Xinhai City is a metropolis located on the seaside.
As a natural port city and a major transportation route, Xinhai City is quite prosperous. On weekdays, there are often small vendors coming here from all directions to do business, and occasionally there are tourists passing by. On weekdays, the flow of people is also very high, especially in early summer. The weather is getting hotter and hotter. Walking on the crowded streets, you will feel the heat to some extent.
However, the Xinhai City in the past two days is obviously not like this.
I don't know why, but the once bustling streets are now deserted. The billboards are swaying in the wind, like a flag planted on the moon, with a chilling desolation, like an old city that has fallen silent.
There was not a single person to be seen on the street. The cars next to each other were leaning against the sides of the road like a long iron dragon. Some of the cars had collided with each other and their bumpers had been knocked off. They were swaying in the wind with a "clacking" sound.
From the outside, this place doesn't look like a large city at all, but rather like a rural village after the end of the world.
Right now, a group of people are walking on the streets of Xinhai City, and the huge convoy is bringing some vitality to the city again.
At the back of the convoy, several people were sitting in the carriages, looking at their companions in confusion.
These people are the TV station's team of sideline reporters and photographers.
The person in the lead was a woman who looked no more than 30 years old, and looked no different from most ordinary people. She was a reporter participating in the recording of this TV program. The photographers next to her were about 30 years old, with some signs of aging and a rather haggard appearance.
At this moment, the people from these TV stations were gathered together, staring stupidly at the girl who was sitting cross-legged next to them with great interest.
"Are you going to take photos next?" the girl kept chattering, "I'll be on camera too, can you take better-looking photos of me?"
Hearing this somewhat inexplicable request, the leader of the photographer team, a middle-aged man nicknamed "Brother Long", showed a helpless expression: "Miss Ji..."
He sighed: "We don't decide what to shoot, it's decided by the higher-ups, not to mention that this show is special... When the time comes, everything will be arranged by the higher-ups."
As he spoke, Brother Long turned his head to look at the fallen leaves outside the carriage. After hesitating for a moment, he gritted his teeth and moved closer to Miss Ji.
"Your conditions are not unacceptable," he whispered, "but I want to ask, can you tell me what this mission is about?"
Brother Long smiled bitterly: "We know the danger this time, but we still don't know exactly how dangerous it is. Although we came here on our own, if possible, we still hope to learn a little bit..."
At this point, his voice even sounded a little humble.
As a professional team of photographers, when they suddenly asked him to follow a team that called themselves the "Countermeasures Bureau" and who were obviously from the authorities, Brother Long guessed that the situation this time might be more...special.
But he really didn't understand why they, the photographers and reporters, needed to come along this time.
Could it be that Wutong is going to do it the other way around...
Cough cough.
Patting his chest, Brother Long glanced at Miss Ji in the distance.
This Miss Ji is quite pretty, with an oval face, willow-shaped eyebrows, and very delicate facial features.
But Brother Long still thinks that compared to her, his wife is the most beautiful.
This is not bragging, Brother Long really feels so.
At this moment, Miss Ji was sitting not far from them, looking at the camera that Brother Long had held before, and carefully flipping through this high-end product.
When asked this question, Miss Ji raised her head, glanced at Brother Long, and said easily, "Just call me Ji Qianqin, there's no need to be so formal."
After simply correcting Long Ge's address, Ji Qianqin said, "This time? This time we are going to deal with the aliens."
"Alien...species?" Brother Long stroked his chin, "Is it a new type of missile or a cult?"
Hearing this, Miss Ji put down the camera in her hand and said with a smile: "Neither, it's a monster."
"It's just like those foreign movies, those man-eating monsters," Miss Ji said easily, "vampires, werewolves, evil spirits and the like."
Hearing her nonchalant tone, Brother Long, who was originally holding the phone, began to tremble and almost dropped the phone from his palm.
The middle-aged man who was already over 30 years old pretended to be calm: "Yes... Is it that Xinhai has opened a new theme park? The kind that is about the supernatural, and there are foreign actors playing alien creatures?"
Ji Qianqin: "No, it's a real monster. Look, I have photos here, you can take a look if you don't believe it."
As she spoke, she handed a cell phone to Brother Long and the others.
Brother Long took the phone tremblingly, and his companions gathered around him, looking at the photos in the phone one by one.
The moment they met, Brother Long took a breath of cold air.
A boy, completely naked but with skin so pale that one could almost see his veins, was lying on the bed. His long fangs were exposed from between his lips, with a little scarlet blood, and his heart was beating in his chest, almost jumping out of his body.
This photo of a shoe store that could be placed in Area 51 dealt a heavy blow to Brother Long, who was not mentally prepared, and caused an irreversible shaken effect on his fragile worldview.
However, every subsequent photo made him look paler.
Like a muscular man with spikes on his back, a fire man covered in flames, a woman with spider-like joints behind her, a red muscle mass with wriggling bone spurs... Each one is challenging Brother Long's psychological limit.
"This...is this synthesized?" Brother Long said hopefully, holding the phone in his hand.
There are many types of photos that frighten him at first sight. If such things really exist, then Brother Long feels that he will burst into pieces on the spot due to incontinence the first time he sees such monsters...
It's really scary!
Ji Qianqin shrugged: "No, it's all true."
"In fact, this is the kind of monster you need to face this time," she took the phone back from Brother Long, "but you don't have to worry too much. On the one hand, you only need to take notes and instruct us on how to use this professional equipment. On the other hand..."
Ji Qianqin played with her phone and said with a smile: "We have a 'secret weapon' here."
Secret...weapons? Before Brother Long could ask, there was a sudden "click" and the convoy stopped on the street next to it.
After a while of shaking and swaying, Brother Long realized that they had finally reached their destination.
A hand opened the carriage, and the light outside exploded like a grenade, splashing into their eyes like shrapnel, causing these people to subconsciously squint their eyes to fight against the strong light.
In the bright sunlight, Brother Long vaguely saw a figure standing in the air outside.
Because the figure was facing against the sunlight, Brother Long couldn't see clearly what the man looked like. He could only see the black windbreaker he was wearing, which was deep and dark as if it could absorb the sunlight, and the red scarf around his neck.
I don’t know why, but when I saw this figure, Brother Long felt as if he saw a crow standing on the top of a tree in the sunset, with its black wings spread out to cover the setting sun, and itself turning into a black sun.
Weird and spooky.
Brother Long thought so subconsciously.
Just as he was thinking this, a voice came from outside the car: "Thank you for your hard work, we have arrived at our destination. Please take a short break before continuing the filming."
Hearing this, Ji Qianqin stretched, carefully put down the valuable equipment, and then jumped down from the car: "Boss, when will it start?"
The man she called the boss said in a voice that was almost flat: "Tomorrow morning, or tonight if something unexpected happens."
"Everything depends on the actions of the Pale Lady," he said calmly. "If she deploys a barrier like the Human Watch on Yanxia Mountain, I'm afraid we need to act in advance."
"Boundary..." Ji Qianqin seemed to have thought of something and couldn't help shaking her head. "It was okay at Yanxia Mountain that time, but this time, is there really a barrier that can expand to an area near a city?"
Hearing this, the man said calmly, "Don't underestimate the Pale Lady. She is a 'disaster' level alien, conservatively estimated to be no less than Starscream. Not only that, everything about her is buried under the veil of fate, and no clues can be seen. Even I don't know much about her situation."
"And this time, in addition to the Pale Lady, perhaps we need to deal with more than just that one monster."
After saying this, the man glanced at Brother Long.
Brother Long, who was standing next to Ji Qianqin and the man, was looking at the two people chatting blankly.
Who are they? What are they talking about? Why can't I understand a word they say even though they speak the same language as me? Countless similar questions flashed through Long Ge's mind.
The man seemed to have noticed Brother Long's intention, and turned around and said calmly, "Excuse me, do you have time next, Mr. Chen Shilong?"
Chen Shilong is Brother Long’s real name.
Brother Long was slightly startled when his name was suddenly called, and then he quickly said, "Yes... yes."
The man nodded slightly: "Then could you please go with us to a place? That place is not too far, it only takes a short distance to get there."
Hearing this, Chen Shilong was a little confused.
He secretly glanced at the man's expression, but for some reason, he just felt that the man in front of him was completely imperceptible to any emotional changes, like the coldest and hardest ice, floating on the vast ocean, close yet distant.
Brother Long swallowed subconsciously.
He turned his head to look at the driver in the car, but the driver said nothing, just stared straight ahead at the road in the distance, as if he was on guard against something.
Perhaps he saw his uneasiness, the man pulled the corners of his mouth and forced a smile: "Don't be too anxious."
"I am the leader of this operation. You can call me 'the prophet'," the man said. "I need your ability and skills this time. See if you can give some special training to some of my subordinates and some... 'friends'."
Although he said this, Brother Long was still a little wary.
Looking at this man in front of me who has a stern face and seems to have no emotions, it always makes people feel a little creepy.
But there was nothing he could do.
As a worker, he was sent to this place and it was difficult for him to refuse since there was a lot of money offered.
Therefore, as long as the guy in front of him is not doing anything illegal or criminal, Brother Long feels that he can probably accept it.
...But those who have connections with authorities like the "Countermeasures Bureau" probably won't engage in illegal activities, right?
Thinking of this, Brother Long nodded, reluctantly put his mind at ease and followed the prophet.
The prophet walked in front, Ji Qianqin walked behind, and Brother Long walked in the middle, and the three of them went towards somewhere.
On the way, the prophet took out a notebook and wrote furiously, while calmly saying: "Mr. Chen must be a little confused now, not knowing what to do. I think you have been told before that this work will be quite dangerous, but please rest assured, we, 'Daylight' and the Countermeasures Bureau will protect your safety."
"What you need to do is to make a complete and comprehensive record of the disaster in Xinhai City and then publish it later."
Glancing at Brother Long, the prophet said calmly, "I believe in your abilities and your character. As a dedicated and hardworking journalist, I also trust your professional abilities."
"I believe that this record will make your names be engraved in history in the future, and imprinted in the tide of the times as witnesses of the new era," the prophet said, "This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Please believe this, Mr. Chen."
You made me believe...
Brother Long sighed: "I don't know what to believe."
"But I think that you guys are doing something big by making such a big fuss, evacuating the local people and arranging a photography team," he touched his tools. "If it's just for recording, then I can still be considered useful. As for leaving a name in history, I don't care much. It's just because this is work, and work needs to be taken seriously."
Listening to Brother Long's voice, the prophet nodded slightly.
"In that case, please come in," he said, moving half a body to the side, "As the captain of the photography team, please come and participate in this 'operation meeting'."
"This is something you should also know, or to be more precise... this is the key that people all over the world should understand and deal with!"
"For the record, please start with this meeting."