3: Chapter 3 Strike first, strike hard; strike later, suffer the consequences.

In the hallway, Lin Weiwei stood by the window and said softly, "Do you believe me about Li Feng's situation?"

Wang Lin did not answer directly. "The police will investigate it thoroughly."

"The police?" A bitter smile tugged at the corners of Lin Weiwei's mouth. "They can't do anything; they'll just wait for the Night Watchers to take over."

"And the Night Watchers, they care more about whether the test a month from now can select qualified warriors, rather than the disappearance of an ordinary student."

"What are you trying to say?"

Lin Weiwei took a deep breath and said, "After school today, could we go home together?"

"My house is on the edge of the East District. It hasn't been peaceful there lately, and I'm scared to walk alone."

The East District? The place where Li Feng disappeared, the area where Calamities are active, the location of her home.

Wang Lin analyzed this quickly in his mind. Is this a trap? Or is it really just a coincidence?

If it's a coincidence, then agreeing to her means entering a dangerous area. But it also means… potentially encountering more Calamities and gaining more evolution energy.

Those three at home are hard to deal with; it would be better to find a lone Calamity. Once I am stronger, I can return home to deal with those three. Risk and opportunity coexist.

"Fine." Wang Lin nodded.

A flash of joy crossed Lin Weiwei's eyes. "Thank you. Then after school, I'll wait for you at the school gate?"

"Alright."

The class bell rang. The two returned to the classroom one after the other.

Zhou Ming immediately leaned over, his eyes shining brightly. "Brother Wang! What did Lin Weiwei want with you? I saw you two talking in the hallway for a long time!"

"It's nothing, she was asking about Li Feng," Wang Lin replied dismissively.

"Oh…" Zhou Ming looked a bit disappointed, but immediately became excited again. "But the way she looked at you wasn't ordinary! Brother Wang, do you think she might be…"

"Focus on class."

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

The bell for the end of the school day finally rang. Students walked out of the classroom one after another.

Wang Lin packed his schoolbag unhurriedly.

Zhou Ming stuffed his textbooks into his bag while urging, "Brother Wang, let's go! It's getting dark fast lately!"

"You go ahead, I still have some things to do."

"Then be careful!" Zhou Ming put on his backpack and left in a hurry.

Soon, only Wang Lin was left in the classroom. After getting ready, Wang Lin walked out of the classroom.

At the school gate, Lin Weiwei was already waiting there. Seeing Wang Lin, a smile appeared on her face.

"Have you been waiting long?" Wang Lin walked over.

"No, I just arrived," Lin Weiwei said. "Let's go."

The two walked side-by-side on the gradually darkening street. Lin Weiwei walked very slowly, deliberately maintaining a distance that kept her side-by-side with Wang Lin.

"Wang Lin," she suddenly spoke, "where do you think Li Feng went?"

"I don't know," Wang Lin answered concisely.

"I think he might still be alive," she said. "Disappearance doesn't necessarily mean death; perhaps he just went to some place we don't know about." After finishing, she rubbed her stomach.

Wang Lin glanced at her and said, "You care about him a lot?"

"After all, we are classmates," Lin Weiwei replied.

The two turned into a narrower street.

"We're almost there," Lin Weiwei said. "Just around the corner ahead is the East District."

Wang Lin nodded without speaking. He knew that Li Feng had disappeared in this vicinity.

The two turned the corner, and the scene before them made Wang Lin pause. This place was completely different from the streets they had walked through before.

If the previous area was dilapidated, then this place was dead silent. The buildings on both sides of the street were almost entirely abandoned, and many had already collapsed.

The streetlights were all broken, and only the moonlight barely illuminated the road. The most eerie thing was that the entire street was terrifyingly quiet.

"This is…" Wang Lin said softly.

"The edge of the East District," Lin Weiwei replied. "After a Calamity tide three years ago, this place was abandoned."

"The people who originally lived here all moved away, leaving only those who were unwilling to leave." "Or those who couldn't leave."

Wang Lin understood what she meant. In a place like this, those who still lived here were likely no longer human.

The two continued forward. After walking for about five minutes, Lin Weiwei suddenly stopped.

"What's wrong?" Wang Lin asked.

"I… am suddenly a little hungry…" Lin Weiwei held her abdomen, her expression somewhat pained.

"Hungry? It's okay, just hold on for a little longer, we'll be home soon."

"But I'm really hungry, I can't hold on much longer."

Wang Lin looked left and right. "There are no restaurants here, what should we do?"

Lin Weiwei looked at Wang Lin and said, "Wang Lin, do you like me?"

"No!"

Lin Weiwei was stunned for a moment, then said, "Since you don't like me, then I will eat you."

She raised her head, her eyes flashing with a strange light under the moonlight. It was not a look that a human should have.

"Then what if I said, I like you?"

Lin Weiwei smiled, but it looked a bit terrifying. "Since you like me, then let me eat you, so we will never be separated again."

[Damn it, you want to eat me whether I like you or not, so why are you asking me? Are you messing with me?]

Lin Weiwei's body gradually began to change. Her skin became paler. The color of her eyes gradually deepened, from dark brown to pitch black. Her fingernails began to slowly lengthen, harden, and become as sharp as knives.

Just at this moment of terrifying transformation, her body suddenly shuddered, and her movements froze.

She lowered her head, looking at her abdomen in disbelief. A small knife was stuck right there.

Blood was slowly seeping out along the wound, staining her light-colored school uniform jacket red.

Lin Weiwei raised her head, her pitch-black eyes staring fixedly at Wang Lin. "You…"

"This is called 'strike first, or suffer the consequences.'" Wang Lin's voice was cold, and the hand gripping the knife handle suddenly twisted and churned.

"Argh—!" The intense pain made Lin Weiwei let out a sharp hiss.

She instinctively pushed, shoving Wang Lin away. But the retreating Wang Lin grabbed Lin Weiwei's hand with his left hand, pulled back, and with his right hand, stabbed another knife fiercely into Lin Weiwei's stomach.

His voice was cold. "Do you know what it means when villains die from talking too much?"

Lin Weiwei didn't expect the ant before her to hurt her again. This time she was truly angry, and the force was so great it pushed Wang Lin three meters away.

Wang Lin stumbled back, but he didn't let go of the hand holding the knife, pulling the blade out of Lin Weiwei's stomach. Blood sprayed out, and Lin Weiwei covered her abdomen, her face distorted by pain.

"You think… this can kill me?"

Wang Lin gripped the still-dripping knife and stood straight. "Why not? One has to try."

"You're wrong." Lin Weiwei slowly straightened up, and the wound on her abdomen began to heal at a Speed visible to the naked eye. "I am a Calamity; this kind of injury… is just a trifle."

Before she had finished speaking, she suddenly moved. Her Speed was so fast that only an afterimage remained as she lunged straight at Wang Lin.

Wang Lin had been prepared, rolling to the side, and at the same time, the knife in his hand stabbed out again.

But this time, Lin Weiwei did not give him a chance. She nimbly avoided the blade, grabbed Wang Lin's wrist with one hand, and choked his neck with the other. "Snap."