The Decaying Dream of America: I Assemble Corpses and Confront Madness

The air by the dock was thick with the rusty smell of discarded metal, mixed with the damp, salty smell of the sea breeze, which irritated Lin Zheng's nostrils.

The twilight cast a hazy orange glow on the city, tinging the distant shipping containers and the nearby streetlights with a greasy sheen.

He and Arthur hid behind a pile of abandoned wooden crates, their gaze passing through the gaps in the crates to land on an old, dilapidated car in the distance, its engine humming slightly at idle.

The police car door opened, and a bulky figure struggled out of the driver's seat. He was slightly overweight, with a typical police belly that made his uniform look a bit tight. His face showed undisguised fatigue, and his eyes darted around anxiously.

"Frank Miller, my former apprentice."

Arthur stepped forward, lowered the brim of his hat, and exchanged a few words with Frank.

Lin Zheng was forced by Arthur to stand guard at the rear hiding place.

Lin Zheng couldn't hear their conversation clearly, but he saw Frank lean forward slightly and speak urgently.

Frank would occasionally glance around warily, then turn his gaze to Arthur, his eyes filled with struggle and worry.

He was making a difficult trade-off.

After the brief meeting, Frank hurriedly climbed back into his car, the engine roared to a high pitch, and the car sped away, billowing black smoke.

Arthur did not turn around immediately; he stood still, motionless.

His gaze followed the taillights of Frank's departing car into the distance, his deep eyes revealing a heavy heart.

The oppressive feeling brought about by Frank's haste had not yet completely dissipated from the air.

"What did he say?" Lin Zheng emerged from his hiding place, his voice low in the twilight.

"The police station is rotten to the core..." Arthur muttered softly, his voice carried away by the wind.

He turned his head and wearily rubbed his temples.

"Frank said that Martinez is now entrenched in the abandoned industrial area of ​​the port district. He is just the visible black glove, but there are much larger forces behind him. Many people in the police department are in cahoots with those 'snakes'."

Arthur paused, his eyes suddenly sharpening.

He suddenly grabbed Lin Zheng's arm, with such force that it almost hurt him.

"We've been discovered." Arthur's voice was tense.

Lin Zheng followed Arthur's gaze and saw, in the shadows further away, the window of an inconspicuous black sedan rolled down slightly.

A faint red light flashed by, so familiar that it left an indelible mark on his mind.

Those are laser points used for surveillance, recording their every move.

Lin Zheng felt a chill run down his spine, an uncomfortable feeling of being targeted by a hunter.

"A warning?" he asked softly.

Arthur did not answer, but simply pursed his lips and pulled Lin Zheng quickly into the deeper darkness.

Night fell completely, shrouding the entire port area in a blurry shadow, leaving only a few scattered lights flickering in the water in the distance.

This city, this land, may have eyes hidden in every corner, and every move is being calculated and observed.

Arthur led him swiftly along the edge of the abandoned industrial area of ​​the port, his steps heavy yet with a seasoned agility.

Their target was Martinez's main base deep in an abandoned industrial area, a rusty forest forgotten by the world.

The towering silhouette of the abandoned factory looked menacing in the night, its steel skeleton piercing the sky.

Through the headset, Shadow's slightly electronic voice came through.

"I have disabled the surveillance system inside the base."

The shadow's words brought a sense of reassurance.

"The routes are complex, and I will transmit route maps in real time."

Arthur made a famous hand gesture, signaling Lin Zheng to follow closely.

They moved among the massive, abandoned machines, through corroded pipes and rusty metal doors.

Lin Zheng's eyes remained highly alert in the darkness. His [Realistic Deconstruction] ability proved surprisingly useful in this environment, highlighting the structural lines of the human body.

Arthur led the way, guiding them to avoid danger.

They avoided several scattered patrols of thugs, all of whom carried various weapons.

Each henchman had a tattoo of a venomous snake with its mouth wide open in a different location on their body, exactly the same as the tattoos of Martinez's men in the Dream of the Dead.

They entered a huge workshop through a hidden side door.

The smell here became even stronger, the stench of blood almost nauseating.

The workshop was dimly lit, with only a few exposed light bulbs emitting a faint glow that cast swaying shadows in the air.

Lin Zheng saw many rectangular metal trays, neatly stacked, each tray containing processed "flesh and blood" materials.

They were cut into regular shapes and covered with a thin layer of plastic wrap.

He could sense the faint life force remaining in these "flesh and blood," as well as the pain and despair of being forcibly stripped away.

Lin Zheng took out "Sam's finger bone," and the blood-red patterns at the tip of the finger bone emitted a faint red light, pointing towards the depths of the workshop.

He pointed out the way forward for Lin Zheng and Arthur.

Deeper inside, the operators, wearing heavy gloves and masks, moved swiftly and mechanically. Judging from their appearance, they were not handling lives, but rather industrial products on an assembly line.

On a deeper level, he once again "felt" that immense hunger.

It wasn't human hunger, but a primal, all-consuming, indescribable emptiness.

We continued forward and left the operating workshop.

"What's wrong?" Arthur asked in a low voice. He saw Lin Zheng's face turn pale instantly and immediately became alert.

"Very deep, very deep..." Lin Zheng replied in an almost whispered voice.

"They dismembered the bodies to feed... that hunger."

Arthur didn't press further; he knew the risks associated with Lin Zheng's abilities. He simply patted him on the shoulder, signaling him to continue.

The two carefully followed the faint light emanating from Sam's finger bones and arrived at a heavy iron door.

"Shadow, is this the control room?" Arthur asked softly.

A shadowy voice responded through the headset: "According to the blueprint analysis, yes. That's the core of the base. According to internal monitoring, transaction logs and transportation schedules should all be there."

Arthur gestured to Lin Zheng, indicating that he would lead the way.

He drew his revolver from his waist, checked the magazine, and his eyes were calm and composed.

Lin Zheng gripped his scalpel tightly, the sharp blade reflecting a faint light in the dim light.

Just as Arthur was about to break down the door, a faint sound suddenly came from the shadows on both sides of the workshop.

Several elite thugs from the "Viper Gang" burst out of the darkness, armed with machetes, iron bars, and old pistols, clearly part of a premeditated ambush.

"Damn it! We've been found out!"

Arthur roared, and the revolver in his hand instantly spat fire.

Lin Zheng felt his adrenaline surge, and his body instinctively retreated, his ears filled with the piercing sounds of gunshots and the clash of metal.

Arthur was tall but exceptionally agile. He stood in front of Lin Zheng, and each shot accurately took down an enemy.

But the enemy was too numerous, and bullets rained down on him, some even grazing Lin Zheng's scalp, carrying with them heat and wind pressure.

"You go first!"

Arthur roared as a thug struck his arm with an iron bar, but the old detective did not flinch.

He suddenly pushed Lin Zheng toward a ventilation duct entrance on the side of the control room that was blocked by a metal frame.

"Quick! Go get the data! Leave the rest to me!"

Arthur's voice carried a heavy, bloody tone, yet remained resolute.

Lin Zheng had no time to think. The entrance was narrow, and he could only plunge into the darkness amidst Arthur's roars and gunshots.

More gunshots rang out behind him, along with the enraged curses of the thugs, mixed with Arthur's heavy breathing.

The inside of the pipe was narrow, dark, and filled with dust.

Lin Zheng groped his way forward in the darkness, his chest heaving violently.

He felt a tearing pain in the finger bones of his right hand, probably from accidentally breaking them while struggling.

He gritted his teeth and, guided by the map transmitted in real time by the shadow, moved forward with difficulty.

He knew he couldn't turn back; Arthur had bought him time with his life, and he had to get that data.

Finally, he climbed out of the ventilation duct and entered the main control room.

The room was simple, with rows of servers humming and green code flashing on the monitors.

He rushed to the main control panel, his fingers flying across the keyboard, while Ghost's voice guided him through the headset, watching the monitor.

"Lin, quick! Find the files marked 'Flesh and Blood Distribution Log' and 'Partner Code'!"

Lin Zheng's eyes were fixed on the screen, his mind racing, and the data became exceptionally clear to him.

He searched for what he needed in that complex encrypted data in a way that almost exhausted his sanity.

A series of company codes and transactions involving "flesh and blood units" were clearly displayed before his eyes, connecting a vast and bloody network of interests.

He saw the photos of the victims in the hastily closed "accidental death" cases that Evelyn had mentioned, and their identity information really matched the "flesh and blood numbers" in the trading log.

He quickly located the specific file and began uploading it using a custom tool created by Youying.

Just as he was transmitting the last set of data to Shadow, the door to the control room collapsed with a loud crash, the ground trembling with the force of the noise.

Martinez, the imposing figure he had seen in his lingering dream, was now a demon crawling out of hell, leading even more thugs, his eyes burning with bloodlust, as he approached step by step.

The huge, venomous snake tattoo coiled around his neck looked particularly menacing in the dim light.

"You fucking ruined my plans!"

Martinez's voice was rough and hoarse like a wild beast, and he pointed his shotgun at Lin Zheng.

Lin Zheng felt his heart was about to leap out of his chest, and his rationality was pushed to its limit at this moment.

Arthur's gunfire had stopped; he had run out of time.

"Lin Zheng! How are you? Where's Arthur? You...you might be surrounded!"

Evelyn's anxious voice came through the headset.

Lin Zheng knew he had to plunge into the darkness once more, for Arthur, for Evelyn, and for himself.