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 opera costume on him come from? Didn't we never put it on him?!"

"I don't know!!!" Li Xiuchun had been completely consumed by terror, answering incoherently. "W-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 take our lives!"

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

The scene before him was simply too bizarre. Chen Tan's legs had gone weak with fright, but he finally gathered his courage, picked up a dinner knife from the ground, and stabbed it at Chen Ling's face!

He had killed Chen Ling twice already. He could kill him a third time!

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

The sharp dinner 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 advance even an inch. It was as if an invisible giant hand had seized the blade and locked it firmly in place.

"Hee hee."

An eerie chuckle rang out from behind Chen Ling.

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

Chen Ling's unfocused eyes stared straight at Chen Tan as he chewed up and swallowed every axe and kitchen knife in his mouth. He slowly stepped forward, mechanically repeating the same hoarse words:

"Dad, I'm hungry."

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

He did not doubt for a second that Chen Ling would seize his head in the next moment, force it into his mouth, and chew it to pieces... His bones would not be harder than an axe or a kitchen knife!

"Run!! Get outside and find the law 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 chance of survival now was to seek help from the law enforcers. Those extraordinarily capable enforcement officers had to have a way to deal with Calamities!

As for how the law enforcers would judge their deliberate murder and organ theft afterward, that was a matter for later.

No matter what, going to 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 door.

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

But grasped 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, changing from three dimensions into two.

She could not open a door painted on paper.

"Hee hee hee hee..."

Countless voices layered over one another from every direction, as though innumerable invisible figures were already standing throughout the room... They watched the two of them, their scarlet eyes filled with mockery.

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

She screamed without pause and staggered backward, with nothing but pure terror left in her eyes.

At last, her eyes rolled back, and her whole body went limp on the floor as she lost consciousness...

[Audience Expectation -1]

[Current Expectation: 16%]

At the same time, Chen Tan felt the ground vanish beneath his feet and crashed heavily to the floor. He turned back in astonishment, only to find that the entire ground had turned red, surging like waves.

He stared blankly at red-clothed Chen Ling approaching step by step. As if realizing something, he cried out in terror:

"It's real... What the law enforcers said was real!"

"You're a Calamity!"

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

At those words, red-clothed Chen Ling stopped.

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

"Shh—"

Just as endless red paper was about to swallow Chen Tan, two explosive crashes of shattering glass came from nearby!

"Calamity traces discovered at 128 Frost Street!! Threat assessment: Level Four! Requesting immediate law enforcer support!!"

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

"Received. Support is already on the way. Please hold the target off for as long as possible!" A stern voice came from the intercom at one law enforcer's waist.

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

When the two law enforcers suddenly barged in, the spectators in the void gave soft cries of surprise, as if they had discovered more interesting toys.

With a casual flick of red-clothed Chen Ling's hand, Chen Tan, lying on the ground, immediately fainted. Blood flowed from his seven orifices, gradually staining the ground beneath him...

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

One law enforcer swiftly retreated, drew his gun from his waist, and pulled the trigger repeatedly!

Bang bang bang—

Brass bullets tore through the void, but before they could reach red-clothed Chen Ling, they turned into tiny red scraps of paper and vanished into the air.

Red-clothed Chen Ling lightly raised his hand, and countless paper scraps slipped from the wide sleeves of his opera robe, wrapping around the two law enforcers like swimming snakes.

The paper enveloping them suddenly twisted as if wrung into a rope, then slammed heavily onto the ground.

[Audience Expectation -1]

[Current Expectation: 15%]

Red-clothed Chen Ling's body gradually swelled, his opera costume forced apart as though face after face was about to burst through his skin. 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, and not a trace of Chen Ling's appearance remained.

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

It chose a direction at random and shot away as a scarlet afterimage!

Almost at the same time, a black-clad figure cut through the clouds and sped after it.

"Target Calamity located," Han Meng said calmly.

"...Is it World-Ending class?" a worried voice came through the intercom.

"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 level."

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

Han Meng said nothing. He followed that streak of red to the wilderness at the edge of District Three, then plummeted down like a cannonball!

Boom—!!

A black meteor crashed into the wilderness, sending an invisible shockwave outward!

Shattered sand sprayed in every direction. The red shadow was forced to halt, its dense red paper tentacles swaying gently in the wind as every eye stared toward the dust-filled area.

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

An invisible domain like a gentle breeze spread out, enveloping the red paper monster.

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

He held the cigarette between the fingers of one hand and drew a pitch-black handgun 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 suddenly locked onto the red paper monster!

His lips parted slightly, his words seeming to carry the rhythm of some law.

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

"I sentence you to death."