"You have quite a bit of nerve. Do you know who we are?" Xiahou asked indignantly.
"I don't care who you are. Outsiders aren't allowed in! Our town is under lockdown due to some incident."
"You..."
Xiahou was about to retort, but I stopped him and got out of the car. I walked over to the police officer. "What exactly is happening in town?"
"We're not at liberty to disclose that. Suffice it to say, some people have died. We're all in the same line of work, so please don't make things difficult for me!" The officer seemed polite enough, just unwilling to let us pass. I didn't reveal my rank as a厅长 (ting zhang - department head) to pressure him. Instead, I said, "Don't you need more people to help right now?"
"We do, but the bureau chief..."
"Alright, I understand!"
I wondered if there was something wrong with the bureau chief here, to prevent other officers from entering. For now, I decided it was best not to reveal my identity, to avoid tipping them off and allowing them to conceal their secrets. I would act as the leader and probe further. If luck was on our side, perhaps I could uncover something.
I returned to the car, had Xiahou get out, and took the wheel myself. Everyone was confused about my intentions. I reversed the car a few steps. He Xin called out from the back, "Father, you're not thinking of just crashing through, are you?"
"Haha, I won't. If they won't let us in, we'll find another way around! Everyone hold on tight!"
Instinctively, everyone gripped whatever they could hold onto. I pretended to retreat in front of the officers. After driving a short distance, I turned onto a mountain road from another direction. This path was far more rugged than the ones we had traversed before, making the ride in the car feel like a thrilling roller coaster, our bodies trembling and bouncing uncontrollably. It was a truly terrifying experience, but I floored the accelerator recklessly. Liu Yuning, sitting in the passenger seat, looked at me in fear. Perhaps she had never seen me drive so madly, treating the car like a sports car. My driving skills had been hidden for too long.
After my car smashed through countless trees and flattened a large portion of the grass, we bypassed the town and emerged behind it, at a spot without any railings. There were no local police guards here. I quickly parked the car near a mountain cave. No, I drove directly into the cave before stopping.
He Xin was the first to jump out, dusting off her hands. "Esteemed Father, it seems you intend to temporarily stash the car here. This is a good spot, very secluded!"
"Mm, why do you call me that so smoothly now?"
"Ahaha, doesn't 'Esteemed Father' sound nice? After all, you're a 厅长 now!"
"Outside, don't always call me 厅长. Until I give the word, no one is to reveal their identity. Do you understand?"
"Understood!" Everyone else alighted from the car one by one. Xiao Yuande clenched his fists, looking at the cave entrance, and suddenly sighed, "If Gao Mingqiang were still here, he would be incredibly excited!"
"Indeed. I wonder how that brother Gao Mingqiang is doing in whatever world he's in now. But even without him, we will continue our relentless fight against criminal organizations. Let's go, brothers!"
"Alright!" With a shout, everyone found some bushes to cover the vehicle. Then, we emerged from the cave. He Xin took out her mini-computer. She was definitely coming this time, as we had no knowledge of the internal situation in Lester. Without her as our technical support, we would likely be lost the moment we entered.
She activated a drone, which instantly shrunk to a miniature size and flew away like a fly. I was quite surprised. He Xin said, "Black technology, calm down, buddy!"
After a brief chat, we had navigated from a mountain path and were now near some houses in the town. For some reason, the people in town seemed listless. Although there were still people walking on the streets, their moods seemed incredibly suppressed. There were broken earthenware pots and partially withered crops scattered on the ground. Following the direction of a faint, noisy sound from not too far away, we saw a tall man performing acrobatics on a platform in the town square. He Xin seemed quite interested, jumping up and down, trying to get a better look. She even wanted me to lift her onto my shoulders. I was speechless. How old was she, still thinking she was a child?
I thought the situation here was somewhat normal. At least people had the mood to watch a spectacle. I seized the opportunity to find a nearby uncle and inquire about the town's affairs. The others did the same, asking around.
However, as soon as the uncle realized we were outsiders, he sternly said, "You shouldn't have come here. The second baptism is coming soon. Alas, you're just inviting death..."
After saying this cryptic remark, the uncle sighed, shook his head, and walked away. I had no idea what he meant. I asked a few more people, and their reactions were the same. They were all unwilling to talk much about the town's situation. When we regrouped, everyone reported that their efforts had been in vain.
We temporarily left the performance area and approached a fountain. Here, some Western architecture from the past had been preserved, including churches and castle-like structures, mostly with white walls and spires. In a corner downstairs, Liu Yuning said, "Something is very wrong with this place. Everyone seems to turn pale at the mention of the town's affairs. Could it be that those rats have already plundered this place once?"
"The marks on the ground are very strange, and some people's complexions are off. I'm really worried they're all infested with rats," He Xin said fearfully.
"Look at their mouths; they seem a bit swollen. Could it be that the rats entered through their mouths?" Xiahou guessed.
"Don't scare me! Do they eat rats?" He Xin covered her mouth in surprise.
"I'm not sure about that, but I just saw a rat's tail inside someone's lips..." Xiao Yuande's statement was enough. He Xin immediately hid behind me and cried out.
I gave a wry smile. "Everyone, stop guessing. Tonight, we'll go find the bureau chief here and see what he has to say."
"You plan to use your 厅长 title?"
"No, it's not time yet. But I don't think simply revealing ourselves will be effective! Because this place is completely cut off from the outside world."
As I said this, everyone realized the extreme danger of our situation and looked at me in stunned silence. "Then our coming here is..."