Sunlight, like molten gold, shone across the tranquil surface of Blue Moon Lake. Lin Hao cast his fishing rod, and the line traced a fine silver arc in the air before gently dipping into the water, sending ripples through the air. He took a deep breath, his lungs filled with the unique moist scent of the lake and the delicate fragrance of the pine trees along the shore. This was a "wild and charming" nature reserve, far from the hustle and bustle of the city. He had taken his annual leave and driven for most of the day to find this legendary fishing spot.
His worries seemed to gradually dissipate with the rise and fall of the fishing float. That daunting project at work, the texts from the landlord demanding rent, and his mother's nagging urge for marriage... all were temporarily shut out from this landscape. He only needed to focus on the subtle movements of the float, feel the faint touch of the fishing rod at his fingertips, and wait for the unexpected surprise. This was how life should be: simple, focused, and uncontested.
However, this tranquility did not last long.
A burst of sharp, noisy shouts and chaotic footsteps emanated from the forest path behind him, shattering the lake's tranquility. Lin Hao frowned and looked back. Several little boys, seemingly in their early teens, dressed in brightly colored outdoor clothing, brandished branches and toy water guns, and rushed to the lake's edge like a pack of unleashed stray dogs.
"Look! There's someone fishing here!" a fat boy who looked like the leader shouted in a very loud voice.
"Hey! Uncle, did you catch any fish? Let us play with it!" Another tall and thin child joined in the fun.
They completely ignored Lin Hao's presence and began to run frantically around the lake, screaming and throwing rocks into the water. Splash! Splash! The rocks sent huge splashes through the water, startling any fish that might have gathered and sending them scattering in all directions.
Lin Hao's brows furrowed. He suppressed the anger rising in his heart and said in a calm voice, "Kids, you can't throw rocks here. It'll scare the fish away. Can you go play somewhere else?"
"Lululu~ What's it to you!" The fat boy made a face at him, "This lake is owned by your family, right? We just like to play!"
As he spoke, he became more aggressive, picked up a bigger stone, aimed at the water surface near Lin Hao's fishing float, and smashed it hard.
"Bang!" With a dull sound, the water almost splashed onto Lin Hao's trouser legs.
His patience had reached its limit. Lin Hao stood up abruptly, his suppressed anger rising to his head: "Where are your parents? Do you have any manners? If you do this again, I'll call the police!"
"Call the police? Haha, go ahead!" Unexpectedly, the kids weren't afraid at all. Instead, they started laughing, their voices filled with a kind of fearless arrogance. "Who are you trying to scare? My mom's in charge of the police!"
Lin Hao was completely enraged by this attitude. Without further hesitation, he pulled out his phone. Although the signal might not be very good in such a remote place, it would be a good idea to scare these lawless little devils. He found 110 and dialed it directly.
The call was connected quickly and unexpectedly smoothly.
"Hello, this is the 110 emergency center." A clear, calm, but unusually young, even slightly lazy female voice came from the receiver.
"Hello, I want to call the police." Lin Hao tried to keep his voice steady. "I'm at the Blue Moon Lake Nature Reserve. A few children are causing trouble here, destroying the environment, seriously disturbing others, and their attitude is extremely bad..."
He described the situation in detail, including the children's physical appearance and their words and actions.
"Okay, sir, we understand the situation. Please keep the communication open, and the police officers patrolling nearby will arrive as soon as possible to deal with it." The policewoman's voice remained calm, and she hung up the phone without even asking his name.
So efficient? Lin Hao breathed a sigh of relief. It seemed the phrase "call the police" still had some intimidating power. He put away his phone and looked at the children. They seemed to have heard him call, too, and they calmed down a bit, gathering together and whispering, occasionally glancing at him. Their eyes were odd, but not at all fearful. Instead, they held a certain... anticipation for a good show?
A subtle unease flashed through Lin Hao's mind, but he quickly chalked it up to an illusion. Perhaps he was overthinking it, a child trying to save face.
The wait was much shorter than expected.
Less than ten minutes later, Lin Hao heard the roar of an engine. A rugged, black and blue SUV, appearing taller and more expensive than an ordinary police car, raced down the bumpy dirt road. With a neat drift, it stopped in a nearby open space, kicking up a cloud of dust.
The car door opened, and the first thing that stepped out was a pair of long legs in black boots and crisp navy blue trousers. Then, two tall, heroic female police officers got out.
Lin Hao was stunned. He hadn't disclosed his gender when he called the police, so why were they female? Furthermore...these two policewomen had completely different temperaments than he had imagined.
They all looked very young, perhaps in their mid-twenties, with beautiful features, but their brows held an unmistakable sharpness and... a scrutinizing air. Their uniforms were perfectly tailored, perfectly framing their upright figures and smooth muscular lines. The shoulder straps and armbands seemed different, more intricate and refined. Their belts held a full array of equipment, seemingly lighter but more sophisticated than those typically worn by male police officers. Most important was their gaze—as they glanced over, it carried an innate sense of authority and a condescending indifference, gracing past the children and locking onto Lin Hao.
This feeling of being the primary target caused Lin Hao's uneasiness, which had just subsided, to surge again.
The leading policewoman was taller, with short, neatly styled hair and eagle-like eyes. She strode over with firm, powerful steps, her boots making a distinct clattering sound as they stomped on the ground. Her gaze flicked back and forth between Lin Hao and the children, finally resting on Lin Hao's face.
"Were you the one who called the police just now?" Her voice was somewhat similar to that of the policewoman on the phone, calm, but with a bit more toughness and unquestionable strength.
"It's... it's me." Lin Hao subconsciously stood up straight under the pressure of her aura and quickly pointed at the children who seemed unusually "well-behaved" at the moment. "Comrade police officer, it's these children who are making a lot of noise here and throwing stones into the lake, seriously interfering with my fishing. They don't listen to me and their attitude is very bad..."
The tall policewoman listened without any expression on her face. She tilted her head slightly and looked at the children.
Before Lin Hao could finish, the fat boy who was leading the group suddenly spoke up, his voice tinged with tears, his expression instantly becoming extremely aggrieved. "Sir! He's talking nonsense! We were just playing here, we didn't touch his things! He treated us harshly because we were young, and even called us uneducated and threatened to beat us! We were so scared!"
This acting skill of confusing right and wrong is first-rate, and tears come easily.
Lin Hao was furious: "You're lying! It was obviously you who started it first..."
"Shut up," the tall policewoman interrupted Lin Hao coldly, her eyes devoid of any warmth, as if he were the one being unreasonable. Without even checking with the other child, she simply bent down, her tone surprisingly softening as she addressed the chubby boy, "Don't be afraid, little brother. Tell me, did he really threaten to hit you?"
"Yeah!" The fat boy nodded vigorously, tears in his eyes. "He even took out his cell phone and said he would call someone to deal with us! We were scared to death!"
Another policewoman approached, holding a tablet-sized device with a dimly lit screen. She casually scanned the children. The device beeped softly, and a green message popped up on the screen. Then, she pointed it at Lin Hao.
"Beep—beep—!"
The instrument suddenly emitted a sharp and rapid beeping sound, and the screen instantly turned a dazzling red, with a series of rapidly scrolling characters and data that Lin Hao could not understand popping up.
The policewoman holding the instrument's expression instantly turned serious and...excited? She looked up at the taller policewoman and said hurriedly, "Captain! The readings are abnormal! The high-dimensional perturbation index is off the charts! The life signature code is unrecognizable! It's not registered in the 'Hive' database! It's confirmed to be a 'crosser'! A male!"
The tall policewoman's eyes suddenly changed. The previous coldness and routine were instantly replaced by a focus as sharp as a knife, even a hint of the frenzy of discovering prey. She jerked upright, her right hand silently pressing down on the baton (or rather, something similar but more bizarrely shaped) at her waist.
"What?" Lin Hao was completely stunned. Boundary crossers? Male? High-dimensional disturbance? He didn't understand a single word of these words, but the other party's hostile attitude and obvious hostility towards him made the hairs on his body stand on end. "What are you talking about? Boundary crossers? I'm the one who called the police! I'm the victim! You should be dealing with them!" He pointed at the children again.
At this moment, there was no trace of fear or grievance on the faces of those boys. Instead, they all had expressions of gloating and watching the show. The fat boy even secretly made a provocative gesture at him.
The tall policewoman ignored his explanation. Her voice was cold and firm, carrying an absolute command: "Show me your ID immediately! Put your hands where I can see them! Stay where you are!"
"Identification? I...my ID card is in my wallet in the car..." Lin Hao was at a loss for what to do with this sudden change, and subconsciously wanted to turn around and get it in the car.
"Don't move!" the tall policewoman shouted, yanking out the weapon from her waist. It was no ordinary baton, its tip flashing with dangerous blue arcs of electricity, crackling softly. "Last warning! Give up futile resistance! Get down! Cover your head with your hands!"
The arc baton pointed directly at Lin Hao. The other policewoman quickly put down her instrument, also drawing her stun baton, and flanked him, blocking any possible escape route. Their movements were clean and efficient, coordinated and coordinated—a standard tactical move for dealing with extremely dangerous individuals.
"You...what are you doing?! What law have I broken?!" Lin Hao was completely panicked, his mind blank. He was just fishing, and when a naughty kid harassed him, he called the police. How could this have happened? Were these two policewomen crazy? Or...was this not the world he thought it was?
A huge sense of fear and absurdity gripped him. He watched helplessly as the two female police officers, emitting a dangerous aura, approached step by step, and the death beeps from the electric batons became clearer and clearer.
"The target refuses to cooperate! Take coercive measures!" the tall policewoman announced coldly.
"Wait! You must have made a mistake! I just..." Lin Hao tried to make a final explanation, his voice trembling with fear.
But the other party obviously didn't intend to give him any chance.
The tall policewoman moved as fast as lightning. Before he could finish his words, she had already stepped forward. The electric baton in her hand brought a gust of evil wind and stabbed Lin Hao's abdomen directly.
Although Lin Hao was an ordinary office worker, his survival instincts kicked in at this critical moment, and he instinctively dodged backward. With a swish! The stun gun brushed past his coat, and the blue arc of electricity exploded in the air, creating a dazzling burst of sparks. A whiff of ozone mixed with the smell of burning filled the air. The loud sound of the electric current made his scalp tingle.
The tall policewoman seemed a little surprised when her attack missed, but she didn't hesitate, and swept her leg forward. Lin Hao lost his balance and stumbled to the side.
Another female police officer had been waiting for a long time. She saw the opportunity and accurately stabbed Lin Hao in the lower back with the stun gun.
"Ughh ...
Intense, indescribable pain instantly washed over Lin Hao's entire body! It felt as if every nerve had been frying in oil, every muscle convulsing wildly. His vision instantly turned white, then filled with countless black spots. His consciousness felt like glass struck by a sledgehammer, on the verge of shattering. His body convulsed violently, drool gushing uncontrollably. He fell straight forward to the ground, curled up in a ball, unable to move except for groaning in agony.
It was as if all the muscles in my body no longer belonged to me. I couldn't even lift a finger. Only the terrible numbness and residual pain continued to rage.
"The target has been subdued." The tall policewoman's cold voice seemed to come from far away.
She stepped forward and kicked the limp Lin Hao with the tip of her boot, confirming that he had lost the ability to resist. Then, she pulled out a pair of handcuffs from behind her waist that gleamed with a cold metallic light. The style was equally strange, more like some kind of restraint device.
With a crisp "click," the handcuffs locked onto Lin Hao's wrists. The metal felt icy cold, heavier than ordinary handcuffs, and held tightly, leaving almost no gaps.
Lin Hao was roughly dragged off the ground like a bag of garbage. His legs were too limp to stand, and he was practically held by two female police officers as they dragged him towards the SUV. Through his blurry vision, he saw the naughty kids cheering and jumping for joy. The chubby kid even ran over and kicked his immobilized leg, shouting, "Serves you right! You alien pig!"
The policewoman turned a blind eye to it, and even seemed to have a barely perceptible smile on her lips.
The trunk was opened, revealing a large space, but devoid of any debris. The interior was made of some soft, crash-resistant material. Lin Hao was unceremoniously shoved inside, curled up in the dark, narrow space.
"Stay still!" The tall policewoman slammed the trunk door shut.
The world instantly plunged into darkness and suffocation. The engine started, and the car jolted away from the lake. Lin Hao could feel that every shake of his body brought new pain and humiliation.
Fear, anger, excruciating pain, and a sense of sheer absurdity washed over him like icy water. What on earth was going on? What those two policewomen had said... a border-crosser? A male? Unregistered? They seemed to have assumed from the start that he was some kind of... anomaly? And calling the police, far from helping, seemed like a foolish sign of a trap?
And those kids... they seemed to have known this was going to happen? Wasn't that "my mom is in charge of the police" just bragging?
A terrifying and unbelievable thought began to emerge in his chaotic mind: this was not the world he was familiar with. Law, order, and common sense might be completely turned upside down here.
As the car drove on, the sounds coming from outside became somewhat strange. Besides the engine noise, there seemed to be... more frequent traffic noises? Even the occasional roar, like the whistling of a low-flying aircraft. These sounds were impossible in the nature reserve of the world he came from.
The extreme mental and physical exhaustion and the aftereffects of the electric shock gradually blurred his consciousness. Before he fell into complete darkness, the last thing he could clearly feel was the cold, hard touch of the metal cuffs on his wrists and the boundless, cold fear deep in his heart.
He was lost. Not just geographically, but completely lost in a world of unknown and hostile rules.
Arrests are just the beginning.