Chapter 3: Crisis Descends

Su Mu Zhe didn’t know how the Bloodkin girl in the shadow found him; perhaps his body’s sustenance was linked to her, but as a former Exterminator, Bloodkin had no other designation than enemy.

To accept the so-called Bloodkin power, not only had he never heard of such a thing, but more importantly, there was the unstated price.

What would he become then? An irrational Bloodkin familiar? A monster from the Otherworld?

No matter what, if that were the case.

The final outcome would be only one—he would personally kill himself, freeing himself.

While maintaining such a clear internal monologue, as he took another step forward, the moment his foot landed, a subtle premonition of crisis suddenly descended into his mind.

For a split second, he felt as if the surrounding space-time was paused for a second, and the scene was flooded with a deep blue like seawater, his body unable to move, uncontrollable by his consciousness.

Hm? What is this?

Can’t move?

Wait, is this the fluctuation reaction from the tearing of the void rift?

“Boom—!!!”

Just as Su Mu Zhe, carrying his single-shoulder bag, had just arrived at his classroom, after the time stop, a sudden loud tremor instantly made him unstable, and he quickly leaned against the wall for support.

In the distance, an explosion sound erupted from the teaching building, and thick black smoke and bursting flames slowly rose.

The ground shook violently, and the teaching building Su Mu Zhe was in also swayed with it, and the amplitude was extremely strong, but it quickly stabilized afterwards.

“Wh-what’s going on?” The teacher on the podium in the classroom was also stunned, students stopped writing one after another, looking at each other blankly, and for a moment the classroom fell into a deathly silence.

No one knew what had happened.

Earthquake? Fire? Explosion?

But it only shook for a few seconds.

In this school, there had never been a fire; this was the city center, not an earthquake-prone area, everyone was dazed in that instant.

Approximately three minutes later, the broadcast hanging in the classroom immediately announced an emergency broadcast from the director of academic affairs:

“An emergency announcement will now be broadcast. There’s been a problem with chemical equipment in Teaching Building 3, and the connected chemistry classrooms have exploded, causing a serious fire.”

“All class teachers and students, please immediately evacuate through the safety exits to the shelters. The school premises are permeated with toxic chemical substances, so please return home as quickly as possible. Classes are suspended today.”

“The announcement will be broadcast again. An emergency announcement will now be broadcast. Teaching Building 3—”

The square-faced math teacher on the podium was also startled. After listening to the broadcast, he immediately reacted, shouting, “Everyone line up in neat and orderly rows, and immediately leave the teaching building through the stairwell safety exits, getting out of the school as fast as you can!”

Whoosh—

Everyone in the classroom stood up at once, and realizing the urgency of the situation, all surged towards the door.

The sudden situation left a question in many people’s minds: Was this a disaster drill?

But there had been no prior notice, and the school had never experienced anything like this before.

However, when they walked into the corridor and saw the thick black smoke rising from the middle floors of Teaching Building 3 in the distance, they knew this was not a joke.

Su Mu Zhe’s mind vibrated; the moment the broadcast sounded, the voice of the Bloodkin girl hidden in the shadows beside him also sounded simultaneously.

“They’re here.”

They, referred to the calamities of this world, the Otherworld Beasts and the Bloodkin.

Seriously? Su Mu Zhe’s first reaction was doubt.

This was the city center of Tian Tan City, not the outskirts; Bloodkin and Otherworld Beasts had never appeared here before.

Bloodkin and Otherworld Beasts appeared in this world and became known ten years ago, and in those ten years, not a single enemy had invaded or appeared in Tian Tan City.

This was a peaceful sanctuary.

But why…

Subconsciously, Su Mu Zhe wanted to rush forward, to the site of the incident to assess the situation, but the heavy gravitational constraint on his feet prevented him from directly leaping up; he suddenly remembered that he had lost his combat ability.

Could he only retreat to the rear…?

Why was the void rift torn open here in the sky? Was the Order Keeper’s barrier breached?

Finally, with a hesitant mind, he turned to look at the building where the explosion occurred one last time, and could only follow the students to evacuate through the emergency evacuation route.

In the past, he would have gone against the crowd, heading alone to the most dangerous places.

But now, he blended into the crowd, becoming one of those being protected.

Someone would, Exterminators would go and deal with the Otherworld Beasts and Bloodkin.

But because Tian Tan City had never seen such enemies in ten years, its vigilance was weaker than those outlying areas, and one might even wonder, does Tian Tan City have Exterminators of sufficient strength to guard it?

With no wars here, how many Exterminators would remain in this city?

No, there was no need to think so much anymore.

Those things were no longer related to him; now he just needed to follow everyone to seek shelter.

What about his sister? She should be following the instructions and heading to the evacuation channel, right?

After all, the building where the explosion occurred was not the one she was in, so it should be safe.

But Su Mu Zhe’s heart remained uneasy; his sister absolutely must not be in danger. He decisively took out his phone from his pocket and dialed his sister’s phone number.

“We are sorry, the number you have dialed is currently switched off.”