Catastrophe Containment Facility
Chapter 776 - 676 Midnight Bell Sound

Chapter 776: Chapter 676 Midnight Bell Sound

Cai Wenshang stared blankly at the shattered computer screen, holding a baseball bat in his hand, his chest rising and falling slightly from obvious, vigorous exercise.

"Impossible, that must have all been illusions—I just watched a video and cast a few votes; how could I possibly be going to die?"

All the education he had ever received told him that everything he had seen before was fake.

There are no demons or ghosts or any such nonsense in this world; he had to believe in science...

However, the black hourglass in his hand and that black number told him that it was all real!

The number on his hand was ’six,’ which meant his life could very well end tonight!

"No, I must find someone to seek help... to report this to the authorities, yes, I must call the police."

Yet, as soon as he picked up the phone and pressed a few keys, his expression stiffened.

He didn’t want to seek help.

Although his reason told him he must seek help, that he couldn’t sort this out on his own, it seemed as if there were a force making him give up on the thought of seeking help, leaving him to only wait for death at home.

He squatted painfully in the corner of the wall, forcing himself to purse his lips to prevent his tears from falling.

Since childhood, Cai Wenshang had always thought himself strong because he had "seen through" the darkness of society.

The news was full of negative stories—rich second-generations in this city killing elderly people without punishment, city management in that city smashing vendors’ stalls with steel pipes...

So, he concluded that the world was filthy and that everyone was selfish—not only was human nature inherently evil, but the very form of the Federation’s existence was a breeding ground for sin and injustice.

Thus, he attributed all his setbacks to the abnormality of society, not to his own lack of capability, not to his own voluntary degeneration and lack of effort.

When unable to find a good job, he would curse online, and when he made a mistake at work and was reprimanded by his boss, he would curse online too, as if by doing so he could find an excuse for his failures, allowing him to persevere better in his worthless existence.

Until one day, he saw a video of the Arbiter, and at that moment, he thought he had seen a savior.

This society needed people like the Arbiter—those who broke the law, who were unkind despite their wealth, should just go ahead and die, as long as they lived no better than him...

During the good half-month the Arbiter broadcasted videos, Cai Wenshang was as if invigorated, until he saw the scene of Ning Zhewan committing suicide by swallowing a gun.

The moment was like a bucket of cold water poured over Cai Wenshang’s head.

He realized the foolishness of his actions, and it dawned on him whose fault it was that he had become what he was now.

But soon, he subconsciously rejected those thoughts.

He wasn’t wrong; it was the world that was mistaken!

Under high mental strain, it wasn’t long before Cai Wenshang felt deeply tired and fell into a heavy sleep.

"Welcome to using the Chiswole brand colorful wireless speaker, Chiswole brand has been..."

Suddenly, his computer desk’s speaker made a sound, causing Cai Wenshang, who was squatting on the ground, to shudder violently, instantly waking up.

It took him two seconds to remember what had happened before he fell asleep, and his face immediately turned ashen, his double chin quivering rapidly like it was under a massager.

This Chiswole brand speaker was a high-priced, high-tech product he had bought, capable of wireless connections through mobile phone signals.

But later, for some reason, the neighbors managed to inexplicably connect their phones to his speaker, playing some strange adult movies every night, greatly disturbing the sleep of the single Cai Wenshang.

So he had no choice but to turn off the wireless connection of the speakers and connect them directly to the computer, so he wouldn’t have to listen to the sound of horror movies every night.

That’s right, the neighbor liked to watch horror movies at midnight.

But the neighbor’s hobby wasn’t the key issue; the key was that Cai Wenshang had already unplugged the computer, smashed the case, and yet why had the speakers started making noise again?

A chill surged through Cai Wenshang’s body, not because of fear, but because the mark on his hand became rapidly colder, the bone-chilling cold stiffening his mind.

"Zzzz, zzzz..." The sound of electricity buzzed, followed by a man’s voice from the speaker: "You are target number six, right? What’s your name?"

"Cai, Cai Wenshang..."

"Do you regret the vote you cast earlier?"

Cai Wenshang nodded vigorously, sweat drops as large as beans falling from his chin: "I regret, I repent, I shouldn’t have voted carelessly, I should have... I should have..."

"It seems sincere... but even if you regret it, I won’t come back to life!"

A cold hand gently reached into Cai Wenshang’s collar, after touching a handful of sticky sweat, it disdainfully wiped on Cai Wenshang’s hair, thus getting a hand full of oily scalp.

Cai Wenshang’s body stiffened, and slowly he looked up, only to see a shadow scuttling over his head like a spider.

Even though the silhouette was blurry, Cai Wenshang was certain it was Ning Zhewan, who had died in the video before!

He had turned into a monster!

Then Cai Wenshang felt a searing pain in his back, and when he reached out to touch it, he felt an icy chill and an indescribable sharp pain.

The spot on the back of his neck where Ning Zhewan had touched was slightly swollen with a handprint; the skin within the handprint had all peeled off, but there was no blood, as if it had been frozen.

And then his hair began to fall out...

Where Ning Zhewan had touched it, the hair had completely fallen out, the oily scalp showing purple and bruising, with small, localized cracks.

"Ah... Ah! Ah..."

"Let me go, whatever you want... I’ll give it to you!"

Cai Wenshang screamed miserably, his words incoherent, pleading while he took a baseball bat and ran out of the living room into the bedroom, barricading the door tightly.

Peeking through the gap in the bedroom door, he saw a pair of bloodshot eyes suddenly appear, scaring Cai Wenshang to the ground.

"Scared, terrified?"

"Then... do you know how desperate she felt when your ’righteous’ rhetoric cornered her, when proving her innocence no longer mattered to anyone, when the whole world wanted her dead?"

"No one can punish you guys, so I have to do it, even if I become scum myself!"

Two fingers tapped on Cai Wenshang’s shoulder; he turned around woodenly.

He saw Ning Zhewan standing upside down behind him, feet on the ceiling, grinning viciously with a blurred gun barrel visible in his mouth.

Then Ning Zhewan’s head spun around, and the back of his head, blown apart by a bullet, was displayed in front of Cai Wenshang.

Cai Wenshang sat on the ground, scrambling back, gripping the baseball bat and staring intently at Ning Zhewan, appearing nearly on the verge of fainting.

It was at this moment that the sound of a phone ringing suddenly erupted.