Chapter 226

Chapter 226

Ji Xinghai had dozed off for a bit and woke up at the entrance of Qingmu Grand Hotel. A thin blanket covered him, carrying a faint scent that wasn't his own.

Though it was four in the morning, the valet at the hotel entrance greeted him with a smile, opening the car door and asking, "Good evening, sir. Do you have any other luggage?"

Before he could step out, he felt the warmth of hospitality.

"No," he said as he stepped out, still savoring the taste of the red bean wheel pie, but a cold breeze made him shiver.

Staying up late really took a toll...

Ji Xinghai muttered to himself, rarely staying up late. He wouldn't have done so if not for that midnight taxi.

In truth, he was fine, but being meticulous about such things, he quickly took a shower and lay down. The presidential suite's double-layered curtains blocked out almost all light from outside, and the soft blankets enveloped him. Within seconds, he fell asleep.

A shadow appeared in the small living room nearby, sitting upright with a laptop on its knees. The screen emitted a gentle glow, outlining the contours of his face.

As navigators, the anomalous beings did not receive special treatment; they had to gather information through conventional means: the internet and personal connections.

Ji Xinghai was used to working alone; any interference would disrupt his rhythm and cause trouble. Qin Yu, on the other hand, was accustomed to protecting others. Although his role had changed, he still excelled at waiting, accompanying, and executing tasks.

The next day.

Even though he had only fallen asleep around four in the morning, Ji Xinghai woke up at six, sitting dazedly on the bed with his hair sticking up.

A warm towel appeared before him. Following the strong arm, he saw Qin Yu, who had rolled up his sleeves and wasn't wearing sunglasses. Upon closer inspection, one could see the anomaly in his eyes—two swirling vortexes instead of black pupils.

"Many cracks appeared in the world yesterday. The first to notice were the anomalies, who are more sensitive to energy fluctuations, followed by official monitoring personnel..."

Ji Xinghai applied the warm towel while listening to the latest updates from last night. After a minute, he returned the towel to Qin Yu and asked, "What could it be? Another world?"

"Currently under surveillance."

The official authorities were reliable, isolating the cracks immediately upon discovery. However, with new cracks appearing every moment, some were inevitably missed due to lack of manpower. Ji Xinghai wasn't in a rush for answers; he knew he would find out eventually.

Ji Xinghai was among the first students to sense something amiss. A few days later, the other students also began to realize the impending crisis.

The cracks multiplied, as if a powerful force were slamming into this fragile shell. Simultaneously, an evil aura seeped through the cracks.

They sent machines to investigate beneath the cracks, but anything that entered would lose contact and never return, including people.

Attempts to destroy or fill the cracks failed.

Every night between one and two o'clock, mist emerged from the cracks until around four or five in the morning when it dissipated.

The mist was hazy, with vague human figures visible, but nothing was found upon entering.

Those who emerged from the mist would fall ill, often running high fevers and speaking incoherently, taking three to four days to recover.

Experts suspected the mist contained an unknown virus and warned the public against curiosity-driven exploration.

Along with the mist came the anomalies.

Previously, the probability of anomalies arising from unnatural deaths was only 0.013%, or one in ten thousand. But after the mist appeared, the likelihood of anomalies from unnatural deaths and local legends increased tenfold, and the situation worsened. The anomaly handling department and students worked tirelessly day and night, yet it was still insufficient.

"What do you think it is? Is it negative-world energy leaking, or has another civilization opened a passage here?"

Ji Xinghai and Qin Yu went to the earliest crack, avoiding others. This crack was four to five meters wide and over a hundred meters long. Looking down, it seemed bottomless, with no echo from dropped stones.

He didn't venture down recklessly but instead threw rabbits and chickens, attaching bells to their struggling feet and fixing cameras and lights.

"Huh?"

Just three meters deep, light and sound seemed to be swallowed by something. They immediately pulled the ropes back. The ropes broke at three meters, with signs of melting.

After pondering, he summoned the blonde vampire from the long-unused Tāotiè Food Manual.

"Why not call that damn brute?!" The blonde vampire, knowing Ji Xinghai intended to send it to its death, became agitated.

"But you have bats, which he doesn't." Ji Xinghai innocently replied, "I'm not sending you directly; just send the bats down."

The vampire gritted its teeth but couldn't disobey the order. It divided part of its power, transforming into bats to investigate.

However, at three meters, the vampire screamed. Black marks appeared on its body, similar to the melted rope.

Wherever the black marks spread, limbs vanished completely without a trace.

Ji Xinghai pursed his lips, watching the black marks spread, then cut off the vampire's arm with a knife—the bat had detached from its fingers, so the black marks first appeared there and spread to the arm within two seconds.

The severely weakened vampire was sent back.

"Let's go back. This isn't simple."

Cracks continued to appear, and the mist's range expanded. Eventually, the authorities could no longer hide it.

The terms 'ground cracks' and 'mist' began appearing in newspapers and news channels worldwide. Environmental protection organizations urged people to protect the environment. Air purifier sales surged, and even during the day, people started wearing masks outdoors.

"What does this have to do with environmental protection?" Ji Xinghai leaned on the sofa, legs propped on the coffee table, munching on an apple.

He had tried twice to investigate the cracks but... those attempts were best forgotten.

"Perhaps we'll have to wait until everything settles down." He even abandoned the idea of opening a shop; no one would want to buy them now.

The students were too familiar with this pattern. When their civilization faced changes, it started with minor events like fog and earthquakes, then engulfed the entire world, leaving no one unaffected.

Although Ji Xinghai hadn't experienced the initial upheaval, he knew the later stages well and could guess what was coming.

"Is the system expecting us to save the world? That's too much faith in the students." If they had such abilities, why would they need the Battle of Academies for a way out?

The students, though aware of what was happening, mostly stood by as spectators. They couldn't alter the course of events nor explain to the locals how they knew about it. Silence was their best option.

Moreover, this was likely the test set by the organizers behind the Academy Wars. Without knowing the test, how could one take it?

Ji Xinghai and Qin Yu continued clearing the anomalies nearby while also stockpiling supplies—excluding food, as he had already eaten plenty.

On the way to gather supplies, they encountered other students—it was quite obvious. This world was still peaceful, and the locals hadn’t realized the severity of the situation; they were more relaxed. However, the students were acutely aware of the impending danger.

They tacitly gathered various medical supplies, daily necessities, and weapons.

The authorities were also active, secretly establishing safe shelters. They must have learned something from those 'Awakened' individuals.

However, most of these people were under strict protection and surveillance. Abducting them would certainly alert others.

Ji Xinghai didn’t know if other students had taken action, but he hadn’t. He continued clearing anomalies and collecting delicacies. Thanks to the ground fissures, finding anomalies had become much easier for him.

Gradually, the thick fog that used to dissipate around four or five in the morning now lingered until six or seven. This caused significant inconvenience for those who needed to work early.

Later, the authorities issued directives requiring companies to reduce or stop night shifts and schools to decrease homework and cancel extra classes. Meanwhile, rumors spread online, with new posts popping up faster than old ones could be deleted.

"...One night, I woke up to find him sitting at my bedside, saying he wouldn’t let anything happen to me this time. Even with my eyes closed, I could feel the madness in his voice. Is my dad crazy?"

"...Her wife claimed he would brutally kill her in the future, so she preemptively attacked him. She is now in the hospital..."

"My mom has gone mad; she sold our house to buy a bunch of food and supplies. She never believed in the end of the world before..."

Even the older generation, not just the young internet users, began to panic. They started stockpiling daily necessities, food, and even weapons like the students.

Ji Xinghai saw many closed shops and long queues at supermarkets on the streets.

A storm was brewing.

The authorities had no choice but to issue urgent clarifications. They stated that there was indeed a virus in the fog causing hallucinations among the infected.

Many people experienced similar hallucinations due to environmental influences. With the recent doomsday theories spreading, those affected by these ideas would naturally experience such hallucinations.

Simultaneously, the authorities dealt with a batch of 'free shoppers' to deter others.

"All symptomatic individuals experienced dense fog, fever, and mild mental instability. This is only part of the cases that haven’t been well hidden; there may be others hiding better," Qin Yu printed out all verified posts from the internet, followed by specific information and recent changes about each person.

"It seems this world has many 'Reborn' individuals."

Ji Xinghai didn’t believe the official clarification. The authorities themselves were fully armed and exploring the cracks, but every expedition ended in loss of contact. They couldn’t afford to keep losing people.

The authorities dared not fully explore the cracks, and neither did the students. A small mistake could lead civilization astray. Even the most impulsive had to think twice in this situation.

"Let’s find someone to ask." His fingertip pointed to a name that appeared early in the fog but showed no abnormalities afterward.

This person’s name wasn’t on the official list because she lived alone and hadn’t been hospitalized during those days. Later, she showed no signs of abnormality either. If not for Qin Yu overhearing her boss complaining about her making mistakes due to being dazed after the fog, no one would have known she should be investigated by the authorities.

She lived in a modified underground garage somewhere. Ji Xinghai found her and used drugs to put her into a semi-conscious state, making it easier to question her.

"Miss Jiang Xiaomai."

She reacted, confirming that this was indeed her name.

"You recently applied for a supermarket clerk job. Are you unsatisfied with your current job as a garage attendant?"

"No..."

She frowned, her eyelashes trembling as if trying to wake up, but the drugs kept her from fully regaining consciousness. In her semi-conscious state, she softly answered Ji Xinghai’s questions.

Through this questioning, the difficult life of a single woman unfolded on paper. Ji Xinghai occasionally paused to repeat certain vague questions, receiving consistent answers—though the wording might differ slightly, the content remained the same.

He glanced at Qin Yu. If what she said was true, the future of this world truly looked grim.

"So, you died after wandering for eight years?"

This seemed to be a painful memory, and the unconscious woman struggled. Ji Xinghai reassured her, "You’re safe now. Everything is over."

Once she calmed down, he cautiously asked, "Now that you’ve returned to the past, when you were younger, how did you come back?"

"At that time..."

She began recounting what happened after her death. Though she didn’t go into detail, her journey into death must have been horrific, leading her to transform into an anomaly. Initially, the anomaly was uncontrollable and violent, and she killed many people.

Unable to accept this deep down, she recorded that period as a 'hallucination.'

But the most chilling 'hallucination' was being sucked into a vortex and walking along a path shrouded in white mist. She saw a young woman in the mist, seemingly herself, but one who hadn’t experienced despair.

"I’m so jealous, so angry!"

So, she killed her, killed herself, and took her place.