Chapter 56: Kill.

Chapter 56: The Killings

Did the child simply vanish?

Could he have been harmed?

Everyone couldn’t help but worry. However, they soon realized that even in a grim tale, the protagonist is unlikely to die in the first chapter.

Even if he died, he would likely be resurrected or reborn in the next chapter.

With this in mind, everyone managed to calm their anxiety and continued to wait for what would happen next.

"Not only did the child disappear. Around the same time, someone vanished while driving, and without a driver, the out-of-control vehicle caused a series of accidents."

"Someone disappeared while walking on the road, vanishing without a trace in front of everyone. A living person simply vanished without a trace, causing widespread panic due to the bizarre event."

"Someone vanished while cooking, and with no one to tend the kitchen fire, numerous fires broke out; a teacher disappeared in the middle of a lecture in front of the students; a doctor vanished in the middle of performing surgery on a patient, just after making the initial incision."

"A defendant disappeared during a court session; even a celebrity vanished during a press conference, leading some to believe it was a magic trick or an unconventional movie promotion; an official disappeared during an inspection..."

"Later statistics revealed that there were over a thousand such disappearance cases that day."

"People from all walks of life vanished. With the exception of one child, most were young adults."

Everyone could easily picture the chaos and impact this would unleash.

"After the first wave of disappearances, the authorities were overwhelmed, barely managing to temporarily calm the public, and began a full-scale investigation when the second wave of disappearances occurred."

"This time, even several young and promising national treasure-level scientists vanished together. The situation was escalating."

"The worst part was that while the second wave vanished, most of the first wave returned."

"They returned as dismembered remains."

Hearing this, what else could everyone conclude?

Could it be that Tianlan Star had been targeted by the legendary Main God?

Everyone had read infinite flow novels, which explained why more young adults were being drawn into the game.

After all, the Main God seeks useful helpers, or rather, considering the consumption rate, more durable consumables.

Thus, individuals who are too old or too young do not meet its selection criteria.

This makes the sole child who vanished seem particularly unique.

"They left as whole, living individuals, but when they returned, they were barely intact. The deaths were extremely gruesome. Many could not be identified as themselves without DNA technology and fingerprint verification."

"Some didn't even retain slightly intact limbs. The fastest return among the first wave of disappearances was a teacher, who returned within two minutes. The speed was so fast that the police hadn't even arrived at the scene, hadn't had time to isolate the area, or evacuate the students."

"When this teacher returned, a spray of blood and flesh appeared out of thin air, drenching the students who were investigating why the teacher had disappeared."

"Some students were scared out of their wits on the spot."

Holy crap!

Many people exchanged glances, fully realizing the malevolent intentions of this Main God.

Many present had been through gunfire and rain, so they weren't afraid of this. But the thought that those experiencing this were likely underage students was unsettling.

Returning the bodies after death, it's somewhat poetic to say they're falling leaves returning to their roots. But clearly, the other party's actions couldn't possibly carry such warmth.

This seems more like disposing of waste to avoid polluting the environment of the main god's space.

There's even an undertone of intimidation in it.

"Similar examples abound, leaving everyone terrified."

"Many who witnessed the corpses firsthand were left with deep psychological scars. What terrified everyone most was the realization that they and their families could suffer the same fate."

"Except for a few frail elderly individuals, everyone is at risk. Even children."

"After all, children grow up."

This clearly treats Tianlan Star as a mere resource pool.

When short on people, just recruit a batch.

If people die, so be it—no remorse. The dead can always be replaced with fresh recruits.

Could it be that the people of Tianlan Star are just being expended repeatedly like this?

"Not all who die return. Some are more durable and useful, transitioning from disposable materials to those with extended lifespans."

"They even received certain rewards from the main god."

Only then did some find solace, knowing it wasn't a total wipeout—there were survivors. Then they heard Sheng Qingquan's anguished voice.

"But this is far from a good thing."

"After a considerable period, these people started coming back one after another."

"Suddenly gaining power, their mindset failed to adapt."

"On the contrary, having gone through unimaginable hardships in the instances. Scheming and struggling to survive, many developed psychological issues after witnessing other players' deaths."

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately had a sense of dread.

"They adopted the dungeon's philosophy of survival of the fittest, launching killing sprees in the real world."

"The colleague who always made things difficult for me at work? Killed."

"The boss who constantly demanded overtime? Killed."

"The woman who dismissed my ambitions? Killed."

...

"The delivery guy who arrived late, marked the order as delivered early, and still argued? Killed."

"The neighbor who's richer than me, always showing off their wealth? Killed."

"The kid upstairs who constantly jumps around, creating noise? Killed."

"The love interest who has a girlfriend and rejected me? Killed the girlfriend too."

"The traffic cop who issued me a ticket? Killed."

A string of killings. It sends shivers down your spine.

Some people didn’t do anything wrong; they just crossed them, and others, though they had minor issues, certainly didn't deserve death. But in this group’s eyes, everyone was marked for death.

They act even more high and mighty than the judges of the underworld. It’s like everyone carries a ledger of life and death in their hearts, and at the slightest provocation, they’d casually pick up a brush and strike out the names of the 'sinners.'

"Those who weren’t killed sometimes fared even worse."

"Didn’t respect me before? Now they have to grovel, lower than dirt, and act like dogs."

"Were they once upright and couldn’t stand the slightest flaw? Now they’re tortured, made to suffer unbearably, regretting their past actions..."

"If someone refuses to cooperate, it’s either their family’s ruin or their own death."

These aren’t humans—they’re clearly a pack of demons!

Power has brought out the worst in human nature.

"Even if these people aren’t the majority, and some still hold onto their principles and values, just a handful of them can cause a lot of trouble. Not to mention, they are not just a few, or a dozen… but more."

"The authorities have considered stepping in, but the power gap is too wide, especially since these people can retreat into the dungeons after their crimes, making it impossible to do anything to them."

"And hiring others with power to help is expensive, and there aren’t many willing to take the job."

"Because most people, even with power, are still just ordinary folks at heart."

"The tools and skills they’ve gained are limited. If they use them to catch criminals, even if they win and are lucky enough to escape unharmed, once their tools are spent and their skills are on cooldown, wouldn’t they be at risk the next time they’re dragged into a dungeon?"

"Who wants to die when they can live?"

"So even if the authorities’ rewards are tempting, few are swayed. And the very few who are willing to contribute can only do so much."

"On top of that, many people, hoping to win favor with these individuals, spare no effort to please them, enabling their tyranny."

"Order crumbled in an instant."

"The once orderly society quickly turned toxic. Everyone was terrified for their lives."

What are we doing?

Tianlanxing has an army. Surely not all of them got dragged in, right?

Many people listened and felt something was off.

Even if they spent years in the dungeon, they wouldn’t easily abandon their principles. They still have that much confidence.

If they had that kind of power, society wouldn’t have fallen into such chaos.

Sheng Qingquan obviously thought of them too.

"Unfortunately, those selected soldiers, because of their better physical condition, started in more difficult dungeons. The high difficulty, coupled with the need to protect ordinary people, resulted in heavy casualties."

"Only a few managed to struggle and come out alive. Otherwise, the situation wouldn't have gotten so out of control."

Ah... there’s nothing that can be done.

While everyone felt helpless, they also felt a strange sense of relief.

Thankfully, it wasn't them and their comrades who also had their minds twisted.

We're just dead.

Compared to turning into a monster, death isn't that hard to accept.

Sheng Qingquan bought the whole book, unable to stomach the real-life horrors. He flipped through and found the rest was filled with various infinite flow dungeons.

Under the Main God's cold allocation, people's scenarios of level-breaking.

"Deceit, betrayal, using others as shields, life-and-death battles..."

"In reality, many authors of infinite flow novels usually avoid involving minors. If they do, it's at least high school age. Never younger."

"After all, while reality may be illogical, novels are written by people with moral boundaries. Keeping children out is one of those boundaries."

"But this game clearly lacks a Main God with any conscience."

"If it only drags in young adults as more durable pawns, then Cheng Changle, the sole child in the game, stands out as particularly unique."

"But this uniqueness didn't earn Xiao Changle better treatment; in fact, it was worse."

Sheng Qingquan couldn't hold back his rage.

"The moment Xiao Changle entered the dungeon, he was thrust into a gory scenario. The dungeon was ghost-themed, featuring a skin-stealing ghost. The ghost donned skins, each resembling one of Xiao Changle's relatives."

Though they knew the Main God showed no mercy to children, hearing this and picturing Xiao Changle's ordeal, their already blazing anger flared even hotter. Many clenched their teeth so hard they creaked.

"These 'relatives' perished one after another before Xiao Changle, each death more horrifying than the last."

"The wailing was endless, blood splashed onto Xiao Changle's face, and some, with broken legs and mangled bodies, still dragged themselves, leaving bloody trails as they crawled toward him."

"He's only three years old!"

Sheng Qingquan had endured the earlier parts, but here, he completely lost it.

"Forcing a three-year-old to face things adults can't handle repeatedly."

Sheng Qingquan could nearly picture Xiao Changle's fate.

"A three-year-old already knows people."

"And understands pain, knows what wounds and blood signify."

"No matter how much he cries, pushes, or shoves, the 'relatives' on the ground remain motionless, unresponsive."

"The relatives' bodies grow cold and stiff, blood pooling around them."

"Even a child vaguely grasps the concept of death."

"Again and again."

"Relatives, teachers, classmates and friends from the early education class, other playmates in the neighborhood... all the familiar people he knows."

"Xiao Changle was completely terrified. Not as a figure of speech, but truly terrified. He sat dazed on the ground, a white light enveloping him."

"What happened next? What ultimately happened to Xiao Changle?"

Although he knew that even if Xiao Changle was still alive, his situation wouldn't be good, Sheng Qingquan was still eager to know about his safety.

But as he flipped through the pages, he never saw Xiao Changle mentioned again.

He didn't appear in the subsequent plot.

Until the very end.

"Is there an extra chapter?"

If it wasn't mentioned in the main text, then it must be in the extras?

Sheng Qingquan clicked on the extras section.

"'Cheng Changle found a small ball, happily clutching it in his hand and waving it around energetically. The ball suddenly glowed with a faint white light, and Cheng Changle curiously lifted the ball to his face, peering closely at it.'"

"'Energy reserves have reached the minimum threshold; system automatically reviving.' The ball suddenly spoke, and Cheng Changle blinked his eyes. This was nothing new to him. He had plenty of toys that could talk, some even sang and told stories—pretty impressive stuff. Cheng Changle kept inspecting the ball, searching for a switch."

"The ball was perfectly smooth, with no visible switch. Cheng Changle didn’t give up and kept looking. The ball remained unaffected by the handling, and the voice continued: 'System revived. Suitable host detected nearby.'"

"'Binding in progress, binding successful.'"

"'Welcome to the Infinite Hell Game!'"

"'Hearing the commotion, Cheng Jingqiao, busy cooking, spun around and saw the child who was supposed to be playing with toys on the living room carpet suddenly disappear right before her eyes.'"

After reading the original plot, Sheng Qingquan was stunned.

"So, Xiao Changle is actually the host of that game?!"

"Holy cow, who would’ve guessed that! This game is like a regular system, needing to bind a host. And the host is a child."

Not only did others have a sudden realization, but Sheng Qingquan also caught on.

"Is this why the system wanted to scare Xiao Changle out of his wits?"