Chapter 1 Everywhere is Mist

The mist was everywhere, as if the whole world had been submerged in a pool of chaotic, gray-white fluid. Everything within sight blurred into the fog, the distant city and the nearby roads... all became ambiguous.

Having only been underground for a while, the surface world was now completely unrecognizable.

Agatha, who had hurried back to the surface from the Second Waterway, stood at the transportation station exit, somewhat stunned by the situation on the street. The roads were completely devoid of pedestrians. Beneath the thick fog, even the nearby streetlights were just hazy halos floating in the air. Besides that, there were only a few dark red lights slowly moving through the mist, interspersed with the sounds of steam engines – the warning lights on top of the steam-powered walkers blinking.

"City-state guards and constabulary forces have been deployed to all intersections. Movement between districts is strictly prohibited. Civilian vehicles are banned from the roads. Citizens who couldn't return home in time have been arranged to take shelter nearby," a church pastor who came to meet Agatha reported. "Most of the Night's Shelter are already full. We can only cooperate with the security department to divert people to churches, warehouses, and the nearest subway stations."

The pastor paused and sighed heavily.

"Alas... more people could have been arranged to take shelter in places like the library, but corrosion has begun to appear in the book stacks, and all the libraries have been locked down... The fog rose just as most of the city-state's factories were changing shifts. Too many people are far from home."

Agatha didn't respond, slowly withdrawing her gaze from the street and thoughtfully looking up at the sky.

Thick clouds and the city-state's mist obscured the sky, the daylight as dim as dusk. In the chaotic, unclear sky, the sun's shadow was nowhere to be seen.

"It's daytime..." she said softly.

"Yes, it's daytime, but this strange fog may be interfering with the power of the sun," the pastor said, his face grave with a hint of tension. "The corrosion in the library is because of this..."

"Nothing can interfere with the power of the sun during the day – as long as Anomaly 001 hangs in the sky, even if the clouds block the sunlight and the entire city is as dark as night, the sun's power will not weaken," Agatha gently shook her head. "In my judgment, this fog is not the cause. It may just be a 'phenomenon' triggered by a greater crisis... What's the situation on the mountain?"

"The cathedral is packed with people," the pastor said quickly. At the same time, several steam-powered walkers with flashing warning lights clanked to the open space near the transportation station exit. Between the walkers was a vehicle displaying the church's banner. "Your car is here. Let's return to the mountain first, and we can talk on the way."

Agatha and the pastor got into the car. The steam-powered walkers shone powerful lights into the thick fog, and on the barely illuminated road, the vehicle started and headed towards the cathedral on the mountain top at a much slower speed than normal.

"When the fog rose, there were still many worshippers and tourists stranded on the mountain. The cathedral sheltered everyone it could. Those who couldn't be accommodated were arranged in the old church museum next door. The city hall also arranged shelters, so no one was left outside," the pastor continued to report to Agatha in the car. "Archbishop Ivan has stabilized the situation and prevented panic from spreading within the cathedral. He has been using psionic communication to stay in touch with churches throughout the city-state since just now. So far, there has been no contamination caused by mass panic..."

A low mechanical rumble came from outside the car window. Agatha turned to look in the direction of the sound.

She saw several long aerial rails extending from the mountain road above, piercing through the thick fog, pointing into the distance. Towering support towers held up the rails like giants, and a black cargo container hung on one of the rails, rumbling towards the depths of the fog. The red warning lights around the container were like many eyes, flashing incessantly in the fog.

That was the transport system of the Boiling Gold Mine. The raw Boiling Gold ore mined from the mine would be transported through those huge cargo containers and the mountain rails to the crushing, sorting plant, and the blast furnace at the foot of the mountain.

"...The mine rails are still running?" Agatha asked in surprise, turning to look at the pastor beside her. "Didn't the workers go to take shelter?"

At the same time, the scene she had just seen in the depths of the underground appeared in her mind, the ancient mine that had dried up decades ago.

"The workers must have gone to take shelter," the pastor seemed surprised when he saw the rail container, but still answered affirmatively. "The mine church has confirmed it. The one passing by now is probably the last batch of raw ore sent up from the mining area, which should have been automatically arranged by the differential engine—you know, the mined Boiling Gold ore will be sent away after staying in the storage area for a while. It's set on the program paper tape. The machine will only follow..."

A disturbing roar suddenly came from the other side of the thick fog, interrupting the pastor's confident words. Everyone's eyes instantly turned to the direction of the sound, but they only saw another black cargo container speeding from the other end of the aerial rail—on the same rail as the container that had just passed over the mountain road.

"It's going to crash!"

The pastor only had time to let out an exclamation before a earth-shattering collision occurred. The two cargo containers collided violently on the aerial rail, creating a terrifying roar and explosion. The side cover of the cargo container was torn open, and shimmering pale gold ore poured onto the hillside like a rainstorm. Then, with the violent swaying of the two cargo containers on the rail, the power wheels and auxiliary wheels fell off, the axles broke, and the unrecognizable containers, spewing flashing sparks and thick smoke, fell towards the valley.

A piece of debris falling from the sky almost grazed the roof of Agatha's car and slammed heavily on the roadside.

Before the people in the car could react, another agonizing, extremely terrible sound of tearing metal came from high altitude again.

The aerial rail that had withstood the violent impact was twisting and deforming, sparks were flying from the top of one of the iron towers supporting the rail, the taut steel beams and cables snapped with a crackling sound, and then the entire section of rail fell directly from the sky!

"Get out of the way!"

The pastor in the car immediately exclaimed loudly. Before he could speak, the convoy had already begun to avoid the falling object from the sky—several steam-powered walkers immediately dispersed, while the steam car in the center of the convoy suddenly accelerated forward. After a few breathtaking seconds, a terrifying roar came from behind Agatha.

She turned her head and saw that the broken rail had smashed onto the mountain road, completely destroying this main road. Two steam-powered walkers were blocked on the opposite side of the fallen object. Fortunately, they were not injured—they moved their long mechanical limbs and began to climb the adjacent mountain, white high-pressure steam gushing from the gaps in the armor plates, merging with the surrounding thick fog.

"Walkers number two and four can't get through. They should be preparing to climb to the small road above and return to the cathedral by detouring. We don't need to wait for them," Agatha looked back, quickly judged, and ordered, "Keep going."

"A close call..." The pastor next to him couldn't help wiping the cold sweat from his forehead. "Almost hit me on the head."

Agatha didn't speak for a while.

Was that an accident? Or… malice?

Why would a cargo container traveling in the opposite direction appear on a mine rail that should only allow one-way traffic?

The miners had all gone to take shelter at this time, and in theory, the operator of the rail system would also go to take shelter after setting up the last train… The final step of hanging the cargo container on the rail has a safety lock. If there are other cargo containers on the rail, it will never depart… The differential engine controls this process, and a normally operating differential engine will not make mistakes. The gears and levers will faithfully execute the program set on the punched paper tape. There is no wavering between the meshing of metal.

"There may be a problem with the mine's differential engine..." Agatha said, as if to herself.

And the problem may not only be with the mine's differential engine – if the library can be invaded by evil during the day, then the scope and urgency of this mutation will exceed everyone's imagination.

The faint sound of sirens from distant streets drifted into her ears, the chaotic and disordered cold wind wantonly traveled through the empty cemetery, thick fog shrouded everything in sight, and in this unresolvable fog, there seemed to be countless low whispers overlapping and echoing, like the restless agitation of the dead.

The sound of a gun safety being switched off broke the silence in the cemetery. The weak light of a lantern dispelled the shadows in the fog. The hunched old man gripped the loyal and reliable double-barreled shotgun, standing on the path like a vigilant sentry, staring intently at the rows of coffins in the fog.

The whispers were just an illusion, at least for now. Those coffins were still obediently staying on the mortuary tables, and the people in the coffins were still lying obediently—however, the strange atmosphere in the air could not escape the perception of the old soldier.

He knew that something was happening, and this cemetery would definitely not be peaceful today – some of the "residents" he "cared for" were gradually awakening.