There was fog everywhere, and the whole world seemed to be sunk into a pool of chaotic gray-white fluid. Everything in sight had blurred boundaries in the fog. The city in the distance, the road nearby... all became ambiguous.

After just being underground for a while, the scene on the surface had completely changed into something he didn't recognize.

Agatha, who hurried back to the surface from the second waterway, stood at the exit of the traffic station and looked at the situation on the street in some surprise. There were no pedestrians on the road now. Under the thick fog, even the nearby street lights were reduced to a hazy glow floating in the air. Apart from that, only some dark red lights could be seen moving slowly in the fog, mixed with the sound of the steam engine running - that was the warning light on the top of the steam walker flashing.

"The city-state guards and sheriff's forces have rushed to various intersections. Now the movement of people between districts is strictly prohibited, and civilian vehicles are prohibited from taking to the road. People who failed to return home in time are arranged to take shelter nearby," a church pastor who came to respond reported to Agatha, "Most of the night shelters are full. We can only cooperate with the sheriff's department to divert people to churches, warehouses and the nearest subway stations."

Having said this, the pastor paused and sighed heavily.

"Alas...Originally, more people could have been arranged to take shelter in places like libraries, but the places where the books are stored are now beginning to erode, and all the bookstores have been sealed off...The time when the fog rose was just when most of the factories in the city-state were changing shifts, and too many people stayed away from home."

Agatha did not respond, but slowly withdrew her gaze from the street and looked up at the sky thoughtfully.

Thick clouds and the city-state's mist obscured the sky, making it as dim as dusk. In the chaotic sky, no shadow of the sun could be seen.

"It's daytime now..." she said softly.

"Yes, it is daytime now, but this strange fog may have interfered with the power of the sun," the priest said with a serious expression and a hint of nervousness. "The erosion in the library is due to this..."

"Nothing can interfere with the power of the sun during the day. As long as Anomaly 001 is hanging in the sky, even if the clouds block the sunlight and the whole city is as dark as night, the power of the sun will not be weakened." Agatha shook her head slightly. "In my opinion, this thick fog is not the cause. It may just be a 'phenomenon' caused by a greater crisis... What's the situation on the mountain?"

"The cathedral is packed with people now," the priest said quickly. At the same time, several steam walkers with warning lights on came to the open space near the exit of the traffic station. Between the walkers was a car with a church flag. "The car to pick you up is here. Let's go back to the mountain first and talk on the way."

Agatha and the priest got into the car. The steam walker shone a powerful light towards the thick fog. On the barely illuminated road, the vehicle started and headed for the cathedral on the top of the mountain at a speed much slower than normal.

"When the fog came, there were still many worshippers and tourists stranded on the mountain. The cathedral tried its best to shelter everyone. Those who couldn't fit in were placed in the old church museum next door. The city hall also arranged a shelter, so no one was left outside," the priest continued to report the situation to Agatha in the car. "Archbishop Ivan has stabilized the situation and prevented panic from spreading in the church. He has been using psychic communication to keep in touch with churches across the city-state since a while ago. So far, there has been no pollution caused by mass panic..."

A low mechanical roar came from outside the car window, and Agatha turned her head to look in the direction of the sound.

She saw several long aerial guide rails extending from above the mountain road, passing through the thick fog and pointing into the distance. The towering support towers held up the rails like giants. There was a dark cargo warehouse hanging on one of the rails, roaring towards the depths of the fog. The red warning lights around the cargo warehouse were like many eyes, flashing in the fog.

That is the transportation system of the Boiling Gold Mine. The boiling gold ore mined from the mine will be transported to the crushing, sorting plants and large furnaces at the foot of the mountain through those huge cargo boxes and mountain tracks.

"...The mine tracks are still running?" Agatha turned her head in surprise and looked at the pastor beside her. "Didn't the workers take shelter?"

At the same time, what emerged in her mind was the scene she had seen deep underground not long ago, the ancient mine tunnel that had been exhausted decades ago.

"The workers must have gone to take shelter," the priest seemed surprised when he saw the rail cargo box, but he still answered with certainty, "The mine church has confirmed it. What is going over now may be the last batch of raw ore sent up from the excavation area. It should be arranged automatically by the differential machine - you know, the boiling gold ore mined will stay in the storage area for a period of time before being sent away. The program is set on the paper tape, and the machine will only execute it..."

A disturbing roar suddenly came from the other side of the thick fog, interrupting the pastor's solemn words. Everyone's eyes instantly turned to the direction where the sound came from, but they only saw another dark cargo cabin speeding from the other end of the aerial track - on the same track as the cargo cabin that had just passed over the mountain road.

“It’s about to hit!!”

The priest only had time to let out a cry of surprise before an earth-shattering collision occurred. The two cargo holds collided violently on the aerial track, making a terrifying roar and explosion. The side covers of the cargo holds were torn apart, and ore shining with a light golden luster poured onto the hillside like a rainstorm. Then, accompanied by the violent swaying and shaking of the two cargo holds on the track, the power wheels and auxiliary wheels fell off, the axles broke, and the unrecognizable car fell into the valley with flashing sparks and thick smoke.

A piece of debris that fell from the sky almost brushed the roof of the car Agatha was riding in and hit the side of the road heavily.

Before the people in the car could react, another teeth-grinding, extremely terrifying sound of metal tearing came from the sky again.

The aerial track, which had sustained a severe impact, was twisting and deforming. Sparks flew from the top of one of the iron towers supporting the track. The taut steel beams and cables broke with a crackling sound, and then a whole section of the track fell directly from the sky!

“Get out of the way!”

The priest in the car immediately screamed loudly, and before he opened his mouth, the convoy had already begun to avoid the falling objects from the sky - several steam walkers immediately dispersed, and the steam car in the center of the team suddenly accelerated forward. After a few thrilling seconds, a terrifying roar came from behind Agatha.

She turned around and saw that the broken track had crashed onto the mountain road, completely destroying the main road. Two steam walkers were blocked on the opposite side of the falling object, but fortunately they were not injured. They moved their long mechanical limbs and began to climb the mountain next to them. White high-pressure steam gushed out from the gaps in the armor plates and merged with the surrounding thick fog.

"Walkers No. 2 and No. 4 can't come over. They should be preparing to climb up the path above and take a detour back to the cathedral. We don't need to wait for them." Agatha looked back, quickly judged and ordered, "Keep on going."

"It was a close call..." The pastor beside him couldn't help but wipe the sweat from his forehead, "It almost hit my head."

Agatha was silent for a moment.

Was that an accident? Or...malicious?

Why is there a cargo cabin traveling in the opposite direction on the mine track that is supposed to be a one-way track for single vehicles?

The workers in the mines have all gone to take shelter at this time, and the operators of the track system will theoretically also go to take shelter after setting up the last train... There is a safety lock in the last step of hanging the cargo hold on the track. If there are other cargo holds on the track, the train will never depart... The differential engine controls this process, and a normally operating differential engine will not make mistakes. The gears and levers will faithfully execute the programs set on the punched paper tape, and there will be no shaking between the metal meshing.

"There may be something wrong with the difference engine in the mine..." Agatha said as if talking to herself.

And it’s possible that the problem isn’t just with the differential machine in the mine—if the library can be invaded by evil spirits in broad daylight, then the scope and urgency of this anomaly will be beyond everyone’s imagination.

※※※

The sound of alarm bells on distant streets drifted into my ears. Chaotic and disorderly cold wind blew freely in the empty cemetery. Thick fog enveloped everything in sight. In this impenetrable fog, it seemed as if countless low whispers were overlapping and echoing, like the restless agitation of the dead.

The sound of the bolt safety opening broke the tranquility in the cemetery. The faint light of a lantern dispelled the shadows in the fog. The old man with a hunched back tightly grasped the loyal and reliable double-barreled shotgun and stood on the path like a vigilant sentry, staring at the neatly arranged coffins in the fog.

The murmur was just an illusion, at least for now. The coffins were still lying obediently on the morgue, and the people in the coffins were still lying obediently - but the weird atmosphere in the air could not be hidden from the veteran's perception.

He knew that something was happening and that there was absolutely no way that this cemetery would be at peace today - some of the "guests" that he was "taking care of" were gradually waking up.