Chapter 35
Chapter 35
An irresistible aroma drifted from a tiny noodle shop on a dim street.
In the kitchen, the shopkeeper clutched a cleaver and sweated profusely.
Exhaustion was not the cause. An extremely familiar and absurdly powerful customer had appeared outside its shop.
The mere sight of him sitting there made the shopkeeper feel as though something had seized its throat. It did not dare move.
Qin Lan spoke leisurely.
“Boss, make me a bowl of beef noodles.”
The shopkeeper shuddered so hard that the cleaver nearly fell from its hand.
It was a 2-Star anomaly. Inside the Road to the Netherworld, it had turned countless innocent passersby into fragrant noodles.
Yet now it was trembling in fear.
“One bowl of beef noodles… Of course…” Even its voice shook.
Then Qin Lan added, “But I have a peculiar habit.”
“Sometimes I don’t like scallions. Other times, I do.”
The corner of Qin Lan’s mouth rose, menace entering his voice.
“If you add scallions when I don’t want them, I’ll roll you flat into a pancake.”
“If you leave them out when I want them, I’ll slice you into noodles.”
“Hurry. I’m hungry.”
I’m hungry.
Those two words sounded like a death warrant. The shopkeeper desperately wished it could abandon the entire restaurant and flee.
Should it add scallions or not?
That was the question.
The shopkeeper prayed inwardly–though what god an anomaly might pray to was anyone’s guess–that it would not choose wrong.
Soon, a fragrant bowl of noodles was served.
Qin Lan did not look at the food. Instead, he raised his head toward the shopkeeper’s gaunt, pallid face and smiled.
“To be fair, I’ll state my answer first.”
“Today, I don’t like scallions, but I bet you added plenty of them.”
Only then did Qin Lan lower his gaze to the bowl.
Not a single piece of scallion was present. Only slices of beef floated on the surface.
Relief flooded the shopkeeper’s face.
“Thank goodness. I chose correctly–”
It celebrated having survived an encounter with this scourge.
Qin Lan calmly raised his head.
Then he smiled.
“Haha. I forgot to mention something.”
“I don’t eat noodles.”
…
“Congratulations, Mr. Qin. You have reached the rank of a 2-Star Anomaly Hunter!”
“You joined the Anomaly Hunter Bureau less than a month ago, yet you’ve already advanced to 2-Star. That’s truly remarkable!”
Luo Yue praised him as she handed over a brand-new bronze badge.
Qin Lan had recorded the entire battle against the noodle shopkeeper with his communicator and brought its corpse back.
An anomaly corpse submitted for rank evaluation did not award Bureau points.
Qin Lan did not care. At his present strength, he could even attempt to challenge a 3-Star anomaly. Such a small number of points meant nothing to him.
Now that he could see the threads of death, he no longer had to rely entirely on chance to find an instance. The density of those threads allowed him to roughly distinguish entrances to 1-Star, 2-Star, and 3-Star instances.
“A 2-Star Anomaly Hunter…”
Qin Lan rubbed the badge in his hand, feeling faintly emotional.
When he first arrived at the Anomaly Hunter Bureau, he had gazed longingly at the official Anomaly Hunters in uniform.
Back then, he still feared retaliation from the Qian Group and needed the Bureau’s name simply to keep himself alive.
Now he had joined the ranks of 2-Star Anomaly Hunters, gaining a status that even the Qian Group had to fear.
Of course, Qin Lan could have exposed his full strength and obtained a 3-Star rank, but that would inevitably cause unnecessary trouble.
An Anomaly Hunter with an F-rank Talent advancing from 1-Star to 3-Star in a single month?
The Anomaly Hunter Bureau headquarters would probably send someone to investigate personally.
Qin Lan smiled, put away the badge, and prepared to leave. Luo Yue called out from behind him.
“By the way, Mr. Qin.” Luo Yue slapped her forehead in frustration. “Someone came looking for you earlier. I almost forgot.”
Qin Lan was surprised. “Looking for me?”
Who else in Safe Zone 088 would seek him out?
Su Xiaoyue had already left for the Central Region. Busy handling her enrollment over the past few days, she had only found time to send Qin Lan a handful of messages.
Could it be the Qian Group?
They had hired someone to kill him and lost far more than they gained. Had regret driven them to seek peace?
While Qin Lan considered the possibilities, Luo Yue described the visitor.
“A rather fat man. I think he was an administrator at some school… He asked you to visit when you had time because he wanted to discuss something.”
Luo Yue frowned as she tried to remember. “He looked a bit old and didn’t have much hair…”
“Fatty Wu? Wait… Principal Wu?”
Qin Lan stared in surprise.
Why was that man looking for him?
After Qin Lan’s college entrance exam score was stolen, he and Fatty Wu had had no further contact. Why would the man suddenly seek him now?
“Does he want to borrow money?”
Qin Lan dismissed the thought as soon as it appeared.
That bastard had skimmed no small amount of money while in office. Why would he need Qin Lan’s meager savings?
“Thank you. I understand.”
After saying goodbye to Luo Yue, Qin Lan headed straight for the school.
Safe Zone 088 had four high schools. Qin Lan’s alma mater ranked third and was therefore known as No. 3 High School.
But after producing a genius student like Su Xiaoyue, it might climb higher in the future.
“Stop. What are you doing here?”
Students were leaving for the day when Qin Lan reached the gate.
The security guard was a recently hired older man who apparently did not recognize the owner of that “once-in-a-century worthless Talent.”
Seeing a stranger loitering near the entrance, the guard immediately approached to question him.
“I’m here to see Principal Wu,” Qin Lan said calmly.
The guard suspiciously looked him up and down. Contempt entered his eyes, and he sneered.
“You’re here to see Principal Wu? Bringing him a gift, are you?”
He waved Qin Lan away as though shooing a fly.
“Look at those shabby clothes. You walked here, didn’t you? You don’t even own a car, so you couldn’t have brought a worthwhile gift.”
“The people waiting to see Principal Wu could form a line from one end of the Safe Zone to the other. Go bother someone else.”
“Why are you still standing there? Get lost!”
When Qin Lan remained where he was, the guard grew irritated and stepped forward to shove him.
The man was accustomed to throwing his weight around at the school gate because of his connections. How could he tolerate someone challenging his authority?
But Qin Lan stood like an iron tower. The guard himself stumbled back two steps.
That did not feel right.
Was the kid trained?
“Well, look at you. Got a little skill, huh, brat?” Old Wu barked a furious laugh and studied Qin Lan before drawing the short baton at his waist.
“If you still won’t leave, we’ll see whether your bones are harder than my baton.”
Quite a few students had gathered nearby. When they saw the dispute, they crowded closer to enjoy the show.
Many began speculating about Qin Lan’s identity.
“Whoa, that guy has guts. Doesn’t he know the new guard is related to a school administrator?”
“What are you talking about? Which security guard here isn’t related to a school administrator?”
“Uh… fair point.”
“Old Wu is always throwing his weight around. He even hassles girls forever when they ask for leave. The bastard deserves a beating… If only he’d offend someone important one day.”
“You think some mighty hero is going to swoop in and put him in his place? Watch fewer cheap dramas.”
The students whispered among themselves, all assuming Qin Lan would be forced to swallow the insult.
A cold light flashed through his eyes.
He had not said a single offensive word, yet this guard wanted to attack him?
“I was too polite, so he mistook me for an easy target.”
Qin Lan smiled, the expression carrying a biting chill.
Even so, he did not attack immediately.
He had heard the students’ discussion and knew a school administrator supported this old guard.
No matter what else could be said about Fatty Wu, the man had once extended a helping hand to Qin Lan.
If this guard happened to be one of his relatives…
Qin Lan had always repaid every kindness.
After a moment’s thought, he removed his jacket and revealed the Anomaly Hunter Bureau uniform beneath it.
“Taking your clothes off now? You want to spar with me?”
“Come on, then. Let’s see what happens when I bring this baton down–”
Old Wu was about to continue shouting when the sight of the uniform made his eyes go rigid.
When he saw the bronze badge, he nearly choked on his own phlegm.
“Cough, cough… An Anomaly Hunter?!”
“A 2–2–2-Star Anomaly Hunter?!”
The surrounding students cried out at the same time.
“Holy crap! He’s an Anomaly Hunter!”
“How is that possible? He doesn’t look much older than us!”
“An Anomaly Hunter this young? Damn…”
Fervor appeared in the eyes of many boys. They desperately wished they could trade places with Qin Lan and bask in everyone’s attention.
Within a Safe Zone, the title of Anomaly Hunter was the ultimate mark of status.
A luxury car? A mansion? The child of a powerful official?
Did any of those people dare provoke the Anomaly Hunter Bureau?
Even the brother-in-law of the Safe Zone’s chief administrator, a man treated like royalty, had ended up with his head hanging outside the Bureau to dry.
Who would dare offend it?
Old Wu’s face turned deathly pale and his legs weakened. Remembering that he had just tried to attack an Anomaly Hunter, he wanted to slap himself several times.
“Can I go inside now?”
Qin Lan lowered his eyes, his gaze cool.
Old Wu produced a smile uglier than tears.
“Yes… Yes…”
“My lord Anomaly Hunter, please go right in…”
Even though Qin Lan was more than thirty years younger, Old Wu still had to address him as “my lord.”
The dramatic shift from arrogance to servility was almost comical.
Qin Lan sneered at the man’s pathetic groveling and strode forward without sparing him another glance.
Under the students’ astonished, curious, and envious gazes, he swaggered through the school gates.
The crowd of departing students was large, yet everyone instinctively moved aside to clear a path for him.
This was the presence of an Anomaly Hunter, the pressure left behind by repeated battles with anomalies.
Only after Qin Lan had walked away did the students dare whisper again.
“Who was that? Has anyone seen him before?”
“Why does he look kind of familiar? I swear I’ve seen that handsome guy somewhere…”
“You recognize him? What, is a 2-Star Anomaly Hunter your ex-boyfriend? You’ve watched so many romance dramas that your brain has rotted.”
“No, he looks familiar to me too…”
Some of the students two grades below Qin Lan recognized his face, but they could not connect him with the person in their memories.
A failing student with an F-rank Talent.
A 2-Star Anomaly Hunter.
The distance between those identities was as vast as heaven and earth.
Qin Lan encountered no further obstruction and made his way to the principal’s office.
He could not be bothered to knock and pushed the door open.
“Ah, kimochi… iku…”
“Sugoi, sugoi…”
Fatty Wu was intently studying a treasured set of “Japanese learning materials” on his computer.
When someone barged in, he jerked so violently that he nearly threw the monitor across the room.
“Fuck! Who has the nerve to come in without knocking–”
The moment he saw Qin Lan’s face, his angry shout died.
“Ah, Qin! You’re here?”
His expression changed instantly. He rose enthusiastically and reached out to shake Qin Lan’s hand.
Qin Lan reacted with extraordinary speed, taking a step back and looking disgusted.
“You…”
“You haven’t washed your hands, have you?”