"You seem to have been searching for something all this time, yet failed to find it."
"The locals' secret reserve—could it be something like that?"
"Regardless of what you intend to do, out of prudence, I will no longer just sit idly by."
Commander Han spoke in a soft voice, slowly opening his hands. "Isn't this place quite nice? How about ending everything right here?"
"Relax. I promise it won't hurt much."
Commander Han gradually approached Bai Zhou with a gentle smile on his face, as if closing in on a newly purchased pet.
"As a reflection of humanity, you will contribute to the evolution of mankind—you should consider this a supreme honor!"
"Honor your seventh grand-uncle and eighth uncle-in-law!"
Bai Zhou suddenly sprang up, brimming with vigor.
From who knew where, he pulled out a pitch-black short club and swung his arm to strike. Wind swirled around the shaft, howling like the wails of mourning ghosts.
"Where did a mourning staff come from?"
Commander Han was momentarily stunned.
Though he couldn't comprehend how Bai Zhou could recover so quickly after taking a full palm strike from him, Commander Han promptly cast that doubt to the back of his mind.
In a flash of lightning, Commander Han thrust out his left fist. A ferocious gale instantly shrieked past Bai Zhou's ears, the whipping blast causing the muscles on Bai Zhou's face to twitch uncontrollably.
This punch was meant to intercept Bai Zhou's incoming club.
Immediately after, he struck with both hands. His right palm snaked forward, darting straight for Bai Zhou's temple.
Never mind that this old bastard was as skinny as a matchstick—when both hands hurtled forth, it truly felt as though a heavy truck were barreling down head-on.
The air detonated with a sharp crack, turning the surrounding space into a near-vacuum. His subordinates' eardrums vibrated with ringing pain, their hearts thoroughly stricken with awe.
"Commander Han is getting serious!"
"The Eye of the Wind Serpent! Commander Han's signature secret technique!"
"Commander Han has honed his craft for twenty years since his debut, once killing a peer Mechanical Walker with a single punch—how can an anomalous individual possibly withstand this!"
Bai Zhou indeed could not take it.
Yet he had never imagined he could easily parry the full-strength secret technique of a Level 5 Extraordinary in the first place.
The instant the club and fist were about to collide, Bai Zhou pulled back the momentum of his short club, bringing it across his chest in a guard.
Commander Han's left fist missed its mark and came crashing down with the momentum, smashing squarely against the short club.
Bai Zhou bore the full brunt of this heavy blow. Part of the force was deflected by the club, but the remaining residual impact blasted Bai Zhou flying.
Like a hurled doll, Bai Zhou was flung violently backward, his chest visibly caving inward from severe injury.
Yet by doing so, he managed to dodge the otherwise unavoidable lethal strike of that right palm!
"A sharp shift in stance, trading injury to escape death—how does a student anomaly born inside a school possess so much combat experience?"
The confusion that had surfaced before flared up once more in Commander Han's mind.
Just as the thought crossed his mind, he caught sight of the cunning glimmering in Bai Zhou's eyes as the boy flew toward the blackboard.
"What?"
Commander Han's brows knit together.
Only Bai Zhou knew what he was doing, his gaze filled with terrifying madness and stubborn resolve.
The excruciating pain in his chest coursed through his entire body. The destructive force battered his internal organs, violently clashing against the pre-natal essence within him.
Had Bai Zhou not temporarily advanced to Level 4 in the Reflected Ruin Realm, filling his body with pre-natal essence, this single blow would have been enough to reduce him to a dying stray!
Yet Bai Zhou tugged at the corner of his mouth to flash a faint smile, his eyes carrying a wild, decisive thrill. "Didn't expect that, did you?"
With the lectern and blackboard rapidly approaching behind him, Bai Zhou whispered quickly in midair, causing Commander Han's expression to twist in bewilderment:
"—This was my true destination all along!"
Sent flying by Commander Han's own hand, Bai Zhou hurtled backward through the air. Enduring the agony wracking his body, he raised his club mid-flight, making a show of preparing to attack again.
Seeing this, Commander Han instantly raised his guard in anticipation.
*Whoosh!*
Yet the moment Bai Zhou rallied all the strength left in his body and raised the short club high, he didn't throw it at Commander Han. Instead, he snapped his hips and spun around, tightening his grip on the club and swinging it with crushing force against the blackboard before him!
The wind shrieked fiercely! The strike was unstoppable!
At the same time, Bai Zhou whipped his head around and flashed a brilliant smile at Commander Han. "Old bastard, who ends up dead isn't settled yet!"
Though his smile was hidden behind his mask, the chilling grin in his eyes was caught precisely by Commander Han, making the commander's heart lurch.
*Has this kid lost his mind?*
Commander Han, who had remained vigilant against Bai Zhou's every move, was baffled by this sudden, nonsensical action. For the first time, he noticed what was written on the blackboard.
What did this student mean by suddenly going berserk, disregarding his grave injuries just to attack a ruined blackboard?
The content on the blackboard magnified in Bai Zhou's vision.
His gaze locked firmly onto that "π".
It was this very symbol that had sent inexplicable shivers through Bai Zhou's spirituality, sparking an instinctive sense that it was inviolable and forbidden to gaze upon, lest it awaken the attention of some horrifying entity and bring about utter terror.
—Yet this was precisely what Bai Zhou wanted.
When faced with a problem you cannot solve, what do you do?
You solve the person who raised the problem.
And what if the person who raised the problem is even harder to solve?
Then you raise a brand-new problem.
Just like right now!
"Then let's all—"
Bai Zhou coughed up a mouthful of blood, the froth seemingly mixed with bits of visceral flesh, yet his eyes shone exceptionally bright: "—none of us get out alive!"
*Whoosh!*
A shrill sound tore through the air as the short club cleaved the space.
A savage strike slammed down! Like a cleaving blade!
"Stop sleeping—get up and go back to sleep!"
Bai Zhou let out a low bark.
Then the club fell.
*Strike!*
*Thud!*
The short club slammed heavily onto the symbol for π.
In the next instant.
As if some delicate balance had been shattered, the chalk that had been continuously scribbling stopped. The rustling sound vanished, and the air fell dead silent.
A strike capable of shattering refined steel failed to break the blackboard. There was no sound of splintering wood, only a dull "thud," like the muffled beat of a war drum.
The reverberation rippled outward, sending inexplicable waves of distortion through the air.
*Buzz!*
Every character on the blackboard seemed to abruptly come alive, darting frantically across the surface like fish fighting for bait in a pond.
*Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock—*
The clock on the back wall of the classroom, perpetually frozen at 3:14, suddenly began ticking. Each movement of the hands seemed to overlap with the beats of everyone's hearts.
*Rustle—*
Next, as if stirred by a gust of wind, the notebooks on the desks began flipping furiously, as though an invisible person sat before every desk, madly searching for something within the pages.
Even the portraits of mathematicians hanging on the walls turned in unison to look at Bai Zhou, suddenly bursting into loud roars that blended into a deafening clamor.
Following this cascade of chain reactions—
Something unimaginably horrifying seemed to awaken, and a terrifying dread crept into the hearts of everyone present.
Commander Han's heart shuddered. Unable to comprehend what had just transpired, he could only glance left and right, completely on guard.
*Bang!*
He watched as Bai Zhou crashed heavily against the blackboard, smearing a long trail of blood down its surface.
The gore mingled with the chalk, blurring the dense rows of numbers and formulas.
Then the bloodstain gradually faded, as if the blood were being slowly absorbed by the blackboard.
"Something is very wrong—there might be a trap here!"
The unease in everyone's hearts grew increasingly intense.
"Cough! Cough, cough!"
Supporting himself against the lectern, a coughing Bai Zhou unsteadily dragged himself up from the floor. Behind him was the bizarre blackboard covered in wildly writhing script.
Within the unnervingly silent classroom of Class 4, Grade 4 on the fourth floor, something was undeniably taking place, yet no one could describe what it was.
"Anomalous individual, what did you do!"
Commander Han barked out a low demand while shifting his footing. Flanked by his subordinates, he slowly backed toward the classroom doorway, ready to evacuate at any moment.
"..."
Bai Zhou's face was deathly pale. He gave a slight shake of his head, feeling an uncontrollable wave of weakness washing over his entire body, yet he gripped the pitch-black short club with all his might.
However, that sensation was slowly improving—had Bai Zhou's clothes been removed, one would have seen his skin enveloped in a thin, translucent veil of silvery white.
Tears of the Moon Goddess was protecting him!
Bai Zhou then let out a low chuckle, knowing he had successfully awakened that entity.
As for what would happen next, even he had no idea.
But who cared?
Bai Zhou surveyed the crowd, mechanical hounds, and drones packing the classroom.
If the sky fell, there were plenty of tall people here to hold it up!
So, facing Commander Han—who wore a bewildered expression, torn between wanting to rush forward to capture Bai Zhou and hesitating out of fearful caution—Bai Zhou merely raised his short club wearily and tapped it casually against the bizarre darkness behind him.
With each dull rap of the club against the blackboard, Commander Han and his subordinates felt their hearts skip a beat.
"Come on, now it's your turn to tell me—"
Standing at the lectern like a teacher posing an exam question, Bai Zhou looked toward Commander Han, who had retreated to the doorway at some point, and asked expressionlessly in a low voice, "What is π equal to?"
The moment his words fell, the vintage clock on the back wall completed a full cycle and froze once more at 3:14.
*Dong!*
A bell tolled heavily.
It echoed throughout the entire classroom building, and even across the entire school!
***
Outside the classroom building, on the open ground near the deep crater created when the Principal crashed down.
The three Titled Extraordinaries were engaged in an amicable conversation with Deputy Director Liu, who held the Thunderous Heavenly Bow in hand.
Though bearing varying degrees of injuries, they were in no hurry to leave, busy expressing their gratitude to Deputy Director Liu for saving their lives.
No one knew what they truly thought about Deputy Director Liu lurking until the very end before launching a surprise attack, but on the surface, the atmosphere among them was quite harmonious.
Evidently, even at their level, worldly pleasantries remained unavoidable obligations.
The Sword of Winter remained silent, speaking the least. Yet no one took issue with it, for his complexion was far too pale, his skin bruised and livid, his face occasionally clenching in a tremor as though he were severely frozen.
The moment the battle concluded, he had downed five different potions in succession just to stand there talking with the other Extraordinaries while awaiting the arrival of the medical unit.
*Rumble, rumble, rumble!*
The successive commotions coming from the classroom building disrupted the distinguished figures' pleasant mood of chatting and laughing.
The Rusted Silver Knight turned his helmet, looking out toward the building. "Commander Han hasn't come out yet? Is a mere anomalous individual truly that difficult to deal with?"
"Should I head over and take a look?"
They were all colleagues within the FZDC. Though their duties differed, they were still fairly familiar with one another.
"What could possibly go wrong?" Nearby, the Emerald Flame raised a hand to brush back her long green hair, casually countering, "Sending so many people inside to deal with a mere Level 4 strange entity is already overkill."
"Besides, aren't we still standing right here?"
The Emerald Flame shook her head and added, "Even the Principal has been reduced to ashes. What kind of waves could a single anomalous individual stir up?"
Hearing this, the Rusted Silver Knight nodded in agreement. "That is true."
A mere anomalous individual was nothing more than a native of the Reflected Ruin Realm. A veteran Extraordinary like Commander Han had plenty of experience handling strange entities of that caliber.
As the four chatted casually, their gazes drifted toward the classroom building from time to time, listening to the incessant noises within and guessing what stage Commander Han's encirclement had reached.
"The classroom building—"
Suddenly, the Sword of Winter's gaze hardened. He spoke in a deep voice, drawing the attention of the other three.
His icy tone held a trace of uncertain suspicion. "Did that classroom building... just move?"
It was not a tremor caused by an explosion, but an unnatural squirming.
It was as though the classroom building had abruptly come alive right before their eyes, its steel and concrete wrinkling like rolls of flab, turning into a living worm.
Hearing that, the other three grew serious, four pairs of eyes focusing intently upon the building.
Then, catastrophe struck!
*Rumble—*
In an instant, heaven and earth shook!
The entire Yuanmeng Middle School minor secret realm quaked violently, trembling from the sky to the earth as if tossing in its sleep.
And the source of the tremor was none other than the classroom building beneath their watchful eyes!
At that moment, the entire building glowed with a crimson light, flickering like a furnace undergoing quenching.
Flame-like radiance gradually surged upward, accompanied by an unprecedented, terrifying pressure that swept forward like a suffocating wave of furnace heat.
Even Deputy Director Liu, whose life tier surpassed Level 6, shuddered subconsciously.
It felt as though something extraordinarily horrific had sealed off every direction and was about to open its eyes to look upon them—to gaze at these offerings served up on a platter.
His heart sinking, Deputy Director Liu abruptly lowered his head to look at the crimson folding knife in his hand.
Right now, the folding knife was trembling ceaselessly.
Yet it was not trembling with joy, nor was it showing affinity; rather, a distinct, active emotion of terror was transmitting clearly from the folding knife, captured and felt by Deputy Director Liu, its current wielder.
"What in the world is that—?"
Tightening his grip on the Thunderous Heavenly Bow in his other hand, he looked toward the classroom building with an uncertain, apprehensive gaze. "Something... something we have absolutely no knowledge of and never anticipated is about to come out!"
On the other side, the Rusted Silver Knight could not help but take two steps back under the immense pressure, his armor clanking erratically.
"What happened inside the classroom building? Wasn't it already over?"
"Could a mere minor secret realm be hiding other secrets?!"
His voice was filled with shock. The high-ranking figure wore an expression of horror, completely unable to comprehend the situation. "We must contact Commander Han inside immediately!"
"That kid... that anomalous individual, just what on earth did he do?!"
*Step, step, step.*
Standing outside the classroom building, Liu Yisheng could not stop himself from backing away.
In a corner where no one was paying attention, he had still harbored ulterior motives just moments ago, silently chanting certain obscure incantations in his mind. Yet the sudden upheaval unfolding before him far exceeded his imagination.
The violent tremors, threatening to upend the entire school, filled Liu Yisheng's heart with sheer terror.
Through the entrance of the classroom building, he could clearly see the mangled corpses of the Iron Thorn squad on the first floor spewing out countless mysterious ribbons of crimson light.
Even the members of the Iron Thorn squad who hadn't died yet were turning into desiccated corpses one after another. Fluid-like crimson radiance poured from their gruesome eye sockets and gaping mouths, connecting to the ceiling above like hanging mummies.
The entire first floor was bathed in brilliant red light, resonating in rhythm with the crimson glow of the entire building like the breathing of a living creature.
"Just what did the Third Young Master hide here?"
Liu Yisheng was utterly dazed.
Yet an even more baffling question struck him: "Wait, isn't something wrong?"
"The incantation the Third Young Master taught me—I haven't even finished chanting it yet, have I?!"
Liu Yisheng suddenly shuddered violently. "Could it be... that something went wrong?!"
***
Far off, on the slope of the hill behind the school, stood a translucent figure draped in an invisible cloak.
The violent tremors spreading through the entire school and the bizarre crimson glow filling the sky caused him to slowly raise his head.
Throwing back the cloak, the invisible man revealed a floating head suspended in the empty air.
Proud, resolute, yet carrying a trace of hostility and exhaustion.
This face naturally belonged to the Third Young Master of the Zijing Group, the mastermind who had ordered Liu Yisheng here, the rising star of the Special Control Bureau!
Major Luo!
The crimson light swirling across the sky was reflected in his eyes. Major Luo frowned slightly, a hint of confusion in his gaze. "Why is it so much earlier than anticipated? Since when was Old Liu this efficient?"
"Never mind."
Major Luo shook his head and whispered, "It shouldn't cause any major impact. It's already been moved up by so much anyway; a little earlier won't make a difference."
Saying so, he let out a slight sigh of regret.
Yet he quickly rallied his spirits, slightly lowering his eyes. His translucent figure, flickering in and out of view, spread its arms wide.
Standing atop the peak behind the school, the invisible Major looked down coldly upon the entire mist-shrouded campus. "Everything is proceeding according to plan."
"The sacrifices are in place, and the key has successfully fallen into the hands of the sacrifice."
"After years of preparation, today we finally reap the ultimate harvest!"
The man's voice was low and his expression grave, as though delivering a solemn proclamation:
"—It is time for the stage of this drama to draw open the curtain on its climax!"
Chapter 132