137: Chapter 137 Shedding the Cicada's Shell, Temporarily Avoiding the Edge

The mysterious caller's warning was cold and clear; the force behind them was certainly no benevolent entity.

Since the other party could precisely pinpoint him and grant him "special treatment" outside of the "list," it meant he was at least not on their immediate elimination list for the time being.

This was a brief window of safety bought with some unknown "value" or "evaluation." He had to cherish it!

Thoughts flashed through his mind in an instant. Ling Ye hesitated no longer, the last trace of struggle in his eyes turning into cold determination.

He acted quickly. First, he took the "Azure Planet Common Mineral Atlas" and a few unimportant personal items from his backpack, along with the "Guide" Su Qing had given him, and scattered them across the desk and bed, creating the illusion of a "hasty departure, with no time to tidy up."

At the same time, he carefully tucked the black stone, sealed in its metal box, into the innermost compartment of his backpack.

Next, he checked the survival gear in his backpack to confirm everything was there. He put on his personal terminal and zipped his jacket all the way to the top, covering the lower half of his face.

Then, he walked to the door. He didn't open it immediately, but instead tilted his head to listen for movement in the corridor, while simultaneously extending his "Spiritual Sense" like mercury spilling onto the ground, perceiving the situation on the floors above and below.

It was dead silent. The Neighbors seemed to be asleep, or perhaps too frightened by the earlier anomaly and the commotion in the distance to step outside.

Now!

Ling Ye gently turned the lock, slipped out, and pulled the door shut behind him, but didn't lock it (leaving behind traces of a panicked departure).

He didn't take the elevator, but instead hurried silently down the fire stairs. His footsteps were as light as a cat's, making almost no sound at all.

Reaching the first floor, he didn't leave through the main entrance (where there might be surveillance or prying eyes), but instead turned toward the narrow passageway behind the building where trash and debris were piled up.

The lighting here was dim, and with the piles of debris, it was rarely visited.

He familiarly squeezed past a pile of discarded furniture and arrived at a rusted, long-abandoned side gate at the edge of the Oak Street Community.

This gate was locked from the outside, but the hinges had long since rusted, and there was a significant gap between the gate panel and the wall.

Ling Ye turned sideways, and like an agile fish, squeezed through the gap.

The rough wall plaster scraped against his jacket, making a faint "rustling" sound that was exceptionally clear in the quiet early morning. He held his breath and, without stopping, quickly moved away from the wall and vanished into the deep shadows cast by a building across the street.

Only then did he dare to glance back at the building where his apartment was located. The windows were pitch black, no different from those of the other residents.

In the distance, the direction of the Old Factory District remained shrouded in heavy darkness, but that intangible, cold sense of oppression felt like a giant net tightening, enveloping the entire community.

He didn't linger, keeping his body low as he moved quickly through the deepest shadows of the alleys, heading in the direction opposite to the Old Factory District, toward the west exit of the community.

The streets in the early morning were empty, with only a cold wind blowing through, stirring up fallen leaves on the ground. In the distance, the sound of hovercar engines and faint warning whistles seemed concentrated on the main roads to the east and south of the Old Factory District; the west side was relatively quiet.

Ling Ye's "Spiritual Sense" remained on high alert, perceiving every movement around him. He avoided the main roads with streetlights, sticking instead to alleys and abandoned paths between buildings.

Occasionally, a patrolling community robot would glide by, but he would sense it in advance and quickly hide.

He could feel the atmosphere of the community changing quietly. The "cold" scent in the air seemed to be growing stronger, mixed with a faint, "ionized" smell similar to ozone.

The "sense of discord" from the direction of the Old Factory District rose and fell, like the struggles of a trapped beast.

What made his heart palpitate even more was that he vaguely "felt" that from several directions in the community, there seemed to be more than one cold "information field" with a clear "sense of purpose" and "sense of Order" quietly moving and converging, like hunters tightening a perimeter.

It was the people from the "Cleaning" operation! They had already started their deployment!

Ling Ye's heart hammered, but his pace remained steady, even quickening. He had to leave the community before the perimeter completely closed or the other party began their "Cleaning" operation!

Just as he was about to reach the western edge of the community and could already see the wider road outside and the lights of a twenty-four-hour convenience store in the distance—

BOOM!!!

A dull, thunderous roar, as if from deep underground, suddenly erupted from the direction of the Old Factory District! Immediately after, the ground seemed to tremble slightly!

It wasn't an energy burst, nor was it a psychic screech; it was a physical explosion or collapse!

After the loud noise, the sky in the direction of the Old Factory District suddenly lit up with a blazing, blue-and-white interwoven radiance, accompanied by countless leaping arcs of electricity!

The light was not continuous; like a camera flash, it illuminated half the sky for an instant before extinguishing just as quickly! But in that moment, Ling Ye saw a distorted shadow, like a rift in space, flicker and vanish above the center of the Old Factory District!

Had the seal been broken?! Or had the "Cleaning" side used heavy weaponry?!

At the same time, piercing alarms suddenly rang out from multiple directions within the community! It wasn't a fire alarm, but a sharper, more urgent public safety evacuation alarm!

"Woo—woo—woo—"

Amidst the alarms, the roar of hovercar engines suddenly intensified, along with vague, indistinct shouts coming through loudspeakers: "...Residents please take note! Emergency! Please immediately... evacuate... follow instructions..."

The authorities had finally been forced to intervene! But judging by the chaotic commotion, the situation was likely already out of control!

The last shred of hope in Ling Ye's heart vanished. He stopped hiding his movements and burst forth with full power, like an arrow released from a bow, rushing out through the final gap in the western wall of the community and leaping onto the relatively open street outside!

Looking back, the Oak Street Community was already blanketed in the flickering red light of alarms, the lights of hovercars, and the eerie, lingering blue-and-white glow from the direction of the Old Factory District.

The chaotic din, the pungent odor, and that cold, violent fluctuation of abnormal energy combined into a suffocatingly terrifying scene.

And he had just broken free from it.

Without stopping, Ling Ye identified his direction and sprinted toward the city center where the academy was located.

The cold wind hit his face, rushing into his lungs and bringing a burning pain, but also a cold, clear-headed sense of having survived a disaster.

He had escaped the core area of the "Cleaning" operation, but the crisis was far from over.

That thing beneath the Old Factory District seemed to have truly emerged—at least, partially.

The "Cleaning" operation had already begun, colliding head-on with the abnormal outbreak.

Official forces had been forced into the fray, and the situation was in total chaos.

And he, this "Gatekeeper" candidate from another world who carried a secret, had just grazed the edge of this storm.

What should he do next?

The academy might no longer be a safe haven either.

He needed a new place to hide, he needed to understand the development of the situation immediately, and he needed to... re-evaluate everything.