The crisis of the three thousand bombs lingered ominously above everyone's heads after the destruction of that clone.
"Zhong Yan, what should we do now?" Realizing the severity of the situation, Wise stepped forward and asked. Now that he knew Zhong Yan's identity, his trust in Zhong Yan's capabilities had deepened significantly.
At this point, he was the only one they could rely on.
However, Zhong Yan had never faced something like this before either. Three thousand bombs—the number alone was terrifying, let alone the task of defusing them.
"We need help," Zhong Yan said after a moment of silence. "First, we have to identify what these bombs look like. It's best if we can get our hands on a few samples. And we need to act now—we don't have the luxury of hesitating."
Wise nodded at his words. "We'll get people to help. Fairy might be able to track some down too. Time is tight. Let's start immediately."
With that, the group sprang into action. Belle looked at Zhong Yan, as though she wanted to say something more, but the weight of their situation held the words in her throat.
After the others left, Zhong Yan remained alone at the scene. Suddenly, the wail of sirens echoed from the distance—the Public Security Bureau had arrived.
Knowing he couldn't afford to be seen by the enforcers, Zhong Yan immediately activated Kamui, pulling himself into the Kamui dimension.
Inside, the first thing he did was change into his white-masked outfit. Then, using Shadow Clone Jutsu, he summoned thirty clones.
These clones would assist him in searching for the scattered bombs across New Eridu. With shared consciousness between them, communication was seamless.
Some of the clones were assigned different tasks. Even Zhong Yan himself didn't immediately join the search. Instead, he activated Kamui once more and returned to the beach.
By now, the Public Security Bureau had already cordoned off the area, and experts had begun investigating. It wasn't long before they made a shocking discovery—the air contained an astonishing level of etheric activity.
This was difficult to comprehend. Ether typically existed only within Hollows. Even with equipment designed to store ether outside the Hollows, using it on this scale for an explosion was almost unthinkable.
With no other choice, the investigators reported their findings to Zhu Yuan, who was reviewing the case.
"What did you say? Etheric activity?" Upon hearing that ether was the source of the explosion, Zhu Yuan's expression instantly turned to disbelief.
Her own equipment used specialized ether weapons, so she knew all too well how hard it was to create a massive explosion using ether outside a Hollow.
"Looks like this is way more complicated than we thought. New Eridu hasn't been exactly peaceful lately... Don't tell me a Revenant escaped from the Hollow?" Qing Yi offered her perspective from the side.
She was astute—in a sense, the Exaltists weren't much different from Revenants.
"Oh? Looks like someone important just showed up." Qing Yi's peripheral vision caught sight of a figure in the distance, causing her gaze to sharpen.
Zhu Yuan turned to look and immediately saw Zhong Yan standing nearby.
"It's Uchiha..." Her first thought upon seeing Zhong Yan was whether he might be involved in the explosion.
If he was, it would be a serious problem. She had witnessed his power firsthand and knew that opposing him would be incredibly foolish.
Still, the duty of the enforcers was to protect the citizens of New Eridu and apprehend wrongdoers. So even if it meant walking into danger, they would not hesitate.
"Let's hear what he has to say first. Showing up at a time like this... there's a good chance he's connected to this incident," Qingyi said.
The two of them approached Zhong Yan. Around them, all the enforcers tightened their grips on their weapons, ready for a fight.
"Mr. Uchiha, you're not here to turn yourself in, are you?" Qingyi spoke first. She wasn't particularly afraid of Zhong Yan—only curious.
Zhu Yuan, having had past contact with Zhong Yan and even been saved by him, remained silent. She wouldn't speak until his innocence or guilt was clearer.
"Turn myself in? That might be a possibility, but not today. I'm here to tell you something—something that, if ignored, could lead to a tenth of New Eridu being blown sky high."
Zhong Yan spoke calmly, then told them about the three thousand bombs.
Upon learning that such a number of bombs were hidden across New Eridu, Zhu Yuan could no longer sit still. "I'll report to Chief Bringer right away!"
But before she could take two steps, Qingyi suddenly grabbed the edge of her coat.
Zhu Yuan looked at her in confusion, about to ask why—when Qing Yi spoke first.
"Three thousand bombs, all placed silently across the city? That's... a bit hard to believe, Mr. Uchiha. Can you show us any concrete evidence?"
It was a valid point. The idea of three thousand bombs was panic-inducing, but the logistics of deploying them in secret was nearly impossible.
Without solid proof, they might be chasing shadows—a point even Zhong Yan hadn't considered.
Fortunately, the Exaltist clone hadn't lied. One of Zhong Yan's shadow clones had already retrieved hard evidence.
"I understand your concerns, Miss Qing Yi. But I never speak without reason." As he spoke, Zhong Yan reached into a swirling vortex and pulled out a palm-sized cluster of etheric energy.
The moment it appeared, everyone around felt a faint pressure—the oppressive aura of ether.
"This is one of the bombs I mentioned. My companions are working on disarming the rest right now. So, I hope you'll join the effort as well."
Seeing the bomb in Zhong Yan's hand, both Zhu Yuan and Qing Yi finally believed his words.
"There are... really three thousand of these?"