looking down at her terminal.
Completely unaware that she had become the object of someone else's observation.
The wind blew again.
Fine snow slowly drifted down between the two of them.
Lucian remained where he was.
The smile on his face gradually disappeared.
His expression returned to its usual calmness.
This was not a terrorist organization.
A terrorist organization would not have this kind of patience.
Nor would they remain in broad daylight without doing anything.
Simply watching in silence.
Their objective was not kidnapping.
Nor was it an attack.
It was more like gathering intelligence.
Confirming the target.
Looking for patterns.
Waiting for the right moment to act.
Lucian did not continue watching those people.
Instead, he looked toward Irina again.
A conclusion quickly formed in his mind.
The person they were truly watching was Irina.
Not him.
With that thought, Lucian slowly stepped forward.
His expression did not change in the slightest.
As if he had noticed nothing.
Step by step.
He walked toward Irina.
The snow continued to fall gently.
The streets of Northveil remained as quiet as ever.
No one knew that beneath the calm surface, a new undercurrent had already begun to move.
And what had originally been nothing more than an ordinary farewell had quietly changed in that very moment.