Chapter 63
Chapter 63
Chen Jing was dumbfounded.
She was certain that Qin Lan, the man on the screen, was the high-star anomaly she had repeatedly failed to detect with Echo Vision.
“How can it be a person…? How is that possible?”
Chen Jing began to question reality.
She had never encountered anything so absurd. She even wondered whether something had gone wrong with her Talent.
It was not until the principal of No. 2 High School walked over and whispered a few words in her ear that Chen Jing finally accepted her fate.
“A 2-Star Anomaly Hunter? A high school student?”
She felt deeply aggrieved but had nowhere to vent her frustration.
How could a monster like that exist?
“Sigh. We have to accept the loss this time…” Chen Jing sighed. “No one could do anything if they were forced to take an exam alongside a freak like him, right?”
“I just feel sorry for those people from No. 4 High School. When they run into…”
“Huh? Why are all of you out too? Did you withdraw?”
Only then did Chen Jing notice that No. 4 High School’s candidates had also left the instance, seemingly even earlier than her team.
The captain of No. 4 High School answered honestly.
“More or less… Only nine of us withdrew, though. One person is still inside.”
Chen Jing looked puzzled.
“You left only one person behind? What kind of tactic is that?”
“Do you think one person can find a corner, hide, and survive until the examination ends?”
The other captain gave her an honest grin.
“Not really. The principal ordered us to leave as soon as we entered. He said something about keeping innocent bystanders from getting dragged into the disaster.”
“Our only job was to deliver him inside.”
Chen Jing immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Wait…”
“This ‘him’ you left in the instance–who is he?”
The captain of No. 4 High School was perfectly candid. “I don’t know.”
“He was added to the team yesterday. He looked a little old for his age… If the principal hadn’t said all his paperwork was valid, I’d have thought he was some middle-aged man.”
…
“Senior Qin, everyone from No. 2 High School suddenly disappeared…”
Yu Tian hurriedly reported the situation, sounding surprised.
Her scouting range was not as large as Echo Vision’s. She had only just detected Chen Jing’s group when they chose to withdraw.
“Disappeared?”
Qin Lan paused, completely unaware that he was the culprit who had frightened them into leaving.
Yu Tian was about to say something when her young face suddenly tensed.
“Wait!”
“There’s still one person!”
She closed her eyes and carefully probed the area again, then looked bewildered.
“There really is only one, and he seems to be heading straight for us!”
Qin Lan’s heart skipped a beat.
Something felt wrong.
“Stop here. Don’t go any farther.”
Qin Lan issued the warning and took two steps forward, placing himself at the very front of the group.
He could already see trails of death threads converging.
That meant the approaching thing was strong enough to threaten him.
Something capable of threatening him?
Qin Lan could not imagine what might appear in a simulated 1-Star instance–
Then it struck him.
He had overlooked one person who was fully capable of interfering with the examination and, in the name of fairness, was extremely likely to do exactly this…
A booming laugh rang out.
The voice reverberated like a great bell, and Qin Lan’s expression changed dramatically.
“Student Qin Lan, I’m very pleased to meet you.”
A musclebound man over two meters tall greeted Qin Lan with a friendly smile. Thick muscles covered his entire body, and a full ring of beard framed his face.
He was so powerfully built that his school uniform had split at several seams. On him, it looked absurdly like children’s clothing.
Qin Lan recognized the man’s identity the instant he saw his face.
“Of course. Director Lu always knows how to surprise me…”
Qin Lan groaned. He already knew what kind of opponent he was facing.
“Uncle, how old are you this year?” Qin Lan asked with a pained expression. “With all that hair on your face, you sure don’t look like a student.”
The hulking man chuckled. “Eighteen.”
Zhang Ke could not hold back and blurted out a curse. “What the hell? This guy is eighteen?”
“I’d believe you if you said you were thirty-eight!”
The man stroked his beard and gave them a bashful smile. “I just look a little older than I am. Why do you have to attack my appearance?”
The coy gesture made Qin Lan’s stomach churn. He needed a deep breath to settle it.
“Senior Qin, you know him?”
Liang Yu realized something was amiss.
Qin Lan nodded grimly and lowered his voice. “All of you, withdraw from the instance immediately. Don’t hesitate! Once the fighting starts, I won’t be able to protect you!”
Liang Yu’s pupils contracted. Without the slightest hesitation, she led everyone else out of the instance.
By now, they trusted Qin Lan completely.
Qin Lan was treating the newcomer like a deadly foe because the man was also an Anomaly Hunter.
And by sheer coincidence, Qin Lan had read about him while researching the Bureau.
“3-Star Anomaly Hunter, Thunder Ember.”
Qin Lan stared at the brawny man’s face and recited each detail. “Twin Talents, both B-rank. Lightning and fire elements…”
“More than twenty 3-Star anomalies killed…”
“Am I right?”
The muscular man bared a neat row of white teeth in a grin.
“Thunder Ember is only my alias. My name is Dong Haoran.”
“Little Qin, don’t blame me for hitting too hard. Director Lu told me before I came that if I don’t go all out, he’ll transfer me to guard a reservoir.”
Dong Haoran casually tore off his school uniform, revealing a body so densely packed with muscle that it nearly blinded Qin Lan.
“I know you’re an Anomaly Hunter who specializes in close combat. As it happens, so am I.”
“I’ve wanted a real man-to-man slugfest for a long time. I hope you don’t disappoint me!”
His voice trembled with excitement. He clearly could not wait for the battle to begin.
Qin Lan’s lips twitched.
“Do we really need to do this…? This guy has to be one of the strongest Anomaly Hunters below 4-Star, right?”
“Go all out against me? Director Lu thinks far too highly of me…”
Qin Lan could now kill weaker 3-Star anomalies, but he still struggled against those in the middle of the tier.
And Dong Haoran…
The man had even killed high-level 3-Star anomalies!
“Director Lu thinks very highly of you. So highly that I’m a little jealous…” Battle lust blazed in Dong Haoran’s eyes. “Let me see just how capable you really are!”
Qin Lan sounded exhausted. “Uncle, can you stop spouting those hot-blooded anime battle lines?”
“Can’t we just trade a few moves and stop there without either of us getting hurt?”
To his surprise, Dong Haoran threw his head back and laughed.
“Hahahahaha!”
“Little Qin, are you saying you’re afraid I’ll get hurt? Are you trying to scare me away?”
Lightning flared in his eyes, and dazzling bolts erupted across his body.
“Such arrogance! Let me witness your strength for myself!”
Qin Lan stared at him in shock.
“What kind of reading comprehension is that?!”
“I meant I’m afraid you’ll hurt me!”
Dong Haoran had already leaped high into the air, his entire body wreathed in blue-white lightning.
Like a thunder god descending to the mortal realm, he charged at Qin Lan amid deafening peals of thunder!