Back at the epicenter, the Silent Gale Hunters' Captain, Feng Yao, the woman in storm-grey robes, received the whisper from her plump deputy.
"Captain," the deputy murmured, her voice low and steady, audible only to the woman. As per your orders, everyone within the fifteen-mile radius has been successfully evacuated."
Fang Yao gave the slightest, almost imperceptible nod, her winter-sky eyes still locked on her "big brother Lin."
The stage her brother had so cruelly set was now, at least, cleared of innocent civilians, reducing the potential collateral damage to human lives.
With that confirmation, a new layer of resolve seemed to settle over the Captain.
The faint sorrow in her eyes was now overlaid with a steely determination.
The cult leader, Feng Lin, still reveling in the power surge from the corrupted knife, seemed oblivious to the quiet exchange or the massive rescue operation that had just unfolded.
