One by one, the ghosts shrieked, burst apart, and vanished.
After the last wave of talismans landed, Naina took out a final handful and flicked them upward as a test. The papers floated briefly, hovered, and fell gently to the floor.
No reaction. No disturbance. No ghosts left.
Naina let out a long, shaky breath and quickly gathered the unused talismans, brushing off dust and slipping them back into her bag. Her heart throbbed painfully.
These talismans were precious. Lana gave these to ... I shouldn’t waste them... but at least everyone here is alive.’
Oliver looked at her as if seeing her for the first ti. His eyes widened.
"Naina... You have more than twenty-five talismans. Twenty-five basic exorcism talismans..."
There was awe in his voice. "You must be from... a very powerful family."
Naina’s chest tightened.
’Powerful? No. My bestie gave it as a birthday gift! As for my family, they were helpless when I was possessed, and they are helpless!’
Still, seeing the employees slowly regaining consciousness eased her heart slightly.
She turned to Oliver.
"We need to leave. The driver is still breathing... he can drive. I’ll call Maya. Once we coordinate, we go."
Oliver nodded firmly.
Naina contacted Maya, her fingers still trembling, and after coordinating between both buses, they began moving away from the ghost zone.
By that ti, they had also noticed the priest, who had died. Turns out, he tried to stall for ti and even succeeded, but the price was his life, and he died.
Since the buses were teetering at the edge of the ghost boundary, they left without any hitch this ti.
It wasn’t like they didn’t encounter any problems. On the contrary, they did, but because Naina’s tactics worked, and even with the arrival of ghosts, no casualties occurred.
Hours later, when the buses finally reached the company grounds, the air changed.
The pressure lifted. People burst into tears... loud, ugly, relief-filled sobs. So hugged each other desperately, their fingers trembling. Others fell to their knees, overwheld.
But their relief was shattered when they realized that more than five employees from Bus 2 had died.
Shivers ran through the survivors as they imagined what would have happened if Naina hadn’t co.
Because their incident involved a ghost portal, the entire company was required to report to the police.
It was then that they knew... the portal might have been opened, but they must be at least 500 km away from the portal; otherwise, only having 5 casualties was close to impossible, even with the presence of a talisman.
Inside the police station, Naina found herself surrounded... not by terrified coworkers this ti, but by police officers staring at her with awe.
Especially Officer Monica, the head of the departnt.
Monica looked at Naina as though she were so kind of miracle walking on human legs.
"You handled more than fifty exorcism talismans?"
Her voice carried a reverent tone. "You must have an incredible connection. Are you related to a talisman practitioner?"
The station air slled of old paper, disinfectant, and strong instant coffee. And all of it was suddenly very overwhelming.
Naina, trapped in the middle of police officers who treated her like a lucky charm, felt shivers run up her spine.
’Why is everyone standing so close? Don’t they have work? I’m not a talisman vending machine...’
Monica approached with a gentle smile.
"Do you want sothing to drink? Water? Tea? Coffee? Anything."
Naina blinked, startled by the sudden kindness.
"No... no, thank you. I just want to go ho."
Monica nodded briskly.
"I’ll speed up the investigation. You’ll be free to leave soon. But I’ll need your number in case we require follow-up information."
Naina’s lips twitched.
Follow-up investigation? She suspected otherwise. Maybe Monica wanted to build a relationship, or maybe she wants to know Lana.
This was the first ti she had beco the center of attention... not because of her perfect grades or her supposedly perfect family background.
But because of a connection she actually made. A connection that ca from soone who cared about her... Lana.
’I don’t hate this feeling... Not when it’s thanks to my best friend. I feel... proud.’
But she swallowed that pride. If she bragged now, she might bring trouble to Lana.
She nodded quietly.
Monica turned away for a mont, leaning close to her subordinate and speaking in a hushed, serious tone.
"Make sure Naina is completely comfortable during the process. No delays. No pressure. Build a good relationship with her. We need her cooperation... and her connections."
Monica’s eyes glimred with determination.
In the police departnt, resources were scarce. They were constantly denied support. And only recently had she discovered the reason...
Her own superiors were suppressing their departnt.
She needed soone powerful on her side; otherwise, it won’t be long before her superior eats up her resources and the police departnt!
Rage simred beneath her professional calm.
She was suddenly reminded of sothing more. Monica almost wanted to slap her enemies.
The senior responsible for suppressing the Ghost Departnt’s resources was none other than the woman Monica despised... a woman who had stolen her boyfriend years ago, then mocked her heartbreak with cruel laughter.
The mory tasted bitter, like iron and ash.
Monica inhaled deeply, letting the faint scent of disinfectant and old files in the police station ground her. She pushed away the past.
Dwelling on heartbreak would not help her now.
She straightened her back and spoke under her breath.
"I’ll create my own connections this ti. I’ll climb up on my own terms."
Her eyes drifted toward Naina... still surrounded by trembling officers who eyed her like a walking treasure.
"If I can secure Naina’s number... if I gain access to talismans like the ones she used..."
Her gaze sharpened.
"Then I can raise this entire station. No more begging for resources. No more being suppressed."
In this city-state, police stations were privately owned.
The governnt rely handed out licenses, allowing approved individuals or groups to form their own policing units, rcenary squads, or even elite ghost-extermination teams.
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