Chapter 1658: Chapter 1658: Suffocating Night
It was already the middle of the night. Because of multiple notifications from the Special Defense Department, by this time, most ordinary residents of Nan City wouldn’t be out walking. Occasionally, if a few people really needed to go out, they would hurry along or call enough people to go together.
This was especially true for the residential buildings in the old city district.
The old city district has a complex mix of people, and the neighborhood’s security facilities can’t keep up. So at night, everyone turns off the lights early and goes to bed, afraid that light or even the slightest sound might attract Cannibal Players. However, there are exceptions, such as babies.
In a resident’s home on the tenth floor of the Camphor Neighborhood, there was first an intense crying sound, but the sound didn’t last long and soon stopped, followed by the cautious sound of a door opening.
People nearby and upstairs heard the sound and were surprised, but no one went out to look.
A middle-aged woman sneaked out, tightly holding her child, swiftly and quietly entering the elevator. When she reached the ground floor, she tightened her coat, as if this could cover her tracks, and then quickly rushed to the Security Guard’s booth, gently knocking on the door.
“Brother Zhang, my child has a high fever, could you please drive us to the hospital?” The woman asked quietly.
There was no sound from the tightly closed door of the Security Guard’s booth. The woman didn’t give up, she knocked harder, making the door thud, “Brother Zhang, I’m begging you, my child will die if we don’t go to the hospital!”
There was a sound from the small room this time, but it wasn’t out of kindness, rather worried she would attract attention.
“Who dares to go out in the middle of the night, even the nearby hospital can’t send out ambulances, try calling the police or contacting the Special Defense Department, see if they can send someone,” the Security Guard said, lowering his voice.
“The police and Special Defense Department numbers don’t connect,” the woman said tearfully, “Otherwise, I wouldn’t have come down, Brother Zhang, I’m begging you.”
“Sis, it’s not that I’m being heartless, didn’t you hear about the shop boss who was killed next door a few days ago? He was also being kind, heard someone calling for help outside and rushed out, only to be killed on the spot,” the Security Guard sighed and continued, “If you really can’t reach the Special Defense Department, don’t go to the hospital, go to the pharmacy at the street corner, I know the owner, I’ll call him and see if he can throw out some medicine for you.”
The woman looked at the street outside, feeling hesitant. Even though the Special Defense Department had urgently installed streetlamps, the greenery on the roadside, garbage bins piled in the corner, and the signboards placed outside still created many blind spots, the shadows seemed to hide monsters, making her hesitate.
But the breathing of the child in her arms grew weaker, and the woman hesitated briefly before leaving the neighborhood, running towards the end of the street with her head down.
The distance from the neighborhood entrance to the street corner was barely two hundred meters, yet to her, it felt like crossing a river. When she finally reached the store entrance, knocking on the door revealed that no sound could be heard from inside.
She wasn’t sure if the owner was afraid to respond or simply not there, but running down this street had already taken all her courage; the hospital was still far away and no car was in sight, this pharmacy was her only hope. So she could only knock on the door repeatedly, hoping for a miracle.
But after several minutes, there was no movement from the pharmacy, tears streamed down her face, but there was no choice but to turn to the next pharmacy.
The moment she turned into the next street, the nearby streetlight suddenly went out for an instant, and although it quickly lit up again, the woman’s figure was no longer in the illuminated area.
Just half a minute after her disappearance, Special Defense Department Players arrived on patrol nearby, one tall Player listened carefully to the surroundings, “No one.”
The female Player frowned, “The Security Guard at the Camphor Neighborhood said the person came here, maybe no one opened the door and she went somewhere else?”
They had already contacted the pharmacy owner on the road; the owner had closed shop the previous day and returned to his hometown.
The tall Player contacted the Special Defense Department for access and immediately checked nearby cameras. Upon seeing the woman disappear when the streetlight went out, he darkened his expression and said, “These damned things aren’t human!”
The female Player had already informed colleagues responsible for the nearby area, “If they dare to operate during a lockdown, their strength is undoubtedly high, probably one Level D with three Level E Players acting together.”
The Special Defense Department Headquarters and military in Jing City developed a large number of Advanced Players, which might mislead ordinary people into thinking there are Rank-C Players everywhere in Country X, but in reality not only Rank-C Players, even Level D Players are concentrated in large or medium-sized cities. In small cities like Nan City, having some Level D Players on duty is quite decent, so the Nan City disappearance case hasn’t progressed also due to the weaker power of the Special Defense Department.
The original Special Defense Department’s working model is to provide support wherever needed, resources are limited; what’s more, they must prioritize the headquarters and military, so typically, when something happens, the Special Defense Sub-Department can apply to the cities with more Players nearby to transfer people. Just recently, many incidents occurred, and Nan City’s issues were buried deep early on, so no one has come over temporarily.
And Players from the Nan City Special Defense Sub-Department are basically on day and night shifts, anyone not involved in a game is all brought to the streets, even with this, it’s hard to prevent those who shoot and change places.
Initially, the Special Defense Department was worried that publicly searching for these Cannibal Players might lead them to other cities, but recent events made them realize they were overthinking, these people daringly began kidnapping and killing openly relying on their concealment skills, seemingly provoking the Special Defense Department.
“Teams of two,” the tall Player said, “I don’t believe these beasts leave no trace whatsoever!”
The four other Players immediately split up in different directions, then followed the location where the streetlight went out in surveillance, the female Player in one group heard the woman’s cries after a minute.
The two hurried over, and as they rushed to the street corner, they faced a shadowy figure. The person wore black protective clothing that made the face indistinguishable, but when passing by, the scent of blood on the person alerted them.
The female Player’s companion stopped her, “I’ll chase, you check if she’s okay and contact the others for support!”
The female Player didn’t hesitate, turned to enter the alley, and when illuminating the area with a Prop, she saw a woman with messy hair and a blood-stained neck shrinking in the corner, and upon seeing her, she immediately held back her cries terrified.
The female Player showed her ID card, “I’m a member of the Special Defense Department, number 2483, are you Wang Huiqin? What just happened?”
The woman nodded randomly, holding her child while incoherently saying she was dragged into the alley by someone who said he’d eat her first then the child, and then bit her neck, but suddenly someone intervened and drove away the Cannibal Player, after which the Special Defense Department people appeared.