Chapter 27: Chapter 27: I’m a Psychic, I’m Laying My Cards on the Table
In Z City, everyone simultaneously looked up at the sky, wary of their surroundings.
A hint of fear for the unknown flickered in their eyes, as the air raid sirens had been blaring for over ten minutes.
At first, no one paid the incident any mind, assuming it was just a routine alert for a superpowered battle. That is, until the disaster began to affect each and every one of them...
Inside Midtown High School, with the persistent alarm echoing throughout the city, some students tried to pull out their phones to post a complaint or two online, but they quickly realized something was wrong.
"What’s going on? My phone has no signal."
"It’s not that there’s no signal. Mine still shows full bars, but I can’t log into any video sites."
"Damn it, this super-user is so powerful! They can even stop us from getting online!"
...
In a corner seat by the window, Fang Can tilted his head, looking down on the class with a rather leisurely expression.
After all, his "superpowered bad-thing-detection radar" hadn’t gone off yet, which meant the situation was still within a controllable range.
So, no need to panic. It wasn’t a big deal.
Besides, watching these "lovely" classmates—who usually boasted about wanting rivers of blood to flow—fall into a chaotic mess the moment trouble actually started was quite amusing to Fang Can!
He casually took out his phone and glanced at the signal. As expected, it showed full bars, but when he tried to open his social media apps, he couldn’t get access.
And yet, students could call each other just fine, but if they tried to contact someone outside of Z City, the call wouldn’t go through.
’This feels like we’ve been firewalled, doesn’t it?’
The thought popped into Fang Can’s head. ’A firewall inside the Great Firewall?’
Before he could ponder it for long, a signal began to automatically connect to everyone’s electronic devices, and their phones started downloading a file named "Five Elements Moisture Placement Skill."
’Five Elements Leap Insertion Skill?’ Fang Can’s brow furrowed. He realized something was wrong.
The entire file was only 70 MB. Just a moment later, it had finished downloading for everyone.
Suspicious, Fang Can opened the file. The title page alone made his vision darken.
"Five Elements Moisture Placement Skill - Transcendent Body Volume"
"Damn it, the Idealistic Martial Dao is still chasing me," Fang Can muttered, completely speechless as he flipped through it.
He skipped past the mountain of textbook-style nonsense—the foreword, table of contents, history of the Martial Dao, our nation’s research contributions to the Martial Dao, recent bottlenecks in Martial Dao development, our nation’s Martial Dao landscape, future outlook, and so on—and finally reached the main text, which was only a few pages long.
Seeing the mentions of the 108 acupoints in the human body, the "Acting Method," and the "Myriad Phenomena Form-Intention Fist," Fang Can was finally certain that this was the genuine, unadulterated Idealistic Martial Dao.
Connecting this with the blocked signals from outside the city and the sudden air raid sirens, a terrible idea began to form in Fang Can’s mind.
A moment later, a video popped up before everyone’s eyes. A young man in an orange shirt waved at the screen and said, "To everyone in Z City, on behalf of the Dragon Group, I’d like to congratulate you in advance on becoming the target of this Carnival Day."
As the young man in the video spoke, the entire class felt as if they’d been plunged into an icy cavern. Their hands and feet went cold, unable to believe that the Carnival Day they had all been heatedly discussing was so near.
"How could this happen? I want out!"
"Damn it, there are over nine hundred cities in the country! Why did we have to be chosen?"
"I have to get out of the city! I have to get out!"
...
Following the young man’s announcement, the entire city erupted into an uproar. They knew all too well the fate of cities targeted for Carnival Day.
The young man in the video neither knew nor cared about the commotion, continuing with a smile:
"The entire perimeter of Z City is now under lockdown. Anyone attempting to leave will be attacked. This will continue until the end of Carnival Day."
"Furthermore, during this period, there will be no law within the city. No one will be sent to take control until after Carnival Day is over."
"Also, the file I sent you along with this video is the latest research breakthrough. If you practice it diligently, it might slightly increase your chances of survival."
"Before Carnival Day begins, if any of you can develop a sense of ’qi,’ those individuals will each be rewarded with 10 million."
"Finally, I wish you all good luck."
With that, the young man smiled, gave everyone a little wave, and then disconnected the link.
As the phone screens went black, the entire school fell silent for a brief moment before a tremendous uproar erupted.
In an instant, wails, screams, and furious shouts spread throughout the entire city.
A frenzy was about to unfold across the city.
And in Building Two of Midtown High School, with the sharp sound of shattering glass, a chair smashed through a window and flew out of the building.
A teacher stared at the buzz-cut-wearing boy in front of him and roared, "Zhang Yang, what do you think you’re doing?! Isn’t it chaotic enough already?"
But his only answer was a fist to the face.
The buzz-cut boy took the teacher down with a single Respectful Teacher and Virtuous Path Fist, then roared amidst the terrified gazes of the class:
"I’ve been sick of studying this crap for ages! Functions, geometry—I don’t want to hear another word about it!"
"You all heard him! There are no laws now! Who gives a damn about exams and studying? I’m done!"
After saying his piece, the buzz-cut boy strode out of the classroom under the gazes of the entire class. No one dared to stop him.
’Now things are getting out of hand,’ Fang Can thought, shaking his head helplessly in the corner.
From now on, incidents like this that shatter the peace would only become more and more common throughout the city.
Robbery, murder, and other acts would cause turmoil, and in a vicious cycle, by the time Carnival Day ended, the city would probably start looking a lot like Los Santos.
’So... should I make a move?’ Fang Can wondered as he watched the chaotic classroom.
If he revealed his identity as a super-user and combined it with his current martial prowess, it wasn’t impossible that he could stabilize the entire city’s public order.
After all, the difference between order and chaos often came down to a single sliver of hope, and as a super-user, he could serve as a source of credibility in the short term.
Hesitating, Fang Can casually pulled a coin from his pocket, preparing to leave the decision to fate.
As Fang Can gently tossed the coin, it flipped through the air, bounced twice on the floor, and then landed perfectly on its edge, wedged in a crack in the ground.
’What is this supposed to mean?’
Fang Can stared at the upright coin on the floor. ’Is it telling me to do whatever I want?’
"Heh!" A smirk crept onto Fang Can’s lips. He snatched the coin from the floor and squeezed it lightly in his right hand.
By now, the entire classroom was in an uproar. Some were terrified, while others were excited, as if it were a holiday festival.
But then, everyone felt a sudden tightness in their chests, as if some great terror was descending upon them.
Without any coordination, everyone subconsciously whipped their heads around to look behind them.
In the corner seat by the window, Fang Can slapped the coin down on the table—a decision to do as he pleased—and slowly rose to his feet.
No one dared to meet his gaze, and no one dared to speak, as if the person before them possessed a terrifying authority.
After intimidating the entire class with the Heart Image he had just learned to use, Fang Can spread his hands amidst their gazes of awe, anticipation, and envy, and said:
"I’m a super-user... and I’m laying my cards on the table."
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