The city of Centralia, or the town of Centralia, is located in Pennsylvania, North America and was established in 1866.
It was originally a mine and later developed into a coal mining town, home to thousands of people.
In 1962, workers accidentally ignited anthracite coal veins while burning waste in an open-pit mine. Part of this huge mineral deposit was buried directly below the town. Once ignited, the flames were introduced into the nearby veins. , eventually triggering a huge underground coal mine fire.
Flames burned underground, the temperature on the surface of the town soared, and toxic gases spewed out of the ground. Workers and residents had to flee, and eventually the entire town was abandoned.
This is what Fang Cheng casually learned from the Internet, but this is only an official record, and there are many rumors about Centralia Town circulating privately.
There is a legend that the fire was not undoubtedly started by workers, but that the coal mine accidentally dug through the inferno, and it was the flames of hell that engulfed the town.
There are also legends that this mine is the gathering place of a certain cult. They hide here and perform rituals to summon demons, which eventually attracts the demons.
There are different opinions on the cause of this fire on the Internet. The only common point is that there must be something wrong here, and it is not as simple as an accident.
After the fire broke out, the government immediately sealed off the town of Centralia, denying anyone access.
The blockade lasted for several years before it gradually eased. Many bounty hunters and explorers entered the town of Centralia, but none made it out alive.
The inside has completely turned into a forbidden place of death where no stranger is allowed to enter.
When Fang Cheng left Mechanical City, he specially sent a message to Sato Mai, asking her to hack into the internal database of the North American Homeland Security Agency and see what was going on in Centralia Town.
By the time he entered the country from high altitude and arrived above the town of Centralia, Mai Sato had already taken care of the invasion and sent the information to Fang Cheng's mobile phone.
Fang Cheng turned on his phone and found that the Department of Homeland Security didn't know much about the situation in Centralia Town.
According to information from the Security Bureau, after the fire broke out in Centralia Town, the residents inside did not actually escape, but all disappeared.
This situation made the Security Bureau realize that there was a problem, immediately blocked the entrance and exit, and then sent people into the town to investigate the situation.
Unfortunately, the investigators who entered the town also disappeared, and no one came out alive.
The Security Bureau lost dozens of investigators and nearly a hundred staff inside, and eventually had to suspend the investigation plan.
Anyway, this town is in a remote location and will not harm other places, so we simply left it alone.
As for what is going on inside, no one knows.
Fang Cheng put away his phone and looked down.
At this moment, he was above the town of Centralia, which is part of the Pennsylvania hillside with a relatively sloping ground slope.
The air was filled with pale white gas, and some buildings on the ground could be vaguely seen.
Fang Cheng did not choose to land directly, but flew outside the town.
A road connected the town, but it had been in disrepair and became dilapidated. Weeds were overgrown on both sides of the road, and a rusty signboard was stuck crookedly.
"Danger ahead, please stay away."
There is also a skull drawn underneath.
Fang Cheng landed next to the notice board, took out his cell phone and was about to call Isis, when he suddenly felt a tap on his shoulder.
Fang Cheng turned around and punched.
Snapped!
The fist was caught.
Isis stood behind Fang Cheng, holding Fang Cheng's fist with one hand, with a helpless expression on her face: "When can you change this habit?"
After not seeing her for a while, she still looks like a dazzling goddess, but the white skirt she usually wears has been replaced by a T-shirt and jeans.
Fang Cheng took his fist back: "You still have the nerve to criticize me? Why don't you change your habit of sneak attacks from behind."
Isis tilted her head slightly and said with a smile: "I was just making a little joke with you. Can this be called a sneak attack?"
Fang Cheng was not fooled: "You are joking now. When I get used to it, I will be able to sneak attack you in the future."
Isis could hardly keep the smile on her face.
"If you are so serious, you won't have a girlfriend."
"I'm sorry, I have so many girlfriends that I'm busy 24 hours a day. Singles like you won't understand."
"..."
After living for more than two hundred years, Isis was criticized for being single for the first time.
"Have you forgotten that I still have Eve by my side?"
"You created Eve, right? What's the difference between your behavior and those fat losers who think their hands are their wives?"
"Are you here specifically to quarrel with me?"
"Yes, there is still business. It's all your fault for causing me to deviate from my train of thought."
"..."
If she hadn't been unable to defeat Fang Cheng, Isis would have really wanted to stuff her foot into his stinky mouth.
Fang Cheng admired Isis' deflated expression, then looked at the town of Centralia, which was shrouded in white gas in the distance, and asked, "How are you sure that mother's body is inside?"
Isis replied: "I have been investigating the whereabouts of my mother's body, and recently I finally found some clues..."
Isis did not just start looking for her mother's body recently, but she has been looking for it for a long time.
It's just that recently she gained the power left by Dracula, and without the intervention of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, she didn't have to search secretly, and finally found some clues.
The last piece of my mother's body may have fallen into the hands of a man named Richard.
This is a British man in the 1960s. He traveled around the world and finally settled in a remote mining town in North America, the town of Centralia.
The fire broke out in the second year after Richard settled in Centralia. No resident, including Richard, could escape.
The clues were lost after Isis investigated this place, but since Richard never left after settling here, and none of those who entered after the fire came out alive, that means that the mother's body should still be inside.
After listening to Isis' explanation, Fang Cheng frowned slightly: "Since you are sure that the thing is inside, why don't you go in and find it, and you have to let me rush over?"
Isis raised her hand and pointed at the town of Centralia, which was shrouded in white gas: "You'll know if you get closer."
Fang Cheng's body flashed and he arrived at the entrance of Centralia Town in an instant.
As soon as I came over, I felt a faint sense of crisis emerge from my heart.
This surprised Fang Cheng.
With his current strength, no one would pose a threat to him except the evil god.
Now facing this strange town, a sense of crisis will actually arise.
Although it was very weak, it was enough for him to pay attention to.
No wonder Isis didn't rush in alone. For Fang Cheng, a slight sense of crisis might be very fatal for her.
Isis followed and came to Fang Cheng: "Do you want to go in?"
"Otherwise? It's here now."
Fang Cheng glanced at her: "If you are afraid, you can wait for me outside."
Isis smiled lightly: "I don't know what fear is anymore, let's go."
After saying that, she took the initiative to step into the white gas.
Fang Cheng also followed her.
He originally thought the white gas was mist, but after entering it, he discovered that it was some kind of poisonous gas, and it was also highly toxic.
Fang Cheng and Isis were naturally fine, but if they were humans, even A-level ability users would be poisoned and die if they were not protected.
It's a bit weird here. Neither Fang Cheng nor Isis flew into it stupidly, but walked in slowly.
After walking along the road for a while, I quickly saw many abandoned objects and vehicles from a long time ago.
These are not leftovers from local residents, but discarded by Homeland Security after the lockdown.
It seemed that they evacuated in such a hurry that they didn't even have time to deal with the aftermath.
The two soon arrived at the entrance of the town.
A huge crack on the ground lay in front of the two people, and high-temperature poisonous mist was continuously emerging from the crack.
These poisonous fogs emerging from the ground are not only poisonous, but also carry high-density dust, forming a thick layer of dust on the ground, just like volcanic ash.
Not far away, a series of scattered houses loomed in the poisonous fog. The surfaces of these buildings were scorched black, as if they had been burned by fire.
When walking into the town, both Fang Cheng and Isis could feel the temperature rising, especially the ground, which was at least nearly a hundred degrees high. They could feel the obvious heat when they stepped on it with their shoes on.
Underground in the town of Centralia is a huge coal mine, which has been burning continuously since it was ignited by flames.
Now, more than half a century later, the underground fire is still burning, and an engineering study has concluded that the flames here will continue to burn for another century.
The flames are burning below, and the temperature on the surface will certainly not be low.
There are still many plants in the town, but they are all completely dried tree trunks with no green leaves at all. There are occasional cracks or holes in the ground, and poisonous mist seeps out of them.
After entering the town, the faint sense of crisis was still there, but it did not strengthen or disappear.
Isis stopped and asked, "Do you want to search separately?"
Fang Cheng replied: "Don't you know, splitting up in a horror movie is deliberately seeking death."
Isis looked back at him: "Do you think we are in a horror movie?"
"Pretty much, the town of Centralia was originally the prototype for the horror game Silent Hill."
Fang Cheng spread all the blood and conducted a blanket search of the town, while continuing to chat with Isis about the game Silent Hill.
The town of Centralia is not large, after all, the original resident population was only a few thousand.
Fang Cheng's blood quickly searched the entire town several times, not to mention anything useful, not even a cockroach was found.
He wondered to Isis: "Are you sure the thing is in here? I didn't find anything."
"I am not sure."
Isis said: "But the clues are broken here. If we don't look for it here, where else can we go? And do you think this is normal?"
At present, it seems that apart from the poisonous fog, no danger has been found.
But it is precisely because of this that it is abnormal, otherwise the Department of Homeland Security would not have sealed this place, and chose to abandon the investigation after losing a large number of personnel.
Hundreds of people died in front of us here, so we couldn't leave even the bodies behind.
Seeing as the Department of Homeland Security evacuated in such a hurry, they probably wouldn't come in specially to collect the bodies.
"I'm looking for it."
Fang Cheng continued to ask the blood to expand the search scope to include the entire mine.
There is not much to talk about around the town. Under the influence of the underground fire, although not a blade of grass is growing, all the vegetation is half dead, and no living things will stay in this environment. There are not even ants in the dry grass.
On the other hand, it was the side of the mine that made Fang Cheng's sense of crisis slightly stronger.
His blood entered the inside of the mine and immediately touched the burning flames.
The temperature is extremely high, coupled with the pervasive poisonous mist, any steel entering it will be burned into molten iron.
Fang Cheng's blood ignored the flames and flew directly into it.
The interior of the mine extends in all directions, and combined with the damage caused by underground fires for half a century, it has formed a rugged and grotesque underground maze.
But Fang Cheng couldn't hold back his blood, so he quickly explored the inside of the mine, but the results were disappointing.
There was nothing inside the mine except flames and ore. Even if there were many mining facilities left behind, they were completely burned by the flames.
Fang Cheng even let the blood continue to explore down the mine. There was nothing inside except stones.
After exploring all areas inside and outside Centralia Town, Fang Cheng told Isis the situation.
Isis was very calm: "Maybe we came at the wrong time."
Fang Cheng looked at her and frowned slightly: "Do you know something?"
Isis smiled slightly: "How could it be? It's my first time here too."
Fang Cheng raised his hand: "Can you let me touch your head?"
He felt that Isis must be hiding something from him. If he couldn't find out, he could only use mind reading to forcefully check.
Isis shook her head and refused: "Sorry, my head is very important to me and no one can touch it."
Fang Cheng was eager to try: "What about other places?"
Isis took a half step back: "You might as well touch yourself."
Fang Cheng subconsciously replied: "I've touched it a long time ago, and it's still very comfortable."
Isis looked at him as if she were a pervert.
Fang Cheng looked back with the same look: "Why, can't I just touch my face? Only a person like you who wears yellow glasses will think everything is yellow."
Isis: "..."
She was sure that she couldn't beat Fang Cheng in terms of bad breath. She was very angry when she couldn't beat him again and again.
"Did you come all the way to quarrel with me?"
"No, but you called me all the way here and now you don't find anything. What should you do?"
"Just wait a little longer."
Isis looked around: "I came here yesterday. It doesn't seem like much here during the day, but it will be very lively at night."
"lively?"
"You'll know then."
Fang Cheng finally chose to believe in Isis again.
The two did not leave the town, but found a random house to hide and wait for nightfall.
This is a two-story building. It looks terrible from the outside, but the structure inside is still intact.
There were traces of smoke everywhere in the living room, and the floor and furniture were covered with thick dust.
There was a dining table in the kitchen connected to the living room, with many dishes, plates, knives and forks and food that had rotted into black objects on it.
Perhaps half a century ago, a family in this house was enjoying a meal at the dinner table, and then disaster suddenly struck.
When Fang Cheng searched the town, he saw this situation in many houses. When the disaster struck, it should have happened at a certain time during the three meals a day.
According to officials, residents of the town have enough time to evacuate.
But in fact, not one of the thousands of people in the entire town escaped. They all disappeared, and they didn't even have time to finish the food on the table.
Isis had made a chair for herself and lay down, with a table next to it, and a cup of steaming black tea appeared on the table.
From an ordinary person's perspective, Isis's abilities are almost miraculous, creating real objects out of thin air.
Fang Cheng was shocked when he first saw it, but now he thinks this is it?
He also made a chair for himself and sat down, and asked Isis, who was sipping black tea in an elegant manner: "I want to talk to my mother's soul. Is there anything you can do?"
Isis looked up at him and asked a question: "Guess how long I tried to talk to my mother's soul."
Without waiting for Fang Cheng's answer, she said: "About fifty years. When I realized that there might be another soul in my body, I have been trying to talk to her for fifty years, until she abandoned me. When we left, we didn’t exchange a word, and we didn’t even meet once.”
Isis's expression and tone were calm, as if she was talking about something that had nothing to do with her.
But Fang Cheng seemed to be able to feel the deep resentment of an abandoned woman.
After being separated from her mother's soul, she spent the past hundred years searching for people who might be chosen by her mother's soul, and she also actively helped Fang Cheng fulfill her mother's wishes. Could it be that she just wanted to see her mother in person.
Fang Cheng tried to ask: "Why do you think mother's soul doesn't communicate with us?"
Although he could hear a clear sigh every time he absorbed his mother's body, this was not communication at all.
"Who knows..."
Isis took a sip of black tea: "How can I know if you, the person most likely to fulfill her last wish, can't communicate with you."
Let me go, it has such a strong sour taste, it’s almost like old vinegar and green plums.
But if you think about it from his perspective, Fang Cheng can somewhat understand it.
If the system leaves him and then falls on another person, it will help the other person become stronger than himself.
Then I will probably be sour too.
Fang Cheng was very sensible and did not continue to forcefully talk to her about her mother.
The two sides talked about each other, and the sky outside quickly dimmed into the middle of the night.
After nightfall, Fang Cheng's blood was floating around the town, observing any possible changes and abnormalities.
But after nightfall, nothing changed in the town, which made Fang Cheng suspect that he had been tricked by Isis again.
Until, it was past twelve o'clock at night.
clang! clang! clang!
The bell rang suddenly.
