Chapter Forty: Sneaking into Elm Town

As time went on, Guda’s excitement began to shift toward fear. Things were spiraling further out of control. Everyone in the town, even the soldiers who had only arrived less than a day ago, could clearly feel their energy draining faster than usual. People were becoming fatigued more easily, and sleepiness set in more quickly. Worse still, once someone succumbed to drowsiness—even if they only closed their eyes for a few seconds—they could never wake up again.

Though those who fell asleep did not die as swiftly as Kadar—who had perished within an hour—strange wounds appeared on their bodies, pushing everyone’s nerves to their limit. By the latter half of the night, as the situation persisted, the military and the Paranormal Response Unit began to cooperate, hoping to identify the source of the problem as soon as possible. Without the hindrance of internal conflict, their numbers became a formidable force; the hidden entrance to Kadar’s painstakingly concealed basement was discovered almost immediately.

With a thunderous explosion, the doorway was blasted open by explosives. Five seconds later, elite soldiers stormed through the short passage and reached the main chamber of the basement. As they kicked open the door, a corpse was flung out, landing heavily on the ground, oozing an abnormally viscous blood.

“Area secured! Large quantities of high-purity narcotics located. One corpse discovered, estimated to have died two hours ago. Cause of death: overdose, similar to Kadar’s case. No other secret passages or personnel detected. No further anomalies observed.”

Listening to the soldier’s report, Guda waved dismissively. He had no interest in these details now. As time dragged on, weariness pressed down on him like an ever-tightening shroud. He had smoked himself numb, consumed enough coffee and stimulants to make himself sick, yet their effects were wearing thinner by the minute.

Just then, a member of the Paranormal Response Unit rushed over and whispered something in Guda’s ear. His face turned even grimmer. In the time it had taken to discover and breach the basement, three more people had fallen into an unshakable sleep—one of them a member of their own unit.

Guda exchanged a glance with the military personnel. Both saw the word “retreat” in the other’s eyes. But they could not simply withdraw; higher command would not allow it. As the sleeping incidents kept occurring, they had already reported to their superiors, but those distant leaders, unaffected by the danger themselves, saw no reason to change their orders.

Meanwhile, outside Elm Town, there was a certain degree of turmoil among the Hydra agents. Since they had maintained some distance from the town, their information lagged behind. At this point, only those with some rank within the team were still able to rest normally; their loss to sudden comas caused confusion in the chain of command.

At the foot of a hill occupied by Hydra, Fina swept her gaze left and right beneath a suspended Eye of Insight. She could see unusual energy fluctuations above Elm Town and the surrounding area, but she could not yet determine what these fluctuations signified. Life signatures flickered in the nearby grasses and small woods; even a fool could see that anyone hiding out at this hour was up to no good. Fina dared not reveal her position.

“Where are you?” Suddenly, a message came through the mark on her right hand—Natasha’s inquiry.

After a moment’s hesitation, Fina sent her location. Not long after, she sensed a life signature behind her. The Eye of Insight pivoted, and the newcomer was revealed to be Natasha, who had hurried over.

“What are you doing here?” Fina whispered.

“I’m here to help. Though at first, I was more of a hindrance. I owe you some support,” Natasha replied tersely, scanning the area for hidden sentries with her night-vision goggles.

Why are there so many people? Natasha was puzzled. The number she counted matched the list Nick Fury had provided. Surely both units couldn’t be stationed outside town—highly unlikely.

“You should leave. I can handle things here. There’s almost certainly a wraith involved—the negative energy is too dense. If it finds you, I won’t be able to protect you,” Fina tugged at Natasha’s sleeve.

“Setting that aside, are you confident you can make it into the town without alerting anyone?” Natasha asked.

“I could use magic…” Fina replied, but without conviction. None of her general spells were well-suited to the situation, and even if they were, she had to consider her limited mana. If she ran out, entering the town would be suicide.

“Save your mana for when it counts,” Natasha said, pulling Fina toward the town.

What makes a top agent? It’s the ability to spot and seize fleeting opportunities. Hydra’s surveillance was already tight, and on a normal night, Natasha wouldn’t claim she could slip by undetected. But thanks to Freddy’s dream, Hydra’s perimeter had developed small gaps.

Their progress was slow but steady. As they reached the outskirts of Elm Town, Fina suddenly halted.

“The energy concentration up ahead has increased a notch. I can sense a trace of death—someone has definitely died inside,” Fina said with certainty.

“So what now? Is this far enough for your mission?” Natasha countered.

Fina hesitated. With casualties confirmed, things had already exceeded the scope of a rookie investigator’s assignment. By protocol, she could leave and report in. “Let me try contacting the other investigators. Maybe there are more professionals nearby,” Fina said, manipulating her mark. But the map only showed her and Natasha in the area; her request for backup in the investigator channel went unanswered.

(Yang Qiu: There are only six investigators in total—hoping to find a third? Keep dreaming…)

Fina was silent for a while. Just as Natasha began to worry, Fina spoke. “I have to at least go in and take a look. This wasn’t supposed to turn out so badly. If I hadn’t asked for your help and drawn all these strange people here, things wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand. I can’t just walk away—not for the sake of the original residents.”

“I’ll go in with you. This was my mistake too,” Natasha said without hesitation.

This time, Fina didn’t refuse. She could see that Natasha wouldn’t take no for an answer—and truth be told, she was a little afraid herself.