After Fog Bells

Lead Bell City is a seaport city built on coal mines, steam machinery and the order of bells. Three years ago, the "Kuroshio Accident" occurred in the West District. Officials called it a disaster caused by a mine explosion. However, thousands of residents disappeared mysteriously and all the clocks went back seven minutes at the same time. Lin Lan, the sister of archives clerk Lin Yan, also disappeared in the accident. Three years later, Lin Yan received an old letter from her sister at midnight. The letter warned him: when the bell rings the thirteenth time, do not trust your own shadow. That night, he encountered an unnatural event and activated the brass pocket watch left by his sister, thereby coming into contact with the world of "contracts" hidden behind the city. People can borrow power from ancient rules, but they must pay back the price of vision, memory, lifespan and even existence itself. In order to find his sister, Lin Yan joined the secret organization "Grey Eye Bureau" and began to re-investigate old black tide cases. He gradually discovered that all the clocks in Lead Clock City were not simply timekeeping tools, but a huge sealing system. Every time the hour is struck, a weak "existence time" is extracted from the citizens to suppress the unknown existence "primary bell embryo" in the underground ruins. But those missing people did not die. They were trapped in the "City Behind the Bell" and became the living fuel to maintain the stability of the city. As the Bell Bureau, Shenchao Society, the White Order and foreign consortiums appeared one after another, Lin Yan was forced to be involved in the struggle for truth, sacrifice and order. He must discover whether his sister is a victim, a betrayer, or the only one trying to end it all. In the end, when he has the power to change time, he must also face the cruelest problem: