At dawn.
As the first rays of sunlight touched South Logistics Park, an explosive piece of news set the entire area ablaze.
"Ms. Mary, we have a crisis!"
On her way to work, Mary received a frantic phone call.
Irritated by the shrill tone on the other end, she frowned and replied coolly, "Calm down. Lower your voice and explain."
"Ms. Mary, the park has been robbed!"
Hands on the steering wheel, Mary gazed ahead, her tone dismissive. "File a report. Assess the losses and handle it with the insurance company. Do I really need to walk you through this?"
Known for her prowess and poise, Mary was visibly annoyed.
What a trivial thing to panic over—what was the management even doing?
But the voice on the other end was desperate, nearly crying, "It's not just one warehouse, Ms. Mary! Every single warehouse has been emptied!"
"What?"
Screech!
Her top-spec Panamera came to an abrupt stop by the roadside.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, Mary canceled the car's Bluetooth and pressed the phone tightly to her ear.
"Ms. Mary, every warehouse in the park was cleared out overnight, even the ones housing heavy machinery!"
The voice was verging on hysteria.
Mary, though shocked, was at a loss, her pale face reflecting her confusion. "How is this even possible?"
If only one warehouse had been cleaned out, she might blame security's negligence.
But South Logistics Park housed well over a hundred warehouses. How could they all be emptied in a single night, without anyone noticing?
It seemed impossible.
Repeating that thought in her mind, she restarted the car. "Notify security immediately. Gather every employee in the park and keep them under strict surveillance."
Mary arrived at the park's office building shortly after.
The moment she entered the lobby, she was met with a sea of faces—hundreds of employees who had been working overnight.
"Bruce, what's going on?"
She turned to Bruce, the park's manager, who hurried over, visibly terrified.
His voice shook as he muttered, "Ms. Mary, the park is… haunted. Haunted, I tell you…"
Mary shot him a stern look. "Compose yourself and answer my question!"
Snapped back to reality, Bruce steadied himself, though his fear lingered. "Everything was in order during last night's inventory check. But this morning, the surveillance team found that someone had cut the park's monitoring systems overnight. When we went to inspect, we discovered that all 132 warehouses had been completely emptied."
"That's impossible!"
Mary still couldn't believe it.
The park was vast. Even with limited staff the previous night, it was inconceivable that someone could empty it all right under the noses of hundreds of people.
Especially the larger equipment—removing those would require industrial-grade loading machinery.
But Bruce could only keep repeating himself.
"It's gone. Everything's gone!"
"This couldn't have been humans… it had to be something supernatural!"
"Every last thing—gone overnight…"
Mary, seeing his condition, realized he was too shaken to provide coherent answers.
But as she inspected the warehouses herself, she found her own face mirroring Bruce's shock.
Everything was truly gone!
The entire park, holding billions in assets, had been wiped out overnight.
Even Mary, ever-rational, found herself wondering if something supernatural could be at play.
Just then, another manager hurried over, pale with panic. "Ms. Mary, it's worse—everything stored in the Defense Department's warehouse in Section S is gone too!"
"Search everywhere!"
Now, Mary was genuinely shaken, beads of sweat forming on her composed face.
Until that moment, she had been the epitome of the untouchable businesswoman, admired not only for her beauty but for her capability.
But now, she felt terror.
Unlike the others, Mary knew exactly what those Defense Department assets were: classified materials from the Southwest Military District, critical to satellite and missile production.
And these had been stolen under her watch.
Hands trembling, Mary dialed a number, "Grandfather…"
...
Meanwhile, the mastermind behind it all, Miles, was reclining comfortably in bed.
Holding an alarm clock, he stared intently at the ticking seconds.
Checking his phone, he saw the headlines—the South Logistics Park theft was already making news.
The entire nation was in shock.
In Chicago, leaders from military, government, commerce, and law enforcement had converged on the logistics park.
Even the heads of the Southern Military District had arrived, quickly locking down all transportation in Chicago.
Twenty-plus ports along the lower Mississippi River had been closed off.
Nearly a trillion dollars in assets had vanished overnight, with no explanation, no leads, and no witnesses.
Amid the intense search, police soon noticed the absence of the security captain, Ryan.
But one missing person didn't explain much.
Even if Ryan had somehow stolen the goods, how could he have possibly emptied an entire park in one night?
Then, another lead surfaced.
"Chief, we have important intel."
The detective captain burst into the office. "Someone reported seeing a man named Miles coming and going from the park. He was drinking with the security staff, and he vanished along with Ryan the next day. According to employees, this Miles had been frequenting the park recently, forming close connections with the security team."
"Miles?"
Mary, as one of those responsible, was also present.
At the mention of his name, a cold gleam appeared in her eyes. "Two weeks ago, he rented a warehouse in Section A, claiming it was for soybean storage. Could it be him?"
But even if it was Miles, how could he have pulled this off?
General Aron from the Southern Military District slammed his hand on the table. "Whether it's him or not, I want both men found immediately!"
"Yes, sir!"
With the order given, a unit of heavily-armed special forces set off to search.
But amidst the tension, Aron's phone suddenly rang.
"This is Aron!"
After a brief pause on the line, his expression turned grave.
"Yes. I'll return to base immediately."
He ended the call, standing abruptly as he headed out. "Everyone! Ten minutes ago, our satellite system detected an off-course planet speeding directly toward Earth!"
Gasps erupted in the office.
These leaders understood the implications of a planetary collision.
"General Aron, is there a chance of interception?" someone asked, desperate for answers.
Aron kept walking, replying as he went, "It's unlikely. The planet's speed is staggering. NASA's current prediction is three hours at most."
Already stepping into his vehicle, Aron left them with one final message.
"The nation will issue a Level One alert immediately. All air defense bases in the South will open for civilian shelter. Gentlemen… stay safe."