"Anyway, your task for the next two days is to search this street for any灾厄(hazard) hair left under the ruins, or other unusual things..."
"Unusual things?"
"The power of hazards can affect the surrounding real environment, and how exactly it affects varies from hazard to hazard... Some hazards just stand there and distort everything nearby, while others can start fires. It is said that more bizarre ones can even manipulate humans... We call this kind of influence the 'hazard domain'."
"The higher the level of a hazard, the more destructive and extensive its hazard domain will be. Overall, we currently divide all hazards into levels 1 to 9, but each level has some aliases to intuitively show their destructive power.
For example, a level 9 hazard... we usually call it 'World Annihilation'."
"World Annihilation..." Chen Ling was stunned, "So can a level 9 hazard really destroy the world?"
"Although it is exaggerated, it is almost the same as real world annihilation... It is said that a World Annihilation-level hazard has the power to completely wipe out a human realm." Qian Fan seemed to think of something and said in a low voice,
"Don't you know?"
"What?"
"In fact, the one that ran out of your District 3 the night before last... was a 'World Annihilation'."
"!!!"
Chen Ling's face suddenly turned pale.
"Haha, I'm kidding you." Seeing Chen Ling's reaction, Qian Fan smiled and patted him on the shoulder, "I heard that the hazard pointer in your District 3 did explode. This usually only happens when a 'World Annihilation' descends. But how is it possible?
There has been no 'World Annihilation' descent in nearly a hundred years, and if it were really a 'World Annihilation', District 3 would probably have been wiped out in the first place. How could it be safe until now?
So, it is estimated that a hazard whose domain can just affect the hazard pointer has descended.
Didn't your Enforcer Han Meng fight with it yesterday? It was confirmed to be a level 5 hazard, not a World Annihilation... So, don't worry."
Qian Fan stood with his hands on his hips, his face full of smiles.
But Chen Ling couldn't smile.
As the "culprit" who beat up Han Meng, he knew best what the "level 5" hazard in Qian Fan's mouth was all about.
The "level 5" that Han Meng encountered was not really a "level 5"... It was just because the [Audience Expectation Value] was stuck at 14%-15% at that time, and the "audience" who usurped the stage had combat power equivalent to that of a level 5 hazard.
And Chen Ling clearly remembered that the number of "audience" who ran out at that time was less than 1% of the entire audience...
What if the "audience" escapes collectively?
Does that mean... a complete "World Annihilation" will descend?
At this thought, cold sweat broke out on Chen Ling's back.
He had thought that the hazards in the "audience seats" would be powerful, but he had no idea that they were so powerful... They were super hazards with the ability to "annihilate the world"! A time bomb enough to destroy the human realm!
"Okay, go to work quickly." Qian Fan said with satisfaction.
"...Okay."
As Qian Fan left, only Chen Ling was left on the ruined street.
He took a deep breath, temporarily suppressing the fear in his heart, and lowered his head to search among the gravel... No matter what level the "audience" was, they seemed to have to abide by the rules of the theater. As long as Chen Ling kept the [Audience Expectation Value] above 20%, nothing would happen.
[Audience Expectation Value -1]
[Current Expectation Value: 32%]
Ever since going undercover as an enforcer, the audience expectation value had surged by 10% in one go. But over time, it continued to decline at a steady rate. At the current speed, if he did nothing, it would drop back to 20% in at most 36 hours.
For the next while, Chen Ling carefully searched through the ruins. But after several hours, he still hadn't found any hair or traces left by a "hazard domain".
To be honest, Chen Ling was also curious about what exactly this hazard that had escaped with his "audience" was.
"Chen Ling!"
A voice came from not far away. Chen Ling, who was earnestly searching for clues, looked up and saw his fellow sufferer Wu Youdong walking toward him.
"I heard they say you came early in the morning?" Wu Youdong was sweating profusely. Unsurprisingly, he had probably walked all the way from District 3 on foot. "How did you get here so fast? Didn't you go home?"
"No, something came up."
"Is it related to your brother?"
At these words, Chen Ling suddenly raised his head. "What did you say?"
"Oh, when I was coming here just now, I passed by your door... and saw Officer Han Meng there, saying he wanted to find your brother." Wu Youdong wiped his sweat and couldn't help sighing, "But bro, your family's conditions are worse than mine... the house has holes in it?"
Chen Ling directly ignored Wu Youdong's tease and asked again, "Did Han Meng question my brother?"
"No. There was a tall man with silver-rimmed glasses standing in the room talking to him. I didn't hear exactly what was said, but after a few words, Officer Han Meng left... without entering the house."
A tall man with silver-rimmed glasses?
Chen Ling was stunned for a moment, and a thought suddenly flashed through his mind... he had actually forgotten about this!
Previously, he had sent a message to Aurora City, originally wanting that [Doctor] to come and cure him. Unexpectedly, so many things had happened in the past few days that he had completely forgotten about it... Now it seemed that the [Doctor] had arrived as promised to see him.
But wasn't District 3 blockaded? How did he get in?
One after another, doubts flashed through Chen Ling's mind. He was eager to go home and see what had happened.
"I won't talk to you anymore. My task is to resettle the surviving residents of Bingquan Street, and I have a lot of things to do." Wu Youdong checked the time, bid farewell to Chen Ling, and left in a hurry.
Since Han Meng had been sent away, there should be no chance to interrogate Chen Yan, and the family was still safe... As Chen Ling thought, he quickly walked toward Qian Fan and the others.
That [Doctor] was a completely unknown existence to Chen Ling, and he didn't dare to let Chen Yan stay alone with him for too long.
He had to go home, right away.
Creak——
Chen Ling took a step forward and crushed a brick in the ruins. He looked down and saw a faint red color pressed beneath the fragments.
Frowning slightly, Chen Ling bent down to brush away the debris. The red outline gradually became clear... When he saw the object in its entirety, his pupils constricted violently.
It was a tattered safety amulet.
In the corner of the amulet, two tiny characters were embroidered—
Chen Yan.