I changed the world.

Page 183

"...All monitoring instruments have simultaneously lost signal, and attempts to restore them through technical means have failed. This includes our most powerful communication system, which has also proven ineffective. The sudden appearance of fog within the Zhongtai Amusement Park has also obscured external visual observation..."

"What about Zheng Xuzhou and the others? Have you made contact with them?"

"We're still calling repeatedly, but we haven't been able to get in touch..."

"Damn it... Send out a drone to try, and also report the changes here to headquarters. In addition, upgrade the emergency response plan to Level 2 of Category 4."

"Okay, Captain Yan."

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Meanwhile, inside the amusement park, a squad of soldiers was advancing silently in a search formation. They moved slowly, carefully observing their surroundings. At the outermost edge of the formation were four war machines, also on high alert.

More than ten detection balls, each about the size of a baby's fist, were launched into the surrounding area by the external device of the "Storm 2" unmanned intelligent auxiliary firepower platform, hovering in the air around it as an early warning means for the outermost part of the team.

In this area, communication links appear to be extremely unstable, seemingly due to some unknown interference. These detection spheres, after testing, lose contact if they exceed a range of 50 meters. However, even so, it's still much better than the worst-case scenario envisioned.

Chaba Aose and his apprentice were positioned in the very center of the group. The master was currently hunched over, hiding in the shadow of a "Heavy Armor Type 4" fire support vehicle, clutching a string of prayer beads in one hand and a talisman in the other, chanting incantations while his eyes darted left and right, appearing ready to take cover at any moment. His apprentice looked even worse; the young man appeared to be on the verge of tears.

"Master, is there anything you wish to teach me?" Zheng Xuzhou, the team's commander, cautiously observed the surrounding movements while approaching Master Chaba Aose and asking in a low voice.

“Oh…oh…I am praying for you all, blessing you…blessing you with magical power, so that you may turn misfortune into good fortune and ward off evil spirits…” Master Chaba Aose said hurriedly upon hearing this, his hands simultaneously gesturing with prayer beads and talismans.

Zheng Xuzhou frowned slightly. However, just as Yan Jishen had told him before, he still held some reverence for matters involving gods and ghosts. In particular, he couldn't say for sure whether the changes around him were directly related to the "ritual" that Master Chaba Aose had just completed.

Even the master himself seemed unable to explain this point.

Shortly after the ritual at Chaba Aose ended, a thick fog suddenly rolled in, and all communication between their team and the outside world was cut off. Their personal communication equipment and the equipment on the "Heavy Armor Type 4" fire support vehicle all became useless. Not only communication, but also satellite positioning and other signals were lost.

A gray mist hung in the air, and all was silent; not even the chirping of insects could be heard. The silence was eerie.

Just then, faintly, from the mist ahead, the sound of a suona horn seemed to rise.

"Halt! Be on guard!" With Zheng Xuzhou's order, the two "Heavy Armor Type 4" fire support vehicles around him simultaneously adjusted their positions and stopped. The lighting modules illuminated the surrounding area brightly, and the turrets on the vehicles turned towards the direction from which the sound came.

At the same time, the two "Storm 2" unmanned intelligent auxiliary firepower platforms also emitted the sound of hydraulic components locking, lowered their anchor claws, and transformed into attack mode.

At this point, all the infantry retreated to the rear of the fire support vehicle, using it as cover.

In Zheng Xuzhou's helmet-mounted view, the video from the forward detection sphere was switched over. Through the hazy fog, a team adorned with red ribbons was marching.

"Attention, the team ahead! Halt! Or you will be attacked!"

"Attention, the team ahead! Halt! Or you will be attacked!"

The warning, delivered with a mechanical tone and amplified by the loudspeaker, carried far and wide through the silent night...

There was no sound ahead; the group seemed oblivious to the noise and continued marching forward without stopping.

"Repeat it again!"

"Attention, the team ahead! Halt! Or you will be attacked!"

Zheng Xuzhou observed the images captured by the detection ball. It was a procession that looked extremely strange. There were five red sedan chairs in the procession, each carried by a sedan chair bearer dressed in red. Between the sedan chairs were people dressed in the same bright red clothes. Judging from their attire, they were probably servants or maids. At the very front of the procession was a person playing the suona, playing the traditional wedding tune of the Great Zhao Dynasty.

Beside the person playing the suona, someone was scattering white paper money to both sides...

This appears to be a wedding procession, but according to the customs of the Great Zhao Dynasty, it would be impossible to hold a wedding procession in the dead of night at this time, let alone scatter paper money while the procession is taking place...

Due to the fog, the images were somewhat blurry, making it difficult to discern the faces of the people in the group. However, their movements gave off a strange and rigid eerie feeling...

"warn!"

"Cease immediately! We are about to launch an attack!"

"Cease immediately! We are about to launch an attack!"

The sound of the suona grew clearer, and the leading part of the procession gradually emerged from the thick fog, appearing in the soldiers' field of vision.

Chapter 311 The Mysterious Night at the Amusement Park (Part 2)

"Attack!" Seeing this situation, Zheng Xuzhou no longer hesitated and gave the order.

Immediately afterwards, two flashbangs were launched forward. Following closely behind, the turrets of two "Storm 2" unmanned intelligent auxiliary firepower platforms began to rotate, and a near-contiguous barrage of metal swept across the strange formation ahead…

Like a wheat field ravaged by a raging storm, everything in the group was instantly blasted to pieces, some of the debris even igniting on the ground...

A few seconds later, the turret stopped rotating, and the approaching group had completely disappeared. After waiting for about half a minute without any further developments, a detection ball was brought in to investigate under the operator's command, but still no reaction was detected.

Afterwards, two soldiers carefully went forward to check, and soon Zheng Xuzhou received feedback through his earpiece:

"Captain, this is all scraps of paper. There wasn't a single living creature in that group, just paper figures..."

........................

Soon, Zheng Xuzhou arrived at the scene and saw the ground covered with white scraps of paper: paper money, paper scraps, and even some still intact paper figures' arms and body parts... It was clear that the wedding procession from before was entirely composed of paper figures...

Recalling the legends of ghosts and monsters in the folklore of the Great Zhao Dynasty, most of the soldiers present frowned and looked wary. These soldiers had undergone rigorous selection and specialized training before joining the four-way action units, with courage being one of the important training subjects. They were also prepared in advance for the missions they were to carry out, so they did not show the panic that ordinary people would have.

Zheng Xuzhou was in a heavy mood. Although he had anticipated that he would encounter strange things, he had already foreseen something that could not be explained by common sense at the very beginning, which made him somewhat worried about what would happen next.

"Master, what do you think of this matter?" Zheng Xuzhou asked with a frown after bringing Master Chaba Aose from the group over.

“This place is rife with evil spirits. I’ve already calculated it with my fingers… There must be an unparalleled demon lurking here…” Chaba Aose, seeing the fragments of the paper figure on the ground, looked extremely grim. He wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, “Paper figures are inherently yin objects, and must be subdued with extremely yang objects. Fortunately, I was prepared in advance and had prepared talismans made with realgar…”

As he spoke, he took out a stack of yellow paper, on which were drawn some incantations that ordinary people could not understand...

Zheng Xuzhou, believing it was better to be safe than sorry, had each soldier take a talisman and carry it with them. It must be said that, at least, having the talisman in hand alleviated much of the unease in their hearts.

After chanting scriptures for a while, Master Chaba Aose finally frowned and said, "This place is strange; there must be evil spirits lurking behind it... However, this evil spirit is too powerful. I have calculated for a long time but still cannot figure out its details. I can only deal with it as it comes..."

"In that case, I would be grateful if you could take the trouble to help me..."

Just as Zheng Xuzhou was talking with Master Chaba Aose, a cold wind blew by, and all the scraps of paper began to turn into ashes, which then scattered into the surrounding air. Soon, the ground was completely empty...

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The team continued to move forward.

About five minutes later, the team was able to confirm one fact: the amusement park map they had previously possessed was essentially useless. The environment they were now facing was like another unfamiliar territory, completely unrelated to the amusement park they had entered during the day.

A small lake appeared ahead, and the faint sound of water could be heard from its shore.

In the hazy mist, the dark lake surface appeared as smooth as a mirror.

A figure could be vaguely seen standing by the lake. As the detection ball approached, the computer, through comparison, determined that the person was one of the five missing security guards, named Luo Dou.

"Luo Dou! Luo Dou!"