Black Gate Mist Incident

"Yang Jia is a doctor?"

Xiao Xiao had just experienced the deadly incident at the docks. When he suddenly heard Yang Jia say that, he was actually somewhat shocked.

He was almost in a daze as Yang Jia led him into an empty office. Yang Jia brought over some alcohol and tweezers, disinfected the wound for him, and then stitched it up. Ruan Ruan sat in the office beside them, swinging her two shapely legs around in boredom. Xiao Xiao only managed to dispel that strange, intangible feeling after the wound had been stitched. Frowning, he asked, "What's going on?"

There were many things he wanted to ask: What had happened to the dockworkers' mutations?

And what was going on with that red-eyed man?

"It's obvious. You were attacked. To be honest, I never expected you to survive."

Yang Jia washed her hands, then leaned against the window and looked at Xiao Xiao. Her white coat seemed to shine with a peculiar brightness in the sunlight.

"I recognized that person... though he was already very difficult to identify."

Yang Jia looked at Xiao Xiao and said softly, "His code name is Ghost Man. He's a veteran who's about to reach the thousand-point threshold, and he's also a member of the Red Eyes Club. Like us, he's an outsider. We once followed the same mentor."

"As expected, he's an outsider too..."

Xiao Xiao's brows furrowed. He caught the key point in Yang Jia's words. "Once?"

"Yes."

Yang Jia said, "We originally belonged to the same organization, but we've gone our separate ways now..."

The strange feeling in Xiao Xiao's heart grew stronger. He looked seriously at Yang Jia and waited for her to continue.

"Humans are creatures that like to band together, especially when they're in a strange foreign land. This is even more true there. It isn't just Black Gate City. In other cities, and even in the Mist Sea outside the cities, the outsiders who survived also joined together because of their ideals, interests, or simply the need to survive, forming organizations of various sizes. I mentioned it to you before. People like us are an organization."

"..."

"Right, so you are..."

Xiao Xiao had already judged from Yang Jia's relationship with Ruan Ruan and the others that they belonged to an organization—or rather, a team.

He was only a newcomer, but he had long been hoping to join them.

Still, at first, he had genuinely worried that he might be bullied because he was new.

"As you can see, we're the organization representing Black Gate City's outsiders. Ruan Ruan, Little Four, Mister Ye, and I are all members..."

Yang Jia answered seriously, and Xiao Xiao listened intently.

But just as he felt he had begun to understand, Yang Jia suddenly stopped speaking. His eyes filled with confusion. "And then?"

"That's it. It's just us."

"?"

Xiao Xiao was dumbfounded. "Isn't that ridiculous?"

He instinctively looked toward Ruan Ruan. "Didn't you say before that you were a very powerful organization?"

Ruan Ruan noticed Xiao Xiao's gaze and felt a little guilty. Swinging her short legs, she stubbornly said,

"Of course!"

"..."

Xiao Xiao's expression became even stranger. "That powerful organization has only four people, including Yang Jia?"

"Add you, and that makes five, doesn't it?"

Ruan Ruan stubbornly looked toward the ceiling. "And we're still very powerful."

"Very powerful indeed. You could even have a substitute left over for mahjong..."

Xiao Xiao found it incredibly bizarre. He thought of this vast, boundless city, then of the Red Eyes Club, and looked at Yang Jia again.

He could tell that things probably weren't so simple.

"There are indeed only four of us now. Even I only returned three months ago."

Yang Jia said calmly, "But it definitely wasn't like this before. Black Gate City is a major city. There aren't many outsiders who awakened here, but there were still over a hundred. Just six months ago, the outsider organization in Black Gate City was considered a powerful force. All the outsiders followed the Old Chairman, exchanging information, assigning missions, training newcomers, and exploring the city."

"I also awakened in this city four years ago. They discovered me and taught me how to survive and grow stronger in a world like this. However, soon after awakening, I went to another city and found new companions."

"..."

Thinking of four years ago, Xiao Xiao realized that in real-world time, it had been exactly when Yang Jia transferred schools just before graduating from high school.

He had never expected this to be connected to matters within the outsider organization.

A strange thought suddenly arose in his heart: If Yang Jia had already awakened four years ago, before he had begun suffering from headaches, then to Yang Jia, had he merely been an ordinary native?

If the City Will had influenced him, would he have also turned into a molting monster before her eyes?

"Back then, Black Gate City was first-rate in both unity and average strength."

Yang Jia continued, "That was until the Black Gate Mist Incident occurred six months ago."

"The Black Gate Mist?"

Xiao Xiao was startled.

He had heard about it. At the time, he still hadn't fully learned to control his attention, but he often browsed the news online.

According to the reports, severe weather and environmental pollution had caused an extremely serious fog to appear in Black Gate City. The fog lasted an entire day, and even during the daytime, it was as dark as night. The news had also said that the fog contained large amounts of substances harmful to the body and advised people not to go outside.

He immediately grew curious. "Was that also a mutation incident?"

"No. It was an attack."

Yang Jia turned to look at Xiao Xiao and said softly, "The Hell Organization led those pirates from the Mist Sea into Black Gate City under cover of the fog. My teacher, along with many people from Black Gate City's outsider organization, were killed by them."

"The remaining people also fell apart and went their separate ways, whether because of fear or some other reason."

"The Red Eyes Club was one of the factions that emerged from them."

"..."

"Pirates from the Mist Sea? The Hell Organization?"

This was the first time Xiao Xiao had come into contact with such information. An indescribable strangeness filled his heart as he repeated the words under his breath.

"Yes. They're a group of madmen. They don't worship the City Will. Instead, they believe in those mysterious sources of unknown origin outside the city. You can think of them as demons—a group of people who ride the fog between cities, wantonly robbing and killing."

Yang Jia spoke softly. "But there was no doubt about their strength. Many people died on the day of the Black Gate Mist."

"Afterward, even those who survived became afraid."

"They clutched their heads and hid in various corners of the city."

"There were the people from the Red Eyes Club, the Silver Bullet from Seventh Street, the Serpent Sisters from the Old City, Old Zhou from the East District..."

"..."

As Xiao Xiao listened, he couldn't help asking, "Did the City Will simply let them be killed?"

"The city?"

Yang Jia hadn't expected him to ask that. She smiled faintly and said, "The City Will protects the natives, but it doesn't protect outsiders. After all, to this city, we've always been foreigners. Between us and the city, there's only a transaction."

"The City Will practically never pays attention to conflicts between outsiders."

"That's precisely why every outsider needs to find people they can trust, so they can give one another a little pitiful sense of security."

"..."

Yang Jia's words suddenly sent Xiao Xiao into deep thought.

Outsiders...

That title alone had already explained many things. Outsiders were ultimately incompatible with the city.

No matter what they had done for the city, everything had already been reflected in their points. Nothing else was worth mentioning.

This realization put him in a poor mood, but he kept his expression impassive and continued, "Then why did the Hell Organization invade Black Gate City?"

"..."

"I've heard it was for something, but even now, I haven't confirmed whether that thing actually exists."

Yang Jia's expression turned somewhat cold. "However, no one would find it strange for the Hell Organization to invade any city."

"They're outsiders just like us, but they have their own understanding of what it means to be an outsider."

"They don't believe their homeland exists. Instead, they think they've already arrived in hell. The entire world is hell, and the cities are enormous cages. All outsiders are people who committed sins in the past, so they need to suffer here for generation after generation."

"They need to spend eternity in fear and despair."

"..."

Xiao Xiao was astonished by her description. "Then don't they have a miserable life?"

"No..."

Yang Jia looked at Xiao Xiao strangely. "They're having the time of their lives."

Xiao Xiao was stunned. "Hell? The time of their lives?"

"The entire Hell Organization is made up of hedonists. Wild indulgence is their only creed."

Yang Jia sighed. "They believe that since they're already in hell, and everyone around them has turned into a monster, then why should they care about morality, dignity, the law, or restraint?"

"They firmly believe that they might receive the harshest punishment tomorrow, so they have to indulge themselves madly today."

"Indulge without any limits. Even if the sky falls, have fun first and worry about it later..."

"..."

Xiao Xiao felt as if Yang Jia's words had shaken him.

That feeling of discovering the world was fake and therefore caring about nothing, indulging in everything...

...Fuck, why does it seem like I've felt that way too?

He had originally wanted to condemn them, but Xiao Xiao suddenly felt guilty and remained silent for quite a while.

Yang Jia seemed not to notice and continued, "In short, the Hell Organization's creed makes them completely without limits and even without principles. Invading cities and plundering points are things they do often, even taking pride in them."

"The Black Gate Mist Incident six months ago was their largest operation in recent years."

"My teacher died in that attack, and the others also..."

"..."

"It wasn't only the Old Chairman."

Ruan Ruan, who had been swinging her legs beside them, suddenly spoke in a low voice. "They killed many others too—Big Dog, Jun Jun, Auntie Meng, Mr. Lang... We had never offended them, but they suddenly appeared. Thick fog covered the entire city, and a huge black ship appeared in the sky above it. They jumped down from the ship and then started killing people..."

"The Old Chairman died, and everyone who was willing to follow him was killed by them."

"They didn't reason with anyone at all. They killed everyone who resisted. Even I... I only managed to survive..."

After pausing, Ruan Ruan continued, her voice seemingly filled with endless oppression:

"Because they laughed at me and said I was just a child..."

"How am I small at all..."