Chapter 315: Shut Up

"Cough, cough, cough..."

Han Meng wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and scanned his surroundings; his tattered trench coat was already stained with mottled blood.

But as the grayness in the sky gradually permeated, all colors other than black, white, and gray were erased. Han Meng felt his vision blur, and for a moment, he couldn't tell if what was on the ground was his own blood or the snowflakes falling from the sky.

In this gray world, monsters that seemed to exist only in black-and-white films surrounded him like high city walls.

The drifting snow looked like blurred noise, flickering silently in this oppressive world.

This wasn't the first time Han Meng had seen the Gray Realm, and even in the face of a desperate situation, his expression remained calm. He knew he likely wouldn't escape this ordeal, so he could only fight to the death, at least taking a few more Calamities down with him.

He first checked the condition of his gun, then gripped the handle tightly, watching every surrounding Calamity with vigilance...

*Clust—clust—*

The rustling sound of leather shoes stepping on the accumulated snow broke the suffocating silence.

Just then, the surrounding Calamities seemed to sense something and suddenly turned their heads in unison toward a certain direction... Seeing this, Han Meng subconsciously turned to look as well.

The black snow, like static noise, fell silently in the desolate world. A figure holding a black umbrella walked over from a frost-covered path that no one cared about.

The brim of the black umbrella obscured half of his face; Han Meng could only see the solemn suit he wore. As he approached, the surrounding Calamities grew restless, seemingly judging whether that human posed a threat, ready to tear him to pieces at any moment!

In a realm belonging exclusively to the Forbidden Sea, how could a human be allowed to exist?

Just as the low growls of the Calamities began to rise, the figure walking with the umbrella slowly raised a hand and touched his chin...

*Rip—!*

The moment he tore off his face, a blinding scarlet replaced the suit, fluttering in the biting cold wind!

It was a bright red opera robe, its color like the fangs of some fierce beast, tearing open a corner of this gray, desolate world. Its vibrancy and ostentation seemed to warn all living things that approached it... Danger! Danger!!

At this moment, all the Calamities of the Forbidden Sea froze. They subconsciously retreated, clearing a path for the scarlet figure walking slowly toward them...

The figure passed through the encirclement of Calamities calmly and stopped in front of Han Meng.

The brim of the black umbrella was slowly raised a fraction.

"Looks like I arrived just in time."

Han Meng saw Chen Ling's face under the umbrella and was slightly stunned, his expression complex. "Why are you still here? Didn't the people from the Twilight Society already leave?"

"I stayed behind because I have something to do."

"What thing?"

*ROAR—!!!*

Just as Chen Ling was about to say something, the massive giant holding the long staff, seeing that the surrounding Calamities weren't reacting to Chen Ling, widened its eyes and roared angrily at Chen Ling again!

The terrifying pressure arrived like a gale with its roar, and a stench of rotting seaweed spewed from its mouth. This giant Calamity bared its fangs at Chen Ling!

This roar left the other surrounding Calamities dumbfounded. Before they could react,

Chen Ling's hand gripping the umbrella tightened!

"SHUT UP!!!"

Chen Ling's pupils constricted under the umbrella brim. He glared madly at the giant, his angry roar sounding like thunder!

The next moment, dense red pupils opened from the void, staining Chen Ling's own pupils with a hint of red, as if countless hideous, mocking monsters were staring at the giant. A terrifying aura surged forth from that gaze!!

These two words instantly suppressed the giant's roar. An invisible shockwave spread wildly with Chen Ling at the center, and terror appeared in the eyes of all the Calamities!

[Audience Expectation +3]

The giant was stunned. It gripped its long staff blankly, scared back half a step by the multitude of eyes that had flashed into existence... At the same time, a dozen seaweed-like incantations rapidly bound its body, pinning it to the ground. The earth let out a rumble!

The even larger Tier 7 seaweed Calamity pinned the giant down firmly, its gaze seeming to say:

Are you trying to get us killed, you idiot?! Why did you provoke him????

Back at Winter Harbor, this Tier 7 Calamity had already suffered a loss. It knew deep down that Chen Ling harbored a great terror and didn't dare provoke him in the slightest... Yet this big oaf couldn't read the room and just kept charging blindly, nearly scaring the soul out of it.

Han Meng, standing to the side, was also stunned by the aura Chen Ling had unintentionally released. He stared blankly at the man in red, as if realizing something...

"World-Ending..." Han Meng muttered to himself.

At this moment, Han Meng finally connected everything... His memory returned to that rainy night when he had detected the fluctuation of a "World-Ending" level Calamity at the mass grave in District 3. At the time, he thought the Calamity pointer had malfunctioned, but now it seemed that wasn't the case...

On that rainy night, a "World-Ending" entity had truly crawled out of District 3!

And that "World-Ending" entity had actually been right in front of him all along.

Chen Ling didn't hear Han Meng's muttering. He withdrew his gaze from the giant, and the countless eyes behind him vanished... as if everything that had just appeared was merely a hallucination.

"Where was I?" Chen Ling asked, regaining his focus.

Han Meng looked at him with a complex expression, and after a long silence, he spoke, "You were saying... why you stayed."

"Oh, I plan to blow up Aurora City." Chen Ling asked directly, "The detonator is with you, right?"

Han Meng was startled. Only then did he realize Chen Ling had come to the same conclusion as him.

"Yes... but to detonate all the explosives in the entire city at once, it must be triggered from a high enough point, otherwise the signal won't cover everything."

"A high enough point, huh..."

Chen Ling looked into the distance. Beneath the gray sky, a tower with a kite flying from it stood not far away. However, Aurora City was now filled with Calamities almost everywhere, and even the outer surface of the tower was covered in several catfish-like monsters.

"I'll go. Give me the detonator." Chen Ling reached out his hand.

Han Meng looked at the detonator in his hand, hesitated briefly, and then shook his head.

"No, I'll go. There are too many explosives stored in Aurora City now. Once detonated, no one will survive. Aurora City has already vanished, and I am the last Enforcer in this city. This should have been my mission all along.

As for you... you don't belong here, do you?"

Chen Ling's brow arched slightly. "You intend to go down with the Calamities in this city?"

Han Meng didn't answer. He just looked silently at the aurora above, but his eyes said it all... Like Tan Xin, since deciding to execute the "Hand of Redemption" plan, he had never intended to leave alive.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Chen Ling shook his head. "You should just give me the detonator."

"Chen Ling, you don't need to persuade me. My mind is made up."

"...I'm serious."

"So am I."

Seeing Han Meng wouldn't budge, Chen Ling stared at him for a long time, then let out a helpless sigh...