Full District Lockdown

That afternoon, the screams on Frost Street had barely stopped.

Yet Chen Ling, the instigator behind it all, sat quietly beneath a tree with his head propped on one hand, enjoying the show alongside the surrounding spectators... while keeping an eye on the changes in [Audience Expectation].

At first, whenever Uncle Zhao smacked Zhao Yi's backside, Audience Expectation rose a little. But after several hits, the increase stalled, eventually settling at 48%.

After watching for a while longer, it actually dropped by another 1%, becoming 47%...

It seemed Audience had grown tired of it too.

"Could all the Audience in my head be thrill-seekers?"

Chen Ling could not help thinking.

Through this experiment, Chen Ling had already confirmed that the Audience's Expectation Value changed according to his own actions. If the events he was experiencing were exciting enough, Expectation Value would rise. But once nothing entertaining happened for too long, it would fall as time passed...

Did that not mean that if he wanted to keep Expectation Value above 20%, he had to keep creating "exciting plots" nonstop?

Zhao Yi had provoked him first today, and since the man was also Frost Street's bully, giving him a small lesson was understandable... but he could not do this every day, could he?

At this rate, was he destined to become some great demon lord who brought disaster upon the world?

The thought left Chen Ling exhausted...

The only lifeline Chen Ling had now was the [doctor] in Aurora City that Doctor Lin had mentioned. Perhaps that person could remove whatever Calamity contamination was inside him and save him from this life path of being a "passive thrill-seeker."

Just as Chen Ling was lost in thought, a deep bell toll sounded from afar!

Clang—clang—clang!!

The three tolls seemed to pierce through space, echoing through every corner of heaven and earth.

The instant they heard the bell, the faces of the surrounding crowd changed. Even Uncle Zhao, who had been chasing Zhao Yi down, stopped and stared into the distance in astonishment.

"Three Calamity Bell tolls?!" An old man's face turned incomparably grim. "How is that possible?"

"When the Calamity Bell rings, it means the Enforcers have issued a warning. They've discovered traces of an intersection with the Ash Realm within the district. A Calamity has invaded..."

"Wasn't the Aurora Domain protected by the aurora, making intersections with the Ash Realm nearly impossible? In the past ten years, there haven't even been more than three appearances of Calamities..."

"Where is that Calamity now?"

"Who knows... Just hurry home! Don't come outside unless you have to!"

At the sound of the three Calamity Bell tolls, everyone's faces went deathly pale. Zhao Yi, who had just been howling from the beating, had his legs give out beneath him and collapsed to his knees.

The ground beneath their feet trembled faintly. Chen Ling turned and saw more than a dozen fast horses galloping toward them from afar.

Each horse carried a figure in a black-and-red uniform. Holsters hung diagonally at their waists, and their expressions were equally grave.

"A suspected high-risk Calamity has appeared! District Three is under total lockdown! No one may enter or leave!!"

"Watch for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings appearing out of thin air, mysterious creatures with bizarre appearances, or even humans behaving abnormally!!"

"If you discover anything unusual, report it to the Enforcers immediately!!"

"Everyone, please cooperate with the investigation!!"

The Enforcers' voices echoed across Frost Street and every corner of District Three. Accompanied by the lingering tolls of the Calamity Bell overhead, an inexplicable tension descended upon the world.

No one had any interest in watching the spectacle anymore. Everyone hurried home. Even after Zhao Yi received a resounding slap across the face, his father dragged him indoors while cursing.

Chen Ling stood alone beneath the tree, preparing to head home as well, when two lines of text flashed amid the fallen leaves—

[Audience Expectation +18]

[Current Expectation Value: 65%]

Seeing Audience Expectation surge so sharply, Chen Ling froze.

The next instant, a terrifying thought leaped into his mind...

"They... aren't here for me, are they?!"

District Three.

Enforcers Headquarters.

Dim sunlight filtered through the hemispherical glazed dome, refracting into specks of multicolored light that illuminated the interior.

A flag more than ten meters long hung high from ropes at the center. Against its pitch-black background, two cyan six-pointed starbursts overlapped, like shining stars in the Arctic night sky.

At that moment, beneath the flag, more than a dozen Enforcers in black-and-red uniforms stood in a straight line with solemn expressions, facing the headquarters entrance as though waiting for something.

As the doors opened, five Enforcement Officers in black trench coats strode in side by side.

Of the five, Han Meng walked in the center. Four silver stripes were embroidered along the hem of his coat, while the other four had only three. As they arrived, every Enforcer present snapped to attention.

"How is the situation?" Han Meng asked in a deep voice.

"The Calamity Bell has been rung, and District Three is now under total lockdown. But there's still no trace of that Calamity..." After hesitating for a moment, an Enforcer could not help asking, "Brother Meng, what does it mean for the Calamity Pointer to self-destruct?"

"There are only two circumstances in which the Calamity Pointer self-destructs." Han Meng spoke calmly.

"The first is that a special Calamity has appeared nearby, one whose abilities happen to disable the Calamity Pointer... but that explanation exists only in theory. So far, no such Calamity has ever been discovered."

"The second is that a Level Nine... a World-Ending Tier Calamity, has invaded nearby. Its residual energy fluctuations exceed the pointer's tolerance limit, causing it to explode automatically."

"A... World-Ending Tier??" Everyone's faces turned pale.

"There's no need to be so nervous... You don't really think a World-Ending Tier has appeared, do you?" The Enforcement Officer beside Han Meng chuckled.

"A World-Ending Tier Calamity is an existence capable of wiping out an entire human domain. There are only a few of them in the entire Ash Realm... If a World-Ending Tier really descended, then forget District Three—even Aurora City would likely be reduced to ashes the instant it arrived."

Hearing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief...

"So it should just be a special Calamity?"

"For now, that is the only explanation."

"But the Calamity Pointer is broken. How are we supposed to assess its tier?"

"We can't." Han Meng shook his head. "Unless it appears again and we engage it... Right now, the most important thing is to mobilize everyone for a carpet search and find it before it actively harms anyone."

"A carpet search... But we may not have enough people."

"Then temporarily call up the Reserve Seat Enforcers first. Didn't the written exam end a few days ago? Gather those who passed and tell them this is the Martial Trial."

"Yes!"