America: The Cremator

Due to the influence of the North Pacific Current, Seattle's nights are always humid and sticky, as if the whole city is soaked in moisture.

The streetlights on Nanji Flower Street are old and in disrepair, and the voltage is unstable, making a hissing sound of electricity in the cold wind.

The deep roar of an engine broke the silence of the South Park District as a black Panda armored personnel carrier drove up from the street of South Jihua Street and came to an abrupt stop in front of residence number 3402.

The heavy sliding door was roughly pulled open from the inside, and six fully armed members of the "Black Chess" task force filed out. Four of them quickly began to lay out a cordon, and together they completed the blockade of the building.

The other two team members took out their instruments and began monitoring the surrounding environment.

Elena was the last to get out of the car, striding towards the perimeter of the building, which was already under the control of her teammates: "Report the readings."

"Captain, the spiritual radiation level here has exceeded 200 points." A team member stared at the wildly fluctuating red curve on his handheld terminal, his voice tinged with tension.

Another team member's voice was even more urgent: "Captain, the reality stability has dropped below 0.6! The detector has detected extremely typical characteristics of spatial fluctuations in the other world... The space here is separating from reality!"

"The Other World..."

Elena repeated the word, her gaze fixed on the seemingly peaceful two-story wooden house.

To the naked eye, the house simply stood quietly in the darkness, without any apparent abnormality.

Elena turned around and ordered, "Set up the spatial display device. I want to see its true appearance now."

The two team members quickly returned to the armored vehicle, took out a heavy black engineering plastic box from the trunk, opened it, took out a precision device resembling an industrial surveying instrument, skillfully unfolded the tripod, and set up the instrument directly in front of the house.

As soon as the instrument was connected to the vehicle's power supply, a fan-shaped laser scanning grid shot out from the instrument's lens, instantly covering the entire building.

"The phase display is activated, with a synchronization rate of 100%."

Elena took the special glasses handed to her by her teammate, pressed the activation button on the side of the temple, and the scene in front of her instantly changed.

The original dilapidated white wooden wall panels and dark green window frames disappeared at the same time, replaced by a thick black curtain that was slowly creeping.

Under the light of the laser scanning mesh, the surface of the curtain shimmered with an eerie, multicolored sheen, like the color of oil spilled on the sea.

They resembled the skin of a living organism, flowing along the texture of the wall, sealing off the doors and windows, and isolating all connection between the inside and outside.

The entire house looked as if it had been swallowed by some giant deep-sea mollusk and was being slowly digested.

"Damn it." Elena cursed under her breath as she looked at the constantly writhing black membrane, then pressed the communicator to her ear and connected to the command center located in the Federal Building annex.

"This is Elena, the leader of the 'Black Chess' squad. We have confirmed that a hidden world disaster has occurred at 3402 South Thistle Street. The target area has been completely disintegrated. We request the immediate sealing off of the surrounding three blocks and request the relocation of the spatial stabilization anchor."

A burst of background noise came from the other end of the communicator, followed by a flat male voice: "Received, Captain Elena... Please report the estimated number of people trapped."

"The exact number of people trapped cannot be confirmed at this time... at least two."

There was a moment of silence on the other end of the communicator, as if someone was checking the resource allocation table.

"Captain Elena, unfortunately. The only space stabilization anchor for the Seattle branch is currently on a Class A mission on the east shore of Lake Washington, where 17 people are stranded and cannot be deployed immediately."

Elena frowned deeply as she stared at the black curtain that was moving at a noticeably faster pace, and pressed, "How much longer?"

"It is estimated that it will take at least fifteen hours to complete the current task and transfer the equipment."

Elena's voice became somewhat impatient: "Fifteen hours? Okay, please get the equipment here as soon as possible."

"Understood, Captain Elena."

Elena took off her communicator, looked up at the building in front of her that appeared swollen like a malignant tumor in her special glasses, took a deep breath, and calmed herself down.

That bastard Su Long, despite his despicable ways and the fact that he rarely speaks the truth, did save her and fight alongside her...

Are we just going to let him die inside like this?

She couldn't bear it.

"Captain, should we charge in?"

Lieutenant Miller walked up to her with his rifle in hand. Although his expression was very serious, there was no hint of hesitation in his tone: "This inner world doesn't seem to be very large yet. If we break in with jamming grenades, we might be able to find a weak point from the inside and rescue the trapped people."

Elena turned her head and glanced at the team members who had followed her through thick and thin. They were well-equipped and well-trained, but against the endless monsters in the Otherworld, conventional weapons were of little use.

"No. At this level of erosion, the internal rules have already changed. You are just ordinary people; you have no obligation to take such a fatal risk."

She turned and walked to the side of the armored vehicle, opening a metal box marked with a red cross.

Miller asked anxiously, "But boss, are we just going to wait like this? At this rate of erosion, the people inside won't last two hours."

"Who said we're just going to sit here and wait?"

Elena took a full-face gas mask from the box, checked the filter canister for leaks, and then put it on her face. She then took another spare mask from the box and hung it on her waist, ordering, "Everyone stay put, maintain the blockade, and prepare to connect to the space stabilization anchor."

"I'll go in alone."

Miller stepped forward, stopping Elena and admonishing her, "This is insane, Captain! Without the restraint of the stabilizing anchor, entering the inner world alone is suicide. You'll be completely swallowed up by that space!"

"Execute the order, Miller."

Elena didn't offer any further explanation. She reached out and lifted the yellow caution tape, striding towards the house shrouded in darkness.

As she drew closer, the surrounding air became increasingly viscous, and a strong static electricity stung her exposed skin, triggering her instincts to sound alarm bells.

The brass lantern at her waist, which had previously emitted only a dim glow, suddenly burst forth with a dazzling milky-white light, as if sensing some great threat, attempting to dispel the darkness that was constantly pressing in from the surroundings.

Elena walked to the porch and stopped.

At this moment, the door in front of me is no longer made of wood, but a slowly rotating black vortex, with colorful oil sheen stretching out mesmerizing lines at the edge of the vortex.

She took a deep breath, raised her right hand, which was gloved with a tactical glove, and slowly reached towards the center of the vortex.

The moment her fingertips touched the black substance, a chilling, bone-chilling suction emanated from the depths of the vortex. The black slime that had been covering the building's surface now surged and boiled like sharks smelling blood. It frantically climbed upwards along Elena's fingertips, enveloping her in the blink of an eye.

Elena did not struggle, letting the force pull her in.

The black waves suddenly closed in, completely engulfing her figure.

The house fell silent again, the black curtain still slowly undulating as if nothing had happened.

Miller looked at the empty doorway and couldn't help but shiver, muttering to himself...

"My God... it's like being eaten up by that house."

A teammate next to him swallowed hard, his voice trembling as he corrected, "This doesn't look like... it's eating."