66: Chapter 66 Practical Application of the Pure Flame Vision

On the second night, an anomaly was reported at the old Qinghe bus terminal.

During the day, everything was normal.

Vehicles pulled into the station, passengers got on and off, and the platform broadcast repeated familiar route information.

But when night fell, some people saw passengers who did not exist in the glass of the bus shelter.

Those passengers stood on the other side of the glass, backs turned to reality, as if waiting for a bus that would never come.

When someone approached, they could even hear the sound of a card being swiped from inside the glass.

The mission was issued quickly.

Shen Qinghe led the team.

Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan accompanied her.

Zhao Ye was responsible for backup.

Bai Ya monitored the Grey Net data remotely.

This was not a high-risk mission, but it was well-suited for training new members to handle overflowing remnants under the guidance of official members.

After night fell, the lights at the old bus terminal went out one by one.

Shen Qinghe stood in front of the bus shelter and raised her hand, sweeping it across her eyes.

Pure Flame Vision activated.

Cold white flames burned in her eyes.

The next moment, the ordinary colors of reality began to recede.

The station signs, advertisements, glass, and floor tiles all seemed to be covered in a layer of grey.

Only deep within the ground of the bus shelter, a severed path was slowly extending.

That path looked like a charred line, or like a section of an old road scalded by Purifying Flame.

It was extremely similar to the remnants left by the Jiangbei driverless night bus.

Lin Zhao was responsible for evacuating nearby residents.

He had no Torch and no official Ability Seed, but Apprentice training made him much steadier on the scene than before.

He used ordinary excuses to persuade the onlookers to leave.

"Line maintenance, the platform is temporarily closed."

An old person did not believe him and tried to peek into the bus shelter.

Xu Minglan walked over and supported them.

"Ma'am, the glass is cracked, don't get too close."

At the same time, she used the Xin Huo Interface to record the slight contamination reaction on the old person.

Zhao Ye remained on the perimeter on standby.

He did not immediately drop Torch.

Torch was not used to show presence, but to reach critical positions when needed.

Bai Ya's voice came from the Xin Huo channel.

"The Grey Net has captured the route remnants."

"It didn't grow out of the platform; it was connected from the outside."

After observing for a moment, Shen Qinghe reached a conclusion.

"It is not a complete anomaly."

"It is a road."

This sentence made everyone's heart sink slightly.

A road means a connection.

A connection means it might not just be in Qinghe.

Shen Qinghe took out a Fire Seal talisman and left a mark on the edge of the bus shelter floor.

Strictly speaking, she could already learn the Fire Seal, but the complete Fire Seal still required official formulas and mission authorization. At this time, she was using a Temporary Fire Seal talisman issued by the training area to allow the Grey Net to lock onto the path remnants.

The grey-white fire mark flashed and disappeared.

The Grey Net began tracking simultaneously.

But Pure Flame Vision was not without a price.

After observing for several minutes, Shen Qinghe felt a sharp pain in her eyes.

What she saw was not just a simple image, but the wounds to reality left by the anomaly remnants.

The longer she looked, the heavier the mental burden.

She voluntarily ended the vision.

When the fire in her eyes went out, the colors of reality flooded back.

Shen Qinghe closed her eyes for a moment.

Zhao Ye immediately asked, "Can you continue?"

"Yes."

Shen Qinghe opened her eyes, her voice steady.

"But there is no need to keep looking."

She looked up at the route sign on top of the bus shelter.

Originally, there were only local Qinghe routes there.

But in the lingering afterglow of the Pure Flame Vision, she had just seen a line of non-existent station names.

Jiangbei Old District.

After the mission ended, the Grey Net provided the tracking results.

Jiangbei Old District.

Qinghe Bus Terminal.

Unknown next station.

An inter-city anomaly path was gradually taking shape.

Bai Ya was silent for a moment, then whispered, "It is looking for a road."

Shen Qinghe looked at the Grey Net mark.

"It's not looking."

"It has already come over."

During the mission, Xu Minglan also felt the gap between herself and the official members on a real scene for the first time.

She could sense the slight residual contamination on the old person, but she couldn't see the path.

Yet Shen Qinghe could determine where it came from and where it might go in a few minutes.

This was not just a simple gap in experience.

It was the difference brought about by authority, Ability Seed, and the skills of official members combined.

Xu Minglan was not discouraged.

She just recorded this in her mission notes.

[Pure Flame Vision can identify path-type anomaly remnants.]

[Medical routes need to establish corresponding observation tables.]

[After ordinary patients are affected by path-type anomalies, they may experience confusion in sense of direction, time displacement, and recurring dreams of transportation tools.]

After finishing, she looked up at the bus shelter.

The non-existent passengers in the glass had faded, but the chill on the platform had not completely dissipated.

Lin Zhao stood not far away, sending the last old person to a safe area.

He looked a bit tired, but he didn't complain.

Shen Qinghe noticed the state of the two and gave an evaluation during the mission debriefing.

Lin Zhao's evacuation process was stable.

Xu Minglan's medical records were complete.

For second-generation Apprentices, this was more important than simply gaining contributions.

Because official members do not appear suddenly.

They are all like this, in mission after mission, turning fear into procedures, and procedures into abilities.

The Grey Net scanned the bus terminal one last time.

The bus shelter returned to normal.

But Shen Qinghe did not feel relieved.

She knew this was just a shadow of that "road."

The real bus was still traveling somewhere further away.

When Shen Qinghe submitted this mission review to Zero, she specifically marked a suggestion.

[Path-type anomalies should not have their surface projections destroyed directly.]

[Priority should be given to confirming the starting point, ending point, and connection method of the "road."]

This judgment was quickly incorporated into the Grey Net rule library.

After seeing it, Lu Chen added a prompt description to Pure Flame Vision in the backend.

[When facing path-type anomalies, prioritize observing the connection lines, not attacking the manifested targets.]

This is how the Torch system grows.

A mission is not just a victory or a defeat.

As long as someone brings back real records alive, the next time a similar anomaly appears, Torch will be one step faster than before.

When Zhou Yan saw this new rule, he couldn't help but write a small note next to the file.

The road is not the monster.

The road is the way the monster comes.

After writing it, he shivered himself.

This rule soon appeared in Lin Zhao and Xu Minglan's Xin Huo Interface.

Although they could not yet learn the complete Pure Flame Vision, they could already see in advance how official members judged anomalies.

After reading it, Lin Zhao felt a chill down his back.

He had originally thought that anomalies were individual, independent monsters.

Now he knew that some anomalies were more like road networks.

You think it has appeared before your eyes, but in fact, it is just passing through here.

The true source might still be somewhere very far away.