America: The Cremator

Su Long leaned against the soft cushions of the hospital bed, his gaze focused on the semi-transparent panel that only he could see.

The five experience points were quietly floating next to the attribute bar, waiting to be allocated.

A constitution value of -8 means that his physical condition is still at an extremely poor level.

If all five points are invested in physical fitness, it can indeed further improve physical fitness, but this will only bring the value back to -3, which is still a negative number.

When faced with bizarre creatures that can manipulate rain and easily break human necks, there is no fundamental difference between a -3 and a -8 constitution; both are easily broken upon contact.

Su Long shifted his gaze to the Spirit Vision.

He began to recall his experiences on that rainy night—it wasn't until the strange woman stood twenty meters in front of the car that he was able to see her with his naked eye.

Before that, he was completely unaware of the approaching danger.

Such sluggishness and blindness in intelligence are often more fatal than physical weakness.

If you can't see the enemy, you can't defend against them, let alone attack them.

In this world where corpses can mutate at any time, the ability to detect information is far more important than mere physical strength.

With a slight thought, Su Long sent two points of light into the Physique column, while the remaining three points of light disappeared into the Spiritual Vision column.

The numbers on the panel then jump and update.

Constitution: -8 → -6.

Vision: 0→3

A warm sensation pumped out from his heart, flowing through his blood vessels to his limbs and bones, and the bone pain and weakness that had accompanied him for a long time were slightly relieved.

Immediately afterwards, a chill spread from behind his eyeballs.

Su Long squeezed out a few tears from the sudden shock. When the chill subsided, he felt that the scene before him had undergone some extremely subtle changes.

His vision wasn't clearer, and his mild myopia wasn't cured, but there were some differences in his field of vision.

[The host has unlocked the ability of psychic vision, which has been upgraded to a new stage: Humans, strange entities, or objects radiating extraordinary power will appear with specific halo outlines in the field of vision.]

[Raise to 10 points to unlock the next stage]

Su Long blinked, adjusting to the new visual feedback.

Just then, there was a knock on the door of the ward.

"Knock knock."

"Please come in."

Su Long adjusted his posture and watched as the door was pushed open.

A tall, blonde woman walked in first, followed by a fully armed soldier.

Su Long's gaze swept over the two of them, and he immediately recognized the woman in the lead as the one who had dragged him out of the car accident scene last night.

She was still wearing yesterday's outfit, exuding a casual yet sharp aura.

The sheathed two-handed cross sword was slung diagonally behind his back, its hilt wrapped in dark brown calfskin, showing obvious signs of wear.

The fully armed soldier following behind her was carrying an XM7 rifle, the muzzle of which was hanging down naturally.

The soldier walked to the bedside, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and took out a black identification folder from the pocket of his tactical vest, unfolding it to show Su Long.

"Hello, sir."

"I am a sergeant first class from the Black Chess Task Force of the Federal Bureau of Paranormal Support. This is our captain, Elena Campbell, a Class B exorcist."

Surong looked at the metal badge on the ID, then his gaze fell on Elena.

Exorcist.

Possessing extraordinary powers, recognized by the U.S. government, they are dedicated personnel responsible for cleaning up large-scale bizarre disasters.

They either possess unique bloodline abilities, carry "sacred objects" with extraordinary powers, or directly sign power contracts with neutral supernatural entities.

I wonder which type this person in front of me is?

Suddenly, a glimmer of light entered Su Long's field of vision.

He looked at Elena's waist, where a white halo, like breathing, emanated from the seemingly dilapidated brass kerosene lamp.

The light was not dazzling, but it gave people a warm and substantial feeling.

In contrast, the imposing cross sword behind her appeared to be nothing more than a cold piece of ordinary iron in the vision of the spirit, without any special effects.

It turned out to be the case.

That sword was just a decoy or a physical damage tool; the real "relic" was that lamp.

Elena walked to the foot of the bed, crossed her arms, and scrutinized Su Long with her gray-blue eyes.

"Sir, we need to gather information about the C-level bizarre incident last night. We hope you can cooperate."

Su Long nodded and asked, "Of course, by the way... how is Officer Anthony, who was in the same car as me?"

While rummaging through his bag for paper and pen, the sergeant replied, "His hand is completely broken, but he's survived and is recovering well."

Seeing that the sergeant next to her was ready to take notes, Elena began to formally ask, "What were the physical characteristics of the strange creature you came into contact with?"

Surong recalled for a moment and said, "The woman was wearing a black dress, a wide-brimmed hat, had a long neck, a pointed chin, and skin as smooth as rubber."

"Did it attack you? If so, what were its specific methods of attack?"

"It could manipulate rainwater, turning it into a red liquid that severed Miles's arm and also cut off Anthony's hand."

"It also tries to suffocate us with rainwater, which defies gravity and gets into our nostrils."

Elena narrowed her eyes slightly: "Since it used such methods, why are you still alive?"

Surong pointed to his throat, his expression unwavering, and said, "It tried twice to drown me, but each time it was about to succeed, the water suddenly dispersed... Perhaps its ability is somewhat limited? Or perhaps it was interfered with by something?"

Elena stared at Su Long's face, seemingly trying to discern the truth in his words: "The Strange creature eventually got into your car. The radar showed that its signal remained inside the car for a long time, but then it suddenly fled, and the signal strength weakened significantly, as if it had been injured."

"Did you do something?"

Su Long leaned against the pillows, his face showing confusion and exhaustion, but his mind was filled with alarm bells.

They arrived as expected.

These people aren't here to do charity; they're here to conduct a screening.

He is currently suffering from a terminal illness and is in extremely poor health. He has no ability to resist official institutions. If he were to expose himself rashly, who knows whether he would be offered amnesty or subjected to dissection and research?

Moreover, the profession of crematorium worker is very suitable for his current needs. He can earn money to treat his illness and legally access corpses to improve his online reputation. He has no intention of switching to the special task force.

"Madam, I'm just an ordinary cremator. There was chaos in the car, and that thing suddenly appeared in the back seat and snapped Miles's neck."

"I was terrified. All I knew was to step on the gas, and then the car crashed. When I woke up, I was in the hospital."

"As for why it ran away, maybe it was hit by Anthony's bullet? Or maybe it thought we pieces of rotten flesh weren't tasty enough?"

"In short, I survived purely by luck!"

Elena was silent for a few seconds, then her gaze fell on Su Long, as if trying to discern something from him.

Just then, the door to the ward was pushed open again.

A nurse pushed in a bulky machine. She glanced at Elena and the armed sergeant in the room, startled by the exaggerated cross sword and firearms. She calmed down when she saw the insignia on the soldier's shoulder and the insignia of the Federal Bureau of Oddity Support: "Sir, it's time for dialysis."

Su Long's brow twitched involuntarily, a sense of foreboding creeping over him.

"Why does this nurse happen to be here for dialysis at this time?"

She couldn't let government officials know that she had uremia, especially since the strange support bureau that this woman worked for was actually the superior unit of the Corpse Management Bureau.

On second thought, Su Long felt somewhat relieved.

After Elena investigated him, it seemed that he couldn't hide his poor health condition for long. Rather than trying to conceal it, he might as well let her know.

The image of a frail young man suffering from uremia would be more likely to dispel her doubts.

Elena glanced at the dialysis machine, then her gaze swept over Su Long's sickly, ashen face.

"Since you still need treatment, we won't disturb you any longer."

Elena waved to the sergeant, and the two turned and walked out of the ward.

……

Inside a black armored special forces vehicle in the parking lot outside the hospital building.

The sergeant tossed the notebook onto the dashboard and started the vehicle's engine.

"Captain, that kid doesn't seem to be lying, and his physical condition is indeed very bad, let alone being able to fight a C-level monster hand-to-hand."

"If it wasn't him either, then who exactly drove that woman in the rain away?"

Elena sat in the passenger seat, her fingers gently stroking the unlit kerosene lamp at her waist.

"No, it's him."

The sergeant paused for a moment, then turned to look at Elena.

"What? But the law enforcement records don't show any footage of him using his powers, and the way he looked..."

Elena interrupted the sergeant: "Yes, the body camera was interfered with by a special energy, and the picture was completely blurry, but the woman in the rain was still dozens of meters away at that time. I believe it was energy interference coming from around the police officer."

"And didn't you notice his gaze?"

"When a normal person hears my title of exorcist, their eyes are usually drawn to the cross sword on my back, after all, that thing is very impressive and eye-catching... but he kept staring at my lantern."

Elena took a cigarette out of her pocket, smelled it, but didn't light it: "Either he has intuition far beyond that of ordinary people, or he has awakened his spiritual vision."

"Perhaps we need to observe him for a while longer..."