That afternoon, the screams from Frost Street seemed to never stop.
And the one responsible for all of this, Evan Stone, sat quietly under a tree, resting his head on his hand, eating melon seeds along with the surrounding crowd… while keeping an eye on the changes in the [Audience Expectation].
At first, when Uncle Vale spanked Tom Vale, the audience expectation increased slightly. But after a few more spanks, the increase stagnated and eventually settled at 48%.
After watching for a while longer, the expectation value actually dropped by 1%, going down to 47%...
It seemed like the audience was getting bored.
"Are the audience in my head all just looking for fun?"
Evan Stone couldn't help but think.
Through this experiment, Evan Stone had already confirmed that the audience's expectation value changed based on his actions. If the events he was experiencing were exciting enough, the expectation value would rise. But if nothing interesting happened for a while, the expectation value would drop with time...
Does that mean if he wants to keep the expectation value above 20%, he needs to continuously create "exciting plotlines"?
Today, Tom Vale had provoked him first, and given that he was the bully of Frost Street, giving him a little lesson wasn't a big deal… but this kind of thing can't happen every day, right?
If this continues, wouldn't he be doomed to become a villain wreaking havoc on the world?
Thinking about this, Evan Stone felt a bit exhausted...
Right now, the only lifeline Evan Stone had left was the [Doctor] from Aurora City, as Dr. Green had mentioned. Perhaps he could remove the "disaster contamination" in his body and rescue him from this "passive entertainer" trajectory in life.
As Evan Stone was deep in thought, a deep bell rang from afar!
Dong—dong—dong!!
Three tolls echoed through the air, as if they could penetrate space and reverberate in every corner of the world.
At the sound of the bell, the expressions of the crowd changed, and even Uncle Vale, who had been chasing Tom Vale, stopped, staring in disbelief at the distance.
"Three tolls of the disaster bell?!" An elderly man looked horrified. "How is that possible?"
"The ringing of the disaster bell is a warning signal from the authorities, meaning they've discovered signs of Gray Realm convergence in the district, with a disaster invasion..."
"Didn't they say that Aurora Realm is protected by the aurora, and it almost never converges with the Gray Realm? In the past ten years, the occurrence of disasters has been no more than three times..."
"Then where is the disaster now?"
"Don't know... just get home quickly! Don't come out unless absolutely necessary!"
As the three tolls of the disaster bell echoed, the crowd turned pale. Tom Vale, who had just been beaten, collapsed to his knees.
The ground beneath Evan Stone's feet trembled slightly, and he turned to look, only to see over a dozen fast horses racing toward him from the distance.
Each of the fast horses carried a figure dressed in black and red uniforms, with holstered pistols on their sides, their expressions equally serious.
"Suspected high-risk disaster appears! Full district lockdown! No one is allowed to enter or exit!!"
"Be alert for any suspicious signs around you, such as roads or buildings that appear out of nowhere, strange and mysterious creatures, or even humans acting abnormally!!"
"If you notice anything unusual, report it to the authorities immediately!!"
"Everyone, please cooperate with the investigation!!"
The voices of the authorities echoed through Frost Street and every corner of the district. Along with the fading tolls of the disaster bell, an inexplicable sense of tension engulfed the world.
At this moment, no one had the interest to continue watching. Everyone hurriedly headed home. Even Tom Vale, after receiving a hard slap, was dragged into the house by his father, who was cursing him.
Evan Stone stood alone under the tree, ready to head home as well. Just then, two lines of text appeared among the fallen leaves—
[Audience Expectation +18]
[Current Expectation: 65%]
Seeing the sharp rise in audience expectation, Evan Stone froze,
And the next moment, a chilling thought suddenly surged into his mind...
"They... they can't be coming for me, right?!"
...
District 3.
Law Enforcement Headquarters.
Dim daylight streamed through the hemispherical glass dome, casting colorful beams that illuminated the room.
A flag, several meters long, hung high in the center, with two overlapping cyan hexagonal stars on a black background, resembling the shining stars in the northern night sky.
At this moment, under the flag, a group of law enforcement officers in black and red uniforms stood with serious expressions, lined up in a row, facing the main door of the headquarters as if waiting for something.
As the door opened, five law enforcement officers wearing black coats walked in side by side.
Among them, Victor Hale was in the center, his coat embroidered with four silver lines, while the other four wore three. As they entered, all the officers present stood at attention.
"How is the situation?" Victor Hale asked in a deep voice.
"The disaster bell has rung, and the district is under full lockdown, but we haven't found the disaster's location yet..." One officer hesitated for a moment but couldn't help asking, "Vick, what does it mean when the disaster pointer self-destructs?"
"There are only two possibilities for the disaster pointer to self-destruct." Victor Hale answered calmly,
"The first is that a special disaster has descended nearby, and the power of this disaster is enough to render the disaster pointer ineffective... However, this explanation is purely theoretical. So far, no such disaster has been found."
"The second possibility is that a level nine disaster... also known as 'Apocalyptic' disaster has invaded. The remaining energy fluctuations exceed the pointer's limit, causing it to explode."
"Apocalyptic... disaster?!" The faces of the others turned pale.
"Don't panic... you don't really think an 'Apocalyptic' disaster is coming, do you?" The officer next to Victor Hale chuckled lightly,
"An 'Apocalyptic' disaster is capable of annihilating an entire human domain. There are only a few of them in the entire Gray Realm... If one really came, forget about District 3, even Aurora City would be obliterated the moment it arrives."
Hearing this, everyone finally relaxed...
"So, it should just be a special 'disaster'?"
"For now, that's the only explanation."
"But the disaster pointer is broken. How are we supposed to rate it?"
"We can't rate it." Victor Hale shook his head. "Unless it shows up again, and we engage it... For now, the most important thing is to launch a full-scale search, and find it before it harms anyone."
"A full-scale search... but we might not have enough personnel."
"Then we'll temporarily call up the reserve officers. Didn't the written exam just end? Gather the qualified people, and tell them this is their physical exam."
"Yes!"