Chapter 87: Awakening
A heavy darkness pressed in from all sides, a sense of endless falling.
“The Realm of Nothingness…”
From the remnants of Artist’s memories, Luo Ling found the term for this dark abyss.
But just like with Performer, these memories were incomplete.
Luo Ling only knew that this was a forbidden zone for humans, a place from which no one had ever returned unscathed.
Perhaps apostles and agents could, but in Artist’s memories, these unreasonable beings were too fanatical, impossible to communicate with.
Even the Harbingers of Calamity considered them fanatical… which spoke volumes.
Still falling.
But this feeling of weightlessness was familiar, as if she had experienced it before.
Images flashed through her mind, finally settling on a specific memory.
A monstrous girl, curled up, hugging her knees in the empty darkness, the scene beyond the door in her mindscape.
“So… behind the door… is the Realm of Nothingness?”
Realizing this, the surrounding darkness no longer seemed terrifying but almost… welcoming.
Even though she was still falling, Luo Ling felt a sense of direction.
She adjusted her posture, looking upwards.
Intuition again.
It told her, this was the direction.
Keep… moving forward.
“Let’s go.”
Her senses, previously blocked, gradually returned. The Realm of Nothingness was no longer a dangerous place.
The feeling of falling disappeared.
Luo Ling could vaguely sense a connection between the Realm of Nothingness and her Devour Authority.
All Awakened Ones who entered the Realm of Nothingness were inevitably devoured by something.
So…
“From the very beginning, possessing the Authority of Devour, what kind of being am I?”
Her memories told her she was a lonely orphan, raised by her sister.
But now, Luo Ling knew that memories could be deceiving.
Her sister… might not be the ordinary sister she had always believed her to be.
These precious memories of their time together… could also be fake.
Even though she desperately didn’t want to admit it.
Lost in thought, within the Realm of Nothingness, Luo Ling gradually returned to the physical world.
An unseen gaze followed her, silently observing.
“A newborn ‘He,’ both familiar and unfamiliar.”
…
The moment the Spirit Walker arrived at the station, Scientist vanished.
She had timed it perfectly, using a trump card to escape the moment they left the Realm of Nothingness.
Without hesitation, abandoning even the precious Spirit Walker, prioritizing her own survival.
Just as Luo Ling had judged, Scientist cherished her life.
After a moment of stunned silence, Li Shaoheng immediately notified all Company personnel in Jiangcheng County, ordering them to hunt down Scientist.
But the next moment, a flood of urgent messages on his phone caught him off guard, each one more alarming than the last.
At this moment, Jiangcheng County… was in chaos!
Grotesqueries similar to those in Baiyan Village had suddenly appeared in the city center, an unknown number of humanoid monsters formed from white mycelia, their craving for flesh and blood insatiable.
Hundreds had already been injured or killed, and the scale of the disaster was still expanding.
More importantly, these Grotesqueries couldn’t be killed. Even with conventional methods, they would only regenerate, just like the villagers in Baiyan Village.
All local Awakened Ones and Company personnel were desperately trying to contain this sudden disaster, leaving no one to pursue the escaped Scientist.
“Damn it…”
Li Shaoheng gritted his teeth. He couldn’t abandon these ordinary people, but he also couldn’t risk mobilizing all their forces to gamble on killing Scientist in Jiangcheng County.
This hard-earned opportunity… to let her escape like this… was infuriating.
But the Company’s duty was to maintain order; they couldn’t ignore a city-destroying disaster.
“We’ll deal with the situation in Jiangcheng County first… as for Scientist, I’ll see if I can catch up to her.”
Li Shaoheng took a deep breath and made his decision.
If he couldn’t find Scientist within half an hour, he would give up.
He instructed Cen Xiangyun to take An Yu and Elsa back to the hospital, then join the others in the city center.
Just as Li Shaoheng finished his arrangements and was about to leave, he saw a hunched old man sitting on a bench in the waiting hall, leisurely reading a newspaper.
Such an elderly person wouldn’t usually attract attention.
But this one was different.
The moment he saw him, Li Shaoheng stopped in his tracks.
He walked over and sat down opposite the old man, staring at him intently.
“It seems this old man still commands some respect.”
The old man lowered his newspaper slightly and chuckled.
“Philosopher,” Li Shaoheng said in a low voice.
This unassuming old man was one of the three founders of the Harbingers of Calamity, a wielder of Authority, ranked second on the Company’s S-rank wanted list, Philosopher.
“This small place, without a ‘past,’ has already cost us two Harbingers. That’s enough,” Philosopher said calmly. “For this old man’s sake, spare her life.”
His calm tone and words carried an implicit threat.
This was just an avatar of Philosopher, but even so, it made Li Shaoheng extremely cautious.
Philosopher had slaughtered cities of this size before, cities where Company personnel were stationed, yet they had been unable to stop the carnage.
Although an avatar wasn’t as powerful as the true form, it could still easily wipe out tens of thousands of people.
The Harbingers of Calamity had no sense of morality. As long as it served their purpose, they would do anything.
Li Shaoheng had a premonition that if he insisted on pursuing Scientist, Philosopher would unleash a massacre in Jiangcheng County.
And with Philosopher’s strength, the only one in Jiangcheng County who could stop his avatar was probably him.
How… shameless.
But Li Shaoheng was helpless.
He could only sit there in silence, facing off against the avatar.
“Good, a young man who knows his place. A rare sight these days.”
Philosopher nodded approvingly and continued reading his newspaper.
It was a daily newspaper from Victoria, dated November 10, 1838.
“It seems Philosopher’s true form is in Victoria…”
Li Shaoheng’s eyes flickered. This could be valuable information.
But not particularly valuable.
The Company had long known that the Harbingers of Calamity were planning something in Victoria, but they didn’t know the specifics.
In this case, it wasn’t surprising that Philosopher was there.
Just as Li Shaoheng was pondering, he saw Philosopher tremble slightly.
“Heh…”
Philosopher sighed, putting down his newspaper.
“Honestly… I even intervened personally.”
Li Shaoheng reached for the throwing knives at his waist, looking at Philosopher warily.
“Scientist is dead. We’ve lost another great Harbinger,” Philosopher sighed, turning to look out the window at the seemingly peaceful landscape, as if gazing at Jiangcheng County. “What a terrifying place…”
“Dead?”
Li Shaoheng was stunned.
Besides him, who else in Jiangcheng County could kill Scientist?
Even weakened, Scientist could still easily escape. That was the nature of an Order path Awakened One.
“However, there are still many things that will trouble you in Jiangcheng County.”
Philosopher smiled gently, like a kind, ordinary old man.
He folded his newspaper, and his form slowly dissipated.
“Don’t worry, young man, we’ll meet again.”
Li Shaoheng sat on the empty bench, his expression grim.
Soon, his phone rang. It was Cen Xiangyun.
“Uncle Shaoheng, we found Scientist’s body. She…”
Cen Xiangyun covered her mouth, fighting back the urge to vomit.
“Her body has been completely dismembered, and… ugh…”
She couldn’t describe the scene before her; words couldn’t capture the horror.
Countless white mycelia threads erupted from the ground, piercing Scientist’s body, her flesh and blood torn to shreds, each piece impaled by the threads.
These fragments, entangled with the white mycelia, were somehow pieced together, maintaining Scientist’s original form, only her heart pierced by a spear-like mycelial spike.
The terror on her face suggested she had seen the most horrifying thing imaginable, experienced the most brutal torture.
…This was a far more cruel method of killing than a thousand cuts.
Scientist’s body had been found a minute ago at the busiest intersection in Jiangcheng County’s city center, seemingly having appeared there through Retrospect.
But… Retrospect was her ability…
After listening to Cen Xiangyun’s report, Li Shaoheng remained silent, his expression darkening.
Who had done this? Such a vengeful, brutal act…
However… Li Shaoheng couldn’t dwell on it.
Scientist was dead, and that was a good thing.
But as Philosopher had said, the current crisis in Jiangcheng County was his priority.
From the reports he had received, these mycelial Grotesqueries weren’t just killing people, they were somehow making ordinary people see them as well.
Now, panicked crowds, like the patients in Qingshan Psychiatric Hospital, were appearing everywhere, spreading tales of killer mushrooms.
If the situation continued to worsen, Jiangcheng County would be destroyed, even without the Harbingers of Calamity’s intervention.
Li Shaoheng took a deep breath, preparing to head to the scene.
Just then, a childish voice echoed from behind him.
“Wait.”
“Hmm?”
Li Shaoheng was startled. He hadn’t sensed anyone’s presence.
He turned around and his alarm bells went off.
A small, white-haired girl, her sickly pale skin and inhuman aura screaming Grotesquery, stood less than three meters away, as if floating.
She looked up slightly, her delicate face ethereal yet chillingly cold.
…A human-like Grotesquery!
Instinctively, Li Shaoheng reached for his throwing knives, but the girl just glanced at him and looked away.
“Leave the rest… to me. This is… my responsibility.”
The girl was Luo Ling, returned from the Realm of Nothingness. She had sensed the strong “kindred” aura in Jiangcheng County, radiating despair and sorrow.
In that brief moment of eye contact, she had taken Li Shaoheng’s memories of the incident, learning about the current situation in Jiangcheng County.
And she had also temporarily borrowed his ability.
The next moment, Li Shaoheng saw the ethereal girl, like something out of a fairytale, take a step forward, her form dissolving into the wind.
“That’s… Spatial Distortion!”
Li Shaoheng couldn’t hide his shock. He had used this ability for over ten years; he couldn’t possibly mistake it.
Yet it had appeared before him like this.
After the initial shock, Li Shaoheng realized…
It seemed this Grotesquery-like girl had the ability to borrow other people’s powers…
He thought of Scientist, who had also been Retrospected to the city center, her ability also borrowed.
Could it be this girl’s doing?
But… was this girl… friend or foe?
In this world, there was no such thing as “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” The Harbingers of Calamity and Grotesquery apostles were mortal enemies, but both were considered villains by humanity.
Even though this Grotesquery girl might have killed Scientist, and her current actions seemed to be aimed at saving Jiangcheng County, her stance… was still unclear.
Li Shaoheng sighed. Just as he was about to follow Luo Ling, his phone rang.
It was Ji Shinian, the leader of the local Awakened organization.
Li Shaoheng and Ji Shinian were old acquaintances. Because of Ji Shinian’s unique talent, the Company had once sent him to liaise with him, and they had become acquainted.
This increasingly troublesome mission, exceeding their initial expectations, had initially been a B-rank mission, and it was only because of Ji Shinian’s connections that Li Shaoheng, a P8 specialist, had been dispatched.
“Old Ji, what’s the matter?”
“Cough…”
“…Did you use your ability again?” Li Shaoheng frowned, hearing the violent coughing.
“No… it’s the aftereffects from before,” Ji Shinian’s voice was weak. “Have you seen a little girl with white hair?”
“You know her?”
Li Shaoheng’s expression turned serious.
“The White Witch from the exchange group, it’s her,” Ji Shinian said calmly. “And… I’m blind now. That’s the Price I paid.”
“What?!”
Li Shaoheng almost dropped his phone.
Ji Shinian’s ability required his eyes. If he was blind, it meant his ability was useless.
Although Ji Shinian was only a Mid-Order Awakened One, it was because the Other Shore path, like the Order path, was extremely difficult to progress on.
Even within the Speaker, only the Four Harbingers were High-Order Awakened Ones.
Ji Shinian was a Sixth-Order Awakened One, already the strongest Other Shore path Awakened One outside of the Speaker.
“What… did you ‘see’…?”
Li Shaoheng couldn’t help but ask.
“If I tell you directly, I’ll die,” Ji Shinian said concisely. Although he didn’t say anything, it was clear how important what he had seen was.
Also, this wasn’t something Ji Shinian had wanted to see, but a consequence of the entanglement of cause and effect.
Perhaps, from the moment he accidentally glimpsed the White Witch while investigating the Bone Doctor’s death, everything had been set in motion, the gears of fate turning.
“In short… stop the White Witch, if you can.”
After saying this, Ji Shinian started coughing violently again, and Li Shaoheng heard the commotion of medical personnel on the other end, then the dial tone.
Stop the White Witch?
Stop what? Stop her from saving Jiangcheng County?
But… why?
Li Shaoheng’s mind was filled with questions. He wanted to ask Ji Shinian for more details, but thinking of his frail state, he decided against it.
It might actually kill the old man…
After the brief phone call, Li Shaoheng used his ability to teleport to the city center, where the disaster was most severe.
Upon arriving, Li Shaoheng found everyone frozen in place, including Cen Xiangyun, who had just arrived after dropping off the others.
“What’s wrong?”
Li Shaoheng was about to ask, but he stopped mid-sentence as he looked up.
“When… when did this appear?”
A strange barrier enveloped the city center, pushing back all the Awakened Ones and injured civilians.
The terrifying Grotesqueries described in the reports were nowhere to be seen, only injured and dead remained.
“Just now, when a little girl with white hair appeared…” a nearby P7 specialist said nervously. “She told us to leave, then she created this barrier. We can’t get in.”
“This is an incubation site,” Li Shaoheng stared at the barrier, his voice trembling. “An unprecedentedly large incubation site…”
An incubation site of this scale couldn’t be just an “egg.”
It seemed the dormant High-Risk Grotesquery in Jiangcheng County had awakened.
Almost without warning, Jiangcheng County, peaceful for so many years, was now facing a disaster that could destroy the entire region.
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