Chapter 025 Cafeteria Incident
Buzz—the transparent elevators traveled through the Rubik's Cube like glass cans, following the blue pipes into the designated locations.
Crackling...
The hatch opened, steam spread out, and a dozen new trainees walked out.
Each of them had a brand new ID card hanging around their neck. They stopped briefly when passing through the second electronic door, and after the scan was completed, they entered the cafeteria in Area D in order.
The D Area Canteen is the primary canteen in the school, mainly serving low-level school workers and students below Class B. Reserve cadets naturally also have to eat here.
The students walked through the corridor in silence, and when the sealed door opened, someone finally couldn't help but let out a "wow".
“That’s great.”
A young girl with a freckled face sighed softly. Following a tall, red-haired woman, she humbly said, "I've never seen such a large dining hall before. How much food must there be here?"
This young woman had vine-like growths on the back of her head and the tips of her fingers, clearly a mutant infused with plant-based energy. Her condition wasn't particularly impressive; typically, such students were born in the Borderlands or within some wilderness sect. To have rejoined a Church of Light affiliate, she must have some hidden talents.
The red-haired woman, who was being stared at with hopeful eyes, snorted and walked nonchalantly to the long metal table and sat down. Waving her hand impatiently, she ordered, "Get me a set meal. Any one of them. I'll get tired of it anyway."
"Okay, Sister Lily~" the freckled girl answered sweetly, picked up the ID card that Xiuli threw to her, and ran to the end of the line like a puppy, humming a song.
"laugh."
Zheng Xiuli propped her head up in her hands, her gaze coldly sweeping across the cafeteria. Nearby stood rows of long steel tables, all sealed to the ground with a special adhesive, making it difficult for ordinary humans and anomalous beings alike to move.
On the right is the pillar where the rules sign is hung.
The cafeteria itself isn't an unusual place, but there's an abyss well below it, so it's hard to say what unusual things might sneak in.
To prevent abnormalities from distorting the rules into something too dangerous, the school has preemptively established [Inherent Rules] at various key locations. These rules still have the potential for distortion, but if they do, school officials will be immediately aware.
1, 2, 3... 12 in total. It seems that the Glorious Church is in good condition, at least the internal facilities are not relaxed at all.
Zheng Xiuli bit her lip and forced herself not to recall the past.
Both father and mother are idiots, and there is no need for a weak organization to exist.
I have successfully joined the largest and most powerful organization of mankind. There will definitely be enough time to advance my powerful superpowers to the peak. By then, no one will die in vain!
"Sister Li, Sister Lily."
"What's the matter? Didn't I tell you it's okay..."
Zheng Xiuli raised her head irritably, then stood up quickly.
The little girl named Yang Lele, whom she had just met yesterday, was sobbing and wiping her tears.
There was some commotion in the queue in front of the cafeteria window, but people kept their voices down and didn't dare leave the queue. Some even stood there motionless, holding their breath.
Because a headless corpse lay on the clean tiles, blood gurgled and gathered into a bright red pool.
The body fell at Yang Lele's feet, staining her thin white shoes red.
Zheng Xiuli staggered forward two steps and suddenly stopped in front of the second row of tables.
We must not act rashly; the most urgent task is to understand the abnormal abilities and rules. Since some people can still cry and talk, it means that the restrictions on sound are not very strict.
She looked around for anything unusual and suddenly saw someone using a cell phone to contact the school. She felt relieved: In fact, she could just stand there and wait for the professionals to come, which would be the safest way.
For a moment, she wanted to sit back down and wait for the teachers and senior janitors to arrive. Then, the next second, she clenched her fists: Stop kidding! The school doesn't have any resources for useless people!
This anomaly did not activate the school-level alarm, indicating that its energy level was well within the range that the students could hunt.
Things seemed to be just as she thought. Within a minute, no armed personnel came with heavy weapons to clear out the group. Only a few low-level school workers gathered around and stood outside the queue like her, not daring to act rashly.
"Yang Lele, do you see anything unusual?"
Zheng Xiuli walked forward a few steps and came to the back of the corpse.
This body looked like a student's; the ID card had been thrown to the side. Generally, a body's direction indicates escape. The anomaly should be in the corresponding position of the team, near Yang Lele.
"Ah... um!" Yang Lele wiped her tears with one hand and raised the other hand tremblingly, pointing diagonally forward.
There were seven people in front of her in line, and Zheng Xiuli quickly locked onto the guy being pointed at: a boy with a hunched back.
At first glance, the boy appears to be wearing a gray T-shirt and black shorts, but a closer look reveals that a thin, light-absorbing gray mist is covering the area below his head, and the expression on his face is extremely painful, as if he is silently shouting "Help!"
It's an anomaly with the ability to possess people, and it's very dangerous!
Possession itself is a very troublesome problem. Not only will the possessed person lose control of their body due to the abnormality, but even if it is successfully dispelled, it can easily leave irreversible corrosive damage in the body or even... lose superpowers.
Zheng Xiuli took a step back and watched coldly as several low-level school workers walked into the queue after receiving the call.
These low-level janitors are, in a sense, consumables. They sign contracts with the church, receiving high pay while also taking high risks.
Most low-level school workers do not have superpowers. They rely entirely on training and technology to gain physical fitness beyond that of ordinary people, and use equipment to eliminate low-risk anomalies.
The first janitor entered the queue in front of Yang Lele, and nothing happened.
The second janitor chose a position closer to the front, that is, behind the possessed boy - nothing happened either.
The third one walked in front of the anomaly...
Tsk tsk.
There was a popping sound of a soda bottle cap being opened in the air.
The janitor's head fell off from the smooth incision, and arterial blood spurted out onto the ceiling, dripping all over Yang Lele's head and face.
"Ah, ah!" Yang Lele covered his mouth and stuffed his palm in. The root-like plant tendrils immediately filled his mouth, and he refused to roar or run out of the queue.
Her reaction was correct, and the third deceased revealed the mystery of the first body in public.
"Ah - no!!!" A female student in red screamed and ran out of the team. She was originally standing in front of the anomaly, but the blood of the school worker splashed on her face and she completely collapsed.
With a snap, her foot slipped and the skull rolled further away.
There are rules, and this anomaly comes with its own rules!
Zheng Xiuli's face turned pale. She and everyone present could guess two rules: people in the queue were not allowed to leave without permission; people outside the queue could enter the queue, but they could not cut in line in front of the abnormality!
“Chuckle, chuckle.”
The boy, possessed by the anomaly, started to chatter his teeth, as if he was chewing something. Then everyone realized that the corpse on the ground was disappearing from the neck down!
"Ah!" The janitor at the lunch window was suddenly frightened. He was still getting his lunch, but when he saw this scene, he completely dropped his spoon.
"Roar!" There was an unusual roar, and a long, thin tongue stretched out from the boy's throat, piercing through the janitor's neck with a hiss.
"Ah ..." The janitors inside the window screamed, but they
If humans want to survive in the hands of abnormalities, they must abide by the rules!
So another school worker picked up the spoon tremblingly and served food to the next student after two of his colleagues died in a row.
Only then did Yifan retract his tongue and lower his head as if comforted.
Beep beep.
Zheng Xiuli gritted her teeth and turned on her cell phone. After the monster killed several people in succession, a new email finally arrived in her mailbox.
【Attention, students】
[An unusual intrusion has been detected in the D-area cafeteria. Tentative rating: Light Blue. Please wait for senior staff to handle. Students with a B-level or higher rating may attempt to suppress the situation while ensuring their own safety.]
It's safe, the school will deal with it soon.
Many people around him breathed a sigh of relief, and Zheng Xiuli also looked back at the food window with a sense of relief. The food was still being served, and the monster was already the third one in line.
Wait, the monsters are lining up all the time.
She suddenly realized something. This anomaly might be more anthropomorphic than everyone imagined. After entering the cafeteria, it did two things: one was possession, and the other was queuing.
If these two things have a personalized purpose, then it must be to wait in line and then get food?
No, it eats people. Food has no meaning to anomalies.
Possessed... possessed, does it want to possess the school worker who serves lunch?
It wants to obtain this identity and establish a strong connection with the cafeteria!
Cold sweat streamed down her face as Zheng Xiuli looked around. The other school workers had already begun to evacuate, dragging away bodies in plastic bags. This would certainly reduce the supply of anomalies, but, but that wasn't the point!
"Don't let it get near the window!" If we let it become part of the cafeteria's rules, even if a senior commissioner comes to deal with it later, I'm afraid we'll all be wiped out!
She shouted anxiously, but the other freshmen were all far away, and the few unlucky ones in the queue just shook their heads palely, cried, or simply had blank eyes.
He raised his head abnormally, and his two empty, pure black eye sockets stared at her face.
Zheng Xiuli felt cold all over, and she ran, ran quickly, ran, ran, ran.
【Xiuli, run away quickly.】
Run away!
Countless blood-red images jumped and burned in my mind: my father's tears, my mother's pierced chest, and more, and more, and more -
She survived.
Cold hands and cold arms in protective clothing.
At that time, I smiled very happily.
Yes, it's great to be alive... I am the smartest, luckiest, and most...
[The powerful Zheng Xiuli.]
The girl's fiery red hair fluttered in the wind, like a burning flame.
She thrust herself into the line and came to the very back of the anomaly.
Gurgle.
An angry growl like a beast emanated from the abnormal boy's throat.
Zheng Xiuli's chest was burning, but her mind was unusually calm.
Standing in front will trigger the rules immediately, but standing behind will not, so I have one and only one chance to attack first!
Yeah, why ignore super powers?
My ability [Energy Burst] can detonate most substances, even those that are non-flammable, non-combustible, and non-explosive!
She grabbed the boy's arm tightly and moved the energy in her body to her palm.
As expected, she was unable to detonate the anomaly in front of her because there was a certain gap in their power.
Human superpowers are also a kind of abnormal power. Except for a very few cases, low-level superpowers will always be suppressed by high-level superpowers.
The unusual struggle was not very strong. It was not good at hand-to-hand combat, and it did not think that the human in front of it could turn the tables with that little energy.
But it doesn't matter, my purpose is not to directly detonate you.
Zheng Xiuli raised her face with a sinister smile. An extraordinary willpower completely wiped out her fear, and she roared at the terrifying anomaly:
"Stupid, I'm going to blow up my own right hand!!!"
Light and heat gathered and compressed in the palm of my hand, and that tiny point of light was about to explode completely -
rustling.
The flames went out with a whoosh.
Ha, haha… ha? Zheng Xiuli, who had been laughing wildly, couldn't laugh anymore. What was going on? Could this anomaly have other special abilities? This is too shameless!
"Two classmates~"
A slightly cool little hand grasped her wrist. The black-haired girl stood outside the queue, looking at them with some condemnation: "Don't cut in line or quarrel in the cafeteria."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
