The headquarters of the Celestial City Anomaly Investigation Bureau is located in the north of the city, while the target location is in the south. As Xiazhou Federation's largest city in the Southwest Region, it took Sun Hang and his team over two hours to traverse the entire Celestial City.
The black SUV drove out of the city, speeding along the highway in the southern suburbs, flanked by barren wastelands and some sparse, abandoned buildings.
Occasionally, small villages with traces of human habitation could be seen, but they all looked desolate—at the village entrance, only a few elderly dressed simply sat on bamboo chairs sunbathing. Occasionally, a few preschool children stumbled past, followed by grandparents holding bowls to feed them... As for young adults, they were completely absent.
"Young people all yearn for big cities. For them, even if they crash and bleed in the jungle of concrete and steel, it's better than wasting their youth in such small villages." The chatty driver uncle spoke while driving, "How do they put it using that trending word online... Oh right, 'rot,' they say staying in such places only leads to slow decay; it's better to try one's luck in the city."
They passed another village, where most houses had collapsed. Only two houses near the highway were still inhabited—the clothes drying rack in front of them still hung clothes that hadn't dried, and a bald country dog sprawled across a pile of straw, basking in the warm afternoon sun.
"Once these old folks go, this place will really become a no-man's land." The driver uncle sighed.
"If this place is so bleak, why would anyone want to build an amusement park here?" Sun Hang asked.
"The past is the past, and the present is the present." The driver uncle sighed, "More than twenty years ago, this place was the famous southern economic development zone, with land prices even hotter than downtown."
"Then why did it become like this?" Sun Hang asked again.
"What else could be the reason but anomalies." The driver uncle replied, "Although those things have been dealt with, no one is willing to invest in this place anymore. Gradually, the southern suburbs became a wilderness."
"Are you an outsider? Local people in Celestial City know about this." 0401 muttered doubtfully, "Though I wasn't born then, my mom used to scare me with this story when I caused a ruckus and refused to sleep at night as a kid... Ah, 0398, you should've heard about it too, right?"
"So what if I've heard about it." 0398 spoke impatiently, "Instead of worrying about such things, you'd better think about how to keep your neck intact when we arrive at the mission site."
"Hey, I'm not the one who should be worried." 0401 suddenly smiled slyly, "You've all read the mission intel. It's young women who have gone missing, so I'm quite safe as a big guy. But you..."
"You can shut up; nobody's going to mistake you for a mute." 0398 retorted irritably.
...
As they moved further from the city, the highway began to be lined with numerous ruins of high-rise buildings... From these crumbling wreckages, the prosperity of the southern development zone could be faintly discerned, but now only deathly silence remained.
Along the way, the most frequent sight was the large "demolish" characters, painted in bright red on abandoned buildings.
"Besides homeless wanderers and scavengers, no one wants to come here." The driver uncle stepped on the brake, "Even though the anomaly has been resolved, to the citizens of Celestial City, this place has already become cursed ground."
Soon, the abandoned amusement park, which was the mission target, finally came into Sun Hang and his team's view.
The first thing to grab their attention was the iconic giant Ferris wheel. The steel structure towered over a hundred meters in diameter, overlooking the entire amusement park.
The plastic sheets wrapped around the Ferris wheel fluttered like tattered flags in the high-altitude breeze.
"It must have cost a fortune to build this thing," Sun Hang thought, "What a pity... If only some of that money could come my way."
At the entrance of the abandoned amusement park, seven or eight Public Security Bureau cars were parked. Yellow and white police tape was draped around the amusement park's outer walls, and a sturdy, dark-skinned sheriff squatted on a stone, smoking with a troubled expression.
At his feet scattered over a dozen cigarette butts.
"This is Mr. Huang from the City South Branch of the Public Security Bureau's field team." A young sheriff introduced Sun Hang to the three, "Mr. Huang led the team for the previous three reconnaissance missions..."
At this point, he suddenly lowered his voice: "That trainee sheriff went missing right under Mr. Huang's nose."
"People from the Investigation Bureau?" The sheriff addressed as Mr. Huang flicked away his cigarette and came over to scrutinize Sun Hang and his team, finally focusing his attention on 0398.
"I know what kind of people temporary investigators are, so I'm not expecting you to be much help." Mr. Huang spoke gruffly, pointing at Sun Hang and 0401, "You two, what you need to do is to keep an eye on her constantly. No matter what happens, you must ensure she's always within your sight. Got it?"
"Got it." 0401 nodded in agreement.
"I've got an idea." Sun Hang suddenly spoke up.
"What idea? Just say it." Mr. Huang glanced at Sun Hang, "Don't waste time."
"If you're worried about 0398 disappearing inexplicably, why not handcuff her to someone?" Sun Hang suggested.
"That's a good idea, then cuff you to her." Mr. Huang frowned but nonetheless took a pair of handcuffs from his bag.
"I owe a lot of money to the Xiazhou Federation. If something happens during my first mission, it would be a big loss for the Federation." Sun Hang stated calmly, "As for 0401, his debt is less than a third of mine. He's more suitable."
"Makes sense." Mr. Huang nodded and walked directly towards 0401.
"Damn! You... you're trying to screw me over?" 0401's expression changed drastically.
"What are you hollering for? As long as you behave and follow us without running off, what's gonna happen?" Mr. Huang's strength was great; he grabbed the retreating 0401 and slapped a handcuff onto his wrist.
The other handcuff was attached to 0398's wrist.
0398 hardly struggled, appearing resigned to their fate.
"Let's go." Mr. Huang picked up the riot helmet thrown on the engine cover, slapped it on his head, and said.