America: The Cremator

Three hours later, the night was pitch black, and the Seattle suburbs were eerily quiet.

A black Ford hearse silently pulled up to the outside of an elegant detached villa.

The car door opened, and Su Long, completely encased in a pure white airtight protective suit, stepped out. He took out his phone and dialed Elena's number.

This time, the phone rang only once before it was quickly answered.

"Captain Elena, you answered the phone quickly this time," Su Long teased.

Elena's cool, slightly annoyed voice came through the receiver: "If I hadn't answered, would you, you bastard, have started fiddling with that broken statue again?"

Su Long corrected him seriously, "How can you call that tinkering? It's our unique and efficient emergency communication method, and it's very ritualistic."

As soon as she finished speaking, the villa's ornate iron gate was pushed open. Elena held the phone in one hand and leaned against the door frame with the other, scrutinizing Su Long's comical attire.

"I remember I didn't invite you to my house tonight," Elena said, her voice carrying a hint of scrutiny.

Su Long shrugged and readily admitted, "No, but as you know, I'm homeless now. The landlord is dead, and the house has been sealed off by the police."

Elena made way for Su Long to come in, while simultaneously looking him up and down: "So you came all this way here? Not at all polite... By the way, how did you end up like this?"

Su Long walked into the living room and said helplessly, "It's a long story, Captain Elena."

"Let me ask you something first, there aren't any strange butterflies or anything like that in your room, are there?"

"Of course not," Elena's eyes turned strange. "Why are you suddenly interested in entomology?"

"Close all the doors and windows first, then I'll tell you what's going on," Su Long solemnly instructed.

Although Elena was full of doubts, seeing Su Long's serious expression, she turned around and went upstairs to lock all the window latches.

When she returned to the living room, Su Long had already taken off his protective mask, revealing a slightly tired face.

Elena walked behind the bar, took a bottle of chilled cola with water droplets on it from the refrigerator, and tossed it to Sulong.

Su Long caught it steadily, unscrewed the cap, and took a big gulp. The cool liquid, with bubbles, slid down his throat, easing his tense nerves a little.

"It may sound absurd, but I'm being chased by a butterfly."

The air was quiet for a moment.

Elena tried to maintain her serious expression, but the corners of her mouth involuntarily turned up, and she finally couldn't help but burst out laughing.

"Are you sure, Mr. Suron? I think you need to see a psychiatrist for a full mental evaluation?"

Su Long shrugged helplessly: "I knew you'd react this way. I only told you because we've been through thick and thin together."

He dropped his joking expression and became serious: "I've learned the name of the monster we fought today—the Nightmare Butterfly. Do you have any clues? My current state of being chased by butterflies is a curse left to me by that creature."

Upon hearing the word "curse," Elena's smile vanished instantly, and her beautiful eyes widened: "You've been cursed again?"

Su Long nodded, his voice full of exhaustion: "Yes, the Rain Girl incident was only recently resolved."

Mentioning the "Rain Lady," Elena seemed to recall something. She slightly raised her chin, her gaze sharp as she stared at Su Long: "Speaking of which, I have to ask you something. So, you were the one who dealt with that 'Rain Lady,' weren't you?"

Su Long did not deny it and nodded again.

Elena's expression became complicated. After a moment of silence, she stood up and said, "Come up with me. I'll check if there's any information about this thing in the system."

Upon hearing this, Su Long cautiously looked around, put his mask back on, and then followed Elena to the study on the second floor, where several high-resolution monitors were placed.

Although it's called a study, it's more like a professional intelligence analysis room.

Elena sat down at the computer, her fingers flying across the keyboard as she logged into the FBI's internal database. She entered keywords such as "nightmare," "dream," "butterfly," and "lepidoptera" into the search bar.

However, the search results that popped up on the screen were mostly records of biological specimens or ordinary cases, with no matches related to supernatural entities.

Elena took a deep breath, her expression turning serious. "This is bad. There's no record of it in the database; it could be a completely new, undocumented anomaly."

She shifted her chair, gesturing for Su Long to sit next to her: "Tell me in detail what exactly your curse is all about."

Su Long explained, "Every day around midnight, a butterfly will appear out of thin air at a random location within a kilometer of me and fly towards my position."

"It might get eaten by a bird on the road, it might be swatted to death by a passing child, or it might get stuck in a spider web... but as long as it doesn't die and successfully touches my skin, the curse will take effect immediately—it will kill me."

Elena was stunned. She pressed on, "Really? That sounds too..."

"Of course it's true." Surong's tone left no room for doubt.

"Is the one chasing you the true form of the 'Nightmare Butterfly'?"

Su Long shook his head and said, "No, it's just a very ordinary butterfly, which is why I'm wearing this protective suit."

Elena rubbed her throbbing temples: "You always manage to give me some kind of terrible headache. This thing is so unpredictable, how can I trust you?"

As she spoke, she turned her head irritably, her gaze inadvertently sweeping towards the window behind her, only to be horrified to discover that a butterfly was quietly perched on the bright floor-to-ceiling window of the study.

The butterfly's wings displayed a dazzling array of colors that defied description, as if the Milky Way and the aurora borealis had been shattered and reassembled, breathtakingly beautiful yet exuding a chilling, deadly eeriness.

Elena looked at the butterfly, then slowly turned her head to look at Sulong.

"Alright, Mr. Suron, I believe you now."

Su Long followed her gaze, and his heart skipped a beat for no apparent reason.

He wasn't afraid of any insects, but the moment he saw this butterfly, a chill from the depths of his soul instantly ran through his body.

This curse is far too evil.

After carefully checking his mask and protective suit to ensure there were no leaks, Su Long turned to Elena and asked, "Captain Elena, could you please take care of this butterfly?"

Elena glanced at Su Long, sighed helplessly, picked up a weekly magazine from the table, rolled it into a stick, and then slowly opened the window.

The butterfly that had been resting on the windowpane immediately flew in, only to be smashed into a pulp by Elena with a single blow.

After confirming that the butterfly was completely dead, Elena took a few sheets of paper and wiped the butterfly remains off the weekly magazine cover before turning to a relieved Sulong: "What do you know about that Nightmare Butterfly?"

"I suspect that the potion you're investigating was produced by this 'Nightmare Butterfly.' And what we fought in the Inner World yesterday was very likely just an avatar of it," Su Long said in a deep voice.

Elena gasped, incredulously asking, "A clone? One clone is that troublesome?"

Su Long nodded, giving a more somber answer: "Judging from my intuition, this guy's true form is at least Rank B."

Elena sighed deeply: "Both its true form and the curse it inflicted on you are troublesome..."

"Looks like you'll have to investigate this case with me, won't you? For your own life."

Su Long shrugged. "It seems so... So, could you show me the files on those dream potions you have?"

Elena shook her head and said helplessly, "We have limited information at the moment; we don't have much valuable information at all."

"We recently made contact with an informant who is helping us investigate the organization's internal affairs. Once the intelligence is compiled in a couple of days, we might be able to close in and resolve this matter as soon as possible."

"Okay," Su Long nodded and stood up. "Then I'll borrow your bathroom to take a shower first, and then find a room to rest."

Elena was amused by his self-righteous attitude: "You really don't consider yourself an outsider."

Then, she looked at Su Long and said somewhat awkwardly, "Um... after you're done washing up, just go to my bed and wait for me."

Upon hearing this, Su Long's eyes widened immediately: "What?"