Tokyo: The Player Behind the Scenes.

Chapter 293, Section 40: The Night of the Fall

After saying goodbye to Mike and the other man, 12 drove back to the hotel, preparing to pack his things and leave to go to Miami to find the injured and ask about their condition.

If everything is in order, then the incident can be archived.

Although he felt the town was a bit strange, his sixth sense didn't count. Many agents who investigated mysterious events swore that their intuition was right, only to be proven wrong time and time again by the results.

Whether it's human-made forgery, a natural phenomenon, or just scaring yourself, the results are nothing more than these few.

He himself had made a few foolish mistakes, so now, without solid clues, he dared not trust his intuition.

The morning fog was quite thick, probably because this is a lakeside town, and the air didn't smell very fresh.

While driving, he suddenly felt a headache coming on, and cold sweat began to trickle down his forehead without him realizing it.

11 asked curiously, "You look terrible, are you alright?"

12 gently shook her head, not daring to make a large movement, lest her head ache even more: "No—"

Before he could finish speaking, his gaze suddenly fell upon a deer standing in the middle of the misty road ahead, right in front of him.

The elk was very robust, with a large belly. When it saw the car coming, it neither flinched nor avoided it, but just stared straight at the car. No, it was staring at him.

Those eyes clearly held wisdom.

"Fake!"

Long hours of training allowed 12 to react quickly. With a twist of the steering wheel and a hissing sound from the tires, it narrowly avoided the moose, drifting and swerving to the side of the road, leaving black marks on the ground.

The two men in the car were panting heavily. 11 drew his gun, looked around, and only after finding nothing amiss did he calm down and ask anxiously, "Fuck, what just happened to you?"

"There's a deer in the middle of the road." 12 covered his forehead, his head throbbing, and pointed with one eye at the spot where there had been a deer.

11. Following his fingertip, there was nothing there.

"Maybe they ran away?" 12 fingers stiffened, and he hesitated.

"Impossible. I've been looking straight ahead. There's no deer. Are you hallucinating again?" 11 shook her head firmly.

Upon hearing this, 12 couldn't help but doubt himself, wondering if he was having hallucinations.
11 touched his forehead and sighed, "High fever, no wonder. I'll drive. Let's stay at the hotel another day to rest, see how it goes."

12 couldn't finish listening; her eyes seemed unable to open, gradually closing completely and plunging into darkness.

It was pitch black.

It was as if he was having a fleeting dream, flapping his wings and flying in this environment where he could see nothing. Although he could not see any light, it was as if he could see everything clearly.

He instinctively flew toward a certain place with some unknown purpose, and slowly saw the light. Many other animals began to fly past him and appeared in front of him, gathering in greater and greater numbers.

Goats, elk, crocodiles, crows.
They all gathered around the lake, some crouching, some bowing their heads.

He found a vacant spot at the edge of the space and stood still, just like the animals.

In a daze, ripples appeared on the lake water, bubbling and gurgling, as if something was emerging from beneath the lake.

He felt a tightness in his chest, his heart was beating very fast, and he was having difficulty breathing.

A crocodile suddenly approached him and, unable to move, bit him and flung him outside.

"help me."

The screen quickly crashed and detached.

"Ho!"

12. Startled awake, panting heavily.

He looked around and realized he was in a hotel room, which was completely dark and the lights were off.

He stared at the ceiling for a while, panting, then pulled back the covers, revealing a pool of sweat.

I checked the air conditioner; it was set to 20 degrees Celsius.

strangeness.
He touched his forehead; it was soaked with sweat, but the fever seemed to have subsided.

My body is still a bit weak, but the good news is that my strength is slowly returning.

He got up, drew back the curtains, and gazed at the night view of the small town outside. A strange, indescribable sense of comfort spread through his heart.

The deep darkness seemed to possess a calming power, inexplicably calming his restless mind and even giving him a sense of pleasure.

He turned on the light, stretched his aching limbs, and found himself alone in the room. Where was 11?
I took out my phone; the screen lit up, but the signal bars were empty. The last message was from 11, and the time displayed was from a few hours ago.
Mike and the others said there's an event, I'm going over, I should be back soon. Don't worry if you wake up.

Besides the message, there was also information he had asked the information department to help him look up that morning, but now there was no internet, so he couldn't download the data.

The person with the number 12 is frowning. What activity is it?
Separating without permission is a major taboo for spies. There's no reason why they should leave. I don't know. Is there some reason that they have to leave?

He immediately dialed 11 using his satellite phone, but no one answered. He dialed again, but the same thing happened.

He sensed something was wrong, grabbed his sidearm, and rushed out of the room.

From the corridor, you can see that the doors to the other rooms in the hotel are all open, and it seems that the guests have all left in a hurry.

He went into several rooms to check, and apart from a strange smell, there was nothing unusual.

The lights were still on in the restaurant on the first floor, but it was completely empty. The tables and chairs were neatly arranged, the floor was clean, and a faint sweet smell lingered in the air. It was deathly silent.

"You didn't eat sashimi?"

Just as he was about to go out to check on the town, a calm voice suddenly came from the shadows behind him.

12 felt his hair stand on end, instantly drew his gun, turned around, and locked the muzzle on the source of the sound!

From the shadows, a young man dressed in casual clothes and carrying a sports bag emerged.

He was holding an instant camera in his hands, scrutinizing 12 with a critical eye.

12 I remember him; he was also at the restaurant in the morning.

"What do you mean? Are you the only one left here? Where is everyone else?" 12 demanded sharply, flashing his badge. "I'm a security agent. Answer my questions!"

Tian ignored the documents and calmly examined 12. The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.

"Bats," Tian suddenly said, confirming something.

12 was taken aback: "What?"

Tian didn't explain, but slowly raised the camera in his hand, pointing the lens at 12.

Click!

A blinding flash of light caused 12 to squint instinctively, but the gun remained firmly pointed at Tian, ​​his finger tightly gripping the trigger, ready to fire at the slightest mishap.

"What do you want to do?!" 12's voice was filled with suppressed anger and vigilance.

Tian put down his camera, which produced a newly developed photograph. He flicked it lightly under the light, his gaze fixed on the photo, his tone flat and indifferent: "You've come at the wrong time. The entire town has fallen, just now."

"Fallen?" 12's heart skipped a beat. "What does that mean?"

"What you thought of first." Tian stuck out his tongue, dipped his fingertip in developing solution, and without even looking at 12, focused intently on quickly sketching and smearing the photo with his fingertip.

12 wanted to ask more questions, but suddenly, a sharp pain gripped his stomach, and he felt as if his stomach was being squeezed into different shapes like a miniature toy.

He groaned, his body arching uncontrollably, cold sweat instantly soaking his back. The violent spasms made his legs buckle, and he collapsed to his knees with a thud. He clutched his abdomen tightly, feeling something writhing and thrusting wildly inside, even through his clothes.

"Ugh—!"

He opened his mouth wide, but no sound came out. He could only gag violently. It wasn't food, but some living thing was surging wildly up his esophagus!

"Haw!"

With a sharp screech, a fist-sized, black mass of flesh covered in mucus was suddenly ejected from 12 mouths.

The thing fell to the ground, leaving a disgusting trail of slime, before finally stopping when it hit the tip of Tian's shoe.

12 collapsed to the ground, his body convulsing, his face pressed against the floor, panting heavily, saliva and mucus hanging from the corners of his mouth, completely exhausted.

He glanced at the town with difficulty, the eerie comfort he had felt in the darkness completely vanished, replaced by fear and lingering dread. His previous state was definitely not normal.

The mass of black flesh writhed and convulsed violently on the ground. Beneath the thin membrane of mucus on its surface, the outline of some kind of animal could be vaguely seen, struggling desperately to break free.

Bang!

Tian lifted his foot and stomped on the writhing mass of flesh.

A soft cracking sound rang out, and the chunk of meat was instantly crushed, splattering blood and flesh, turning into a flat puddle of filth that stuck to the floor.

12 He struggled to sit up, looked up at Tian, ​​and gave a helpless, bitter smile: "Are you extraordinary?"

Tian didn't answer, but just glanced at him: "You didn't eat the fish, so the level of contamination is very low, and there's still hope." His gaze turned to the hotel entrance, and his voice lowered, "Let's go, or it will be too late. They have completed their initial accumulation, and this town has completely fallen."

No sooner had the words left his mouth than a series of hurried footsteps approached from afar, clattering towards the hotel entrance.

The sound didn't sound like a human running at all.

12. He got up and turned the gun to aim at the door.

boom!
The hotel's wooden door was flung open with tremendous force, and a figure rushed in with an extremely bizarre posture. Landing on all fours with lightning speed, he abruptly stopped at the doorway and slowly raised his head.

"11?!" 12 exclaimed in disbelief.

That face... half of it was still the familiar face of 11, but the other half of the skin had turned into rough, grainy, grayish-brown crocodile skin.

One eye still retained its human form, while the other had transformed into a vertical pupil resembling that of a reptile.

The remaining human skin was being eroded by the grayish-brown crocodile skin at a visible rate, his spine was deformed and stretched, and a thick tail was growing out from his tailbone.

The scene made him feel as if he was still in a dream and hadn't come out yet.

"Huff, huff." A hoarse gasp escaped 11's throat, his last remaining human eye fixed on 12, filled with painful struggle and pleading. "Go, go quickly. The people in this town are monsters—including me!!"

His voice was hoarse and distorted, and human language seemed strangely foreign to him.

12 looked at Tian, ​​utterly bewildered: "Can he still be saved?"

“The pollution is too deep; the manor owner has already awakened.” Tian’s gaze passed over 11 and fell into the deeper darkness outside the door.

On the street, countless rustling crawls, low growls, and slippery dragging sounds blended into a chilling symphony of the night. Tian frowned for the first time: "If you don't leave now, you'll be stuck here, becoming one of them."

12 gritted his teeth, glanced at his old partner who was undergoing painful mutation at the door, and 11, with only half of his human face remaining, twisted in agony, let out a mutated roar: "Kill me! Kill me!!"

The newborn tail lashed wildly at the ground!

12 wants to get out, but there are only two ways: either break the window or go through the door.

Without further hesitation, he raised his gun and charged toward Eleven at the door, his face flushed, pulling the trigger again and again. The bullets struck the crocodile skin with dull thuds, but failed to penetrate.

11 was almost completely covered in gray-green scales, its body swelled up, its clothes were torn apart, its body was already in the shape of a crocodile, its limbs had completely turned into claws, and it let out an inhuman roar from its throat, and suddenly pounced on him.

12's eyes sharpened. He saw that near 11's left eye, there was a small patch of pale human skin that had not yet fully mutated.

Boom!

The last two bullets were fired.

The monster, pouncing in mid-air, suddenly stiffened, letting out a short, whimper-like hiss before crashing heavily to the ground, twitching a few times, and remaining still. The almost-complete transformation process abruptly ended.

Ignoring her grief, 12 changed her magazine and ran towards the car outside.

He opened the car door, got into the driver's seat, and started the engine in one smooth motion.

In the rearview mirror, a goat appeared in the darkness, running towards the car.

boom! boom! boom!
Without hesitation, 12 fired three shots blindly at the oncoming monster from behind.

The monster was momentarily stunned by the impact, but then roared even more ferociously as it tried to pounce.

12 had already floored the accelerator, and the engine roared as it propelled the car forward. He glanced at the hotel out of the corner of his eye, but Tian's figure had already vanished without a trace.

He just needs to take care of himself. Chaofan is definitely more likely to survive than him. The fact that Chaofan was able to appear here this morning shows that he had a plan all along.

The goat, unable to catch up with the car, raged helplessly behind.

But before he could even breathe a sigh of relief, he encountered trouble again.

Chirp, chirp!
A sharp, piercing screech suddenly came from the roof of the car, followed by a dense, scratching sound, like metal scraping.

Something landed on the roof of the car, and more than one thing!
"Let's die together!!"

12 gripped the steering wheel tightly with one hand and drew his sidearm with the other, pointing the muzzle directly at the roof of the car. His face was contorted with rage, his eyes bloodshot, and he was ready to take everyone down with him at any moment.

at this time,

A blinding white light suddenly appeared outside the car window and disappeared in an instant.

However, just a second later, the unpleasant scratching and screeching sounds from the roof of the car stopped instantly, as if a mute button had been pressed.

The unknown creatures above seem to have been erased.

12's hand holding the gun trembled slightly; he knew it was that mysterious superhuman who had made the move.

He dared not stop for a moment, flooring the accelerator and speeding along the empty highway.

He glanced at the empty passenger seat, his lips moved silently, and the veins on his arm gripping the steering wheel bulged.

Only after entering the main road did 12's tense nerves relax slightly.

He put down his gun, picked up the satellite phone, and dialed the number reserved for the highest level of emergency.

A few seconds later, the call connected. A slightly tired voice came through: "What urgent matter has happened to you?"

The other party had clearly made the necessary preparations.

12 took a deep breath, his voice hoarse from exhaustion and lingering fear: ".Code10, repeat, Code10."

Silence fell on the other end of the phone. A few seconds later, a clear gasp could be heard, followed by a chair being shoved aside, documents scattering, hurried footsteps, and suppressed gasps.

After a brief period of confusion, another voice replaced the previous one:

"This is Hoover. We have your location. Report back, Agent."

(End of this chapter)