Since We're Chasing Thrills...
The two of them had carved wounds into their arms, yet neither could remember how those wounds had come to be. It sent a chill down Zhao Bai's spine. He racked his brain, searching through his memories, but nothing noteworthy came to mind.
They had fallen from the bridge spanning the river between the two shores, onto an isolated sandbar, and Zhao Bai had found nothing.
They had ventured deep into the shelterbelt and cash-crop fields, passing through a sweetly fragrant tulip garden, and still found nothing.
He had even gone to the plant research institute in the outskirts of Sky City. It housed samples of nearly every plant in the world; even if mass extinction struck, ninety-nine percent of all plants could be cultivated anew from those samples. Yet he had still found nothing there.
So many investigations had all ended in vain.
But why?
They were like blind fools, giving up the largest and most obvious target to search around it instead, as though something there could not be approached.
Zhao Bai and Bronya exchanged a glance.
Her eyes held the same confusion as his own.
Zhao Bai lowered his head and looked at his arm. The three scratches were like glaring black stars. He subconsciously rubbed his eyes, then stopped and said to Bronya:
"Something's off. I suggest we don't split up and investigate the one place neither of us has visited yet."
"Bronya thinks so too."
They immediately reached an agreement and turned toward the Chinese Academy of Sciences Botanical Garden. Before they even arrived, they noticed something strange.
They stopped at an intersection.
Piercing screams came from ahead.
Zhao Bai saw pedestrians fleeing in panic, running desperately in his direction. At the same time, blank looks appeared on their faces. Their