You Call Those Goldfish?

Chen Feng and his companion came over.

The Pastor said with a sneer, "Look! Our great romantic has woken up!"

Lin He scoffed. "I don't understand how a tagalong who spends all day hovering around Miss Meng and can't do a thing managed to get on the team."

Captain Wu snapped at them. "Damn it! However he got here, he's one of us now. Both of you, shut it!"

Horror Amusement Park opened at seven in the evening.

That left them an hour to rest before the mission began.

Captain Wu passed the time on his phone.

Having no signal was normal in an anomalous zone, so he had downloaded plenty of novels and videos in advance.

On the screen, a man in a yellow Training Suit was speaking with confidence. "No one can escape the hospital. No one. Ever."

The Pastor struck up a conversation. "Captain, you're watching that video too?"

Captain Wu sighed. "It's all over our circles. Damn it, escaping the Mental Hospital? That guy's got some serious skills."

Lin He cut in. "Captain, is that Mental Hospital really so terrifying?"

"You've only just come down from the mountain, Lin He, so you wouldn't know," Captain Wu said. "The Director, the Nurse, the Professor, the Drill Instructor—those monsters from the Mental Hospital are infamous throughout Cihang City."

Meng Chengcheng snorted. "One day, I'll wipe them out."

"Confidence is good, Chengcheng, but don't get ahead of yourself," Captain Wu warned. "The higher-ups sent a squad of Class B Agents to assassinate the Director recently. Both sides took heavy losses, and not one of our people came back."

That squad of Class B Agents had killed more than five hundred monsters between them, yet not one had returned.

Lin He hurriedly asked, "Then... what about the Director?"

Captain Wu sighed. "Badly wounded, but still alive."

Listening from the side, Chen Feng finally understood. No wonder they hadn't encountered the Director during their escape. This was the unknown reason the Mental Hospital had been downgraded from a five-star Check-In site!

The Pastor sighed. "Those five must have been incredibly lucky to escape a place that dangerous."

"It wasn't luck," Captain Wu corrected him. "According to the organization, they killed the Nurse and fought their way out."

"What?"

Everyone except Chen Feng sucked in a sharp breath.

Lin He thought he had misheard. "Captain, you're saying those five took down a target even Class B Agents couldn't handle?"

"Exactly," Captain Wu said. "Those five are damn fierce."

The Pastor turned sarcastic. "If only we had someone that capable on our team."

Everyone glanced at Chen Feng. They all knew this useless guy had wormed his way in and had no business being on this mission.

Chen Feng laughed to himself.

If these idiots knew the badass who killed the Nurse in that video was standing right in front of them, I wonder what faces they'd make.

Time flew.

Soon, eerie music rang through the park:

"Boys and girls, come play at Horror Amusement Park."

"When the music starts, you know the party has begun."

"Goldfish, goldfish, let's catch some goldfish."

"But don't fall into the pool."

"Air rifles, air rifles, let's shoot the air rifles."

"What seems safest may be most dangerous."

A music box and wind chimes carried the melody, clapping supplied the beat, and children's snickers threaded through it all.

The theme song marked the official opening of Horror Amusement Park.

The map on the back of the Visitor Guide showed the locations of the park's ten attractions. According to the rules, they had to try at least half of them before they could leave.

Captain Wu asked, "Let's hear your thoughts. Which five should we pick?"

Meng Chengcheng shrugged. "Any of them. If an ordinary person could clear every attraction and come out alive, so can we."

The Pastor suggested, "Why don't we roll a die and let God choose? What do you think, Captain?"

"Don't be ridiculous!" Captain Wu said. "We've all had firearms training, so we're definitely picking the air rifle game. Lin He, you look like you have something to say."

"I brought my Compass," Lin He said. "We can pick the maze, and the Haunted House shouldn't be a problem either."

Everyone had their specialty, and a Taoist certainly wasn't afraid of ghosts.

They all put in their two cents, but no one asked Liu Xiaohu for his opinion. It was as if he were already dead.

Granted, Liu Xiaohu really was dead, but they didn't have to treat him like that.

With that thought, Chen Feng suddenly interrupted. "Captain, can I say something?"

The air went still.

Surprise flashed in Captain Wu's eyes. Whenever the team had discussed anything before, Liu Xiaohu had either stood meekly to one side without a word or stared at Meng Chengcheng like a lovesick fool.

Why was he speaking up now? Was he trying to impress Meng Chengcheng?

Captain Wu nodded. "Go ahead."

"I think we should prioritize Ring Toss, Goldfish Catching, and the air rifle game. We should avoid the maze, the Haunted House, and the roller coaster if we can."

Lin He had just said the maze and Haunted House were fine, and Chen Feng had immediately shot him down. Naturally, that rubbed him the wrong way. "What, are you scared?"

Lin He had been rude to him, so Chen Feng saw no reason to hold back. "Are you stupid? Whether we throw a ring, catch a fish, or fire a gun is up to us visitors. Even if we spot danger or a trap, we can choose not to play."

"But we have no way of knowing how big the maze is or how many ghosts are in the Haunted House. And the roller coaster is the worst of all. We'd be moving at high speed, high off the ground, the entire time. If something went wrong, we'd have almost no control."

Meng Chengcheng blinked, as though seeing him for the first time.

Since when did this guy have opinions of his own? Did fainting from fright knock some sense into him?

Captain Wu made the call. "Damn, you really are a genius. Let's go catch goldfish first."

They set off at once. Only Lin He, embarrassed by the rebuff, trailed behind, a trace of malice flickering in his eyes.

According to the map, Goldfish Catching was on the east side of the park.

A small, circular artificial river ran through the area. It was no more than a meter deep, and the water was clear enough for the floodlights to reveal the dense schools of goldfish swimming below—and the human bones scattered across the riverbed.

The proprietor of the fish-catching attraction had a goldfish head.

He held a wooden board that read:

[1. Collect a fishing net and fish tank from the stall.]

[2. Catch one goldfish from the river, and the proprietor will reward you with one Game Coin.]

[3. Do not damage the fishing net under any circumstances!!!]

[4. Each person may catch only one goldfish.]

[5. Anyone who has not caught a goldfish after one hour fails.]

Behind the fish-headed proprietor stood his stall, lined with fishing nets and large glass tanks for temporarily holding fish.

They weren't the cast nets Chen Feng had imagined people throwing across a river. They looked more like the landing nets anglers used to scoop up their catch.

Each had a metal handle, a circular frame about the size of a basketball hoop, and a green pouch of woven nylon mesh.

Chen Feng picked one up and weighed it in his hand. It was heavy.

This thing could scoop up a grass carp or silver carp weighing several kilos without a problem.

Catching a thirty-centimeter goldfish the size of a Mineral Water Bottle should be a piece of cake.

But could it really be that simple?

Captain Wu told the team not to act rashly. They would watch what happened first.

Before long, visitors taking part in Goldfish Catching had crowded around the little river.

They fell into roughly two groups.

Those who looked tense and uneasy were clearly veterans who had spent more than a day in the park and realized something was wrong.

Those who laughed and joked were probably newcomers, still oblivious to the danger. They likely thought the bones on the riverbed were decorations and the proprietor's fish head was a costume.

Ignorance left them fearless.

By the river, a curly-haired girl had picked up a landing net and begun trying to catch a fish.

Holding her breath, she quietly lowered the net into the water.

The ripples startled a few of the more alert goldfish away, but most stayed where they were, none the wiser.

With a gentle flick of her wrist, she caught one in the net. But just as success seemed within reach, something changed!

The goldfish opened its mouth, revealing two rows of sharp teeth.

"Ah!"

The curly-haired girl startled so badly she nearly flung the handle away. At the same time, the goldfish began savaging the mesh. It quickly chewed a hole and escaped.

Oh no! The net's damaged!

Chen Feng knew the monsters in these strange tales killed according to their rules. Break a rule, and they would strike!

Sure enough, the instant the net tore, the curly-haired girl's expression went blank. As if she had lost her soul, she dove headfirst into the river.

It was like throwing a bone into a kennel full of dogs.

Countless goldfish rushed her, forming a ball around her. Then, amid a violent splash, a cloud of Blood Mist burst above the water!

Everyone stared, dumbfounded.

You call those goldfish?