In order to gather the hefty sum of 350,000, and to further enhance his self-preservation ability, this journey into the Apocalyptic Mirage was now inevitable.
Speaking of the Apocalyptic Mirage, the only one Xu Mo had ever entered was the desolate mirage near his school—the Mass Graveyard. If safety was the sole priority, then choosing a mirage he was already familiar with in terms of environment and the monsters within was undoubtedly the best option at the moment.
However, from the conversation between the two military Apocalyptic Shard Wielders at the dinosaur amusement park, Xu Mo had learned an important piece of information—the military had a team of ten ability users who would likely enter the Mass Graveyard mirage in the near future.
Although they weren't exactly enemies, as an independent ability user, Xu Mo naturally maintained a cautious distance from anything related to the government. One could even say their paths were fundamentally different. Moreover, whether in terms of numbers or individual combat ability, Xu Mo didn't think he could match these highly trained elite soldiers. If a conflict arose, these troops—who followed orders without question—certainly wouldn't care about human rights. After all, it was still unclear whether the Apocalyptic Mirage, an alternate space, could even be considered part of Huaxia's territory.
Xu Mo only knew that the military's ability users planned to enter the Mass Graveyard mirage, but he had no idea about their exact timing or operational cycle. Lin Yijing had mentioned a one-month buffer period for her situation, but Xu Mo highly doubted those gangsters would honor their word. Factoring in the time needed to travel back and forth from the World Fruit Trade Alliance trading point in Nanzheng City, the time left for Xu Mo was at most two weeks—far from enough to wait for the military's ability users to complete their mission and leave Shang Shan City.
Fortunately, the military personnel had revealed another crucial piece of information—aside from the Mass Graveyard, there were two other Apocalyptic Mirages within the boundaries of Shang Shan City.
This gave Xu Mo an opportunity. If he could locate another Apocalyptic Mirage and enter it as soon as possible, he could significantly reduce the chances of encountering military ability users.
For most people, searching for an Apocalyptic Mirage was an incredibly complex task, often requiring specialized large-scale equipment. However, for Xu Mo, it wasn't all that difficult. As long as the edge of a mirage appeared within his line of sight, he could detect it with his own eyes.
The only problem was that his silver mask wasn't a wide-range radar and couldn't automatically locate the general position of an Apocalyptic Mirage. He could only rely on blind luck, driving aimlessly through the streets, hoping to stumble upon one.
Perhaps luck was still on his side. After wandering for an hour, Xu Mo actually found an Apocalyptic Mirage—located at the Liangyuan Theater, a venue capable of accommodating up to 3,000 people for a single screening.
Shang Shan City wasn't too big, nor too small, but finding two Apocalyptic Mirages in a single night was clearly unrealistic. Since he had already made a discovery, Xu Mo decided to quit while he was ahead. After paying the taxi fare of over seventy yuan, he got out at the park square in front of Liangyuan Theater.
Noting that it was already close to 8 PM, Xu Mo wasn't sure how long his investigation would take. So, he called his mother, Liu Shuxian, telling her he was visiting HeShang's house and might be home late. Then, he called HeShang, asking him to cover for his lie. Only after making these arrangements did he feel at ease enough to begin his investigation of this Apocalyptic Mirage.
With the rise of home theaters and computers, people had long lost interest in cinemas, making them relics of the past. Liangyuan Theater rarely saw high attendance—only when major domestic or international blockbusters were released did it fill up.
But in contrast to the theater's bleak state, the park square in front of its entrance was always bustling. Every evening, after dinner, people would gather here to stroll, participate in group-organized fitness dances, tai chi, or yangge performances.
Thanks to the massive crowd, business here flourished. Even outsiders knew about Shang Shan City's famous Night Market, known for its wide selection and affordable prices.
Even with his silver night-vision mask, Xu Mo wasn't particularly conspicuous among the thousands of people in the square. In this era, performance artists were everywhere—wearing a mask didn't make him stand out. Hardly anyone paid attention to the lone figure standing in the shadow of a tree, except for the occasional curious child who would glance his way before giggling and running off.
Through the mask's vision, the Apocalyptic Mirage still appeared as a blurry veil of purple mist, covering almost the entire Liangyuan Theater and the park square. The area it encompassed was more than half again as large as the Mass Graveyard mirage near his school.
The purple mist was teeming with people moving about, yet their movements didn't stir the fog in the slightest. Those within it remained completely oblivious, continuing their activities as if nothing was amiss.
However, what puzzled Xu Mo was that, logically speaking, such a high-risk area—where normal people had almost no chance of survival—should have been placed under strict government control. They could have easily fabricated a reason to seal off the area. So why was this place still as lively as ever?
Did the government already possess the ability to predict the Apocalyptic Mirage activation time down to the exact day? Even if that were the case, an event involving thousands of lives should have been addressed well in advance. Waiting until the last minute seemed far too reckless.
Something didn't add up. Previously, when Professor Mo's team went missing, the government had mobilized an entire battalion to surround the wasteland—proof of how seriously they regarded the Apocalyptic Mirage and Shards. Even if local officials were inclined to ignore other policies, they wouldn't dare be negligent in matters of national security. Their careers depended on it.
So why hadn't this Apocalyptic Mirage been sealed off yet?
As a mobile drink cart passed by, Xu Mo suddenly recalled a detail from when Professor Mo's team had been stationed at the school's wasteland: the presence of numerous pieces of unknown scientific equipment. A thought struck him.
Of course! The equipment! Back then, aside from the two military transport trucks, the remaining vehicles had been loaded with various instruments of unclear purpose.
This meant that military researchers likely couldn't pinpoint the location and size of an Apocalyptic Mirage as precisely as he could with his night-vision mask. They could only rely on cumbersome, vehicle-mounted instruments to conduct slow, systematic scans within a designated area.
If this assumption was correct, then everything made sense. The government wasn't ignoring the threat—they simply didn't know where exactly to impose a lockdown. And since enforcing a citywide curfew would only cause mass panic, they had no choice but to maintain appearances, hoping that the military's research teams could locate the mirage in time.
Perhaps he should find a way to inform the authorities about this mirage's location… Thousands of innocent lives were at stake, and every minute wasted increased the danger.
Just as Xu Mo was considering how to relay this information without jeopardizing his own safety, the city's clock tower rang out, its chimes echoing through the night.
"DONG... DONG... DONG..."
It was 8 o'clock sharp.
Xu Mo instinctively glanced at his phone to check the time, only to discover that his signal had completely vanished—even his network connection was gone!
Assuming it was a minor issue, he tried restarting his phone, but to no avail.
Just as he was about to leave the square to search for another mirage, a strange sensation struck him—something was missing from his field of vision.
The purple mist—the hazy veil that had been covering the entire park and theater—had completely disappeared!