Blood Moon

This hilly area, though barren, wasn't desolate—the entire mountainside was now covered with people using lighting equipment. Judging by their uniforms, there were personnel from the Public Security Bureau, the Anomaly Investigation Bureau, soldiers from the Tianfu City Guard, and regular army soldiers from the Xiazhou Federation.

Sun Hang and the other two jumped out of the car, and immediately two investigators approached them. Both wore uniforms with the Investigation Bureau's insignia and identification codes, clearly indicating they were full-time, established investigators.

"Any new findings?" Yang Qi asked.

The two investigators shook their heads in unison.

"I have a question," Sun Hang said. "How did you confirm that this place has reverted to its undeveloped state from decades ago—rather than the entire cemetery disappearing, leaving behind only a barren mountain?"

"Because they found this at the scene." Yang Qi took an opaque evidence bag from one of the investigators and tossed it to Sun Hang.

"Can I open it?" Sun Hang asked.

Yang Qi nodded.

Inside the bag was a tin can for biscuits. The paint on the can was scratched in places, but none of the scratched areas had rusted. Sun Hang turned the can over and found a line of text printed on the bottom.

"Production Date: January 10th, Year 4653 of the Lunar Calendar. Shelf Life: 24 months."

It was a can of butter shortbread cookies. The lid was noticeably deformed, offering almost no seal. Even the bottom of the evidence bag holding it was piled with quite a few golden cookie crumbs.

Sun Hang gently pried open the deformed lid with his fingernail and found several fragmented cookies inside the can.

These butter shortbread cookies were not individually wrapped inside; the outer tin can was their sole packaging.

Sun Hang picked up a piece and found that not only had the cookie not spoiled or molded, it wasn't even damp. When he applied gentle pressure with his fingertip, he could still hear a crisp crunching sound as the cookie was squeezed.

"Cookies produced sixty-six years ago, even those long-lasting compressed biscuits, wouldn't remain in this condition," Yang Qi said.

"Tsk." Wang Xiyi took the can and picked up a cookie... The next second, the cookie turned to powder in her palm, falling back into the can with a rustle.

"At first, we thought it might be a temporal displacement where the space the cemetery occupied swapped with the scene from decades ago," Yang Qi explained. "But based on your description, those missing people might not have gone to decades ago, but to a future point in time."

"No, I don't think so," Sun Hang shook his head. "If it were just time travel, the travelers themselves shouldn't have become so aged... From what I saw, I feel more like the flow of time in the space they occupied was accelerated thousands or even tens of thousands of times."

"If it were simply an accelerated flow of time, you would have seen skeletons, not elderly living people," Yang Qi frowned. "Humans need to eat and breathe to maintain their metabolism. If the flow of time instantly sped up thousands of times, those people would have died long ago."

"But aging is precisely one of the manifestations of metabolism," Sun Hang countered.

"...You're not wrong," Yang Qi sighed. "The abnormal phenomena caused by Anomalies simply cannot be explained by our current scientific theories... It's precisely for this reason that only those like you, infected with the Anomalization Virus, can contend with Anomalies."

"So what should I do now? Search this barren mountain like these people?"

"Wait. No matter how urgent, we can only wait," Yang Qi said solemnly. "Until the Resonance appears again."

Just then, a familiar voice suddenly came from not far away: "0420? You're still alive?!"

Sun Hang turned his head and, as expected, saw 0401, wearing a plain gray uniform, leaning on a shovel and staring at him with astonishment from the small hillside.

"You seem to wish I were dead?"

"No... no, no, no, I didn't mean that. I'm just very surprised..." 0401 waved his hands repeatedly. "It's just that you couldn't get out of the basement that day, and you didn't return to the Investigation Bureau afterward. I thought you had already... Wait, what's on your shoulder—they actually gave you a gun?"

"There are wild beasts in the wilderness at night, isn't it normal to be issued a gun?"

"Holy crap, then why don't I have one? No! You're not a Temporary Investigator anymore! What happened that day?" 0401 tried to press further, but a layer of ominous dark red light suddenly covered the entire hillside, abruptly cutting off 0401's words.

He turned his neck somewhat stiffly and looked up at the sky.

Between the gloomy clouds, a blood-red full moon hung high, emitting an eerie crimson glow.

"Damn it," Wang Xiyi muttered softly.

"Why now of all times... This is troublesome," Yang Qi also frowned.

"What is that?" Sun Hang asked, looking at the Blood Moon in the sky.

In his remaining memories, there was no information related to "Blood Moon."

"A 'Phenomenon-type' Anomaly, the Blood Moon, serial number 'B6'," Yang Qi said. "According to observation records from previous years, the Blood Moon has a certain probability of appearing on every full moon night... Today is the 15th of May, Year 4719 of the Lunar Calendar, which is precisely a full moon night."

"Blood Moon... Is it very dangerous?" Sun Hang asked.

"The Blood Moon itself doesn't cause direct destruction, but whenever it appears, the wild beasts on the plains become exceptionally agitated, and the abilities of various Anomalies are amplified... The most fatal point is that for those infected with the Anomalization Virus, their infection progression will also worsen," Yang Qi explained. "So, whenever the Blood Moon appears, all city-states treat it as a major enemy. Curfews and strengthened patrols and city defenses are the most basic measures. Simultaneously, investigation missions and Anomaly subjugation missions across the regions are urgently halted, and all investigators and Hunters are recalled to stand ready."

"Recalling the Hunters isn't actually to guard against potential Anomalies," Wang Xiyi added with a frown, "but to guard against Hunters whose conditions become unstable and turn into Anomalies... Hunters whose infection progression is nearing the danger threshold are confined to special rooms. If any mutation occurs, they are immediately 'neutralized'..."

"Were you confined?"

"Once. Back then, when the Blood Moon appeared, I had just recovered from beast transformation. I had to inject five Inhibitors in a row to maintain my human form. I almost died," Wang Xiyi said casually, as if the one who almost died in the story was someone else, not herself.