Chapter 598: Red Dust Chaos

The sudden tolling of the Disaster Bell interrupted all the musical accompaniment and singing. The audience, who had been immersed in the opera, froze in place.

"This is..."

"The Disaster Bell?! This is the Disaster Bell!!"

"Three tolls of the Disaster Bell, does that mean a Gray Realm intersection has occurred? In the Red Dust main city?"

"How is this possible... In my memory, a Gray Realm intersection has never occurred in the main city."

"Not just the main city, it's barely happened in the entire Red Dust Domain. Since I can remember, the existence of the Disaster Bell seemed like a legend... It actually rang??"

“……”

The ringing of the Disaster Bell left almost all the audience stunned for a few seconds. In their cognition, this bell was something that only existed in the safety manuals issued by the Police Bureau, and they couldn't react for a moment.

But the more unknown something is, the easier it is to trigger panic. When the four unfamiliar words "Gray Realm intersection" appeared in everyone's ears, everyone present turned pale. The related events and rumors of the brutal acts of the Gray Realm disasters that had spread from other domains flooded their minds, and gasps erupted from the crowd.

The crowd gathered outside the opera house looked up at the sky, only to see an eerie gray hue beginning to spread in the distant sky. At first, it spread slowly, but as wisps of "smoke" rose from all directions, the gray hue began to surge out like a tide!

The tide swept through, and within a short dozen seconds, the surrounding sky was completely covered by a deep gray. There were no stars, no moon, only white ashes like willow catkins falling silently...

Only the small area where the opera house was located remained a normal, pitch-black night sky.

The crowd in front of the opera house stared blankly at the anomaly in the sky, and the next moment, their clothes were blown upward!

The cold wind from the wilderness of another world poured into the main city streets, rampaging between the many standing buildings, making a beast-like roar, so sharp it felt as if it could blow a person's soul away.

"What do we do?! Are those disasters coming to kill us?!"

"What are you still standing there for?! Run!!!"

"I don't want to die... I don't want to die yet!!"

"Move out of the way! I want to go home!!"

“……”

The sudden change in the sky completely destroyed everyone's reason. There was no longer any leisure to listen to opera, and they turned and fled in all directions, fearing that if they were too slow, they would be snatched away by the disasters.

The audience still inside the opera house scrambled to run out, the swarming crowd squeezing through the old, narrow threshold of the opera house. The scene immediately descended into chaos, with gasps, crying, and cursing one after another.

On the stage, Li Qingshan's eyes were filled with confusion. He turned to look at Chen Ling beside him, only to find the latter staring at the sky above, lost in thought.

"Brother Lin... what's the situation?" Li Qingshan asked in a low voice.

"I don't know." Chen Ling shook his head. "However... this doesn't look like a Gray Realm intersection caused by a domain failure... Could it be man-made?"

"Then can we still continue this opera?"

Chen Ling didn't answer. He looked down at the opera house. The audience below had all fled, leaving behind a mess of chairs and scattered melon seed shells on the floor. The scene was a disaster.

At the entrance of the opera house, Jian Changsheng and Square 10 walked quickly toward the stage. Chen Ling met them, and the three gathered together.

"It's the Jiangtian Cult."

Square 10 said in a deep voice, "It seems the worst-case scenario has happened..."

"Jiangtian Cult?" A look of surprise flashed in Chen Ling's eyes.

Square 10 repeated what he had just introduced to Jian Changsheng to Chen Ling and the other. Chen Ling frowned, lost in thought.

"For no reason... why would the Jiangtian Cult intervene? And why choose this moment to trigger a Gray Realm intersection?" Chen Ling muttered to himself. "What exactly do they want to do..."

"With such a big commotion, the Floating Life Painting surely won't sit idly by, right?" Jian Changsheng asked.

"Naturally not. They must have already taken measures."

Square 10 paused for a moment. "But I just took a look, and the area of this Gray Realm intersection covers about one-third of the Red Dust main city. This range is simply too large... Even if the entire Floating Life Painting is mobilized, they can't reverse the situation in a short time.

And if this Jiangtian Cult attack was truly premeditated, they would definitely use some method to guide a large number of disasters from the Gray Realm into the main city, letting the Floating Life Painting and the disasters fight each other to slow down their progress."

"Tsk, are these people from the Jiangtian Cult always this insidious?" Jian Changsheng couldn't help but complain. He seemed to remember something and looked out the window. "Speaking of which, why weren't we involved in the Gray Realm intersection?"

"...I don't know. Maybe the Jiangtian cultist responsible for our area failed their suicide ritual?"

"So, our opera house is safe?"

"When the nest is overturned, no egg remains intact... If the blocks around us are all conquered by disasters, our turn will come sooner or later. At most, we'll suffer later than others."

"Damn, are you saying these Jiangtian Cult people schemed against the Floating Life Painting and ended up scheming against us too?"

"...Although I don't want to admit it, we were indeed innocently affected."

"Then what do we do next?"

Chen Ling and Jian Changsheng looked at Square 10 simultaneously. Now that Heart 9 and Club J were out, Square 10 was the most senior veteran present, and they had to ask for his opinion on the next move.

Square 10 pondered for a moment and quickly made a decision:

"How about this: Little Jian and I will go out to check the situation. It's best if we can meet up with Club J and the others as soon as possible. Heart, you stay in the opera house for now and adapt to the situation."

"I have no problem with that," Chen Ling replied.

"Wait... why do I have to go risk my life in the Gray Realm intersection just because I'm also a 6, while this guy gets to stay in the opera house and rest?" Jian Changsheng widened his eyes in dissatisfaction.

"Heart is currently a key undercover figure and a pillar. This opera house is his, so it's perfectly reasonable for him to stay here... You're just a ticket checker, what are you staying for?"

Jian Changsheng: ...

"Besides, I said 'adapt to the situation,' not 'stay here until you die'... Is your adaptability as fast as his?"

Square 10's double-stabbing remark immediately broke Jian Changsheng's defense. He hung his head like a deflated ball and followed Square 10 out.

Chen Ling, wearing the opera robe, watched the two walk out of the opera house. Only when their figures completely disappeared at the end of the street did he turn back.

At this moment, only Li Qingshan, who was at a loss on the stage, Kong Baosheng, who was bending down to straighten chairs, and Huang Suyu and Uncle Quan in the front row of the audience remained in the opera house.