Apocalyptic Extraordinary Convoy, I'm really not weird!

Chen Shou's voice was hoarse as he forcibly endured the strange sensations caused by the erosion.

"The eerie aura in that area was so dense it was almost tangible, almost completely obscuring and devouring the life force of Old Zhao, Wu Feng, and the other survivors."

and……"

He took a deep breath and made an even more startling observation:

"I can 'see' these 'people' around me more clearly now..."

They are not physical entities, nor are they the eerie creatures we perceive; they are more like…

An "illusion" formed directly from a highly concentrated, eerie aura imbued with a certain simple behavioral pattern.

They don't have real hearing or vision, or rather, they don't rely on them.

They seem to have only one 'trigger mechanism': the moment a survivor 'reacts' to their presence and is 'noticed' by them, they instantly 'activate,' transforming from a harmless illusion into a strange, devouring mass of energy that envelops the target and then teleports them away.

Old Zhao, and several other missing people—my intuition tells me they're all gathered in the area near the clock tower.

Upon hearing this, Lin Wei looked at Chen Shou and immediately said urgently:

"Then what are we waiting for?"

We have to save him!

While he's still alive!

Su Ye and Li Xiaowei both looked at Chen Shou, their eyes filled with the same determination.

Old Zhao was an old member of the team, a comrade, and they couldn't just give up on him, especially with Wu Feng and the other two by their side.

Chen Shou's brows furrowed into a tight knot, his expression shifting unpredictably:

"I know!

But that place... is too dangerous!

The eerie concentration in that area was terrifyingly high. As soon as my senses got close, it felt like I was sinking into a quagmire, and even the slightest probing felt like my mind was being contaminated!

We're not in good shape right now, it would be too risky to go there rashly..."

"If we don't rescue him, will we be able to get out of here now?"

Su Ye interrupted him, pointing to the boundary of the amusement park.

Everyone looked in the direction he pointed, and a chill ran through them.

Before anyone knew it, the entire perimeter of the amusement park had been completely shrouded in a thick, swirling black fog.

The black mist seemed to writhe slowly, as if it were alive, cutting off all sight and perception from both inside and outside. The villa area and convoy that could be vaguely seen before had now completely disappeared behind that absolute darkness.

They were as if they were locked on a huge and magnificent enclosed stage.

It seems there is no way out.

Chen Shou looked at the edge of the all-consuming black mist, then glanced in the direction of the clock tower, and the last trace of hesitation on his face was cut off.

He gritted his teeth, his eyes hardening with resolve:

"Walk!

Follow me carefully and try to stay in less crowded areas. If you can't avoid it, remember the rules.

If they are not present, do not react; try to avoid being directly "passed through".

Each time we wear it, our vitality weakens a little, and we might not even have the strength to fight when we get there!

The three quickly adjusted their mindset.

Su Ye took the lead because he had discovered something: when he covered his body with strange source power, although it didn't prevent him from colliding with those 'tourists,' it did prevent him from making eye contact. Even when he deliberately avoided those 'tourists,' they seemed to hesitate for a moment before continuing on their way, without immediately 'catching' him.

Chen Shouju, relying on his senses, tried to avoid areas with particularly strong eerie auras and pointed out the general direction;

Li Xiaowei and Lin Wei brought up the rear, remaining vigilant for any unusual movements that might occur from the sides, rear, or in the air.

They began their arduous journey toward the clock tower.

Although Su Ye had tried to avoid it, she was still inevitably passed through in the huge crowd of people in the amusement park.

The cold, weak feeling of life energy being slowly drained away is like a bone-deep infection, intensifying with each "penetration".

He also noticed that Li Xiaowei's temples had turned gray, and Lin Wei and Chen Shou's breathing was noticeably heavier.

He felt that there wasn't much of a problem. The moment his life energy was devoured, the strange power replenished it, making up for the loss. In fact, he was already trying his best to suppress the desire within his body to devour it, afraid of triggering some unexpected event!

The closer you get to the clock tower, the more "lively" and "vibrant" the surrounding scenery becomes.

The roar of the amusement park rides, the cheers and screams of the crowd, and all sorts of cheerful music blended together to create a dizzying sound wave.

But in contrast, Chen Shou sensed an increasingly clear and suffocatingly terrifying pressure in that area—a gathering place of pure, dense, and seemingly self-willed strange power!

And the clock tower, the clock tower that emits the chimes that awaken all of this, is like the beating heart of this paradise, emanating a powerful and eerie force that permeates every inch of the park.

When the four finally arrived at the square where they could directly observe the towering clock tower after over many hardships, the terrifying scene they had imagined—a place filled with eerie atmosphere and surrounded by monsters—did not appear.

In front of the clock tower is a circular open space with a diameter of about 30 to 50 meters, like a solitary island in a noisy ocean, where no "tourists" or "staff" set foot.

Those illusory crowds would naturally detour around the edge of the square, as if there were an invisible wall there.

Standing in this open space were familiar yet unfamiliar figures: Old Zhao, Wu Feng, Wang Kui, and seven or eight other pale-faced ordinary survivors, a total of about ten people.

However, Zhou Lie was not among them.

What made Su Ye and Chen Shou's pupils shrink even more was the extremely strange atmosphere in the square.

Old Zhao, Wu Feng, and Wang Kui stood in a defensive triangle, their faces filled with vigilance, confusion, and suppressed anger.

And those ordinary survivors...

Although their faces were also filled with fear, their eyes darted around, occasionally glancing furtively at Wu Feng and his companions with an indescribable urgency and eagerness, before quickly looking away, their lips moving silently as if they were telling a story.

Furthermore, their positions subtly formed an encirclement, surrounding the three awakened ones, with the gap being the half-open main entrance of the clock tower.

The clock tower's door is the only "abnormality" in the square at this moment.

It was an old-fashioned, dark wooden door inlaid with rivets, which was now ajar, revealing a dark crack.

There was no light or sound coming from inside the door, as if it led to another world.

···

Rewind to five minutes ago

Before the dizziness from the spatial displacement had completely subsided, Old Zhao suddenly felt his feet become solid, and he found himself standing on a cold stone slab.

Before him stood a towering clock tower that seemed to pierce the clouds; behind him stretched the boundary of a silent, churning black mist; and to his left and right were several survivors, just like him, their faces blank and still reeling from the shock.

"Hold!"

He spat and instinctively grabbed a steel pipe from his hand, his muscles tense.

His gaze swept quickly and soon spotted Wu Feng and Wang Kui, who had also just regained their footing.

"Team Leader Wu? Wang Kui? You guys too..."

Old Zhao breathed a slight sigh of relief, but his vigilance remained undiminished.

The three quickly moved closer, forming a simple defensive circle, and surveyed this strange "safe zone".

The circular open space is about thirty meters in diameter, and the ground is made of thick stone slabs.

Apart from them and seven or eight other pale-faced ordinary people, there was nothing else.

The only focal point is the base of the clock tower directly in front of us, a heavy, dark wooden door inlaid with dull metal rivets.