After staring at the bell for a few seconds, it suddenly began to tremble, emitting a buzzing sound, which startled Number 1. "This is..." Feeling the waves of power emanating from the bell, Number 1's eyes widened.

Lin Wan'er quickly closed her handkerchief, covering the bell. "Don't stare at a young lady like that; it's not polite."

"But... how can the old chairman's scent be on the bell?" This was the most perplexing thing for Number 1. If someone else had come to make contact, Number 1 might have even suspected that he had been betrayed.

But standing before him was Mister.

"Because this bell was taken from that car," Lin Wan'er said in a low voice. "She is an enforcer within the old chairman's domain."

"They... they brought an enforcer into the real world?" Number 1 was beside himself upon hearing this. In his mind, the enforcers in the old chairman's domain were incomprehensibly terrifying beings. If one were to descend into the real world, it would surely be a disaster.

"Don't worry; she and Zero are very close," Lin Wan'er reassured him.

After being covered by the handkerchief, the bell indeed quieted down. Number 1 no longer sensed any hostility from it, as if the bell simply didn't want to be stared at by strangers.

"Don't get any other ideas; this young lady already belongs to someone," Lin Wan'er keenly sensed the bell's little thoughts, half-deceiving, half-soothing.

It had to be said that this trick was very effective, coaxing the bell into being quite cooperative.

"Understood, understood!" Number 1 nodded. "Originally, it wouldn't be easy to get things onto the car, but since this bell is an enforcer from the old chairman's domain, it won't be restricted. I'll do my best; it shouldn't be a problem."

"Not should be, it must be," Lin Wan'er said with emphasis.

Number 1 took a deep breath. "I understand."

"After this matter, you must track the bell's aura as the landing point for the teleportation gate. The plans above are proceeding in an orderly manner. More and more sleepers are being successfully awakened. When the time is ripe, we will begin the operation immediately."

After a pause, Lin Wan'er continued, "Hurry up and do it. I can sense that the time for Zero and Number 10 to enter the old chairman's domain again is not far off."

...

Time passed day by day.

Rong City had been relatively stable recently, at least on the surface.

In a small studio, undercurrents were stirring.

After learning that Fatty had something strange following him, Jiang Cheng treated Fatty with much more caution, and Wu also shifted some of his attention to Fatty.

The direct result of this was that Fatty had no privacy whatsoever.

When Fatty was washing up, Wu would occasionally appear on the wall behind him, or directly in the mirror in front of him. Fatty also had to report his daily activities to Jiang Cheng, and Jiang Cheng would secretly follow him to see if he was telling the truth.

Fatty endured all of this, and at first, he was even a little touched, thinking that Jiang Cheng and Brother Wu were concerned about him.

Until... Fatty was taking a shower when he inadvertently caught a glimpse of Wu's figure in the mirror beside him.

A pair of eyes was staring straight at him.

"Doctor," Fatty found an opportunity when the Wu brothers weren't around, sneaked over, and asked in a low voice, "Does Brother Wu also have a habit of peeping when you shower?"

"No!" Jiang Cheng quickly cleared himself. "Wu, he only has no women in his heart; that doesn't mean he's interested in men."

"Why are you asking this?" Jiang Cheng retorted.

"No, it's nothing."

Jiang Cheng turned to leave, but suddenly, Fatty grabbed his arm. "Doctor, I beg you for something. How about I move into your room tonight? It'll be safer with both of us," Fatty said very sincerely.

"What are you afraid of? With Wu around, who can sneak in while we're sleeping?" Jiang Cheng didn't quite understand.

Fatty's face fell upon hearing this, and he gripped the doctor's arm even tighter. "It's precisely because Brother Wu is here that I feel unsafe!"

Since he had said this much, Jiang Cheng couldn't refuse. Moreover, he had privately asked Wu for his opinion, and Wu also wanted to see what exactly this thing on Fatty was and what its purpose was.

There was only one mattress in the bedroom, so Fatty definitely had no chance. He took his quilt and pillow, set them up simply, and lay down about one meter away from Jiang Cheng.

Fatty was carefree and quickly fell asleep.

But Jiang Cheng was different. He did as Wu told him, turning his back to Fatty, looking like he fell asleep even faster than Fatty, but in reality, he didn't dare to sleep at all, because he suspected that the thing inside Fatty was going to attack him.

If he could use himself as bait to lure that thing out, Wu would have a way to deal with it.

But gradually, Jiang Cheng's eyelids began to droop uncontrollably, until they were completely closed, as if an indescribable aura gradually enveloped this space.

The pendulum of the wall clock swung back and forth, everything around seemed normal, but... something had changed silently.

Slowly, the second hand inside the wall clock seemed to encounter some resistance, moving slower and slower, until finally, with a "tick" sound.

It stopped.

Almost simultaneously, Jiang Cheng and Fatty suddenly opened their eyes. "It's hot, it's burning me!" Fatty jumped up the moment he woke up, constantly patting his body, as if there was a fire burning him.

After calming down, the two exchanged a glance, understanding in their hearts.

The time... had come.

Taking a few deep breaths to steady their minds, the two stood up and slowly walked towards the door, pushing it open.

Sure enough, with the help of the dim streetlights, the old bus was parked not far outside.

Where there used to be several grocery stores, and several stalls adjacent to them, now, all of these had disappeared, leaving only a dilapidated platform standing there quietly.

Taking a deep breath, accompanied by the "creak--" sound of the car door opening, Jiang Cheng stepped firmly and was the first to board the bus.

The scene that appeared before them couldn't help but slightly startle Jiang Cheng and Fatty.

It was actually snowing on the bus.

However, the snow was black, and the snowflakes were falling one after another, creating a hazy scene inside the bus.

Wherever the snowflakes landed, it was as if the color was taken away, turning into a world with only black and white left.

This world had no vitality, only the most intense and pure despair.

A large number of snowflakes fluttered down, landing right on Jiang Cheng's shoulder.

Fatty curiously reached out to touch them, but unexpectedly, the next second, he retracted his hand as if electrocuted. "It's so hot!" He covered his fingers, his face full of surprise, "This... this isn't snow, it's paper ash! Burnt paper ash!"

Jiang Cheng squatted down, staring intently at the ground. The ashes on the ground had accumulated into a thick layer, and on top of it, there was a triangular piece of paper ash. Looking closely, one could see some words on it.

"It's a newspaper..." A man with his back to them, reading a newspaper, suddenly appeared in Jiang Cheng's mind.