"Snake, does Happiness City often have fog like this before?"

Cheng Ye called over Snake, pointing toward the city ruins swallowed by thick fog.

Snake was stunned for a moment, looking in the direction he pointed, his gaze freezing. "How did fog arise?"

This reaction immediately made Cheng Ye's heart skip a beat.

When inspecting Red Mountain merchant convoy, his attention had been entirely focused on the smuggled goods and Jin Dafei's reactions, paying no attention to changes in the surrounding environment.

After the inspection, he had gone back to review intelligence on Liu Kun and Lei Hu, pondering how to improve cooperation.

As for when the fog arose and enveloped the area, who would have clear perception of such slow changes in the natural environment?

It was only because he had lowered his head in thought for quite a while, then suddenly looked up, that he found it somewhat strange.

"Normally, fog only appears in winter, and it's never been this thick before."

Snake scratched his head, then called over Leopard, who was recording entry information in the dormitory.

Leopard had just run out from inside and, seeing the white expanse before him, also looked bewildered, "When did the fog start? I was inside recording forms and didn't notice anything."

After asking around, only two guards standing in the corner hesitantly spoke up, "It seemed to be around twelve o'clock? Right when the rain suddenly got heavier. We went to take shelter from the rain then and didn't pay much attention..."

Indeed, no one would notice when fog began to rise.

In this continuous drizzle, it was easy for thin rain mist to mix in, and no one could distinguish between water vapor and fog.

But after Cheng Ye's reminder, everyone gathered together to look carefully, only then belatedly realizing that this fog seemed truly too thick.

The fog had started at twelve o'clock, and only twenty minutes had passed, yet visibility was already down to about one kilometer.

"Stay alert, watch for any abnormalities!"

Cheng Ye's heart sank as he took out his defense communicator to check the weather, which showed no fog forecast.

He hoped this fog was just an ordinary natural phenomenon.

Happiness City could withstand one attack from the Stand-In Starfish, but couldn't endure a second infection tide.

If there were two dense infection tides, never mind ordinary people, even he as an inspector would want to flee, first getting out to hide somewhere and assess the situation.

After downing five heated packets of nutrient paste, the warm liquid barely dispelled some of the dampness.

Cheng Ye thought for a moment, then turned toward the garage, planning to retrieve the pendant from the charging port.

While drinking the nutrient paste, Liu Bi's words "wasteland rules aren't made for people who can solve equations" kept circling and echoing in his mind.

Indeed, danger never played by conventional rules. He couldn't use rigid thinking to deny the warning signs his intuition detected.

Since transmigrating to this wasteland, he had to acknowledge that life-and-death crises could strike in the next second.

[Collector Retrieved]

His palm flickered slightly, and the pendant materialized.

Cheng Ye pinched one corner and lifted it slightly, his gaze falling on the hollow glass core's center.

That touch of azure in the upper left was particularly pleasing. The small Horned Starfish floated slowly in the liquid like a sleeping ocean sprite.

After staring at it for a while, the inexplicable unease in his heart immediately dissipated somewhat.

Why did he say this five-minute transcendent ability was his trump card, the confidence that let him act boldly, the assurance he could survive?

In Happiness City's rules, if someone dared transgress those rules to attack him as an inspector, not caring about any consequences or aftermath, it would mean this city's carefully maintained order had already collapsed, becoming a lawless land no different from the wilderness.

Even if someone later held accountable those who violated the rules, it would still prove the rules' binding power was weak, and staying here would only lead to death.

At such times, the transcendent power brought by the Horned Starfish would be his capital to fight his way out, his confidence to survive.

And if no one dared break the rules, then he could operate freely within the rules' framework without worrying about sudden deadly threats.

Externally speaking, like this bizarre weather he encountered now, like the super-strong infected entities that could appear at any time.

Transcendence was life-saving capital, the courage that let him continue duty in Zone C.

Within five minutes, even if a mother source came, it would have to sit down for me!

"Speed up. After disinfection, let them enter the city. Don't linger at South Station."

Cheng Ye gave the instruction without passing his panic down to Red Mountain merchant convoy.

Since humans established unified information communication systems, even scattered across the wasteland, they were ultimately a community of shared destiny.

Merchant convoys traveling far and wide might have seen many strange phenomena, but in terms of information channels, they absolutely couldn't compare to a super shelter city's accumulation.

If the fog truly posed a deadly threat, Happiness City's monitoring systems couldn't possibly show no reaction.

What he needed to do now was suppress his emotions and return to the inspection area to continue duty.

After sitting back at the inspection table, Cheng Ye took several deep breaths, getting up to move around every ten minutes.

Either jogging or doing push-ups, striving to keep his body ready for combat at all times.

Continuously searching for skills, his strength was rapidly growing.

The sense of threat that had previously weighed on his heart had already faded considerably, and even sleep had become more peaceful.

But now, even with the Horned Starfish ready for transcendence at any time, he still felt empty inside, completely lacking security.

"I still need to achieve self-transcendence, still need to grasp more power!"

At this moment, he suddenly understood somewhat why Ding Yishan and Harlin rarely appeared at the checkpoint.

The heavily guarded checkpoint, with its complete iron mesh and high walls, was indeed safe when called safe.

But from another angle, with countless external personnel and unknown goods passing through daily, it was a poison den exposed to the wilderness.

If mother source infected entities mixed in, veterans like He Fei, duty station chiefs, could die just like that.

Before absolute power, as long as you weren't strong enough, there was only death!

"The scope of this celestial anomaly's influence keeps expanding. Current visibility is probably less than nine hundred meters."

After another round of activity, Cheng Ye looked up at the fog and took out his defense communicator to check the time.

1:04 PM.

During this period, he had frequently observed the activities in neighboring Zones B and D.

Song Hai's side was quite lively, with a continuous stream of residents and scavengers undergoing inspection, leaving him no time to spare.

But Cheng Ye could clearly see that Song Hai was obviously much more irritable than in the morning.

Several times, people had barely finished reporting their identity data when his stern gaze had guards directly escort them to isolation chambers, not even giving them a chance to speak.

The inspector in Zone D was even more straightforward, simply abandoning his post to hide in the rear isolation area.

But according to regulations, if anyone entered Zone D, he had to come out for inspection, with no way to avoid it.

"Everyone seems to have a tacit understanding."

No one openly questioned this sudden fog, yet all were proving it through their actions.

This fog was wrong!

Ding.

1:10 PM.

The defense communicator suddenly chimed with an alert.

Cheng Ye immediately took it out and unlocked it. His gaze swept over the text on screen, and his tense nerves finally relaxed by half.

[Happiness City Broadcasting Station - Special Dense Fog Weather Warning]

[Affected by warm, humid air mass convergence, our city will experience continuous dense fog weather starting from noon today. Current visibility has dropped below 950 meters. It is expected that dense fog will persist for the next 72 hours and may further intensify, with visibility in some areas possibly dropping below 100 meters.]

[All residents please note: Unless necessary, do not leave the buffer zone for the wilderness. Happiness City has activated emergency response plans and is communicating with Xinghuo Shelter City to conduct deep analysis of the fog's causes.]

[Please do not panic, do not spread any rumors!]

This was a warning broadcast for all Happiness City residents.

Since it could be issued, the fog's scope of influence should still be within controllable limits.

Cheng Ye breathed slightly easier. What he most feared was the leadership turning a blind eye to this abnormal fog, letting panic spread, then making a complete mess of things.

Now it seemed that since Happiness City was already taking it seriously, what he needed to do was hold his position and wait for further news.

This was also the benefit of backing a super shelter city. If he were currently in the wilderness leading a team to establish a settlement, facing such an event, everyone would probably only be able to huddle with weapons, trembling, without even a clear direction for response.

"Snake, have everyone stay alert, wake up all the guards who were on duty last night."

Cheng Ye pressed the communicator speaker, deliberately making his tone sound relaxed. "Don't let everyone get too tense either. The warning's been issued, which means this isn't anything major."

As his words fell, Cheng Ye continued browsing his defense communicator. After three to five seconds passed, he suddenly sprang up like a compressed spring.

No reply?

No sound?

He whipped around to look behind him, the color draining from his face instantly, his expression completely darkening.

At some unknown time, thick fog had already crossed the inspection area's boundary, swallowing everything behind him like a tide.

The buffer zone, the checkpoint, even the isolation area behind him, all had vanished into the white mist as if they had never existed.

"Snake?"

Cheng Ye tentatively called out again. His voice was absorbed by the fog the moment it emerged, not even an echo could be heard.

He tried pressing the button on the table to open the isolation door behind him.

Without any surprise, the button responded with loud thuds under his slaps, but the isolation door remained motionless.

"What the hell?"

Cheng Ye's heart sank. He stopped the useless button pressing and grabbed the Thunder-1 from the table with his backhand. The cold metal touch of the gun body transmitted through his palm, slightly steadying his chaotic thoughts.

Was there something wrong with this fog itself? Or was it some infected entity's ability spreading, causing mental hallucinations?

Records about infected entities from the handbook flashed through his mind, with characteristics rapidly passing by.

Cheng Ye quickly assessed the current situation.

There were quite a few infected entities that could affect human minds and produce hallucinations.

Like hydrophilic infected entities, many had this ability. For example, the Terror Shrimp that Miao Yang had mentioned could amplify human emotions and spawn various realistic illusions.

However, that was under parasitic conditions...

As soon as the thought arose, an azure panel immediately appeared in his field of vision, unaffected by the fog.

Cheng Ye quickly switched to the personal interface, his gaze scanning the status bar, which showed no indication of any parasitism.

"No parasitism, yet such large-scale influence formed..."

If this was an infected entity, it meant two possibilities.

Either the infected entity's ability had already broken conventional limits, reaching mother source level with transcendent abilities.

Or the infected entity's ability had combined with this fog to create overlapping effects.

His finger moved slightly, the pendant materialized in his palm then quickly vanished, also unaffected.

Confirming the Collector wasn't restricted, most of the unease in Cheng Ye's heart instantly dissipated.

People only experience fear when facing the unknown that hasn't yet arrived.

When truly in this state, those fears and anxieties in the heart actually dissipated completely.

"1, 2, 3..."

Now he couldn't see anything. The entire inspection area was like an island isolated by thick fog.

Cheng Ye counted silently in his heart, waiting until the number exceeded 60, with the surroundings still deathly quiet without any unusual sounds.

Only then did he slowly release his grip on the Thunder-1, instead reaching for the defense communicator at his waist.

As expected, this thing had also completely died.

The screen was pitch black, and no matter how he pressed the unlock key, there was no response.

Pressing hard on the emergency communication key on the back, his fingertip felt the key depress and spring back, but it still sank without trace, as if all power had been drained.

Facing such extreme situations, the defense communicator actually had a built-in micro gravity power generator that could at least support sending one distress message, but needless to say, it would be futile.

"If this were a hallucination, it shouldn't change so abruptly, making people instantly aware something's wrong."

"Eliminating the possibility of hallucination, then..."

Cheng Ye crouched and slowly walked toward the isolation net, wanting to see the situation in neighboring Zone B where Song Hai was located.

He had to admit, this fog was truly sinister.

The thick white fog was like solidified milk, densely layering along the isolation net's gaps, even blocking the mesh holes tightly. Forget seeing human figures clearly, even light could barely penetrate.

Cheng Ye tried poking his gun barrel through a gap, but before he could act, he saw a pair of hands reach through from the other side, nearly causing him to pull the trigger.

"Cheng Ye?"

A faint voice came from the other side, like using an old telephone, with very obvious distortion.

"Song Hai?"

[NEXT CHAPTER]