Chapter 104 The Current Situation of Neon Country
The country of Neon in the eastern mainland.
In a remote town in Aomori Prefecture.
Because the town is located in the mountains, you need to drive around several hills to enter. The inconvenience of transportation and the lack of jobs mean that although there are many mountains, they are not beautiful scenery suitable for viewing, so it cannot become a tourist area. Young people are leaving here one after another, and gradually only some stubborn old people are left here. After these old people disappeared, this place really became a ghost town.
"Is this the place where terrible things happened that you said?" After riding for several hours with Miyuki, the boy came to such a deserted place and saw such a place that looked like a ghost town. He was a little unhappy.
Although this place is indeed suitable as a horror movie scene, he knows that the truly scary place is where there are many people.
Besides, even if something strange happened here, there were not many people around, so it wouldn't cause much trouble.
Miyuki stood by a bridge over a small river. Due to the drought in recent years, the river was dry and even the stone bridge on it was in a state of disrepair. Several stones had fallen off and it looked like it could collapse at any time. The town was in front of the bridge. There was a rusty and dilapidated sign next to the bridge, reminding everyone that there was nothing to see here and it was best to leave.
"There was a terrible bloodshed here." Miyuki recalled the news she had seen on the Internet. "This place was abandoned about fifty years ago. A long time ago, this place was very wealthy because a small gold mine and silver mine were discovered there. The town here was built by those miners. Because there were so many people, schools, clinics, and even entertainment facilities were built. But later, the mines began to dry up, and people gradually left here. Until fifty years ago, it was completely abandoned."
"During the mining period, there was a mine collapse accident there." Miyuki pointed to a hilltop that had sunk inwards and said, "The mine owner at the time thought that rescue was a thankless task. Even if they spent a lot of money to dig the people out, they would probably not be able to save them. They would have to pay compensation anyway, so they simply gave up digging the people out and found another mine to continue mining. They gave the families some money and said that there was no other way and just ended the matter. Nine miners were buried there, and they are still there today."
The boy looked towards the top of the mountain, thoughtfully.
"A few years after the town was abandoned, rumors spread that there were gold and silver mines on the mountain, but they had not been discovered before. Many people brought their own tools and quietly went up the mountain to dig." Miyuki paused for a moment and continued, "Several people who went to dig for gold disappeared. A rescue team came to look for them, but in the end they only found a body, and it was murdered. Before leaving, the deceased only mentioned to a good friend that he wanted to try digging for gold, but he didn't say whether he went alone or with a companion. In the end, the police found nothing."
"Because he was killed, many people mentioned that he was killed by his fellow travelers because he had dug up gold. Several more groups of people went to dig for gold. After several people disappeared, officials of this county called on everyone not to believe in unfounded rumors. After that, no one said that they had dug up gold, and gradually no one came to look for treasure."
"Later, the Internet and short videos became popular, and some people came here to explore." Miyuki continued, "And they encountered a wanted criminal hiding here. Three of the people who came to explore and shoot videos died, and the rest were injured. After they ran away, they called the police, who went up the mountain to look for him, but they never found him. But it's been almost 20 years since that incident, and even if the wanted criminal is still alive, he definitely won't stay here."
"People stopped paying attention to this place after the wanted criminal came out." Miyuki looked around with lingering fear after she finished speaking. Although she herself thought that the wanted criminal would not be here, such a remote place that had been abandoned for decades was really the most suitable place for a wanted criminal to hide.
She was still a little scared.
The young man frowned as he heard this. In a place like this, there was an 80% chance that something strange would happen after the advent of something strange.
But there's no one here, and since it's a wanted criminal, I don't think anyone would come here to commit suicide...
The sound of cars came from the dilapidated road behind.
It was a yellow van, which drove right in front of Miyuki and the boy. After a whistle, the car was turned off, and three young people who looked a bit like middle school students got out of the car.
Judging from their ages, they were probably around 17 years old, and all of them were high school students. However, they didn't dress like high school students. The boy had dyed hair and earrings, and the girl had heavy makeup and wore a miniskirt.
They all have a bit of a bad taste.
The boy with dyed blond hair was holding a mobile phone in his hand and talking to the camera: "We have arrived at the legendary ghost town! Do you think we will encounter strange things here? I think this place is very likely to be a place where gray fog will appear. If it is broadcast live to the world, remember to give me a like and reward!"
The girl in the short skirt saw Miyuki and the boy, walked up to them and said hello with a smile: "Hey, hello~ Are you guys here to explore too? Yes, I am too, my name is Kawakami Eiko~~"
"Hey, wait, you look so familiar." Kawakami Eiko stared at Miyuki's eyes, and suddenly she exclaimed, and hurriedly called her friends who were live streaming and taking photos with their phones, "Hey, look, is she Miyuki, the Miyuki on the weird live broadcast."
Miyuki turned her head away, feeling annoyed.
"Wow, it's really Miyuki~~" The boy who was holding up the mobile phone for live broadcast immediately ran over, and the camera of the mobile phone was almost close to Miyuki's face. "Audience in the live broadcast room, look who I found, Miyuki from the weird live broadcast, she is here too, this is fate. Wait, does this mean that we won't enter the weird live broadcast? No one has ever entered the weird live broadcast twice, oh my god, this is simply a big loss. Well, thank you for your comfort. Then, let's take a look at who is traveling with him..."
Several people turned their gaze to the gray-haired boy next to them, and the boy also turned his head and looked at them with silver-white pupils.
Kawakami Eiko swallowed, stared into the other person's eyes, then looked at his slightly gray skin. No matter how she looked at it... he didn't look like he was wearing contact lenses or putting on makeup.
"Teng Ruo, I think... we should leave." Kawakami Eiko whispered to the boy holding his cell phone.
"Why are you leaving?" Shang Ping, the driver, was unhappy. "We drove for three hours to get here. We haven't even seen what's inside yet, and you're leaving like this?"
Holding his mobile phone, Teng Ruo stared at the comments in the live broadcast room. The number of people was rising crazily, but at the same time, he was not as simple-minded as the driver Shang Ping. He also saw that the weird appearance of the boy in front of him was not fake. He came because his head was hot. When he opened the live broadcast room, he said that he hoped to enter the weird live broadcast. He was not afraid even if he faced the enemy monster head-on, but when he really faced the boy, Teng Ruo was really scared.
However, the rapidly rising popularity of the live broadcast room and the increasing number of rewards made him reluctant to leave, and he also didn't want to run away now and be scolded.
This girl, Miyuki, can live in peace with him, maybe... even if she is as weird as Bai Yixin, there should be no problem.
"That's right. We got here with great difficulty. It's okay, Zhizi." Tengruo said with a forced smile, without revealing the boy's identity.
"Are you guys here to have fun, too?" Kamiping stepped forward. "Are you coming together? I heard there are a lot of legends about this town, like a mine collapse that buried miners, people who went to dig for gold and were murdered, and a wanted criminal. Some people also say there are monsters here. We came all the way from Akita just to check out what's going on here."
After saying that, he looked at the boy again and said, "You are dressed well. How should I address you?"
Hearing what he said, Kawakami Eiko and Teng Ruo both took a deep breath.
The boy stared at Shangping with his silvery white pupils: "Insect cocoon."
"Hmm? Coil?" Shang Ping tilted his head and laughed, "What a weird name."
Tenruo immediately handed the live broadcast phone to Kawakami Eiko, and covered Shangping's mouth, trying to drag him aside to have a good talk. However, Shangping was stronger and broke free in an instant, wiping his mouth in disgust: "Your palms are full of sweat, so dirty!"
Teng Ruo: ...
Isn't this a sign of being scared?
Look carefully whether it is a human or a fool before you speak.
"Anyway, let's go in and explore, shall we?" Shangping invited with a smile.
Kawakami Eiko and Tenroku's eyes went dark. Miyuki said nothing, but turned to look at the cocoon.
The insect-cocoon boy smiled: "Okay."
As soon as he finished speaking, many colorful butterflies flew out of the forest. Some of them landed on the boy's head, adding beautiful colors to the gray boy's face.
Kawakami Eiko glanced at the live broadcast room on her phone. Many comments were saying it was beautiful, and some people mentioned that the scene looked a bit weird.
A palm-sized golden butterfly landed on the back of the boy's raised hand, and its huge wings trembled slightly, shining like gold.
But what caught people's attention at first glance was not the butterfly's golden wings, but its abdomen. It had yellowish hairs, but underneath the short and thin hairs was a deep red abdomen that bulged high, looking like... the abdomen of a mosquito that had just eaten its fill, with the dark red color flowing inside, like blood.
"My little cuties are full." A blush appeared on the boy's gray cheeks.
The butterfly's feet slowly pierced into the back of the boy's hand, and then the few people saw that the butterfly's bulging belly gradually began to thin, returning to its original appearance, and the blood color also faded and returned to golden yellow.
Looking at the boy's skin again, the gray color gradually faded, and now it looks a bit close to the skin color of an ordinary person, just not so healthy.
Now even Shang Ping, who had a thick head, could see the problem. His fingers trembled slightly and he looked at Teng Ruo.
Teng Ruo kept her mouth shut and nodded quietly to Shang Ping.
Shangping took out a cigarette from his pocket and tried to put it in his mouth, but failed several times. Finally, the cigarette fell to the ground, and Shangping didn't even dare to pick it up.
"Ding~ Gained fusion degree, unlocked the first ability - breaking the cocoon and becoming a butterfly."
"Breaking out of a cocoon to become a butterfly - beautiful butterflies are all insects that have transformed from cocoons. After merging with the butterflies, you will become more beautiful, more seductive, and more dangerous. Do you want to give it a try? People who are deceived by your beautiful appearance will listen to you and do whatever you say."
The worm-like eyes looked at Kawakami Eiko and others who were holding up their mobile phones to broadcast live, the degree of fusion and... the experimental subjects that were delivered to their doorstep.
Thank you very much.