Chapter 297: Hidden Thunder

Wu Chang, as a senior student, found his elementary school memories already hazy.

Back then he was young, and his family didn't enforce strict academic standards; for his elementary years, he remembered only three things.

Sneaking snacks in class, never doing homework, and the frail, sickly PE teacher.

Having grown accustomed to burly, muscular men with chest muscles bigger than their Chinese literature teachers, who constantly complained of being unwell, young Wu Chang had developed a deep admiration for the PE teacher's profession.

Aside from these, his elementary school life left no strong impression on him.

But one thing was certain: during his elementary years, the environment around him was safe—nothing as vile as what was happening now.

In a dark corner inside the old classroom building, as Maya said.

A boy wearing the Knox Elementary uniform, his head several times larger than normal, was being threatened by violence due to his appearance.

Left hook, right hook, knee strike, elbow smash, then a throat lock followed by a crushing punch.

The attacker's movements flowed like water, his combos seamless, as if he saw no plea on the boy's face, showing not a hint of hesitation.

The violence at Knox School was terrifying—thankfully Wu Chang was the aggressor.

He straddled the Giant-Head Monster, slamming two fists into its half-meter-wide head, making the creature howl in pain, revealing a mouth full of shark-like fangs and a throat as black as the abyss.

Wu Chang drove his fist into the Giant-Head Monster's mouth, shattering five or six of its teeth, then whispered a threat:

"Speak. Who sent you? What do you want?"

The story began half an hour earlier, when Wu Chang, after hearing rumors about the old classroom building, prepared to enter and explore.

This was different from last night's reckless, aimless suicide attempt—they had clear goals, had performed mystical rituals around the old building beforehand, and Wu Chang had even brought along Erin.

Erin could transform into her divine form at any moment; even under the instance's dimensional suppression, her divine stats remained extremely high, enough to crush most dangers.

Combined with Wu Chang's support, they didn't just need to find whatever was hidden in the old building—they could flatten the entire structure if they wanted.

The two carefully entered the old classroom building and searched every inch inside and out, yet found nothing resembling the strange object Maya described.

Wu Chang and Erin extended their senses, but detected no anomalies.

Just as they were about to temporarily give up, Wu Chang, through the old building's window, spotted something strange mixed among the students during recess.

The thing wore the Knox Elementary uniform, but atop its neck sat a head swollen like a balloon; as it passed younger students, it bared sharp fangs and dripped saliva the color of blood.

Such a bizarre, conspicuous presence, yet none of the students noticed it—as if it didn't exist at all.

Wu Chang was certain: no such entity belonged among the students of Knox Elementary.

Fortunately, mystical rituals had been set up around the old building, concealing all activity within; Wu Chang dragged the Giant-Head Monster inside and initiated a friendly conversation.

From the Giant-Head Monster, he sensed only cruelty and brutality—no trace of kindness.

To demonstrate his sincerity and goodwill, he followed the monster's own preferences in greeting it.

Yet judging by the outcome, perhaps his force was insufficient—it was proving difficult to communicate.

"Ooooh…"

The Giant-Head Monster whimpered in pain, black viscous tears streaming from its eyes.

"Not enough force? You can't receive the message, is that it?"

Wu Chang's eyes gleamed with excitement; he pulled out a baseball bat he'd stolen from the PE storage room, ready to give the kid a couple of good swings.

Erin, standing at a distance, looked pained and whispered: "Wu Chang, I think it might not be able to speak."

The Giant-Head Monster, hearing Erin's words, frantically nodded its head, as if trying to confirm it truly couldn't speak.

Wu Chang slammed the baseball bat beside the monster's ear, leaned down, and asked: "You really can't speak?"

The Giant-Head Monster nodded again.

Wu Chang frowned in disappointment. "Then you're useless."

Boom!

Fifteen minutes later, at the back gate of Knox Elementary, Wu Chang dragged the barely alive Giant-Head Monster and tossed it to Zhenwo.

Zhenwo seized the Giant-Head Monster and instantly refined it, swallowing its vital energy.

A prompt appeared before Zhenwo: Strength +4. His Strength attribute rose to 70 points.

Judging by the stat increase, the Giant-Head Monster's strength was not much weaker than the Centipede Puppet's.

From its earlier behavior, it seemed to harbor no specific malice toward any target—like it had wandered into the school by accident.

What was attracting it?

Was it Knox Elementary—or Amber?

Wu Chang took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and recalled the events of the past two days.

In the Cursed Affliction instance, dimensional rules suppressed attributes; within Knox Elementary, perception was further suppressed.

In other instances, he and Erin were highly sensitive to monster presences—but when the Giant-Head Monster entered Knox Elementary, they noticed nothing until it drew close enough and its appearance became too conspicuous for Wu Chang to ignore.

Had it been the Mirror Killer or the old building's anomaly, Wu Chang and Erin would have struggled to sense them even if they were right beside them.

The waters here run deeper than I thought—I'll have Miles investigate later and find out what's truly suspicious about this place.

As Wu Chang dismantled the mystical rituals around the old classroom building and left with Erin, they ran straight into Amber.

Amber was not alone—Grace was beside her, chattering incessantly.

Amber's face showed no expression, yet her eyes held no impatience; instead, she consistently matched Grace's pace, never once stepping away.

It seemed the two had grown close.

When Wu Chang spotted Amber and Grace, they noticed him too.

Before Wu Chang could speak, Grace's gaze darted between him, Erin, and the old classroom building behind them; after sweeping the scene, her eyes widened in shock, as if she'd uncovered a secret, and she clapped a hand over her mouth, whispering in surprise.

Amber's expression turned awkward; she said to Wu Chang:

"Please exercise restraint while at school."

Then she pulled Grace away quickly.

Wu Chang:?

He turned to look at Ailin, then glanced at the abandoned old classroom building, and shook his head in annoyance.

"What are today's young girls even thinking about?"

Ailin looked at Wu Chang with a blank expression. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

Wu Chang said, "I'll teach you later."

Squeak, squeak.

Wu Chang narrowed his eyes; he seemed to hear a faint sound of metal scraping.

A faint black mist drifted toward him with the wind.

The wind rose beside him and blew all the way to the roof of the old classroom building.

Before the school decided to abandon the old classroom building, they had attempted repairs and stored many construction materials on the roof.

After the decision to abandon it, repairs were halted, and the purchased materials were gradually forgotten.

Under wind and rain, the shelves holding the materials had aged and rusted severely, until one leg finally gave way under the weight and snapped.

The shelf lost balance, causing the materials on top to shake and slide down the slanted surface, over the edge of the old building, falling toward the ground.

The next moment, Wu Chang saw I-beams and rebar descending like spears, stabbing toward him.

Fine, fine, fine, you want to play like this, huh.

Before he could move, Ailin had already raised a nearly transparent light barrier beside him.

The I-beams and rebar clanged against it, unable to leave even a single crack, and were deflected aside.

Within the light barrier, Wu Chang's curse mark vanished; the lingering black mist circled him once, as if filled with resentment.

The falling materials made a tremendous crash. Amber, who had already walked away, heard the noise, turned back, and saw that the spot where the materials had fallen was exactly where Wu Chang and Ailin had stood moments before.

A wave of intense unease surged into her mind. She let go of Grace, ignoring Grace's cry of "Danger!" behind her, and sprinted toward the accident site like a madwoman.

She swept away the dust from the falling materials and shouted loudly: "Xiao En! Ailin!"

"Xiao—"

A hand pressed on her shoulder, pulling her in front of Ailin.

Wu Chang said, "Come here. It's dangerous outside."

Seeing they were unharmed, Amber hugged Ailin tightly, her voice trembling: "I thought you were dead." Ailin stroked Amber's head and whispered, "Don't be afraid. Aren't we fine?"

Although the curse mark had disappeared, Wu Chang couldn't be sure whether the falling debris had ended.

The two protected Amber as they left the accident zone and reached safety; only then did Ailin release her hold on Amber.

Wu Chang looked at Amber's reddened eyes and opened his arms. "What about mine?"

Amber sniffled but ignored Wu Chang.

Wu Chang clicked his tongue. Amber got a post-survival hug, but he didn't—this was unfair. He was going to make a scene.

But Amber didn't give him a hug—Grace charged forward and hugged him tightly instead.

"I was terrified—I thought Teacher Xiao En was dead!"

Wu Chang gave Amber a look that said, "You won't? Someone else will."

Amber replied with a look that said, "This is a crime."

!

With firefighters arriving and setting up yellow caution tape to isolate the area around the old classroom building, the incident was finally settled.

Teachers herded the curious children back to class. Before Amber returned to her room, Wu Chang called out to her.

"Do you remember our agreement? Any danger from life—whether it concerns you or us—I will handle it."

"Your job is to grow up healthily without restraint. As long as I'm here, nothing can threaten you. Don't carry any burden in life or study."

"I believe in you. And I hope you believe in us."

Amber nodded. She said nothing, then turned and ran back to her classroom.

Once Amber was far away, Wu Chang looked up at the roof of the old classroom building.

This was the third day entering the instance dimension. The curse marks came slowly before, but from last night until now—less than twelve hours—he'd been marked twice.

If he hadn't misjudged, the curses coming for him were growing more frequent.

He didn't know whether this change was good or bad for clearing the instance.

In Sigef City, to obtain food, water, and shelter, you must work—no exceptions.

Including Lin Jiang and others.

In the kitchen of a chain restaurant, Lin Jiang was busy washing dishes, his hands moving so fast the plates sparked as he wiped them.

Wuwei carried two crates of ingredients through the back door and placed the newly delivered supplies into the storage room.

Within the Curse-Tied instance, potion effects were weakened. Shenhai had taken the Limb Regeneration Potion, but his limb had only regenerated up to the wrist.

With only one hand, he was wiping the table with a cloth.

Near the three, a man of average build, radiating menace, was peeling and chopping potatoes and carrots.

The man was clearly a master with a knife—his peeling was swift and thin, his cuts even and neat.

This restaurant's kitchen could hire four people primarily because he and Wuwei were so excellent.

As for Lin Jiang and Shenhai, they were merely freebies given away with yogurt promotions.

If any player from Bai Ta or the Evolution Committee were here, they would instantly recognize the peeler's identity—he was Long Kai, the newly wanted leader of the Iron Armor Guild, currently on the run.

Immediately after the Sacred Song Company instance ended, Bai Ta and the Evolution Committee jointly retaliated against the Iron Armor Guild.

Even after allying with the Light Society, the core members of the Iron Armor Guild had consciously hidden themselves—but they were still all uncovered by the four organizations.

Within five days, all core members of the Iron Armor Guild, except Long Kai who remained at large, had been eliminated.

Other members who resisted were killed on the spot; those who surrendered were treated as serious criminals and forced to enter high-difficulty instances to gather intelligence in exchange for their lives.

All officially registered members of the Iron Armor Guild had been dealt with.

In just five short days, the once-dominant Tumor Gang of the Wasteland Realm vanished completely.

This is the power of the four major organizations.

If you can't handle the Painter and Peace, can't you handle ordinary Wasteland Realm factions?

The only survivor, Dragon Armor, escaped the combined purge of the two organizations only by relying on the protection of the Light Society.

The price of that protection was cooperating with Lin Jiang to complete the Cursed instance.

But the way the instance was completed differed from what Dragon Armor had imagined.

Dragon Armor's knife moved faster and faster as he chopped vegetables, yet his speed could never keep up with the rate of restocking—his work seemed endless; the faster he worked, the more there was to do.

Finally, he couldn't take it anymore—he slammed his knife down hard into the cutting board.

"I've had enough! I entered the instance to help you kill players and solve problems, not to chop vegetables!"

"Can't you find me something that actually involves killing? Even lone players know to bully local factions—you make us do slave labor!"

Lin Jiang washed a dish in his hands and turned to reply:

"Stop complaining. I already discussed this yesterday. Through that monster, we've confirmed Peace entered the instance—and his location is likely tied to Bai Lao K."

"No criminal in Xigefu City can hide from Bai Lao K's eyes. If you act rashly, you'll draw Peace's attention. Don't forget—your Iron Armor Gang was wiped out because of whom."

Dragon Armor clenched his fists, voice dripping with mockery:

"Are you really that afraid of Peace? He's only good at clearing instances—he doesn't have real cheats. This is the Cursed instance—players have 90% damage reduction. If we ambush him with our monsters, I don't believe he won't die!"

Lin Jiang's face darkened. He wanted to turn on him, but he needed Dragon Armor's combat strength. Under the Cursed instance's special conditions, Dragon Armor, who specialized in player-vs-player combat, could unleash greater power than Wu Wei.

He took a deep breath and soothed:

"Put the bigger picture first. There's no need to take unnecessary risks. To guide the instance to completion, we must hide our identities and stay as inconspicuous as possible until the mission is done."

"Just endure a little longer. Great deeds require patience. Look at Wu Wei—he's the second heir of the Tranquil Sect, of noble status, yet he complains not at all?"

Wu Wei had just unloaded two crates and happened to hear Lin Jiang speaking of him. He paused, his body shrinking slightly, then replied:

"I've been ready to snap for ages. If it weren't for turning into Wu Wei Stone Man to dull my thoughts, I'd have smashed this dump and torn that snooty front-desk manager limb from limb!"

Lin Jiang: "..."

"You'd better turn back into Wu Wei Stone Man."

"Hmph!"

Wu Wei snorted, his body swelling slightly, then returned to hauling crates.

Dragon Armor glared at Lin Jiang. "Endure, endure, endure—how long are we supposed to put up with this?"

Lin Jiang stopped his work, pulled out a seal engraved with the character "Ten Thousand," and above it floated four spectral monster shadows.

He said: "Soon. I can feel the instance's world will weakening—the more it wavers, the greater our chance."

"We've planted enough seeds and drawn enough fools to pollute the instance. All we need now is the right moment to ignite everything."

Dragon Armor wasn't fooled by Lin Jiang's few words—he pressed: "What kind of moment?"

Lin Jiang shook his head.

"It concerns the Light Society. I can't tell you the exact timing. I can only say—the world will reveal its flaw itself."

"The closer the instance gets to being cleared, the wider the world's flaw becomes. The Order faction thinks summoning Peace can stop me?"

"Too clever by half. They'll never expect that when they think they've solved everything perfectly, they're actually leaping off a cliff into eternal ruin."

Just as Lin Jiang wore a smug, masterminding expression, the kitchen door opened. A middle-aged bald man wearing the front-desk manager's name tag peered inside.

He pursed his lips, scowling. First he glanced at Lin Jiang's paused hands, then his eyes shifted to Dragon Armor's knife embedded in the cutting board—his face twisted with undisguised disgust.

Tap-tap-tap.

The front-desk manager snapped his fingers three times, pointing at the three of them: "Slacking off on the clock? Negligent work? Do you even want to keep this job? If not, get out."

"Get back to work. Do you expect me to do it for you?"

After shouting, he waved his hand toward Dragon Armor: "And you—you broke the cutting board. Deduct it from your pay."

"Can't even handle a simple task? You deserve to be stuck in the kitchen doing menial labor your whole life."

Thud.

As the kitchen door slammed shut, Lin Jiang lunged at Wu Wei, grabbing him tightly.

"Don't be reckless, Wu Wei! Don't stoop to the level of a dead man! Dragon Armor, help me—he can't hold him alone!"

(End of Chapter)