Chapter 26: Is This Really Japan?

The location established by Sakura-no-Hana Co., Ltd. was no barren stretch of land, but one of the bustling streets of Arakawa Ward.

Normally, even at midnight, the street would be extraordinarily lively.

Only now.

The street was empty, the shop doors tightly shut, the streetlamps unlit.

A scene of utter deathly stillness and gloom.

It had nothing to do with liveliness at all—only desolation and bleakness.

"What's going on here?"

"Where are the people? Why are all the shops closed?"

"That's impossible. I was on the fourth floor just now and the street was bustling. How did it become like this the moment I came downstairs?"

Mizuno Yuichi and the others gazed out in every direction; the street was terrifyingly quiet.

The bizarre scene before their eyes made them shudder, their hair standing on end.

Yet what unsettled them most was not the eeriness of the street…

Feeling the field of view, the light was a dim yellow.

Mizuno Yuichi and the others instinctively looked up at the sky.

Clearly, when they were inside the building, looking out the window it was the night sky.

How had the night become a setting dusk the moment they stepped outside?

And this sunset's glow was very strange—the light, though gentle, carried a strange chill, an icy coolness.

Looking closely at the setting sun.

Heavy and dim, the rosy light revealed a pallid, desolate, twilight air.

The edge of the sky was stained a dim yellow by the sunset's morning glow.

Even the bright white clouds appeared a dark yellow.

The dimness of the entire firmament pressed down on everyone with a heavy oppression, as if they might suffocate.

Staring at the great sun, a sudden horror rose in their hearts.

As if the great sun were about to fall into decline, and heaven and earth were about to perish.

Suddenly.

The group came to their senses and understood why the street felt so eerie.

It was not because the street was empty, nor because the shop doors were shut and the lights unlit—everything was that wheel of the setting sun in the firmament.

The sunset light it released had not only stained the firmament dim yellow; this stretch of city street was the same.

Buildings, storefronts, houses… every structure.

All were veiled in a faint layer of dim yellow.

The building glass reflected the dim yellow scene of the firmament, bouncing back that dim yellow and amplifying the desolation and heaviness.

Beneath the dusk.

Every object cast a reflection.

The massive shadows of the buildings, the thick shadows of the storefronts, the long narrow shadows of the streetlamps, the uneven shadows of Mizuno Yuichi and the others—shadows of every shape and kind stretched into the distance, vanishing into the darkness the light could not reach.

Looking at the shadows, they were like a host of varied pitch-black demons.

Stepping out from endless darkness, descending upon the mortal world.

The eerie street, the strange dusk—even Sakada Wenzhijie and the others, who had weathered bloody storms, felt a prickling unease all over.

"You lot go check the surroundings. See if there's really no one. If there are people, drag them all back to me."

To find out why the street was empty, Sakada Wenzhijie commanded his subordinates in a low voice.

"Yes, sir!"

Mizuno Yuichi and the other officers each took a few of their underlings and dispersed.

Setting aside how the night had turned to dusk, the fact that the street was empty was unsettling—it certainly couldn't be empty for no reason.

True to his name as a yakuza boss of Japan, Sakada Wenzhijie had plenty of grit; he forcibly steadied his heart and tried to figure out the situation.

Half a moment later.

"Boss, I searched everywhere. Not a single person."

"Same on my end. Don't talk about people—not even a single fly."

"Same here. Can't find anyone at all, not even a single rat."

Mizuno Yuichi swallowed hard.

He had just searched a small alley.

He knew that alley well—normally it was piled with garbage, stinking to high heaven, full of rats and cockroaches.

But when he searched just now, the garbage was still there, yet the rats and cockroaches were gone too. He had his underling Nakata dig through the garbage, and by golly not a single cockroach or rat could be found.

What's more, let alone cockroaches and rats—not even a single rat dropping could be found.

As the officers and Mizuno Yuichi reported their search results.

Everyone's scalp went numb, a chill running down their spines.

A cold sensation shot from the soles of their feet straight up to the crown of their heads, about to burst out.

For a moment, everyone was like the color of dusk.

A shadow fell over their hearts.

What on earth was going on!!

On a bustling, lively street, not a single person could be found, and the sky was an eerie dusk color.

"Make some calls and ask around. See if something happened on our end and they're carrying out crowd control and evacuation."

Sakada Wenzhijie's face darkened.

Clearly, even as a group leader, his mood was no better.

There are many things people fear.

And especially when facing the unknown, that is what frightens them most.

Because you don't know what will happen the next second — you cannot foresee it, cannot prepare in time.

Hearing this.

Everyone hurriedly pulled out their phones, ready to make calls and ask around.

"Right! Right! Let me ask someone — I know people at the Metropolitan Police, I'll ask them now."

President Yamazaki also hurriedly took out his phone.

Just as he was about to make a call…

A glance from the corner of his eye.

"Uh, my phone has no signal — can someone lend me their…"

Before he could finish, cries of alarm rang out one after another.

"Why does my phone have no signal?"

"Mine has no signal either."

"M-mine too!"

After checking everyone's phones…

Everyone's expression changed wildly, terror in their eyes, nearly scared weak in the knees.

Without exception!

Every single person's phone had no signal!

Not one.

"How could this be." President Yamazaki had lost his earlier composure, cold sweat pouring out.

At this moment.

It wasn't only President Yamazaki who was trembling in fear — the others were the same.

In the past, phones having no signal — and everyone's at that — would have at most made President Yamazaki and the others a little puzzled, without thinking too much or being afraid.

But.

Now it was different!

The night sky had turned to dusk, the streets empty of a single soul.

All these bizarre circumstances made the loss of phone signal seem abnormal, incomparably eerie…

They couldn't shake the feeling that all these strange things were connected.

"Ah!!"

Suddenly, Mizuno Yuichi's underling Nakata screamed out.

The already panicked crowd was startled to the core.

The next second.

Furious glares turned toward him.

"What the hell are you screaming about?"

Mizuno Yuichi cursed loudly, slapping Nakata across the face.

He was trying to use the abuse to relieve the pressure and dread in his heart.

"You bas—…"

Mizuno Yuichi was about to keep cursing, but the moment he raised his hand, he saw that Nakata wasn't looking at him at all — he was staring fixedly at some spot, a look of horror on his face, his trembling finger pointing in that direction.

"Th-there…"

Nakata's voice quivered, paying no heed to his own swollen face, stammering "there, there" over and over.

His strangeness was noticed by everyone.

Involuntarily, everyone followed the direction of Nakata's finger.

It was the distant sky.

The next second.

Their pupils contracted sharply, their hearts violently trembling.

Including Sakada Wenzhijie, who had cultivated the steady composure of a group leader — everyone screamed hysterically, venting the terror and horror in their hearts…

"Impossible!"

"Am I dreaming?!!!"

"What the hell?! How could this be…"

"Where on earth are we!?"

Everyone kept trembling in terror, unable to believe the sight before them.

How could something like this appear!!

Is this really Japan?!

……