Chapter 13: Second One?

"The aura of judgment has vanished."

"The aura of calamity has vanished too."

"If nothing went wrong, Brother Meng should have succeeded."

"Han Meng was too fast; we couldn't even claim any credit..."

Under the rainy night, four figures in black trench coats sped towards the wilderness battlefield. They were the other enforcers from District Three. Their eyes swept across the devastated wilderness, and they were secretly alarmed. How intense must the battle have been to reduce this place to such a state?

"This calamity seems to be quite formidable..."

As they spoke, they looked to the other side of the battlefield. There lay a blood-soaked figure, motionless on his back, like a corpse.

"Brother Meng?!"

An enforcer immediately rushed forward, picking up Han Meng from the ground and nervously checking his breath. The other three enforcers stood still, exchanging glances, a strange glint in their eyes...

"Is he dead?" one of the three enforcers asked. He was Ma Zhong, the second-ranking enforcer in District Three.

"No, he's alive! He's still breathing!"

A faint hint of disappointment flickered across the three men's faces. Two of them looked at Ma Zhong, who hesitated for a moment before shaking his head at them.

"Where's the calamity? Why isn't there a body?"

"Did it escape?!"

"No body, so it must have escaped..."

Everyone immediately searched the surroundings. Washed away by the rain, no clues were left behind. The calamity that had just fought Han Meng here seemed to have completely vanished, as if it had evaporated into thin air.

"Brother Ma! Brother Ma!!"

At the same time, an enforcer in a black and red uniform hurried over from a distance.

"What's wrong? Why the rush?" Ma Zhong asked, raising an eyebrow.

"We just received intelligence from District Two... Last night, District Two also experienced a calamity attack. Half a street was devastated, with a total of thirty-six deaths."

"What?" Ma Zhong said in surprise. "Is it the same one?"

"They say the one that attacked District Two was a Level 3 calamity, so it shouldn't be the same one."

"Two calamities emerging from the same gray realm convergence at once? That's unusual..." Ma Zhong mused. "Was it killed?"

"No, they said that after killing people, that calamity headed towards the back mountain... We can't rule out the possibility of it passing through the back mountain and entering District Three. District Two is hoping we can send some manpower... Their casualties are too high, and their enforcers are overwhelmed."

"Understood, I'll handle this."

The enforcers quickly carried the unconscious Han Meng towards the hospital. Ma Zhong's gaze fell upon the battle-scarred ruins and the outline of the back mountain, hidden in the night, deep in thought.

"Two calamities from the same gray realm convergence point... Interesting."

"Brother, aren't we going to run?"

As night deepened, the two teenagers followed an unfrequented path, heading straight towards Han Shuang Street.

"Why should we run?" Chen Ling countered.

Chen Yan froze, scratched his head, and after a long thought, hesitated to speak.

"Besides," Chen Ling said helplessly, "even if we run, where would we go? The Aurora Domain is only so big, with one city and seven districts. Ordinary people certainly can't enter Aurora City, and among the other seven districts, District Two and District Three are sealed off..."

"So maybe we could just hide in a gully?"

"Hiding won't help either. They'll find us sooner or later; we can't always retreat," Chen Ling vaguely retorted.

Actually, Chen Ling himself wanted to find a place to hide, but he couldn't! Although he had regained the "stage," his audience expectation value was still stuck at 20. If he didn't do something to increase audience expectation, his body would be usurped again, and he would turn into a monster. Chen Yan vaguely felt that something was logically amiss... but he didn't dwell on it. Since his brother said they couldn't hide, there must be a reason.

"A-Yan."

"Hm?"

"Aren't you afraid of me?" In the darkness, Chen Ling turned to look at him. "You must have seen that I... turned into a monster just now."

Chen Yan lowered his head and remained silent for a long time.

"Brother, it's okay to turn into a monster, as long as... you're still you."

"How do you know I'm still me?"

"It's just a feeling..."

Chen Ling looked deeply at him. In the darkness, the boy's expression was indistinct.

"By the way, how's your body?" he asked. "Don't people usually need a long recovery period after a heart transplant? Is it okay for you to be running around like this?"

"That doctor seems very skilled; I recovered quickly."

"Oh..."

Chen Ling suddenly realized that this world seemed to have supernatural powers; otherwise, without electricity, such a heart transplant surgery would be impossible... Perhaps there was also a method for rapid recovery?

Chen Ling's gaze fell on his smooth neck, as if remembering something. "By the way, where's the good luck charm I gave you? The one you usually wear around your neck?"

Chen Yan paused, reached to touch his chest, and found it empty.

"I don't know... It might have fallen off when I was running back."

"...It's okay, I'll make you another one when we get back."

"Mm." Chen Yan spoke again. "Brother... are you really not going to wash up? If you walk around like this on the street, you'll scare people away."

Chen Ling was startled. He instinctively touched his neck; it was slick and slimy, his hand now covered in blood. It was strange, but after emerging from the Red Paper Monster, the wound on his neck had healed remarkably fast. In just half an hour, most of the flesh had reconnected, though it still looked a gory red, making him appear like a demon risen from hell. Helpless, Chen Ling found a nearby stream, casually removed his large red opera robe, and began washing the blood from his body.

"Brother, there's something I've been wanting to ask..." Chen Yan began, puzzled.

"Why are you wearing my opera robe?"

"I... don't know."

Chen Ling stared blankly at the robe he was wearing... He remembered not wearing it when he was hacked to death by the axe. Thinking back, he had also been wearing this large red opera robe when he returned home that night. From Chen Tan and Li Xiuchun's words, it seemed to be the garment they had casually used to wrap his body after murdering him. But why didn't they put it on him this time, and why did the opera robe return to him on its own? Chen Ling couldn't understand it, so he simply stopped thinking about it. Ever since he had transmigrated to this world, strange things had been happening more and more frequently... He had originally wanted to burn the ominous opera robe, but seeing Chen Yan's pitiful gaze beside him, he sighed and silently washed the robe along with himself.