133: Chapter 133 Returning Home to Observe the Strange, A Storm is Brewing

The apartment was his "base of operations" and "safe house" in this world. He had to ensure its security first, ruling out potential threats (such as being breached, having surveillance installed, or being affected by residual anomalous energy). At the same time, from the relatively concealed and familiar vantage point of his own window, he could safely observe the state of the entire community, assessing the scope and subsequent impact of the anomalous event. He could also observe the overall atmosphere and movement of people in the community on his way home. This was a crucial step in establishing his own security baseline and gathering first-hand macro-level information.

The hover-bus stopped at the Oak Street station. Ling Ye stepped off quickly, his gaze sweeping rapidly across the platform and the familiar streets.

The community appeared not much different from any other day. At dusk, the flow of people coming home from work and school was as usual; children were playing by the roadside, and the elderly sat on benches chatting. But Ling Ye's High-Dimensional Information Perception was on high alert, and he immediately caught some subtle "anomalies":

In the air, that "cold" smell—often present after rain and mixed with "rust" and "muddy fishiness"—was more pronounced than ever before. Even ordinary people without special perception, as long as their sense of smell was slightly sensitive, seemed to be able to vaguely catch a faint, uncomfortable odor. Several passing residents wrinkled their noses, whispering to each other, "What's that smell?" "Are the sewers backing up again?"

The community's background "noise" also seemed "messier" than usual. It wasn't that the decibel level had increased, but rather that within the "white noise" composed of ubiquitous electronic device hums, pipe water flow, and distant traffic, there seemed to be a faint, hard-to-detect, discordant "tremolo" mixed in, making people feel subconsciously restless. Ling Ye saw an electronic pet dog by the roadside that seemed to be "glitching," stiffly repeating a single command.

Even more obvious was the sky in the east of the community, towards the Old Factory District; under the reflection of the gradually dimming daylight, it seemed "gloomier" than usual, as if shrouded in an invisible, thin layer of gray haze. It wasn't smoke, but rather more like a visual discrepancy caused by light being slightly distorted or absorbed.

All signs indicated that, although calm on the surface, that brief "power fluctuation" and "communication interference" just now were like a stone thrown into a pond; the ripples stirred up were continuously spreading throughout the community environment, leaving behind clear and discernible "traces."

Ling Ye did not linger, quickening his pace to return to the building where his apartment was located. He carefully checked the building entrance, mailboxes, and stairs, finding no signs of anomalies or unidentified items. While going upstairs, he deliberately softened his footsteps, using his "Spiritual Sense" to perceive the movement upstairs and downstairs; everything was as usual.

Using the key to open his front door, he did not enter immediately, but stood at the doorway, sweeping his "Spiritual Sense" across the entire room like invisible ripples.

There were no unfamiliar life signs, no anomalous electronic signal sources, and no hidden energy fluctuations. The "information field" inside the room was basically the same as when he had left, except that the air was also permeated with that intensified "cold" smell. Furthermore, that black stone he had obtained from Uncle Chen's shop, which had always lain quietly on the desk, now seemed to have a layer of extremely faint, almost imperceptible dull luster flowing on its surface, as if covered in a layer of grease.

Ling Ye's eyes narrowed; he gently closed the door and locked it. He walked to the desk, not rashly touching the stone, but focusing his mind to probe it carefully with his "Spiritual Sense."

Inside the stone, the "residual discordant information," which had originally been extremely weak and near-nonexistent, now seemed to have been "activated." Although still weak, it had become clear and discernible. It was resonating at an extremely slow frequency with the "sense of discord" permeating the air from the direction of the Old Factory District! It was like a plucked tuning fork, sensing a sound source of the same frequency from afar!

This stone... was truly not simple! It was very likely a mineral residue that had been contaminated or come into contact with the energy of that "heterogeneous existence" during the mining or accidents at the Old Factory District in the early years! It was usually dormant, but when the Old Factory District was abnormally active, it would react!

This was a dangerous signal, but it could also be a... useful "indicator" or "detector"?

Ling Ye carefully wrapped the stone with a soft cloth to isolate it from direct contact with the air; that faint sense of resonance immediately weakened by more than half. He placed the wrapped stone into a small metal box (which used to hold parts), closed the lid, and sealed it simply with tape, which made him feel slightly more at ease.

Then, he walked to the window, pulled the curtain open a crack, and looked out.

The afterglow of the sunset was rapidly fading, and twilight was gathering. Dots of light lit up in the community. In the direction of the Old Factory District, there was only a deep darkness; no obvious blue light or smoke could be seen. But he could "feel" that the "sense of discord" in that direction was still at a relatively high level; although it had fallen back compared to the fluctuations in the afternoon, it was far more active than in any previous "quiet period." That low-frequency "scratching sound" also continued like background noise.

He noticed that on the community streets, there were two more engineering vehicles with Municipal Government markings parked at the intersection near the Old Factory District, and several workers in reflective vests were setting up temporary lighting and equipment, seemingly checking something. Further away, there seemed to be an unmarked dark van parked quietly; the model was slightly different from the one that had been monitoring him earlier, but it was equally low-key.

The official people had really come. The Municipal Government was investigating, and that dark van... was it the Security Department? Or some other department?

Just then, the personal terminal on his wrist vibrated; it was a push notification from the "Community Collaboration Platform," from the community administrator:

"Dear residents, due to the brief power and communication fluctuations in the community this afternoon, the Municipal Government departments have intervened to investigate. It is preliminarily determined to be caused by a brief load abnormality in the regional power grid and minor interference with signal towers due to weather factors. It has now returned to normal. Please do not panic and treat online rumors rationally. If there are any facility anomalies, please report them for repair through regular channels. Thank you for your cooperation. — Oak Street Community Management Office"

The official "reassurance" notice had arrived, attributing the cause to "power grid load" and "weather interference," which was slightly different from the "unknown cause" stated in the public safety warning, but the goal was the same: to downplay the incident and stabilize people's hearts.

Ling Ye closed the notification, his gaze casting toward the Old Factory District again. Power grid load? Weather interference? It might fool ordinary residents. That direct, targeted sense of "erosion" and information pollution could never be explained by mere load or weather.

He needed to know more. He thought of "Old Zhao," and also of "Midnight Wind," the person who posted about seeing "blue light" and hearing a "muffled sound."

He sat at the desk, opened the terminal, logged into the "Community Collaboration Platform" (using a tourist account he had registered earlier that was not linked to his real identity), found the comment from "Midnight Wind" about the blue light and muffled sound, and tried to send a private message:

"Hello, I also live nearby. I saw the blue light and heard the loud noise this afternoon, and I'm very worried. Where exactly in the Old Factory District did you see the blue light? Was there any other anomaly after the loud noise?"

He dared not contact them with his real identity, so he could only use this anonymous method to probe, hoping to obtain more specific information.

After the private message was sent, it was like a stone sinking into the sea, with no immediate reply.

Ling Ye was not in a hurry either. While keeping an eye on the terminal and the movement outside the window, he began to prepare a simple dinner (nutrient paste). He needed to conserve his energy to deal with a possible sleepless night.

After dinner, he performed a short "Star Visualization" to calm his mind and restore his Mental Energy. In the visualization, he deliberately incorporated the feeling of that "erosion" and "low-frequency interference" into his defense category, tempering his mental resistance.

When the clock pointed to nine in the evening, the community outside the window had completely quieted down, with only scattered lights and the faint humming of distant Municipal Government engineering vehicles. The "sense of discord" in the direction of the Old Factory District was still active, but it seemed to have stabilized at a certain level, without continuing to rise.

The terminal suddenly vibrated; "Midnight Wind" had replied to the private message!

"You're at home too? The blue light was right at the large factory building with the collapsed roof in the middle of the Old Factory District. It flashed several times, especially bright, the kind of blue that's almost black! The muffled sound came after the brightest flash of blue light; it was as if something exploded or collapsed underground! After that, there was nothing else, just a very strong smell and a bit of dizziness. I didn't even dare to open the window. Are you okay?"

The information confirmed Ling Ye's judgment: the core of the anomaly outbreak was underground in the center of the Old Factory District! And it was accompanied by obvious physical effects (muffled sounds, possible structural changes) and stronger direct impacts (dizziness).

"I'm fine, just a little frightened. Thanks for letting me know. By the way, the Municipal Government people seem to be checking over there. Do you know what they found out?" Ling Ye replied.

"Municipal Government? They're just wandering around the periphery, setting up a few instruments; they didn't go in at all! Who would dare to go into that broken place! I think they're just going through the motions. I won't talk anymore, I feel creeped out, sleep early, and lock your doors and windows!"

The conversation ended. Ling Ye had obtained key information: the anomaly outbreak point was clear; the Municipal Government inspection was superficial and did not penetrate to the core; and, more obvious unease and fear had begun to breed among ordinary residents.

He walked to the window and looked out again. The two Municipal Government engineering vehicles had turned on their high beams, but there seemed to be no sign of movement. The dark van remained quietly lurking in the shadows.

Everything seemed to have returned to a certain tense calm.

But Ling Ye knew that beneath this calm, the "thing" underground in the Old Factory District had already shown stronger "activity" and a more direct ability to influence. The loosening of the seal was accelerating, and the next "fluctuation" might be more intense and harder to cover up.

And the various forces—the Municipal Government, the possible Security Department, the academic research power represented by Su Qing, the mysterious "Deep Space Frontier Capital," the lurking monitors, and perhaps even others—their reactions and next steps would determine the direction of the situation.

He needed to be prepared for everything.

Whether it was standing by, or... an unavoidable intervention.