Shanque City, an ordinary small inland county, was originally immersed in tranquility on a weekend morning.
When the first wisp of black smoke rose over Shanque City, the weather station duty officer initially thought it was a malfunction of the optical monitoring equipment.
Ten minutes later, the entire city seemed to have been filled with ink, with all the surveillance footage simultaneously displaying black and white noise.
Moreover, cell phone signals, internet, and radio were all cut off in Shanque City, and the city's entrances and exits were blocked by an invisible force, preventing vehicles from leaving and pedestrians from entering or leaving, turning the entire city into an isolated island.
When the news reached the national level, everyone was shocked.
The atmosphere in the conference room of the National Emergency Command Center was extremely tense. Satellite images of Shanque City were displayed on the screen, but due to interference from an unknown force, Shanque City appeared as a huge black void in the satellite images, and nothing could be seen.
"What on earth is going on? We've never encountered anything like this before!" A leader frowned deeply.
"Whatever it is, we must take action as soon as possible!" another leader said in a deep voice.
"First, we must suppress the news to prevent panic from spreading. At the same time, we must establish a special agency to deal with supernatural phenomena, mobilize all available resources, and find out the truth as soon as possible to resolve the crisis in Shanque City!"
In fact, ever since the incident involving Zhao Chuxia, the country has established a special agency to study supernatural powers, but the function of this department is still limited to "research".
Now that such a sensational situation has broken out in Shanque City, the improvement of the emergency response department should be put on the agenda immediately.
Thus, a brand-new agency—the National Paranormal Phenomena Emergency Strategic Investigation, Control and Logistics Support Bureau, or "Supernatural Investigation Bureau" for short—was urgently established.
The Supernatural Investigation Bureau has only one primary objective: to unravel the mysteries of Shanque City and rescue the trapped citizens.
At the same time, the government also began to control public opinion.
Although cell phone signals and the internet were completely cut off in Shanque City, and the entire city was under lockdown, preventing people inside from sending messages out, those outside could directly observe the unusual phenomena in Shanque City. Unable to enter the Shanque City or contact their relatives and friends inside, the news spread quickly.
Major media platforms were instructed to adopt a unified narrative, describing the situation in Shanque City as an "unexplained weather phenomenon in a localized area," and emphasizing that "active measures are being taken and the public need not panic."
This explanation had some effect, and some netizens who learned about the information indirectly through the internet believed it.
However, those who lived closer to Shanque City and directly witnessed the unusual phenomena were subjected to even more speculation and rumors.
After the unusual phenomenon in Shanque City became a trending topic, it was removed within three minutes. Shortly after, the relationship of a popular young male celebrity was exposed, and the Weibo server almost crashed.
The top ten trending topics on the real-time search list were all dominated by this young man's relationship, and the hashtag Shanque City heavy fog and traffic control# quickly dropped to outside the top thirties.
"Not enough, keep releasing dirt." Inside the Network Public Opinion Control Center, a staff member wearing a headset pressed the enter key. "Expose that notorious cheater in the e-sports circle."
Upon opening the Chanyin) short video platform, a pop-up video suddenly appears, providing solid evidence of a boy band member's middle school bullying. Countless users hover their fingers above the screen before flooding the comment section, engaging in heated arguments and discussions.
In an effort to divert public attention, the government began to exploit the entertainment industry, with major media platforms suddenly releasing a series of scandals: the romances of popular male celebrities, the cheating of e-sports streamers with millions of followers, and the fraudulent donations of well-known internet celebrities. These revelations, like bombshells, instantly attracted public attention and temporarily overshadowed the events in Shanque City under the wave of entertainment news.
Even so, it only temporarily suppressed the heat surrounding #Abnormal Phenomena in Shanque City #.
In the areas surrounding Shanque City, unease continues to spread among the residents, with various speculations and conspiracy theories emerging one after another. Some say it's the end of the world, others say it's foreign high-tech weapons, and still others believe it's an alien invasion...
Chaos was spreading Shanque City.
When the anomaly first appeared, the various emergency orders issued by the mayor were correct and did indeed stabilize the situation to some extent.
However, everyone underestimated the disaster. When those Skeleton Ghosts openly appeared on the streets and attacked the living, and when the attacked living people were transformed into new Skeleton Ghosts, the people were instantly plunged into extreme panic.
Verbal reassurances from government departments have lost their meaning; what ordinary people need now are Daoist priests, sorcerers, monks... anything that can ward off ghosts and monsters.
Some rushed to temples and Daoist monasteries, hoping for protection; others kowtowed frantically to the Buddha statues in their homes, desperately seeking divine intervention; still others took out portraits of deceased relatives and muttered incantations, probably trying to summon the dead to help them...
Unfortunately, none of this could stop the Skeleton Ghost from killing.
The order within Shanque City is irretrievably on the verge of collapse.
Outside Shanque City, a young man clutched his phone, anxiously gazing in the direction of his home. The road into Shanque City was under control, preventing him from getting close. He had been out of contact with his parents for more than 10 hours and could only stand here worrying.
The pop-up notifications on my phone are all entertainment gossip. The video that the young man posted on Chanyin, # Shanque City #, was automatically classified as spam by the AI review system, and other users couldn't see it at all.
After the Supernatural Investigation Bureau was quickly established, they dispatched an advance investigation team to Shanque City immediately.
However, when they reached the edge of the city, they found they could not enter; the black smoke acted as an invisible barrier, keeping them outside.
"What on earth is this?!" one of the scientists in the group exclaimed, his eyes gleaming.
The feeling of reading written intelligence information is completely different from witnessing such an unusual phenomenon firsthand.
"This might be a groundbreaking discovery; once fully understood, it could propel human society to new heights..."
Clearly, this scientist was more interested in studying the anomalies themselves and didn't care much about the disasters.
The others in the group had to remind him, "Whatever it is, we must find a way to break through the blockade. We can't just stand by and watch the citizens inside suffer."
They tried everything, using state-of-the-art equipment, launching probes, and even deploying military force, but all to no avail; the black smoke blockade seemed impenetrable.
The news quickly reached the Headquarters the Supernatural Investigation Bureau.
Inside the electromagnetic shielding room 300 meters underground at the Investigation Bureau Headquarters, a physicist stared at the constantly distorting waveforms on the screen, looking utterly bewildered. "Completely Observation. In the area covered by supernatural phenomena, all equipment is malfunctioning, and the entire swarm of drones we sent out has been wiped out."
Someone suggested, "Why don't we try bombing it with small missiles? We can target the western suburbs of Shanque City."
"No!"
The proposal to launch a missile was met with strong opposition from many, because supernatural phenomena cannot be understood through common sense. What if the missile penetrated the blockade but failed to land at its target location, instead exploding in a densely populated area? How would that be handled?
"How is this possible?"
"How is that impossible?"
"Supernatural phenomena have become so blatant; who can guarantee that these phenomena are happening naturally, or that someone is manipulating them?"
"You all know how bizarre the abilities of those extraordinary individuals we've encountered before are. If the incident in Shanque City was orchestrated by someone in the shadows, guess where your missile will explode?"
If Hu Jiu were here, he would definitely applaud the person who spoke, because he guessed Hu Jiu's thoughts: missiles are meant to be dropped where there are many people.
As everyone discussed the matter animatedly, just when the Supernatural Investigation Bureau was at a loss, they received shocking news: various abnormal phenomena were also occurring in other countries!
"Ancient Gods resurface in North America; believers storm the White House?!"
Mysterious balloon with a human head spotted over Tokyo!
"Is a scam industrial park in Northern Myanmar shrouded in terrifying and bizarre rules?"
It seems the whole world is undergoing an unprecedented upheaval.
"What exactly is going on? Is it some kind of global crisis?" A leader paced back and forth in the conference room, his face grim.
"We must find out the truth as soon as possible and get out of Shanque City's predicament. We can't let the people know about these things, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable," another leader said.
The pressure was on the Paranormal Supernatural Investigation Bureau, but even its members were clueless.
Has no one really discovered that gold can block supernatural forces (Supernatural)?
That's not the case. Gold has a wide range of applications in many fields, and it is also used in the components of some precision instruments. When using these instruments, subtle differences are bound to be noticed.
However, those who sensed something was wrong either forgot about it or encountered various plausible accidents, silencing them forever.
Just when everyone was at a loss about the strange phenomena in Shanque City, the situation suddenly took an unexpected turn.
Twenty-four hours after the black smoke erupted, at the same time the next morning, the Black Clouds that had been covering Shanque City seemed to be torn apart by an invisible hand and quickly dissipated.
Sunlight returned to the city streets, the lockdown was lifted instantly, cell phone signals and internet access were restored, and people were finally able to contact the outside world.
The national rescue team entered Shanque City almost immediately to begin operations, only to find that the city had become a ghost town.
As the rescue team's vehicles entered the city, the streets were eerily silent, devoid of their usual hustle and bustle, with no pedestrians in sight, only the occasional piece of trash tumbling across the ground, blown by the wind.
The rescue team members gripped their equipment tightly, knowing that a huge crisis might be lurking behind this deathly silence.
"What on earth happened here?" a rescue worker whispered, his voice jarring in the empty street.
"Quickly, split up and see if there are any survivors!" the captain ordered.
The team members quickly dispersed, crossing streets and knocking on doors, but only endless Silence answered them.
Occasionally, they would find some gruesome scenes: large numbers of skeletons lying haphazardly in street corners, with bits of blood and rotten flesh hanging on the white bones, all wearing clothes soaked in blood.
"Captain, there's a survivor here!" a team member suddenly shouted.
The rescue team quickly gathered and saw a young girl huddled in a corner, her eyes vacant, as if she had lost her soul.
The team members approached her cautiously, trying to comfort her, but she just stared blankly ahead, not saying a word.
"She may have suffered severe shock; we need to get her to the hospital for a check-up as soon as possible."
As the rescue team continued their search, they discovered more survivors, and... more skeletons.
The rescue team leader looked at the skeletons and fell silent.
Based on initial observations, judging from the clothing worn by the skeletons, they were once residents of Shanque City. Theoretically, their time of death should not have exceeded 24 hours, considering that Shanque City was only under lockdown for 24 hours.
But given their state of decay, where only skeletons remain, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say they'd been dead for years.
Very few survivors remained in the entire city; less than one-tenth of the population survived, almost all of them were dead.
Streets, parks, hospitals, schools—the closer you are to the city center, the more skeletons you'll find.
"What on earth is going on..." a rescue worker whispered, his voice trembling with fear and tears.
The captain took a deep breath and asked slowly, "Are there any people still alive in the city government?"
"Yes, but they've all suffered extreme trauma and are now acting crazy," one of the team members said.
"Currently, only one person can communicate with us normally. His Zhang Suyuan, but his identity is rather special. He was sent by higher-ups to carry out a classified mission. Unfortunately, they were all wiped out. The recent misfortunes in Shanque City may be related to their mission failure..."
The rescue team leader waved his hand, stopping the team member from continuing, "We'll just report the situation truthfully. There's no need for your wild guesses. Be careful what you say, or you'll get into trouble."
The team member nodded and immediately shut his mouth.
Zhang Suyuan was in terrible condition; his face was ashen, like a Zombie, and he barely breathed, radiating an aura that kept strangers at bay.
Originally, only the Ghost Hand on his right arm was black, but now the blackness has spread to half of his body. This is all due to the overuse of the Ghost Hand in order to fight against those Skeleton Ghost.
He had a premonition that if he allowed the blackness from the Ghost Hand to erode his body, something terrible might happen when it reached a certain point.
Thinking about what had happened recently, Zhang Suyuan felt terrible. Since becoming a superhuman, he hadn't encountered a single happy thing; it had all been bad luck.
The rescue team members dared not speak to Zhang Suyuan or approach him again; they immediately arranged for a car to take him back to the Supernatural Investigation Bureau.