Is it somewhat similar to what happened at the Haiguang Sub-Bureau?... Shen Heng pondered.
However, there are also differences.
In the incident at the Haiguang Sub-Bureau, the officers involved were mostly from within the Haiguang Sub-Bureau.
And this time, judging from what Fan Hong just said, it seems that something went wrong...
Clearly, Wang Hai had also thought of this, and he looked at Fan Hong and asked:
"Wasn't the missing person a staff member from the seafood market?"
"There's one missing person, but the rest were just people who went to buy seafood or look for work—unrelated individuals," Fan Hong replied.
"Did they leave any traces when they disappeared?" Wang Hai continued to ask.
"No, I didn't see exactly how they disappeared." Fan Hong shook his head and continued to explain:
"Some people were at home a short while ago, but when their wives went to look for them later, they found they were gone."
"And some of them went out and never came back."
"The police had reviewed surveillance footage from the relevant areas, but they couldn't find any trace of them."
"The police officers at the station only noticed after investigating for more than half a month that all the missing persons had been to the seafood market."
Wang Hai nodded and fell into deep thought.
On the other side, Shen Heng was also deep in thought.
Is it possible to evade surveillance cameras and witnesses?
From this perspective, it seems more like a human intervention; the Calamity Beast shouldn't be able to do something like that, but...
So many people have gone missing; it doesn't seem like something a human would do.
Seemingly sensing something, Shen Heng looked up.
Wang Hai was looking at him.
Shen Heng didn't speak, he just nodded.
Two years of playing together have given them a great deal of chemistry.
Seeing Shen Heng nod, Wang Hai turned to look at the others.
"You guys keep an eye on things here for now. Once the Logistics Department comes to remove the Calamity Beast's carcass, you can go back. Shen Heng and I will go check out the seafood market."
"Understood."
"Etc!"
Wang Hai paused in his turn, glancing at Han Ling who had said "wait a minute."
"Captain, Gu Nan and I will go too. There's nothing much going on here. If you encounter any Calamity Beast there, we can help you out!"
Wang Hai paused, glanced at Wu Cheng and Wei Leyang who were supposed to stay as Han Ling had said, thought for a moment, and then nodded.
"Hehe..." Han Ling laughed, turned around and took the arm of the person next to her, " Gu Nan, come on, let's go help!"
"Hmm." Le Gu Nan nodded gently.
The four got into the car and followed Fan Hong, speeding towards the seafood market.
About ten minutes later, the car stopped at the entrance of a large seafood wholesale market.
Click!
The car door opened.
As Shen Heng got out of the car, he listened to the sounds around him.
The seafood wholesale market, which had not yet opened for business, was eerily quiet, with only the rustling of rats, the slow flow of tap water, and the distant hum of ventilation fans.
After closing the car door, Shen Heng looked up at the building in front of him.
The building features a two-story structure, a towering steel-framed roof, and the signature salty, fishy smell of the sea.
Besides these, there was also a middle-aged man walking towards the crowd.
"No, Captain Fan, didn't you just come to investigate during the day? Why are you here again now?"
Shen Heng glanced at the middle-aged man and could sense the resentment in his tone.
Are you annoyed by being woken up in the middle of the night?... Shen Heng glanced at the middle-aged man.
It's a little past 3 a. m. now. Actually, in the past, the seafood market would already be open at this time.
However, after the news of the Calamity Beast was released, many industries made adjustments in order to minimize the chances of ordinary people being forced to go out at night and encountering the Calamity Beast.
Restaurants that stay open very late are generally asked to move up their opening hours and close earlier.
Businesses that open early will be asked to postpone their opening hours and start later.
Faced with the threat of Calamity Beast and government requirements, most industries have made corresponding adjustments.
The seafood wholesale industry is one such example.
These past six months have probably been one of the few times they've had a proper night's sleep since they started working.
Shen Heng withdrew his gaze, gently opened his mouth, and the sound waves quickly spread towards the seafood market.
Soon, as the sound waves reflected back, a black-and-white seafood market began to rapidly construct in his mind.
On the other side, Fan Hong looked at the middle-aged man with annoyance.
"Stop talking nonsense. This is for your safety. Just open your door!"
"Alright, alright, if you want to check, I have no choice but to get up and open the door, even if I don't want to!" the middle-aged man said helplessly, turning around to lead the way.
Seeing the middle-aged man's resentment, Fan Hong said, "Don't complain so much. This time is different; maybe we can completely eliminate your problem."
Upon hearing this, the middle-aged man was taken aback. He turned to look at the group of people who had come with Fan Hong, and seemed to understand something.
His resentment vanished, and he said respectfully:
"Then I'll have to trouble you!"
Wang Hai didn't speak, he just nodded.
Soon, the group arrived at the tightly closed entrance to the seafood market.
The middle-aged man took out his key and opened the door, then cautiously looked at the group of people.
" Captain Fan, should I go in?"
"No need, I've already been here once today. I'll take them in," Fan Hong said.
"Okay, sure!" The middle-aged man immediately smiled and handed over a bunch of keys.
"These are the keys to the locked rooms inside; each key has a label indicating which room it belongs to."
"Aren't you afraid we'll take your stuff?" Fan Hong joked as he took the keys.
"Hey, feel free to move whatever you want!" the middle-aged man said with a nonchalant smile.
Fan Hong smiled, then his expression turned serious. He looked at Wang Hai and asked, " Captain Wang, shall we go in now?"
"Hmm." Wang Hai nodded.
Upon hearing this, Fan Hong turned around and led the way.
Shen Heng and the others followed him inside.
Upon entering the seafood market, a stronger, saltier, and damp smell than outside hits you.
Under the dim light, rows of stalls were neatly arranged, with plastic boxes and foam boxes stacked in the corners. Occasionally, water droplets would seep from the ceiling, making a soft "drip-drip" sound.
Fan Hong walked at the front, scanning the ground and stalls with his flashlight, and frowned as he said:
"We already searched the area during the day, including the offices, cold storage, and even the sewers, but we didn't find any trace of the Calamity Beast."
Wang Hai nodded, his gaze turning to Shen Heng:
"Any discoveries?"
"We didn't hear any strange noises, nor did we sense any creatures that resembled the Calamity Beast," Shen Heng said, stating the results of his investigation.
"So there are no Calamity Beast here?" Han Ling looked around the seafood market.
"No, we can only assure you that there are no Calamity Beast that make any noise or are clearly Calamity Beast beasts," Shen Heng corrected.