Monica stood slightly behind the reception personnel, wearing a jacket suited for movement, with visible exhaustion in her eyes.

Her gaze did not linger on Lin Han for too long. It merely swept over the two teams sent by W City before she revealed a nervous expression, making her particularly conspicuous in the crowd.

It was the first time Lin Han was meeting Monica in his true identity, and the feeling was somewhat peculiar.

He had just seen her crying in front of the Orphanage ruins that morning, yet now, standing right in front of him, she didn’t recognize him at all.

Lin Han quickly withdrew his gaze and suppressed his distracting thoughts.

A man wearing an X City SAVE uniform stepped forward, a polite and standard smile hanging on his face.

“Thank you for your hard work, everyone. Welcome to X City. I am Chen Shao, the one responsible for coordinating with you on behalf of the X City SAVE Branch.”

Lin Han reached out and shook his hand.

“Lin Han, Team Leader of Team 7, W City SAVE Intelligence Processing Division.”

Chen Shao immediately smiled and said, “It’s an honor to meet you. We’ve also heard about how your esteemed team managed to obtain key intelligence in advance during the Qingchuan Public Incident.”

Lin Han’s brows furrowed imperceptibly, but his expression quickly returned to normal.

Chen Shao’s tone was very polite, but within this politeness, there was an indescribable sense of alienation.

Lin Han looked at Team 3 of the Special Operations Division next to him. He had originally thought that the Special Operations Division would act as the lead in this operation and negotiate with the other party.

After all, common sense dictated that the status of the Special Operations Division was higher than that of his intelligence-gathering group, and field operations should naturally be led by them.

Instead, the captain of Team 3 merely stood to the side, his expression calm, without saying a word.

Even Gu Xinglan and the other two team members remained silent, like a row of well-trained bodyguards.

Chen Shao seemed to realize this as well and looked at the captain.

“And this is…?”

The captain nodded.

“Zhao Chenfeng, Special Operations Division.”

After speaking, he offered no further response.

Chen Shao waited for two seconds. Realizing that the other party truly had no intention of continuing, he could only look back at Lin Han.

Lin Han already had a rough idea, it seemed the initiative in this operation really did lie with Team 7.

Or, more accurately, with him.

After all, he couldn’t exactly count on the bunch of problem children under his command to negotiate with people.

After a round of pleasantries, Lin Han glanced at Monica, who seemed somewhat impatient in the back.

Based on their time together over the past few days, Lin Han guessed she was probably anxious simply because she couldn’t get a word in.

Noticing Lin Han’s gaze, Chen Shao immediately said:

“This is Miss Monica, a licensed Calamity Hunter from X City. She is one of the key parties involved in this Orphanage attack incident.”

Monica hurriedly bowed and said sincerely, “Pleased to meet you! Sorry to trouble you!”

Lin Han was about to say something in response when he saw Chen Shao make an inviting gesture, his smile unchanged.

“You all must be tired from traveling such a long distance. We’ve already booked a place to host a welcome banquet for everyone, and afterward, we’ll escort you to your accommodations.”

Lin Han genuinely felt something was off this time.

A welcome banquet?

This script was quite different from what he had imagined…

He had thought they would head straight to the scene or the X City Branch to pull up data right after landing.

Thus, alarm bells immediately went off in Lin Han’s mind. He secretly cursed that heartless Qin Zhizhi; this matter probably had some even more troublesome hidden details.

Not just Lin Han, Monica was also taken aback.

She subconsciously took a step forward.

“Um, about Xiao Rou…”

Chen Shao turned to look at her, his smile still polite.

“Miss Monica, if you are willing, you can wait a moment. After we finish receiving the personnel from W City, someone will contact you later.”

Monica froze.

“But…”

“Rest assured, SAVE will handle the relevant matters. As you can see, W City has already dispatched reinforcements. I believe this matter will be resolved very soon.”

Chen Shao’s tone was very gentle, but the meaning behind his words was already very obvious.

He didn’t want Monica to continue being involved.

He didn’t even want to continue listening to her here.

Perhaps in his eyes, allowing Monica to come here and see the reinforcements from W City with her own eyes was already making an exception.

Monica clearly sensed this distance as well. Her face gradually paled, and her fingers nervously gripped the hem of her clothes. She hesitated to speak several times.

Seeing this, Lin Han no longer bothered to hide the change in his expression.

He gave Monica a look, signaling her to remain patient, then frowned and said,

“There’s no need for a welcome reception.”

Lin Han’s tone was calm, but it left no room for argument.

“The situation is urgent right now. It would be best to hand over the files and start working immediately.”

Chen Shao’s smile instantly stiffened.

“Well… Team Leader Lin, everyone has traveled a long way and should rest first. Work is important, of course, but we must also do our part as hosts…”

“Your hospitality can wait,” Lin Han said bluntly. “After all, the current incident is highly urgent.”

The atmosphere subtly stalled for a moment.

“Ha… haha…”

Chen Shao let out a weak laugh, wanting to say something to ease the tension.

But meeting Lin Han’s firm gaze, and looking at the row of expressionless Special Operations Division members behind him who seemed ready to follow Lin Han’s every command, he found himself unable to say a word.

So he took out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat from his forehead, unable to help but complain inwardly that the Director had really assigned him a troublesome task.

Why was everyone sent from W City more tactless than the last…?

Forget about the Division Chief who came before, this young man named Lin Han was obviously just an ordinary person, so why was he in such a hurry to investigate? Shouldn’t grassroots employees have the sense to just follow arrangements from above?

But complaints aside, Chen Shao still needed to say something quickly. It was just that no matter how frantically his brain raced, he couldn’t think of a single excuse to brush off Lin Han’s request, and his cold sweat only flowed faster.

Chen Shao was clearly in a difficult position.

Right at that moment, his phone suddenly rang.

Chen Shao glanced at the caller ID. His expression instantly turned serious, and he stepped aside to answer it.

He spoke a few words in a low voice, then quickly turned back around, his gaze falling on Zhao Chenfeng.

“Um, could Captain Zhao, the leader of the Special Operations Division, answer the phone? Our branch’s Director would like to speak with your Special Operations Division.”

Zhao Chenfeng glanced at him, then looked at Lin Han, and said calmly,

“Team Leader Lin’s decision is our decision.”

Chen Shao was truly stunned this time.

Lin Han was also a bit surprised.

But Zhao Chenfeng said no more, as if he really just intended to be someone who simply carried out orders.

Chen Shao fell silent for a moment, feeling a bit of a headache, and ultimately had no choice but to hand the phone to Lin Han.

Lin Han took the phone.

“Hello, this is Lin Han.”

The steady voice of a middle-aged man came from the other end of the line.

At first, the other party spoke quite politely.

He expressed gratitude for the W City branch’s support.

He explained that the X City side would cooperate to the best of their ability.

He emphasized that the local situation was complex and hoped the colleagues from W City could understand.

However, the W City group watching Lin Han on the phone noticed that as time went by, Lin Han’s expression grew colder by the minute.