America: The Cremator

Hannah remained noncommittal about Suron's monologue, instead asking about the location of the mission.

"The report mentions the Eastern Duwamish Green Belt... could that be the place?"

“Yes,” Suron said smoothly, turning the steering wheel. The black Ford crematorium accelerated past the slow-moving old man’s car in front of it. “It has a more well-known name, ‘The Jungle.’”

"Remember Gary Ridgway? The most deadliest serial killer in American history."

"The bodies of the first five victims were found there."

At this point, Su Long let out a long sigh: "And today we have to deal with one more corpse than we did back then... Wish us luck."

As the vehicle travels south along Interstate 5, the city landscape is gradually replaced by gray factory buildings and rusty pipes in the industrial zone.

Ultimately, Sulong parked his car in a parking lot on the south side of a park, which was the closest point the vehicle could reach to the scene of the incident.

Further on, there are only secluded paths that can only be traveled by one or two people.

After donning full protective gear, the two descended an unusually steep staircase path, crossed a large, man-made gap in the park's boundary wire fence, and officially entered the western edge of the Greenbelt camp.

Above the campsite, the roar of traffic echoed from the I-5 Interstate viaduct.

The light becomes dim here; even during the day, sunlight can only barely penetrate the gaps in the viaduct and the layers of dense tree canopy, casting dappled and fragmented shadows on the ground.

The two walked southwest along a muddy path. The ground was slippery and covered with thick moss and decaying leaves, and each step they took was silent.

After walking for about seven or eight minutes, a relatively flat area came into view.

Su Long stopped and took out the mission report from his pocket. In the dim light, he compared the printed photo on it with the huge tent not far away.

"This is it."

It was six or seven times larger than a regular single tent. Its frame was constructed from bamboo poles of varying lengths and rusty iron frames, and it was covered with waterproof tarpaulins of different colors and ages, with the seams haphazardly bound together with rough ropes and tape.

Even in the world of the homeless, there exists a cruel hierarchical order.

Those who can occupy such a "mansion" are usually well-known groups or leaders in this lawless area.

"Check your mask and protective suit again," Surong's voice came from behind the mask, sounding somewhat muffled. "Make sure it's completely sealed."

After receiving Hannah's affirmative reply, he took the lead and walked towards the cobbled-together tent, reaching out to lift a thick piece of oilcloth that served as a door curtain.

The moment the curtain was lifted, a thick cloud of darkness gushed out from inside the tent.

It was a torrent of living creatures, almost solidified, composed of countless flies.

"Buzz—"

The deafening hum instantly drowned out the traffic noise overhead. The sound was so dense that it created a tangible vibration that made one's skin tingle through the protective suit.

Hannah had clearly never seen such a terrifying sight before. She instinctively backed away, waving her hands wildly in front of her, trying to shoo away the black mosquitoes that were swarming towards her.

Suplong suppressed his nausea, turned his head, and said with a hint of mockery in his voice, "How about it? Never seen anything like this before?"

"Didn't your professor, who likes to collect corpses, teach you how to handle this kind of stuff?"

Hannah did not answer, but simply turned her head to one side and waved her hands repeatedly.

Su Long swallowed hard and forced himself to enter the tent.

Although he had just mocked Hannah, to be honest, this was the first time he had ever seen such a scene.

Seeing Hannah follow him in, Surong pointed to the body camera Hannah was wearing on her chest: "We'll split up, take photos as evidence, record the scene, and then get them back to the car."

Hannah's voice trembled slightly: "How do we get it there?"

Su Long patted the four huge body bags on his back, which made a dull rustling sound as they rubbed together.

"Of course, you chop it up and put it in."

Hannah's face looked even paler behind the protective mask.

"Do you want it... chopped up?"

"When you and your professor collect specimens, don't you need to divide them into sections?"

"We need the complete version," Hannah's voice lowered, "the more complete it is, the greater its research value."

Su Long ignored her, took a deep breath, and, with the suffocating swarm of flies overhead, began to observe the scene inside the tent.

Various kinds of household garbage, empty wine bottles, dirty clothes and syringes covered in sewage were piled up in the corner, mixed with the muddy ground.

In the very center was a dilapidated wooden table, and an extremely obese man lay slumped over it, his cheek pressed tightly against the surface, already lifeless.

Around him, five equally ragged homeless men lay sprawled on the ground in various bizarre poses, their bodies contorted as if they were enduring immense pain before their deaths.

They must have been sitting on small stools around a table, as if they were having some kind of gathering.

Su Long activated the recorder and took several panoramic photos of the entire space to document the evidence.

Just then, he heard Hannah let out a short gasp.

"Su, come and see quickly."

Suron turned around and found Hannah staring motionless at the center of the table.

He stepped forward and followed Hannah's gaze.

In the center of the table, next to the head of the obese dead man, stood a statue of the Virgin Mary.

The statue was no more than the height of a hand, made of what appeared to be some kind of inferior plaster, with a layer of mottled paint on its surface.

The face of the Virgin Mary should be compassionate and peaceful, but this statue has an extremely eerie smile on its face. The upward curve of the corners of the mouth is too exaggerated, revealing a sinister and chilling quality.

"Don't touch those things," Su Long warned, then turned his gaze back to the corpses. "We need to get to work. Once we're done, we'll leave. The rest is none of our business."

Hannah looked up from the statue and asked, "How do we do it?"

Su Long took a sharp pair of industrial scissors from his tool bag and asked an unrelated question.

Have you ever seen a whale being killed?

Hannah paused for a moment, then nodded.

"I've seen it."

"That makes things easier, it's similar to killing a whale."

"First, cut open his clothes, then cut open his skin, and remove and discard those thick, blanket-like layers of fat piece by piece. If you put that stuff directly into the crematorium, it will cause an explosion."

Hannah's mind was instantly filled with the gruesome image of a whale being gutted on the beach, large chunks of blubber being dragged out by hooks.

Su Long said no more. He went around to the back of the obese victim and, with a "snip," cut open the T-shirt on the back of the victim's shirt, whose original color was no longer discernible.

However, as the fabric was cut open, the exposed skin made him stop moving.

On that broad back, which had turned bluish-purple from decay, was a huge and deep inverted cross wound, as if it had been cut open with some kind of blunt knife.

Hannah's eyes widened instantly. She crouched down and gently touched the edge of the wound with her gloved fingers. "Wait, something's wrong with this guy!"

Su Long gritted his teeth and continued cutting the clothes downwards, exposing more skin.

An even stranger scene unfolded.

Below the wound of the inverted cross, countless tiny, dried bloodstains are densely distributed, resembling a geographical pattern of a river basin.

The key issue is that the direction of this "river" is wrong.

The blood didn't seem to be flowing from that huge wound; on the contrary, all its branches seemed to be flowing upwards from the ground, eventually converging into the wound of the inverted cross.

Hannah's gaze followed the bloodstains and landed on the dirty ground.

She stretched out her foot and kicked away the pile of garbage, dust, and wriggling maggots at her feet.

As the ground was cleared, a chilling scene slowly emerged.

Beneath the other five dead bodies in the tent, a clear line of blood extended, winding across the muddy ground before converging at the body of the fat man.

It was as if the blood from those five corpses had been drawn out by some invisible force and poured into the body of the person in the middle.

"I understand," Hannah suddenly looked up at Suron, "My professor has studied similar things in some ancient documents."

"This is a sacrifice!"