Chapter 102: They Are Here

"Cold Moon Street, no anomalies."

"Cold Wind Street, no anomalies."

"Cold Snow Street, no anomalies..."

Voices came one after another over the walkie-talkie. Chen Ling stood alone on the roof of a five-story building, looking around.

This small building was the tallest in the vicinity. On a normal day, Chen Ling could see five or six streets from here... but now, in the thick fog, he couldn't even see the edge of the roof, as if the entire world were wrapped in water vapor.

He sighed helplessly and pressed the walkie-talkie, "Frost Street, no anomalies."

This was the dusk of the second day since the thick fog descended. There were no signs of a disaster invasion, and there was no reply from Aurora City... Everything was so quiet, a quiet that made one feel uneasy.

Especially Chen Ling. Ever since he saw that notification about the audience's anticipation, he was certain something had happened in District 3, but he had searched every street last night and found nothing unusual.

"Third watch, enforcers take over. The rest of you can rest," Han Meng’s voice came over the walkie-talkie, followed by a series of acknowledgments.

As the sky grew dark, Chen Ling put away the walkie-talkie, went down the stairs, and headed straight home.

Stimulated by the audience's anticipation last night, he hadn't slept at all. He needed to rest today... He reached his door, glanced at the Zhao Family Breakfast Shop across the way, which was still brightly lit, hesitated for a moment, then decided not to disturb them and turned back into his room.

Chen Ling finished washing up, lay down in bed early, and his consciousness gradually sank into sleep...

Of course, dreaming was impossible.

Chen Ling opened his eyes again. Pairs of mocking red eyes were watching him from the audience seats. Blinding spotlights hit him, turning him into the only focus on the dilapidated stage.

Chen Ling was used to this, but whether it was his imagination or not, he vaguely felt that the audience's gaze today seemed even stranger...

As if they were anticipating something.

Chen Ling frowned and looked down at the screen on the stage. After a boring day of standing guard, the audience anticipation hadn't dropped; it was still at the 39% progress from last night. For the audience, this was almost impossible.

"Something's not right..." Chen Ling keenly sensed something amiss. "Something must have gone wrong somewhere."

Chen Ling carefully recalled everything in his mind but found no issues. This wasn't surprising, as Chen Ling knew the audience could see "plot points" that he couldn't... Relying on this method to deduce the problem required luck.

After thinking for a long time, Chen Ling could only give up.

He closed his eyes, and in a trance, that twisted divine path leading to the firmament appeared around him again.

Ever since Chen Ling unlocked the qualification to step onto the second tier, he tried to ascend every night. After all, he could feel his mental energy growing every day... although it was only a very slight increase, it was growing nonetheless.

Chen Ling took a deep breath and poured his mental energy into his feet. Just as his soles were about to touch the surface of the step, a crisp bell rang out from above the stage!

Ding-a-ling—

Chen Ling froze.

He was, of course, familiar with this bell; it meant the intermission was over... for him, it meant his dream was about to end.

But he had only just fallen asleep!

Chen Ling looked suspiciously at the screen in front of the stage, where a line of text had popped up:

【Intermission over, please continue the performance】

Immediately following were a series of characters:

【Audience anticipation +3】

【Audience anticipation +3】

【Audience anticipation +...】

Chen Ling’s consciousness plummeted!

……

Knock, knock, knock—

In his sleep, Chen Ling snapped his eyes open!

Someone was knocking at the door?

Mist flowed outside the dark window. He quickly sat up and looked toward the door.

Knock, knock, knock—

The knocking sounded again, neither light nor heavy, the rhythm of each knock perfectly even, giving a sense of elegance and politeness.

Chen Ling checked the time; less than an hour had passed since he fell asleep... No wonder the stage was urging him to continue the performance; someone was actually at the door.

No, that wasn't right...

Chen Ling clearly remembered seeing the frantic stream of audience anticipation notifications on the screen before he lost consciousness on stage. Whatever was making the audience so excited couldn't be as simple as a knock at the door!

Chen Ling got out of bed without hesitation, grabbed the gun from his bedside, and slowly approached the door.

Knock, knock, knock—

"Who is it?" Chen Ling asked in a low voice.

A moment later, a harsh and eerie voice sounded from the doorway.

"I've come... to find someone..."

Hearing this voice, Chen Ling knew something was wrong. This was not a sound a human vocal cord could produce; it was as grating as fingernails on a chalkboard, only this grating sound was mimicking human speech.

Find someone?

Chen Ling asked instinctively, "Find who?"

"The Scarlet Overlord of the Abyss of Ghostly Mockery;"

"The Faceless King who mocks fate."

These two sentences were spoken without the slightest hesitation or awkwardness, sounding very fluent and natural, as if they had been practiced many times.

Chen Ling’s brain raced, debating whether to open the door to see what was behind it or just start shooting... After a moment of silence, he replied:

"The person you're looking for isn't here."

The voice behind the door fell silent.

The next moment, Chen Ling’s door exploded into fragments!

In the gray mist, a figure lunged at Chen Ling’s face!

Chen Ling was prepared. He instantly raised his knee into the figure’s chest and backhanded the gun handle into its head with a whistle. The figure let out a muffled grunt and crashed to the ground.

Only then did Chen Ling manage to see its full appearance.

"Zhao Yi?"

Seeing the face, Chen Ling froze.

"...Watch out! My shadow!!" Zhao Yi’s face was deathly pale, and he shouted despite the dizziness in his head.

Chen Ling’s pupils constricted. Almost simultaneously, a massive afterimage darted from the shadows toward him!

It was too fast. Chen Ling didn't have time to think; he went straight for his strongest move. The Judgment Court’s domain suddenly expanded, the black muzzle aimed instantly at what was in front of him, and he pulled the trigger without hesitation!

Bang—!

The deconstruction bullet pierced the black shadow, tearing it into nothingness, turning it into a pile of broken sludge that fell to the floor.

The mental exhaustion from the [Judgment Court] made Chen Ling dizzy, but it was much better than the time at the Ancient Armory. He frowned at the shapeless corpse on the ground, then looked at Zhao Yi, who was coughing violently on the floor.

"Zhao Yi, what is going on?"

Zhao Yi lay on his back, gasping like a broken bellows, his voice extremely weak. "Chen Ling... they're here!"