Sequence Stone Tablet

Lin Yun could barely bring herself to think about it; what kind of burden would it be if Jiang Mian discovered any heart problems?

Adding to what Wang Chen had just described, Li Hao came from a good family, and now that he had become an Awakener, his actions had become increasingly ostentatious.

Given his personality, he probably wouldn't let this go.

Jiang Mian had managed to calm him down this time, but the subsequent entanglement, harassment, and even revenge were almost predictable.

How could a girl with no one to rely on cope?

Lin Yun felt a pang of heartache just thinking about it.

She wanted to protect every student, but there were times she wasn't there, corners she couldn't reach...

"Feeling any better?"

Lin Yun walked to the bedside and asked softly.

"Much better, Teacher Lin."

Jiang Mian's complexion had recovered considerably, but she still looked somewhat weak.

So hungry...

She hadn't eaten lunch in the first place, and after all this turmoil, an extreme craving arose from the depths of her soul.

She was "hungry."

The Lin Yun before her seemed like a sweet, creamy cake; the pure aura emanating from her alone could stir her most primal appetite.

She seemed to have... "sickened" even more...

At this moment, Jiang Mian could feel that her heart had completed the first step of transformation.

Although it still maintained its heart shape, a black core had "grown" beside it, like the reactor for her abilities, supplying power to her entire body.

After initially condensing the Calamity Core, Jiang Mian gained the ability to "sense" the aura of those Awakeners, allowing her to easily distinguish them.

But problems followed. If the authorities discovered her, she wouldn't be classified as a "Mutant" but rather as a... true Calamity hidden among the crowd.

Even more troublesome was that due to her excessive "hunger," her current core was like an idling engine.

If this continued for too long, it would likely place a great burden on her body.

With her teacher still in front of her, she could only suppress all her discomfort as much as possible, ensuring her outward appearance showed no abnormality.

"Do you want me to help you again? You heard what the school doctor said; we can't be careless about heart issues. I can take you to the hospital for a check-up..."

Go to the hospital?

What a joke!

Although she knew that the Calamity Core couldn't be scanned by conventional medical equipment, this core had just condensed and was extremely unstable. Who knew if it could be hidden?

"No, no need!"

Jiang Mian refused instinctively, her tone carrying a hint of pleading.

"Teacher, it's probably because I haven't rested well lately... Going to the hospital is too expensive. I'll be fine if I go home and rest properly."

She blinked her eyes, gazing at Lin Yun pitifully.

Lin Yun couldn't stand that look and softened, sighing gently:

"Alright, teacher grants you leave. This month... you can come back when you're up to it, as long as you're present on the day of the exam."

A month's leave?

This was an unexpected surprise.

"Mhm! Thank you, Teacher Lin!"

"Can you go back by yourself? Do you want me to send you?"

Lin Yun was still worried and asked again.

Jiang Mian quickly shook her head:

"No, no, I can manage. No need to trouble you, teacher."

"Then... be careful. If Li Hao bothers you again, or if you feel any discomfort, you must tell me."

Meanwhile, far from Base City No. 144, at Base City No. 1.

Within the Research District, located in the heart of the city, a dark red stone slab floated in the center.

An old man in a military uniform stood outside the laboratory, staring intently through the glass at the writing on the stone slab, his face ashen.

"[Silent Death], [Nightmare], [Calamity], [Chaos], [Slaughter]... All top-tier sequences have awakened..."

This stone tablet was brought out from the depths of the mist by a high-level expert of the [Radiance] path. It was inscribed with the top five Calamity sequences.

Another stone tablet, inscribed with the top five Awakening Sequences, was also brought out.

However, because the two stone tablets produced incomprehensible and strange reactions when placed together, they were stored separately at Base City No. 2.

The official sequence ranking system originated from this stone tablet.

The last time a situation like this occurred was one hundred and fifty years ago, shortly after humans obtained the stone tablet and the mist descended.

At that time, the mist had already swallowed the outside world, and their Xia Kingdom had just integrated its remaining strength and built seven base cities, which were the prototypes of the current Base Cities No. 1 to 7.

The moment humans successfully deciphered the content of the stone tablet, all the recorded text lit up almost simultaneously, heralding the birth of those terrifying existences...

At that time, humans poured all their resources into cultivating those few awakened individuals with top-tier abilities, defeating them one by one before those calamities could grow.

It could be said that it was a race against death, a matter of life and death.

The old man frowned; there were five such terrifying existences.

And... compared to the relatively pure calamities, those beings transformed from human Mutants were often more dangerous.

They were familiar with human social structures, possessed human thought processes, knew human weaknesses, and could hide themselves within the vast masses of people.

The peak of the last [Silent Death] was one such existence.

Its predecessor was a Mutant who "accidentally" died during containment.

In the early stages of awakening, his abilities were surprisingly weak, only capable of making people feel weak, with no other effects.

But after death, his abilities underwent a qualitative transformation, becoming a death curse that was fatal upon contact, ultimately dealing a near-devastating blow to humanity.

Therefore, to eliminate the threat, the first step was to thoroughly cleanse the interior, even multiple times, to expose the identities of those hidden Mutants.

This would inevitably cause a certain scale of chaos.

Furthermore, after a century of development, the number of Xia Kingdom's base cities had increased from the original seven to 188, so the scope of the search was incomparable to what it was before, and the difficulty had naturally increased significantly.

But in extraordinary times, extraordinary measures were needed.

Only by forceful execution could they gain the initiative.

With his mind made up, the old man took off the special communicator he wore at his waist and unhesitatingly dialed an encrypted internal channel.

Riding the electric scooter that had been with her for six or seven years, Jiang Mian finally returned home, safe and sound.

After officially entering the First Order, her senses had become much sharper.

The "fragrance" from her teacher earlier had almost made her lose control.

She could be sure that now, even if she wasn't a calamity, she was half a calamity.

After all, what human had a Calamity Core growing inside their body?

Fortunately, she could still eat normal food; otherwise, she really wouldn't have been able to endure it, even if the transformation efficiency was a bit low.

Jiang Mian sat on the bed, her upper body stripped down to just her undergarments.

She gently placed her hand on her full chest, feeling her heartbeat seemed a little slower than before, but exceptionally strong.

This was the change after she entered the First Order.

"This is troublesome..."