177: Chapter 177 Night Patrol of the Three Cities

After that grey-black dark line emerged from the Fire Map, strange things began to happen one after another in the three cities.

They were all insignificant trifles.

Inside the pipes of Qinghe No. 1 Safe House, a handful of black salt trickled out along the rusty pipe walls; the coarse grains made a rasping sound as they landed in the white ceramic basin.

On the back of the blockade sign at Jiangbei Liuqiao Old Station, a row of wet footprints appeared out of thin air. The water marks carried a briny scent of the sea and seeped down the wooden board, yet they never dripped onto the ground.

The abandoned old elevator at Linhai Hospital was stuck on the B2 floor, which didn't even exist on the floor indicator. From the gap in the tightly sealed doors, the sound of tides crashing against the shore continued to emanate, each sound closer than the last.

Any one of these incidents taken alone would seem like a false alarm.

But with all three occurring simultaneously, it was definitely no coincidence.

In the dispatch center, Tang Zhiwei stared at the flickering alarm signals filling the screen, her face as cold as frost.

"It is testing our bottom line—seeing how many places we can handle at once."

Outside the Qinghe Safe House, Lin Zhao stood at the entrance gripping a basic Guardian Lamp, with several residents awakened by the sound of water huddled behind him. Someone wrapped in a thick coat, lips still trembling, repeated incessantly, "I really heard the sound of water, it was inside the wall, I'm not making it up..."

Lin Zhao planted the Guardian Lamp firmly in the center of the threshold, and the faint firelight unfurled a thin barrier. The light membrane wasn't wide, and its edges were still trembling slightly, as if it would shatter with a gust of wind.

Yet he didn't retreat a single step.

"So you heard it." His voice was low but steady. "Everyone, stand behind me."

Someone clutched their hem and asked timidly, "Can you... hold it back?"

Lin Zhao glanced down at his white-knuckled grip, his tone without a hint of hesitation.

"Even if I can't stop it, I'll block it for now."

These words weren't pretty at all, far less pleasant than those ironclad promises. Yet, after exchanging glances, the few people slowly moved behind him, as if leaning against a wall that, however thin, would never be the first to collapse.

Over in Jiangbei, Chen Jue gripped the return rope, patrolling the perimeter of Liuqiao Old Station circle by circle. He hadn't received his official Ability Seed yet and was merely a trainee member, possessing only the most basic standard equipment. One end of the hemp rope was tied firmly to a blockade pillar, while the other end had become damp from the sweat in his palm.

The night wind whipped the station sign, making it clang. Beneath the sign, an elderly person was walking into the restricted zone in a daze.

Chen Jue rushed over in a few strides and grabbed the elder's arm.

The elder turned his head slowly, eyes as empty as if covered in mist: "My son has arrived; I need to go pick him up."

Chen Jue's throat suddenly tightened.

In the past, he would have panicked, raised his voice to stop them, and wondered why this person was so disobedient. But at this moment, he only gently wrapped the return rope around the elder's wrist, his voice lowered, filled with patience.

"What is your son's name?"

The elder paused, brow furrowing, as if trying very hard to think, but unable to grasp those three words.

"Liu... Liu what was it again?"

"Wait until you remember before you go." Chen Jue didn't loosen his grip on the rope. "If you can't remember, even if you go over there, you won't recognize him."

The elder stood in place and suddenly stopped moving.

Inside Linhai Hospital, Jiaoyue stood blocking the old elevator entrance with two nurses. She had no weapon, only a medical Fire Seal and a roll of ordinary packing tape. The tape was stuck diagonally across the elevator door gap, its edges wrinkled, looking quite unreliable.

The young nurse beside her stared at the tape, her voice floating: "Sister Jiaoyue, is this... useful?"

Jiaoyue pressed the last section of tape down firmly without turning her head.

"It's useless."

The young nurse's face turned pale instantly.

Jiaoyue turned around and pressed the warm Fire Seal firmly onto the center of the tape.

"This is useful."

As soon as she finished speaking, a dull thud came from inside the elevator, as if something had slammed against it hard. The tape instantly split a half-inch gap, but at that moment, the Fire Seal suddenly flared with warm light, forcibly pressing the split seam back together, even muffling the sound of the tide.

Inside the Old Lighthouse, Bai Ya monitored the activity in all three locations simultaneously.

The Patrol Crow Lamp hovered half a foot in front of him, its tiny wick burning steadily and deeply. Grey-Bai Ya shadows flew out from the lamp flame, weaving and leaping along the trajectories of the fire points in Qinghe, Jiangbei, and Linhai. They couldn't go into battle, couldn't block damage for anyone, but they could transmit every grain of black salt, every damp mark, and every elevator vibration back to the Grey Net, without missing a single detail.

This was enough.

In the past, when Torch handled anomalies across multiple cities, it was like groping for a door in a pitch-black room, relying entirely on experience and luck.

Now, at least someone had chiseled a row of small holes in the ceiling, letting in some light.

Zhao Ye stood guard by the stone steps outside the lighthouse. Looking back and seeing Bai Ya sitting in the same position for half the night, he couldn't help but ask, "Aren't you tired?"

Bai Ya's gaze didn't leave the Fire Map as he replied casually, "I am."

"Then why force yourself?"

"I'm afraid that if I lie down, I'll dream of you pelting me with steamed buns."

Zhao Ye was amused despite his anger. He wanted to scold him, but in the end, he just tossed a bottle of mineral water over.

Bai Ya caught it, unscrewed the cap, and had just taken a sip when his expression suddenly changed.

One of the crow shadows had been cut off in Jiangbei.

It wasn't torn apart by black water, nor dissipated by force.

It was gently pinched by something and placed into a completely sealed space, instantly cutting off the signal.

Bai Ya closed his eyes.

Deep beneath Jiangbei Liuqiao Old Station, the final image transmitted by the crow shadow unfolded in his mind.

It was an old train carriage.

There were no lights; everything around was pitch black. Outside the train window was not the familiar Liuxia Passenger Station platform, but the Black Shore with surging black water, waves slapping against the glass again and again.

On a seat in the carriage sat a person.

He kept his head down. The uniform he wore was rotten and wrinkled from being soaked in seawater, and pinned to his chest was an old, faded Old Port District work badge.

It was Deputy Captain He Yuan.

Bai Ya opened his eyes abruptly.

"Something's wrong."

Zhao Ye straightened up instantly. "Which side is having problems?"

"Jiangbei." Bai Ya's voice was low, carrying a hint of coldness. "It has connected the Black Shore into the old Liuxia carriage."

Almost simultaneously, Tang Zhiwei's voice sounded over the public channel, her tone pausing for a rare moment.

"Qinghe Safe House has received an abnormal station broadcast. The content is—"

The next second, a hoarse, dry voice cut through the static and rang in everyone's ears.

"Please, Torch Lamp Bearers, proceed to the Black Shore to redeem the Shore Keeper."

Beneath the Linhai Old Lighthouse, the tide receded silently.

That grey-black dark line buried in the seabed became increasingly clear, like a scar carved into the earth.

The Patrol Crow Lamp in Bai Ya's palm suddenly dimmed for a moment.

Something was hanging Deputy Captain He Yuan's name outside the light, turning it into a multiple-choice question presented to all members of Torch.

To save, or not to save.

Someone who was clearly already dead.

On the dispatch screen, the fire points in the three cities were like three leaking nets; alarms flashed here, losses of contact dimmed there, and messages popped up densely. Tang Zhiwei didn't raise her voice, nor did she lose her composure. She quickly issued orders, dividing personnel into three tiers: those who could be handled on-site were to be dealt with immediately; those requiring support were to be expedited via Spark Post Road; and anything suspected of being a lure was to be suppressed first, with no rash actions taken.

The more chaotic things became, the calmer she was.

Xu Minglan remotely accessed the communication with the Qinghe Safe House. On the screen, a mother was trembling as she held her child, saying that for a moment just now, she had actually forgotten her child's name. Xu Minglan didn't say "Don't be afraid" or "Everything will be fine," but instead gently guided her, asking her to say the child's nickname, birthday, and least favorite food one by one. When she mentioned that the child hated carrots the most, the mother suddenly burst into tears, and the name that had vanished for a moment fell back into her mind.

After Chen Jue caught the elder at Liuqiao Old Station, the sweat in his palm had soaked the return rope through. The elder finally remembered his son's name was Liu Haiming and sat on the stone steps by the road, crying like a lost child. Chen Jue didn't try to comfort him, just quietly loosened the rope loop so he could sit more comfortably. The note Han Yue had left him was still folded and kept in his inner pocket; every time the urge to rush forward rose in his heart, he would touch that piece of paper. The edges of the paper had already softened from the sweat.

When Tyrannosaurus King received the dispatch order, he was still lying under a vehicle repairing the brakes. Hearing the words "North Shore needs tow truck support," his first reaction was to curse, and his second was to shove his wrench into his pocket, scramble up, and run toward the driver's cab. As he turned the key to start the ignition, he hollered, "Boss Tang, let's get this straight: if you charge me for vehicle depreciation this time, I'm going to drive the truck to your office door and cry!"

Tang Zhiwei replied indifferently, "Come back alive, then you can cry."

Tyrannosaurus King shut his mouth instantly and slammed on the gas.

Wu stood at the entrance of the Qinghe Safe House, watching over the residents awakened by the water sounds for Lin Zhao. He had no special abilities and hadn't been issued new equipment, but whenever someone was in a trance and about to utter the name of the deceased, he would gently press their wrist. Those people, upon meeting his eyes, would often inexplicably calm down.

Wu didn't know if this counted as his own utility. But when the old lady clutching the old train ticket finally slowly relaxed her hand, he looked down and saw that the character "Wu" on his temporary ID badge had quietly lit up and did not dim again.

That night, no one slept soundly.

But when the sky began to turn a pale, fish-belly white, no new black spots had emerged on the three-city fire map.

Tang Zhiwei looked at the dispatch screen, which had finally stabilized, picked up the coffee that had been sitting there for half the night, and took a sip. The next second, she frowned tightly. Ever since Zhao Ye had mistaken salt for sugar last time, everyone in the office had begun to doubt whether the contents of the seasoning box were correct.

When Bai Ya saw this dispatch note, for once, he didn't laugh.

He merely controlled a crow shadow to perch on the ceiling light of the dispatch office and watched quietly for two seconds.

If people still had the presence of mind to doubt the seasoning box at a time like this, it meant they hadn't been crushed by the darkness yet.

They could still hold on.