"Anyway, your task for the next two days is to search this street for any traces of Calamity hair buried under the rubble, or anything else unusual…"
"Unusual things?"
"The power of a Calamity can affect the surrounding environment. How it manifests depends on the Calamity itself… Some Calamities can distort everything around them just by standing there, while others can start fires. There are even more bizarre ones that can manipulate humans… We call this influence the 'Calamity Domain.'"
"The higher the level of a Calamity, the more destructive and expansive its Calamity Domain becomes. Generally, we classify all Calamities into levels one through nine, though each level has its own nickname to visually represent their destructive power.
"For example, a Level Nine Calamity… We usually call it 'Apocalypse.'"
"Apocalypse…" Chen Ling was stunned. "So, a Level Nine Calamity can really destroy the world?"
"While it’s a bit of an exaggeration, it’s not far from the truth… It’s said that an Apocalypse level has the power to completely annihilate an entire human domain." Qian Fan lowered his voice, as if recalling something.
"Didn’t you know?"
"Know what?"
"!!!"
Chen Ling’s face instantly turned pale.
"Haha, I’m just messing with you." Seeing Chen Ling’s reaction, Qian Fan laughed and patted his shoulder. "I heard that the Calamity indicator in your district did go off, which usually only happens when an 'Apocalypse' appears… But come on, that’s impossible, right?
"It’s been nearly a century since the last 'Apocalypse' appeared, and if one really had shown up, your district would’ve been wiped out instantly. How could things still be so calm?
"So, it’s probably just a Calamity with a domain that happens to affect the Calamity indicator.
"Didn’t Officer Han Meng from your district confront it yesterday? He confirmed it was a Level Five Calamity, not an 'Apocalypse'… So, relax."
Qian Fan stood with his hands on his hips, a wide smile on his face.
But Chen Ling couldn’t bring himself to smile.
As the "culprit" who had beaten up Han Meng, he knew exactly what the so-called "Level Five" Calamity really was.
The "Level Five" that Han Meng encountered wasn’t actually a Level Five… It was simply because the [Audience Expectation] happened to be between 14% and 15% at the time, and the "audience" that had hijacked the stage corresponded to the strength of a Level Five Calamity.
And Chen Ling clearly remembered that the number of "audience" members who had escaped was less than one percent of the total audience…
What if the entire "audience" escaped?
Would that mean… a full-fledged "Apocalypse" would descend?
At this thought, cold sweat broke out on Chen Ling’s back.
He had known that the calamities in the "audience seats" were powerful, but he hadn’t realized they were this powerful… An "Apocalypse" was a super calamity capable of destroying an entire human domain! A ticking time bomb that could annihilate humanity!
"Alright, get to work," Qian Fan said, satisfied.
"...Right."
As Qian Fan walked away, Chen Ling was left alone on the ruined street.
He took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing his fear, and began searching through the rubble… No matter what level the "audience" was, they seemed to follow the theater’s rules. As long as Chen Ling kept the [Audience Expectation] above 20%, nothing would go wrong.
[Audience Expectation -1]
[Current Expectation: 32%]
Two lines of text flickered among the rubble before vanishing.
Since infiltrating the law enforcement, the audience expectation value had shot up by 10%, but over time, it continued to drop at a steady rate. At this pace, if he did nothing, it would fall back to 20% within 36 hours.
For the next few hours, Chen Ling meticulously searched the ruins, but he found no traces of hair or any remnants of a "Calamity Domain."
To be honest, Chen Ling was also curious about what kind of Calamity had escaped alongside his "audience."
"Chen Ling!"
A voice called out from nearby. Chen Ling, who had been focused on searching, looked up to see his fellow "unlucky brother," Wu Youdong, approaching.
"I heard you got here early this morning?" Wu Youdong was drenched in sweat, having clearly walked all the way from District Three. "How’d you get here so fast? Didn’t you go home?"
"No, something came up."
"Something with your brother?"
At this, Chen Ling’s head snapped up. "What did you say?"
"Oh, when I was on my way here, I passed by your house… I saw Officer Han Meng there, saying he was looking for your brother." Wu Youdong wiped his sweat and couldn’t help but comment, "But man, your place is worse than mine… There are holes in the walls?"
Chen Ling ignored Wu Youdong’s teasing and pressed, "Did Han Meng question my brother?"
"No, there was a tall guy with silver-rimmed glasses standing inside the house talking to him. I couldn’t hear what they were saying, but after a few words, Officer Han Meng left… He didn’t go inside."
A tall guy with silver-rimmed glasses?
Chen Ling was stunned for a moment before a thought struck him… He had completely forgotten about this!
He had sent a letter to Aurora City earlier, hoping the [Doctor] could cure him. But with everything that had happened recently, it had slipped his mind… Now it seemed the [Doctor] had arrived as promised to treat him.
But wasn’t District Three locked down? How had he gotten in?
Questions swirled in Chen Ling’s mind, and he desperately wanted to go home to see what was going on.
"I’ll catch up with you later. My task is to help relocate the survivors from Ice Spring Street, and I’ve got a lot to do." Wu Youdong checked the time and hurried off after saying goodbye to Chen Ling.
Since Han Meng had been diverted, there was no chance he had interrogated Chen Yan, and the house should still be safe… As Chen Ling thought this, he quickly made his way over to Qian Fan and the others.
The [Doctor] was a complete unknown to Chen Ling, and he didn’t dare let Chen Yan stay alone with him for too long.
He needed to go home. Now.
Crack—
Chen Ling’s foot stepped on a broken piece of tile in the rubble, and he looked down to see a faint red color peeking out from beneath the fragments.
Frowning, Chen Ling brushed away the debris, and the red object gradually came into view… When he saw it clearly, his pupils contracted sharply.
It was a tattered talisman of peace.
In the corner of the talisman, two small characters were embroidered—
Chen Yan.