I Can See the Unseen

Chapter 10. Radiation?

Several hours later, all members of the production crew had been evacuated and sent to a local hospital for treatment.

As Zane watched Lila Ling being escorted into the examination room, he began discussing his preliminary speculations with his late-arriving colleague.

"What do you think could have caused this? Fish, birds, and people all fainting at the same time—what could have such power?"

The arriving researcher from the UMA special investigation department, Ethan Jiang, adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses, his academic face juxtaposed with the robust physique typical of a construction worker. He was able to blend into the formal team well, especially in his lab coat.

Having already discussed the situation with the environmental protection team on the way to the hospital, he quietly replied, "It might not necessarily be biological. Given these circumstances, radiation is quite possible. The environmental protection team suspects radiation, which is why they arrived here so urgently."

"Radiation?" Zane paused for a moment. He had been dealing with various unknown and mysterious creature cases for so long that he was almost forgetting how to think about things from a normal perspective.

While China had not experienced large-scale nuclear accidents like those in Russia or Japan, nor were there rumors of casually discarded radioactive weapons, the 507 Bureau did have a dedicated department researching supernatural phenomena. They occasionally encountered inexplicable nuclear radiation events, the most notable being Russia's Tunguska event and the Indian Death Hill incident.

"If it's radiation, then there must be a source in the lake," he speculated, considering that it could be a meteorite or some leftover scientific residue from decades past.

Ethan nodded. "People are already attempting to retrieve whatever they can. But the lake is large and filled with dead branches and leaves, so we don't know how long it will take. You rushed over here because you suspect something is amiss, right?"

"Yeah. The last wild man sighting incident also involved this production crew. And they said that when those strange phenomena occurred, they were performing a horror story skit. Do you really think a meteorite's nuclear radiation would act so intelligently to coincide perfectly with that timing?"

Ethan rolled his eyes. "What you're suggesting is absurd. Are we to believe that a water monster is capable of such intelligence? That it's collaborating with people on shore? If that were the case, we should be calling it a water ghost."

Zane shot him a glance but quickly turned his gaze away, remaining unperturbed.

"Why don't you send someone to the nearby Yi village and ask if anyone there has experienced symptoms of radiation exposure?" Ethan suggested.

"And what about you?"

"I'll wait for the test results." He felt the radiation theory didn't sit right with him. A nagging premonition told him that what Lila Ling said might actually be true—that there was really something substantial lurking in the lake.

Ethan nodded. "Fine. Let's hope the final result isn't a creature carrying radiation. Otherwise, I'll have to advance my 'suicide before the apocalypse' plan. This d*mn world is getting increasingly dangerous."

Having worked in this field for so long, it was hard to avoid such morbid thoughts.

After Ethan left, there was still no movement in the examination room. Zane noticed that the surrounding police officers, environmental protection team members, and medical staff occasionally glanced in his direction. He pressed down on his brow, exhaled, and calmly began to handle the most tedious task of all—sealing the situation. He could conveniently use the excuse of nuclear radiation to keep them from leaking information to the outside world.