Chapter 149

A house materialized out of thin air in front of Ace of Diamonds, blocking her attack on Lin Tu.

It was a beautiful house, with red walls and green tiles. A row of flowers sat on the windowsill, blooming brilliantly. The window was open, and a white linen curtain with floral patterns faced outward. The curtain was parted just a crack, letting warm light spill through. Beyond the curtain hung a layer of lace, which drifted lightly in the light, brushing against the rain-soaked flowers.

Ace of Diamonds felt a pang of regret: how could she destroy such a beautiful house!

She tried to pull back her strike, but it was already too late.

The anticipated destruction never came. The house withstood the blow with ease. Only a few bricks fell to the ground, but miraculously, they floated back up and mended the damage on their own.

Then, the wind chime by the door jingled, and the door swung open from within. A figure in a straw hat, dressed like a farmer, stepped out.

The farmer muttered to himself, "Watering, watering..." as he carried a plastic bucket and walked up to Ace of Diamonds.

He tipped the bucket over, dousing Ace of Diamonds from head to toe. A pungent smell hit her nose, and she felt a flicker of confusion—this didn't seem to be water. But the farmer showed no sign of aggression, so she didn't think much of it. She only vaguely noticed the label on the bucket: "MGOP Fuel Oil."

Only after the liquid had pooled around Ace of Diamonds' feet like a small lake did the farmer finally set down the bucket and walk over to Lin Tu.

A tabby cat crouched on Lin Tu's prone body, tilting its head to watch the farmer.

"Working hard, working hard..." The farmer was completely unfazed. He pulled a box of matches from Lin Tu's backpack. "Time to burn the straw. Need plenty of ashes to fertilize the fields."

He struck five matches in quick succession and tossed them toward Ace of Diamonds' feet.

Only then did Ace of Diamonds feel the danger surging up. She broke free of the cat's control, her mind snapping back to clarity. But when she tried to flee, she realized the fuel clinging to her body had already caught fire.

"Ahhh!" Ace of Diamonds shrieked, her twisted silhouette writhing in the flames.

The farmer finished his work and retreated into the house, which vanished as suddenly as it had appeared.

Rain poured down in torrents, leaving only the roaring fire and Lin Tu, lying beside it, coughing uncontrollably. Lin Tu felt like she could barely breathe now—her ribs might very well be broken.

The [Medical-Grade Bandage] leapt out of her backpack and wrapped itself around her abdomen several times before using itself up entirely, but it clearly wasn't enough. Blood began to trickle from her lips, quickly washed away by the rain.

Perhaps the killing intent had been so thick that, amplified by the cat's influence, it had flipped to the opposite extreme. Lin Tu had entered a state of complete zen. Even her usual immunity as the owner was useless. All she could do was stare blankly at the rain falling from the sky, unable to do anything else. Just as she thought she might die here alongside Ace of Diamonds, she saw a golden ring flying toward her. A fragmented memory and a surge of power flooded into her body.

The power healed and strengthened her body while the memory played out in her mind.

Ace of Diamonds—or rather, An Lu—didn't know who she truly was. She had no memories of her past. When she awakened in this world, she found a golden ring. The ring, like a golden finger, told her that global terror had descended, and she must become the strongest, the final winner of this world... Unfortunately, Lin Tu had thwarted her plans.

"Global terror has descended. Congratulations, player, on becoming the Chosen One. Greetings, Chosen One Lin Tu. This is your second cycle. I am now unlocking the memories of your previous life..."

Lin Tu: "?"

Another wave of memories flooded into her mind.

She saw her "past life"—cutting through thorns, surrounded by countless handsome men, only to be betrayed by Zhou Yi and the others, dying miserably at the hands of monsters. When she heard the voice say, "[Terror Descends] has given you a second chance at life. This time, you must change everything and seize control of your own destiny!"—she finally snapped.

Where did this borrowed cliché script come from? Lin Tu lay on the ground, laughing and coughing, spitting out another mouthful of blood.

She thought she might actually laugh herself to death.

However, Lin Tu didn't have Ace of Diamonds' privilege—she couldn't sense the status of other golden rings. This suggested that whoever distributed those rings had a close relationship with Ace of Diamonds. Judging by the energy that had flowed into her, An Lu was just a pitiful clone. So, if she guessed right, the true mastermind behind this calamity was another Ace of Diamonds.

That made it even more interesting. Although this clone was Ace of Diamonds, when she was "born," she was an ordinary person, just like everyone else who found a golden ring. The ring didn't force them to do anything. A mere hint of temptation, a slight illusion, and they immediately turned their weapons on their own kind, seeing fellow humans as enemies blocking their path to power.

Whether it was strangers or friends, family, or lovers. As the saying goes: "The first sword after reaching shore cuts down the one you love." Maybe for them, finding a golden finger felt like reaching shore, and their former warmth instantly became a hideous obstacle.

—Who would have thought that all of this was just Ace of Diamonds' power-fantasy script?

Rain pounded against Lin Tu's face as she laughed heartily, finding it all a ridiculous comedy.

At that moment, in the Han City Municipal Police Station, a jolt of panic woke Qi Bin from his sleep.

A cold female voice said: "You must begin the sacrifices immediately and enhance your power, or else [Terror Descends] will seek out a new host."

"No!" Qi Bin snapped awake. He scrambled out of his sleeping bag, terrified of losing his privilege. After seeing his past life's memories and knowing how powerful he would become in the future, he couldn't bear to go back to his ordinary, mediocre life.

"I'm going out now! Right now!" Qi Bin said to the golden finger in his mind, then glanced around furtively, threw on his coat, and slipped out quietly.

The armed police guarding the station only watched for threats from outside, not from within. As a local, Qi Bin easily slipped out through the side door and into the alley. But the area nearby had already been swept clean by the armed police—the bodies had been hauled back to the station and stored somewhere unknown—so Qi Bin had to venture further out.

Rain pelted him in heavy drops. Finally, in a local shopping mall, he found several corpses.

He immediately performed the sacrifice. Watching his arms grow visibly thicker, he was ecstatic. There were plenty of bodies in the mall, so Qi Bin performed the sacrifice several more times before finally receiving his next task—

"Drink fresh blood."

"Stop right there!" As Qi Bin agonized over where to find fresh blood and considered heading back to the station, a furious shout rang out behind him.

Qi Bin turned to see an armed police officer leading a group of strangely dressed people, standing at the entrance with their guns trained on him.

"What's wrong with you?!" barked the officer who had exchanged a few words with Qi Bin before. "How did you turn yourself into this hideous mess?!" He then said to the strange group beside him, "Hold your fire, brothers. This is a civilian we rescued. He was perfectly fine before nightfall—I don't know what happened to him."

"I... I've grown stronger. I can fight the apocalypse..." Qi Bin tried to explain, but soon he wondered why he should bother explaining at all.

He had grown stronger. Everything would be trampled beneath his feet. Everyone else was just jealous, would betray him... A strange hallucination sprouted in Qi Bin's mind. He saw the officer as normal one second, then as a monster ripe for feeding the next...

"He's gone wrong," said the soldier in the high-voltage protective suit.

"Don't act rash!" the officer barked at Qi Bin. "Put your hands down. You don't need to fight the apocalypse—we're here..."

Before he could finish, Qi Bin lunged at the group like a starving tiger. To defend himself, the soldier pulled the trigger without hesitation. Bullets tore through Qi Bin's freshly evolved body. His physical strength clearly wasn't enough yet—he crumpled mid-leap and died without a word.

"How could this happen..." the officer muttered. Not long ago, Song Hai had asked him to keep an eye on Qi Bin, so he'd been chatting with him. He'd found Qi Bin to be a simple, innocent kid. How did it come to this... "It's my fault. I didn't watch over him well..."

As the officer wallowed in self-blame, a shout came from the other side: "Watch out!"

The ring, now without its host, spun lazily in the air. Just as it was about to fly toward one of the soldiers, the soldier raised his gun and blew the ring to pieces.

A crumpled playing card, tucked inside the ring, fluttered out—

On the pristine card, written in permanent marker, were the words: "Fooled ya~"

More than ten minutes later.

The tabby cat on Lin Tu finally vanished. The moment her mind cleared, she remembered how she'd lost her sanity and felt a surge of lingering fear.

If the farmer hadn't been a brilliantly naive robot, if the 73 points of defense she'd put into the [Endless Highway] hadn't paid off, if it hadn't been that high-grade MGOP fuel that burned An Lu to death... Lin Tu would certainly be dead now—when An Lu's claws came down, she'd probably still be laughing. The thought was chilling.

The cat grass was a devastating weapon—it killed enemies and allies alike.

An Lu's energy had mostly healed Lin Tu's internal injuries, and she felt her body had grown considerably stronger. But now wasn't the time to test her abilities. Too much time had passed—she needed to get back quickly.

She sprinted all the way back and made it to the building just as the scouts were fanning out to search for her.

She changed into dry clothes, though her hair was beyond drying. Fortunately, Lin Tu had her all-purpose deity to vouch for her. She made up an excuse, then fell in step behind the scouts, idling along.

At the distant Phase One residential complex, even though the biggest boss had been lured away by Lin Tu, the remaining clustered monsters were still no easy fight.

Just as everyone was panicking, reinforcements arrived in the nick of time.

Seeing their electrofishing devices and recalling the sudden downpour, Lin Tu had a revelation. She sat serenely atop a tall building, watching the electric arcs flash below like a brilliant silent film.

After a sleepless night, the entire city of Han had nearly become an "electric" city.

The next morning, as dawn light cut through the mist, Lin Tu received a message from [Infinite Calamity]—

[Congratulations! You have successfully cleared Skyfall Doomsday—A-Class Calamity: The Silent Land]

[The calamity has ended early! At the 12-hour-10-minute mark, all monsters in the Silent Land were eliminated. Prior to this mark, your status was: Alive! Main quest completed, clearance conditions met! (A-Class random reward unlocked)]

[Player Performance Rating: S]

[World Whisper: No gods, no superheroes—unite and fight for our world!]

[Congratulations! Side quest completed: Kill monsters ×2; (reward not unlocked)]

[Congratulations! Special achievement unlocked: Speedrun]

Lin Tu, who had already returned to the cabin and was sound asleep, woke up groggily to find herself back on the Back Mountain. She dismissed the notifications and went back to sleep.

Meanwhile, in Doomsday Town.

Seven players stared at their phones in shock. "...Speed...speedrun?"

Was this for real? They hadn't done anything! They entered the calamity, hid quietly in their shelters all night, wondering what the calamity was and how to find food, when a group of police burst into their hiding spot, escorted them to safety, fed them, let them sleep—and then... cleared it?

The group posted their bizarre experience on the forums, and it became the hottest topic of the day.

No one had ever seen a calamity end on its own in just over ten hours.

"The government stepped in? Damn... I admit I'm jealous. Why didn't my world's government work that fast?"

"I wish I was a local of that world," said one player.

"Why do you say that?"

"Every world is falling into calamity. It's impossible to pray for a world that never has disasters. Better to pray for a world that can resist them. The residents of Han City have a nation like that—they must feel so secure."

This topic managed to dispel some of the anxiety caused by the escalating calamity levels these past days. At least people knew there were still worlds in decent shape...

What the players in Doomsday Town didn't know was that even though the nation had mobilized everything to rescue Han City in just over ten hours, the city still looked horrific after a night of devastation.

Many cars on the streets were smashed to pieces, some with people tragically dead inside. The shops along the roads suffered the worst—most had their storefronts forcibly shattered, interiors destroyed beyond recognition. In the worst areas, human remains were strewn everywhere. Building exteriors had taken plenty of damage too; those monsters were strong, and when they heard noise from upstairs, they'd climb the walls to find people.

As for anything that made sound—the faintly buzzing streetlights, the trickling water pipes—all were destroyed into twisted shapes. And communication equipment, rendered useless by some rule due to the fog, remained dead even after the fog lifted. The power lines were all down too.

Guided by the police, survivors trickled out of sealed buildings, three or four at a time, finally catching a glimpse of dawn. Medical staff in white coats moved in and out, carrying people out of various buildings. Some had suffered seizures from shock and were rushed into temporary tent hospitals by medics; many more, through bad luck or any number of reasons, had only their bodies left behind—a gruesome sight.

It was like a nightmare. In a single short night, trauma was carved into these people's hearts, forever unforgettable for those who lived through it.

Han City finally got its internet back. Within minutes, countless videos, eulogies, and firsthand accounts spread across the nation from Han City's IP.

People elsewhere thought they were joking—calling it "Han City creepypasta" or "collective fraud"—but soon, the government stepped in to explain.

A reporter stood with a microphone in front of the rebuilding Han City, interviewing survivors and the armed police units who had earned great merit in the battle. They told the nation, plainly and truthfully, that an unseen calamity had struck silently the night before.

Immediately after, a constantly shifting map appeared on the evening news, with cameras broadcasting it live around the clock.

The disaster data collected from various regions gave the nation a deeper understanding of what each color on the map represented. Personnel rotated shifts to stand guard by the map, offering guesses and explanations as it changed.

At the same time, the government launched online public education courses: "Several Ways to Handle a Sudden Earthquake," "Correct Wound Treatment for Different Injuries," "The Right Way to Request Help You Must Know"...

The implication was unmistakable: more disasters would strike across the nation. Chaos erupted nationwide, but fortunately, while they didn't know what the disasters were, they knew where they would occur. So residents of high-risk areas were organized for evacuation, while those in relatively safe zones, though on edge, didn't panic. This uproar didn't spark any man-made crises.

But disasters couldn't be avoided. The first to bear the brunt—

On the live broadcast, an expert stood beside the map, his expression grim: "We've observed that a red-level major disaster will strike east of the Yellow Sea. A portion will spread into our territory, forming a deep-yellow-level calamity. Fellow citizens operating in the Yellow Sea, please return promptly. Coastal residents, please stay safe!"

.

Lin Tu didn't wake until evening. The moment she did, she was bombarded with messages.

Yuan Que had sent several texts. Earlier, Lin Tu had been too busy to reply, or had only sent short responses, and she'd managed to make him feel hurt.

"Sister, are you still busy?"

"Sister, do you not like the book I shared with you yesterday?"

"Is it because I was too bold last time? Did I make you angry... Are you actually avoiding me..."

"I feel like I'm bothering you. I'm sorry..."

Lin Tu: "..." She'd really just been too busy!

Lin Tu quickly replied to Yuan Que first. Fortunately, he just wanted reassurance.

After a few exchanges, Lin Tu switched phones and replied to Zhou Yi as well.

Zhou Yi: "Hah, that island nation still doesn't believe our map. They insist we're cooking up some world-war conspiracy."

Lin Tu sighed and commiserated with Zhou Yi for a bit. As individuals, they couldn't judge the affairs between nations, but for ordinary people, the citizens of that island nation were also lives. To disregard your own people's safety over international conflicts was utterly absurd.

The videos and firsthand accounts from Han City, openly posted on international networks by their own country—weren't those enough to warrant attention?

After venting with Zhou Yi for a while, Lin Tu put down her phone. She'd worked all night and slept all day, and now she was starving. Time for a proper meal.

During dinner, Lin Tu opened her rewards from the mission—

Since the military had largely ended this calamity, Lin Tu's contribution as a player wasn't significant, so the rewards were modest.

The main quest gave her 412 points. The A-Class random reward turned out to be an [A-Class Shield]. Unlike the one-time shields, this one lasted twenty-four hours as long as it wasn't destroyed. However, it could only block A-Class monsters at most—anything higher would break through.

The special achievement [Speedrun] rewarded her with something interesting: a one-time golden ring that could rapidly enhance physical abilities like strength, reaction, and agility for 12 hours and 10 minutes.

Speaking of golden rings, Lin Tu had been meaning to tell Zhou Yi about them.

But Zhou Yi beat her to it: "Girl, do you know what Ace of Diamonds is?"

Lin Tu: "? How did you find out?"

"It goes back to that Song Hai who protected you..." Zhou Yi then told Lin Tu about Qi Bin. "They wanted to ask how you knew Qi Bin was trouble, but when they went to the guesthouse, you were gone. Don't worry, I covered for you with the deity-summoning excuse."

Lin Tu: "...The deity really is all-powerful."

She searched her memories for the people An Lu had seen with golden rings, typing out their names and physical descriptions into the chat: "You don't have to kill them all—keep a few under observation. But please pass along a message—"

"Ace of Diamonds is the one who creates disasters."

.

And so, chatting with Yuan Que, venting with Zhou Yi, and preparing supplies for the next calamity—five days passed in the blink of an eye.

Without her noticing, the next calamity was about to begin.

On the third day, the disaster east of the Yellow Sea erupted. It was said to be an extraordinarily massive natural calamity, with many mutated sea creatures. Fortunately, since Lin Tu had just entered a calamity in this world, she received an invitation to this one, but this time she had the option to decline—and with the next calamity looming, she certainly wasn't about to court death by joining this one.

During this time, Guan Suiyue sent over information about Lin Tu's adversary. However, the target was deep within the Temple's core organization, with a mysterious identity and confidential records, so the intel Guan Suiyue managed to obtain was sparse.

She had been worried and wanted to tell Guan Suixing to stay away from Lin Tu. But when Guan Suixing learned that Lin Tu had an enemy to deal with, she bolted like a wild horse, insisting on joining Lin Tu. She'd spent the past few days buying up quite a few attack-type items.

Luo Yongzhi, Yi Ying, Kou Lin, and the others had also joined this upcoming near-S-Class calamity. They cited the reasoning that "the calamities keep escalating anyway—we'll have to face S-Class eventually," but Lin Tu learned privately from Dong Huadan that they'd also stocked up on attack- and defense-type items recently.

The last day.

Lin Tu opened her phone one final time, looking at the information for this round of calamity—

[Who's the Imposter]