Chapitre 264: Chapter 264: This is Way Too Casual, Isn't It?
"We'll go in first. It'll be over soon."
Lin Fan spoke nonchalantly, as if it were the simplest of tasks.
Baldhead followed closely behind Lin Fan, phone in hand. He was a little nervous. Initially, he hadn't felt much, but now, the thought of facing the anomaly head-on filled him with apprehension. After all, there were only two of them. If there were more people, he wouldn't be scared at all.
"Citizens, this is my first time eliminating an anomaly with only two people. Honestly, I'm a bit nervous, but our responsibility is to eliminate anomalies, without fear."
Baldhead spoke with bravado, but his hands trembled noticeably.
The Acrobatic Opera House was an old building, nearly a century old. Despite numerous renovations, it maintained its original decorative style: classical and somber. The presence of the anomaly made the atmosphere oppressive. Viewers watching the livestream felt a sense of dread permeating the surroundings.
Even those not present could feel the palpable terror.
"Captain, can they really do it with just two people?" one of the team members asked.
Zhang Hong remained expressionless. How could he know? In this situation, all he could do was pray they succeeded. There were no other options.
"Be prepared. If anything goes wrong, remember, go in and save them immediately," Zhang Hong instructed.
The team members thought Zhang Hong was dreaming. If something did go wrong, there would be no time to save them; they'd likely recover only two corpses.
Inside the opera house, Baldhead stuck close to Lin Fan, not daring to stray too far. Only by Lin Fan's side did he feel safe. This was his first livestream, and he was very nervous.
Both the Boss and Zhou Qiang were watching the livestream. This was their first time seeing Lin Fan eliminate an anomaly, and like everyone else, they were eager to see how he did it.
"Lin Fan, do you know where the anomaly is?" Baldhead asked, his voice tinged with fear. The lights in the opera house flickered, and the walls seemed to reflect shadowy figures.
Creak, creak!
Suddenly, despite the absence of wind, the windmill placed in the center began to slowly rotate. The atmosphere was terrifying, sending chills down viewers' spines.
"I can sense it," Lin Fan replied.
In the livestream's comments section:
"Oh my god, this is so creepy!"
"If it were me, I'd have already peed my pants."
"Without experiencing an anomaly firsthand, it's impossible to understand how terrifying it is. But even just this environment is enough to scare me to death."
At that moment, eerie laughter echoed through the opera house. Viewers watching the livestream jumped, cold sweat beading on their foreheads, even through the screen.
Gulp!
Baldhead swallowed hard, pressing closer to Lin Fan. He was terrified.
"Don't be afraid. You're safest by my side," Lin Fan said, noticing Baldhead's trembling. He smiled and patted Baldhead's shoulder, reassuring him and making it clear there was nothing to fear.
Baldhead nodded, trying to appear unafraid. No matter what, he had to stay calm.
The netizens found Lin Fan's calmness incredibly reassuring.
Lin Fan, however, was more intrigued by his surroundings than scared. He didn't find the atmosphere terrifying, just…interesting.
"Look, what's that?" Baldhead pointed to a figure placed in a corner, his voice filled with panic.
In the corner stood a clown figure, like a doll, its limbs hanging limp and motionless.
"Oh, it's just a doll. Scared me for a second," Baldhead said, relieved. Seeing the clown doll's fluffy fabric, he relaxed. He had genuinely thought it was the anomaly.
The viewers in the livestream also breathed a sigh of relief. Although they were only watching, they felt immersed in the experience, as if everything were happening right before their eyes.
Lin Fan stood before the clown doll, tilting his head and observing it closely. The clown's eerie laughter echoed around them.
"Lin Fan, it's just a doll. Let's keep looking for the anomaly," Baldhead said, seeing Lin Fan's curious gaze fixed on the doll. What was there to see?
Lin Fan pointed at the doll. "It's the anomaly."
Baldhead stared at him in shock, backing up slightly. He couldn't believe it. It was just a doll. How could it be the anomaly? But he trusted Lin Fan.
The viewers were equally stunned. They hadn't expected Lin Fan to declare the doll the anomaly. Honestly, looking at the video, they couldn't see how the doll could be the anomaly.
"Really?" Baldhead asked.
"Yes, really. I can sense its aura," Lin Fan said, crouching in front of the clown doll, poking its fluffy fabric. "I know it's you. You don't have to hide."
"Can you say something?"
His conversation with the clown doll elicited gasps from the viewers.
"Holy crap! What a badass way to communicate!"
"Is this how the Yanhuang Group deals with anomalies?"
"Love it, love it."
"Anomaly: Who allowed you to touch me?"
"Anomaly: I'm a freaking motionless doll right now."
The Boss watched intently, then asked his team, "Do you think this doll is the anomaly?"
Standing behind the Boss were experienced personnel who regularly dealt with anomalies. They were seasoned veterans in this field. Now, with Lin Fan claiming the doll was the anomaly, they began to analyze the situation.
"The possibility of it being the anomaly is low, but we can't rule it out."
"The laughter is coming from all directions. Look at the tag; it looks like it was bought from a department store. So I think it's probably not the anomaly."
Their analysis seemed reasonable.
But at that moment, the situation changed.
Lin Fan was convinced the clown doll was the anomaly but couldn't understand why it was playing dumb, remaining motionless. So he pinched the doll's face. It felt soft and squishy, quite comfortable to the touch.
However, the clown anomaly was furious. As an anomaly, it had its pride. Was it meant to be toyed with like this?
Whoosh!
Countless throwing knives shot out from the clown doll's mouth like a machine gun, in a continuous stream.
"Oh no!"
Everyone watching covered their eyes, unable to bear witnessing what came next.
Clang! Clatter!
The throwing knives struck Lin Fan's face, producing the sound of metal on metal.
"Stop that."
Lin Fan felt an itching sensation on his face. He reached out and covered the anomaly's mouth, preventing it from spitting out more knives.
The viewers were dumbfounded. Were they seeing things? That was an anomaly! Was it really okay to just cover its mouth with his hand?
The clown anomaly seemed stunned. Even it hadn't anticipated this turn of events.
Muffled noises
The clown anomaly's face began to bulge. With a puff, numerous knives pierced through its face, leaving it looking rather gruesome.
"Sorry, your knife-spitting was getting annoying. I didn't expect it would cause you to get stabbed in the face," Lin Fan said, removing his hand apologetically.
Baldhead stared, bewildered.
The viewers in the livestream were moved to tears.
"Such a polite captain!"
"So touching, I want to cry."
"Can someone tell me if this is really an anomaly? Why do I suddenly feel like laughing?"
Before seeing an anomaly with their own eyes, the images in their minds had been terrifying. But the current situation was completely unexpected, shattering their preconceived notions.
The Boss watched the scene with a serious expression, finding it hard to believe.
"Could you do that?" he asked his team.
The staff members exchanged helpless glances. They wanted to say, "Boss, that's beyond human capability. That's an anomaly! Covering its mouth with your hand? Honestly, we've never seen anything like it."
"Boss, I don't think that's humanly possible."
Since the Boss had asked, they answered honestly. It was clearly a rhetorical question.
"Indeed," the Boss sighed.
Back at the scene, the clown anomaly spoke in a gloomy voice, "How did you find me?"
It was baffled. It had hidden itself so well, believing it was impossible to be discovered. But from the moment Lin Fan saw it, he had crouched down, pinched its face, and said, "Move, I know it's you." It had thought he was bluffing, but he wasn't.
According to its plan, it was supposed to toy with the humans, creating a terrifying atmosphere and letting them die in despair and fear. That would have been so satisfying.
But now…nothing was going according to plan.
"Your scent," Lin Fan replied.
"Scent?"
The clown anomaly couldn't believe he'd said "scent." It lifted its arm and sniffed its body, as if searching for this "scent."
Having brutally murdered countless humans, the clown had never encountered someone like this before.
The clown anomaly let out a chilling chuckle and vanished into thin air.
"It disappeared!" Baldhead looked around, searching for the clown, but there was no sign of it. However, the eerie laughter continued to echo around them.
"Such a fascinating ability," Lin Fan commented.
"Where did it go?" Baldhead asked.
"I know. Just follow me. Its scent is easy to track. I know where it'll appear," Lin Fan said with a smile, as if everything were under his control. He led Baldhead deeper into the opera house.
Inside a restroom, the lights flickered. The stall doors creaked open and closed, adding to the already terrifying atmosphere.
Lin Fan seemed to know exactly where the clown was.
Bang!
He flung open a stall door, looking at the clown standing on the toilet, head bowed. "What are you doing in the restroom?" he asked curiously.
The clown jerked its head up, its eyes wide with disbelief, as if it had seen a ghost. As an anomaly, it controlled its surroundings. It was usually the one hunting down terrified humans hiding in fear, like a cat playing with a mouse, before killing them in their terror.
"Lin Fan, quickly eliminate it! Anomalies must be eliminated!" Baldhead urged.
He was utterly bewildered. He couldn't comprehend how Lin Fan did it. If it was by scent, it seemed too fantastical because, so far, he hadn't smelled anything particular about the clown anomaly.
The clown anomaly glared at Baldhead, roaring furiously and lunging towards him. To it, the other human didn't matter for now, but this one with the phone, constantly talking about eliminating it, had to die.
Just as the clown anomaly pounced, Lin Fan slapped it with his palm. Bang! The clown anomaly flew like a kite with its string cut, crashing through the stall partitions and colliding with the wall. With another bang, it shattered into pieces, dissipating into nothingness.
"Don't worry, I said I'd protect you," Lin Fan said, patting Baldhead's shoulder reassuringly.
Baldhead slowly turned his head towards the wall, dumbfounded, completely clueless about what had just happened.
"It's over?" he asked, dazed. It ended too quickly. He hadn't even reacted.
"Yes, it's over. It was weak, not as powerful as I imagined. If it hadn't attacked you, I would have liked to chat with it, ask it why it hurts people," Lin Fan said.
In the livestream, there was a brief silence. Then, the comments section exploded with question marks.
"Can someone tell me what happened?"
"I had my tissues ready, and you show me this???"
"Holy crap, that was an anomaly! It just ended like that? Too fast! I didn't even react!"
"Awesome!"
The livestream's popularity skyrocketed. No one had expected it to be so…anticlimactic.
The Boss, who had been watching the entire time, pointed at the screen, stunned. "How did he do that?"
Everyone exchanged glances. That question was impossible to answer. How could an anomaly die so easily? With just a slap? They always confronted anomalies fully armed, firing countless bullets before finally eliminating them.
Inside the opera house, with the anomaly gone, the terrifying atmosphere dissipated, and everything returned to normal. The flickering lights seemed to have been fixed, illuminating the restroom. The temperature gradually rose, losing its previous chill.
Outside, Zhang Hong and his team were dumbfounded. They had been stunned into silence while watching the livestream. They looked at each other, wanting to speak, but for a moment, they didn't know what to say.
"They're coming out!" someone shouted.
All eyes turned to the two figures emerging from the opera house.
Lin Fan walked out calmly, as if everything were perfectly ordinary, nothing special about it.
Baldhead, on the other hand, was brimming with excitement, as if he had just experienced something extraordinary. His hand holding the phone was still shaking. He had been a witness, and he had never imagined eliminating an anomaly could be so simple. It had been dangerous and terrifying, yet somehow safe, without a hint of real danger.
And the anomaly, despite its terrifying appearance, had been so weak. Killed with a single slap.
If he hadn't seen it with his own eyes, he wouldn't have believed it.
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone