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The three of them looked at the three children walking toward them. For a moment, Jane, Darcy, and Ian were all startled, but after realizing that they were only children, the tension in their bodies gradually relaxed.
"So they are children," Darcy muttered, letting out a small sigh of relief.
One of the girls looked at them cautiously.
"Are you police?"
Jane shook her head.
"No, I'm a scientist."
Hearing that answer, the three children visibly relaxed.
"That's good. We discovered something."
Jane's curiosity immediately surfaced.
"Can you lead us to have a look?"
"Un."
The children nodded and began leading Jane, Darcy, and Ian through the abandoned factory.
They eventually arrived at an open area surrounded by several old buildings. The area was unusually spacious, and several large trucks had been left there, covered in dust and rust.
The children walked toward one of the trucks.
One of them reached out and lightly touched the corner of the truck.
Then something unbelievable happened.
The enormous truck suddenly began to rise.
Jane's eyes widened.
Darcy's mouth fell open.
"God!"
The truck lifted higher, seemingly without the children using any visible effort.
Darcy hurried over and placed her hands against the corner of the truck. She carefully pushed against it, her expression becoming even stranger.
"It feels incredibly light. It's almost as if something has reduced its weight."
Jane immediately became serious.
"There's a gravity anomaly here. It's almost like the Moon. This is really unusual."
Her scientific instincts were completely awakened.
She had encountered strange gravitational phenomena before, especially during the events in New Mexico, but this was different.
There was something unnatural about the field around them.
And judging from the expressions of the children, this wasn't even the strangest thing they had discovered.
"This isn't the strangest thing," one of the children said.
Jane looked at them.
"What?"
"You're old enough to come with us."
Jane frowned slightly.
"Where are we going?"
"Up the stairs."
The children led Jane, Darcy, and Ian into one of the abandoned buildings.
They climbed the old staircase carefully. Every step produced a faint creaking sound beneath their feet.
Eventually, they reached a corridor overlooking the open area.
There were several old buildings around them.
One of the children picked up a jar.
The child looked toward the others.
"Watch."
The child released the jar.
The jar immediately fell downward.
Jane, Darcy, and Ian watched closely.
When the jar reached the height of the second building, it suddenly vanished.
Jane's eyes widened.
"Where did the jar go?"
The child simply pointed upward.
"There."
Jane looked up.
The jar had appeared again, this time high above the sixth building.
It continued falling.
But when it reached the same height as before, it vanished again.
Then it reappeared above them.
It fell.
Vanished.
Reappeared.
Fell again.
The process continued repeatedly, as though the jar were trapped inside an invisible loop.
Jane's scientific mind was racing.
"This is really inconceivable."
She quickly picked up an empty can from the corridor.
She held it out and dropped it from the third floor.
The can fell.
When it reached the level of the second building, it vanished.
Jane waited.
Nothing happened.
She waited another few seconds.
Still nothing.
"...?"
Jane stared upward in confusion.
One of the children explained calmly.
"It doesn't come back every time. Sometimes it comes back, but sometimes it doesn't."
Jane became lost in thought.
She immediately took out one of her instruments.
The device began producing a series of electronic sounds.
Jane quickly grabbed it and examined the screen.
Her eyes moved rapidly across the readings.
"I've seen data like this before."
Darcy smiled knowingly.
"In New Mexico, right?"
Jane looked at her.
"Yes."
Her expression became serious.
"This is similar."
She immediately began walking toward another part of the factory.
"You stay here. I'm going to have a look."
Jane entered the abandoned factory floor.
The farther she walked, the darker and quieter it became.
The sounds of Darcy and the children gradually disappeared behind her.
This part of the factory seemed almost untouched.
Dust covered everything.
Broken machinery stood silently in the shadows.
The air itself seemed heavier.
Jane looked around cautiously.
For the first time since entering the factory, she felt a strange sense of fear.
Her scientific curiosity told her to continue.
Her instincts told her to turn around.
She continued forward.
Then the dried leaves scattered across the floor suddenly moved.
Jane stopped.
At first, she thought it was the wind.
But there was no wind.
The leaves weren't simply moving.
They were being pulled.
Jane's eyes widened.
A powerful invisible attraction suddenly seized her body.
"Ah!"
Her feet left the ground.
She was dragged forward by an invisible force.
Jane desperately reached for something to hold onto, but there was nothing.
The darkness swallowed her.
Then—
She vanished.
The next instant, the attraction disappeared.
Jane suddenly found herself standing on a strange black rock.
She looked down.
Her heart almost stopped.
Beneath her was an enormous abyss.
The darkness below seemed endless.
Jane swallowed nervously.
"Whoo..."
She took a deep breath and carefully stepped backward.
"Darcy!"
Her voice echoed through the strange space.
There was no answer.
Jane looked around.
The surroundings were enormous and dimly lit.
Huge stone pillars rose from the darkness, giving the place the appearance of an ancient underground ruin.
"Where am I?"
Her voice trembled slightly.
She turned around.
Behind her was a massive stone structure.
A dark-red light was glowing from its center.
Jane slowly approached.
The closer she got, the more unusual the structure appeared.
It wasn't actually one stone.
It consisted of two enormous pieces.
The upper stone floated several centimeters above the lower one.
Between them was a narrow gap.
The dark-red light was coming from that gap.
Jane stared at it with fascination.
"What is this?"
Her scientific curiosity overcame her fear once again.
She slowly extended her hand.
Inside the gap, something resembling a dark-red liquid began moving.
It flowed unnaturally toward her hand.
Jane's eyes widened.
"Ah!"
She tried to pull her hand back.
But she felt something enter her palm.
A strange sensation spread through her body.
Then—
Bang!
The dark-red substance suddenly vanished.
The upper stone lost its support and dropped onto the lower stone.
Jane stumbled backward.
She immediately rubbed her hand.
"What happened?"
She looked carefully at her palm.
There was nothing there.
"Nothing..."
She frowned.
"Was that just my imagination?"
Suddenly, a sharp pain struck her head.
Jane's vision blurred.
Her body became weak.
She slowly collapsed onto the ground.
---
Far away, beyond Earth, in the darkness of space, a massive battleship drifted silently among countless asteroids.
Its sharp, cone-shaped structure blended almost perfectly into the surrounding darkness.
It appeared ancient and abandoned.
But suddenly, the enormous vessel came alive.
A strange energy surged through its body.
A beam of light flashed.
The battleship began moving.
Deep inside the vessel, a person lying within a strange mechanical structure suddenly opened their eyes.
A gloomy and terrifying feeling filled the chamber.
"The Aether Particle has awakened us."
The voice was cold.
"The convergence of the celestial bodies has begun again."
A sinister smile appeared.
"This time, it must swallow all darkness."
---
Jane suddenly opened her eyes.
She stared upward.
For several seconds, she didn't understand what had happened.
Then she realized she was lying on the floor of the abandoned factory.
She quickly sat up.
"What happened?"
She touched her head.
Everything seemed normal.
She looked around.
"I came back?"
Jane slowly stood.
Her heart was beating rapidly.
Whatever she had experienced, it hadn't been a dream.
The strange place.
The floating stone.
The red substance.
Everything had felt real.
She shook her head.
"Forget it. First, I need to find Darcy."
Jane immediately ran out of the factory.
When she reached the outside, she froze.
Numerous police vehicles were parked around the abandoned factory.
Police officers surrounded the area.
Jane stared in disbelief.
"What happened?"
Darcy immediately ran toward her.
"Jane! Where did you go?"
Jane pointed toward the police vehicles.
"You called the police?"
"Of course! What else did you think I should do?"
Darcy looked at her like she had lost her mind.
"Jane, you disappeared for five hours!"
"What?"
Jane's face changed.
"Five hours?"
"Yes! You disappeared, and we couldn't find you anywhere!"
Jane stood completely still.
Five hours.
To her, it had felt like only a few minutes.
Her mind began racing.
The anomaly wasn't simply affecting gravity.
Something else had happened.
Something much bigger.
Suddenly—
Pā!
A flash of lightning tore across the sky.
Thunder rolled over the city.
Jane looked upward.
There wasn't a single cloud in the sky.
"Thunder?"
Another flash appeared.
The atmosphere suddenly became strangely tense.
Jane slowly turned toward the direction of the sound.
Her eyes widened.
"No..."
Someone was standing in the sky.
A familiar figure.
A figure she had seen countless times in the news.
A person who had become one of the most feared individuals on Earth.
Wu Yang.
Jack.
He floated effortlessly above the ground.
Jane stared at him in disbelief.
"Jack..."
Jack looked down.
A familiar smile appeared on his face.
"Jane."
For a moment, Jane's emotions became completely tangled.
She had spent so much time trying to forget this man.
She had told herself countless times that he was a terrible person.
A dangerous person.
A shameless swindler.
Yet the moment she saw him again, all those complicated emotions rushed back.
Without thinking, Jane walked toward him.
Then—
Pā!
A loud slap landed directly across Jack's face.
The sound echoed through the area.
Darcy and Ian stood frozen.
The surrounding police officers stared upward in shock.
Jack's head turned slightly from the force of the slap.
For a moment, he remained completely silent.
Jane stood beneath him, her hand still raised.
Her eyes were filled with anger, frustration, and emotions she couldn't even explain to herself.
Jack slowly turned his head back toward her.
His smile returned.
"Long time no see, Jane."