July 17, 2022, night.
Blue Star City, a commercial street in Puxi.
Inside an ordinary milk tea shop.
Even though the air conditioning was set to twenty-four degrees, it was far from hot, yet fine beads of sweat kept sliding down Wu Fan’s temples.
His clenched fists and heavy expression were clear indicators that this young man in his early twenties was on high alert.
The reason was nothing else.
Just over ten minutes ago, as Wu Fan was pulling down the shutter to close the shop, a mysterious large light circle silently appeared by the counter when he turned his head.
The circle floated eerily in mid-air, emitting a faint blue glow. It looked to be about a meter in diameter—close in size to the table Wu Fan had personally set up nearby, which measured 1.3x0.5 meters, roughly matching the length of the circle’s diameter.
Wu Fan was sure there was absolutely nothing in his shop that could produce such a circle:
His phone was in his pocket, the shutter was just pulled down, blocking any outside light, and the only source of illumination in the shop was the overhead pendant lamp—which, even after turning it off, left the circle still gently floating.
Without a doubt, Wu Fan had encountered an unusual event.
As a long-time fan of online novels, he quickly accepted this fact.
But what to do next, he found himself in a quandary.
Should he contact the authorities?
Or should he secretly cover it up and take things as they come?
Rationality told Wu Fan that reporting the incident was the best and most appropriate course of action.
However, as someone who had lived an ordinary life for twenty-six years,
A spark inside him flickered stubbornly against the gust of reason: What if this circle was an opportunity? What if it could bring something good....
Just as Wu Fan was caught in his internal struggle, a sudden knock came from outside the already lowered shutter.
The unique sound of the shutter’s material was wavelike, accompanied by a clattering and a male voice saying, "Hey, is anyone there?"
My name isn’t "Hey," it’s "Eternal Hunting Twins."
A cheeky thought flashed in Wu Fan’s mind within half a second, jolting his entire being back to his senses as though electrically shocked.
A bead of sweat, larger and more urgent than before, slipped from his forehead, slowed by his beard’s buffer before soaking into his collar.
"Who, who’s there?" Wu Fan gritted his teeth, forcing his tone to sound normal: "We’re already closed! Come back tomorrow!"
Maybe it was an old customer, Wu Fan comforted himself.
However, dopamine from self-comfort barely began its neural transmission when the reply nearly stopped his heart:
"Police patrol from the station! Sir, could you please open the door?" (In Shencheng, strangers are commonly addressed as "sir")
Cao Yi was 28 years old, a native of Shencheng, assigned to work at the Huaihai Police Station after graduating from the police academy. This year marked his fifth year wearing the badge.
For a super-large international city, Shencheng’s permanent population exceeds twenty million, yet it has the lowest crime rate among cities of similar scale globally, thanks partly to the contributions and even sacrifices of grassroots officers like Cao Yi.
The Huaihai Police Station’s jurisdiction, though not large, covers several commercial districts and historical buildings, requiring a considerable patrol effort—naturally, the patrol equipment is correspondingly advanced.
The standard patrol group in Huaihai Road is a team of six. The street where Wu Fan’s tea shop is located, due to its geographical importance between the commercial street, Second Cancer Hospital, and a Shencheng expressway exit, is listed as a permanent patrol point.
Today, Cao Yi and his teammates were conducting routine patrols.
As usual, no major incidents occurred over the entire area, but a few trivial matters came up: some aunt complained about stray cats in the neighborhood; someone illegally parked a shared bike on the pedestrian street; a truck from out-of-town asked for directions near the expressway exit, and so on.
After most of the patrol, a young team member stretched lazily, "Yawn~ It’s a bit dull."
This youngster, Zheng Yuan, had just graduated from the police academy this year, with a slightly excitable nature.
The formal academic air had not completely faded, making him the youngest member in the patrol group.
"Dull is good, it means society is stable," another older patrol team member laughed, gulping down water from his carried thermos, letting out a hearty "Ha," making plain water seem as grand as a Liangshan brotherhood toast, "If there was a day when our patrol teams had to work full steam, that would be bad news."
"That’s true, just making small talk," Zheng Yuan chuckled twice, then changed the topic: "By the way, did you hear? Yesterday in Pudong, they busted a fake brand bag gang, a heap of knock-off Prada and Hermès bags, worth one or two million, enough to convict... Huh, what’s that?" Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel·fıre·net
Cao Yi, listening intently nearby, turned instinctively toward what Zheng Yuan pointed at, grinning upon seeing the situation, "Oh wow, what’s this?"
A not very wide yet unusually bright beam was shooting skyward from above an unidentifiable shop tens of meters away, appearing especially eye-catching in the night.
One of Shencheng’s most famous spectacles is the Bund light show.
Every night, numerous skyscrapers in Pudong illuminate their exteriors, creating an extraordinarily magnificent nightscape.
However, this doesn’t mean anyone can randomly cast high-intensity light in Shencheng.
In fact, lighting control in Shencheng is quite strict—large-scale searchlights must be reported before use, and after eleven, high beams are banned (except on New Year’s Eve) within the city.
After all, light pollution is a genuine livelihood issue today.
The Bund light show, representing Shencheng’s image, cannot overstep bounds, let alone the Huaihai Commercial District.
So seeing someone "illegally" using high-intensity light, Cao Yi felt duty-bound to stop it.
That was the source of the knock Wu Fan heard.
After announcing themselves, Cao Yi waited in place.
About half a minute later, with the sound of clattering, the shutter was pulled up about two-thirds, revealing Wu Fan’s face inside.
Even at this moment, Cao Yi did not link the event to anything unusual.
He puffed his chest to ensure his law enforcement recorder fully captured the scene before him:
"Hello sir, we’re from Huaihai Police Station’s patrol squad. What’s with the light outside your shop? Don’t you know high beams are banned after eleven in the city?"
Wu Fan, who had prepared to confess everything, was momentarily confused: "?"
"Don’t worry sir, we’re not fining you," Cao Yi smiled, mistaking Wu Fan’s look as temporary silence from fear, and peeked inside: "Is the machine in the back? Just turn it off. Be careful next time...."
Then, the next second, Cao Yi’s smile froze.
He pointed at the light circle inside the room, which was endlessly spewing out mysterious symbols, with a face full of disbelief:
"What on earth is this???"