Night fell over the quiet coastal town, and a salty sea breeze swept gently through the streets. The lights of the town police station remained brightly lit, and Captain of the Homicide Squad Lin Hao sat with a deeply furrowed brow, staring at the thick stack of case files on his desk. A recent series of bizarre missing persons cases had plunged the entire town into panic. The victims vanished without warning, leaving behind no obvious clues at the scene, as if they had been swallowed by a mysterious force lurking in the dark.
Lin Hao had not slept for days and nights, his eyes bloodshot, yet his gaze burned with unyielding determination. He went over the details of the cases once more, trying to extract the slightest trace of a clue. Suddenly, the ring of his mobile phone broke the silence of the office. His assistant, Xiao Zhang, spoke with urgency from the other end of the line: "Captain, another disappearance has just occurred, at the abandoned factory in the east of town." Lin Hao hung up, grabbed his coat, and rushed out toward the crime scene.
The abandoned factory was thick with a stale, decaying odor, and dim lights flickered erratically against the walls. Lin Hao searched the interior cautiously. The dust on the ground bore what looked like chaotic footprints, but they vanished almost immediately. His gaze fell upon a tattered notebook in the corner. Its pages were yellowed, and faint, blurred handwriting covered them. Donting his gloves, Lin Hao gently opened the…
Chapter 56