Audience

Gulp.

Chen Tan could not help swallowing.

"H-How is this possible??" he rasped. "No heart, and his head was chopped off—how can he still move?"

"Where did that costume on him come from? Didn't we never put it on him?!"

"I don't know!!!" Li Xiuchun had been completely consumed by fear, her answer incoherent. "When he... when he crawled out of the ground, he was already wearing that costume... It was the costume we draped over him when we buried him last night!

He's a ghost... He really is a ghost!!

A ghost here to demand our lives!"

"Bullshit! There are no ghosts in this world!"

What he saw was simply too bizarre. Chen Tan's legs had gone somewhat weak with fright as well, but he finally gathered his courage, picked up a steak knife from the floor, and stabbed it toward Chen Ling's face!

He had killed Chen Ling twice, so he could kill him a third time!

Whatever was inside him, aside from looking frightening, it did not seem as terrifying as the Calamities rumored outside. That gave Chen Tan a considerable amount of courage.

The sharp steak knife sliced through the air, then abruptly stopped in midair just as it was about to touch Chen Ling.

Chen Tan froze. He desperately exerted force through the hand gripping the knife, yet he could not push it forward even an inch. It was as if an invisible giant hand had clamped down on the blade, holding it fast in the air.

"Hehe."

An eerie chuckle sounded from behind Chen Ling.

The next moment, the steak knife in Chen Tan's hand vanished into thin air, replaced by a long, narrow strip of red paper.

Chen Ling, his pupils unfocused, chewed and swallowed the axe and kitchen knife in his mouth. He stared fixedly at Chen Tan and slowly stepped forward, mechanically repeating the same hoarse words:

"Dad, I'm hungry."

Those three simple words made Chen Tan's scalp tingle!

He had no doubt that Chen Ling would seize his head the next moment, stuff it straight into his mouth, and chew it to pieces... His bones would not be harder than an axe or kitchen knife!

"Run!! Get outside and find the Enforcers!!"

Chen Tan turned and sprinted toward the front door!

Chen Tan knew that what was happening was beyond their ability to handle... Their only way to survive now was to seek help from the Enforcers. Those all-powerful Law Enforcers surely had a way to deal with Calamities!

As for how the Enforcers would judge their deliberate murder and organ theft afterward, that could wait.

No matter what, prison was better than losing his life.

Li Xiuchun, who had been crouching nearby and trembling all over, was jolted back to her senses by the shout. She scrambled toward the tightly shut front door.

While Chen Ling's attention was focused on Chen Tan, she successfully reached the door and grabbed for the handle...

But caught nothing.

Li Xiuchun lowered her head blankly, only to discover that the doorknob had vanished... No, not just the doorknob. The entire door had become an image on red paper, shifting from three dimensions into two.

She could not open a door drawn on paper.

"Hehehehe..."

Countless voices layered over one another from every direction. It was as if innumerable invisible figures already stood within the house... watching the two of them with scarlet eyes full of mockery.

Red paper scraps danced around Li Xiuchun. In her daze, she saw one eerie face after another.

She screamed without stopping and backed away, leaving nothing but pure terror in her eyes.

At last, her eyes rolled back, and she collapsed limply to the floor, losing consciousness...

[Audience Expectation -1]

[Current Expectation Value: 16%]

At the same time, Chen Tan felt the ground vanish beneath his feet. He crashed heavily onto the floor, then turned back in shock, only to find the entire ground had turned red and was rippling like waves.

He stared blankly at red-clad Chen Ling as he approached step by step. As though he had realized something, he cried out in terror:

"It's true... What the Enforcers said was true!"

"You're a Calamity!"

"You're the Calamity that stole A-Ling's body!"

Upon hearing that, red-clad Chen Ling stopped walking.

The corners of his scarlet lips curled upward slightly. He raised a pale finger to his lips and made a gesture for silence.

"Shh—"

Just as the endless red paper was about to engulf Chen Tan, two explosive crashes of shattering glass rang out from nearby!

"Calamity traces discovered at 128 Frost Street!! Destructive capability assessed at Level Four! Requesting immediate Law Enforcer support!!"

Two figures in black-and-red uniforms burst through the window. One of them swept his gaze across the room and spoke swiftly.

"Message received. Reinforcements are already on the way. Hold the target off as long as possible!" A stern voice came from the walkie-talkie at one Enforcer's waist.

One Enforcer gave a bitter smile. "A Level Four Calamity? How are we supposed to hold it off?"

When the two Enforcers suddenly barged in, the Audience in the void gave soft exclamations of surprise, as if they had discovered more interesting toys.

Red-clad Chen Ling flicked a finger, and Chen Tan, lying on the floor, immediately fainted. Blood flowed from his seven orifices, gradually soaking into the ground beneath him...

"Keep your distance! Staying alive is what matters!"

One Enforcer rapidly retreated, drew his gun from his waist, and pulled the trigger repeatedly!

Bang! Bang! Bang—

The brass bullets tore through the void, but before they could reach red-clad Chen Ling, they turned into tiny red paper scraps and scattered through the air.

Red-clad Chen Ling gently raised a hand. Countless paper scraps emerged from the broad sleeves of his costume and bound the two Enforcers like swimming snakes.

The paper scraps wrapped around them suddenly twisted, as though being wrung into ropes, before slamming heavily onto the ground.

[Audience Expectation -1]

[Current Expectation Value: 15%]

Red-clad Chen Ling's body gradually swelled, forcefully stretching open his costume. It was as if faces were about to burst through beneath his skin, while chaotic whispers filled the space.

In mere seconds, he became a monster covered in fluttering red-paper tentacles. Pairs of scarlet pupils opened across the paper scraps, and no trace of Chen Ling's appearance remained.

It smashed through the paper door and charged into the deserted street. The drizzling rain struck its body without making the slightest sound.

It casually chose a direction and shot away as a scarlet afterimage!

Almost at the same time, a black-clad figure tore through the clouds and pursued it at high speed.

"Target Calamity located," Han Meng said calmly.

"...Is it World-Ending class?" A worried voice came through the walkie-talkie.

"Judging by its aura, it is at most Level Five. It seems a Calamity really did descend last night, but the needle misjudged its energy intensity."

"Level Five is still extremely dangerous! Be careful, Brother Meng!"

Han Meng said nothing. He followed the streak of red to the wilderness at the edge of the Third District, then suddenly crashed down like a cannonball!

Boom—!!

A black meteor struck the wilderness, blasting out an invisible shockwave!

Shattered sand sprayed in every direction. The red shadow was forced to stop, its countless red-paper tentacles swaying gently in the wind as every eye turned toward the dust-filled ground.

A figure lowered his head to light a thick cigarette, then slowly emerged. Four silver lines glimmered faintly along the hem of his black trench coat.

A breeze-like domain spread soundlessly, enveloping the Red-Paper Monster.

"I am Han Meng, Chief Law Enforcer of the Third District of the Aurora Domain."

He held a cigarette between the fingers of one hand while drawing a pitch-black pistol from his waist with the other. His thumb clicked off the safety. The sand and stones within the domain trembled faintly, and an unseen killing intent abruptly locked onto the Red-Paper Monster!

His lips parted slightly, his words carrying the rhythm of some kind of law.

"I uphold the justice of human civilization..."

"I judge you to death."