Master of Kaidan
Chapter 98 Rumors and Anomalies

Chapter 98: Chapter 98 Rumors and Anomalies

After retrieving his belongings stored with the Treasure Box Ghost, Feng Xue left the imperfect landfill without looking back.

Although, for now, Huang Mao and those who had fought their way back had no ill intentions toward him, and the other two families had not appeared, nobody knew if they would target the items he had brought back from the outside world as time went on.

Theoretically, those who returned from the other side should not lack True Objects, but as for Identity, no one would complain about having too much of it.

Not to mention that a new Manager would soon arrive here. By then, being someone who had been to the outside world and who understood the language of the humans there, able to communicate and such, his information might be exposed. At that time, considering he was already somewhat in conflict with the Manager, who knows what kind of treatment he might receive.

Adhering to the principle that one can never be too cautious, Feng Xue left the landfill, but he did not go far; instead, he directly donned a cardboard box and began to check through his belongings.

The first thing to do was change his shoes. Three to four days were far from enough to completely heal the wound on his chest; now, wearing the Silent Boots again and feeling the sensation of his life slowly being replenished, he truly realized how much of an improvement even a slight healing of external wounds could be.

He did not take out the remaining cards hidden inside his body, and he even re-cut open his flesh to stuff the previously removed Physical Avatar back inside.

Such hidden cards might be needed at any time. Rather than carrying them on him, hiding them inside his body made him feel more at ease. It was just that he hadn’t yet succeeded in crafting a graveyard, otherwise, he would have liked to cram in the Hand Pits and Magic that required a graveyard inside his body as well.

As the incision on his chest slowly healed, Feng Xue also began trying to fit the socks and leather shoes from the Opera Phantom Suit over the Silent Boots. Thanks to the presence of the "Comfortable" element, the Opera Phantom Suit could adjust its size according to the wearer’s body. After wearing it over the already thin Silent Boots, it did not appear overly bizarre; it was only the contours of the socks around the ankle that looked a bit odd.

However, practicality was always Feng Xue’s top priority. Such a minor disadvantage was clearly not enough to make him give up the opportunity to possess the powers of two excellent magical items simultaneously.

The Opera Phantom Suit’s jacket had a certain Gothic style with wider cuffs than ordinary jackets. As long as he unfastened the buttons at the cuffs, the Suffocation Blade could be activated relatively easily.

The only cumbersome part was finding a place for the Holy Mother, but that was no big deal. The Holy Mother fit into the storage bag, which needed to be hung on a waist belt. To access it, he would need to lift up the hem of his shirt.

"All in all, it’s not too impactful, but I don’t know when I’ll be able to get a better storage tool," Feng Xue checked the Comedian Anomaly he had crafted in the outside world for the last time before stuffing it all into his storage bag. It was fortunate that his storage bag had the feature of producing desired items at will; otherwise, cramming things in so chaotically would have been a terrifying thought.

After stuffing the final rolled-up piece of fabric from Santa Claus’s sack into the bag, Feng Xue turned his gaze to the last of the books. This trip to the real world, he could say his greatest gain was this batch of information carriers. However, the elements he currently had on hand were vastly depleted, with what remained either being too repetitive or not quite fitting with the books themselves. After considering, he decided not to force the crafting and instead planned to accumulate more elements before proceeding.

But these were all not urgent matters; he had something else he needed to clarify first.

Taking out the work badge he hadn’t used in a long while, Feng Xue dialed Old Li’s "number." After a few brief moments of busy signals, Old Li’s voice, slightly playful and indifferent, came through the work badge:

"Hello? Little Feng, what’s up?"

"What are ’rumors’ and ’anomalies’?"

Feng Xue didn’t waste any words and directly asked for the information he needed. Upon hearing this, Old Li was silent for about five seconds before he spoke:

"Where did you hear that from? Don’t tell me you went to the outside world? That’s right, you seemed to have saved a Door Opener before... That’s not right, that was so long ago. Have you been living in the outside world for that long? Where did you get so much ’Identity’? Could it have been brought in by that Door Opener?"

Listening to Old Li pretending to talk to himself while probing, Feng Xue ignored his nonsense and said directly, "Do you know or not? If you don’t, I’ll find someone else!"

"Don’t!" Old Li quickly stopped and said with a smile:

"Isn’t this a bit surprising? After all, you haven’t been in Infinite City for long and by rights shouldn’t have come into contact with these things."

"So what exactly are they?" Feng Xue interrupted Old Li’s rambling once more because he realized that after he mentioned those two terms, Old Li became unexpectedly talkative, prompting Feng Xue to recall the contract they had signed before.

Could knowing these two terms mean I’m more likely to become a Kaidan?

With these thoughts in Feng Xue’s mind, Old Li finally spoke:

"Actually, it’s quite simple. The so-called ’rumors’ and ’anomalies’ are just realms we’ve defined ourselves; after all, going from nothing to Kaidan is quite a stretch. To roughly understand how far one is, such a distinction of realms is necessary."

"So, what do each of these realms represent?" Feng Xue asked, seemingly impatiently. In reality, he was probing Old Li’s thoughts, but Old Li still maintained his usual tone and slowly provided the information:

"Rumors are like common gossip—quick to come and quick to go. This realm is about causing a minor sensation in the real world, gaining a large amount of ’Identity’ momentarily, but not having enough lasting impact. After all, people in the real world are very forgetful; things like major murder cases are quickly forgotten by most, except for those directly involved.

"Even though there’s a large amount of ’Identity’, the situation where only a few can provide reliable and lasting supply, that is what transforms from ’nothing’ to a ’rumor’. Meaning, even though some people still remember, if it’s not maintained, it will quickly revert to nothing again.

"An ’Anomaly’ goes a step further, having its own legends, like the once popular AIDS Mr/Ms, which involved going to the real world, having relations with people there, and then leaving a note telling them about having AIDS. This kind of act links the personal fear with the disease, creating a widespread anomaly in public discourse.

"As the rumors spread, they bring in a large amount of superficial ’Identity’ and even more as some imitators emerge. In such a state, your existence becomes relatively stable and will not disappear in a short time. Such an existence is what we call an ’Anomaly.’"

At this point, Old Li’s words carried a hint of nostalgia and longing, which made Feng Xue speculate but also doubt whether this was just a performance for him by Old Li.

So he deliberately did not pursue the matter further but instead changed the topic:

"Then what is the realm of a Kaidan like?"