The ability users did not attack rashly. They first reported the situation upward, then returned to the car. “Sorry, we might not be able to get out for the time being.”
Lin Juan was not too surprised by this outcome. From the moment he knew he had transmigrated into this kind of novel, he had prepared himself to face all sorts of anomalies.
Fortunately, his combat prowess did not fail against anomalies.
“Another anomaly?” Compared to him, Lu Mingxuan’s emotions were far more complicated.
On one hand, it was the thrill of encountering another anomaly. On the other, it was fear.
During the last incident, he had not said anything aloud and had acted carefree, as if unaffected. But only he knew the truth deep down. In the dead of night, he woke from the same nightmare countless times.
In that dream, there was no Lin Juan—only himself, utterly powerless before the anomaly. Fear drowned him like the depths of the ocean, and he jolted awake in suffocating terror, drenched in cold sweat.
Like a chick, he instinctively leaned closer to Lin Juan.
The ability user did not hide anything. “It should be. They’re checking what kind upstairs. We can’t get out right now. I’ll take you somewhere to take shelter first.”
The lower levels of the internal building had been converted from a massive parking garage into a temporary shelter. Isolation devices surrounded the shelter to block pollution—designed for the day when contaminated patients lost control, giving ordinary people a place to hide.
Unfortunately, these isolation devices were extremely difficult to produce. The only successful one had been installed in the shelter, and this was its first official use.
This place, built as a precaution, had come into play far sooner than expected.
Along the way, they encountered quite a few people, all heading to the shelter.
The internal building had been sealed off first by armed forces, so no mutated patients from the pollution had escaped yet.
But under the influence of some unknown cause, the hospital’s pollution value had skyrocketed. It did not take long for even normal people to start mutating.
Exposure to pollution made this inevitable.
The Anomalous Affairs Bureau had dispatched ability users to support right away, but the pollution covered too wide an area, and with so many patients in the hospital, there were always spots they overlooked.
People kept discovering strange growths on themselves or those around them—hard things, like shells. They itched and hurt, impossible to dig out or touch.
“Don’t touch the shells growing on your body—they’re contagious!” The first observant person to notice shouted a warning to the others.
“What is this? It hurts so much!”
“Aaahhh, my face!!!”
“How can a hospital have such a weird virus? Are they doing illegal experiments?”
Voices mixed in chaos. In crowds, fear was contagious.
As the first cries of breakdown rang out, more followed. The greater their emotional fluctuations, the faster the pollution value rose.
The situation inside the internal building was even worse.
This was where the contaminated were housed to begin with, and their mutation progressed the fastest. Once they all lost control, the ability users on site could not contain them.
“We have to find the pollution source!” Zhuang Yufeng said as he used his supernatural ability to purify the pollution, knowing this could not go on.
“Any leads?” Director Liu asked. “Have you found the spot with the highest pollution value?”
Normally, the place with the highest pollution value was where the pollutant resided.
“Pollution is everywhere—too hard to pinpoint,” the ability user in charge of scouting said, sweating profusely as he held a pollution detector the size of his forearm. “We’ve checked every spot in the internal building. The values are all similar. None of them are the source of the outbreak.”
“Expand the search area. Keep looking!” Director Liu said gravely.
They had to find the pollution source to control such intense pollution.
“Special Action Teams Five and Six have arrived and are on standby.”
“Good. Prioritize rescuing ordinary people!”
Commands went out one after another. Director Liu ignored the sweat dripping down his face. “Have they gotten Mr. Lin and the others out?”
“Not good,” Zhuang Yufeng said. “Word just came in that when they tried to escort Mr. Lin’s group out, they hit an invisible hard barrier blocking the way.”
“What?” Director Liu was shocked. He quickly grasped the key issue. “Can the people inside still get out now?”
Zhuang Yufeng spoke into his earpiece for a moment, his expression growing heavier. “Invisible barriers everywhere. The whole hospital is sealed—only in, no out.”
Everyone’s mood sank.
Unable to escape meant they had to resolve the anomaly trapping the hospital for any chance of survival. Otherwise, they would all perish here.
If the hospital fell, such massive pollution would devastate the entire Imperial Capital.
“We must find the pollution source. Eliminate it at all costs!” Director Liu ordered sternly.
“Yes!”
They had no choice.
Under Director Liu’s arrangements, everyone moved out in an orderly fashion to carry out their tasks. He pulled Zhuang Yufeng aside and asked quietly, “Xiao Zhuang, what do you think?”
He hoped to find a solution from Zhuang Yufeng’s 【Precognitive Dream】 ability.
What precognitive dream did Zhuang Yufeng have? He only had memories of the next few years that others lacked.
He racked his brain, trying to recall events involving this hospital in the future and how humanity had resolved them.
Even with his good memory, there were too many anomaly incidents in the future. The ones that stuck were the ones where humanity suffered heavy losses. It took effort to dig up some clues from the corners of his memory.
“This anomaly likes dark places. Its combat power isn’t strong, but its defense is extreme. To deal with it, we must break its shell first.”
“Are we inside its shell or outside?”
“Between two layers of shell,” Zhuang Yufeng said seriously. “D-Rank anomaly 【Impermanent Snail】, specializes in defense. One reason the hospital’s pollution value is so high is because it’s fusing us into its shell, slowly digesting us.”
“We must find the thinnest part of its shell, break through, and then we can reach the 【Impermanent Snail】’s main body.” Zhuang Yufeng laid out the solution.
His mood was heavy. Though the 【Impermanent Snail】 was just a C-Rank anomaly, its defense reached B-Rank level—meaning its shell was incredibly tough.
“Get the strongest attackers over here. Find the weak spot in the ‘shell,’ then hit it together, no holding back. Break the ‘shell’!”
“Yes!”
The ability users moved fast. By the time Lin Juan’s group reached the underground shelter, they had encountered plenty of mutating people along the way.
Outside the shelter, specialists checked pollution values. Only those below the danger threshold could enter. Those who exceeded were directed elsewhere.
Armed guards stood on either side maintaining order. An ability user with a kindly face used a soothing supernatural ability, and under his calming voice, the agitated crowd gradually quieted.
They walked into the shelter in silence.
Lin Juan pushed Lu Yanzhou and followed the crowd in line.
Lu Mingxuan and Lu Yanzhou’s older brother supported Old Master Lu, staying right behind them.
Remembering the dividends in his hand that needed Lu Yanzhou to grow them, Lin Juan asked out of humanitarian concern, “Mr. Lu, President Lu, are you scared?”
Lu Yanzhou gave him a wordless glance.
Lin Juan studied him, unable to tell if he was scared or not. “No need to worry. Even if you’re scared, I won’t laugh at you.”
Lu Yanzhou reacted then. He asked, “Are you scared?”
“Me?”
“I heard an anomaly incident happened on our wedding night too. Were you scared then?” Lu Yanzhou’s voice was low, audible only to Lin Juan nearby.
“I’m not scared,” Lin Juan said, showing him his hand. “See? Against monsters like that, one punch each.”
“Impressive.” The corner of Lu Yanzhou’s mouth curved slightly. “With such an amazing Xiao Juan by my side, why would I be scared?”
This was practically a compliment. No one disliked being acknowledged, and Lin Juan was no exception. In a good mood, he said, “Rest assured, with me here, I won’t let those monsters hurt you!”
“Then thank you in advance, Xiao Juan.”
When their turn came, everyone’s pollution values were in the normal range—except Lu Mingxuan’s, which exceeded the limit.
Lu Mingxuan looked panicked. Having witnessed the terror of anomalies, he could not face staying with a group of over-limit, mutating people with any calm.
Seeing how scared he truly was, Lin Juan offered, “How about I go with you?”
“No, no need, Little Uncle. You and the others stay safe.” Lu Mingxuan refused without thinking.
He admitted the offer tempted him—greatly so. But he knew the place he was headed was far more dangerous than the shelter for Lin Juan and the rest.
He could not let Lin Juan risk himself for his sake.
“I can handle these. Might even help out there.” Lin Juan had not planned to hole up in the shelter anyway. He had only escorted the Lu Family here out of concern.
His master had often taught him: Do good deeds, accumulate virtue. With his abilities came responsibilities. Since he had encountered this, he could not turn a blind eye.
Besides, from the previous two anomaly encounters, they were not that hard to deal with.
With no danger to himself, there was no need to hesitate.
Resolved, Lin Juan said to Old Master Lu, “Uncle, you all stay here for now. I’ll go out and see if I can help.”
With that, he activated the communicator and contacted Zhuang Yufeng.
This was the one Zhuang Yufeng had given him—an Anomalous Affairs Bureau internal communicator that could partially resist anomaly field interference and connect to the outside.
Zhuang Yufeng picked up quickly. Hearing Lin Juan ask if he needed help, he thought of the man’s unmatched strength, discussed it with Director Liu, and invited him to assist.
Perfect timing—they had found a weak spot in the “shell,” but several supernatural ability strikes had left it unmoved, without a single crack.
When Lin Juan arrived with Lu Mingxuan, several A-Rank ability users were taking turns attacking an invisible spot.
Spotting them, Zhuang Yufeng looked like he had seen a savior. “Mr. Lin, right here.”
The ability attacks paused. Lin Juan walked over and reached out to touch. Though nothing was visible ahead, he felt a hard object.
Lin Juan pressed on it. “Indeed very solid.”
“Any ideas, Mr. Lin?” Director Liu asked cautiously. “We’ve tried everything—physical attacks, supernatural abilities, even cannons. No luck.”
Lin Juan turned and sure enough saw a cannon nearby, still steaming.
No wonder he had smelled gunpowder on the way in.
“I’ll give it a try.”
Lin Juan took a step back. He did not even build momentum like he had against the mushroom wall last time. He just clenched his fist and swung down hard.
Bang!
The empty space, unmoved by the ability users’ assaults, rippled like waves. A crack slowly appeared, followed by the black, mucus-covered “shell” revealing itself to everyone.
On the supposedly indestructible “shell,” a massive fissure now gaped.
“It’s a bit hard,” Lin Juan scratched his hair, “Didn’t put my all into it.”
Everyone stared in a daze: You call this not putting your all into it???
