Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

Half a month has passed, and the lower city area is becoming increasingly chaotic.

Su Fu is right. Whether it's gangs or cults, their pursuit and suppression of ordinary people is becoming increasingly intense.

Those who were even slightly robust were either injected with enhancement agents or underwent body modification surgery.

Those with psychic abilities were abducted by cults, their talents awakened, and turned into psychic kids.

As the unrest intensified, rumors circulated that certain things in the sewers had been pulled out by psionic cults and cyborg gangs to serve as a source of manpower.

Outside the church district, ruins were everywhere, and the air reeked of charred flesh.

If Hills hadn't been a harbor city, where the sea breeze carried away the smoke and gloom of conflict, the lower city would have long been shrouded in a dark cloud.

Within the same city, the Lower City was engulfed in flames and refugees were displaced, while the Upper City, just a stone's throw away, and even the adjacent Eastern District, were still enjoying peace and prosperity.

Is this how the human world should be?

Exhausted, Kong Jiu carried yet another corpse and threw it onto the hearse.

The corpses near the church district were so numerous that they resembled food on a buffet counter, available for Kong Jiu to take as he pleased.

He was too busy to deal with the body, so he left the cleanup to another junior student arranged by the professor, while he devoted himself entirely to the "purchasing" work.

Unfortunately, that junior went crazy this morning.

Kong Jiu sighed, looking at the carriage full of people lying down, wondering how long it would take to get back to the clinic.

The engine started, and the hearse creaked under its own weight as it drove along the small road leading to the clinic in the lower town.

"Oh! Amerigo, the beacon of humanity, burning with freedom and dreams..."

As Kongjiu hummed the song Old Chad had taught him, he drove out of the ruins, and the devastation of the lower city came into view.

He hadn't opened the system for several days, and hadn't been paying attention to his sanity and spiritual vision parameters.

He was even a little scared; what if he opened it and found a negative number?

"This place is unbearable in winter, I really want to go home for the New Year..."

As I hummed the song, the system's detection suddenly lit up.

200 meters away directly in front, there are two units with a comprehensive level of 14.

Strength 9, Agility 7, Intelligence -2, he's probably a gang member who's gone mad from taking enhancement drugs.

"Let's go around it."

Kong Jiu turned the steering wheel and veered onto another side road.

The system's reconnaissance was as convenient as ever, and coupled with his connections to both cults and gangs, there was a reason why he could brazenly move corpses amidst the ongoing fighting in the lower city.

Of course, this is also why the junior student, even after stitching up the corpse until he went crazy, could not replace Kong Jiu as the "purchasing agent".

After turning around the two high-ranking units, Kong Jiu drove onto another small road that led to the central city.

There are three roads leading out of the lower city, each patrolled by cults and gangs.

It was called guarding, but in reality, it was about arresting unregistered people who tried to leave the lower city and bringing them back to be their own people.

Kong Jiu was very tactful; he would avoid the situation if possible, and only approach the person if he couldn't avoid it, thus revealing his identity as a "mortician".

Of course, it would also take some money or a few boosters to solve the problem.

Unfortunately, it seems that God is not on my side today.

After turning onto this side road and driving only a few meters, two more units were detected.

Two hundred meters away, two level 11 units stood in the middle of the road, clearly attempting to block the way.

Let's turn again.

As a result, the third path, like the first two, also detected three units blocking the road.

Well, looks like I'll have to spend money to avoid disaster today.

Strength 3, Agility 4, Intelligence 2 – three ordinary psionic thugs.

It's not that he's taken too many drugs and can't communicate.

Last time, a gang member, who had taken too much of a booster, was brandishing his gun and was about to pull out a weapon when he was stopped by another accomplice who recognized Kong Jiu.

Kong Jiu silently opened the glove compartment in the passenger seat, revealing cigarettes, alcohol, and enhancement agents that had been prepared inside, and went to greet him.

As the vehicle approached, the figures of three people came into view.

He wore a purplish-black robe adorned with various messy skeletons and dried organs, and had a book with a cover that looked like human skin clipped to his waist.

There's no mistake, they're from the Purple Light Church.

A few days ago, the Purple Light Cult officially unified all the churches in the Lower City, becoming the only psychic organization in the Lower City besides the Prophet Church.

Correspondingly, the gangs that originally had some internal conflicts quickly regrouped and formed a super gang.

Kong Jiu slowly approached, rolled down the car window, and forced out his usual, somewhat ingratiating smile.

"Hey buddy, it's me, Kong Jiu."

As he spoke, he expertly handed over the cigarettes and alcohol, his eyes revealing the other person's expectation of receiving them.

As long as you give your name, whether you're a gang henchman or a cult member, they'll happily accept the cigarettes and alcohol and let you pass.

After all, Kong Jiu's image as a kind-hearted man responsible for collecting corpses in the lower city was something that not only refugees fleeing to the church streets, but also those who failed to escape and were forced to convert to Protestantism or take drugs had heard of.

But these three people today seem a little different.

Kong Jiu lowered his head alertly, his gaze passing through the car window to the long, slanted, and somewhat unnatural jawlines of the three men beneath their hoods.

Wait, these three...

A sense of familiarity welled up in Kong Jiu's heart.

It's not about being familiar with the person, but about being familiar with this kind of face.

Kong Jiu frowned, pondered for a moment, then suddenly remembered something, and his pupils contracted slightly.

"Rat-man?"

He was startled.

In the Upper Town of Hills, there is a legend.

Legend has it that in the sewers of Hills, there lives a species with heads resembling rats, pointed snouts and monkey cheeks, who feed on various wild animals and garbage.

They have a keen sense of smell and sharp eyes; they are extremely intelligent and mysterious creatures.

However, this is a legend that only circulates in the Upper City.

Because the sewers in the lower and middle urban areas are not cleaned as regularly as those in the upper urban areas, it is true that there are human settlements there.

These people, detached from normal society, living in dark, drug-laden sewers, naturally underwent some mutations.

Their faces all became somewhat pointed and monkey-like, with protruding front teeth and pointed, high noses, resembling rodents, hence the name "Rat People".

Kong Jiu's brows furrowed even more, and a hint of worry flashed in his eyes.

"It seems the rumors about those lunatics extending their recruitment reach into the sewers are true!"

The three rat-man cultists clearly noticed Kong Jiu as well, lowering their heads and scrutinizing him with their almost squinted eyes, their gazes dull and eerie.

"Kong...jiu?"

One of them spoke, his voice like the rustling sound of some creature crawling across a rock wall, sending chills down one's spine.

The three ratman cultists ignored the various bribes on the co-pilot's toolbox and began to mutter to themselves.

"Kong Jiu? Never heard of him..."

"Should we take it back and present it to the cult leader...?"

"Take it back...take it back..."

Kong Jiu frowned deeply, a hint of impatience and wariness flashing across his face.

These rat people are either uncivilized or have only been in the religion for a short time and do not recognize themselves.

Judging from what they said, the rat people seemed to want him to make an extra trip to the Purple Radiance Gathering.

This trip will not be easy.

If the gang finds out that Kong Jiu has been to the Purple Light Society's territory, they will definitely become suspicious of him.

As a neutral "embalmer," if neutrality is not absolute, then it is absolutely not neutral.

"This is troublesome. I'll have to contact the Purple Light Sect when I get back and ask them to send people to patrol and prevent the ratmen from being deployed."

Kong Jiu thought to himself, but tried his best to keep his face calm.

But he didn't dare to delay, so he hurriedly got out of the car, gesturing with his phone in his hand, trying to sound sincere and urgent.

"Hey, you three, how about I call your church leader and have him verify my identity?"

Kong Jiu had the phone numbers of many low-level leaders, whether they were cult members or gangsters.

Sometimes even Kong Jiu himself admired his ability to be successful in all situations.

The three rat-men scratched their chins, seemingly struggling to think and understand Kong Jiu's words, their movements slow and stiff.

"He said... to contact the leader?"

"The leader...in...subspace"

"Then let's send him to the subspace..."

Kong Jiu frowned, an expression of disbelief on his face.

He muttered to himself: The upper-class gentlemen say these people are quick-witted? How come they're as dull as if they haven't been enlightened?

Unexpectedly, one of the rat-man cultists took off the human skin book clipped to his waist, opened a certain page, and began to recite it in a fervent tone.

Could this ratman possess psychic abilities and be able to open a portal to the subspace?

Kong Jiu thought to himself.

To everyone's surprise, as the incantation surged, the rat-man's bulging eyes emitted a few streaks of blue light, and a deep purple radiance danced at his fingertips.

Seeing this, the other two rat-men also took out books from their waists and began chanting incantations, their expressions focused and eerie.

Kong Jiu was dumbfounded.

These three idiots are really something!

Seeing that things were not going well, Kong Jiu felt a chill and instinctively wanted to run away.

But for some reason, his feet seemed to be nailed to the ground, and he couldn't move.

Three beams of light moved about, converging to form a crack.

From the crack came a feeling that Kong Jiu had a sense of déjà vu.

Is this aura from subspace?

The crack widened, and rustling whispers could be heard.

It really is subspace!

Kong Jiu was dumbfounded, his eyes wide with shock and bewilderment.

Three rat-men who look like they have underdeveloped brains and an intelligence level of only 2? How could they tear open a rift to the warp using incantations?

Is this reasonable?

Before Kong Jiu could think any further, the three rat-men reached out, grabbed him tightly, and pushed him inside without saying a word.