Chapter 96: The Worst of the Worst
“Miss… Luo Ling?”
Elsa looked flustered, tilting her small head up, her mind struggling to process what she had just seen.
Luo Ling had transformed right before her eyes, and it was difficult to connect Miss Luo Ling with Big Sister Bai.
Even their heights were different.
And…
“Bai… oh wait, Miss Luo Ling, aren’t you… dead?” Elsa asked, her brow furrowed as she counted on her fingers. “I clearly saw…”
It had been a fatal wound, piercing her heart, and Elsa had even sensed Luo Ling’s life force fading.
She scratched her head, confused.
“Or was that Luo Ling not Miss Luo Ling? Oh wait, not Big Sister Bai?
“That’s not right either… Big Sister Bai is Miss Luo Ling, and Miss Luo Ling is…”
Luo Ling’s lips twitched. It seemed Elsa was only getting more confused…
“That was also me, but I didn’t die,” Luo Ling said. “So I came back.”
“Ah, I see, I understand now,” Elsa nodded repeatedly, but she still looked confused.
“Should I call you Miss Luo Ling, or Big Sister Bai…?”
Elsa started struggling with this new dilemma.
“When it’s just us, either is fine. Otherwise, just call me whatever form I’m in,” Luo Ling said, stroking Elsa’s hair. It felt nice.
No wonder her sister always liked to pat her head, it was a pleasant feeling.
“Ah, also, where’s Sister Su Wan? I don’t see her. Could it be that she…”
Elsa’s face turned anxious. After all, Sister Su Wan was just an ordinary person, and Jiangcheng County now…
Could one of those exploding blood flowers have been Sister Su Wan’s?
“She’s… fine, she just went somewhere far away,” Luo Ling said, her gaze downcast, her expression slightly sad. “She might not be back for a long time.”
“Really?”
Elsa felt that Luo Ling was hiding something, but she couldn’t quite understand.
“Then when Sister Su Wan comes back, we have to give her a proper welcome!” Elsa clenched her small fists, trying to cheer Luo Ling up.
“Of course.”
Luo Ling forced a smile, but as she looked down at Jiangcheng County, she couldn’t help but sigh.
Everything outside Jiangcheng County… must be in chaos now, right?
Luo Ling could imagine the Company’s shock when they entered the city and saw what had happened.
They would probably consider the White Witch their greatest threat.
For a moment, Luo Ling wanted to explain, to tell the Company the truth, that she hadn’t massacred the city, but had merely released them from their torment.
But even she herself would find it hard to believe.
Even if some people believed her, for safety reasons, the Company, and the entire Awakened world, would definitely place her under strict surveillance and restrictions.
Normally, Luo Ling wouldn’t mind. After all, she had a clear conscience and no intention of harming anyone.
But now…
She wanted to save her sister.
She wanted her sister to come back.
She wanted… to truly embrace her sister again.
So, she couldn’t be restricted.
Fortunately… she still had another identity she could use in the world.
Not as the White Witch.
“Elsa, after we leave here, pretend you haven’t seen me,” Luo Ling said in a low voice. “You haven’t seen the White Witch, and you haven’t seen Luo Ling.”
“Mm.”
Elsa nodded. Although she didn’t understand why, if Miss Luo Ling said so, there must be a reason.
She just had to obey.
“And you too, Bella.”
Luo Ling looked at the teddy bear, which was pretending to be an ordinary toy, her calm tone devoid of any threat, but Bella was sweating profusely.
“O-of course, I would never say anything…”
Bella’s voice trembled. She knew that this seemingly kind being had just killed four hundred thousand people without batting an eye.
Well, strictly speaking, it wasn’t killing.
But it was still terrifying.
This was a High-Risk Grotesquery… a living, breathing High-Risk Grotesquery…
“Also, don’t use the ability I taught you in front of others,” Luo Ling added. “And don’t mention the White Witch, even if they’re insulting her, don’t defend her.”
She didn’t care, but Elsa might get into trouble.
Before learning more about this world, Luo Ling didn’t want to reveal too many of her cards.
Of course, she was only concealing her abilities, not sealing them. She could still use them if needed.
After giving her instructions, Luo Ling told Elsa to stay on Huolu Mountain and wait for the others to arrive and take her back. She just had to tell the Company what Luo Ling had told her.
Luo Ling then quietly left Jiangcheng County, heading towards the train station.
To conceal the connection between “White Witch” and “Luo Ling,” and to learn more about the truth of this world through the Company, Luo Ling planned to reveal another special ability.
“The first Awakened One capable of walking freely through the Realm of Nothingness, the Company should be interested, right…?”
…
“What a magnificent ‘disaster.’ Even among all Boundaries, it would rank within the top fifty, wouldn’t it?”
On a hill overlooking Jiangcheng County, Gypsy Girl watched the entire incident with relish.
Of course, without an Authority, even she couldn’t see through the Kingdom and perceive the truth, but this was enough.
Just witnessing the changes in the Kingdom had allowed her to progress further on the Other Shore path.
But Wang Lili wasn’t so fortunate, showing signs of entering her Seer state again.
Seeing the exploding blood flowers throughout the city, she vomited, terror gripping her mind.
However, forced by Gypsy Girl, Wang Lili had watched the entire scene, her mind almost breaking.
“Dad, Mom…”
She also had family in Jiangcheng County.
“Don’t think about it, they’re already dead,” Gypsy Girl said softly.
“Sister Gypsy, did… did you know this would happen?”
Wang Lili looked up at Gypsy Girl.
During her time with Gypsy Girl, her common sense had been repeatedly challenged and shattered, until now, completely broken.
Was this… the truth of the world?
“Are you kidding? If I had known, would I have stayed in the city? You overestimate me and underestimate High-Risk Grotesqueries,” Gypsy Girl shrugged. “Actually, I underestimated it too. I knew it was a High-Risk Grotesquery, but I didn’t expect it to be this powerful.”
From the beginning, Gypsy Girl had known there was a High-Risk Grotesquery lurking in Jiangcheng County. That was why she had come to this remote place, because of this “disaster.”
The reason she was called the Harbinger of Disaster was because of her ability to predict disasters, although the scale and intensity might be slightly off.
The Jiangcheng County disaster had begun long ago.
As for why she hadn’t informed the Company…
The Speaker wasn’t a subsidiary of the Company, why would she inform them?
Besides, wasn’t a disaster a good thing? A chance to increase her strength, why not?
The Speaker’s stance wasn’t biased towards Grotesqueries, or rather, Grotesquery-side Awakened organizations. They were relatively independent.
It could be said that they had no stance, their members acting as they pleased.
Some Speakers even helped apostles, and one was even a Grotesquery agent herself.
Gypsy Girl was more… flexible. As long as she was paid, she would accept any commission.
The reason the Harbingers of Calamity knew her was because of previous dealings.
However, this time, Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital had contacted her first, so she hadn’t accepted the Harbingers’ offer.
Business was business; credibility was important.
She couldn’t agree to a deal, then turn around and sell them out.
Gypsy Girl considered herself to have some professional ethics. Her bottom line hadn’t become that flexible yet.
“But I didn’t expect… the White Witch to be so impressive. It seems the connections I made before were useful,” Gypsy Girl said, crossing her legs, a sly smile on her face. “And how will the Company and other Awakened organizations react to this incident?
“Heh, I can’t wait to see.”
…
After the Kingdom domain began to recede, the Company, noticing this, sent several elite teams, each led by at least a P8 specialist, but they didn’t enter Jiangcheng County immediately.
Only after a few days, when they confirmed the unknown Authority domain was gone, did they cautiously enter.
Upon entering Jiangcheng County, everyone was stunned.
Some, with weaker mental fortitude, even fainted on the spot.
The entire city was littered with dismembered bodies and scattered flesh and blood, the streets and alleys awash in rivers of blood, the former prosperity completely submerged.
A dense aura of death hung over the land, a deathly silence, not even a single cry or wail.
“Unimaginable…”
What kind of hellish scene had the White Witch created…?
As they went deeper into the city, a chill ran down their spines.
Company headquarters had made a worst-case estimate, that the death toll in Jiangcheng County would exceed two-thirds of its population, between two hundred and three hundred thousand.
Even that estimate had seemed unbelievable.
Who knew…
…that it would be a complete massacre.
And in such a gruesome manner…
Almost all the corpses were torn to shreds, likely from explosions, and almost all at the same time.
Imagine a vibrant city, everyone suddenly exploding, flesh and blood flying everywhere. The mere thought was enough to make one shudder.
Even Lu Fangling, the only P8 specialist present who had experienced a High-Risk Grotesquery disaster, couldn’t help but be shocked, her heart pounding in her chest.
Even decades ago, even in that single High-Risk Grotesquery disaster she had experienced, she hadn’t seen anything this horrifying.
Even the infamous Pestilence incident centuries ago hadn’t killed hundreds of thousands in an instant.
Only one terrifying conclusion could be drawn.
“This new High-Risk Grotesquery… is more dangerous than any we’ve encountered before.”
Not in terms of raw power, but in terms of its threat to humanity.
Not all Grotesqueries were driven to kill. Their actions were usually guided by their paths and characteristics, and it was in the process of following these paths that humans paid the price.
The most terrifying scenario was a powerful Grotesquery taking an interest in slaughtering civilians. Such a Grotesquery posed a great threat to the Awakened world, potentially even causing Boundary collapses and Disorders.
Then, it wouldn’t just be a matter of hundreds of thousands of lives.
After carefully investigating the situation in Jiangcheng County, Lu Fangling sent a detailed report to Company headquarters, leaving the matter to the higher-ups.
Although the final decision hadn’t been made yet, Lu Fangling could guess what it would be.
The White Witch would likely be placed on the wanted list. As a Grotesquery with self-awareness and the ability to act independently, she could no longer be treated as a mere “disaster.”
And the change on the Taboo Index, after its next update, would quickly spread throughout the Awakened world.
Then…
…the real storm would begin.
“And there’s still the Victoria matter… heh, it seems both the Company and they will be quite busy.”
Lu Fangling smiled wryly. To encounter something like this when she was planning to retire… at her age, she still had to fight.
Old Ji, around the same age as her, was practically bedridden, his life like a flickering candle in the wind.
Just as Lu Fangling was about to withdraw the elite teams, lower Jiangcheng County’s threat level, and send in the main force for cleanup, Li Shaoheng suddenly appeared before her, along with an unfamiliar little girl.
“Xiao Li, this is…?”
Lu Fangling asked, puzzled.
“We found her on a small hill near the outskirts, the only survivor we’ve found in Jiangcheng County so far,” Li Shaoheng said grimly. “She seems… to be connected to Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital.”
“Hello, Grandma Lu,” Elsa said politely, bowing.
After becoming Luo Ling’s apostle, her previous ailments had vanished.
She could run and jump, her eyes could see normally, and her voice no longer harmed others.
It was this change that made Luo Ling hesitate to revoke Elsa’s apostle status.
Even her sister, as the host, couldn’t resist the Grotesquery’s instincts. Luo Ling wasn’t confident she could control this terrifying power.
“You know me?” Lu Fangling raised an eyebrow.
“Yes, Grandpa Ji has a photo of you,” Elsa replied honestly.
“So she really is from Old Ji’s side. But why would he recruit such a young girl?” Seeing Elsa, who was barely taller than her shoulders, Lu Fangling’s expression softened. “Little girl, the scene in the city… it didn’t scare you, did it?”
…Of course it had terrified her.
Elsa had almost lost her mind when she ran up the mountain to find Luo Ling, only calming down slightly after seeing her, even though it was Luo Ling who had caused it.
“I didn’t see anything, I was hiding in the mountains,” Elsa replied, as instructed by Luo Ling.
“Come to think of it, we didn’t see many…”
Lu Fangling hesitated, not saying “corpses.”
After all, the Puppet Ballad’s final act had been to maintain ordinary daily life. The controlled people were either at home or at their workplaces, rarely appearing in desolate areas.
“There’s one more thing. I saw it in the Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital Patient Exchange Group’s files,” Li Shaoheng said grimly. “Her codename is Scarlet Witch, and she cooperated with White Witch during the Baiyan Village incident.
“And most importantly, she’s… the only successful case of Scientist’s mysterious experiments.”
“What?!”
Lu Fangling looked surprised, then, looking at the well-behaved Elsa, she asked after a moment of hesitation,
“Where’s Old Ji now?”
“Mr. Ji should be outside Jiangcheng County, but not far.”
“Send her there, and you take your team with you, as protection,” Lu Fangling said grimly. “Until you receive further instructions from me, stand down.”
Whether it was because of their previous cooperation, or because of the mysterious experiment, that the White Witch had spared this little red-haired girl, wasn’t the most important question now.
Obtaining information about the White Witch from these clues was their priority.
Li Shaoheng nodded, understanding the situation. Sending the Scarlet Witch back to the psychiatric hospital was indeed the best option.
“The Fate Society and the Torchbearers have also sent people. They’re currently near the Jiangcheng County train station. Should we contact them?” Li Shaoheng asked.
Besides the Company, there were other Awakened organizations in this Boundary. Although their reach wasn’t as wide as the Company’s, they were quite influential within this Boundary.
However, they had arrived a bit late.
The Fate Society primarily operated in Europe, and the Torchbearers, although also in Asia, were quite far from Jiangcheng County.
It was because of Lu Fangling’s connection to the local organization that the Company branch had been established here.
“No need,” Lu Fangling said, then paused, a question forming in her mind. “But since they’re already in Jiangcheng County, why are they still at the train station instead of coming here?”
“I’m not sure, it seems they encountered some problems there,” Li Shaoheng shook his head.
Meanwhile, at the train station.
Luo Ling looked at the arguing groups, her face stiffening slightly.
“Wait, you’re… not from the Company?”
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