The people from the Public Order Division drove the informant out of the stronghold and rushed to the addresses of the missing people. Before they set off, the Public Order Division's staff asked, "Do the missing people live in that area? Did they share a house? "
"No, there are several hundred workers in our garment factory, and they live everywhere. These workers also have houses in the stronghold, but they didn't share a house or live together," the owner of the garment factory explained.
"That's a little strange." The staff member from the Public Order Division named Wang Zhongrui said in puzzlement, "They didn't live together but went missing together instead. Don't you think it's strange? How do they usually behave in the factory? Has your factory lost anything valuable recently?"
Wang Zhongrui thought of a possibility. Could the workers in the factory have stolen something of value and escaped?
Something like this had happened before, but the culprits that time were very tragic. They were found by the artificial intelligence before they could escape from the stronghold.
"The most valuable things in our factory are our machinery and equipment, as well as our raw materials. But they can't steal those things. Even if they do, they won't be able to sell them." The owner denied this guess.
"Then we'll have to go there and take a look first," Wang Zhongrui said.
The creeper vines had spread across a very large area now. The location the owner of the garment factory was referring to was the place where the creeper vines first appeared in Hope Media's newspaper.
Many of the stronghold residents who owned precious items like cameras would even go there to take pictures with the creeper vines in winter.
However, the creeper vines were no longer just a small area. When Wang Zhongrui drove into the creeper vines' area, he asked the owner of the garment factory, who was in the passenger seat, "There are creeper vines everywhere. Where do they live?"
The owner of the garment factory said, "Turn left, then right, and you'll arrive. That's strange. Why are the creeper vines growing more and more? Sir, do you see that residential building on the left? I don't remember it spreading all the way here yesterday, so why is the entire residential building covered in creeper vines today? If I wasn't particularly familiar with this place, I might've gotten lost as well. "
The lush creeper vines were so dense that they even covered the street signs on the residential buildings.
At first, the residents thought it was a beautiful sight to behold. But now, the creeper vines were affecting everyone's lives. The pedestrians walking down the street were more or less dissatisfied with the creeper vines.
Wang Zhongrui looked at the creeper vine and felt that something was amiss, but he could not figure out what the problem was.
"We're here, we're here." The owner of the garment factory said, "This is the residential building next to it. There's a worker living on the first floor."
Wang Zhongrui parked the car and walked into the corridor. He asked curiously, "Eh, do creeper vines usually grow into the corridor? Don't they all grow in places where the sun can shine? "
At this moment, Wang Zhongrui saw that the corridor in front of him was completely covered in creeper vines. The original white wall was nowhere to be seen. However, Wang Zhongrui did not find the creeper vines beautiful at all. Instead, he felt a chill run down his spine.
However, the people from the Public Order Division would not be frightened by the creeper vines. He braced himself and walked in.
However, it was strange that the door of the house was wide open. Wang Zhongrui asked, "Did you open this door?"
"No," the clothing factory manager said, "it was open when I came yesterday. I'm also wondering why they didn't even close the door when they left."
When Wang Zhongrui walked into the house, there were no signs of a fight like he had imagined. There were no clues at all.
However, Wang Zhongrui was much more experienced than the clothing factory manager. Although the Public Order Division no longer investigated cases by themselves and relied entirely on the artificial intelligence, the people from the Public Order Division had still received professional training.
As soon as he entered the house, Wang Zhongrui noticed something amiss. There was a sweaty handprint on the door frame. It was not particularly obvious, but it was very strange.
The handprint looked like someone had just opened the door with the key and was suddenly pulled out of the house by something. Following that, the person tried to grab the door frame but failed.
Thinking of this, Wang Zhongrui's hair stood on end as he looked behind him. However, there was nothing behind him!
Wang Zhongrui looked around the house and did not want to stay any longer. He said to the clothing factory manager, "Let's go out first and ask the other residents upstairs."
With that, the two of them went upstairs. At this moment, Wang Zhongrui realized the creeper vines had covered the entire building, both inside and outside.
When they arrived on the second floor, Wang Zhongrui was surprised to find the doors of the two houses upstairs were open. He asked, "Did you go upstairs yesterday?"
"No." The clothing factory manager said, "Why would I go upstairs if I had nothing to do?"
What Wang Zhongrui wanted to ask was, 'When you came here yesterday, did the doors on the second floor open? Are the residents still around?! '
Suddenly, Wang Zhongrui shouted at the top of his lungs, "Is there anyone in the house?!"
He did not even dare to enter the house now. A huge sense of danger was threatening him. Wang Zhongrui's back was drenched in sweat!
A moment later, Wang Zhongrui saw a trace of blood on the ground. It was very little and mixed with the dust. Others might not be able to recognize it as blood, but how could someone in his line of work not recognize it?!
"Run!" Wang Zhongrui roared.
With that, he grabbed the manager's arm and ran downstairs. But it was already too late. Wang Zhongrui saw the creeper vines on the walls of the corridor "come alive" as they pulled at the two of them.
Wang Zhongrui no longer hesitated. Instead, he rushed into the house. From what he remembered, there shouldn't be any creeper vines in the houses on the first floor, right?
He and the farm manager rushed into the house before the creeper vines could grab them. The farm manager was still in a state of shock. "What's going on? What kind of monster is this? Why can the creeper vines move?!"
But Wang Zhongrui did not have time to explain. After he entered the house, he ran up to the window as fast as he could.
With a crash, Wang Zhongrui smashed through the window with his shoulder and flew out of the second floor. Due to the strong inertia of his running up, the creeper vines outside tried to pull him back. However, Wang Zhongrui managed to pull off quite a few of its vines.
Wang Zhongrui landed on the street with a thud. The pedestrians on the street looked at him in surprise, but he ignored them and shouted to the second floor, "Jump out! Hurry up, or it'll be too late! "
But …
It was quiet on the second floor. No one responded to him, as though nothing had happened.
The pedestrians on the street looked at Wang Zhongrui like he was a fool. No one knew who he was talking to.
Wang Zhongrui's scalp went numb. He took out his ID and shouted at the pedestrians, "I'm from the Public Order Division. All of you, stay away from those creeper vines. Hurry up and run to a place where there aren't any creeper vines!"
When everyone saw his ID from the Public Order Division, they became nervous. Someone asked, "Sir, what's wrong with the creeper vines? Is there a problem?"
Wang Zhongrui said in a deep voice, "These creeper vines eat people!"
He stood in the middle of the street and looked at the dense creeper vines around him as well as the residential buildings that had already been covered by the creeper vines. He wondered how many people had been "eaten" by the creeper vines.
However, it was not absolutely safe to escape. This was because Wang Zhongrui knew that the creeper vines would take the initiative to grab people. But for some reason, the moment he landed on the street, the creeper vines immediately stopped moving.
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