"Blink" Arrives

Han Su was escorted by a group of armed personnel out of the Public Security Bureau and into a windowless vehicle. They arrived at a gloomy and oppressive complex of buildings, where he was then placed in a room filled with black metal.

Throughout the entire process, he remained very cooperative. After all, being surrounded by so many people with guns, he had to keep his temper in check.

However, his mind was racing: What exactly does this so-called Anomaly Disaster Assessment Bureau do?

What kind of person decided on the nature of this matter, and why was it that their single word could make the Disaster Management Bureau disregard our kidnapping case from back then, disregard all the children who have since gone missing?

Many parents of the missing children have influence. Were they kept in the dark, or did some people already play a role in this?

...

He couldn't find any answers in his mind, but Han Su felt a vague sense of joy and excitement, something he had never experienced during his many previous fruitless investigations.

This was the first time he felt like he was getting close to something.

Another thing was that he couldn't help but reach out and touch his right eye. The feeling he had when facing the ghost truck made him feel novel and stimulated. The peculiar sensation of spiritual power flowing out of his right eye felt like opening the door to a new world.

Even though Black Rose had warned him before that using this power might come with a price, he wanted to try it again.

Putting aside her unprofessionalism, his life had already become this bad, so what was there to care about?

He was more concerned about how to use this mysterious power, how to utilize it, and whether it might be possible to achieve something with this power when he returned to the ancient castle...

Of course, these were just thoughts. With two glaring cameras watching him from above, he could only hold back for now.

Another point was that as soon as Song Chushi gave him the spell, Han Su had actually intended to use that spell to prove to those who didn't believe him that he had indeed come into contact with those mysterious things.

But Zhang Chiguo's words had already reminded him that since "someone" had already determined the nature of this matter, proving himself was actually no longer important.

Their disbelief might not be due to suspicion, but deliberate refusal to believe.

In such a situation, hiding himself was the wisest course of action.

Having spent so long playing hide-and-seek with those behemoths in the ancient castle, he understood the importance of staying in the shadows all too well.

Even if he analyzed the current situation seriously, he knew he was practically under a spotlight, so hiding or not didn't seem to matter much. However, being able to conceal a part of himself in the shadows was still good.

"Forget it, I'll just get a good night's sleep first..."

He let out a long sigh and lay down on the mattress of the small bed.

Although it was a metal room, and the room wasn't large, and the door was locked, making it look a bit like a prison cell, the furnishings were surprisingly good, and there was a complete set of toiletries.

So much had happened today that for the first time since escaping, Han Su felt like he could fall asleep soundly.

He could only hope that this step he had taken would help him obtain more important intelligence, and that he could get some information that would give him more confidence when he returned to the ancient castle to face those monsters again...

The next day, when Han Su opened his eyes, he saw that the metal door of his room was already open.

The woman in the black suit was standing at the doorway, holding a file, and said indifferently, "Get up and wash. I'll arrange for someone to bring you breakfast. At nine in the morning, someone will take you somewhere. If you pass that test, you can enter the training program."

After speaking, she left without waiting for a reply, her high heels clicking away, leaving the just-awakened Han Su in a daze.

The breakfast was good, with sausages, eggs, and milk.

After breakfast, two armed personnel came and took Han Su to a spacious room. The walls were covered in black sound-absorbing cotton, making it look like a professional recording studio.

Yet, several very expensive speakers were hung on the walls.

Han Su was sure the speakers were expensive because he had seen them in one of Xu Ji's houses.

There was nothing on the spacious floor, except for a chair placed in the center. The people who brought Han Su in led him to sit on the chair, and then they all withdrew from the room.

"You will hear some sounds shortly."

Suddenly, the voice of the woman in the black suit came from the speakers: "I need you to listen carefully, listen attentively."

"It's okay if you don't understand, but you must try to comprehend the meaning of these words."

"While trying to understand the meaning of these words, also try to see if you can remember some of the syllables and attempt to repeat them."

"If you experience any discomfort, raise your hand immediately to signal!"

"Please remember, do not make any self-righteous moves. This concerns whether you can join the Disaster Management Bureau... or rather, it concerns whether you can return to normal society."

"..."

"If I don't understand, how can I comprehend the meaning of these words?"

Han Su had many doubts in his heart, but he was facing a black glass on the wall. From inside the room, he couldn't see the situation outside at all, but he vaguely felt that many people were watching him from behind the glass.

So he calmly nodded and said, "Understood."

At this moment, on the other side of the one-way glass, Zhang Chiguo was also watching Han Su in the room, feeling an inexplicable sense of worry.

The security personnel holding guns beside him were responsible for his protection, but now, he felt they were somewhat dangerous.

But things had already reached this point, and he couldn't do anything about it. He could only let out a low sigh and say:

"Begin playback!"

When the staff outside operated the controls, Han Su heard a crackling sound of electricity suddenly emanate from the speakers around him. Immediately after, an ancient and mysterious sound began to fill the room.

It should have been a language, possessing the unique intonation and rhythm of a language.

But to his ears, it sounded more like noise, causing a sense of inexplicable irritation and discomfort.

The critical point was that these sounds were unclear, accompanied by some groans and screams, the sound of flesh and blood splattering, and even distant sounds of impact and shouts.

With the audio equipment so expensive, the realism was too strong. For a moment, he thought he had arrived in another world, as if he were surrounded by a mad and bizarre environment.

Even his thoughts were running wild, as if a scene flashed before his eyes.

It was the first time he had uttered a spell, and he saw the Pale Giant appear in the world.

It was those ragged people, using rusty car shells, discarded oil drums, and naked women, surrounding a utility pole hung with barbed wire, sacrificing to some god...

"What on earth is this?"

Han Su suddenly frowned, feeling waves of discomfort wash over him.

This kind of sound instinctively made people want to stay away, and by listening too intently, they had gotten too close to the sound, making them extremely uncomfortable.

But the sound wouldn't let him go, rising from low to high, as if from far to near, bit by bit, from all directions, engulfing him.

Han Su hadn't heard any specific language, nor could he understand what sounds were within it. However, as the sound gradually grew louder, he suddenly felt a sense of familiarity.

He waited patiently, and when that sound reappeared, his heart trembled slightly, and he immediately confirmed:

No mistake!

He had heard that sound before, many times. Even without understanding its meaning, he could tell from its style that it was the language spoken by a monster from the dark bunker who had participated in the kidnapping.

There was actually a language spoken by a monster from the dark bunker in the Disaster Management Bureau?

"Hmm?"

Outside the one-way glass, Zhang Chiguo, who had been staring at his expression, suddenly became a little nervous.

"Did I come to the right place?"

Inside the room, just as Han Su was finding it hard to believe his current impulse, his vision suddenly went black, flickered twice, and then returned to normal.

But Han Su instinctively felt that something around him had changed.

He suddenly widened his eyes, staring intently, for three seconds, six seconds, ten seconds...

The flickering reappeared, as if the lights in the room had a bad connection.

At this moment, Han Su felt a chill crawl up his spine, and more than anything, he felt disbelief: "It's happening again?"

"The last kidnapping happened about half a month ago, but this time, it's only been a day since I escaped. It hasn't even been twenty-four hours, and I'm going to be kidnapped again?"

"How could this be?"

"The interval has really reset to zero?"

"It shouldn't be this fast..."

"..."

Around him, those strange and irritating sounds were rapidly receding, as if separated from him by a thick barrier.

Han Su could feel that the temperature behind him had suddenly become incredibly cold.

It was as if a huge void had appeared behind him.

Distant, deep, and frigid.

Like a person in space, looking at the vast starry sky, with a huge, endless black hole behind them.

Everything real around him – the carpet, the chairs, the walls, the speakers – seemed to be losing its sense of reality, blurring and twisting into indistinct halos of light.

"Tick-tock, tick-tock, tick-tock."

Accompanied by the clear and fine sound of old clockwork machinery gears turning, Han Su seemed to see a gaze from afar, drawing ever closer, with insidious whispers surrounding him with a sense of surprise, and his mood suddenly plummeted.

It really came