Chapter 231: Whispers of Chaos

Lu Xin spoke these words calmly, almost gently.

After saying this, he leaned back quietly, his calm gaze fixed on the crowd ahead.

The crowd was full of monsters, each with a grotesque face.

Some watched the surrounding chaos with gleeful smiles; others shrieked with malicious delight as people were arrested; still others, wary, skulked into hidden corners; and a few seemed to have located the source of the threat, craning their necks to cast sinister glares in Lu Xin’s direction.

But right now, Lu Xin couldn’t be bothered with them.

It was a complex feeling—an absence of joy or anger, even of ripples.

He merely observed the bizarre spectacle before him as if he were completely detached.

…

…

Chen Jing looked at Lu Xin’s somewhat desolate expression, a deeply complex feeling stirring within her.

Initially, when she brought up the issue with Lu Xin, she had been worried.

She worried that this lack of trust would negatively affect Lu Xin’s mood.

But after seeing his reaction, she suddenly realized she was wrong.

Lu Xin simply didn’t care whether she or anyone else believed him.

…

This realization made her narrow her eyes. She spun around abruptly and strode forward.

Her sharp high heels clicked against the ground with a crisp, fierce sound.

She headed straight for a young man standing on the nearby sidewalk, filming the arrests with a digital camera while yelling things like, “Holy shit!” “What the hell’s happening now?” “This is intense!” “The Administration Hall is messing things up again!”

From every angle, he looked perfectly normal.

Even using her mental power, Chen Jing couldn’t sense any unusual fluctuations related to the mission coming from him.

But Lu Xin had clearly pointed out that there was something wrong with him.

That was the crux of the matter.

So, Chen Jing approached the young man expressionlessly. At first, he didn’t notice, even excitedly aiming his camera at the approaching Chen Jing. Gazing at her stunning figure, his mouth unconsciously fell open:

“Wow, this woman…”

But before he could finish, a fist suddenly filled the camera’s view, rapidly growing larger.

“Bang!”

Chen Jing smashed the camera to pieces and knocked the young man down with a single punch.

The young man, his nose bleeding profusely, struggled to get up, but Chen Jing grabbed his collar and hauled him to his feet.

Her pupils turned blood red:

“I know I just hit you, but you can probably tell my voice is very gentle…”

“…Yes, don’t worry about the details. I’m using a gentle tone right now!”

“I’m being gentle with you because I like you…”

“This is your only chance in life to be liked by me. So, shouldn’t you be very honest with me?”

…

The expression on the young man’s face shifted from terror to lecherousness, and finally to a willingness to spill his guts.

He nodded vigorously. “I swear, I wouldn’t lie to you even if I was lying to my parents about my allowance.”

“Good…”

Chen Jing whispered, “I hear people in the city have been playing with some kind of wishing thing lately…”

“How come I don’t know about it…”

The young man looked bewildered, muttering.

Chen Jing’s brow furrowed instantly. Slowly, gently, she said, “Think harder. Dig into your deeper memories…”

“You need to use these hidden secrets to win my favor right now…”

…

The young man’s brow knitted tightly. After a long moment, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he exclaimed, “I don’t know anything about wishing, but I know about a curse game! No matter who you hate, if you curse them, they’ll definitely have bad luck.”

“Haha, it’s true.”

“I cursed the old lady next door before because she always complained my speakers were too loud when I watched movies…”

“I don’t know if it was real or just a coincidence, but she broke her leg a week later…”

…

Chen Jing’s pupils constricted slightly, the two red moons seemingly shrinking into tiny red dots.

…

…

“So far, none of the people they’ve arrested have shown any real abnormalities under any detection methods.”

“Even surprise interrogations and the briefing documents from the Special Cleaning Department only indicate they’re connected to a previous case codenamed ‘124 – Mysterious Wishing Incident’. And it’s confirmed that a few people did encounter this sort of thing.”

“But compared to the evidence they’ve presented, the actions they want to take and the people they want to arrest far exceed their limits.”

“To some extent, everything they’re doing now is based on the speculation of a single Ability User.”

“That Ability User’s file has a high classification level, but I was aware of him even before his file was upgraded.”

“He comes from the Second Satellite City and is suspected of having multiple personality disorder, possibly even delusions to some extent.”

“Regarding his claims of being able to see mental monsters, there’s no experimental data to actually prove it.”

“Therefore, I believe we cannot trust the account of such an individual…”

“Even if we did trust him, it would be very difficult to convince the key figures in Qinggang City!”

…

In the temporary office, Minister Shen finished listening to his Secretary’s report.

Then he suddenly turned his head to the Secretary. “You say we can’t trust the words of a madman?”

The Secretary hesitated slightly, then nodded. “Yes. The implications are too significant, so…”

“Do you think the point is whether we believe him or not?”

Minister Shen’s voice suddenly grew heavy, his tone cold. “The point is that Qinggang is currently facing a large-scale special pollution incident!”

“Someone has already detected the signs of this pollution incident, and you’re actually still hesitating about whether we should react?”

“A grenade might be a dud, but would you dare pull the pin and sleep hugging it?”

…

The Secretary was struck speechless, unsure how to respond.

Just then, a man in a black suit pushed the door open, nodded, and smiled. Minister Shen and everyone else in the office knew he was Mr. Su’s personal secretary. His presence here signified Mr. Su’s own involvement.

“Mr. Su says he trusts Minister Shen’s judgment. You have full authority to handle this.”

…

Minister Shen nodded, turned around, and began issuing orders. “Mobilize everyone from Base Three to cooperate with the Special Cleaning Department’s arrests.”

“Temporarily set up a site in the abandoned industrial zone on the east side for the isolation and detention of those arrested.”

“Issue an internal Level 1 Alert city-wide. Lock down the Main City.”

“All City Defense Department Ability Users and Special Task Forces are to deploy. Divide the areas, secure your positions, and prevent any mutations.”

“Finally, initiate the emergency procedures for the High Wall’s Overclocked Electro-Ion Cannon. Turn the muzzle to aim at…”

“…the Main City!”

…

His subordinates standing nearby were stunned by the orders. It took them a moment before they hastily saluted and shouted, “Yes, sir!”

Even Mr. Su’s secretary was taken aback for a moment. He said, “I need to report this back to Mr. Su immediately.”

“That last order… it’s terrifying…”

…

“Attention Information Analysis Team. I have conducted a special interrogation on the suspected Altered Person. Information obtained is as follows:

One: All suspected Altered Persons have likely participated in some kind of wishing or cursing ritual.

Two: This mysterious ritual is circulating through various means in places like the Main City’s local network, schools, and companies.

Three: Suspected infected individuals show no obvious characteristics but must be immediately isolated, and all their external communication methods blocked.”

…

It was getting dark.

As winter approached, the days seemed to end especially early.

Lu Xin sat quietly in the passenger seat, ignoring the panic of others.

His emotions remained completely flat. He just sat there quietly, watching the city that had initially impressed him with its remarkable order—almost perfectly matching his fantasies of the pre-civilization era—now being overrun by monsters.

But now, he could only watch them take over, because Lu Xin had no intention of forcing his views on anyone else.

His desires, or perhaps demands, had always been few.

Just like now, he didn’t expect others to fully trust him on such a critical matter.

Just then, a small hand reached forward from behind him.

She took hold of Lu Xin’s hand.

Lu Xin turned his head and saw an exquisitely beautiful face. Doll stared at him blankly with her large eyes.

Lu Xin suddenly understood. She was saying, “I believe you.”

A faint smile touched his lips, even though he didn’t feel any sense of loss or frustration.

But having someone like her express belief in him didn’t feel bad.

At that same moment, the sound of high heels striking the pavement echoed as Chen Jing arrived outside the car window.

“Mr. Lone Soldier, I have an urgent mission for you.”

Gazing at Chen Jing’s serious face, Lu Xin was slightly taken aback. He quickly pushed the door open and got out to face his superior.

“Find all those Altered Persons immediately. Leave no one behind.”

Chen Jing’s words were crisp, decisive, and left no room for doubt.

Lu Xin paused for a second before realizing, quickly replying, “Okay.”

He didn’t know why, but even though he felt no particular emotion, he felt like smiling.

Perhaps it was because he didn’t really care if they believed him or not.

But when they did believe him, his mood genuinely improved a little?

…

…

“Section Chief Chen, if we continue the arrests, our manpower…”

An armed soldier standing by a vehicle behind them heard Chen Jing’s order. He felt a chill but still voiced his concern.

Chen Jing turned to look at him. Before she could speak, the whirring sound of propellers echoed from above. Three or four helicopters rose from behind the building. Further away, all the traffic lights simultaneously turned red.

On the emergency lanes, military vehicles surged forward, resembling a dense swarm of ants.

Chen Jing’s walkie-talkie crackled with static, followed by a concise report:

“Internal Level 1 Emergency Response Protocol initiated. City Defense Department support has arrived.”