After Clearing the Infinite Flow, I Tamed the Mad Dog Boss - Chapter 33

The rousing strains of the “Athletes’ March” continued to play around the teaching building, breathing a hint of life into the eerie school. Even the oppressive classrooms regained some of the energy and defiance unique to students. Cheers rose from many rooms, mixed with the furious curses of adults.

Meanwhile, in the principal’s office inside the Comprehensive Building, a masked man hurled an ashtray to the floor.

“What the hell is going on? Who’s causing trouble over the broadcast?! What about the people we sent? Are they all dead?!”

Someone answered him. “It must be the police who came in later. Who knew they’d be this capable? We created four monsters, but they didn’t kill a single person. All they managed was to cripple one…”

The masked man flew into a rage. “We should never have let those people in!”

“That wasn’t under our control. These anomalies instinctively draw other humans into their Domains.”

“Then we should’ve killed them the moment they entered!”

“We have to obey the rules inside the Domain too. Keeping it from turning around and devouring us is difficult enough.”

“Fuck. With things like this, we can just kill them ourselves now, can’t we?”

“Of course.”

“Take the guns. Shoot them dead!”

* * *

On the other side of the school, Qin Xian sat comfortably in front of the microphone in the broadcast room. After organizing his thoughts, he began.

“Hello? Greetings, students. This is Teacher Qin—the one who just beat the hell out of those monsters in the forecourt.”

“WOOOOO!”

“TEACHER QIN IS SO COOL!”

Even from the broadcast room, Qin Xian could hear the fan-like cheering outside. Despite himself, he scratched his cheek in embarrassment.

Still, this reaction was better. It would make it easier to rally the students.

“We’re currently caught in a serious and chaotic incident. You’ve been removed from reality and brought into a strange space inhabited by monsters called anomalies. Anomalies feed on human fear, selfishness, suspicion, madness, and every other negative emotion to make themselves stronger. But as long as you stay true to yourselves and encourage one another, they’ll grow weaker. They can be defeated. They can be destroyed. I believe you all saw what happened in front of the teaching building just now.

“Please be patient. It won’t be long before you can return to the real world. Remember: don’t believe the enemy. Believe in yourselves, and whatever happens, protect your own lives first. Of course, if your lives are already in danger, then band together and defeat whoever is threatening you!”

The instant he finished, the previously silent teaching building erupted in noise.

Students shouted. Adults barked reprimands. Desks crashed and splintered.

Qin Xian clicked the “Athletes’ March” file on the desktop, and the familiar, stirring music once again thundered across the entire campus.

But then…

Qin Xian thought he heard several gunshots.

He rose at once and headed for the door. Before he could step outside, the Student Council President came scrambling in on all fours. A bullet struck the doorframe behind him with a bang.

Once inside, the president immediately straightened up and raked a hand through his disheveled hair.

“Guns are rather impressive. If one of those bullets hit me, I’d be miserable for ages.”

Qin Xian ignored him. He crouched beside the doorway, keeping his body as low as possible.

The enemy across the hall had clearly never handled a gun before. Copying a move he had probably seen in a movie, he jerkily kicked open the door, stood ramrod straight, raised his weapon, and roared, “DON’T MOVE!”

He had remembered to watch high and forgotten to watch low.

From his crouch beside the door, Qin Xian raised the solid metal microphone and smashed it into the man’s knee.

A sharp crack went out over the broadcast, followed by the man’s scream and the clatter of a gun striking the floor.

The deafening noise made Qin Xian pause. He hurriedly switched off the microphone, picked up the gun and placed it out of reach, then drew his switchblade and aimed it at the enemy’s head.

Cold sweat poured down the man’s face. He begged, “Don’t kill me! Don’t kill me! Please! Y-you’re police—you can’t just kill people!”

Qin Xian bent down and asked quietly, “Do I look like a police officer to you?”

He shifted the switchblade, driving it down so close to the man’s face that the edge grazed his cheek. The tip stopped a millimeter or two above the tile.

A gash more than two centimeters long opened on the man’s face. Blood ran down the blade, joining its point to the floor in a narrow red line.

The man’s mouth fell open in terror, but he could not force out a single word.

Qin Xian withdrew the knife. He planted a knee in the center of the man’s back and pinned him firmly to the ground.

“Hmm… If I kill you outright, you might turn into a ghost and cause trouble. But I can’t stay here and keep an eye on you, so…”

The first half of that sentence made the man relax. Before he could make out the second half, Qin Xian raised the gun and smashed its butt down on his right hand.

“AAAAAH!”

The scream had barely begun when Qin Xian moved on to the left. Both hands were crushed. The man held his broken wrists curled in front of him like a zombie and writhed across the floor.

“Tsk, tsk. How cruel, Teacher Qin.”

The Student Council President spoke from the side. Only then did Qin Xian remember there was still another thing in the room.

For once, he responded. “Too cruel? All right. I’ll be kinder.”

He struck the back of the man’s head—not too hard, not too softly—and the screaming stopped at once.

Now the man would not have to suffer pain worse than death.

The Student Council President leaned against the doorframe and applauded.

Qin Xian flicked him a sidelong glance. A cold word fell from his attractive lips.

“Useless.”

The president kept grinning. “Aw, Teacher Qin, is this your idea of discouragement-based education? Besides, I completed your task perfectly. You never told me to deal with people carrying guns.”

Qin Xian stuffed the gun into his pocket and headed out. As he left, he said, “I like people who show initiative. Understand?”

“Initiative? All right. Got it.”

The president’s obnoxious smile grew wider.

Qin Xian remained expressionless, but inwardly, he thought:

*I shouldn’t have said that. I should have ignored him.*

His purpose in seizing the broadcast room had been to tell the students a rough version of the truth before the enemy could, weakening the effects of their indoctrination.

By now, Qin Xian had also realized that this group’s goal was not to kill all the students and create panic. They wanted to expand their own power by exposing—and twisting—the anomaly invasion in order to plunge society into fear.

Of course, a certain number of deaths were undoubtedly part of the plan.

But for an operation intended to have such a massive impact, the overall planning was a complete mess.

If Qin Xian had designed it, he would have started by letting the anomaly spread slowly until it controlled the entire school. A few campus rules horror incidents, for example, could create accidents and gradually drive the students toward fear and suspicion.

If he wanted something even darker and more revolting, he could try corrupting the teachers and administrators.

After all, when an incident first occurred at a school this large, someone would inevitably try every means possible to “keep the matter quiet.” Once the others compromised as well and agreed not to let word of the accidents reach the outside world, every person in the school would begin sinking into the mire.

In less than a week, the entire school could become hell.

There would be no need for the mastermind to act. Most of the people inside would lose their minds all on their own.

By then, the school would have nurtured an unimaginably terrifying monster.

Something was wrong.

Qin Xian stopped and slipped into a dark corner to think.

The Ghost Path was an organization founded by Infinite Flow players, one determined to maximize its influence at any cost. Would such an organization really entrust an operation like this to a crowd of useless trash?

He and the other police officers were all doing quite well. They had spent the entire time disrupting the enemy’s plans, and they kept succeeding. People did come to stop them, but every one of those people was pathetically weak. There seemed to be no unified command at all.

Bang! Bang-bang!

The gunshots downstairs jerked Qin Xian out of his thoughts.

He raced down and found Yuan Fengying fighting an armed enemy. The Student Council President, however, had already subdued the man and taken his gun. At the sight of Qin Xian, he raised the weapon with a grin, plainly begging for praise.

Qin Xian immediately looked elsewhere.

Not far away, Yuan Fengying stood panting with a strange board raised in her hands.

When she saw Qin Xian, she jogged over, watching the Student Council President beside him warily.

This strange student had ambushed the man attacking her and overpowered him in two moves. That was not something an ordinary high school student could do.

She could not help asking, “Who are you?”

The president did not spare her a glance. He looked only at Qin Xian.

“Was that enough initiative?”

Yuan Fengying’s expression grew peculiar. Turning to Qin Xian, she asked, “You know him? You two are together?”

“Yes. We’re together.”

“No, we aren’t.”

Two completely different answers came at the same time.

Yuan Fengying scratched her head. “Forget it. I’m not going to worry about who you are. I trust Mr. Qin’s judgment.”

Qin Xian: “?”

His judgment? What judgment had he shown that could possibly make her trust this mysterious Student Council President?

The president, meanwhile, looked delighted. For a moment, the brightness of his expression truly suited the skin of a high school senior he was wearing.

Never mind. More important matters came first.

Qin Xian asked Yuan Fengying, “Tell me the truth. Do the police have information on the members of the Ghost Path?”

She paused, then hesitated. “Why are you asking? It might not be appropriate for me to disclose internal information…”

Qin Xian ripped the mask off the nearby enemy. “Is this man on your wanted list?”

The man stared up at them in terror. He was an ordinary-looking, middle-aged man without any distinctive features.

Yuan Fengying recognized him at a glance. “He is. He’s one of the Ghost Path’s cell leaders!”

Qin Xian pointed at the Student Council President. “Tie him up, pick him up, and follow us.”

Then he beckoned to Yuan Fengying. “You, come with me.”

He brought them to the faculty office on the first floor, where the missionary teachers still lay unconscious. Qin Xian removed their masks one by one. Yuan Fengying’s expression grew increasingly grave.

“All of these people are wanted by the police. We only started arresting them two days ago, but none of them could be found.”

Qin Xian frowned. “Then I’m afraid my guess is correct. This organization’s primary target isn’t the students. The students are incidental. Their real goal is to dispose of the members whose trails the police have uncovered.”

“You mean…” Yuan Fengying said, “some of these people may know vital secrets about the organization. If they’re captured, they might tell the police, so this entire operation is a purge?!”

Qin Xian nodded.

Yuan Fengying considered it. “Then we need to save these people? Or interrogate them immediately and try to get something useful?”

Qin Xian shook his head. “I doubt they’ll tell us anything. These people are doomed. If the organization has even half a brain, it won’t give us a chance to question them. It only wants to squeeze the last bit of value from people it has already sentenced to death.

“They stage a spectacular operation to draw the enemy’s attention. If this trash somehow completes the mission, wonderful. But even if they fail, the organization still gets to test the police’s strength… and perhaps uncover potential threats.”

Yuan Fengying clenched her fists and gritted her teeth.

“I wish I could argue with you, but… I think you’re right.”