Chapter 7: District-Wide Lockdown

That afternoon, the screams on Frost Street almost never stopped.

And the culprit behind it all, Chen Ling, sat quietly under a tree, propping his head up and watching the drama with the surrounding crowd... while keeping an eye on the changes in [Audience Expectation].

At first, when Uncle Zhao hit Zhao Yi's butt, the audience expectation increased slightly, but after a few hits, the growth stalled, eventually settling at 48%.

After watching for a long time, the expectation value actually dropped by 1%, becoming 47%...

It seems the audience was getting a bit bored.

"The audience in my head, they aren't all trolls, are they?"

Chen Ling couldn't help but think.

Through this experiment, Chen Ling could confirm that the audience's expectation value changed based on his own actions. If the event he was experiencing was exciting enough, the expectation value would rise, and once there was no fun for a long time, the expectation value would drop over time...

Doesn't that mean if he wants to keep the expectation value above 20%, he has to continuously create "exciting plot points"?

Today, Zhao Yi provoked him first, and since the other party was a bully on Frost Street, a little lesson was understandable... but he couldn't do this every day, right?

At this rate, is he destined to become a great demon who brings disaster to the world??

Thinking of this, Chen Ling felt exhausted...

Chen Ling's only lifeline now was the [Doctor] in Aurora City that Dr. Lin mentioned. Perhaps he could remove the Calamity contamination in his body and save him from this life trajectory of a "passive troll."

Just as Chen Ling was deep in thought, a low bell toll came from afar!

Clang—clang—clang!!

Three bell tolls, as if they could pierce through space, echoed in every corner of the world.

The moment they heard the bell, the expressions of the surrounding crowd changed. Even Uncle Zhao, who was chasing Zhao Yi, stopped and looked toward the distance in shock.

"Three Calamity Bells?!" An old man's face looked incredibly ugly, "How is this possible?"

"The Calamity Bell ringing is a warning signal from the Enforcers, indicating that they have found traces of a Gray Realm intersection within the district and a Calamity has invaded..."

"Isn't it said that the Aurora Domain is protected by the aurora and almost never intersects with the Gray Realm? In the past ten years, Calamities have appeared fewer than three times..."

"Where is that Calamity now?"

"I don't know... anyway, hurry home! Don't come out unless you have to!"

Hearing the three Calamity Bells, everyone's faces turned deathly pale. Zhao Yi, who had just been howling in pain, felt his legs go weak and knelt directly on the ground.

The ground beneath his feet trembled slightly. Chen Ling turned to look and saw over a dozen fast horses galloping from the distance.

On each horse sat a figure in a black and red uniform, with a holster slung across their waist, their expressions equally grave.

"Suspected high-risk Calamity appeared! District 3 is under total lockdown! No one is allowed in or out!!"

"Keep an eye on all suspicious signs, such as roads or buildings appearing out of thin air, mysterious creatures with strange appearances, or even humans acting abnormally!!"

"If you find anything unusual, report it to the Enforcers immediately!!"

"Everyone, please cooperate with the investigation!!"

The Enforcers' voices echoed on Frost Street and in every corner of District 3. Accompanied by the lingering sound of the Calamity Bell in the air, an inexplicable tension shrouded the world.

No one had the mood to watch the drama anymore. Everyone hurried home. Even Zhao Yi, after receiving a slap, was dragged into the house by his father, who was cursing and swearing.

Chen Ling stood alone under the tree, preparing to walk home, when two lines of text flashed in a pile of fallen leaves—

[Audience Expectation +18]

[Current Expectation: 65%]

Seeing the audience expectation value skyrocket, Chen Ling was stunned.

The next moment, a thought that made his hair stand on end jumped into his mind...

"They... they aren't coming for me, are they?!"

……

District 3.

Enforcer Headquarters.

Dim daylight filtered through the hemispherical glass dome, refracting colorful light that illuminated the room.

A flag over ten meters long was hung high in the center by ropes. On a pitch-black background, two cyan six-pointed stars overlapped, looking like shining stars in the arctic night sky.

Under the flag, over a dozen Enforcers in black and red uniforms stood with serious expressions. They stood in a straight line, facing the headquarters gate, as if waiting for something.

As the gate opened, five Enforcer Officers in black trench coats walked in side-by-side.

Among the five, Han Meng walked in the center, his trench coat hem engraved with four silver patterns, while the other four only had three. With their arrival, all the Enforcers present stood at attention.

"What's the situation?" Han Meng asked in a deep voice.

"The Calamity Bell has rung, and District 3 is currently under total lockdown, but there's no trace of that Calamity yet..." An Enforcer hesitated for a moment, then couldn't help but ask, "Brother Meng, the Calamity Pointer self-destructed... what does that mean?"

"There are only two reasons for a Calamity Pointer to self-destruct." Han Meng said calmly,

"First, a special Calamity has descended nearby. The ability of this special Calamity happens to make the Calamity Pointer fail... but this explanation only exists in theory. So far, no such Calamity has ever been discovered."

"Second, a Level 9—collectively known as 'World-Ending'—Calamity has invaded nearby, and its residual energy fluctuations exceeded the pointer's limit, causing it to explode automatically."

"World... World-Ending level??" Everyone's faces turned deathly pale.

"Don't be so nervous... you don't really think a 'World-Ending' level has descended, do you?" An Enforcer Officer beside Han Meng chuckled,

"A 'World-Ending' level Calamity is an existence capable of exterminating an entire human domain. There are only a few in the entire Gray Realm... If a 'World-Ending' level had really descended, let alone District 3, I suspect even Aurora City would have been wiped out the moment it arrived."

Hearing this, everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief...

"So, it should just be a special 'Calamity'?"

"That's the only explanation for now."

"But the Calamity Pointer is broken, how are we supposed to rate it?"

"It can't be rated." Han Meng shook his head, "Unless it appears again and we engage it... The most important thing now is to use all our manpower for a carpet search and find it before it starts hurting people."

"A carpet search... but we might not have enough manpower."

"Then, let's temporarily call up the enforcers from the reserve list. Didn't the written exams finish a few days ago? Gather those who passed and tell them this is the martial exam."

"Yes!"