Haunted House

Two fully armed Peacekeepers took point. They wore heavy armor, held transparent riot shields in one hand and rubber-coated batons in the other, with several tear gas grenades and flashbangs hanging from their belts.

The Peacekeepers behind them carried flashlights in one hand and pistols in the other. The squad's heaviest firepower was a CQB short assault rifle slung across Captain Huang's back.

Sun Hang glanced at the magazines tucked into Captain Huang's belt. Aside from one loaded with rubber bullets, the other four held live rounds in brass casings.

Sun Hang unconsciously touched the wound near his left temple—according to the doctor, he had fallen unconscious because he had been struck by a stray bullet fired from a Peacekeeper's gun during the Anomaly attack incident.

Hopefully, Captain Huang was a better shot... The round that had hit Sun Hang before had been a nine-millimeter pistol bullet. If that shot had come from the assault rifle in Captain Huang's hands, Sun Hang would probably be lining up for soup on Naihe Bridge by now.

Every passage through the amusement park had been sealed off with strips bearing the Public Security Bureau's stamp. Captain Huang swept his gaze around and found every seal on the doors and windows intact, which meant no one had entered the park during this time.

"Stay sharp, keep your eyes peeled, and don't miss a single clue!" Captain Huang barked in a low voice, then gestured for them to advance.

The two Peacekeepers at the front unlocked the chain around the iron gate, tore off the seal, and stepped into the park first.

"Group A will conduct the search. Group B stays at the entrance," Captain Huang said. "As for you three, follow me. Don't fall behind."

"Uh... Captain Huang?" 0401 edged closer. "This amusement park is huge. Where do we start searching? It's getting late... The sun will probably set in another hour or so."

"What, are you afraid of the dark?" Captain Huang shot him a glance.

"N-no... It's just that places like this always make my skin crawl at night," 0401 said, looking thoroughly cowardly.

"If you're scared, stay close." Captain Huang turned back and continued walking inside.

"..." The corner of 0401's eye twitched twice, but he ultimately swallowed whatever he had wanted to say.

"We've actually searched this place several times already," a young Peacekeeper who looked fairly friendly whispered to the three of them. "We even turned over the pile of construction waste on Back Mountain with an excavator, but we still didn't find any clues."

"Then where are we going now?" Sun Hang asked.

"The Haunted House," the young Peacekeeper said. "Xiao Hu disappeared after searching the Haunted House during the last investigation."

"...Fine, fine." 0401 muttered under his breath. "Let's search the Haunted House first while it's still light out."

The squad of six Peacekeepers and three Temporary Investigators quickly reached the entrance to the Haunted House. Sun Hang looked up to see the illuminated sign reading "Castle of Terror: Escape Room Adventure" hanging crookedly above the gate. Only a few cables and brackets still held it in place, and whenever the wind blew, the suspended sign swayed gently as if it might come crashing down at any moment.

The Haunted House's main doors had vanished at some point, replaced by two waist-high iron gates. The Peacekeeper at the front set his riot shield aside, stepped forward, and pushed the gates open.

The metal feet scraped against the concrete, producing a teeth-grating sound.

"Damn, I keep feeling cold drafts coming from inside," 0401 whispered. "Tch, if only I had a gun. At least I'd feel a little safer."

"Do you know how to use a gun?" Sun Hang asked, glancing at him.

"No... Uh, I learned in games," 0401 said. "I'm actually a pretty good shot."

"If they really gave you a gun, you might feel safer, but the rest of us definitely wouldn't," Sun Hang said. "You can't turn off friendly fire in the real world."

"The kid's right." Captain Huang turned around. "If the thing causing trouble isn't an anomaly, you won't need to do anything. And if it really is an anomaly, even ten guns won't help you."

Following behind Captain Huang, the three Temporary Investigators entered the Haunted House as well—Sun Hang noticed that it seemed unfinished, with construction materials and garbage piled everywhere inside.

At the end of the lobby was a corridor. One wall had already been covered with putty, while the other remained an exposed unfinished brick wall.

Or perhaps this Haunted House had been designed in the style of an unfinished building from the start?

A crudely made wrought-iron chandelier hung from the ceiling, its lampshades covered in a mixture of cobwebs and dust.

Many of the wooden boards on the floor had already rotted away, creaking underfoot. Ochre-red paint graffiti covered the ceiling and walls, resembling dried bloodstains from a distance.

The two Peacekeepers at the front switched on the searchlights mounted to their helmets and cautiously moved forward with their riot shields raised.

Just as everyone in the squad held their breath and carefully surveyed their surroundings, an utterly jarring burst of music shattered the silence indoors!

"What do you call Daddy's daddy? Daddy's daddy is Grandpa—"

"Fuck!" 0401 nearly jumped out of his skin, but Captain Huang reacted quickly and pinned him in place.

"What are you panicking for?" Captain Huang said. "Coward."

Though he said that, the vein at the corner of Captain Huang's eye was throbbing too. He had clearly been startled by the eerie song as well.

"What do you call Daddy's mommy? Daddy's mommy is Grandma!"

The singing continued. Everyone looked toward the sound and saw a kiddie ride discarded in the corner, rocking back and forth. The song was playing through its speaker.

"Damn it, why did this thing suddenly start playing? Scared the hell out of me!" 0401 stopped halfway through his curse. "Wait, no... Where'd it get electricity?"

"Battery pack," Captain Huang said grimly. "To prevent sudden power outages from causing safety accidents, most equipment in the amusement park has built-in battery packs."

"Twenty years later, the battery pack still has power?" 0401 froze for a moment. "No, wait. It's been twenty years—can the battery pack in this thing still work?"

"My suggestion is to take it apart and inspect it," Sun Hang said.

Before long, the Peacekeepers dismantled the kiddie ride. A battery pack connected to a control chip was dug out from the base of the machine.

The battery pack was old, but the solder marks on its wires were fresh. It had clearly been replaced recently.

"It looks like an alarm device," Sun Hang said.

"An alarm device?" Hearing that conclusion, 0401 immediately relaxed. "So our opponent is human, not an anomaly?"