Until patrol ended and returned to the grain warehouse for handover, Garcia’s face still hadn’t shaken off its dazed expression.

"What’s wrong?" Luokuke noticed his unusual expression and asked after hesitating for a moment.

"Nothing, nothing," Garcia forced a smile. "We need to stay cautious in the second half of the night; he still hasn’t gone to rest but is standing at the supermarket on duty."

"Oh, I thought something was wrong," Luokuke breathed a sigh of relief and turned to inquire about the main point. "No anomalies by the riverbank?"

"Riverbank..." Garcia paused, his tone growing serious. "When I walked by the water, I always felt like something underwater was staring at me, I don’t know what kind of ghostly thing it is. You should avoid the riverbank during patrol, just use a flashlight to check the fluorescent powder on the small paths."

"Mm."

Luokuke nodded lightly.

Encountering an inexplicable sense of being watched in the Wilderness is merely routine, mostly due to infection sources nearby.

Usually, it’s best to move away quickly in such situations, but now is a critical period of exploration, and even knowing there’s danger in the river, you can’t abandon patrols just based on a "feeling."

Once Garcia led his team to rest, Luokuke set off with his own squad.

He didn’t try to verify whether Garcia’s feeling was genuine, but followed the instructions and led his team along the small paths, using his flashlight to sweep the riverbank’s fluorescent powder.

The beam was perfectly intact, without a single gap needing closer inspection.

"Indeed, perhaps those Poison Water Crystals truly washed down from upstream," Luokuke secretly released a breath. "Dapo Town has been abandoned for years, not a human figure in sight, why would there be so many infection sources eyeing this place."

He led his people around the town for inspections, finding no anomalies, then quickly headed back to the grain warehouse.

Passing Blue Zone’s parking lot, remembering Garcia’s words, he couldn’t help but pause, looking towards the supermarket wall where Cheng Ye indeed leaned. Even at this hour, he had yet to go inside to rest.

Moreover, his diligence was evident, as upon meeting Luokuke’s gaze, Cheng Ye immediately raised his head, their eyes briefly meeting.

Luokuke hesitated for a moment, quickly waving his hand to indicate he was just passing by with nothing happening, then hurriedly left.

Upon returning to the grain warehouse for handover, midnight was approaching.

The clouds overhead had become denser, covering most of the moon tightly, and the night grew deeper and darker.

After confirming neither had discovered anything unusual, the two proceeded with their shift smoothly.

Patrolling during such nights didn’t tire them, but it was frightful, as the invisible pressure kept their nerves taut.

By two o’clock at night, the next Blue Zone team was supposed to take over.

As Luokuke carried his squad back to the grain warehouse, Garcia was lying on the ground taking a nap, quickly waking up upon hearing the noise, forcing himself up to take over despite exhaustion.

"You alright?"

"It’s nothing, just a bit tired from a busy day." Garcia shook his head; struggling even with such small tasks as night patrol would really be unworthy of Happiness City Inspector.

Following the previous route, he led the team out, starting with an investigation of the riverbank.

It was already deep into the night, with fog completely shrouding White Water River, making it difficult to even discern the river’s outline, let alone what was beneath the water.

Garcia grew ever more reluctant to approach the riverbank, only keeping his team close to the inner side of the paths, sweeping his flashlight over the fluorescent powder from afar.

"Nothing..."

After confirming the beam was intact, he released a sigh of relief.

In truth, past midnight, risks in the latter half of the night decrease significantly, yet that previous feeling of being "watched" was truly awful, making him uneasy even upon recalling.

The team advanced forward, reaching the dock without the fluorescent powder showing any damage.

But just as Garcia was about to order checks of other areas, a sudden burst of cries came from the team behind:

"Sir! Look over there!"

Hmm?

Without turning his head, Garcia’s first reaction was to grip the pistol at his waist, instinctively darting aside.

Only upon retreating to a safe distance did he turn around alertly.

The team members were pointing at the dock in the distance, their eyes filled with curiosity, as if witnessing something emerging from the water.

Yet following the direction of their fingers, Garcia frowned, unable to see anything.

But in the next second.

He abruptly looked down, heart clenching.

At some point, water had accumulated around his feet, even submerging his ankles!

Boom.

It felt like a thunderous explosion inside his head.

All confusion vanished instantly, his head shaking vigorously to reveal he’d unknowingly left the path, standing on the dock’s drainage steps.

The 32 team members originally with him now stood in the water, hand in hand forming a line, their vacant eyes moving deeper into the river.

If not for that instinctive alert making him leap backward, he might already be in the water like the rest of his team!

Sensing Garcia’s halt, a team member at the back turned abruptly, face wearing a bizarre smile, beckoning to him: "Sir, the water feels so comfortable, why don’t you come over?"

In life and death moments, there’s immense horror!

Almost immediately after the words fell, Garcia’s regained clarity dissipated.

As vision blurred, the accumulated water beneath his feet vanished, along with the team members standing in the water, the scene sharply switching back to the path’s side.

All team members turned, their eyes fixed on him, voices tinged with confusion: "Sir, why are you standing by the water?"

?!

Garcia’s skin prickled with goosebumps, instinctively glancing behind. This glance made his scalp nearly explode.

Right behind him was the dock’s drainage steps!