Chapter 180 The Strangeness of Sunset Harbor
"...Tsk, I took a detour to avoid being discovered, how come I was still seen by someone?"
In the spacious space inlaid with giant curved glass, Qi Ji fiddled with the panel covered with buttons, levers, and knobs with one hand, while supporting his cheek with the other hand, pouting in disappointment.
She reached out, grasped a lever on the far side of the panel, and pulled it down with force.
The huge control room trembled for a moment, and then calmed down, as if nothing had happened.
But from the perspective of the outside world, this aircraft, which is seventy or eighty meters long and has a hideous appearance, has entered a secret state. Even the most perceptive extraordinary people or spiritual rituals cannot find any trace of it.
The sci-fi-looking spaceship in the distance hovered for a while, then turned around and left, returning to its magnificent fleet several thousand meters away.
“It’s pretty nice…”
Qi Ji turned her head and looked in that direction. Although there was a dark metal plate blocking the way, her vision penetrated unimpeded and reached the dozen or so aircraft of various sizes.
Their appearance styles are quite uniform, basically a flat shuttle shape, painted in red and white, with multiple diamond-shaped nozzles installed at the tail, releasing tremendous spiritual power.
This picture gave Qi Ji an illusion that he had traveled through time again, leaving the original magical world and coming to a completely new world with futuristic science fiction as the main theme.
Of course, the strong spiritual fluctuations emanating from those large aircraft reminded her all the time that these were products that relied on spirituality and magic.
Looking away, she couldn't help but think of this aircraft that she had temporarily created using forging and transmutation spells.
"It's not that I want to make it so scary, it's just that the spirit has its own ideas..."
When she was infusing the carriage with spirituality in the wilderness, her original plan was to make a spaceship with a sci-fi appearance, or a more Japanese style, a mini version of the space battleship Yamato.
But what was unexpected was that those "red and black flames" belonging to the refining spell actually had a tendency to move on their own, as if driven by some kind of endogenous force, wanting to form another appearance.
Qi Ji was a little curious for a moment, so he didn't try to control it. Instead, he let it play freely to see what it would come up with.
This is the result, it really does cause a bit of SAN loss.
Although if she insisted on changing it, she could reshape this piece of meat into the shape she wanted with a little effort, but on second thought, she felt that it was quite sexy as it was now, so she ignored it for the time being.
As a result, they were encountered by the Empire's cruise fleet, and it seemed that they were frightened...
"… Let's speed up a bit to avoid any more complications."
Qi Ji sighed and shook his head imperceptibly, then casually pressed a large square button that was quite conspicuous on the table.
The huge, deformed mass of flesh suddenly accelerated its forward speed. There was no corresponding propulsion device at the tail, and Qi Ji and others inside did not notice any feeling of acceleration.
Qi Ji used his own strength as the power source to maintain the operation of this huge monster. In less than half an hour, this disgusting and terrifying mass of meat crossed a distance of thousands of kilometers and approached the surrounding area of Sunset Harbor.
"That's it. If we show up over the city, we'll definitely be attacked by Sunset Harbor's air defense forces..."
Qi Ji's mind moved, and the giant piece of meat in a hidden state instantly stopped in the air, and then slowly descended.
——In fact, this aircraft has always been controlled by Qi Ji's thoughts, and the various buttons, levers, and screens on the panel are just decorations to embellish the atmosphere.
Her previous serious operation was just a pretense, to experience the feeling of driving a sci-fi giant ship.
Although a cluster of tentacles, worms, and pieces of flesh that are nearly 100 meters long is not sci-fi at all...
A few minutes later, the hidden giant piece of meat landed on an open space on the outskirts of Sunset Harbor. The space suddenly twisted slightly, and six figures, three small and three big, emerged from thin air on the ground.
Although this place is still some distance away from populated areas, the appearance of the giant piece of meat is too huge and too conspicuous. If it is directly visible, it is difficult to guarantee that it will not be noticed, which will then cause unnecessary chaos.
So Qi Ji simply did not lift the stealth mode, but directly destroyed the temporary aircraft and released the six people.
"We're here, let's go."
Qi Ji simply greeted the people behind him, then walked towards the magnificent Sunset Harbor in the distance without looking back.
After witnessing and experiencing the various special features of this mysterious female sorceress, Gary's family had become a little numb, so the fact that she took just over an hour to send them home did not cause them much of a shock.
On the contrary, Nancy, the "well-informed", "experienced" and "calm" official executor, was completely confused at this time, with a lot of question marks on her head.
All kinds of questions echoed in her blank mind, and for a moment she could only follow Qi Ji with a dull look on her face.
The six of them walked for more than ten minutes on the open and flat suburban plain. The metropolis that was incomparable to Loen City finally rose completely from the horizon.
Because Sunset Harbor is further east than Loen City, the time here is later. The sun in the west has completely sunk into the horizon, and the deep starry sky is guarding the rising "Silver Moon".
Under the night sky, in front of the moon, the silhouette of Sunset Harbor is dotted with bright lights, like a rugged mountain range covered with torches.
As the distance got closer, scattered suburban buildings also appeared in the field of vision, such as small hotels, waste recycling stations, simple restaurants, bars, small warehouses...
"We've arrived at Sunset Harbor. What are your next plans?" Qi Ji slowed down his pace slightly, turned his head and asked the five people behind him who had remained silent.
"The kids and I should go home right away...well, maybe we should report to the Superintendent's Office first," Gary stroked his chin with one hand and whispered as if he was thinking.
Mrs. Gary was obviously relieved and smiled with relief:
"Miss Yaoliuliu, thank you very much for your help along the way. Although our family is not well-off, we will do our best to compensate you. If it is convenient, please come to our house tomorrow."
Gary's face was also full of joy and luck: "The next thing will be handed over to the Super Management Bureau and the government... Nancy, I'm so sorry to add to your workload again."
Hearing his half-joking, half-apology words, Nancy finally came back to her senses from her trance and shock, and nodded in confusion:
"The Super Management Bureau of Loen City was actually infiltrated by that evil cult. This is a very serious matter... Leave it to us, sister. You are safe now."
The headquarters of the Church of Life is right here, and that "Archbishop" probably won't give up so quickly... Qi Ji nodded casually:
"As you wish."
The group continued to move towards the closer Sunset Harbor. When passing by a simple and low hotel, Qi Ji's inspiration was suddenly touched.
She slowly turned her head and looked at the simple hotel that happened to be on her left, her eyes tilted upwards and fell on its second floor.
The pure, bright silver moonlight shone on it, revealing a slightly cramped window.
Through the dirty glass covered with shallow scratches, she saw a pale, swollen, lifeless face, quietly existing behind the closed window, with lifeless eyes looking straight ahead.
Beneath this strange face, there was only a deep, empty darkness, with no neck and no torso.
Chapter 181 A mysterious room under the moonlight
"Is this the room?"
Inspector Goering stared at the slightly dirty and old wooden door in front of him, his deep-lined eyes narrowed, and he asked the innkeeper behind him thoughtfully.
"Yes, yes! It's right here!"
The innkeeper was a stout middle-aged woman. She hid behind Inspector Goering with a look of fear on her face, clutching her husband's sleeves tightly with both hands, and her voice was trembling all the time.
"Are you ready?"
Inspector Goering glanced around and spoke in a serious and low voice.
On either side of him stood a man and a woman, all three wearing red and white police uniforms, with a long dagger and a revolver on their belts.
Goering is one of the commanders-in-chief of the Sunset Harbor Western District Security Team. He is responsible for managing the urban security in this area and maintaining basic safety and stability.
At the same time, he is also a peripheral member of the region's Executioner Squad.
When encountering suspected supernatural events, unless the situation is confirmed to be a supernatural event and the degree of danger and difficulty far exceeds their capabilities, they do not need to apply to the Supernatural Management Bureau or transfer it to the Execution Team, and are allowed to handle it on their own.
——This arrangement is to reduce the workload of the Execution Team and the Super Management Bureau. After all, many incidents that seem to involve the supernatural are ultimately just people playing tricks or are complete misunderstandings.
The two police officers around him are his subordinates. Although they are not extraordinary, they have applied to carry spiritual items. If used properly, they can be comparable to mages of lower levels in a short period of time.
Inspector Goering himself was a warrior in the late stage of tempering skills, and he also carried spiritual items, barely reaching the magic level of an apprentice-level wizard.
Hearing their boss' words, both of them nodded solemnly:
"Okay."
"If the worst-case scenario is the case, the existence behind this door is likely to have caused the death of at least three people." Inspector Goering recalled the intelligence from this mission and warned the two police officers in a deep voice:
“Once we enter… no, perhaps just opening this door, we will all be in an extremely dangerous situation.”
The two police officers swallowed nervously and nodded vigorously:
"The spiritual items are ready."
Hearing the two people's uniform response, Inspector Goering's serious face and eyes flickered slightly, and then he said to the innkeeper and her husband:
"Take everyone with you and leave this floor. Gather in the lobby on the first floor and wait for our results."
"well!"
The innkeeper nodded tremblingly and walked down the stairs with the other waiters and the guests on this floor. At the last moment, he turned back to look at the wooden door, then retracted his gaze as if he had been electrocuted, with deep fear in his eyes.
Inspector Goering looked around and confirmed that he and two other police officers were the only ones on this floor. He took a deep breath and said in a firm voice:
"Open the door."
Then, he took a step forward, grasped the rusty door handle himself, turned it, and pushed it open with force.
"Squeak-"
Amid the ear-piercing and sharp sound of bearings rubbing against each other, the three men cautiously took a step back, one hand on the long dagger and pistol at their waist, and the other hand reaching into the inner pocket of their red and white police uniform, tightly grasping the spiritual item hidden inside.
At the same time, their eyes were all directed towards the open door, taking in the scene inside the room.
The lights were not on, but the curtains were not drawn either. Thanks to the bright silver moonlight, this not very spacious private room was illuminated very clearly.
A simple, old single bed, a small wooden four-legged table, and a few stools without backrests were all the furnishings in the room.
In the middle of the left wall, there was a small window, tightly closed, but the curtains were completely drawn.
The small four-legged table was placed against the wall under the window.
Silvery-white moonlight slanted down from the window, spreading onto the dusty table and onto the strange object placed in the center of the table.
It was a crystal ball the size of a head, with a round and smooth shape, a transparent and crystal-clear material, and a thick velvet pad supporting the bottom. It looked like a performance prop used by a fortune teller in a circus.
However, the three people's attention was not at all focused on this seemingly mysterious crystal ball.
"!!!"
At this moment, all their muscles suddenly tensed up, their teeth clenched, their hands were instantly soaked with cold sweat, they tightly grasped their guns and the spiritual items in their bags, and their eyes stared fixedly at what was in front of them.
Directly in front of them, in the center of the room, three figures stood.
The three figures were of different heights, all men. Two of them were wearing simple hotel waiter uniforms, and the remaining one was dressed like an ordinary tourist.
What the three had in common was that they all had pale faces, swollen skin that looked sickly grey, and cloudy, bulging eyeballs that seemed about to fall out at any second.
There was no life in it, as if it were a corpse that had begun to rot.
At this moment, they all looked at the open door, their cloudy, bulging eyes staring at the three police officers motionlessly, as if they had maintained this posture from the beginning, watching the people outside through the door.
"...Zombies!?"
Inspector Goering, who was the most experienced and calm, was the first to react. He cursed under his breath, then drew his revolver from his waist, pointed it at one of the zombies, and quickly tightened his finger on the trigger.
"Uh!"
Just before the hammer fell, his head suddenly felt dazed and his temple twitched violently, as if someone had pierced him with an ice pick.
Unbearable pain pierced his head instantly, causing the experienced detective to lose the ability to think and act.
"what!"
"it hurts!"
When his consciousness was blurred, he heard two screams coming from both sides almost at the same time. They were the voices of his two subordinates.
"not good……"
They also encountered the same situation as themselves!
For a moment, the three police officers who had reacted quite quickly were all disturbed physically and mentally by the sudden severe pain. No one fired the bullet or activated the spiritual items in time!
As a warrior and a veteran, Inspector Goering had a stronger will. He endured the pain that seemed to be splitting his head and opened his eyes wide, allowing his snowy vision to return to normal a little.
And at this moment, he saw out of the corner of his eye...
The crystal ball placed on the table suddenly lit up with a strange light.
It was a chaotic, distorted and disgusting color, like the luster that appears on the surface of rotten sewage when exposed to sunlight.
All kinds of bright and disgusting colors flow slowly inside and outside the crystal ball, like a polluted starry sky.
And above the crystal ball, right in front of the closed window, a face without a body, neck, or even the back of the head or the skull appeared out of thin air.
It was swollen and pale, and looked even more eerie and terrifying under the silver moonlight, like a pale skeleton or a rotten and swollen corpse.
This dead-like face floated in the air, facing out the window, as if gazing at the night.
After only a split second of recovery, Inspector Goering's consciousness was once again torn apart by the severe pain and he almost lost all perception of his body.
