Plague Doctor

Solemnity was the overall atmosphere of the press conference. The press was fully seated but the stage was still empty. With the host’s introduction, the Phecda members walked into the room. There were 8 of them in total, 5 males and 3 females. They wore sharp uniforms and tags on their lapels. They saluted the cameras before taking their seats. Press conferences in China had a different culture, it was more like a propagation of information to the public through the media instead of a conservation between the government and the media.

From the moment the eight members walked into the room, the cameras started to flash. All the members were surprisingly young. A collective gasp went through the people watching the livestream. ‘That is Gu Jun?!’

“Oh my, look at how young that kid is!” Mother Chen gasped audibly. Even Father Chen nodded numbly, “Jiahwa, he looks not much older than you.” The official had released the information beforehand. This Gu Jun was 22 years old, and he was a graduate from Eastern State University’s clinical medicine class. Chen Jiahwa was shocked as well. The passion within his heart started to burn again with the thought, ‘Captain Gu started his journey as a doctor…’

The girls in the group chirped. Messages like “I will love Gu Jun forever!””My heart, my heart” started to flood the chatroom. As mentioned earlier, today was a first impression-weighted society. This Gu Jun easily captured the young girls’ hearts. 182 cm in height, Gu Jun was quite imposing. He was not particularly handsome but he had a charm about him, one that could be felt by other males like Chen Jiahwa as well. Quiet, sharp but friendly, he was a big brother who would care for his teammates and would do anything to protect them. That was probably an aura that was cultivated from his days as the leader of the special mobile force, and from his work walking the fine line between life and death often.

Renyu, “This Gu Jun, man, he’s impressive.”

Xiao Lin, “His gaze scares me a little. Scared emoji.”

Following Gu Jun’s revelation, netizens both within and without the country had plenty to say. Most of the Chinese netizens praised him for his accomplishment despite his young age while those without challenged his youthfulness. Some even questioned the Chinese government’s intention for pushing out someone so young to be the leader of such an important secret service unit. Were they trying to turn this important event into a reality tv show?

Wang Zirui suddenly added, “How come this Gu Jun looks so similar to one of the people in cotton outfits who was captured earlier? I mean, guys, go and compare the footage.” That earned him more jabs from his friends. “Stop talking nonsense!””Someone’s jealousy is showing.”

Chen Jiahwa though shared Wang Zirui’s suspicion. He pulled up the earlier video to look but the video was taken from a distance, the body frame was similar but the face was too blurry to tell…

“I swear to join Phecda, Big Brother Jun is mine!” Xie Yiyi, one of the girls, suddenly proclaimed. Who knew whether she was kidding or not. Chen Jiahwa chuckled, they say girls change their taste as fast as the wind, looks like it was true. Just not too long ago, she was the one who professed endless love for the gentleman from FBM. Nonetheless, she was not the only one falling for Gu Jun’s charm. In fact, a fan club for Gu Jun was gathering on the internet.

But no matter how handsome Gu Jun was, he was not going to get much fans among the guys. As nature proclaims, opposite attracts.

Of the eight who took the stage, there were Gu Jun, Xue Ba, Ma Feng, Malachite and Luo Dan, nicknamed Uncle Dan, as well as 21 years old Wu Siyu, 29 years old Lou Xiaoning and 25 years old Peacock. The three girls were all beautiful. The most eye-grabbing was Lou Xiaoning with the eyepatch over her right eye. The youngest female member caught some eyeball as well. She was not a classical beauty but her elfishness spoke of a quick and quirky disposition, she also acted the most casually on stage.

Xiao Lin, “Hey, that girl by the name of Wu Siyu is quite cute.”

Huang Meiqin, “Are you sure cute is the right word to describe a secret agent? I’m sure she can lift you up with just one hand.”

Wei Mingxuan, “Look at the way she is seated, only the big boss can be so at ease, I’m sure she is the strongest among them.”

The group started to gossip, even the lurkers surfaced to join in the discussion. After a series of speculation, the conclusion was: This Wu Siyu was definitely a mean character, the reasoning? Simple, she was seated at the press conference like it was her own home, only a character at boss level could be so relaxed at such a formal setting. According to literary logic, the big bosses knew how to hide themselves, this Gu Jun might be pushed as the frontman but Wu Siyu was the real shot caller. This added to Wu Siyu’s allure and many wished to be lifted up by her.

Of course, not everyone had a masochist tendency, Chen Jiahwa himself thought Lou Xiaoning was quite charming.

Chen Jiahwa, “I personally think Lou Xiaoning is quite dashing, anyone share my opinion?”

Zhou Jiexuan, “Peacock is of mixed blood origin! Her English name is Kathlyn Lee, she is totally my type!”

Wang Zirui, “Only the young choose, I want all of them, muahahaha.”

Similarly, not all girls salivated over Gu Jun, other than Uncle Dan, there were proclamations of adoration for the muscleman Xue Ba, as well as Malachite due to his mixed blood good looks. Even Ma Feng gained fans due to his studious and intelligent presence.

Of course since this was not a movie cast reveal, naturally the focus should not be on their appearances but since people knew only that much about supernatural forces and they had no idea what the job scope of Phecda entailed, they could only comment on their appearance for now. Uncle Dan was placed there to lend some professionalism to the event, or at least that was what some of the netizens professed.

To be honest, everyone wanted to know more about their capability and the global netizens had one question on their mind, ‘Do they have superpower?’

Chen Jiahwa watched the news while scrolling through the various forums. It was rowdy everywhere, both announcements from America and China had chased away the clouds that hung over the globe for the past few months.

After the host introduced some more basic information about Phecda, it was time for the guests to speak. The crowd before the screen saw Gu Jun in the middle of the table pick up his script and hear him clear his throat.

…

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