Abandoned Amusement Park

The headquarters of the Tianfu City Anomaly Investigation Bureau is located in North City, while the target location is in South City. As the largest city in the southwestern region of the Xiazhou Federation, it took Sun Hang and the others over two hours to traverse the entire city from north to south.

The black SUV sped out of the city and onto the highway in the southern suburbs. On either side were desolate open spaces and a scattering of abandoned buildings.

Occasionally, small villages with signs of life could be seen, but they all appeared to be sparsely populated. At the entrance of the villages, only a few elderly people in simple clothing could be seen sitting on bamboo chairs, basking in the sun. Occasionally, a few pre-school children would stumble past, followed by grandparents holding bowls and feeding them... As for the young and strong, they were nowhere to be found.

"Young people yearn for big cities. For them, even if they break their heads in a forest of concrete and steel, it's better than wasting their youth in a small village like this," said the talkative driver, as he drove. "How do you say it in that popular internet term... Ah, right, 'rotting.' They say staying in a place like this will only make you rot slowly, and it's better to go to the city and try your luck."

After passing another village, most of the houses had already collapsed. Only two houses near the road were still inhabited. Un-dried clothes were hanging on the drying rack in front of the door, and a bald stray dog lay sprawled on a pile of straw, thoroughly enjoying the warm afternoon sun.

"Once these old people are gone, this place will truly become a no-man's-land," the driver sighed.

"If this place is so desolate, why would anyone build an amusement park here?" Sun Hang asked.

"It was different before, and it's different now," the driver sighed. "More than twenty years ago, this was the famous South City Economic Development Zone. Land prices were even hotter than in the city center."

"Then why did it become like this?" Sun Hang asked again.

"What else could be the reason? Anomalies," the driver said. "Although that thing has been dealt with, no one is willing to invest in this place anymore. Gradually, the southern suburbs became barren wilderness."

"You're not from around here, are you? Everyone in Tianfu City knows about this," 0401 mumbled doubtfully. "I wasn't even born then, but when I was a child and cried loudly at night, refusing to sleep, my mom would always use this to scare me... Hmm, 0398, you must have heard of it too, right?"

"So what if I've heard of it?" 0398's tone was impatient. "Instead of worrying about this, you should think about how to save your own life when we get to the mission location later."

"Heh, I'm not the one who needs to worry," 0401 suddenly showed a somewhat smug smile. "You've all seen the mission intel. All the missing people were young women. I'm a big guy, I'm perfectly safe. As for you..."

"You can shut up. No one thinks you're mute," 0398 said irritably.

As they moved further away from the urban area, large ruins of high-rise buildings began to appear on both sides of the road. From these remnants, one could vaguely glimpse the prosperity of the South City Development Zone. However, now, only silence remained.

Along the way, the most frequently appearing sight was the large red character "Demolish" painted on the abandoned buildings with bright red paint.

"Besides homeless vagrants and scavengers, no one wants to come here," the driver said, stepping on the brakes. "Even though that anomaly has been dealt with, in the eyes of Tianfu City citizens, this place has become a cursed land."

Before long, the abandoned amusement park, the target location of the mission, finally came into Sun Hang's sight.

The first thing that caught their eyes was the iconic giant Ferris wheel, a steel structure over a hundred meters in diameter, looking down on the entire amusement park.

Plastic sheeting wrapped around the Ferris wheel danced in the high-altitude airflow, like tattered flags.

It must have cost a lot to build this thing, Sun Hang thought. What a shame... If only I could get a share of that money.

At the entrance of the abandoned amusement park, seven or eight police cars were parked. Yellow and white police tape was stretched in a long circle along the outer wall of the amusement park. A stocky, dark-skinned peacekeeper was squatting on a rock, smoking with a worried expression.

At his feet, more than a dozen cigarette butts had already been discarded.

"This is Captain Huang from the Field Operations Team of the Public Security Bureau's South City Branch," a young peacekeeper introduced Sun Hang and the other two. "Captain Huang led the first three reconnaissance missions..."

At this point, he suddenly lowered his voice: "That intern peacekeeper... also disappeared right under Captain Huang's nose."

"People from the Investigation Bureau?" the peacekeeper, referred to as Captain Huang, threw away his cigarette and walked over, scrutinizing the three of them before focusing his attention on 0398.

"I know what kind of people temporary investigators are, so I don't expect you to be of much help," Captain Huang said gruffly, pointing at Sun Hang and 0401. "You two, what you need to do is keep an eye on her at all times. No matter what happens, you must ensure she's within your sight. Understand?"

"Understood," 0401 nodded.

"I have an idea," Sun Hang suddenly said.

"What idea? Spit it out," Captain Huang glanced at Sun Hang. "Don't waste time."

"If you're worried about 0398 disappearing inexplicably, why not handcuff her to someone?" Sun Hang suggested.

"That's a good idea. Then I'll handcuff you to her," Captain Huang frowned, but still took out a pair of handcuffs from his bag.

"I owe the Xiazhou Federation a lot of money. If something happens to me on my first mission, it would be a significant loss for the Federation," Sun Hang said calmly. "That 0401 owes less than a third of my debt. He's more suitable."

"Makes sense," Captain Huang nodded and walked directly towards 0401.

"Holy crap! You bastard... Are you trying to get me killed?" 0401's expression changed drastically.

"What are you yelling about? As long as you guys follow us obediently and don't run around, what could happen?" Captain Huang's strength was considerable. He grabbed 0401, who was trying to back away, and put one handcuff on his wrist.

The other handcuff was placed on 0398's wrist.

0398 didn't struggle much, appearing resigned.

"Let's go," Captain Huang picked up the riot helmet lying on the hood, put it on his head, and said.