Clones No. 5 and No. 6 Return

The question touched on what was in everyone's hearts.

Their school was only an ordinary ability academy, neither a top institution nor a strategically important site. By rights, a monster attack of this scale should have brought the local security force, not an elite squad that looked this formidable and specialized in high-risk incidents.

Qin Lie fell silent for a moment, seemingly weighing his words, then slowly spoke, his voice reaching everyone's ears clearly:

"Our Cloud-Soaring Squad was indeed carrying out a routine patrol in the city.

"But a few minutes before the Red Lotus Demon General was about to awaken and the spatial rift appeared, headquarters suddenly received a special-grade high-risk warning-this area would suffer a massive spatial rift leak, with monsters of extremely high levels. An ordinary security force couldn't possibly hold them off. Sending them in would only be sending them to their deaths."

He paused, then continued:

"Our Cloud-Soaring Squad was the closest elite combat squad, the most mobile, and specialized in handling S-rank high-risk monster incidents. When the warning arrived, we were still over ten kilometers away. The entire squad immediately abandoned all other assignments and rushed here at full speed to provide support. By the time we arrived, monsters were already pouring in en masse, and the Red Lotus Demon General was about to awaken. We charged onto the battlefield immediately to protect as many of you as possible and minimize casualties."

"Put simply-

"We didn't happen to be passing by. The warning came in time, and we were ordered to rush here as emergency reinforcements.

"If we'd arrived a few minutes later, the consequences would have been unthinkable."

The students' hearts jolted as they listened, and warmth welled up from deep within.

So they had survived not just because of that mysterious masked big shot. The Cloud-Soaring Squad had also raced here, risking their lives to save them!

A Fourth Tier expert had personally led the team, and every member of the elite squad had charged forward, putting their bodies between the students and the monsters.

For a moment, every gaze directed at the Cloud-Soaring Squad's members was filled with gratitude.

Xing Yao stood in the crowd, listening quietly, his eyes flickering slightly.

A special-grade high-risk warning, spatial rifts, an elite combat squad rushing to reinforce...

None of this sounded like a coincidence.

Could someone have foreseen this monster attack?

Or was some greater secret hidden behind it?

Just then, someone else asked softly, "Captain Qin, then... do you know that person wearing the king mask? Is he part of your organization too?"

At the mention of the mysterious man, Qin Lie's gaze visibly grew complicated, a trace of that earlier, utterly baffled confusion flashing in his eyes. He shook his head, his tone utterly frank:

"No.

"He hadn't appeared yet when we arrived. Only when Xing Yao was trapped in a desperate situation, right as the Red Lotus Demon General was about to kill him, did that man suddenly tear through space and appear."

Everyone's eyes instantly turned toward Xing Yao in unison!

Xing Yao froze slightly, not expecting the conversation to suddenly turn to him.

Lin Chen and Lin Yue also turned their heads in surprise, looking at the classmate beside them who had been quiet all this time.

They only knew that Xing Yao usually kept a low profile and was fairly strong. They had never imagined that he had actually faced the Red Lotus Demon General just now and fallen into a certain-death predicament!

Qin Lie did not notice their reactions and continued:

"We secretly probed his aura afterward. He was, without question, only a Second Tier awakener, yet he possessed the terrifying strength to slay the Red Lotus Demon General with ease.

"His identity, background, abilities, purpose... all of them are mysteries to us too."

At those words, the crowd erupted once again!

"Holy shit! Even the Cloud-Soaring Squad doesn't know who he is?!"

"Slaying the Red Lotus Demon General at Second Tier? That's not a genius anymore. That's a monster!"

"He actually appeared when Xing Yao was in danger? Could he be specifically protecting Xing Yao?"

"Xing Yao is amazing! He wasn't even scared facing a demon general!"

Countless gazes fell on Xing Yao, some curious, some surprised, some admiring, and some searching.

Xing Yao remained calm and said nothing, merely lowering his eyes slightly to conceal the thoughts within them.

Of course he knew who the masked man was.

It was his clone, No. 1.

A clone who looked aloof and domineering on the outside but was a cheeky bastard on the inside.

He could not tell anyone this secret, not even his best friends.

Just as the atmosphere eased a little and everyone thought everything had ended safely-

An utterly stifled sob suddenly came from the other side of the plaza.

Then came a class monitor's report, his voice trembling so badly it nearly cracked:

"Reporting... Class Five, forty-four expected, present... forty-three present."

The air instantly fell deathly still.

Even the wind seemed to stop.

The relief, exhaustion, and curiosity on everyone's faces all froze at that moment.

The smile stiffened on Lin Chen's face. "...What does that mean?"

Lin Yue's face went deathly pale, her lips trembling slightly, not daring to respond.

Xing Yao's heart plunged.

He understood the weight of those words almost instantly.

Someone had not come back.

The class monitor kept his head lowered, his shoulders shaking violently, tears striking the dust-covered ground. His voice was hoarse and broken:

"...Li Haoran pushed the classmate behind him out of the way of a demon bat's charge, but he... didn't have time to dodge."

"When we found him, he was already... already not breathing."

Boom-!

Those words were like a boulder weighing ten thousand jin, smashing brutally into everyone's hearts.

The students who had just been celebrating being alive, thinking about going back to sleep, and discussing how powerful the big shot was instantly lost every trace of color in their faces.

Someone really had died.

This was not a movie, not a drill, not a story.

It was a classmate they knew, someone their own age who had attended class with them, fooled around with them, and complained with them about too much homework just yesterday.

In the catastrophe just now, he had remained in this plaza forever.

The entire plaza was deathly silent.

No one cheered. No one spoke. Even their breathing grew cautious.

Fear gripped everyone's hearts once again. This time, it came not from the monsters but from the real weight of death.

Xing Yao stood where he was, his fingertips tightening slightly.

He had seen the monsters' savagery, seen the Red Lotus Demon General's terror, and even experienced the sensation of death pressed against the tip of his nose.

But this was the first time a living, breathing person had died in the crisis right before his eyes.

He had clones, spatial power, and three elemental origins.

He had just saved himself, saved Lin Chen and Lin Yue, and saved a large group of people around him.

Yet he had failed to save that classmate named Li Haoran.

An indescribable heaviness and helplessness pressed brutally down on Xing Yao's heart.

So strength was not all-powerful.

So when danger struck, not everyone had clones to fall back on as he did.

So before a true disaster, life was as light as a sheet of paper.

The solemnity that had only just eased from Qin Lie's face tightened again.

He was silent for several seconds. His voice was low, carrying genuine gravity for the first time:

"I know this news is hard to accept.

"But I have to tell you-

"This is the reality of a monster invasion.

"Even if we give it everything we have, we can't guarantee that everyone will survive."

"Li Haoran sacrificed himself to save someone else. He is a hero."

"But more than that, I hope all of you can stay alive."

He raised his eyes, sweeping his gaze across everyone, his voice heavy and clear:

"From today onward, you must remember.

"An awakener's power isn't just for showing off, fighting monsters, or getting stronger.

"It's for protecting, for staying alive, for preventing tragedy from happening again."

Those words struck hard at everyone's hearts.

No one grinned or joked anymore. No one was curious about tiers anymore. No one discussed how handsome the masked big shot was anymore.

Everyone lowered their heads. Some had reddened eyes, some covered their mouths to keep from sobbing aloud, and some clenched their fists tightly.

Xing Yao closed his eyes and drew a deep breath.

The fire, wood, and earth elemental origins within him flowed slowly, carrying a heavy emotion for the first time.

Clone No. 1's cheeky telepathic message flashed through his mind, followed by the rescue in that lightning-swift instant, then the sight of the Red Lotus Demon General crashing to the ground.

Yet all of it seemed weightless before a life that had passed away.

The words "Once you've had enough fun, get some sleep" became unbearably grating at that moment.

Because someone would never wake again.

The horizon grew brighter and brighter, and morning fully arrived.

Light drove away the darkness, but it could not dispel the heavy sorrow over the plaza.

The head count continued, but every report had become unbearably heavy.

The power outage continued, darkness shrouding the campus and the hearts of everyone who had suddenly matured.

Xing Yao opened his eyes. The youthful ease in them faded, replaced by a resolve he had never possessed before.

He would not let this helplessness happen a second time.

He would not let the people around him die within his sight again.

From this moment onward, he would grow stronger.

Strong enough to protect everyone he wanted to protect.

Strong enough to stop tragedy from happening again.

Reality offered no warmth at all, nor any buffer.

The entire city was already on the brink of collapse.

As everyone watched that body being carried past them, no one could maintain even a surface calm anymore.

Girls broke down crying on the spot. Boys clenched their fists with reddened eyes. Even those who were usually the most boisterous were deathly pale and trembling all over.

Everyone spontaneously bowed their heads in silent mourning.

There were no orders, no directions, only a silence so oppressive it was suffocating.

Xing Yao stood at the very edge of the crowd, his heart feeling as though an icy hand had crushed it.

It was not sadness, nor fear, but his first experience of this-

Before a true disaster, everything was too fragile to withstand a single blow.

Xing Yao sent his consciousness into his own mental sea.

The sight before him froze the blood throughout his body.

Two blood-soaked figures, swaying on the verge of collapse, were staggering out of a distorted spatial rift, dragging their battered bodies step by step back into this mental world belonging to their original.

It was No. 5.

It was No. 6.