Chapter 127: The Pig That Begged for Help

A shrill, agonizing wail echoed from the kitchen, rippling through the restaurant dining hall. Yet, neither the staff nor the customers seemed perturbed; they continued their business as if nothing had happened.

The construction foreman, however, turned deathly pale, his face flushing a deep, frantic red. "Officers! I need to use the restroom—I can’t hold it anymore!"

Before Qi Chen or Warm Man could dissuade him, the foreman bolted from his seat and sprinted toward the restroom adjacent to the kitchen.

The special operations captain quickly turned to Qi Chen and Warm Man. "I’ll go keep an eye on him!" Fearing that the foreman might meet with an accident or trigger a crisis, the captain followed him into the restroom.

Qi Chen and Warm Man exchanged a glance. "I’ll go as well," Qi Chen said. "It’s too dangerous for two ordinary people to be in there alone." Without an Awakened by their side, an ordinary person trapped in the domain of a Rule-type anomaly was no different from meat on a chopping block.

After a brief word with Warm Man, Qi Chen rose from the table and moved quickly toward the restroom, praying that nothing would go wrong.

***

The restroom in the Roast Suckling Pig restaurant was much like those in any other eatery—no gender separation, just a single room divided into four stalls. Judging by the number of stalls, the restaurant was quite large.

The disheveled foreman was currently huddled in the corner of a stall, trembling violently. His ashen face betrayed the sheer terror consuming him. "Liars... all liars... those two are the monsters!" He shook uncontrollably, the image of what he had just witnessed still burned into his mind.

Moments ago, he had looked up and realized that the men sitting across from him—Qi Chen and Warm Man—were no longer human. They were demons! One was a hulking, gray-skinned creature with a hideous, mask-like face; the other was a gaunt, orange-hued monstrosity with a gaping hole in his chest where a heart could be seen rhythmically pulsing.

He was seeing their true, anomalous forms. For someone who shouldn't have been able to perceive such things, being within the domain of a Rule-type anomaly had granted him a cursed clarity, and the shock was devastating for an ordinary man.

*Knock, knock.*

The sudden rapping on the door made the foreman jump. A blurry silhouette appeared behind the translucent frosted glass.

"Old Zhang, are you alright?" The captain’s voice from outside offered a sliver of relief; at least in his vision, the officers still appeared human. He quickly unlocked the door and pulled the captain inside.

"Officer! Those two... there’s something wrong with them!" Old Zhang began to recount the bizarre sight he had witnessed, but he suddenly noticed the captain appearing taller and more robust, casting a shadow that swallowed the light in the cramped stall.

The next second, a snorting sound—like that of a wild boar—echoed in his ears.

"Cap... Captain?" Terror washed over Old Zhang’s face. He stared, trembling, at the man before him. The familiar human features had vanished, replaced by the snout and ears of a pig.

"Ahh!!!"

The scream was cut short.

***

"Where is he?" Upon reaching the restroom, Qi Chen immediately saw the captain pacing back and forth. A sinking feeling took hold—Old Zhang was nowhere to be seen.

"I didn't see him..." The captain looked frantic. He had followed Old Zhang right into the room, but only caught a glimpse of him darting into a stall. After that, there had been no sound.

All four stall doors were tightly shut. The captain had knocked on every one, but there was no response. A creeping sense of malice began to permeate the air, which the hyper-sensitive Qi Chen noticed immediately. He realized that Old Zhang’s sudden departure had led him straight into something they hadn't perceived. He was likely dead.

"Go back to the table. I'll watch here," Qi Chen commanded. There was no reason for the captain, an ordinary man, to linger in this increasingly hostile restroom.

The captain obeyed, retreating toward the dining hall. Now, Qi Chen was alone.

*Knock, knock.*

He rapped his knuckles against the glass of a stall door, but like the captain, he received no response. He couldn't even be sure if there was anyone inside.

Suddenly, a thought occurred to him—something easily overlooked by those like Warm Man who had lived their whole lives in the Era of Mist. In his memory, large shopping mall restaurants shouldn't even have internal restrooms. Weren't they supposed to be located in designated areas managed by the mall?

A sharp sense of impending doom prickled his spine. Qi Chen bolted out of the restroom. He looked up at the sign above the door; it didn't say "Restroom." It said "Food Processing Room."

He cursed under his breath. Just then, a waiter approached him, smiling gently. "Sir? Do you need any help?"

"Where is the restroom?" Qi Chen asked, his voice steady despite his inner turmoil.

"Exit the restaurant, turn right, and walk straight. There is a restroom there," the waiter replied, ever polite, his smile never wavering. But to Qi Chen, that smile only made his heart sink further.

"Thank you."

Nodding, Qi Chen walked back to the table.

"Did you find him?" Warm Man asked as soon as Qi Chen sat down.

Qi Chen shook his head and recounted his discovery.

"Damn it!"

The others fell into a heavy silence. Even the elite special operations team members felt a primal fear when faced with a Rule-type anomaly. Fear is born of the unknown, and for them, the Minsheng Mall was a landscape of infinite, lethal unknowns.

"Oink! Oink!"

A shrill, agonizing shriek erupted from the kitchen again. Qi Chen and Warm Man reflexively looked toward the sound. A small, pink figure came sprinting out of the kitchen on four legs, finally skidding to a halt right beside their table.

It was a suckling pig.

To the shock of the entire squad, the pig stood up on its hind legs, propped its front hooves on the edge of the table, and spoke with a human voice!

"Save! Save me!"

It was the foreman’s voice!

The moment the pig spoke, every customer in the restaurant stood up in unison. Together with the waiters, they turned their cold, predatory gazes toward Qi Chen and his team.

Qi Chen and Warm Man’s hearts lurched. They could feel it—the malevolent aura of the anomaly was finally erupting.