Chapter 12

Chapter 12

The superpowered individual did not rashly attack but first reported the situation up the chain before returning to the car: "Sorry, we might not be able to leave for now."

Lin Juan was not particularly surprised by this outcome. Knowing what kind of novel he had been transported into, he had already prepared himself to face all sorts of supernatural threats.

Fortunately, his fighting skills did not fail just because the opponent was a paranormal entity.

"Is it another paranormal incident?" Compared to him, Lu Mingxuan was feeling much more conflicted.

On one hand, he was once again thrilled by encountering the paranormal; on the other hand, he was afraid.

Regarding the last incident, he hadn’t said anything outwardly and had acted casual, as if completely unaffected. But only he knew deep down that, in the middle of the night, he had woken up countless times from the same nightmare.

In that dream, there was no Lin Juan—only himself, utterly powerless against the paranormal. Fear drowned him like deep-sea water, jolting him awake, gasping for air, soaked in cold sweat.

Like a baby bird, he instinctively moved closer to Lin Juan.

The superpowered individual didn’t sugarcoat it: "Most likely. Command is investigating what kind of paranormal entity it is. Since we can’t leave now, I’ll take you to a shelter first."

The lower level of the internal building had been designated as a temporary shelter, converted from a massive parking lot. The shelter was equipped with contamination barriers around its perimeter, intended for situations where contaminated patients went berserk, providing a safe place for ordinary people to hide.

Unfortunately, such isolation devices were extremely hard to produce. The only successfully manufactured one had been installed in the shelter and was now being officially used for the first time.

Originally built as a precautionary measure, no one expected it to be needed so soon.

Along the way, they encountered many people, all heading to the shelter.

The internal building had been immediately sealed off by security teams, so no contaminated patients undergoing mutation had emerged from there yet.

However, under the influence of an unknown cause, the contamination levels throughout the entire hospital were rising sharply. In no time, even regular people began to mutate.

Exposed to contamination, this was unavoidable.

The Paranormal Special Affairs Office had already dispatched superpowered individuals for support right away. But the scope of contamination was too vast, and the hospital had too many patients—there were inevitably areas that couldn’t be secured.

More and more people discovered strange growths on themselves or those around them—hard, shell-like substances that were both itchy and painful, couldn’t be scraped off or touched.

"Don’t touch the shells growing on your body—they’re contagious!" the first sharp-eyed person warned others loudly.

"What is this? It hurts so much!"

"Ahhhhhhh, my face!!!"

"How could such a strange virus exist in the hospital? Are they conducting illegal experiments?"

Various voices mingled together. In crowded places, fear is contagious.

As the first voice of someone breaking down emerged, more and more people began to break down. However, the more agitated they became, the faster their contamination levels rose.

The situation inside the internal building was even worse than outside.

This area originally housed some already contaminated individuals, and their mutation progressed the fastest. With all of them losing it, the superpowered individuals present were simply unable to get the situation under control.

"We need to find the source of the contamination!" Knowing that continuing like this was not a solution, Zhuang Yufeng spoke up while using his superpower to neutralize the contamination.

"Any leads?" Director Liu asked. "Have we located the area with the highest contamination levels?"

Generally, the place with the highest contamination levels is where the contaminant is located.

"Every area is polluted; it's too difficult to locate," said the supernatural operative in charge of reconnaissance, wiping sweat from his brow while holding a pollution detector the size of a forearm. "We've checked every part of the main building, and the pollution readings are all similar. None of them should be the source of the outbreak."

"Expand the search range, keep looking!" Director Liu said sternly.

They had to find the source of the pollution to control such severe pollution.

"Special Task Forces Five and Six have arrived and are on standby."

"Good! Their primary mission is to rescue ordinary people!"

Orders were issued one after another. Director Liu, ignoring the sweat dripping down his face, asked, "Has Mr. Lin and his group gotten out?"

"Bad news," Zhuang Yufeng spoke up. "There's news from over there. When trying to evacuate Mr. Lin and his group, they encountered an invisible barrier blocking the way."

"What?" Director Liu was shocked. He quickly analyzed the key issue. "Can anyone inside get out now?"

Zhuang Yufeng spoke into his earpiece for a moment, his expression growing increasingly grim. "There are invisible barriers everywhere. The entire hospital is now locked down—people can enter, but no one can leave."

Everyone's mood grew heavy.

Being unable to leave meant they had to resolve the creature trapping the hospital to have any chance of survival. Otherwise, they’d all be lost.

If the hospital is overrun, such massive pollution would devastate the entire capital.

"We must find the source of the pollution and eliminate it at all costs!" Director Liu ordered sharply.

"Yes!"

They had no other choice.

Under Director Liu's arrangements, everyone began carrying out their tasks in an orderly manner. Director Liu pulled Zhuang Yufeng aside and asked quietly, "Xiao Zhuang, what do you think about this situation?"

He hoped to find a solution through Zhuang Yufeng's superpower, the "Precognitive dream."

But Zhuang Yufeng had no "Precognitive dream." What he had were memories from a future several years ahead.

He struggled to recall, trying to remember what had happened at this hospital in the future and how humanity had resolved it.

Even with his excellent memory, there had been too many supernatural incidents in the future. The ones that left the deepest impressions were those where humanity suffered heavy losses. It took some effort to piece together clues from the corners of his memory.

"This creature prefers dark places. Its offensive capability isn't high, but its defensive capabilities are extremely strong. To deal with it, we must first break its shell."

"Are we inside its shell or outside it now?"

"In between two layers of its shell," Zhuang Yufeng said solemnly. "The Class D Anomaly, Wuchang Snail, excels in defense. One reason the hospital's pollution level is so high is that we are being slowly digested as it absorbs us into its shell."

"We must find the weakest point of its shell, break through it, and then locate the Wuchang Snail's main body," Zhuang Yufeng proposed the solution.

His mood was heavy. Although the Wuchang Snail was only a Class C Anomaly, its defensive capabilities could reach Class B levels. In other words, its shell was extremely hard.

"Bring over the gifted operatives with the strongest offensive abilities. Find the weakest point of the 'shell,' then launch a coordinated attack. Spare no cost—break the 'shell'!"

"Yes!"

The gifted operatives acted swiftly. Lin Juan and his group headed to the underground shelter, encountering many affected individuals along the route.

Outside the shelter, specialized personnel checked pollution readings. Only those below the danger level were allowed inside; those exceeding it were moved to a separate area.

Armed guards stood on both sides maintaining order, while a kind-faced gifted operative used their ability, their soothing voice calming the restless crowd.

They walked into the shelter in silence.

Lin Juan pushed Lu Yanzhou, following the crowd in line.

Lu Mingxuan and Eldest Brother Lu supported Old Mr. Lu, closely following behind them.

Remembering that his dividends needed Lu Yanzhou to grow them, Lin Juan asked out of courtesy, "Mr. Lu, Lu Zong, are you scared?"

Lu Yanzhou glanced at him without a word.

Lin Juan looked him over but couldn't tell if he was scared or not. "Don't worry, even if you're scared, I won't laugh at you."

Lu Yanzhou finally responded, "What about you? Are you scared?"

"Me?"

"I heard there was a paranormal incident on your wedding night too. Were you scared then?" Lu Yanzhou's voice was low, only audible to Lin Juan who was close by.

"I wasn't scared," Lin Juan showed him his hand. "See? Monsters like that—I can take them down with one punch each."

This was quite the compliment. No one dislikes being acknowledged, and Lin Juan was no exception. In a rather good mood, he said, "Don't worry, as long as I'm here, I won’t let those monsters harm you!"

"Then I’ll thank you in advance, Xiao Juan."

When it was their turn, the contamination levels of Lin Juan and the others were within the normal range, except for Lu Mingxuan, whose level exceeded the limit.

Lu Mingxuan was visibly anxious. Having witnessed the horror of the paranormal, he found it difficult to face the prospect of being placed with a group of contaminated, mutated individuals.

Seeing how scared he was, Lin Juan offered, "How about I go with you?"

"No, no need, Uncle. You should stay in the safe zone with Granduncle and the others." Lu Mingxuan refused without hesitation.

He admitted that Lin Juan's offer was tempting—very tempting—but he also knew that the place he was going to was far more dangerous than the shelter where Lin Juan would be.

He couldn’t selfishly ask Lin Juan to take risks for him.

"I can handle this. Maybe I can even help out there," Lin Juan said. He hadn’t planned on staying in the shelter anyway; he’d only escorted the Lu family there because he was worried about them.

His master often taught him to do good deeds and accumulate virtue. With his abilities came responsibility, and since he was here, he couldn’t just turn a blind eye.

Besides, based on his previous encounters with the paranormal, it didn’t seem all that difficult to deal with.

As long as he wasn’t in danger, there was no need to overthink it.

Having made up his mind, Lin Juan said to Old Mr. Lu, "Uncle, please wait here for a while. I’m going out to see if I can help."

With that, he turned on the communicator and contacted Zhuang Yufeng.

It was a communicator given to him by Zhuang Yufeng, for internal use within the Paranormal Special Affairs Office. It could somewhat reduce interference from paranormal magnetic fields and maintain contact with the outside.

Zhuang Yufeng answered quickly. Hearing Lin Juan ask if there was any way he could help, and considering his unparalleled strength, he discussed it with Director Liu and invited him to assist.

Coincidentally, they had found a weak spot in the "shell," but even after several rounds of superpower attacks, it remained unmoved, without a single crack.

When Lin Juan arrived with Lu Mingxuan, several Class A superpower holders were taking turns attacking an invisible spot.

Seeing them, Zhuang Yufeng looked as if he had found a savior. "Mr. Lin, it’s right here."

The superpower attacks ceased as Lin Juan walked over, reached out, and touched the area. Though nothing was visible, he could feel something hard.

Lin Juan pressed against it. "It’s really hard."

"Do you have any ideas, Mr. Lin?" Director Liu asked cautiously. "We’ve tried everything—physical attacks, superpower attacks, even artillery. Nothing worked."

Lin Juan turned and indeed saw a cannon emitting heat not far away.

No wonder he’d smelled gunpowder when he arrived.

"Let me give it a try."

Lin Juan took a step back. Unlike when he dealt with the mushroom wall last time, he didn’t even take a running start. He simply clenched his fist and swung it down with force.

"Boom!"

The previously unresponsive empty space rippled like a wave, and a crack slowly appeared. Then, a pitch-black, mucus-covered "shell" became visible to everyone.

On the seemingly indestructible "shell," a massive crack had unmistakably formed.

"It’s a bit hard, huh," Lin Juan scratched his hair. "I didn’t perform at my best."

Everyone looked dazed: You call this not performing at your best???

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