I work as a security guard at a cemetery, and I overhear the dead chatting about getting rich quick.

Less than two hours after Lin Ye left B9, a temporary meeting was held at the Seventh Office.

There wasn't enough room in the meeting room.

Two rows of field staff who had just returned from outside were still standing in the corridor. Some had bloodstains on their clothes, while others were carrying sealed boxes that hadn't been put into storage yet. The boxes would occasionally bump against each other, making the people next to them frown.

Lin Ye leaned against the wall, looking down at his phone.

Seventeen missed calls.

Lu Zhixia dialed three numbers, and the rest were all internal numbers from the Seventh Bureau.

He first sent a message to Lu Zhixia.

"He's alright, he just got out of the well. I'll call you later."

Just as it was sent, Xu Mian peeked out from the side and took a look.

"Let me know you're safe?"

"Um."

Aren't you going to explain?

Lin Ye locked his phone.

"Explaining it now might only make her more worried."

Xu Mian thought for a moment.

"That's true."

The conference room door opened.

Cheng Fang came out and glanced down the corridor.

"Second group, go in."

Qin Zhao raised his arm, revealing his wrist wrapped in two bandages.

"Standing down to drive?"

"If there are seats available, please sit down; if not, please stand for a while."

Tang Zhi followed behind.

"What you said is as good as saying nothing at all."

"Then don't go in."

"I'll go in and yell at you."

Cheng Fang ignored her.

Several chairs were temporarily added to the conference room, and a map of Beijing was displayed on the screen at the front.

The red dots are densely packed.

Since the outbreak of the spiritual tide, less than half a day has passed, and more than two hundred abnormal events have been registered.

Most of them are not very dangerous.

There are too many problems.

An abandoned temple with an automatic bell, a parrot that suddenly can speak human language, a building where a woman's cries can be heard all night, and seven or eight ordinary people who have just awakened their abilities losing control and injuring others.

Individually, none of these are major issues.

With everyone crammed together, there simply weren't enough field staff.

The woman in charge of scheduling stood in front of the screen, her voice already hoarse.

"Starting tonight, the fixed squad system will be temporarily adjusted."

Someone immediately frowned.

"It was only temporarily dismantled."

She switched maps, and the capital city was divided into more than a dozen areas.

"Each region will have a designated person in charge of field operations."

"Responsible for initial screening, on-site assessment, personnel mobilization, and handling of low-risk incidents."

"Your authority has been exceeded. Request backup immediately. You're not being sent in alone to die, understand?"

Someone in the back row muttered quietly.

"Whenever they say it's not suicide, it's usually quite dangerous."

The woman looked up.

"Who said that?"

Nobody admits it.

She didn't ask any further questions.

"Dedicated lines will be opened for police, fire, hospitals and transportation departments."

"The person in charge has the right to order the sealing off of the site and the evacuation of the crowd, and also has the right to suspend public facilities in the area that pose an unusual risk."

"But remember, you are only temporarily given on-site command authority, not to go out and become local tyrants."

Tang Zhi leaned back in her chair.

"What a pity."

Cheng Fang looked at her.

"Are you quite disappointed?"

"A little."

The list was quickly sent to individual terminals.

Lin Ye looked down.

His name is currently left blank.

Everyone else has a region.

Xu Mian was in charge of the West District, Tang Zhi was in the North Suburbs, and Qin Zhao was assigned to an area close to the hospital and university town.

Cheng Fang walked to Lin Ye's side.

"Yours hasn't been decided yet."

"Was it left on purpose?"

"You just came out of the well."

Cheng Fang lowered his voice.

"I originally reserved seven locations for you in the surrounding area. The area is small, so support can be provided quickly."

Lin Ye looked up at the screen.

There is a large area in the southeast where the person in charge has not yet been identified.

The area is densely populated, with shopping malls, old town areas, and subway lines intersecting, and there are more red dots than in other places.

He looked at it for a few seconds.

"I want the Southeast District."

Cheng Fang followed his gaze.

There are three subway lines over there.

Four.

"Where did the fourth point come from?"

Lin Ye didn't say anything.

Cheng Fang stared at him for a while.

"Did you hear it down in the well?"

"Um."

"Are you sure it's a track?"

"Very similar."

"picture?"

"Yes, but it's very short, just one sound."

"Then why did you still dare to choose this place?"

The forest illuminates the southeastern region.

"I didn't hear clearly, that's why I had to go check."

Cheng Fang did not agree immediately.

The meeting is still ongoing.

Several field staff have begun to confirm their areas of responsibility; some are exchanging locations, while others are directly requesting technical support.

Lin Ye didn't urge him either.

After a while, Cheng Fang finally spoke.

"The Southeast region has the most anomalies."

"I saw it."

"You've just started cultivating, and your abilities have changed again. Nobody knows if they're stable."

"I don't know either."

"The answer was quite confident."

"Then let me put it another way."

Lin Ye thought for a moment.

"It should be quite stable."

Cheng Fang laughed angrily.

"never mind."

He took Lin Ye's terminal and confirmed his permissions.

"The Southeast District is yours."

"Let me make this clear first: any abnormality of level three or above must not be handled alone."

"OK."

"Do not touch the magical artifact directly upon discovery."

"Know."

"Any missing persons, unusual spatial phenomena, or mass contamination must be reported immediately."

Lin Ye looked at him.

"Why don't you just come with me?"

"roll."

After the permissions were confirmed, Lin Ye's terminal suddenly had more than a dozen new contact points.

The area includes the local police station, fire station, two hospitals, subway operation center, and a mobile support team that can be requested at any time.

Cheng Fang slapped a temporary work permit against his chest.

"From now on, you will be in charge of the Southeast District."

"Who should I contact if something goes wrong?"

"Take care of it yourself if you can."

"What if we can't handle it?"

"Contact the command center."

"Even the command center can't handle it?"

Cheng Fang glanced at him.

"Find me."

Lin Ye put the documents away.

"If you had said that earlier, it would have been fine."

"I'm afraid you'll come to me first."

"No, that won't happen."

"You'd better be."

The meeting ended after midnight.

Lin Ye didn't go back to his dormitory; instead, he went directly to the temporary liaison point in the southeast district.

The location was on the second floor of a police station.

The office was small, and there were already more than a dozen newly delivered anomaly reports piled up on the desk.

The police officer on duty was surnamed He, in his forties, and his eyes were bloodshot.

Upon seeing Lin Ye enter, he first glanced at the identification document, then at Lin Ye himself.

"Just you?"

Lin Ye put the bag down.

"Not enough?"

"no."

Officer He paused.

"I just didn't expect him to be so young."

"I didn't expect you guys to be so busy."

All three telephones on the table rang at the same time.

The politeness on Officer He's face vanished instantly.

"catch."

Lin Ye picked up the most recent one.

The person on the other end of the phone was the subway operations center.

"Are you the person in charge of unusual incidents in the Southeast region?"

"Yes."

"We have a surveillance video here that you might need to take a look at."

"What's going on?"

The other party was clearly reluctant to talk.

"A train... has stopped at the wrong station."

Lin Ye glanced at the time.

Which station?

There is no station.

The office fell silent for a moment.

Officer He looked up.

Lin Ye sat up straight.

"Send over the surveillance footage."

The video was quickly transmitted to the terminal.

At 11:47 p.m. last night, the last train entered the tunnel between two regular stations.

The screen initially appeared normal.

A few seconds later, the carriage lights flashed twice.

The train began to slow down.

On the route map above the train door, a white dot suddenly appears between two stations.

The train came to a complete stop.

The car door opened.

It's not a tunnel outside.

It is an old platform.

The wall tiles were yellowed, the lighting was dim, and the words on the bus stop sign were covered by stains, making the names illegible.

The people in the carriage were clearly stunned.

Some people peeked out, while others took out their phones.

A deliveryman sitting near the door stood up.

He seemed to hear someone calling him, and got out of the car carrying his delivery box.

Forty-seven seconds later, the car door closed.

The train restarted.

The deliveryman didn't come back.

Lin Ye paused the video.

"What did the driver say?"

The person on the other end of the phone replied, "He said the car didn't stop."

"What about the mileage record?"

"normal."

"Car door opening record?"

"No, not at all."

Officer He pulled up a chair and sat down next to him.

"Where are the passengers?"

"They all said it's stopped."

Lin Ye zoomed the screen back.

Before the train doors opened, a person was standing at the end of the platform.

The other person was wearing a drab old uniform, with their head down, so their face was obscured.

After the train came to a complete stop, he slowly raised his hand.

Pointing to the carriage.

Lin Ye changed the surveillance angle.

The hand was still raised.

Looking from this direction, it doesn't refer to the camera lens.

It was that deliveryman.

Officer He stared at the paused screen.

"Does this station really exist?"

"It's not on the map."

"The old ones?"

"We'll have to check to find out."

Lin Ye replayed the surveillance footage.

The old uniforms on the platform remained in the raised hand position.

As the car door was about to close, its fingers curled slightly.

Like counting.

a bit.

Two times.

Three times.

Until the car door was completely closed.

Suddenly, Lin Ye heard a very faint sound of rails rubbing together.

It's not from a video.

It's right under your feet.

Deeper underground.

The non-existent track started ringing again.