With warm red wine in their bellies and hotpot filling the air with its rich aroma, the five of them felt as if they had been reborn after surviving the life-or-death ordeal. They clinked their glasses in celebration.
"KIKI-jie, did your ability really evolve?"
Shasha barely put her cup down before eagerly asking.
KIKI nodded, looking quite pleased with herself.
"All thanks to a certain soone, I can clearly feel my ability has leveled up!"
"No wonder you were so strong just now." Chen Sixuan’s eyes sparkled. "I haven’t even thanked you for saving yet."
"Why thank ? Chen-jiejie, do you even realize how many tis you've saved everyone?" KIKI waved her hand dismissively, then cast a mischievous glance at Lin Xian.
"Speaking of which—Lin Xian, weren’t you going to tell us where you disappeared to these past two days?"
Lin Xian smirked.
"Don’t you already know?"
Hearing that, KIKI's face flushed red as she quickly retorted, "I—I an, how did you end up there?!"
The others listened, completely lost in their cryptic exchange.
Lin Xian took a deep breath, stood up, and walked over to grab the radio from the sofa.
"If there’s no other explanation… then I was captured by this."
"1542. The Dark Radio."
With that, Lin Xian began recounting his experience after being pulled into the eerie broadcast.
However, when it ca to KIKI's part, he glossed over the details—only ntioning that he had witnessed her corruption process and so of his theories.
But even that much left the others pale-faced in shock.
"So that footstep sound was really you?!"
Shasha shuddered as if she had just heard a horror story.
"Lin-ge, you an you actually killed over there?"
Lin Xian rubbed his forehead awkwardly.
"That was just a mind ga. That thing was trying to break my ntal defenses."
At first, Lin Xian had assud the radio broadcast was purely supernatural.
But now, looking back—
It wasn’t just the darkness.
So kind of unknown force was actively preying on survivors’ minds.
Shasha’s eyes lit up suddenly.
"So, Lin-ge—you do care about ! Seeing get killed almost made you lose it, huh?"
She grinned mischievously.
Lin Xian froze.
This girl… THAT’S what she got out of this?!
Chen Sixuan, on the other hand, was still unnerved.
"So when I turned off that radio, that was what saved you?"
Lin Xian nodded.
"Yeah. If not for that—and if you hadn’t helped adjust the frequency through the lights—I definitely wouldn’t have made it out."
"Smart thinking, Lin Xian!"
KIKI listened intently, fascinated.
"Wait—you’re saying that after I passed out, so invisible creature was sucking my blood?"
"Yeah."
"Ugh!"
KIKI shuddered, hugging herself.
"That’s so disgusting…"
Lin Xian’s expression darkened.
He turned to Daluo.
"Daluo, do you rember what I said when we escaped Yuchi City?"
Daluo nodded.
Lin Xian continued, his voice grim.
"I was confused back then. Sounds and lights only attract zombies and ghouls.
"But whenever we draw in an eerie entity—
They’re already nearby."
Everyone held their breath.
Lin Xian clenched his fists.
"After being trapped in that Dark Radio, I’m now certain—
So of these things have been around us all along.
So only appear in the dark.
Others require special conditions to be seen."
His words sent a chill down everyone’s spine.
Shasha visibly shivered, glancing nervously around.
"Wait, wait, wait—you’re saying those horrifying things… might be right next to us all the ti?!"
"Exactly."
Lin Xian’s tone was dead serious.
A heavy silence fell over the group.
While Lin Xian’s theory wasn’t confird, it served as a terrifying warning.
More than ever, he realized—
They needed a better detection thod.
And the key to that was—
The Soul Wave Detector.
This device could detect eerie entities, zombies, and other supernatural threats.
For humanity’s survival, the ability to actively detect danger was absolutely critical.
Without it—they wouldn’t even have ten thousand lives to spare.
"I think… I finally understand what the 1542 Dark Radio really is."
KIKI suddenly narrowed her eyes at Lin Xian.
"Sothing supernatural, but not related to Abilities… Lin Xian, have you read the Angel Project files I gave you?"
Lin Xian took out the portable hard drive she had given him earlier.
He frowned.
"Not yet. I haven’t even had ti to sleep, let alone read it."
KIKI snapped her fingers.
She grabbed the hard drive and dashed to Carriage No. 2.
A mont later, she returned with a portable screen in her hands.
"I think this explains everything."
She set it down in front of them.
"Everyone was so focused on Abilities that we completely overlooked all the other weird stuff."
"Look at this."
On the screen was an old docunt from the Angel Project—
"A Global Investigation on Eerie &
Paranormal Phenona."
This report was compiled by a now-defunct departnt of the forr Federal Governnt, called the—
Special Item Investigation Departnt (SIID).
The report contained early records of strange occurrences during the Polar Night—
And every single one of these incidents had one thing in common:
They were all caused by specific objects.
These items were ordinary objects from before the Doomsday—
But after the Apocalypse, they beca catalysts for supernatural events.
They were believed to be contaminated by an unknown force—
Turning them into extraordinary artifacts.
The Angel Project classified these objects as—
Forbidden Items.
Items capable of causing regional or contagious eerie events.
The report listed several eerie cases, but only two had been confird and contained.
Forbidden Item SIID-01: Big Ben
Location: Lisbon City, Big Ben TowerDescription: The original Lisbon Big Ben was 13.5 tons, with a 6.7-ter clock face.Effects:July 9: First test—3 researchers died, communication cut off.July 10: Second test—2 researchers died, range of anomaly expanded to 300 ters.July 11: Third test—3 researchers died, rapid aging effect confird.July 12: Fourth test—4 researchers died, further expansion of anomaly.Containnt thod:A group of healthy test subjects must enter at night, holding hands.No running allowed.Must grab the hour hand before all subjects die.Containnt Location: Lisbon Branch, Angel Project.
Forbidden Item SIID-02: Desert-857404 Taxi
Location: Mo City, Dragon NationDescription: A 2057-model yellow taxi with a heavily decomposed male corpse in the driver’s seat.Effects:July 25: First test—1 researcher vanished after hailing the taxi at 2:12 AM.July 26: Second test—only one disappearance per night, proving it has a fixed spawn location.July 27: Third test—9 researchers vanished. A survivor reported a horrifying cost for travel.Containnt thod:Only used for short-distance travel.Survive by paying the price.Containnt Location: Mo City Branch, Angel Project.
KIKI took a sip of cola, then looked at Lin Xian.
"There aren’t many reports, but after hearing your story—
I’m pretty sure that Dark Radio is one of them."
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