Chapter 280: The Classic Move of Whipping Out the Special Grade Chef Certificate

Thirty seconds ago.

The commercial street.

The surface of the asphalt road at the end of the street suddenly bulged like waves, as if some enormous creature was violently thrashing beneath the earth.

Then, with a thunderous "BOOM," the hard pavement tiles were forcibly upheaved and shattered into pieces.

A beetle resembling a rhinoceros beetle, about the size of a house cat and covered in pitch-black barbed spikes, burst out of the ground.

Several bold young passersby stopped in their tracks, curiously gathering around while pulling out their phones.

"No way, that's freaking awesome!"

"What kind of new beetle is this? Some kind of mutated species?"

"I dunno, man!"

"Oh damn, quick, film this and post it online..."

However, before they could even finish their sentences, the beetle's body suddenly began to swell uncontrollably like an inflating balloon.

Crackle, crackle—

Squelch, squelch—

To the utter shock of the onlookers, it emitted countless nauseating sounds of slime stretching and carapace growth.

In just a few seconds, it had grown to the size of a small truck!

A massive shadow instantly engulfed the street.

The curiosity in the crowd instantly transformed into sheer terror.

"AHH—! A monster!! Run!"

"Help!!"

Screams exploded from the crowd as panic spread like a plague.

The mutant beetle's maw snapped wide open, violently sucking in the surrounding air, compressing it, before firing a visible translucent air cannon that slammed viciously toward the fleeing crowd ahead—

BOOM!

Then, it was forcibly caught by a figure wreathed in curse power, who let out a fierce shout.

"AHH!!"

Even with the premature detonation, the sheer force of that strike was still astonishing. A nearby fire hydrant, along with its sturdy stone base, was instantly blasted into the air, sending a column of water shooting skyward. The massive shockwave flung several pedestrians to the ground amid a chorus of miserable screams.

The one who had taken that blow head-on forcibly dragged himself up from the dust.

"Cough, cough... so strong..."

He was a young man in uniform, raising his head with a bloodied face, clenching his cursed artifact gauntlets, his eyes trembling as he stared at the colossal creature that now seemed to have noticed him.

Even having reinforced his body with curse power at full force, taking that hit had broken at least three of his bones.

He gritted his teeth. "Me, fighting a second Energy Level? You've got to be kidding me!"

He was only a third-grade sorcerer... he hadn't even reached the peak of the first Energy Level!

How the hell did he get matched up against something like this?!

Wasn't it said that the section chief's ability could deploy every operative to wherever they needed to be?!

—He was a member of the D6 Action Squad under the Wind Capital Sixth Division, stationed here in advance by Qin Shengshi's orders.

He'd been patrolling the area, sweeping for suspicious individuals, and had just rushed to the scene upon feeling the ground tremble when the beetle had already completed its mutation.

Had it been injected with the P Agent by some kind of timed device?

At this very moment, feeling the massive curse power roiling wildly from the beetle, the young man's heart sank to rock bottom.

The intelligence had been released to the entire division before the operation.

He knew full well that this beetle was a product forcibly bred by burning through its life force and consuming massive resources. Its lifespan was probably only a mere ten to twenty minutes, thirty at the absolute most.

But this was a bustling downtown area packed with people!

All around him were ordinary civilians in sheer panic, screaming and fleeing for their lives. If this giant insect were allowed to run completely wild...

Never mind thirty minutes—five minutes would be catastrophic!

Not only would it cause massive casualties, the subsequent collateral destruction was simply unimaginable!

"Someone, come quick!!"

The young man pressed his earpiece, shouting desperately for backup, but then suddenly noticed the flow of air around him.

Wooosh—

Amid the panicked retreating crowd, the beetle suddenly emitted a strange sound.

Beetles don't possess conventional vocal organs, but this one had the ability to manipulate airflow, allowing it to produce bizarre pneumatic noises. Its enormous maw opened once again, and the surrounding air began collapsing violently inward.

A fierce surge of curse power followed.

The young man suddenly froze, lowering the hand that had been pressed to his earpiece as he stared at the ferocious, pitch-black monster.

It had opened its savage maw, clearly charging up a new air cannon—and this one was likely far stronger than the last.

No question about it.

A third-grade sorcerer taking a full-power strike from a second Energy Level head-on?

—He would die.

But if he retreated, what about the ordinary people behind him?

And besides...

He couldn't retreat anymore.

The colossal beetle seemed to have detected the curse power fluctuations radiating from his body, locking onto him completely.

In that instant, the young man felt the sounds around him fading away.

The chaotic noise vanished in a flash, leaving only the world around him beginning to slow down.

Then came a flood of images.

The photo of himself grinning with excitement when he'd been detected as having curse power aptitude, the harsh scolding he'd received from his senior when he first joined the Sixth Division, the drunken bragging with his teammates at a street food stall last night.

And... the warm yellow light at home, still waiting for him to return.

—Is this my life flashing before my eyes?

Damn it, at least I wanted to say something cool before dying, maybe pull off some heroic pose for the record...

The air cannon was already primed and ready, and the shadow of death had completely swallowed his pupils.

Just as he was certain he was done for—

SHWING—!

Like divine judgment itself, a streak of crimson flame light tore through the air, descending from above!

It poured down without restraint onto the beetle's carapace, burying itself deep into its body—a body made impenetrable by the curse power flooding through it.

In that instant, before the giant insect charging up its air cannon could even react, it was as if the very core of its curse power and spell had been shattered. Its massive frame seized up violently, and the air cannon gathering in its maw dispersed harmlessly.

It crashed heavily to the ground, smashing large sections of pavement tiles.

"..."

The third-grade sorcerer stood there dumbfounded, completely unable to believe his own eyes.

He cautiously crept closer, only to see that the giant insect's incredibly hard armored skull had been punched clean through, leaving behind a charred, smoking hole.

And protruding from that hole was... an ordinary silver dinner fork, with a faint wisp of crimson flame still flickering on its surface.

"What the hell..."

...

Inside the restaurant.

Lin Guang turned around and leisurely walked back to his seat.

Meeting the bewildered gazes of everyone around him, he suddenly pulled a document from his chest and flashed it at them all.

The document bore a large "One" character, exuding an air of mystery.

The youth in the black hoodie printed with a "W" looked at them and said calmly, "I'm with a special department."

"Whatever happened outside, I've already taken care of it. No need to worry."

The guests, waiters, and managers who had been on the verge of panic and flight all felt their fear and unease rapidly dissipate at the sight of the "One" character on the document, along with Lin Guang's steady voice. Their ability to think clearly returned.

One by one, they expressed their gratitude to Lin Guang in various ways, then finally let out long sighs of relief and began considering what to do next, all while regarding the young man before them with a mixture of reverence and awe.