Kong Wu shook his head. "No."
"Why? Because we lack the ability to traverse the Mist?"
Liu Ziming's voice rose an octave.
Feng Jue interjected, "Has something happened outside?"
The air instantly grew heavy.
Su Zhan and Xu Hao exchanged glances—their earlier speculations seemed to be confirmed.
Kong Wu sighed. "First, your inability to traverse the Mist is indeed partly due to insufficient strength."
"Second, something has indeed happened outside."
The four students immediately tensed.
Was someone really targeting Vermilion Bird Academy?
Then what about the academy now...
Wang Mingyuan adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses. "There have already been over a hundred similar Mist incidents recorded across Daxia."
"Over a hundred?"
Xu Hao's eyes widened. "Doesn't that mean—"
"But the situation isn't as dire as you imagine."
Seeing their nervous expressions, Kong Wu suddenly grinned. "Wait, you didn't think something happened to Vermilion Bird Academy, did you?"
The four slowly nodded.
"Hahahaha!"
Kong Wu roared with laughter. "Don't make me laugh! If even Vermilion Bird Academy was compromised, Daxia would already be facing existential crisis!"
Su Zhan quietly exhaled in relief. "Then Instructor Kong, when you said our inability to traverse the Mist was only one reason..."
Kong Wu scratched his head. "Well, the Mist should naturally dissipate in about two hours. As for the other reason..."
He glanced at Wang Mingyuan, signaling him to explain.
Wang Mingyuan stepped forward. "Do you know where the Mist outside this street currently leads?"
"Isn't it Vermilion Bird City?"
Liu Ziming answered reflexively.
"No."
Wang Mingyuan shook his head, his expression grave. "This street has temporarily detached from the real world."
"Beyond this avenue lies the pure Mist World."
"Even if you possessed infinite Mist traversal ability, unless you return to this street when the spatial anchor reconnects, you'd never find your way back to Daxia."
Feng Jue said, "Spatial separation?"
"More precisely, spatial fragmentation."
Wang Mingyuan nodded. "There are currently over a hundred such fragmented spaces across Daxia, all temporarily floating in the Mist World."
"You can enter, but to leave, you must remain here without moving."
"When the spatial anchor reconnects in two hours, you'll naturally return."
The four fell silent.
Liu Ziming shuddered. "So if we'd recklessly charged into the Mist earlier..."
"You'd be forever lost in the Mist World."
Feng Jue coldly stated the consequence.
Su Zhan felt lingering fear.
Different time flow.
The Mist leads to the Mist World.
The Mist's assault on Daxia grows stronger.
Two hours later.
With a spatial distortion hum, the Mist enveloping the street finally dissipated completely.
Blinding sunlight fell upon the ravaged street, making everything feel like a lifetime ago.
The four students were quickly transported to Vermilion Bird Academy's medical center.
After comprehensive examinations and treatment, they were separately taken to interrogation rooms.
"Please describe your experiences within the fragmented space in detail."
The interrogator pushed forward a cup of hot tea.
Liu Ziming recounted events slowly, but when mentioning the Ultraman mask, he suddenly slammed the table.
"When I was nearly gutted by Snake-Tailed Beasts, it suddenly charged out—wait, you don't think I'm making this up, do you?"
"Of course not."
The interrogator gestured for him to continue.
"Holy shit! You have no idea how terrifying it was!"
Liu Ziming jumped up, pounding the table. "Two Snake-Tailed Beasts were chasing me! They tore my custom-made jacket to shreds!"
Interrogator: "Get to the point."
"The point is that Aberrant!"
Liu Ziming waved his arms dramatically. "It came charging out wearing an Ultraman mask! Can you believe it? Red and silver color scheme, reflective eyes! After killing the monsters, it actually gestured for me to scram!"
The interrogator recorded this. "It didn't attack you?"
"Duh! If it had, would I be here chatting with you?"
Liu Ziming rolled his eyes. "But seriously, its combat methods were brutally efficient."
......
"It really saved us!"
Xu Hao drew the Ultraman mask on paper. "It looked ridiculous, but its Snake-Tailed Beast killing techniques were highly professional."
......
"Approximately 1.85 meters tall, gray-black scales, straightforward combat style."
Feng Jue stated emotionlessly. "It deliberately avoided communication, clearly concerned about exposing its identity."
......
"I don't believe its appearance was coincidental."
Su Zhan spoke calmly. "It seemed specifically focused on hunting Snake-Tailed Beasts. Saving us might have been incidental. Of course, this is just my speculation."
......
In the softly lit interrogation room.
The interrogator gathered all four. "Regarding that Ultraman mask-wearing Aberrant, I need you to jointly recall some details."
The four sat around the table with varying expressions.
Liu Ziming crossed his legs, fingers drumming impatiently. "We've said everything. How many times must we repeat this?"
Xu Hao hurriedly mediated. "Young Master Liu, don't be impatient. They're just following procedure."
Turning to the interrogator with his trademark smile: "Ask whatever you need."
Feng Jue kept his eyes closed, seemingly resting.
Su Zhan kept his gaze lowered, appearing docile.
The interrogator opened a file. "First, confirm—all four of you personally witnessed this Aberrant?"
They nodded simultaneously.
"Can you describe the mask's specific design?"
Xu Hao answered eagerly. "Classic style! Red and silver, with yellow transparent lenses."
"Size?"
Liu Ziming sneered. "Standard children's size. Looked absolutely ridiculous on its head."
The interrogator recorded quickly. "So an adult wearing a child's mask. Describe its combat methods."
Su Zhan said softly, "Highly professional. First destroys the gill-like organs, then targets the head's weak points."
"Like professional training?"
Feng Jue shook his head. "More like instinct."
The interrogator's pen paused. "Do you think it could be affiliated with the Academy?"
All four shook their heads.
Liu Ziming scoffed. "Don't be absurd. The Academy only has Awakened. Would an Awakened be an Aberrant?"
"Then what do you think its origins are..."
Xu Hao scratched his head. "Definitely not a Vermilion Bird City resident! With the city's defenses, an Aberrant of that level couldn't hide."
Feng Jue added, "Unless recently mutated, but its strength contradicts that."
The interrogator mused, "So your conclusion is..."
"An outsider."
All four spoke simultaneously.
"One final point."
The interrogator scanned them. "You mentioned fifteen Snake-Tailed Beasts, but only one corpse was found at the scene."
"What the hell! What are you implying?"
Liu Ziming frowned. "You think we're lying?"
The interrogator sighed. "Of course not. According to other survivors' accounts, they indeed saw over a dozen Snake-Tailed Beasts. This might relate to that Ultraman-masked Aberrant you described."
Closing the notebook: "Thank you for cooperating. I'll compile this information for the Dean's Office."
"Additionally, this matter is classified. Please refrain from public discussion until the Academy issues an official statement."
The four nodded in agreement.
After the interrogator left.
Liu Ziming exhaled deeply. "Finally over!"
Xu Hao grinned mischievously. "What expression do you think the Dean will have reading this?"
Feng Jue said, "He'll dispatch a hunting team."
Xu Hao scratched his head, changing topics. "Hey, don't you think giving up all the Ultraman clues is kinda... ungrateful?"
Liu Ziming snorted. "What? You want to protect an Aberrant? Remember what they are."
"But it saved us!"
Xu Hao raised his voice. "Four! Four times!"
Feng Jue said coolly, "Opposing factions leave no choice."
Hearing this, Su Zhan felt increased goodwill toward Xu Hao.
Now this was a decent person.
But mostly he felt helpless.
Aberrants and humans were natural enemies.
Even if he was an Aberrant who didn't need to "hunt."
It changed nothing.
Human prejudice was an immovable mountain.
He dared not reveal his Aberrant identity.
First, he feared being dissected in a lab.
Second, he wouldn't—and needn't—gamble.
His Aberrant identity was his trump card, his second self.
It must never be exposed.
Helpless. Take it step by step.
"Xu Hao, if we concealed this,"
Su Zhan said carefully, "no one could guarantee that Ultraman wouldn't kill next time."
Xu Hao muttered, "I know. It just feels wrong. It could've eaten us."
"Making it more dangerous."
Feng Jue said gravely, "An Aberrant retaining humanity is ten times scarier than a pure monster."
Liu Ziming suddenly grinned. "I say let the hunting team deal with it! See what kind of lunatic it really is!"
Su Zhan said softly, "It's reported now. Beyond our control."
The four fell silent.
Xu Hao finally mumbled, "Hope it ran far away."