Chapter 111
Chapter 111
Qin Lan raced across the Safe Zone, raising a howling gale wherever he passed.
He was searching for Xue Chuan.
With the dozen-plus spatial fissures collapsing, the surviving Anomaly Hunters wept with joy. Residents emerged from the shelters cheering and celebrating their escape from death.
Only Qin Lan felt increasingly oppressed.
He suddenly recalled many things Xue Chuan had said “casually.”
No one had paid them any attention at the time. Looking back now, every sentence carried another meaning.
“All we need is one badass to storm their home…”
“The curse impact changes with the target’s strength…”
“Of course, sending an ordinary person in would work too…”
“…Like some unlucky weakling carrying a weapon of mass destruction inside and blowing himself up with those dumbass anomalies…”
“Because someone’s always going to die.”
“If it isn’t you, it’s me. If it isn’t me, it’s him. Otherwise, it’ll be someone else…”
The signs had been there all along. Qin Lan simply had not noticed.
Something seemed lodged in his heart. The indescribable pressure nearly drove him mad.
He desperately wanted to find Xue Chuan resting in some ruined building, slap the back of his head, and call him an idiot.
“You fucking dog…” Qin Lan muttered.
“Didn’t you say going off to die without telling anyone looked cool but was fucking stupid?”
He searched the entire Safe Zone without finding Xue Chuan.
All he found was a gift left in the Anomaly Hunter Bureau’s main hall–Xue Chuan’s final gift, meant for Qin Lan alone.
It was the old recorder that had once put Qin Lan to sleep in a single second.
This time, however, the cassette had been replaced. Instead of the deep, accented lecture, it held Xue Chuan’s distinctive, infuriating, laughing voice.
“Sorry, Old Qin.”
The very first sentence made Qin Lan’s heart sink.
The worst had happened after all.
“You asked me before whether I was afraid of dying. Brother, I really am scared.”
Xue Chuan clicked his tongue on the recording.
“But like I said, supporting characters have their own responsibilities.”
He laughed, sounding slightly dejected. “I would’ve liked a good life with a wife, kids, and a warm bed…”
“But Senior Brother Han and the others all said you’re important… more important than anyone imagines.”
“So leave the cool stunt to me.”
His voice became lighter.
“As long as I shine brightly enough in my own script, I’m no different from the protagonist.”
“You’re a better writer than me, so make my funeral eulogy sound awesome…”
The recording ended.
At that exact moment, the recorder reached the end of its allotted existence and dissolved into nothing before Qin Lan.
His heart twisted painfully.
Strictly speaking, he and Xue Chuan had not known each other all that long. They had survived only two instances together.
Even when they were side by side, Qin Lan often found himself wondering why the world contained an idiot this bizarre.
Yet the recording left him with an indescribable grief.
He did not know many people.
Lu Xingshan was dead. Now Xue Chuan was dead too.
The disaster launched by the being on the far side of the Abyss had not even been truly resolved. They had merely delayed it, yet the sacrifices were already countless.
“Did you find him?”
Luo Yue hurriedly pushed open the hall doors and rushed to Qin Lan.
One look into his eyes told her everything.
She instinctively stepped back twice, her voice trembling.
“Was it him…?”
Qin Lan’s face betrayed no emotion. He nodded gently.
“Yes.”
“He entered a fissure and found a way to destroy the passages.”
“That pocket never produced anything useful… but it seems his luck was good this time.”
He could not laugh, yet he could not call the feeling grief either. It was as though much of him had been scooped away, leaving only emptiness.
Luo Yue covered her mouth, speechless.
“Maybe this was the best solution… at least, the best one he could find,” Qin Lan said with a self-mocking smile. “Even if I’d gone inside, I might not have stopped every anomaly. I probably would’ve died there too.”
“His Dimensional Pocket gave him a way to do it.”
“The price was just far too high.”
It was.
Far too high.
Several 3-Star Anomaly Hunters had fallen.
The casualties among low-ranked 1-Star and 2-Star Anomaly Hunters were devastating.
The United Government suffered a grievous blow.
The director of the Anomaly Hunter Bureau died in the Fallen Zone, while Xue Chuan of Shanhai Pavilion left behind no body at all.
Qin Lan was among the survivors, yet he could not feel happy.
Only heavy.
The Anomaly Hunter Bureau had grown far quieter. Many familiar figures would never appear again, leaving the enormous hall cold and empty.
The unrest had subsided for now, but there was a great deal of aftermath to handle.
Streets and homes destroyed by anomalies. The curses lingering in their corpses. The casualty count…
Qin Lan dealt with it all in silence.
Even his grief seemed to fade, dulling into numbness.
Luo Yue also became quiet over the next two days.
She remained at the Bureau in her role as the “front desk receptionist,” but the gentle smile she once wore was gone.
Sometimes she propped her chin on one hand and stared blankly at the hall doors, as though waiting for someone to walk in and quietly remind her to “use titles at work.”
The new director–acting director, to be precise–was Dong Haoran.
The burden should originally have fallen to Qin Lan.
But Lu Xingshan had left explicit instructions, so the position could only pass to Dong Haoran, the veteran 3-Star Anomaly Hunter.
After helping him handle the aftermath, Qin Lan found himself with nothing to do.
He did not want to move.
He only wanted to stay in his tiny room, lie on his narrow bed, and stare at the ceiling.
Qin Lan felt exhausted.
That quiet did not last long.
As though the heavens had decided to toy with him, another unexpected incident shattered the peace.
[Beep, beep.]
Qin Lan’s communicator sounded.
He opened his eyes and looked at the ID and location displayed onscreen.
[Central Region, Anomaly Hunter Bureau Headquarters]
[Luan Zimo (4-Star Anomaly Hunter) is requesting communication.]
Luan Zimo?
Qin Lan had grown sluggish. Even seeing her name inspired neither surprise nor tension.
It took him several seconds to remember who she was.
“How did she find me? Wasn’t my file altered…?”
He was puzzled, but could not be bothered to think about it. Too many things already weighed on him. One more made no difference.
“Hello?” Qin Lan said flatly. “What is it?”
Hearing his voice, Luan Zimo gave a cold snort.
“Hah. It really is you.”
“I remember that voice far too clearly… I’m impressed you managed to hide for so long.”
“I truly misjudged you back then. I never imagined you were the one hiding deepest of all.”
Qin Lan’s tone did not change.
“If you’re looking for trouble, I suggest trying again in a couple of days.”
“I’m busy, and I’m in a terrible mood… I might start cursing at you.”
Luan Zimo choked on her reply.
No one had ever dared threaten her in that tone.
That was no exaggeration.
Every genius of the Central Region’s younger generation had heard her name.
She was a mountain pressing on their hearts, an unbridgeable chasm.
Everyone who met her instinctively spoke with respect. Who would dare sound as impatient as Qin Lan and say, “I’m in a terrible mood”?
“You really are arrogant…” Luan Zimo said through clenched teeth. “Damn it. I knew hearing your name couldn’t mean anything good…”
Hearing my name?
Qin Lan frowned. “What exactly happened?”
“Who mentioned me? Who gave you my communication number?”
Luan Zimo answered his demand coldly.
“Watch your tone, Qin…”
“A new unsolvable instance appeared here a few days ago.”
Qin Lan remained expressionless. The words “unsolvable instance” drew no reaction from him.
What the hell did that have to do with him?
“An Anomaly Hunter Bureau advance team entered. They were nearly wiped out.”
“The lucky survivor brought back a message.”
Luan Zimo hesitated, as if even she found the situation bizarre.
“The message… contained your name and contact information.”
Qin Lan froze.
His personal information had appeared inside an unsolvable instance?
What was going on?
“Listen for yourself.”
Luan Zimo did not bother explaining and sent the recording directly.
The next instant, Qin Lan heard a familiar, miserable scream.
[Help! I’m too young to die! Somebody save me! I don’t want to die!]
[My buddy’s called Qin Lan! He’s from Safe Zone 088! His communication number is xxxxxx…]
[Get him to come fucking save me!!!]