Chapter 24: The Eerie Van

"The Neo-Ancient Century?"

Lu Xiao looked at Liuguang, his dead-fish eyes making the latter feel a tingling sensation across his scalp. Liuguang steeled himself and replied.

"Yes! The Neo-Ancient Century!"

"Then what century is it now?"

A possibility began to form in Lu Xiao's mind. Liuguang pondered for a moment.

"It is currently the Innovation Century!"

Lu Xiao repeated the term silently in his heart. "And what year of the Innovation Century is it?"

Liuguang answered without hesitation. "This is the 211th year of the Innovation Era."

"In other words, 211 years have passed in the Innovation Century?"

Liuguang nodded. Lu Xiao sensed something eerie, and his previous hypothesis was instantly overturned. *I had only been trapped in the Dark Prison for three years! Have more than two hundred years passed in the outside world?* This question swirled in his mind. Immediately, another thought occurred to him. "Is there a difference in the flow of time between the Dark Prison and reality?"

Hearing this, everyone shook their heads. An eerie atmosphere permeated the ambulance. Lu Xiao said nothing. He did not believe the members of the City Fire Squad were lying to him. That left many other possibilities.

*Could it be a parallel world?* This was Lu Xiao's speculation, and he felt it was highly probable. However, he had overlooked one problem: even in a parallel world, the timelines did not align.

Seeing Lu Xiao fall into silence, everyone held their breath, not daring to make a sound. After an unknown amount of time, Dart, who was driving, broke the silence.

"We're here!"

As soon as he spoke, he stepped out of the vehicle. The other squad members followed suit. Just as Lu Xiao was about to get out, Dart said in a low, stern voice, "Mr. Lu Xiao! Please follow my instructions. Unless I tell you to act, just stand by and watch!"

Lu Xiao did not refuse. Seeing him so compliant, Dart secretly breathed a sigh of relief. He had been worried that Lu Xiao might break free of their control. If Lu Xiao insisted on acting on his own, their squad would have no way to stop him. Once a contained object escaped, the consequences were unpredictable.

But clearly, Lu Xiao had no such intention. As soon as he stepped out, he curiously scanned his surroundings. In the distance stood a brightly lit manor villa. He asked Liuguang, "Buddy, what is the containment target?"

Liuguang immediately looked toward his captain. Seeing Dart nod, he replied, "According to the files, the target is a mirror with the property of omniscience."

"Omniscience?" Lu Xiao's eyes lit up.

Liuguang nodded. "This mirror is very bizarre. It is said to know everything, both past and future."

"Is it that sinister?"

It must be said that this statement completely piqued Lu Xiao's curiosity. He was currently full of questions, and this was exactly what he needed. His interest in this containment mission was piqued. Originally, he had only intended to go through the motions, but now he was determined to secure that object.

At that moment, Mr. Liu sat on the sofa, his face ashen. It wasn't that he hadn't considered running away, but the images displayed in the Magic Mirror had already foretold his fate. As the owner of the Magic Mirror, he knew better than anyone that the mirror's answers were unchangeable facts.

Throughout the day, he had replayed his entire past. He had once been a small factory owner in Magic City. There were thousands of people like him in the city. Although he lived comfortably, he clearly had greater ambitions. By chance, he had discovered this mirror in an antique shop. The moment he saw it, his gaze was locked onto it. He had spent a fortune to bring it home.

Once, while under immense pressure, he had muttered to himself in front of the mirror, and the Magic Mirror had responded. From then on, there was no stopping it. With the help of the mirror, his business flourished. He learned the weaknesses of his competitors one by one. In just ten years, he became the biggest boss in Magic City. Ninety percent of the business in the city was controlled by him from behind the scenes.

He perhaps no longer remembered how many lives he had sacrificed to the mirror, but he remembered the first sacrifice very clearly: his own wife, who had stood by him in his early, poorer days. But all of that was now water under the bridge. He stared blankly at the magic mirror, his thoughts in turmoil. After learning his fate, he had tried to destroy the mirror, but no matter what he did, he couldn't leave a single scratch on it.

The Magic Mirror no longer paid him any heed. Remorse, frustration, fear... countless emotions swirled within him. Just then, a piercing alarm sounded. The villa was under attack again. Gunfire echoed through the night sky.

The roads leading from Magic City to the manor had long been sealed by the authorities. A police car was parked at every intersection. At one of these intersections, an old policeman and a young one were resting against their car. The younger officer took out a pack of cigarettes and offered one to the older one.

"Uncle Wang, tell me, why do they have us sealing this road day after day without telling us the reason?"

Uncle Wang, who had been on the force for over a decade, knew a little more than the others. He slowly exhaled a ring of smoke. "Kid, just do what you're told! Don't go digging for answers; some things aren't meant for us to know."

The young officer nodded, though he only half-understood. Just as they were chatting, a van approached from the distance. The vehicle's trajectory was very strange, weaving back and forth in S-curves along the road. The headlights swayed left and right, stinging their eyes.

Uncle Wang nudged the young officer. "Must be a drunk driver. Stop them!"

The young officer nodded and walked to the middle of the road, waving at the van. Soon, the van pulled over to the side. The young officer knocked on the window. The window rolled down to reveal a soldier in tactical gear at the wheel. The young officer froze and immediately saluted.

But the person in the driver's seat did not respond; instead, he was performing a very strange, mechanical movement. His hands had long left the steering wheel and were moving in a robotic fashion. The atmosphere was incredibly eerie. The young officer felt his scalp crawl, but out of duty, he steeled himself and said, "Friend! This road is sealed; no passage without special clearance!"

Hearing this, the soldier at the wheel stopped one hand, took an identification card from his bag, and handed it to the officer. Meanwhile, his other hand was still busy performing the same mechanical motion. The young officer took the ID and glanced at the rearview mirror. The sight he saw made his skin crawl instantly: six people in special military uniforms were sitting in the back of the van, all of their hands twitching in that same bizarre, rhythmic way, identical to the man in the driver's seat.