Chapter 125: Chapter 125: The Anomaly Right Before Our Eyes (Seeking Full Subscription)
For some reason, the content of Wang Le’s words and her tone of voice suddenly became identical to Li Xiaomin’s earlier state.
HUFF! HUFF! HUFF! As she spoke, Wang Le’s breathing suddenly grew rapid, and potent Dark Energy began to converge around her.
Lu Luo and Qi Xinzhu exchanged glances. Both sensed something was wrong with the Wang Le before them, a bad feeling creeping into their hearts.
"Wang Le! Wang Le? Stop talking, calm down."
Wang Le suddenly turned, one hand pressed against the wall, the other clutching her stomach.
HA! HA! HA!
Heavy, ragged breaths escaped Wang Le. The dormitory supervisor, who had been sitting and listening, now stood up from her seat.
No one was a fool; everyone could see something was amiss with Wang Le.
"Wang Le, are you okay?"
Lu Luo gradually approached. As his hand touched Wang Le’s shoulder, she suddenly turned her head.
The fear and panic had vanished from her face, replaced by nothing but a twisted excitement.
"AAH!"
The dormitory supervisor screamed and stumbled backward, for she had seen Wang Le’s head turn in a way that was utterly unnatural.
Lu Luo’s hand was still on her shoulder, but her head had rotated a full 180 degrees.
Wang Le’s tongue began to elongate, inching closer to Lu Luo.
"’You look delicious, classmate,’ GIGGLE GIGGLE GIGGLE!"
Copious amounts of saliva dripped from Wang Le’s tongue and the corners of her mouth. Her limbs twisted and snapped at unnatural angles, instantly pinning Lu Luo.
"Lu Luo!" Qi Xinzhu exclaimed in shock, but Lu Luo stopped her.
"’Stay calm. Don’t worry about me; keep an eye on Li Xiaomin. Use force if necessary.’"
[The target has undergone mutation. Host, please remain vigilant.]
Such dense Dark Energy, such a twisted body, such a frenzied spirit... If Lu Luo still couldn’t recognize that the Wang Le before him had completely mutated, he truly had no business being there.
Lu Luo felt he’d made a mistake. Wang Le’s mutation process seemed to be related to his questioning.
Li Xiaomin had said before that every time "he" was mentioned, "he" would get closer.
Lu Luo had originally thought this was merely their fear of that unknown entity, but now it seemed things weren’t so simple.
Lu Luo recalled that every time Wang Le mentioned "that thing," her expression had twisted further, right up until she fully mutated.
In other words, the ’ghoul’ Wang Le and the others spoke of likely possessed some means to covertly sense, and perhaps even control, them.
His misjudgment had led to Wang Le’s premature mutation.
"’Wang Le? Do you still have any of your own will left?’"
Lu Luo knew that humans who had just mutated often retained some self-awareness. At this stage, immediately after mutating, they might reveal useful information.
However, such information couldn’t be presented as evidence in court. That suited Lu Luo just fine, as he had no intention of going to court anyway.
The already distorted Wang Le shed a single tear. Just as Lu Luo thought her consciousness might be resurfacing, perhaps able to provide some useful information, her tongue lashed out.
THRUST!
WHAP!
Lu Luo caught the slippery tongue, his expression somewhat cold and resigned.
Minutes ago, this calm, refined, and resolute girl had been human. Now, she was utterly an Exotic Species.
And he was largely responsible for this grotesque transformation.
"’Sorry.’"
Lu Luo ripped Wang Le’s head off. To ensure she was completely dead, he then channeled Qi He through his hand, shattering her upper body—bones, organs, and muscles obliterated.
An Exotic Species was an Exotic Species; they could never revert to being human.
Moreover, their fundamental nature was to attack and devour humans. That would never change, so Lu Luo wouldn’t be merciful.
"’Qi Xinzhu, report this! Given the school’s population density, with a mutation like this occurring, the most logical step is to alert the Hunters to handle it.’"
"’While we can handle Exotic Species, we lack the manpower to coordinate effectively. We can’t manage what might happen next, nor can we protect everyone else.’"
"’If one of the latent individuals mutates in a crowd, the consequences would be unthinkable.’"
Qi Xinzhu glanced at Wang Le’s corpse, her heart aching for the girl who had been so composed just moments before.
"’Okay.’"
Just as Qi Xinzhu was about to make the report, the dormitory supervisor, who had fled earlier, returned with two school administrators.
One of the administrators immediately contacted the campus guards, initiated a lockdown of the Girls’ Dormitory No. 5 area, and then shouted to Lu Luo and Qi Xinzhu,
"’Don’t report this!’"
A portly man named Fang Gan, the Dean of Discipline, stepped in front of Lu Luo and repeated,
"’Don’t report this!’"
Lu Luo frowned. Not alerting the Hunters to handle this situation now meant gambling with the lives of the students in Dormitory No. 5, and potentially many more at the university.
Because no one knew if the others involved in this "haunting" would also mutate, or if they did, when it would happen or what form the mutation would take.
If a student mutated in the middle of a class with no Transcendent present to stop her, it would undoubtedly become a massacre.
Although Lu Luo generally kept to himself and didn’t concern himself with others, this was no longer a matter of mere indifference.
"’Professional matters should be handled by professionals. What if someone mutates right now? Their classmates would be slaughtered.’"
Fang Gan had learned Lu Luo’s identity from the supervisor. Though a student, Lu Luo was also affiliated with Circle Studio.
To some extent, Circle Studio represented the Hunters’ interests, so Fang Gan had to be cautious.
"’That’s true, and we don’t want to see them mutate either. But Lord Qiao Xing is scheduled to give a lecture at the university tomorrow.’"
"’If we make a big deal out of this now, the school will certainly be warned, or even shut down and sealed off.’"
"’By then, Lord Qiao Xing’s lecture would definitely be ruined, and we fought hard to secure this lecture; we cannot give it up.’"
"’This is a golden opportunity for our East Ring University to gain publicity and enhance our standing. Whatever happens, this incident must not jeopardize Lord Qiao Xing’s lecture.’"
"’If the entire campus has to be locked down, it must wait until after tomorrow at the earliest.’"
Such a well-reasoned, yet utterly disgusting, explanation. How eerily similar this administration’s attempt to suppress the issue was to the universities in his past life.
"’At this point, you’re still thinking of suppressing this issue? The school authorities are likely underestimating its severity.’"
"’Many female students have encountered these ’hauntings’; they are all potentially latent individuals who could mutate.’"
"’If a large-scale mutation Outburst occurs, the death toll could reach hundreds, even thousands. That would be an incident far more horrific than the 404 Exhibition Hall.’"
Hearing Lu Luo say this, Fang Gan was initially stunned, then he immediately shook his head.
"’Student Lu Luo, perhaps you’ve misunderstood. The university administration has never said we wouldn’t handle this. Please, let me finish, alright?’"
"’Fine, go on.’"
"’You said it yourself: no one can predict when these mutations might occur, or if more will even happen. You can’t be certain either.’"
"’We don’t want to disregard the students’ safety, but Lord Qiao Xing’s lecture is crucial for us, for the entire East Ring.’"
"’Campus security has investigated this multiple times without success. It’s clearly beyond their capabilities.’"
"’But given how Hunters operate, do you think they’d intervene for something that hasn’t actually happened yet?’"
Fang Gan’s words were a reminder. He was right. Given the Hunters’ typical disposition, they were unlikely to intervene for something that hadn’t yet occurred.
"’So, how do you plan to resolve this issue?’"
Fang Gan took a deep breath, as if he had made a momentous decision.
"’Student Lu Luo, your Circle Hunter Agency also has connections to Hunters.’"
"’So, I, Fang Gan, now officially, on behalf of East Ring University, entrust your Circle Hunter Agency with helping us navigate this crisis.’"
"’The commission fee is 100,000. The danger level is tentatively set at Third Tier. Please, you must accept.’"
Qi Xinzhu was stunned. A moment ago, they seemed on the verge of an argument, and now they were discussing a commission?
Lu Luo was also surprised by the portly dean’s approach. He chose to suppress the news, yes, but not to ignore the problem. Instead, he was taking the initiative to deal with it.
Lu Luo narrowed his eyes. This Dean Fang Gan... perhaps he wasn’t so bad after all.
His earlier reasoning had been sound, and his current approach... well, it wasn’t flawed either.
The mutations hadn’t continued, and at this point, it would be very difficult to persuade those high-and-mighty Hunters to get involved.
Even if they did manage to call in Hunters, it would be one thing if another incident occurred. But if nothing happened, or if the investigation still yielded no clues, the Hunters would undoubtedly just pack up and leave.
Compared to the likely fruitless approach of officially requesting Hunter deployment, Fang Gan’s decision to offer a private commission and invite Circle Studio to handle it was quite astute.
Circle also had Hunters on their roster; You Xiaoqi and Ding Peng were both official Hunters.
And now, with the formidable combat strength of Lu Luo and Qi Xinzhu, their team was essentially equivalent to a small Hunter squad.
There was no issue with them handling this.
With these thoughts, Lu Luo’s opinion of the portly man before him improved considerably.
At least this man wasn’t the type of administrator who’d sacrifice everything for career advancement.
His willingness to offer 100,000 to have them resolve the issue was, in itself, a mark of his decisiveness.
"’Director Fang Gan, on behalf of Circle Hunter Agency, I accept your commission. However, during the upcoming period, we will require your full cooperation.’"
As Lu Luo accepted, he mused that this might be the only commission he’d ever taken without demanding extra pay.
"’Rest assured, Student Lu Luo. Before I came, the Chancellor already delegated full authority for this matter to me.’"
"’Their only condition is that we handle this matter as discreetly as possible, without alerting the East Ring Alliance officials, and ensure Lord Qiao Xing’s speech is not disrupted.’"
"’Alright, I understand the terms of your commission. We’ll do our best.’"
Lu Luo nodded. He was also a bit curious. Was Qiao Xing’s lecture really not just some veiled, sarcastic critique aimed at the university students?
"’Student Lu Luo, I’ll accompany you as much as possible from now on. If you need any assistance, just let me know,’ Fang Gan stated."
With Fang Gan and his staff from the Dean’s office willing to assist, Lu Luo’s manpower shortage would be significantly alleviated.
Because some problems couldn’t be solved by strength alone.
"’Actually, I do need your help with something right now, Director Fang Gan. Please bring the eleven girls on this list back here, one by one. Remember, individually.’"
"’Next, recall all students from Dormitory No. 5. This is crucial: all of them, regardless of what they’re doing.’"
"’This would be troublesome for us to arrange, but it shouldn’t be too difficult for your office.’"
"’Additionally, please have the other guards inquire. Besides the eleven who filed reports, others must have encountered similar incidents.’"
"’They may not have chosen to report it to us, but that doesn’t mean they haven’t experienced what Wang Le did.’"
"’These individuals need to be gathered as much as possible, as they all carry the risk of mutation.’"
Lu Luo began assigning tasks to Fang Gan, his instructions clear and logical. Fang Gan listened intently, understanding perfectly.
The portly dean, oblivious to Lu Luo’s past, couldn’t help but marvel internally. So, some people were truly born leaders—and at such a young age!
"’Understood. I’ll make the arrangements immediately.’"
After Fang Gan left to make arrangements with the university staff, Lu Luo borrowed Qi Xinzhu’s phone to call the Circle Hunter Agency.
"’Hello, this is Circle Hunter Agency. How may I assist you?’"
"’I’m Lu Luo.’"
"’Ah, Brother Luo.’"
"’Contact You Xiaoqi, Ding Peng, Gu Fangyi, Zhou Kai, and three of our new Entry-Level Transcendent members.’"
"’Have them bring all necessary gear, including my full kit, and head to East Ring University, Girls’ Dormitory No. 5.’"
"’There has been an Exotic Species mutation incident here, and I suspect...’"
Lu Luo hadn’t finished the word "suspect" when Qi Xinzhu interrupted him.
"’Lu Luo, I know you dislike being interrupted, but her condition... you need to see this.’"
Hearing Qi Xinzhu’s urgent tone, Lu Luo had no choice but to end the call and turn towards her.
He knew Qi Xinzhu wouldn’t interrupt him at a time like this unless it was something critical.
"’This is... white-eye syndrome!’"
Li Xiaomin was slumped in a chair, her body convulsing violently. She had vomited the entire contents of her lunch.
That wasn’t the worst of it. The truly terrifying part was her eyes: they had turned completely white, a clear symptom of white-eye disease.
In his previous life, ’white-eye’ might have been a regional insult. But in the era of the Wasteland Alliance, it was a degenerative condition caused by Dark Energy invading the body.
In its advanced stages, the eyes would rapidly turn black, and the host had an extremely high probability of mutating.
Currently, there was no effective treatment. Outside the city walls, individuals with white-eye disease were typically killed on sight or simply abandoned.
But here, inside the walls, the afflicted person was an ordinary female student with no powers.
So, the question was: should they kill her now, directly?
At this moment, some guards had noticed Li Xiaomin’s condition.
"’It’s white-eye disease! Kill her, quickly! She’s going to turn into an Exotic Species!’"