The Third Jigsaw Anomaly of Ghost Camera, a Feast Was at Hand

The Third Jigsaw Anomaly of Ghost Camera, a Feast Was at Hand

"We can only take things one step at a time, though.

"First, make sure Han Ningning keeps up a good relationship with [Mysterious Person]. Give her whatever resources she needs. If you don't have the authority, come to me. As for the rest, leave it to fate."

Behind the curling smoke, Zhang Ping's clear, perceptive eyes held a complicated look.

And so, the Anomaly Zoo incident...

Came to an end.

"It went dark?"

After seeing the over six hundred kilograms of gold that had been transferred, Chen Yu smiled and put away his phone. Then he left with Han Ningning and the others.

As they were leaving, he deliberately glanced back, only to notice that the moment he walked away,

the camera, which had been giving off a faint glow, suddenly went dark and stopped working.

The second branching trail of media had formed, too.

Now, a black line and a white line had fused on his body, connecting him to the camera.

"So the second Jigsaw Anomaly managed to lock onto me?" Chen Yu said with an amused smile. He was fairly satisfied with its progress.

He was also curious about what this camera anomaly's puzzle piece would be.

An electrical wire? A photo frame? A photographer?...

Chen Yu also noticed

that the Ghost Doll on Tong Jian's back was giving off an even stronger anomalous energy.

A Level 6 Anomaly?!

Chen Yu couldn't help frowning.

Since he'd met Tong Jian, the Ghost Doll had upgraded twice.

It had been a Level 4 Anomaly, then had somehow inexplicably become Level 5.

And now it had broken through from Level 5 to Level 6?

It hadn't even done anything.

Why had it suddenly leveled up?

At this rate, wouldn't it reach Level 7 in a few days?

Curious, he asked Tong Jian, "Tongtong, can you tell me why your Ghost Doll keeps leveling up out of nowhere?"

Tong Jian shook her head. Even her usually calm eyes showed a hint of confusion.

Chen Yu was about to ask the Ghost Doll,

but the Ghost Doll spoke up in surprise. "Big brother, I leveled up again?"

Chen Yu gave up on asking the Ghost Doll.

It seemed neither of them knew what was going on.

Still, these two—a big one and a little one—were definitely no ordinary pair if they could suddenly level up like this!

After they left the zoo together, Han Ningning seemed to remember something and said to Chen Yu, "By the way, Chen Yu... Big brother, I'm going back to school to get my student file. Should I pick up yours while I'm there?"

Han Ningning's cheeks turned faintly red. She did her best to overcome her shyness, pretending that calling him "big brother" came naturally.

She could no longer look Chen Yu in the eye. They were classmates, and she was the same age as him, but when it came to controlling anomalies... Chen Yu was like a mountain towering above her, so high she couldn't even see his back.

Han Ningning couldn't help wanting to address him with an honorific. After going back and forth in her mind, she finally steeled herself and chose one that sounded a little more familiar.

However...

Her hesitation and shyness

got no response at all from Chen Yu.

He acted as if he hadn't even noticed the unusual way she'd addressed him.

"Student files? What do you need those for?" Chen Yu asked casually, curious.

"The school announced that it's going to relocate and merge with other schools."

Relocate?

Chen Yu hadn't heard anything about that.

He asked, "Why would they relocate all of a sudden?"

"The authorities have kept the Anomaly Resurgence under wraps, but some information has still gotten out. People don't know about anomalies, but there've already been all kinds of strange incidents. Fear is spreading from person to person like a plague, leaving everyone on edge,"

Han Ningning explained. "There's danger everywhere now, and anomalies can get in anywhere. The authorities consider young people their top priority, so... the city's leadership has decided to move all the schools into secure zones and merge every school in the city into three. It'll make them easier to manage and protect.

"But there are too many students and not enough places, so everyone has to submit their files and enter a lottery to get into school. And students will have to take turns attending."

Chen Yu couldn't help feeling surprised. He hadn't expected the effects of the Anomaly Resurgence to spread so quickly.

It had been less than a week since Luo Mu went to school.

That showed how badly things had deteriorated. Otherwise, the authorities wouldn't have made such a drastic change.

It was a severe enough disruption to education to count as a last-ditch measure.

Han Ningning quietly glanced at Chen Yu. Seeing that his expression hadn't changed in the slightest, she felt a little disappointed, then continued, "And... Ghost Controllers have special privileges now. They don't need to enter the lottery. They can enroll directly, choose whatever time slot they want, and get into better classes."

Han Ningning's explanation made it clear that everyone else would have to enter the lottery, whether they liked it or not.

If they got lucky and drew a good place, they'd have a chance to attend a good school at a normal time. If they didn't, they'd have to take whatever they were assigned. They might end up taking night classes until the early morning, or get stuck in a class with a worse teacher.

Ghost Controllers, on the other hand, had the privilege of enrolling directly and choosing their own schedules.

This wasn't discrimination.

The authorities had been forced into it by the situation caused by the Anomaly Resurgence.

Ordinary people who encountered an anomaly usually had no chance of surviving.

Ghost Controllers, meanwhile, could control anomalies and even eliminate them, saving other people in the process.

Ghost Controllers would be the future of Huaxia.

Protecting the public came at a cost for Ghost Controllers...

Controlling an anomaly wasn't a pleasant walk in the park. Losing years off your life, losing limbs, and growing old prematurely were all commonplace.

After paying such a steep price, giving them a few privileges was only fair.

Giving Ghost Controllers more advantages was the best way to help Huaxia find stability.

Chen Yu nodded. The decision was a little harsh, but there was no better option.

Seeing him nod, Han Ningning asked, "Do you want me to arrange it for you?"

"Sure. I'll leave it to you."

Chen Yu didn't have time for it anyway. All he could think about was hoping Ghost Camera would hurry up and lock onto him as the medium for all its Jigsaw Anomalies.

He answered casually.

"Okay!"

Han Ningning's delight was written all over her face!

Being able to do something for Chen Yu was an honor!

And if she submitted his file for him, she could arrange for them to be in the same class.

It was the best of both worlds!

[Whirr!]

After Han Ningning left, excited, Chen Yu's phone began to vibrate.

He pulled it out and saw that it wasn't a notification from the [Anomaly Era].

Quite a few messages had appeared in the class group.

He opened it.

Several people were chatting.

[Hey, hey, have you heard? I heard the schools are going to relocate and merge.]

[I heard too. Why is this happening? The schools were doing just fine. Why merge them?]

[No idea. I asked one of the teachers, but even they didn't know.]

[Does anyone know why the schools are suddenly relocating?]

Everyone in the class was discussing the school relocation.

And the most conspicuous person in the group was Li Kun.

He was the rich kid who'd pursued Han Ningning before.

[You don't know? My dad told me. It's because public safety's gotten a little bad lately. The authorities decided to merge all the schools, so we can study together, put up barriers, and stay protected from outside interference.]

Li Kun sounded like he was showing off.

His father was a wealthy businessman in the city. He'd asked his dad about the school relocation and learned a few things, but his dad didn't have enough pull to find out much more than rumors and speculation.

Like the spate of murders.

In reality, he knew nothing.

[Really? Is everyone panicking? There have been a lot of strange things happening lately, and I've heard plenty of people are missing. Kidnappers are getting way too brazen these days.]

[That's not all... People keep dying near our school these past couple of days. They're bleeding from all seven openings, and they're all children!!]

[Exactly. An old man who lived near my neighbor went missing a few days ago. I heard that when they found him, most of his body had been eaten...]

[What on earth is going on? Are there really ghosts, or is some psycho killing people?]

[I heard the whole city's leadership was alarmed by all this. Some big shot went on TV and said there's no need to panic, and that the police are doing everything they can to catch the criminals behind the recent incidents.]

[The school relocation isn't something you can all just speculate about. You only need to know that the school is relocating. When the time comes, everyone will enter a lottery, and only those who draw a number will be allowed to go to school.]

Hearing that, Li Kun puffed out his chest again, acting as if he knew everything.

He thought anyone who didn't draw a number wouldn't get to go to school at all.

Then he sent a picture to the group.

It showed Li Kun posing with the director of the JY Bureau. Li Kun: [Heh heh, bros, recognize the director of the JY Bureau? He's my uncle. I'm going to ask him tonight to get me a good place at school—a good time slot and a good teacher. I'll ask about it for our classmates, too!]

His message set off an explosion in the class group.

[Holy crap, Brother Kun! I'm your long-lost lackey, remember? I used to run errands for you all the time!]

[Yeah, Brother Kun, could you get me a spot, too? I don't want to enter the lottery. There'll only be three schools after they merge all the schools in the city, so it's going to be hard to get a place.]

[That's my Brother Kun! Powerful and well-connected as always. Can you help out your classmates?]

[Exactly! Brother Kun, you're the one we respect most. From now on, I'll be hanging off your leg!]

Everyone started fawning over Li Kun.

Seeing their replies, Li Kun's mouth curled into a grin that nearly reached the sky.

This was exactly the feeling he wanted.

In fact, ordinary people weren't the only ones who knew nothing. Even officials at the JY Bureau didn't know about the Anomaly Resurgence.

Once anomalies had appeared, the Investigation Bureau had been given the authority to immediately seal off all information. The information that had leaked out was nothing more than a few scary stories.

Even now, the information given to JY Bureau officials had been disguised.

They knew something was wrong, but not what the problem was.

They knew the schools were merging, but not why.

Chen Yu didn't care whether Li Kun was showing off.

What he found curious was

that he could sense the presence of an anomaly through his phone screen.

The anomalous aura wasn't coming from the phone itself.

It was coming from the text on the screen.

He'd noticed the anomaly on Li Kun back at the restaurant, but hadn't paid it much attention at the time.

The anomalous aura had been extremely faint, as if it were still developing.

If Chen Yu hadn't been looking closely, he wouldn't have noticed it.

But now, even Li Kun's messages were giving off an anomalous aura.

That meant the anomaly was becoming more and more obvious!

And with all the bloody incidents near the school over the past couple of days,

Chen Yu couldn't help connecting the dots.

"This anomalous aura feels... familiar."

After giving it some thought, Chen Yu realized that the aura of this anomalous medium had something in common with the Ghost Embryo and the Ghost Infant!

Could the Ghost Infant be spreading and infecting Li Kun?

At this rate, Li Kun would probably end up pregnant like Tong Jian before long.

Chen Yu wasn't a saint. Li Kun had bullied plenty of people back when they were at school.

Chen Yu felt no sympathy for someone like him.

He set the chat group to Do Not Disturb and was about to put away his phone

when it vibrated again.

He picked it up.

Li Kun had kept talking, and now he'd even tagged Chen Yu.

Even with Do Not Disturb on, Chen Yu couldn't stop this guy from showing off.

[@Chen Yu, what are you up to? Remember when you were eating at that restaurant last time? I invited you to eat with me. The guy at the table was the JY Bureau director's secretary. If you'd come over and toasted him back then, you might've had everything arranged for you by now.

"But you didn't come. You missed your chance, and it'll be hard to sort things out now.]

His words reeked of boastfulness.

[Holy crap, Chen Yu, how did you miss such a great opportunity?]

[That was the JY Bureau director's secretary! He's so close to Brother Kun. If you'd eaten with him then, you really might've gotten special treatment!]

[Why wasn't I the one he invited?]

[I wish I could've gone, too.]

Everyone started fawning over Li Kun all over again.

When Chen Yu saw the messages, he merely smiled. He didn't reply. He put his phone in his pocket.

Bzzzzt—

Chen Yu heard the mottled static noise coming from the Anomaly Earphone.

He raised his eyes and saw, sure enough, the dash cams of the three cars parked by the road were bizarrely twisting their directions to aim right at him.

Ghost Camera.

It was still here.

There were no surveillance cameras here, so the method it used was dash cams instead.

Chen Yu smiled and entered the Butcher Knife Ghost Domain.

He saw that the dotted medium lines extending from the individual dash cams into the void and connecting to himself had already manifested a third streak.

This medium clue was gray.

However, it was still relatively faint right now, presumably established just a short while ago and still needing to be strengthened.

That also meant the third Jigsaw Anomaly related to Ghost Camera had just been locking onto him through the medium of Ghost Camera.

"Very good, keep up the good work."

Chen Yu was in a great mood; the progress of the Jigsaw Anomalies wasn't slow, so he was finally at ease.

"I hope you can gather a few more anomaly jigsaws to let me have a good meal."

Have a good meal?

These four words were like some kind of special spell.

Tong Jian, who had always been dull and lifeless, suddenly raised her head.

Gugugu—

A sound drifted over.

Tong Jian was expressionless, but it was clearly the hungry, plaintive cry coming from her stomach.

Aside from the time last time when Chen Yu treated her to a good meal, she had never been full before.

So her stomach got hungry very fast.

"Hungry, are you? Let's go get something to eat."