America: The Cremator

Chapter 141 The Strange Little Girl and the Big Bird Brother.

Twenty minutes later, the black Cadillac Escalade came to a smooth stop at the corner of Parker Street.

Not far ahead, in front of a red brick apartment building with mottled exterior walls, red and blue police lights were flashing wildly, and the street in front of the building had been completely blocked off by yellow police tape.

Two police cars with the SPD (Seattle Police Department) painted in black and white were parked on the side of the road. Several uniformed patrol officers stood outside the cordon, their hands on their belts, looking around warily.

Suron pushed open the car door and strode toward the police cordon. One of the officers, a burly white man, noticed him walking straight toward him and immediately stepped forward, raising his right hand to stop him: "Sir, this is a crime scene. Civilians are not allowed to approach."

"Officer! Wait a minute!"

Before Su Long could speak, an anxious female voice came from inside the cordon. He turned around and saw Hannah hurriedly running to the edge of the cordon.

She lifted the yellow plastic sheet in front of Suron and quickly explained to the white police officer, "Officer, this gentleman is one of ours. He is Professor Stella's team's security advisor."

The white police officer sized up Su Long's tactical attire, slowly loosened his grip on the gun, and stepped aside to make way for him.

"Please come in."

Su Long nodded slightly in acknowledgment, bent down and crawled through the cordon, his eyes quickly scanning the scene.

At the entrance to the lobby on the first floor of the apartment building, Professor Stella, dressed in a white hazmat suit and wearing a full-face gas mask, was squatting next to a corpse.

Two equally armed trainee assistants surrounded her, one carrying a tray and the other recording data.

Seeing that Stella was busy collecting samples, Surong turned to Hannah beside him and asked, "What exactly is going on?"

Hannah didn't immediately describe the scene, but instead asked, "Professor Stella said that you were the one who first discovered the Dream Potion circulating in Harborview Medical Center?"

Seeing that Su Long nodded, Hannah whispered, "Then I don't need to go into the details of what came before that."

"After you discovered the problem and reported the intelligence, the Bureau of Mystery and the Federal Drug Enforcement Administration fully entered the hospital to conduct an investigation, successfully dismantled the illegal drug trafficking chain, arrested all the members involved, and the entire hospital's drug supply chain has been taken over and monitored."

"It sounds like things are going very well," Suron commented.

Hannah sighed and continued, "The arrest went smoothly, but because it was discovered too late, the hospital's medication records had been completely altered by these people. We have no way of confirming how many patients were secretly fed the Dream Potion during this period."

She pointed to the body in the distance, half-covered by a white sheet, and said helplessly, "Especially those who just went through the discharge procedures in the days following the incident, they have already escaped the hospital's surveillance range and are scattered in various corners of the city. It is extremely difficult to investigate and track this group."

"So, the one lying there is the one who slipped through the net?" Su Long looked in the direction she was pointing.

"Yes, his name is David Miller, he's forty-five years old, and he was just discharged from the psychiatric ward of Harborview Medical Center three days ago." With that, Hannah led Suron to the apartment door.

"These psychiatric patients already have impaired judgment and require large amounts of psychiatric medication, making them the most vulnerable to being fed hallucinations, making them a major problem area in hospitals."

Surrender walked closer and looked down at David Miller's body.

The victim's chest cavity was completely ripped open from the inside, and the skin and muscle tissue on the chest showed an extremely gruesome tear.

All the thick ribs were broken, and the sharp, pale bone fragments pierced the flesh and turned outwards.

The entire chest cavity was like a blooming flower of flesh and blood, or rather, like a giant pupa that had just burst open.

Even more chilling was that the inside of the outward-folded chest cavity was completely empty; all the organs had vanished, leaving only the inner wall of the chest cavity reflecting a nauseatingly eerie luster in the sunlight.

Surong withdrew his gaze and looked up at Stella, only to find her holding a pair of delicate medical tweezers, intently scraping something from the exposed flesh of the corpse.

Su Long squinted and examined the broken skin and fractured bone fragments closely. They were covered with an extremely fine layer of dark purple scales.

With the slight disturbance of the surrounding airflow, these powders can even refract tiny, colorful spots of light in mid-air.

Stella carefully placed the scraped scales into a sterile, sealed bag, handed it to her intern assistant, and then straightened up to greet Su Long: "Good afternoon, Su. You're here to see Hannah, right?"

"I'm sorry, but there's still a lot of work to be done on site before the rest of the lab arrives, so I can't let her go for the time being."

Su Long put his hands in his pockets, surveyed the mess on the ground, and said calmly, "It's alright, I'm not in a hurry. You can think of me as someone who's here to help you, since I know a bit about this stuff."

Upon hearing this, Stella glanced at Su Long and teased, "Well, Su, you seem to know how to please women better than before. I wonder who taught you that?"

"People always grow up."

Su Long answered casually, his composure, brought by his thirty points of charm, made him seem at ease when facing Stella's teasing.

Stella chuckled, pointed to a few police officers by the cordon, and unceremoniously assigned him a task: "Since you offered to help, go and urge them on for me."

"We need street surveillance footage from this area. That thing has emerged from its cocoon, and we must determine where that butterfly flew off to."

After arranging things for Suron, Stella turned to Hannah, who was organizing tools nearby: "Hannah, help me number those biological samples that we just sealed and put them in the incubator. Be quick."

"Yes, Professor!" Hannah responded immediately and busied herself with tasks quickly and efficiently.

Surron nodded, turned and stepped over the bloodstains on the ground, walking towards the police officers maintaining order on the perimeter. He found the white officer he had just dealt with and said, "Sir, excuse me, Professor Stella asked me to inquire whether the surveillance footage has been retrieved. We urgently need it now."

The white police officer turned around, casually pulled a pack of cigarettes from his uniform jacket pocket, took one out and put it in his mouth, then pointed to a convenience store across the street with a "7-Eleven" sign.

"Only the convenience store's surveillance footage captured useful information, but because it's private surveillance, we don't have direct access to it. The sheriff has already gone in and negotiated with the store manager to retrieve the information."

The officer took out a windproof lighter, lit a cigarette, and took a puff: "We'll have to wait a little longer. Those convenience store owners are always very wary of us."

Seeing that the surveillance footage had not yet been retrieved, Su Long simply stood by the cordon and waited while chatting with the police officer.

He turned and pointed to the gruesome corpse at the entrance of the hall, asking, "Is this the first time you've seen such a disgusting way of dying?"

The officer exhaled a grayish-white smoke ring and sneered, "First time? Dude, you underestimate Seattle's safety."

"I myself have already seen three identical cases this month, and another colleague of mine who patrols the South District has seen even more than me."

The officer lowered his voice and continued to reveal what he knew: "These 'emerging from the cocoon' deaths are becoming increasingly common in slums and among the homeless lately."

"Even the forensic doctors at the bureau couldn't figure it out. Everyone's talking about it privately, as if some kind of strange thing is at work."

He flicked his cigarette ash, curled his lip indifferently, and said, "Who cares? As long as the higher-ups determine it's not a deliberate serial murder, it has nothing to do with us ordinary police officers. Those monsters will naturally be dealt with by those special departments."

As Su Long listened to the police officer's complaints, his brows furrowed slightly. Three cases? And there are more in the South District?

As the two were talking, the glass door of the convenience store was suddenly pushed open, and a middle-aged police chief with a serious expression strode out.

The sheriff strode across the street to the police cordon, giving Su Long a suspicious look. Seeing his professional tactical gear, he asked in a low voice, "Are you Professor Stella's man? Here to question you about the surveillance footage?"

Su Long nodded in agreement: "Yes, the professor needs to confirm the whereabouts of the strange creature in the surveillance footage."

The sheriff's face instantly turned extremely ugly. He glanced down at the tablet in his hand, then looked up at the corpse at the entrance of the apartment lobby.

"The situation is very serious, more serious than you can imagine."

Instead of handing the tablet to Surong, the sheriff walked right past him and shouted urgently into the cordon, "Professor Stella! And everyone inside! Drop everything you're doing and get out of the cordon immediately!"

The atmosphere in front of the apartment building immediately became tense as the sheriff shouted.

Several police officers maintaining order on the perimeter quickly pushed the crowd back a distance, while officers inside the cordon drew their guns and pointed them at the apartment, urging Stella and the others to finish their work quickly and retreat to the outside of the cordon in an orderly manner.

Stella, along with Hannah and two assistants, quickly retreated outside the scene. She looked at the serious-looking sheriff and asked in confusion, "What exactly happened? My sample collection was only halfway done. If the scene is disturbed, the subsequent tests will be very troublesome."

Without wasting words, the sheriff handed over the police tablet in his hand: "Professor, the scene is no longer important; you must watch this surveillance video."

Sulong stepped forward, took the tablet, and stood side by side with Stella and Hannah, then turned on the video recording on the tablet.

The screen was displaying surveillance footage, with the viewpoint directly facing the apartment entrance. The timestamp in the lower right corner of the screen showed 13:07:21 PM.

A figure in a loose hospital gown swayed and appeared at the edge of the frame. It was the deceased, David Miller. His steps were extremely stiff, like a puppet being pulled by some invisible string.

At 13:07:43, David staggered to the entrance of the apartment building on the first floor, then suddenly stopped, clutching his chest tightly with both hands, his body contorted into a bizarre shrimp shape, as if he were enduring immense pain.

At 13:08:09, David crashed to the ground, his limbs twitching violently.

At 13:09:11, David's originally flat chest swelled up strangely like an inflating balloon. His hospital gown was torn apart instantly, his skin and flesh were ripped open, and a dazzling butterfly with beautiful wings was forced out of his internal organs and took flight.

At 13:09:47, the eerie butterfly circled above the deceased once, then suddenly flapped its wings and flew straight to the third floor of the adjacent apartment building, slipping through a half-open glass window on the left.

When they saw the butterfly fly into the window, everyone present gasped and looked up in unison at the window on the left side of the third floor of the neighboring apartment building.

The window was half open, and the old floral curtains swayed gently in the breeze, as if waving to the people downstairs.

Su Long narrowed his eyes and instantly activated his spiritual vision, quickly scanning the area around the window. He did not see the red weakness box, but only a thin layer of black mist on the edge of the windowsill.

"It's still inside," Surong said in a deep voice.

Upon hearing Su Long's affirmative words, the sheriff immediately pulled out his walkie-talkie and loudly called for backup: "Command Center! 1122 Parker Street requests assistance from the Paranormal Support Bureau! An extremely dangerous supernatural creature is lurking in the apartment building!"

Just as the sheriff finished calling for backup, an officer in charge of the perimeter search came running over, carrying a laptop and sweating profusely. He quickly reported to his superior: "Sir! We've found it! This apartment building is an older type of property, and each unit is forcibly connected to a landline. The system currently shows that there are five registered residents in the entire building."

The sheriff snatched the laptop, stared at the list of numbers on the screen, and barked, "Call them one by one immediately! Check the situation inside! If anyone answers, tell them to evacuate immediately!"

The officer immediately took out his phone and dialed the numbers in order on the list.

After dialing four households in a row, no one answered the phone. The atmosphere at the scene became increasingly oppressive, and cold sweat slid down the sheriff's forehead and dripped onto his tactical vest.

"Damn it, could it be that everyone inside is already—" The sheriff gritted his teeth, not finishing his sentence.

Stella shook her head and calmly analyzed, "Today is a weekday. At this time of day, most residents should be at work, so it's normal that no one answers the phone."

At this point, the police officer dialed the last number, the landline of the room where the butterfly had flown in.

Seeing this, everyone present fell silent again, waiting for the outcome of the phone call.

The phone rang twice before being answered, and everyone's heart jumped into their throats.

Immediately afterwards, a tender, clear little girl's voice rang in everyone's ears.

"Feed? Who are you looking for?"

Upon hearing that innocent child's voice, the faces of everyone present instantly darkened.

The sheriff's mouth gaped open, momentarily at a loss for words. He had faced ruthless drug dealers and cunning gangsters, but when faced with a little girl who might be mysteriously disemboweled at any moment, all his official negotiation jargon stuck in his throat.

If you directly reveal your police identity or yell at her to run, it is very likely to frighten the child or even disturb the terrifying butterfly lurking in the room.

In the midst of the deathly silence, Su Long raised his hand to signal everyone to be quiet. He then took the phone from the police officer's hand, took a deep breath, and his voice became exaggeratedly friendly: "Hi! Hello, kid! This is the Sesame Street Lucky Hotline, I'm Big Bird Brother. Do you usually watch our show?"

Upon hearing this opening remark, the sheriff standing to the side was taken aback for a moment, then immediately reacted, his eyes revealing undisguised approval.

Sesame Street is PBSKids' flagship children's channel, which has a significant influence among preschool children aged two to six across the United States. Using this as an excuse to lower children's guard and gain their trust is definitely the most perfect tactical choice at present.

The little girl on the other end of the phone became visibly excited, exclaiming in delight, "Wow! Big Bird Brother! I watch it every day!"

I love cookie monsters the most!

Surong chuckled excitedly a few times, then continued in his friendly voice, "That's fantastic! We're having a special lottery for all of America's television viewers, and congratulations, little one, you've been chosen! We'll be giving you a super-sized Cookie Monster plushie!"

Su Long suddenly changed the subject and asked, "But before that, Big Bird Brother needs to register the lucky audience member's information. Little friend, what's your name?"

"My name is Anna! I'm five years old!"

"Little Anna, how many people are in your family now?" Surong asked cheerfully.

Anna's voice turned somewhat dejected: "I'm all alone. My mother went out to work, and she locked me in the house, telling me to be a good girl and draw while she comes back."

Hearing Anna's answer, Su Long's heart sank completely. The situation he least wanted to see had still happened. The strange creature was alone in a room with a five-year-old child.

Fortunately, based on previous encounters with the butterfly, this creature doesn't have much physical attack capability; it mainly attacks by making direct eye contact with its victims through its compound eyes.

More importantly, this monster's habits are similar to those of a real insect; it likes to hang upside down in dark corners of the ceiling or cling to extremely high walls.

The five-year-old girl was only a little over a meter tall, so her line of sight was naturally much lower than that of an adult. Moreover, she was concentrating on drawing. If she didn't deliberately tilt her head back, she might not have been able to make eye contact with the eerie creature.

Thinking of this, Su Long took a deep breath and suggested, "Little Anna, Big Bird Brother wants to play a super fun game of hide-and-seek with you! Which room are you in right now?"

"I'm in my mom's bedroom, sitting on the carpet drawing."

Surong immediately chimed in, his tone exaggerated and mysterious: "That's fantastic! We're downstairs at your place now, ready to deliver the super-sized Cookie Monster plushie to you!"

"However, since it's hide-and-seek, there are rules. Now you need to put down your paintbrush, quietly walk to the wardrobe, and hide inside."

Su Long slowed his speech, emphasizing the rules word by word: "After you hide inside, you must cover your eyes tightly with both hands. You absolutely, absolutely cannot open them. No matter what sounds are outside, whether it's knocking on the door, the sound of breaking glass, or the sound of Big Bird calling you, you cannot open your eyes."

"If you peek even once, the game is over, and your Cookie Monster plushie will be confiscated!"

Then came the girl's confident assurance: "I promise! I absolutely won't open my eyes! I'm the best at hide-and-seek!"

Su Long laughed and said, "Okay, hide well, and wait for Big Bird Brother to come find you."

Su Long abruptly hung up the phone and handed it back to the police officer, his face immediately turning extremely gloomy.

"Seal off all exits of this building; no one is allowed to approach."

After saying that, Su Long turned and walked towards the old red-brick apartment building.

The sheriff hesitated for a moment, then strode forward, extending his thick arm to block Su Long's path, and said sternly, "Stop! You can't go in!"

"There's an extremely dangerous supernatural monster inside! We must wait for reinforcements from the Bureau of Mysterious Support, or for a professional exorcist to arrive!"

Su Long stopped and turned to look at the dutiful sheriff, coldly saying, "I am the exorcist."

Seeing that the sheriff did not object further, Su Long walked past the sheriff and strode towards the apartment entrance.

Seeing this, Hannah quickly took out a Bible from her backpack and ran after him, saying, "Sue, wait for me! I'll go with you!"