Extraterrestrial demons invaded; I laid the groundwork eight years in advance.

Saturday, the main entrance of Modi Park.

The gentle autumn sunlight in Shanghai falls on the giant, classic rat-shaped signboard in the amusement park, reflecting a patchwork of shimmering gold.

The park entrance faces a wide artificial lake. The wind is light, and the lake surface is rippling with fine waves.

A giant inflatable duck was tied to the shore, with two strings of balloons attached to its hands. A colorful banner that read "10th Anniversary Celebration" hung from the balloons and swayed gently in the breeze.

Looking across the lake, the castle-like Mody-themed hotel on the opposite shore stands quietly in the autumn sunlight.

Shen Bai stood under the sycamore tree by the lake, his white casual clothes making him look tall and straight with clear features.

Girls passing by would occasionally steal glances at him, but out of feminine modesty, they would simply walk away in twos and threes, laughing and joking softly.

He glanced at his phone—9:45.

Last week, Suzhou Evening News invited him to attend the 10th anniversary celebration of Modi Kindergarten. Yesterday, she sent him a special message to remind him to meet at the entrance at 10:00 am today.

Perhaps because his true nature had been suppressed for too long, he found himself looking forward to this trip.

The sycamore leaves have begun to turn yellow in autumn, and occasionally one or two will drift down and land on your shoulder.

In the distance, two figures walked from the direction of the parking lot.

Su Wan saw Shen Bai from afar, waved in their direction, and her eyes curved into crescent moons: "Shen Bai!"

Su Wan wore a white spaghetti strap dress today, the hem of which fell just above her knees. She wore high-heeled sandals and a straw hat, looking like a girl next door in her youth, exuding elegance and tranquility.

Zhou Ruoruo stood next to her, abandoning her sexy and flamboyant makeup style, and changed into a sporty red sweatshirt, paired with wide-leg jeans and white sneakers, with her ponytail swaying gently behind her head.

She was holding two cotton candies in her hand, her cheeks puffed out.

The two walked quickly over, and Su Wan stopped in front of Shen Bai, tilting her head slightly, the brim of her straw hat casting a light shadow on his shoulder.

"Have you been waiting long?" Su Wan asked.

"No, I just arrived too," Shen Bai said.

She wore light lipstick today, and a pair of small pearl earrings on her earlobes, which shimmered softly in the sunlight.

Zhou Ruoruo handed over a cotton candy: "Here, a little something to mark our meeting."

Shen Bai took it and smiled, "Thank you."

"Let's go in." Zhou Ruoruo took a bite of her cotton candy, turned around and walked towards the main entrance, with Su Wan and Shen Bai following behind her side by side.

  

They hadn't gone far when the three of them stopped at the same time.

The small square in front of the main gate was crowded with people. The queue stretched from the ticket office, making dozens of turns, and then extended to the tree-lined path by the lake, seemingly endless.

A dozen security guards walked back and forth in the queue, holding up megaphones and shouting "Please queue in an orderly manner," but their voices were immediately swallowed up by the noisy crowd.

Su Wan stood on tiptoe to take a look, then frowned slightly: "So many people... I'm afraid we'll have to wait until the afternoon."

Zhou Ruoruo muttered from the side, "I told you we should have come earlier. It's because someone has been putting on makeup and getting ready since this morning."

Su Wan blushed slightly and glared at her fiercely, but Zhou Ruoruo pretended not to see it and continued chewing her cotton candy.

Su Wan took out a gold membership card from her bag and said to Shen Bai, "There's a side entrance for members in Modi Town. There are fewer people going in from there."

Shen Bai smiled and nodded: "Then let's go."

The three changed direction and headed towards Modi Town.

The town is a typical European-style building with red tiles and white walls. Flowers and cartoon character logos are hung everywhere, and various restaurants, tea shops and souvenir shops line both sides of the cobblestone streets.

They crossed the main street and found the members' side entrance next to a circular fountain. There was a long queue at the entrance, but it was much shorter than the one at the main entrance.

"It's alright, much better than the main gate." Zhou Ruoruo breathed a sigh of relief. "I guess we'll have to wait for about ten minutes."

The three of them lined up in the long queue. Zhou Ruoruo walked at the front, Su Wan was in the middle, and Shen Bai stood behind her.

While waiting in line, Zhou Ruoruo kept talking, from the movie she watched last week to her work report next week. Su Wan tried to interrupt her several times but failed, and her ears turned red.

Shen Bai listened quietly, occasionally responding with a word or two, his gaze falling on the vines hanging from the roof to the side.

After a while, it was finally their turn.

Su Wan showed her membership card, and the three of them scanned the code to enter the park.

Upon entering the park, tall sycamore trees line both sides of the main road, their golden leaves carpeting the ground. In the distance, a futuristic track resembling a roller coaster glitters silver in the sunlight.

Zhou Ruoruo pointed excitedly there: "Let's play the high-speed car game first!"

Su Wan looked at Shen Bai: "Is there anything you want to play?"

"I'm fine with anything, you decide."

"Anything is fine." Zhou Ruoruo shook her head, rolling her eyes playfully. "It's always 'anything is fine'."

Shen Bai smiled, not paying any attention, only thinking that Zhou Ruoruo had a straightforward personality.

The park is very large; it took them ten minutes to reach the project entrance.

The LED screen at the entrance played a continuous loop of images of flying cars plunging down the track, accompanied by deafening sound effects.

Su Wan looked at the screaming faces on the screen, and her expression involuntarily tightened.

Because Su Wan was a VIP member, they went through the fast lane and it was their turn very quickly.

The three of them each rode a futuristic-looking motorcycle. Since they rode in pairs, there was an empty seat in front of Zhou Ruoruo when it was her turn, so Shen Bai and Su Wan rode together.

As the safety bar behind her lowered, Su Wan leaned against the car body, her hands gripping the handles tightly, her lips pressed into a straight line.

Shen Bai turned his head and said, "If you're scared, you can close your eyes."

Su Wan took a deep breath: "It's okay, I can do it."

"Three—"

"Two—"

"One—"

"Go".

The moment the electronic sound faded, the flying car, like a taut spring stretched to its limit, shot off the starting line along the track.

The wind howled in their ears, and screams erupted. Zhou Ruoruo, who was in front, shouted excitedly and raised her hands above her head.

The speed quickly reached 80 kilometers per hour. As the unsettling feeling of weightlessness came over her, Su Wan's mental preparation, which she had spent half a day preparing for, collapsed instantly, and her shoulders began to tremble slightly.

Just as her heart was filled with fear, a voice pierced through the wind and rang clearly in her ears, carrying a reassuring power.

"Don't be afraid, the facility is very safe. You can try opening your eyes; the scenery is beautiful."

Su Wan's eyelids trembled, and she mustered her courage to slowly open her eyes.

The entire Modi Park unfolded before her eyes—sunlight shone on the spires of the colorful castle, and the lake surface shimmered with golden glitter, like twinkling stars adorning the forests and lakes within the park.

The flying car entered a dark void, and the light strips on the walls on both sides flew backward like shooting stars, as if it had suddenly entered a time tunnel.

Su Wan turned her head. Shen Bai was lying on the car next to her, looking calmly ahead, as if nothing could frighten him.

Su Wan stared at Shen Bai's profile for a long time without looking away.