Who left their last words here?

Chapter 24: A Shocking Twist, "Talent"?!

It was 11 p.m. when night fell.

The cemetery, which was packed with people during the day, was now deserted and eerily quiet.

A figure quietly arrived.

Bai Zhou, holding flowers in his hands, slowly knelt down in front of Section Chief Liu's grave.

—He didn't come to send flowers in remembrance.

If anyone notices and asks Bai Zhou what he's doing here, he can take out the flowers and say he's come to see Section Chief Liu.

They also said that visiting deceased relatives at night is a tradition in their evening town.

—Although the city of the night doesn’t actually have this tradition at all.

But in fact--

Bai Zhou is here to dig up graves!
There were no last words to be found anywhere, and a huge question remained in Bai Zhou's mind.

Who moved Section Chief Liu's body?
There must be something wrong here.

If it were someone else, Bai Zhou would rather avoid getting involved.

But this person is Section Chief Liu, so it won't work.

...Before coming, Bai Zhou put his recent learning into practice by drawing a concealment ritual on his chest with red ink.

This is a very small ritual, its main purpose being to reduce one's presence and make it less likely to be discovered when hiding.

It's a pity the bracelet has already been handed over, otherwise it would be even more useful when paired with optical stealth technology.

"Can't wait any longer..."

All was quiet. Bai Zhou put down the bouquet and slowly pulled out a brand new bench leg from behind his back.

After initial resistance, he began to discover that this thing was actually quite practical.

The materials are readily available, and no one will suspect anything if they are taken out at any time; nature is the best disguise.

—But you can do anything with it.

It can be used to chop people up, and with a little modification, it can also be used as a crowbar.

Such as now.

"Click-click-"

Using a stool leg, Bai Zhou slowly pried open the gap in the cement slab sealing the urn, moved a corner of the slab aside, and reached inside to feel around.

He quickly pulled out a small box covered with a federal flag.

The flag was removed and placed aside. On the heavy little black box, Brother Liu's black and white photo was awkwardly smiling at Bai Zhou.

The two of them just stared at each other in bewilderment.

Looking at the square-faced man in the photo with his big eyes, Bai Zhou couldn't help but think of the scene when he last met Brother Liu.

Is this also the surprise you wanted to give me?
"Brother Liu, no offense intended..."

While muttering to himself, Bai Zhou forcefully pried open the urn.

...To be honest, Bai Zhou regretted it the moment he took the box out.

Because he could tell that it was heavy and contained something real.

But what else could be inside but ashes...?

Stealing a corpse in the dead of night—if the Special Administration finds out, it's probably not as simple as just taking him to the hospital.

His behavior is even more abnormal than that of blood worshippers!

But since things have come to this point, we can't let this trip be in vain.

Let him at least take a look.

—Since we're already here!
With a "click" sound!
Bai Zhou successfully pried open the urn containing the ashes.

Bai Zhou slammed down the stool leg with a "clatter," then pushed the box lid aside and stared intently at it.

There were indeed ashes inside; it seems it was me...

Bai Zhou suddenly froze, blinking incredulously.

Where are the ashes?!

All that could be seen was damp, dirty mud and sand, carelessly filled into the urn.

The gravel is moving.

It turned out to be several scarlet earthworms churning and wriggling in the gravel, leaving behind sticky, slippery trails.

There were also many more black beetles whose names I didn't know, nimbly moving between the crevices of the sand and gravel, crawling all over the inside of the small urn.

"……what?"

Just holding such a disgusting and creepy "insect box" made Bai Zhou feel goosebumps all over his arms, and he almost threw it away.

My stomach churned, followed by a strong sense of absurdity and being fooled.

Beneath the sanctuary where the heroic comrades rest, there are no ashes, but a pile of sand covered in worms.

All of them spent half the day saluting and mourning, just for this one thing?
Ridiculous.

It looks like someone just randomly grabbed a handful of mud and sand and put it in!

No wonder he couldn't see the last words; there's no way you could see the last words from this thing!

So... what about the others?
Then, Bai Zhou looked around.

Are all the other tombstones like this?
The question is, where did Section Chief Liu's ashes go?
Where did everyone's ashes go?

Bai Zhou couldn't understand.

Doubt and anger overwhelmed him.

He wanted to know who was desecrating Section Chief Liu's body.
But he really couldn't imagine who would steal a box of ashes, or what their motives would be.

What can you do with mere ashes?
You can't exactly drink it with formula to supplement calcium, can you?
But after a moment's thought, a sliver of unrealistic hope arose in his heart...

What if Section Chief Liu is actually not dead?
Perhaps he faked his death and was sent on a difficult mission under an assumed name.

Bai Zhou had read such a story in Wancheng.

In the story, there is a woman named Black Hailstone who fakes her death and lies in a coffin, which is then mailed to the opposing force, the "Seven Giants".

When the people curiously opened the coffin, Lady Black Hail jumped out and, wielding a large knife, chopped them all down.

—It turns out that this woman, the Black Hailstone, is an elite member of the Black Robe organization, and she devised this ingenious plan to maintain peace in Night City.

Bai Zhou saw this little story in the recruitment brochure of the Black Robe Youth Training Corps, and he still remembers it vividly.

It's clear that faking death isn't particularly uncommon in some secret organizations...

"clatter--"

Suddenly, a sound came from beside me.

It sounded like footsteps, but extremely light.

In the unusually quiet environment, the sound startled Bai Zhou, who was already on high alert.

Who will come to the cemetery at this time?

Bai Zhou immediately closed the urn and looked toward the source of the sound.

A quiet tombstone stands silently not far away.

"?"

Bai Zhou almost thought he had misheard.

Because the sound just now seemed to have come from it.

A fake corpse?
Surely not, we're all colleagues.

The next moment,

Several more extremely faint sounds came from below, and there were even faint voices.

Then, the cement slab in front of the silver-white tombstone, which sealed the urn, began to shake.

"Something's wrong!"

Bai Zhou immediately got up to run, but there were no obstacles around, the only place he could hide was...

Bai Zhou, holding the urn containing the federal flag, grabbed the flag from the ground and jumped into the grave where Section Chief Liu's urn should have been placed without hesitation.

Then, he raised his hand and pulled the cement slab back, covering it perfectly.

The burial site returned to tranquility, and nothing seemed amiss.

But the next second, the cement slab was quietly pulled away.

A hand reached out and groped around, then, after touching the bench leg that had fallen outside, it was swiftly pulled away and retracted.

The cement slab was put back on, and everything returned to normal.

Only a tiny gap remained.

A pair of eyes, hidden in the darkness behind the crack, cautiously observed the outside world.

"..."

Bai Zhou crouched down, holding the urn, his mind tense in the dark, cramped tunnel.

The pit for the urn is neither too big nor too small; it's difficult to lie down, but just right for squatting.

The space is exceptionally spacious for an urn, but it becomes very cramped when a whole living person is placed inside.

Probably no one would have imagined that a single grave could one day become a double grave.

After all, no matter how much you miss the deceased, it's not right to lie down and sleep together...

It was dark and crowded, but warm and cozy. The experience was okay—I'll never come back again.

Not long after, a crisp sound came from outside, attracting Bai Zhou's attention.

In front of the tombstone not far away, the cement cover was completely opened. A group of people walked out from inside.

First the head, then the shoulders.

Then the heads and shoulders of this group of people rose and fell, slowly rising.

—Is there a staircase down there?
Bai Zhou was dumbfounded, looking down at the solid hole he was sitting on.

totally different.

How come there's an underground passage beneath the tomb?

In the blink of an eye, all these people came out.

Several people carrying large suitcases were cautiously scattered among the rows of tombstones.

Some were wearing sunglasses and squatting on the ground with their legs spread apart.

Although they were all wearing the same suits and uniforms, the way they wore them was quite different.

Someone rolled up their sleeves high, revealing a red spider tattoo on their arm.

Some people had their suit collars open, revealing their bare chests, while others had simply cut the bottom half of their suits in half...

He somehow managed to make the black suit look like an odd outfit.

Only the man at the head of the group wore a suit and looked the most formal, but his bald head was also the most striking.

—They come from outside!
The moment Bai Zhou saw them, he confirmed this fact.

Has the Blood Worship Cult invaded ahead of schedule?
It seems even the Blood Worship Cult isn't like this... so carefree and irresponsible?
Bai Zhou clutched the urn tightly in the pit, his back hunched, his voice trembling, his mind on high alert.
But how could outsiders know about this hidden passage...?

"Boss, we've been sneaking through the tunnels for ages, just to get here?"

The younger brother grumbled somewhat angrily, then pulled a cigarette from his pocket and offered it to the bald man with both hands.

"Why all the secrecy and make us wait so long..."

"Who is this person, with such a big reputation?"

With a "snap"—

The cigarette fell to the ground.

He was slapped hard across the forehead, knocking him to the ground.
"You know nothing!"

The bald man glared angrily and growled in a low voice:

"This time, ask less questions, say less, just do the work!"

"No matter how much you whine, I can't protect you!"

The younger brother, clutching his head, groaned as he got up:

"Yes……"

Everyone felt a chill run down their spines, and even the underlings who were squatting in the Asian style stood up.

"—They're here."

Suddenly, the bald man became serious.

Everyone instinctively straightened their backs, and the suits with rolled-up sleeves were put down to cover the spider tattoos on their arms.

Following their gaze, we looked into the distance—

Several muscular men in black suits, with an aura distinctly different from the others, slowly walked over, surrounding one person.

As the distance closed, the person's figure gradually became clearer.

A swaying beard, a bulging head, and piercing eyes...

The chubby, righteous Black Cat Detective doll was held in the man's arms.

A military man with a face as delicate as a woman appeared before the crowd.

"...?!"

Bai Zhou, who was hiding in the shadows, was startled.

Lieutenant Han?
How did he get here!

Section Chief Liu's trusted "backer" and longtime colleague, Han, who had told Bai Zhou during the day that he thought highly of him and had secured a promotion opportunity for him...

Why would you meet a group of outsiders here at this time?
Could it be that he betrayed the major and was about to sell out the organization?
But... why?
He held a high position of power in the base, second only to the leader. Hadn't the organization given him enough?
Bai Zhou covered his mouth, not daring to make the slightest sound, not even daring to breathe loudly.

He realized that he might have inadvertently stumbled upon a very crucial secret.

"..." After casually glancing at the bald man leading the group, Lieutenant Han frowned slightly:
"Where's Xiao Li?"

"Brother Li has been reassigned to another place by the higher-ups. I'm the new guy, Xiao Wang, and I'll be in charge of these kinds of handovers from now on."

The bald man smiled and handed over his business card, looking very respectful.

After glancing at the business card casually, Lieutenant Han neither commented nor denied it, and accepted the card.

"What are you still doing?"

The bald man turned around and glared at his subordinate behind him.

"Yes!"

His subordinates immediately brought over several briefcases, which were carefully accepted by Han's adjutant's men.

"……no problem."

They opened the briefcase, quickly checked the contents, and then the North and South Korean adjutants nodded crisply.

"very good."

Lieutenant Han smiled slightly and handed over the "Black Cat Detective" doll.

"These are the 'talents' we have this time."

"Let's inspect the goods."

He spoke softly, concisely, and with a practiced air.

So the bald man carefully took the Black Cat Detective doll with both hands.

This adorable yet righteous Black Cat Sheriff, with his chubby and round appearance, caught the eye of the man in the suit...

It seems to carry a terrifying horror.

He held his breath, swallowed hard, and with trembling hands unzipped the doll.

With a "rip" sound—

The cotton we imagine doesn't exist.

Inside the abdomen of "Black Cat Detective" was a transparent glass window with unusually smooth edges.

Through the window, a suffocating scene came into view:

In the pale yellow nutrient solution, a heart the size of a fist is beating steadily and powerfully, with countless blood vessels connecting the heart to many organs below.

These seemingly streamlined and modified organs, densely packed into "Black Cat Detective's" abdominal cavity, still function normally.

They form a miniature, sophisticated circulatory system that absorbs nutrients and metabolizes waste through repeated blood transfusions and metabolism.

—And from the heart upwards, many blood vessels lead directly to the doll's head.

Looking up, you can vaguely see a living human brain at the very top of the container.

The gray-white folds and grooves are crisscrossed, and the sparks that occasionally flash above the grooves seem to prove that... this brain is still thinking.

—Inside this cute black and white doll, a symbol of justice, lies a "living person".

His life was still being sustained, his brain was still able to think and feel, and his biological systems were still functioning, but he no longer needed food or breath.

Beneath the quiet nutrient solution lies a vibrant surge of life.

It's hard to imagine that Lieutenant Han had been carrying something like this all along.

But the bald man knew that this was the person he was dealing with.

——"Talent"!
Suddenly, the bald man felt a churning in his stomach and raised his hand to cover his mouth.

At this moment, a pale-faced underling gagged softly and muttered:
"This thing is disgusting..."

"Ok?"

Lieutenant Han's eyes were fixed on them.

His gaze was calm, as if he were looking at a dead person.

Behind him, several men in suits were itching to make a move.

The atmosphere dropped to freezing point.

Until the bald man walked over, bowed, and said with a smile:

"I was sent by my superiors to give you my regards. I'm taking the 'talent' back with me today, and the potion you requested will be delivered tomorrow!"

The adjutant's gaze softened.

"It's not disgusting, nor is it any kind of 'thing'."

With a "snap,"
A hand gently patted Black Cat Sheriff's round head.

The adjutant's caresses were very gentle, and his voice carried a hint of ecstasy.

"Actually, I don't even like the name you all always use, 'talent'."

"Because it is the most perfect work of art, a symbol of the miracle of life."

"...Therefore, please call it by its name when you address it."

Han's adjutant's voice carried a hint of nostalgia, as if he were seeing an old friend.

他 说:

"—His name is Liu Zhen."

　This chapter contains over 4,000 words and is a combination of two chapters. I hope you enjoy it.

　　Back to writing now~
　　
　
(End of this chapter)