2: Chapter 2: School isn't safe either.

At 6:30 in the morning, Wang Lin looked at his system panel:

[Awakening Sequence: No. 0]

[Ability: Infinite Evolution]

[Ability Description: You can consume living beings to achieve evolution of your life form.]

To evolve, he could only eat Calamities.

The good news was: there were three Calamities in this house.

The bad news was: he could not beat them, and he might even be eaten by them.

"Xiao Lin, come down quickly for breakfast!" The voice of his mother, Li Xiulan, came from downstairs.

Wang Lin forced himself to stay calm.

He needed to disguise himself, needed time, and even more, needed an opportunity.

At the breakfast table, the atmosphere was eerily normal.

His father, Wang Dashan, sat at the head of the table, holding the Ash Town Weekly.

The front-page headline was glaring: [Another disappearance case reported in the East District sewers last night; Night Watchers warn residents not to go out at night].

"Dad, morning." Wang Lin sat down opposite his sister, Wang Xiaoyue.

Wang Dashan looked up from the newspaper and scrutinized him for two seconds: "Has your fever gone down?"

"Yeah, completely."

Wang Xiaoyue was drinking a bowl of thick soup. Seeing Wang Lin, she smiled sweetly: "Morning, brother! Are you going to school today?"

Of course he had to go to school; this house was too terrifying, and if he stayed, he might be eaten.

"I am," Wang Lin nodded, "I've missed quite a few days of classes."

Li Xiulan walked out of the kitchen carrying a plate of pancakes: "Why not rest for another day? Your complexion still doesn't look too good."

"I'm fine, Mom." Wang Lin took the pancake and took a bite.

It tasted like wax.

Ordinary food had no energy and couldn't help him evolve.

What he needed was a Calamity—a Calamity that could help him evolve.

"Be careful on the road," Wang Dashan put down the newspaper, his tone flat, "The town hasn't been peaceful lately."

[If the town isn't peaceful, can it be any less peaceful than this house?]

[There might not be a Calamity in town, but there definitely is one at home!]

Wang Xiaoyue blinked her big eyes: "Brother, come back early, okay? Mom said she's making stewed meat tonight."

Stewed meat? Whose meat was she stewing?

Wang Lin recalled the man who was consumed last night.

"Mm." He responded vaguely, finished his breakfast quickly, and said, "I'm done eating. I'm heading to school."

"Wait," Li Xiulan called out to him, pulling a small cloth bag from her apron pocket, "Here's your lunch money."

Wang Lin took the bag, which contained a few dusty coins.

"Thanks, Mom."

Walking out of the house, the streets of Ash Town appeared even more dilapidated in the morning mist.

Wang Lin gripped his schoolbag strap tightly and walked quickly toward the school.

Just as he arrived at school, Wang Lin heard a voice: "Brother Wang! Over here!"

Wang Lin turned his head and saw his best friend, Zhou Ming, jogging over.

Zhou Ming was half a head shorter than Wang Lin, had a round face, and wore glasses.

"Brother Wang, are you better?" Zhou Ming ran up to him, looked him up and down, and said, "Your complexion… is still a bit pale."

"Yeah, I'm better."

"That's good!" Zhou Ming patted his shoulder and lowered his voice, "If you didn't come to school, your goddess, Lin Weiwei, would've been snatched away by someone else."

Lin Weiwei was in his class, had excellent grades, and was the original owner's former crush.

"What do you mean?" Wang Lin asked, his tone flat.

"Li Feng! That guy has been coming to our class every day this week. Yesterday, someone even saw them leaving school together!"

Li Feng. The sports representative of Class 3, Grade 12. His family had some money.

In the original owner's memory, this person was arrogant and domineering, often bullying the weak by relying on his strong physique.

"What does that have to do with me?" Wang Lin said, striding toward the teaching building.

Zhou Ming was stunned for a moment, then chased after him: "Brother Wang, you… didn't you really like Lin Weiwei before? You even secretly wrote her love letters."

"That was in the past." Wang Lin interrupted him.

The old Wang Lin was already dead.

He now had more important things to worry about; he had no time for romance.

When he walked into the classroom, the morning reading session had already begun.

Wang Lin saw at a glance that Lin Weiwei, who was sitting in the front row, looked up at him.

Wang Lin averted his gaze expressionlessly and walked straight to his seat.

In the third row by the window, there was originally a girl named Chen Jing sitting next to him, but that seat was empty again today.

This was the third consecutive day Chen Jing hadn't come to school.

"Brother Wang," Zhou Ming leaned over and lowered his voice, "Look at Lin Weiwei. She was staring at you just now."

"Focus on your morning reading."

Wang Lin opened his textbook, but noticed out of the corner of his eye that Lin Weiwei was indeed looking his way from time to time.

At this moment, the classroom door was pushed open.

Their homeroom teacher, Teacher Li Guodong, walked in.

This middle-aged man in his forties looked exceptionally haggard today, with puffy eye bags and, most noticeably, two dark circles under his eyes, as if he hadn't slept all night.

As soon as he entered, he walked onto the podium and cleared his throat.

"Students, before class starts, I have something to announce."

"Last night, Li Feng from Class 3, Grade 12, went missing on his way home from school."

After a brief, deathly silence, the classroom erupted in chaos.

"Missing? When did this happen?"

"I saw him at the school gate after school yesterday…"

"Could he have run off to play somewhere?"

Teacher Li Guodong slapped the podium heavily: "Quiet!"

Teacher Li Guodong's gaze swept across the class and finally stopped on Lin Weiwei:

"Student Lin Weiwei, after school yesterday, someone saw you and Li Feng leaving school together. Is that correct?"

Lin Weiwei slowly stood up, her expression calm: "Yes, Teacher Li."

"After school yesterday, Li Feng said he had something to discuss with me, so we left school together."

"And then?" Teacher Li Guodong pressed, "Where did you go? When did you part ways?"

"Right at the East Street intersection. We talked for a few minutes there and then parted ways. He walked east, and I walked west to go home."

"What exactly was said? Did he say where he was going? Or… did he mention anyone?"

Lin Weiwei shook her head gently: "He just asked if I could help him tutor some basic knowledge."

"I said yes, arranged for the weekend, and then we parted ways."

Teacher Li Guodong stared at her for a few seconds, then nodded: "Alright, I understand."

"The police will be here in a while to ask questions. Just tell them the truth."

"Okay, Teacher Li."

Wang Lin glanced at Lin Weiwei. It seemed this school wasn't peaceful either.

============================

After the morning classes ended, Wang Lin closed his textbook, wanting to take a leak...

Just then, Zhou Ming leaned in, his voice lowered even further: "Brother Wang, do you think Lin Weiwei knows something?"

"The police will investigate," Wang Lin said.

Just as he walked to the classroom door, a soft voice came from behind: "Wang Lin."

He turned around and found Lin Weiwei standing behind him.

"Could I take a moment of your time?"

Curious gazes were immediately cast in their direction.

Wang Lin nodded: "Let's go to the corridor to talk."

The two walked out of the classroom one after the other, leaving behind a group of whispering classmates.

Zhou Ming whispered: "Strange. Brother Wang ignores her, but she's become the proactive one instead?"

"Could it be that all women are like this? Or is this Brother Wang's 'playing hard to get'?"