Dawn of a New Era

The night gradually deepened.

A gasoline lamp hanging on a simple tripod emitted a pale light.

From time to time, students would get up to go to the makeshift toilets in tents nearby, and the whole playground was noisy, with soldiers on alert everywhere.

Chen Shouyi patrolled the playground along with the military martial artists.

Except for Xiao Changming who was relatively polite, the other two senior martial artists didn't show any friendliness at all. Especially one with a face full of flesh, who frequently challenged him with his gaze.

It ignited a simmering rage in Chen Shouyi's heart.

If not for the wrong circumstances, and this being military grounds, he would have slapped him to death.

Xiao Changming occasionally glanced at the students and suddenly asked solemnly, "Have you ever experienced hallucinations?"

Chen Shouyi withdrew his gaze and replied casually, "Perhaps!"

"You didn't understand. I mean genuine hallucinations, where you see people or things that others can't, as if you're speaking nonsense that no one else comprehends." Xiao Changming said seriously.

Chen Shouyi's heart jumped suddenly at the words, and for some reason, he recalled the scene of the curse last time, along with the eerie apparitions in City Hall Square. Yes, on the way back from training in the hills last time, he saw students from the Martial Arts Academy visiting the site of the Barbarian God's fall at City Hall Square.

Could it be that all of this was triggered by that event?

Thinking this way made the timeline seem to fit perfectly.

"What are you trying to say?" Chen Shouyi asked, a hint of gloom rising in his heart.

"There's something the female officer didn't tell you, perhaps she wasn't aware. After this incident occurred, your police quickly conducted class checks and found a strange clue. During roll call in the class where the first death occurred, one person was found missing."

"That seems normal, doesn't it? Faced with such a bizarre murder case, it's natural for a person to feel fearful, perhaps he went home temporarily." Chen Shouyi said gravely.

Xiao Changming sighed and said seriously, "But the key point is that during roll call, more than one student in the class insisted he was sitting in the corner of the classroom, behaving bizarrely, with clothes soaked in blood, his abdomen swollen like a balloon. By all means, such obvious signs of crime should have been reported or controlled, yet those who saw him seemed unaware of his abnormality, until everyone realized something was wrong, and he suddenly disappeared."

Rumble...

A flash of lightning pierced the night sky, illuminating everyone's faces in pale light.

Chen Shouyi glanced at the playground. No wonder the patrol never approached the group of students, probably as a precaution. After all, every power has its limit and cannot ignore distance. Looking at the distant students, he felt as if everyone was behaving strangely.

A raindrop fell on Chen Shouyi's cheek, and he instinctively wiped it.

"It's raining!" Another dark-skinned senior martial artist from the military looked up at the sky and said.

Soon after!

Pat, pat... pat...

Large drops of rain began to fall from the dark sky, causing the playground to become tumultuous. With tents limited, most were already provided to the refugees pouring into the safe zone, leaving no extra tents for the students.

Chen Shouyi wiped the cold rain from his face and knew things were getting troublesome.

Not only did the students lack tents, but the guarding soldiers did too. Although it was already April and the weather had begun to warm, the nighttime temperature was about five or six degrees. With this cold rain, students might barely manage with the physique of martial artist apprentices, but ordinary soldiers would not last long.

Within half a minute, his clothes were already soaked through, with the cold dampness penetrating his body.

He noticed several teachers approaching the soldiers to negotiate, perhaps hoping to take shelter from the rain, but judging by the situation, the soldiers refused them, leading to a heated argument.

The rain grew heavier, accompanied by lightning streaking across the sky.

The entire night sky alternated between brightness and darkness.

Gradually, students went forward, joining the line of argument.

These students had been forced to stay on the playground since yesterday, and discontent had been building in their hearts,

Facing school lockdown and personal detention, especially with the ogre rampaging through the campus, no one could remain calm or reasonable. Now, drenched by the icy rain, they were on the verge of outbreak.

The two groups started arguing, with escalating intensity.

Nearby soldiers, seeing the situation worsening, immediately approached with full vigilance.

The number of people from both sides increased, escalating the emotions further.

At this moment, a highly agitated student suddenly pushed through the soldiers, quickly running towards the front school building, shouting as he ran, "In such heavy rain, they want to freeze us to death, charge!"

There's a herd mentality in crowds; with this one shout, everyone began surging against the soldiers, and the thin wall of people was breached by the rush. This was a group of three thousand martial artist apprentices, each capable of taking on ten ordinary people, the effect was like a flood overwhelming — no one could stop them.

"Don't shoot! Strict warning! Don't shoot!" a distant military officer shouted vehemently.

...

Soon, various cries of "Don't shoot" echoed continuously.

If such an incident escalated, it would become a severe political issue, beyond the responsibility anyone could bear from him to his superiors, and even those above them.

"Dammit, this sucks!" Xiao Changming cursed angrily, frustrated that what could have been an opportunity to catch the ogre was thwarted by this rainstorm.

"Captain, there's still a chance, it can't escape." The military martial artist with the fleshy face said, then glanced coldly at Chen Shouyi: "Someone is probably relieved, huh?"

"Are you talking about me, you bastard?" Chen Shouyi's heart went cold, and he turned to look at him.

The repeated provocations of the other made him furious.

The military martial artist was slightly taken aback. He had just intended to mock him a little, avenging Captain Lei, not expecting the other to be so defiant even in the presence of two senior martial artists and a martial artist.

But in his view, the other was merely a senior martial artist himself, nothing to fear. He laughed loudly, scornfully saying:

"What's the problem? You civilian martial artists are the most cowardly, aren't you? Am I wrong? That senior martial artist who died from your group even begged us for mercy, what a joke!"

"At least most of us participated in the battle and faced the Barbarian God directly, whereas where were you? I only saw ordinary soldiers, not your military martial artists. Moreover, we don't have the kind of familial support you do, being pampered and spoon-fed, with resources prioritized to you, even so much you can be made into martial artists!" Chen Shouyi retorted coldly, suspecting the divine blood given to him had been tampered with.

"That's enough, we're all comrades fighting side by side." Xiao Changming said awkwardly, lightly reprimanding: "Everyone should say a little less, cool down!"

The military martial artist with the fleshy face snorted, his expression sullen, and closed his mouth.

Chen Shouyi sneered but did not speak further.

He looked ahead, where many students were rapidly running past them.

At this moment, he vaguely felt the reality around him suddenly blurred slightly, the distant scenery becoming obscure and unreal. He paused in surprise, just about to take a closer look when everything seemingly returned to normal.