"Let's go together!" Ch'en Huijie said decisively.
The four of them got into the car together at the back. Before long, they arrived at the Lungmen Guard Department. Upon entering, they learned that an explosion had occurred in the Lungmen Outer Ring. A private firework factory had caught fire, and then thousands of boxes of fireworks in the warehouse were directly ignited.
If the firework factory had been a standalone building in the suburbs, it wouldn't have been so bad; only one business would have suffered losses. Unfortunately, it was surrounded by an electronics processing plant and a chemical plant. The chemical plant contained a significant amount of cyanide. If the flames spread there, the consequences would be extremely severe.
The Lungmen Fire Department had already rushed to the scene, and the first wave of reinforcements from the Guard Department was about to arrive. Ch'en Huijie and the others would arrive as the second wave of support.
"How could something like this happen?" While rushing there, Ch'en Huijie asked a colleague who had already reached the front line over the phone.
"The specific situation isn't clear yet. The fire brigade is establishing a containment zone at the chemical plant, while we in the Guard Department are assisting with firefighting at the electronics factory," the personnel at the front replied.
"My point is, such a flammable and explosive firework production plant should never have been approved. After all, no matter where it is, fireworks are considered hazardous chemicals. They must be produced and stored in isolated locations; they absolutely shouldn't be built in the middle of a cluster of factories," Ch'en Huijie said.
"We haven't found the owner of this firework plant yet, but we suspect they might not have had any relevant production qualifications at all."
This suspicion was reasonable; after all, if they truly had qualifications, the site selection would have been rejected immediately. Only those private, illegal firework production plants would open a factory in such a place. Because it was close to the city and transportation was relatively convenient, the cost of logistics and transport would be lower.
Ch'en Huijie didn't say anything more and instead told Beatrice Schwire to speed up. Soon, they arrived at the burning industrial area. At this moment, thick smoke was billowing straight into the sky.
Fortunately, the weather wasn't great today and a northwest wind was blowing. Since the industrial area was to the southeast, the city wasn't affected. But no one dared to bet on whether the wind direction would suddenly change, and the chemical plant was located downwind. That was why the fire department had deployed the vast majority of its forces there. Therefore, the fire had to be extinguished as quickly as possible.
After arriving, everyone rushed over to help set up the containment zone.
"Do you need my help?" Flandre Scarlet asked.
"Don't you always say you're a magical girl? Can you summon rain?" Beatrice asked.
Flandre looked a bit troubled. After all, because she disliked water, she hadn't really studied related Magic. Seeing Flandre's expression, Beatrice knew she probably couldn't, and then asked, "Then what can you do?"
Flandre thought for a moment and said, "I can make the wind stop for a period of time."
"For about how long?" Ch'en Huijie, who heard her from the side, asked.
"One to two hours, I think. I can't hold it for too long," Flandre said after a few seconds of thought.
Ch'en Huijie immediately took Flandre to find the Fire Department Chief who was commanding the front line. The Chief also knew that the identities of the two people in front of him were not ordinary. Upon learning that Flandre could make the wind here stop, he immediately showed a surprised and excited expression. He stared intently at Flandre.
"Are you sure?"
Flandre nodded. "I'm sure. I can at least control the wind speed to between zero and level one for a minimum of one hour."
"That's wonderful. Do you need any preparations?" He knew that Magic of this level usually required a certain amount of advance preparation.
"No need. I can start immediately whenever you're ready!" Flandre replied.
"Alright, I need about ten minutes to prepare on my end. It's 1:45 now. Can you stop the wind exactly at 1:55?" the man said after checking his watch.
Flandre indicated there was no problem. The man immediately picked up his walkie-talkie and began making arrangements.
The firefighters on the front line were very confused by the Commander-in-Chief's orders. This arrangement was most suitable for conditions with little wind; in a high-wind environment like this, it would easily leave firefighters directly facing the flames, which was extremely likely to cause casualties. And one must remember it was the first day of the Spring Festival. If a major casualty incident occurred, this Commander-in-Chief would likely spend the rest of his life in prison.
Perhaps sensing the firefighters' thoughts, he continued after finishing the arrangements, "In ten minutes, the wind speed will drop to the minimum for anywhere from one to two hours. Everyone must take this opportunity to completely bring the fire under control, understood?"
Hearing his words, someone looked up into the distance. The wind speed here was currently about level six or seven, and today's weather forecast showed the same. But the commander actually said that in ten minutes the wind would drop to nothing for as long as an hour. To everyone, this sounded like a complete fairy tale. However, the other party spoke with such conviction that despite their internal skepticism, everyone quickly carried out the orders.
Soon, the fire brigade was ready. Flandre flew into the air and aimed both hands at the burning factory building to begin casting. Just as 1:55 arrived, her Magic was also completed. In an instant, a massive Magic barrier appeared in the sky, completely enveloping the location of the factory building.
Inside the barrier, the wind that had been raging just a moment ago stopped instantly. The surrounding firefighters marveled at which Celestial Master's handiwork this was while speeding up their actions. In less than half an hour, the external fire was cleared, and they began suppressing the interior of the firework factory. Furthermore, because the interior of the firework factory was where the fire had started, most of the combustible materials inside had already been mostly consumed after burning for so long, so the advance went very smoothly.
By the time the one-hour limit was up, the wall of fire inside the firework factory had also been successfully brought under control. After confirming that no embers would be fanned back into life by the wind, Flandre ended her control over the barrier. The next second, the strong wind returned.
The firefighters did not leave immediately. Instead, after the Guard Department entered the scene, they began assisting them in investigating the cause of the fire. Meanwhile, on the other side, the Guard Department successfully caught the owner of the firework factory who was preparing to flee Lungmen.
The man had prepared to run as soon as he realized something had happened at the factory, but he hadn't expected the Guard Department's reaction to be so fast, setting up checkpoints at all entry and exit docks immediately to catch him. When caught, his face was ashen because he knew he was finished. After all, this factory had no formal approval; he had set it up secretly, hoping to make a quick fortune during the New Year. If nothing had happened, being discovered would have resulted in a fine at most, but now that an accident had occurred, his responsibility was immense.
At this moment, atop the ruins, the Fire Commander-in-Chief was holding Flandre's hand with sincere emotion. "Thank you so much today. If you hadn't controlled the heavy wind, I'm afraid it would have taken us at least another two or three hours to bring the fire under control. And with the chemical plant right behind us, it's hard to imagine how many uncertainties and dangers would have arisen in those two or three hours."
Flandre expressed that it was only what she should do. After all, she lived in Lungmen. If something happened to Lungmen, she herself would be unhappy.
While they were chatting, the on-site investigation was also completed. According to the firefighters' judgment, the cause of the fire was clear at a glance. The entire warehouse, while stockpiling a large amount of flammable and explosive materials, had no compliant fire safety measures. Combined with aging wiring and recent high-intensity work, equipment leakage triggered the fire.
The investigation revealed there were about a dozen employees inside the factory at the time. An explosion of this magnitude meant that ordinary Terrans would have had no chance of survival; perhaps only a Super Terran like Saria would have a chance to survive. The explosion was not only powerful, but the flame temperature was also extremely high. The few bodies found were basically reduced to mere fragments.
All the firefighters fell into a moment of silence at this. After all, with so many people dying during the New Year, it inevitably left one feeling a sense of grief. Fortunately, news came from the Guard Department that the factory owner had been caught. Based on the assessment of the scene, it was estimated that not only would all the owner's assets be confiscated to compensate the deceased and the losses of the surrounding factories, but he would also have to spend the rest of his life in prison.
After confirming there were no more hidden dangers and sealing off the site, Flandre followed Ch'en Huijie's group back to the Guard Department. Since she had already started working, she might as well finish the shift. That way, she'd at least get some overtime pay.
After sitting down, Flandre casually picked up a case file on Ch'en Huijie's desk and found it was about The Truth Society.
"Haven't they been sentenced yet?" Flandre asked curiously.
"It's not that fast. Although the evidence has been collected, many parts involve crimes in other cities. We are still in contact with those places, and they need to arrange for personnel to come over for a joint case handling. Then the Governor has to approve whether to transfer them to other cities for trial. According to the patterns of such cases in the past, by the time all procedures are completed and all trials are finished, it will be at least around this summer," Ch'en Huijie said after glancing at the file in Flandre's hand.
"So much trouble. Can't we just kill them all?" Flandre had a look of disdain.
"Little Flandre, you must know one thing: for some people, death is not the harshest judgment; living is," Ch'en Huijie crouched in front of Flandre, looking her in the eye, and spoke seriously.
Flandre blinked. Although she didn't quite understand Ch'en Huijie's words, she felt they sounded very impressive.
"To be honest, I didn't expect us to spend the first day of the New Year in the department..." Hoshiguma, who was nearby, picked up her thermos, filled it with hot water, and sat down to complain.
Hearing her words, many Operators laughed. The resentment from being forced to work overtime on the first day of the year lessened quite a bit.