I set you up on a blind date, and you've managed to overcome all the weirdness?

"Oh, uncle."

"Do you really lack even the most basic awareness of virus prevention?"

The boss suddenly realized what was happening, grabbed the mouse, and tried to salvage the situation.

But, it's too late.

Chu Chu smiled wickedly and reached out to slit her own neck.

"This grandma will teach you a lesson today, for free: in the world of 0s and 1s... I am the only true god!!"

As Chu Chu finished speaking, the rows of servers behind her started crackling and spewing out thick black smoke.

All the fans were running at full speed, the CPU was instantly under full load, and the motherboard temperature dropped below the safety limit within seconds.

"No!!"

The boss's eyes nearly bled from staring at him; he watched helplessly as his hard work was about to turn into a pile of charred remains, unwilling to accept reality.

"Where's the Spirit-Slaying Lacquer... Where is the Spirit-Slaying Lacquer!"

He never imagined that there could be such a bizarre phenomenon as to exist solely through the internet.

"it's over."

Lin Yan put away his phone, stood up, drew his pistol, and strode over to the boss.

The gun was pressed against the boss's forehead.

"Your test failed to send out, and your lousy company is finished. Any last words?"

The boss suddenly looked up.

"test?"

He said it subconsciously, then seemed to realize something.

"You thought this was a test?"

He suddenly burst into manic laughter.

"Hahaha!"

"You think you've won?"

The boss glared at Lin Yan, a look Lin Yan recognized immediately—exactly the same as the bishop in the air-raid shelter.

"You think destroying this place is the end of it?! Hahaha! Too late! We've been on guard against the cybersecurity department for a long time!"

"The real drama isn't online at all!"

Lin Yan frowned and pressed the gun barrel down forcefully: "Explain yourself!"

"Brother, be careful! He's going to take poison!"

Just as Chu Chu was lost in thought and reminded him, before Lin Yan could stop him, the boss gritted his teeth, gave up, and collapsed to the ground.

"Tomorrow, tomorrow at noon, Jiangcheng International, Comic Con Center."

The boss laughed as he spat out blood.

"The annual anime and manga convention! Tens of thousands of young people from all over Jiangcheng gather there!"

"The original master tape of that person has already been put into the record player!"

The boss coughed up less and less blood, but his laughter grew increasingly mournful.

"Don't you understand?"

"What we need is resonance! Tens of thousands of people in the same place, simultaneously hearing the song of that being!"

"They are fanatical, they are obsessed, they are fearful..."

The boss seemed to have already envisioned that scene, and in a final burst of energy, he shouted:

"The sacrifice of tens of thousands of people is enough to wash away her original will! She will be transformed, reshaped, and become a new vessel for the Lord!"

"It's too late! You can't stop it!"

Lin Yan was greatly shocked. He hadn't expected that the Bizarre Cult had such grand ambitions, daring to make such a big move in modern society.

He thought this was just about posting brainwashing videos online to generate fear-based traffic, at most poisoning a group of netizens, and that a wave of internet cleanup would clean it up.

Who would have thought that these lunatics would try to use ten thousand people as bait to drag mermaids into the water!

Once they successfully bring the mermaid, who is at a crucial stage of her promotion, to the scene...

If this thing goes berserk, it will be a catastrophic disaster with tens of thousands of floating corpses!

However, Jiangcheng International... why does that sound a bit familiar?

Lin Yan wasn't familiar with comic conventions, so he didn't think much of it.

Seeing that the other man's last moments of lucidity had passed, he was still not at ease and fired two more shots, one into the back of the head and the other into the heart.

Lin Yan took out his phone and walked out of the control room.

"Miss Su, you can come and clean up the mess now. There's a Jue Ling Qi (a type of paint) in the Xing Tu Interactive Entertainment Building in the city center, so keep an eye out for it."

"Furthermore, immediately order the Jiangcheng International Comic Convention Center to be sealed off, prohibiting anyone from entering or leaving."

After saying that, Lin Yan prepared to hang up the phone.

"Lin Yan, were you tricked by those cult members?"

On the other end of the phone, Su Qinghan sounded somewhat confused.

"The comic conventions in the city are held at Jiangcheng Gymnasium. As for the Jiangcheng International Comic Convention Center you mentioned..."

She paused for a moment, and then heard the sound of typing on a keyboard coming from the other end of the phone.

"That project was in the southern suburbs, and it was halted five years ago due to a broken funding chain."

"Now there's just a bunch of unfinished buildings left there."

Lin Yan stopped in his tracks upon hearing this.

An unfinished building?

No wonder.

No wonder he said we couldn't stop it.

I thought he was talking in his sleep. How could he not stop someone from attending a mere comic convention?

It turns out there was more to the story.

"Miss Su, if there really is nothing there, then consider me worrying for nothing," Lin Yan said in a deep voice.

"But I have a bad feeling. You should have the logistics team clean the floor first, and I'll go to the southern suburbs myself to scout things out."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Yan didn't hesitate and headed straight for the southern suburbs.

The lunatics' plan has reached its final stage. Whether it's true or not, he must find the master tape containing the mermaid's original voice and destroy it.

At 1:30 a.m., Lin Yan drove into the southern suburbs.

Only a few streetlights were lit around the area, and further ahead were several unfinished buildings, standing like tombstones.

"It's just ahead."

Lin Yan parked the car behind the bushes and approached on foot.

As I walked, I felt increasingly uncomfortable.

He kept staring at the pocket watch in his hand; the hands remained steady within the normal range, but the sense of unease around him gradually intensified.

After crossing a patch of tall, overgrown grass, the area that should have been the center of the unfinished building suddenly appeared, blocked by a layer of white mist.

As Lin Yan carefully made his way through, the scene before him left him speechless!

This construction site, which had been abandoned for five years, was now brightly lit!

A giant stage sits between two unfinished buildings, with countless spotlights sweeping across the night sky, creating the visual impression of a large-scale concert.

And below the stage, in that open space.

Crowds of people.

Thousands of cosplayers dressed in outlandish costumes crowded together.

Some were wearing mecha suits, some were wearing sailor uniforms, some were carrying giant swords, and some were holding staffs...

They waved their glow sticks below the stage, their deafening cheers soaring into the sky, wave after wave, full of enthusiasm!

That's more than ten thousand; from a distance, it looks like it could be a hundred thousand!

"Is this a movie shoot...?"

Lin Yan hid behind a cement pillar, the hairs on his hands standing on end, and goosebumps covered his skin.

Su Qinghan's intelligence couldn't be wrong; this place would definitely be a ruin during the day.

Where did all these people come from, covering the mountains and fields?

Even if all the anime fans in Jiangcheng stayed up all night to gather here, it would be impossible to collect 100,000 people!

Lin Yan tightened his delivery uniform, concealed the demon-slaying revolver and pistol in his sleeves, and walked towards the crowd.

As soon as he got close, the sound waves from the stage almost deafened him.

Everyone around him was focused on the stage, and no one paid any attention to him, the out-of-place deliveryman.

Lin Yan stood behind a heavily armored knight cosplayer, patted him on the shoulder, and asked:

"Hey bro, excuse me? By the way, who's the headliner tonight?"