"Is this the Rongda Chemical Plant? The location seems even more remote than what the map showed."
Cyrene raised a hand to shield her eyes, slightly narrowing those singular rhombus-shaped pupils.
The midday sun scorched the cracked asphalt road mercilessly, and the air was thick with the scent of dry dust.
Not far away, several strands of glaring yellow caution tape cordoned off the grey, dusty factory grounds. Distorted by the heat waves, the abandoned factory looked like the skeletal remains of a giant beast lurking on the wasteland.
Upon reaching her destination, Cyrene shifted her intent, and the blue light screen in the corner of her vision instantly expanded.
[Scanning surrounding area...]
As the radar ripples spread, a scarlet light point suddenly appeared in the center of the scanning map—which had previously been empty—blinking at an extremely slow frequency.
'Bingo~ it seems my intuition is as sharp as ever.'
The corners of Cyrene's mouth curved into an elegant arc as she felt a secret surge of joy. There was indeed a xenogeneic entrenched here, which meant a considerable amount of memory vestige was about to be credited to her account.
After confirming her target, she collected her thoughts and began scanning the surroundings.
"But... isn't it a bit too quiet around here?"
Since the official authority had blockaded this place, there should theoretically be dedicated personnel standing guard. Yet, looking around, the entire street was deserted and devoid of a single soul, save for the occasional passing vehicle kicking up a cloud of dust.
Just as Cyrene felt confused, an abrupt aroma drifted into her nostrils.
It was the scent of low-quality soybean oil mixed with scallions being seared by high heat.
Cyrene turned her head toward the smell, locking her gaze onto a tricycle parked dozens of meters outside the caution tape.
It was a jianbing guozi stall that looked quite weathered.
"Hmm...?"
Cyrene blinked, as if she had discovered a new continent.
In this middle-of-nowhere spot, right next to a restricted blockade zone, someone was actually calmly making crepes?
The scene was full of incongruity, like a comedy actor suddenly wandering onto a horror movie set.
Countless classic plotlines from police and bandit films flashed through Cyrene's mind—plainclothes police disguised as sanitation workers, vendors, or passersby.
'So that's how it is...'
The smile in the depths of her eyes deepened. It seemed this stall owner was the eyes and ears left here by the official authority.
Since she had already been noticed, turning around to leave now would make her look suspicious. It was better to play along and adopt the persona of a "silly and rich" young lady; perhaps she could even fish out some intelligence.
Having made up her mind, Cyrene straightened her skirt and walked toward the stall with light steps.
As the distance closed, the appearance of the stall owner became clear.
He was a man in his thirties with dark skin, green stubble on his chin, and an oily military-green tank top.
Although he was looking down and messing with the batter, his eyes would occasionally roll up from beneath his eyelids, his sharp gaze scanning Cyrene.
That kind of look was definitely not the enthusiasm a small vendor should have when seeing a customer; it was more like scrutinizing a potential suspect.
Cyrene walked up to the stall with her hands behind her back, leaning forward slightly with a harmless, sweet smile on her face:
"Hello, boss! Could I have a jianbing guozi?"
Hearing her voice, the stall owner's movements visibly paused.
He looked up, brow furrowed, sizing up this exquisite girl who was so out of place in these surroundings. Then, he spoke with some impatience:
"Can't you see I'm busy? The basic version is twenty, take it or leave it."
"Twenty?"
Cyrene opened her mouth slightly and pointed a finger with feigned surprise at the slightly peeling price board hanging on the side of the tricycle:
"But... boss, doesn't your sign say eight yuan per serving?"
The stall owner banged his spatula against the iron plate, his tone becoming even harsher, clearly wanting to drive her away with this rude attitude:
"Am I the boss or is the sign the boss? Prices have gone up now. I say it's twenty, so it's twenty! If you think it's expensive, then hurry up and leave. Don't get in the way of my business!"
Facing this obvious difficulty, Cyrene did not get angry but instead let out a soft giggle.
"Hee... so that's how it is."
She slowly pulled her phone from her small bag and tapped the screen a few times, her tone as breezy as if they were discussing the weather:
"Since the price has gone up, the service should be better too, right? Then I'll trouble you, boss, to give me a 'deluxe' jianbing guozi with all the toppings added."
"Ding—Alipay received, two hundred yuan."
The crisp electronic notification sounded exceptionally loud on the silent street.
"You...?!"
The stall owner's originally ferocious expression instantly froze on his face. He widened his eyes, looking at the transfer notification on his phone screen and then at the smiling girl in front of him, rendered momentarily speechless.
His words just now were clearly meant to drive the customer away. Any normal person would have left grumbling after hearing such a blatant rip-off. Why wasn't this girl following the script?
He took a deep breath, attempting a final struggle by pointing at the price list and saying sternly:
"Little girl, I'm telling you upfront, the prices here change at any time. It's easy to transfer this money, but it will be hard to get it back!"
"Mhm, I know."
Cyrene nodded obediently, her jewel-like eyes sparkling with innocent (acted) light:
"I saw the deluxe version was priced at thirty-six. Since you said the basic version more than doubled, then two hundred yuan should be barely enough, right? If it's not enough, should I add a bit more?"
As she spoke, she made a move to pick up her phone again.
"It's enough, it's enough!"
The stall owner's mouth twitched violently. Looking at Cyrene's "I have money, I'm capricious" attitude, he finally shook his head helplessly like a deflated ball.
He bent down, pulled eggs and crackers from the cabinet below, and his spatula began to dance rapidly across the iron plate, though the movements carried a resentful air of "finish this quickly so she'll leave."
Sizzle—
The batter spread, and the aroma rose.
Cyrene looked at the stall owner's busy back and turned her gaze toward the deathly silent chemical plant not far away, asking casually:
"Speaking of which, boss, you must have been set up here for a long time, right? What exactly happened at that chemical plant? Why has it been blockaded for so long?"
The stall owner did not look back, and his movements of sprinkling scallions did not pause as he coldly threw out a sentence:
"Chemical leak. The official authority blockaded it for safety."
"Hmm... a chemical leak."
Cyrene tapped her chin thoughtfully, her voice soft but carrying an undetectable trace of inquiry:
"But that's a bit strange. For a general chemical leak, wouldn't it dissipate after a few days of emergency treatment? What kind of terrifying substance could make the official authority treat it like a major enemy and blockade it for over half a month without lifting it?"
"How would I kno— wait, over half a month?"
The stall owner subconsciously replied, and then the spatula in his hand suddenly stopped. He turned his head and sized Cyrene up with a look usually reserved for fools, rolling his eyes in annoyance:
"So you actually know about this? If you knew, why did you ask me! Are you making fun of me?"
"Oh, I just wanted to hear some firsthand intelligence from a 'witness'~"
Cyrene blinked innocently, and her self-righteous look almost made the stall owner laugh from anger.
"Go, go, go. There's no firsthand intelligence. It's just a gas leak, it'll dissipate in a few days."
The stall owner clearly didn't want to waste more words with this rich girl and her bizarre logic. He snorted coldly and turned his back to Cyrene, banging the iron plate loudly in a clear stance of refusing to communicate.
No matter how many times Cyrene asked softly afterward whether there were "unknown creatures inside" or if there were "strange noises at night," he simply played deaf and mute, not even bothering to turn his head.
"Hmm... what an uninteresting uncle."
Seeing that the other party had completely activated "blockade mode," Cyrene shrugged her shoulders with a hint of lost interest.
Fine, I'll just keep checking the status of the radar.
With that thought, she stopped harassing the stall owner and turned around, nonchalantly casting her gaze back toward the deathly silent chemical plant.
At the same time, her mind moved, and she called out the xenogeneic detection radar in her vision once more.
She intended to confirm the position of that xenogeneic.
However, the moment she saw the radar interface clearly, Cyrene's originally relaxed expression instantly froze.
That speck of red light, which had previously been shown at the edge of the radar, had now crossed the middle area of the radar at some unknown point. It was currently barreling straight toward the center of the radar—which was her current position—at an incredibly high speed!
The red light flashed urgently on the screen, like a countdown to death's approach.
'This speed... it's coming for me?!'
Cyrene's pupils contracted slightly, and a chill rushed from her spine straight to her head.
Beep beep beep—!!!
And at that moment, a sudden, urgent, and shrill alarm blared, shattering the silence between the two of them.
The sound came from the stall owner's waist.
The middle-aged man who had just been making crepes had a sudden change in expression, his feigned street-vending aura vanishing instantly.
"Dammit! Why now of all times!"
He threw down his spatula, not even bothering to wipe the grease from his hands, and pulled a black handgun directly from a hidden compartment beneath the cart.
Click.
The dark muzzle was instantly aimed in the direction of the chemical plant.
"Leave this place! Immediately! Now!"
He let out a roar with his back to Cyrene, his voice filled with unquestionable authority and urgency:
"I'm a police officer! It is extremely dangerous here right now! If you don't want to die, get the hell away from here!"