RHWHEG – Chapter 86 Awakening

Yu Qunqing hadn’t figured out how to explain things to the vice-captain yet, so he stalled for a few days. During those days, the nightly patrols turned up nothing, but the basic infrastructure of both the shelter and the residential district improved by leaps and bounds.

The Fourth Ring Chamber of Commerce in the residential district shot to prominence on the strength of its rare delicacies, becoming the most eye-catching power around. Everyone lived with joy written on their faces. The shelter held Dr. Chen’s funeral, then sorted through past records, bypassed old mistakes, and set out anew. The Ability Hall activated two new functions: the “Service Office” and the “Training Grounds.” Lin Luyi, Sun Min, and Dong Changxin finally leveled up to LV2 recently. Brimming with confidence, Lin Luyi sought Yu Qunqing out for a challenge—and left clutching his head. As a result, the three of them began wreaking havoc on the ability users within the shelter.

From time to time, Yu Qunqing and She Lulang would stroll around the shelter, stirred by familiar scenes into digging up old accounts, occasionally playing a few games—or doing other things…

In the ruins of the city, a black cat wandered alone. Its round green eyes made it look especially harmless—if it weren’t chewing on the remnants of a catastrophe.

It had originally wanted to bring some fun new friends back to the villa. But the villa was another big fellow’s territory, and that one forbade these catastrophes from entering. With no choice, Klein Bottle ate all the “friends” it found. A catastrophe’s basic trait is predation, and it was an excellent hunter.

It needed to hurry back to the big fellow on the surface. If the spider in the sky woke up, it would definitely eat the kitty! Even if a kitty was only a small piece of meat, the quality was high enough to make up for it!

Klein Bottle couldn’t find any friends, had used up all the cat-ear grass on its body, and was both tired and hungry, so it decided to head back first. This time it hadn’t brought any gifts—would that human be disappointed? But if you like cats, you have to be prepared to give to them and get nothing in return.

After some thought, Klein Bottle picked up an empty bottle in its mouth and ran back.

“Rustle—”

It heard an unusual sound nearby, and a humanoid creature walked out. His limbs were frozen red, already covered in frostbite. His eyes had no pupils, just solid black. The badge on his chest read: “Senior Researcher: Han Shuzhu.”

Klein Bottle’s fur stood on end. Its first thought was: run!

There are subtle countering relationships among catastrophes. Some come from rank—for example, the System and the Eight-Legged Frostfall, whose presence triggers instinctive fear in lower-level catastrophes. Others come from abilities. The catastrophe before it was definitely mental parasitism, the kind that adds load to the brain; while Klein Bottle was mental plunder, the kind that reduces load. They were mutually incompatible!

The moment it saw the “Parasitic Tome,” a strange memory surfaced in Klein Bottle’s mind.

It had been caught in a trap and brought into this human’s arms. Every day it wore a bite-prevention muzzle and an iron-cage vest. No dried fish. No cat-ear grass. Yet it was forced, again and again, to use its ability to make some unknown passerby forget things. Worst of all, this person even threw cats!

“Meow!!”

Klein Bottle spun around and bolted. It had always been the one stealing other people’s minds—this was the first time a catastrophe had gone after its mind! It needed to call for backup!

Then it saw countless fine white threads grow from Han Shuzhu’s neck, stretching straight toward the catastrophe remains Klein Bottle had just hunted. The threads seemed to have minds of their own; picking and choosing, they plucked out the crystal-clear disaster stones and absorbed them.

Han Shuzhu knew that the book in his head was a catastrophe, but he could no longer tell whether he himself wanted to do these things, or whether he was being commanded to do them. He knew that blue fellow was eyeing him hungrily. He had no power to fight back and could only flee. Fortunately, several ability users had escaped with him; he manipulated their minds, step by step acquiring more disaster stones to grow stronger—then ate them.

If only he were still in the shelter. The shelter could provide a very safe environment for growth… He had devoted himself so diligently to the research center, only to meet such an end. Damn humans!

Han Shuzhu remembered his life as a human perfectly clearly, yet felt not the slightest confusion about betraying the human camp. He was simply following the instincts of life.

His next survival objective: eat Klein Bottle!

“Meow!!!”

The black cat let out a shrill scream.

Every mental-type ability user in Jiangbei City heard it.

Some despicable creature was uploading a virus to the public mental network!! They were soon struck with splitting headaches, instinctively clutching their temples.

060 in the residential district reacted instantly, shutting down her connection to the public mental network. The people in the library weren’t so lucky—they relied heavily on the mental network and had practically browsed that virus to completion.

“Huh?” After being bored in the shelter for several days, Lin Luyi, who had been playing badminton, froze mid-motion, his expression blank.

Immediately after, the mixed virus radiated down to lower-tier mental ability users, then to ordinary ability users, and finally to normal people. Though the effect weakened layer by layer, the resistance of those who read the virus also decreased. The lethality of this move was enormous.

In human survivor settlements, countless peaceful daily lives were obliterated in an instant.

“Ahhh! I’m as angry as an audience member who gets forced to watch a 60-second ad every five minutes of a TV drama! Bastard—take my fury!”

“I hate this so much! Why were we both hung on the city wall by the enemy, yet you chose him and not me! Just because he’s everyone’s beloved white moonlight and I’m the universally hated substitute?!”

“Stop fighting, stop fighting! If you’re going to fight, go to the Ability Hall! Fight! Like! This! And! People! Will! Die!”

Humanity plunged into chaos!

At moments like this, having an AI was especially reassuring. In its usual emotionless voice, the AI announced:

“Detected a large-scale riot within the shelter’s boundaries. In accordance with Article Three of the Public Security Administration Act, border-zone LV3 weaponry will be activated, orientation reversed inward. Countdown: 3, 2, 1—”

Several launchers extended from the border zone, firing tear gas directly inward. People wept streams of tears, shouting lines straight out of melodramas—the scene was extraordinarily moving.

Within the residential district, 060 barely managed to suppress the enraged crowd using the “Coffee Totem.” But with her ability overused, everyone now felt the urge to stay up all night grinding work, and for a while the scene was remarkably inspiring.

Lower-level ability users or ordinary people, who had little access to the mental network, were only lightly affected. But several high-level ability users—especially those standing near Lin Luyi—were almost all hit.

Lin Luyi was sinking, descending into a muddy world. He recognized it as the underground laboratory beneath the shelter’s research center, with a secret passage leading all the way to the foot of the mountain. He stood at the exit. He was restrained by special materials; two tubes pumped painkillers into his blood day and night. But he was allergic to painkillers, so the pain doubled, twisting him into something like a crippled, contorted strand of seaweed.

He finally tore himself free from the nightmare and at last saw Yu Qunqing and the others.

“That scared me to death just now—was it the Eight-Legged Frostfall, or that guy surnamed Han causing trouble?” he asked urgently.

“You’re still groggy from sleep,” Yu Qunqing replied. “Han Shuzhu left the team long ago. Come listen to the mission. The catastrophe we’re facing this time very likely has disguise abilities—it may disguise itself as one of us. I’ve already thought up our recognition code: when we meet, we punch the other person in the face first. If you win, you can ask questions at your leisure; if you lose, you won’t get away anyway.”

She Lulang looked at him with clear disdain. Lin Luyi was utterly shocked—She Lulang actually looked at Yu Qunqing like that.

“Did you two fight again?” Lin Luyi really couldn’t understand these two. But he quickly noticed something off. Yu Qunqing and She Lulang were wearing each other’s clothes! He could tell from the collars. It wasn’t that he wanted to remember such details—he’d just gossiped about their relationship before and ended up paying attention subconsciously…

Oh! So it was just a surface-level quarrel. Young couples—arguing at the head of the bed, making up at the foot. Totally normal.

Because of his sudden question, both of them turned to look at him.

Yu Qunqing also gave him a look of disdain. “Lin Luyi, why are you especially naïve and sweet today?”

She Lulang added, “Probably caught it from someone. Pretty pitiful.”

—What? Was She Lulang mocking two people at once? Lin Luyi’s brain could no longer process that much information.

She Lulang continued, “Setting up a dedicated recognition signal is the most efficient option. I think we can design it with two layers—one auditory and one visual…”

“That makes so much sense.” Yu Qunqing was struck with sudden enlightenment. “As expected of my deputy captain—the most reliable one. Let’s do it your way.”

At this moment, She Lulang’s expression turned subtle. He fell silent, overlapping once more with the She Lulang Lin Luyi usually knew.

Could it be—

He got coaxed back by that word ‘my’?

Are you seriously a love-brained idiot?!

Lin Luyi was completely stunned.

Then Yu Qunqing pulled another wild move. “But if you run into me, beat me as hard as you can. I’ll know who you are.”

Only then did Lin Luyi get the chance to really look around at the rest of the squad. Dong Changxin, Tang Qianjiang, Li Yuebei—all present. Everyone was wearing shelter-issued gear, and the weather was unusually hot.

“Where did Sun Min go?” he asked. “Why didn’t you bring him along? He’s a top student, at least.”

Yu Qunqing’s response shattered his illusion. “Who’s Sun Min?”

Lin Luyi: “Huh?”

He realized something was wrong with everyone. A chill crawled up from his feet. And yet he couldn’t escape. He pinched his thigh hard—what he felt was only the conversion of his ability. The scene before his eyes didn’t change at all.

“We’re moving out. I won’t wait for anyone who falls behind,” Yu Qunqing said.

“D-Dong Changxin.” Lin Luyi stopped in place and asked the teammate he’d spent the most time with. “Y-you came from University Town, right?”

Heavy shackles hung from Dong Changxin’s hands. Her gaze was like she was looking at a corpse—utterly unmoved. She’d simply seen too many dead people. She said, “Don’t ask a murderer where she came from.”

“Tang Qianjiang!” Lin Luyi tried to grab onto the weakest member of the team to question him carefully, but an invisible force shoved him away.

“Don’t annoy me,” Tang Qianjiang said, then followed Yu Qunqing ahead.

A huge hole opened in Lin Luyi’s chest, icy wind rushing through it. He almost begged as he asked Li Yuebei, “This is fake, right?”

The dark circles on Li Yuebei’s face were gone, replaced by a different kind of haggardness. He held a cigarette between his fingers without lighting it. “I’m not good at dealing with emotional issues.”

“Having to deal with you problem teenagers every day…” Yu Qunqing turned back, grabbed Lin Luyi who’d been left behind, and dragged him along. “She Lulang and I have it tough too, you know!”

She Lulang: “I do, in fact, possess many techniques for staying calm.”

Dong Changxin: “I didn’t say anything today!”

Tang Qianjiang: “Grass-surname, you’re really that mentally fragile? I just said three words and you got upset?”

Li Yuebei: “Kind of want to go back to the cafeteria to eat. Can I get off work early today?”

Everyone in the team started talking over one another again, lively once more. As if nothing had changed, and Lin Luyi could still harvest happiness. And yet it felt like everything had changed… the tattered shelter uniforms on everyone, the missing Sun Min, Dong Changxin in shackles, the ferocious Tang Qianjiang, the slacking Li Yuebei, and those two who weren’t in a relationship…

He didn’t want this reality!

His plant-formed body twisted violently in an instant!

“LIN! LU! YI!”

Lin Luyi jolted awake again, drenched in sweat.

This time, the temperature around him was a bit low—one could even say cold. The light was dim and gray. He was inside a building.

Something soft and furry was licking his face.

“Klein Bottle, can you really lick the Parasitic Book’s virus off like this?” Yu Qunqing asked.

The black cat meowed in a flurry. Translation: it had to very precisely lick away Lin Luyi’s excess delusions without licking away his common sense; it was already trying very hard, meow; stop rushing it, meow; it was already miserable enough, meow.

Now Klein Bottle had a huge patch of missing fur and was skin and bones. Its once round head had a section caved in, making it look especially pitiful. It was no longer a lovely, beautiful kitty—it was an ugly kitty! Klein Bottle found this fact very hard to accept. Back then, the Parasitic Book had pursued it relentlessly, pushing it to the brink of death. Luckily, a “forced recall” paid item saved it. But most of its “life” had been eaten away, and it could barely maintain its form.

“Meow…”

It cried pitifully, bumping its head against Lin Luyi again and again.

Watching from the side, Sun Min felt a bit tempted and reached out to pet it twice. Klein Bottle had been downgraded, so its danger level had dropped significantly, allowing people to touch it.

“Meow~ (Even if I’ve become ugly, humans still submit to me.)”

Dong Changxin, however, found the black cat irritating no matter how she looked at it, standing to the side with her hands on her hips.

“Meow! (Such disrespect from lowly humans—this must be because I’ve become ugly!)”

Lin Luyi slowly sat up, his gaze moving from the little black cat to Sun Min. Sun Min let out a sigh of relief. “You’re awake?”

Lin Luyi stayed silent, reached out and rubbed Sun Min twice, giving him goosebumps, and only then shouted:

“I’VE FINALLY RETURNED TO REALITY!!! Wuwuwuwu—you’re all still the same, that’s so great!”

“Meow-woo— (Finally dealt with the last one.)”

“Brother Lin, did you also dream about something strange?” Tang Qianjiang said, having found a kindred spirit. “I dreamed I was the protagonist of a male-oriented web novel—a despised fake young master, and then the real young master came back and everyone loved him…”

Dong Changxin said tactfully, “That doesn’t sound like a male-oriented novel.”

Yu Qunqing was completely unaffected by the whole ordeal. He decisively used Klein Bottle’s ability to wake the others—Lin Luyi just took a bit longer. After waking up, Lin Luyi was actually in pretty good spirits. He turned his concern to the deputy captain.

“I dreamed about the past…” She Lulang didn’t look nostalgic. “The present is better.”

“Whatever stands in our way, we’ll deal with it,” Yu Qunqing promised. From the long-suppressed reality, he finally saw a bit of genuine light.

“Boom—boom—”

What was awakened wasn’t just them, but also the long-drifting Class I catastrophe: Eight-Legged Frostfall.

The people beneath the Fourth Ring had already mounted their motorcycles and sped back toward the residential zone.

Eight-Legged Frostfall’s awakening was unexpectedly dazzling and light, completely mismatched with its massive body. Every movement it made challenged humanity’s understanding of classical physics.

All eight of its vents opened wide, pouring out gray icy mist like waterfalls. Its circular main body slowly descended, while seven long legs extended upward, overlapping one another like a closed flower bud. Suddenly, the seven legs bent outward—at the instant they rubbed against each other, dazzling sparks and ear-piercing noise burst forth. The seven legs tangled together, blooming like a lotus in an instant.

When it descended to around a thousand meters, it flipped over. The seven legs slammed onto the ruins, standing firm and kicking up a wave of ash. The vast Jiangbei City was no more than a backyard to it. But it tilted slightly—something felt off. One leg just couldn’t touch the ground. A short, broken limb swiped uselessly through the air a few times.

Eight-Legged Frostfall: Huh? Where’s my leg?