Conan Moslin

Although the night was dark, the entire institute was brightly lit.

The atmosphere was tense at this moment.

Researchers in white coats were forced to gather in the conference room, and several men in black stood guard at the door.

Almost everyone was in varying degrees of panic, and the house was filled with noise.

"What happened?" "Why did you call us here suddenly?" "My research is not finished yet..."

The leading middle-aged researcher closed the documents in his hand, put them heavily on the table, and said with a "slap" sound: "Stop making noise."

The conference room suddenly became quiet.

He pushed up his glasses and looked toward the door.

The person who came was wearing a pure black dress, with long golden brown curly hair draped over her shoulders and a bright smile on her face, which seemed very out of place in the slightly tense environment.

The two men in black beside her took a step back and made way for her.

"All researchers have gathered here." One of them whispered, "Except..."

Shirley isn't here.

Kasi nodded and glanced at everyone, even the researcher she had always cared about, she just glanced at him briefly.

"Hello." After looking around, she greeted them casually, "Is it boring to stay here all the time?"

Someone nodded imperceptibly.

Is he so honest? Li An glanced at the man.

The man immediately shook his head.

The middle-aged researcher who seemed to know something stood up and asked respectfully: "You called us all here, is there anything you need us to do?"

The name tag on his chest read "Nimura Nobuya".

The child who died before him was named "Nimura Reki".

"There are some minor problems in the institute. We have sent people to repair it." Li An explained very politely, which made these researchers who often faced the cold faces of the men in black a little uncomfortable. "If possible, you can stay here tonight."

No one asked why because they knew how these people behaved.

Nimura Nobuya nodded calmly, not seeming surprised that something like this would happen: "Will it have an impact on the research data?"

"rest assured."

After giving instructions on other things, Li An left the meeting room and went to the gas chamber under the guidance of the man in black.

……

Smino forced himself to stay alert and directed people to investigate everywhere. Then he yawned and went to the lounge to check the surveillance.

Unlike the spacious and bright room outside, the lights in the lounge were not on.

There was a huge screen embedded in the wall, divided into sixteen panels with surveillance that was constantly switching, covering almost every corridor and front and back gate of the institute.

This is where he usually stays, just in case any problems arise.

But now that this has happened, he probably won't be able to rest well.

The mobile phone on the table kept flashing, and messages popped up one after another.

[The inside of the gas chamber has been checked, and there are no signs of the handcuffs being unlocked.]

[There are traces of dragging on the ground, and the door of the garbage entrance has been opened. ]

[Sulli's figure cannot pass through the garbage hole. ]

【Did you find anything in the surveillance video? 】

Looking at the message from Kasi, Smino stared at the surveillance camera in front of him for a long time before replying.

[There were no signs of any entry or exit before and after Shirley disappeared. ]

While he was replying to the message, a little girl in an oversized red knitted sweater crawled out from outside the garbage outlet in the blind spot of the surveillance camera at the back door.

Looking around the corner, she found that the place looked familiar.

She remembered very clearly that this was the way Kasi took her out last time when she went out and avoided the bodyguards.

Outside the unlocked door, a burgundy convertible was parked quietly.

“What a headache! I can’t find my car keys.”

"Aren't you going to go back and look for it?"

"I don't want to see those policemen. I'll go later."

"That……"

"But it's okay, I have a backup in the car."

"Shh...By the way, do you want to try driving? I can take you there next time..."]

She seemed to have an idea.

……

After the night shift, the street lights were already on, but they looked dim against the rain and fog.

Everything on the road was extremely quiet, with only the sound of rain dripping everywhere on the street and quietly sinking into the inky black river water under the bridge.

With a briefcase on his head, the security guard, who had worked hard all day, couldn't help but quicken his pace.

The rain soaked his uniform. Although it was just the beginning of autumn, he felt freezing cold.

He shuddered unconsciously, rubbed his wet sleeves with his free hand, and murmured, "How many times has this happened? Why did it suddenly rain..."

Ever since he inexplicably fainted while working as a security guard at the Beika Art Museum, he has often encountered strange things.

I got into the kidnapper's taxi for no apparent reason and was mistakenly arrested as a criminal. A robbery case at the department store where I worked was solved by a group of children... There are so many things that cannot be described in one word.

The exciting life he had recently had made him a little sensitive, and he even occasionally felt as if someone was watching him.

Although he often attributed this feeling to an illusion, on this cold and rainy night, this sense of being watched was stronger than ever, and it made him tremble with fear.

Normally when I walk along this road, there are occasionally pedestrians passing by, but today there is rarely a single person.

The security guard could no longer take bigger steps, but he soon discovered that the road ahead seemed to take forever.

It was not until a beam of warm yellow light gradually emerged from the rain that he finally felt that the surroundings were not so strange.

But why is the light becoming more and more dazzling?

The security guard stopped unconsciously and raised his hands to cover his eyes.

Through the narrow gap between his fingers, he saw...

A burgundy convertible car was speeding on the road in the rain.

Rain poured into the car, soaking the driver's seat and the white coat hanging on the driver's seat.

The water splashing on the ground wet the security guard's rolled-up trouser legs, but he had no time to care.

He just confirmed something.

There was no one in the driver's seat of that car.