Fusionist

"He should have gone back to find A-Yan."

The rickshaw rolled along the gravel road. Chen Ling sat inside, his expression exceptionally grim.

He did not know which link had gone wrong for Han Meng to suspect him so quickly. Han Meng had even paid out of pocket to send him away just so he could question Chen Yan alone.

But the problem was that every path open to him had now been blocked.

Even if he turned back to find Chen Yan, setting aside whether he could reach home before the Enforcers, the moment he left the rickshaw, Han Meng would soon find out. By then, it would be nearly impossible to clear himself of suspicion.

All he could do now was wait and see how Chen Yan handled things...

Still, Chen Ling had already made up his mind. If his identity was exposed, he would flee District Two immediately. After all, Han Meng would still need time to get here from District Three.

As for Chen Yan, he was an ordinary person. He did not know Chen Ling was a Fusionist, nor did he even know what a Fusionist was... Even if something happened to Chen Ling, Chen Yan would not be implicated.

"Brother, and you said you didn't have money." The man hauling the rickshaw turned around and said, "Even Enforcement Officer Han Meng is reimbursing your fare. Your background must be something else."

"Heh, it certainly is."

Han Meng's face surfaced in Chen Ling's mind, and he felt a bitter rage lodge in his chest. He then asked, "How much longer?"

"Almost there. About another ten minutes or so."

"No need to go that fast. Circle this street a few more times."

"...Huh?"

"You run when I tell you to run. He's paying by the kilometer anyway." Chen Ling sneered. "Isn't he rich? I'll help him spend some of it..."

"Then... then I'm really going to run?"

"Head somewhere crowded. Let people see you, so he can't deny the bill."

"You got it!"

The man dragged Chen Ling through the busiest streets in Second District for more than ten laps. The man was clearly thrilled as well; the extra distance alone was enough to equal two or three days' worth of fares.

When Chen Ling got out of the rickshaw, the man's grin nearly reached his ears. He looked like he wanted to kneel and kowtow to this walking god of wealth on the spot.

Since he was the only one who had been "forced to depart," Wu Youdong would not arrive for several more hours. Chen Ling could only head to Ice Spring Street alone and meet up with the District Two enforcers patrolling there.

The moment he reached Ice Spring Street, Chen Ling frowned.

Yellow cordon tape had almost sealed off the entire street, and the air still carried the lingering stench of blood. The short, dilapidated buildings on both sides stood empty, without a soul in sight. Only several splashes of scarlet blood stained the white walls, a horrifying sight.

Chen Ling bent down and passed beneath the cordon tape. Broken stones covered the ground beneath his feet, as though some savage beast had once appeared here and slaughtered the entire street.

"This is..." Confusion appeared in Chen Ling's eyes.

Several figures in black-and-red uniforms moved through the distant ruins. When they saw Chen Ling step past the cordon line, they headed straight for him.

"A reserve officer from District Three? Why are you here so early?"

Chen Ling handed over his transfer order and placed all the blame on Han Meng, saying that Han Meng had told him to leave as soon as possible.

The Enforcers nodded. "It's good that you came early. We're short on manpower right now... My name is Qian Fan, and I'm currently in charge of Ice Spring Street. You'll work with me for the next few days."

"Okay." Chen Ling paused. "Brother Fan, what exactly happened here?"

"You haven't heard?"

Qian Fan spoke in surprise. "The night before last... the day the Ash Realm converged, a Calamity entered District Two and killed people across half the street."

Chen Ling froze. "The night before last?"

"Yeah." Qian Fan nodded. "Didn't your District Three Enforcement Officer Ma Zhong tell you? This Ash Realm convergence may have released two Calamities... one Level Five and one Level Three.

The one that appeared in your District Three was Level Five, but it did not seem especially destructive, so the casualties were few... The Level Three one in District Two may not have been high-ranking, but it was truly vicious..."

Hearing this, Chen Ling's mind could barely process it.

He had always thought that the one in his mind was the only Calamity that had escaped from the Ash Realm... But now there was another one?

"What about that Level Three one? Was it caught?"

"If it had been caught, would so many of us still be here?" Qian Fan sighed. "After killing those people, that Calamity disappeared... But one of the Enforcers saw the direction it left in. It should have headed toward the back mountain."

The back mountain...

Chen Ling remembered that the back mountain lay between District Two and District Three.

"You have to admit, these two Calamities are strange... After ordinary Calamities descend and cause a huge commotion, they're quickly caught. On one hand, they're large; on the other, they can't control themselves and keep killing... But these two Calamities vanished at the same time, as though they had evaporated into thin air!"

Chen Ling's heart stirred. Pretending to ask casually, he said, "I heard there's a type of person called... Fusionist?"

"Fusionist..." Qian Fan shook his head. "Do you think it's easy for a Calamity and a human to fuse? To fuse with a Calamity and survive, three conditions must be met... First, you have to ensure that the Calamity doesn't kill you. This condition alone eliminates ninety-nine percent of Calamities, because most Calamities have no self-control.

You could first beat one until it was on the verge of death, but then comes the next problem: you have to make sure your constitution is compatible with it... That's something nobody can predict.

A human and a Calamity are not even the same species. For the two to be compatible, the odds are as slim as casually picking up a stone and finding that its natural veins happen to spell your name.

Even if you are truly lucky enough to meet the first two conditions, you still have to ensure that you won't be driven mad by the Calamity's will after fusing with it... As far as I know, most Fusionists are lunatics, and they don't live more than a few years."

Chen Ling asked, "So you're saying the chance of a Fusionist appearing is practically zero?"

"That's right." Qian Fan nodded. "But I heard that people in the Fusion Faction are already researching ways to increase the success rate of fusion... As for how far they've gotten, I have no idea."

Chen Ling had always thought he was a Fusionist, but after hearing Qian Fan's explanation, it no longer seemed quite right...

His connection to the "Audience" was built entirely around the Theater. There did not seem to have been any fusion process at all... Though these "Audience" members did indeed occasionally drive him mad.

At the same time, a thought flashed through Chen Ling's mind.

Since he was not a Fusionist...

Could it be possible for him to master a path to godhood that belonged solely to him...?