America: The Cremator

Chapter 148 Is there something wrong with this bracelet?

As soon as Zena finished speaking, the twelve exorcists who had been gathered in the open space quickly dispersed, each making the most of the last ten minutes to conduct a final check before entering the forest.

On the open ground not far away, Evan half-squatted down, took the longbow off his back, and carefully checked the tension of the bowstring. He ran his fingertips back and forth across the bow to make sure there were no tiny cracks.

Lia squatted down next to her brother and emptied the first-aid kit and compressed dry food from the waterproof backpack, repackaging them according to her own habits.

On the other side, Taylor was still standing alone in the shadows of the corner. He didn't look through the supplies in his backpack, but instead kept his head down, repeatedly fiddling with the jet-black bull horn at his waist.

Su Long looked away, placed the black waterproof backpack on the ground, unzipped it, took out the map, and examined it carefully.

The map was drawn with extremely high precision, showing the topography of the entire Little St. James Island in detail. Their current location was on the southeastern edge of the island, right next to a dock area covered by red shadows.

Two wide roads extend from the dock, merging into the north and south ends of the hillside luxury residential area. As Zena had previously explained, these red-shaded areas were strictly off-limits. As for the campsite where they rested last night, it was firmly marked out by a thick black line.

Su Long's gaze moved along the perimeter of the camp, his brows furrowing slightly. Outside the camp and the mansion area, there was a striking black and red ring of shadow, with two words marked in bold, glaring font: "Minefield."

This minefield almost completely enclosed the camp and the mansion area, leaving only a minimal passageway.

Su Long's gaze continued to explore the depths of the island. In the very center of the map, in the heart of the island, there was a small square red area marked with the warning "No Entry".

Beyond these highlighted areas, several thin white dotted lines are interspersed throughout the vast dense forests.

Hannah leaned closer, her gaze falling on the map. Pointing to the winding white lines, she asked疑惑地问, "Su, what do these dotted lines mean? Contour lines?"

Su Long shook his head, pointing to one of the dotted lines and explaining, "It should be a forest path that originally existed on the island, or a trail worn out by the mercenaries during their patrols."

He turned to Hannah and said sternly, "Once we're in the woods, you must stay close to me at all times and never leave my sight, understand?"

Hannah nodded vigorously, her hands unconsciously tightening around the strap of the Bible bag hanging in front of her chest.

Ten minutes passed in the blink of an eye.

"Whoosh—"

'

A sharp, piercing whistle suddenly broke the oppressive atmosphere above the camp, and the twelve exorcists stopped what they were doing and quickly assembled in front of the barbed wire fence at the edge of the camp.

With a sickening metallic scraping sound, the heavy barbed wire gate in front of the camp slowly opened, revealing a narrow path covered with gravel.

This narrow path abruptly cut off the terrifying circular minefield ahead. Every meter along both sides of the path, there was a warning post painted with fluorescent paint, with a conspicuous red and white warning tape strung on it.

Zena stood by the gate, her cold gaze sweeping across the entire room. She raised her right hand and announced loudly, "The assessment officially begins! Good luck to everyone!"

As she swung her arm down, Thorne and his sister took the lead and stepped out of the barbed wire gate, followed by the others.

Surong didn't rush to be in the lead. He stood still, watching the other exorcists set off one after another, before patting Hannah on the shoulder and saying, "Let's go, it's time for us to go too."

The two stepped out of the camp gate side by side, when suddenly a dull thud came from behind them, and the heavy barbed wire gate was locked again by the soldiers.

Surong and Hannah walked lightly down the middle of the gravel path, the warning tape on either side fluttering in the humid sea breeze, constantly reminding them of the lurking threat of death around them.

Hannah's breathing quickened, and she hunched her shoulders, afraid that her skirt might accidentally brush against anything outside the cordon.

The two walked with extreme caution over the short distance of just a few dozen meters.

As they walked out of the minefield, the view ahead opened up, but the sight before them made them stop in their tracks.

The originally straight gravel path abruptly splits into four forks here, each pointing in a different direction into the forest, and soon disappears into the thick gray-white fog and dense black canopy.

The exorcists at the front have already made their choices.

Su Long pulled out the waterproof map again, quickly compared it with the terrain in front of him, pointed to the fork in the road directly in front of him that led to the heart of the island, and said, "Let's go, we'll take this one."

Without any hesitation, Hannah followed closely behind Sulong and stepped onto the unknown path shrouded in thick fog.

Along the way, Su Long kept scanning his surroundings with his spiritual vision. To his surprise, none of the densely packed scarlet weakness boxes he had seen outside the camp last night appeared.

Su Long couldn't help but wonder if the monsters were scared away by the continuous landmine explosions last night because they were too close to the camp? Or were these strange creatures simply nocturnal and not active enough during the day?

Just as he was pondering to himself, he suddenly heard a series of hurried footsteps on the narrow gravel road behind him. Su Long immediately put his right hand on the "Sirius" grip inside his trench coat and turned around alertly.

Two familiar figures emerged quickly from the thick fog; they were Thorne and his sister.

When Evan saw Suron, he stopped to catch his breath and smiled gently, "Mr. Suron, you walk very fast. We rushed as fast as we could and barely caught up."

Su Long removed his hand from the gun handle and raised an eyebrow: "Since you've caught up, that's perfect. Let's act together."

Su Long doesn't currently dislike this group of siblings. Besides, with rules limiting infighting and resource grabbing, having a couple more companions is definitely not a bad thing.

The four regrouped, with Suron still leading the way, Hannah following closely behind, and Thorne and his sister covering the rear.

As they ventured deeper, the surrounding trees grew taller and taller, their intertwined branches almost completely blocking out the sunlight, and the path beneath their feet became muddy and reeked of a nauseating humus.

After walking a short distance further, the grayish-white mist on both sides of the forest suddenly became unusually thick. This mist seemed to be alive, churning and twisting, and quickly spreading towards the road in the middle.

Su Long stopped and looked back. The gravel path he had come from was now completely swallowed up by thick white fog, with visibility less than five meters.

"Gentlemen, it seems this exam is quite interesting," Su Long said calmly, looking at the churning wall of fog.

Just then, a sickening scraping sound suddenly came from the thick fog around them, darting left and right, as if something was crawling quickly along the ground, its rough skin rubbing against the withered leaves and soil.

Evan's expression instantly turned serious. He pulled a thick blindfold from his pocket and put it on, then took out a pair of earplugs and put them in his ears. Finally, he removed the longbow from his back.

After doing all this, he bent down slightly, opened his arms, and Leah took a step forward very naturally, snuggling directly into her brother's arms, pressing her entire back against Evan's chest.

Seeing this strange behavior, Su Long frowned slightly. Just as he was about to ask a question, Lia suddenly turned her head and fixed her gaze on a thick fog at the ten o'clock position on her right.

At the same time, Evan, whose sight and hearing were blocked, quickly reached into the quiver behind his back with his right hand, drew out a silver arrow, and nocked it on the bowstring.

With a creaking sound as the bowstring tightened, Evan followed the direction of Leah's gaze, slowly turning his body and bow arm, aiming the gleaming silver arrow firmly at the white mist that was invisible to the side.

"Whoosh!"

The bowstring snapped, and the arrow, released from the bow, transformed into a silver streak, instantly tearing through the wall of mist ahead. A massive ghoul, having just broken through the mist and emerged halfway through its body, was pierced through the eye socket by the silver arrow, the immense kinetic energy directly blowing off half of its skull.

The foul-smelling black blood mixed with brain matter splattered onto the tree trunk beside it. The monster didn't even have time to struggle before it collapsed to the ground, turning into a pool of foul-smelling black water.

Surong watched the monster's corpse gradually dissipate, then turned to Evan, who was still in a firing stance, and couldn't help but ask, "What's going on?"

Evan put down his longbow, removed his blindfold and earplugs with one hand, and explained with a smile, "Leah and I can share our senses. Leah's vision and hearing are much stronger than mine, so in battle, I will deliberately shut down my senses and give her some control of my body, using her eyes and ears to locate and aim at enemies."

Lia proudly raised her chin and winked mischievously at Suron.

"What a unique fighting style," Surong exclaimed without reservation.

This two-person tactic, which perfectly combines perception and output, can maximize the talents and abilities of both players, achieving a 1+1 greater than 2 effect.

Before Sulong could continue studying the details of their coordination, Lia abruptly turned to look at the thick fog behind him. Her smile vanished, and she cried out urgently, "Sulong, something's coming at you! Get out of the way!"

Evan reacted swiftly, drawing another silver arrow and nocking it on the bowstring, the cold arrowhead pointing directly at the mist behind Suron.

As soon as Lia finished speaking, Su Long turned around abruptly, his right hand already drawing "Sirius". He narrowed his eyes and activated his spiritual vision instantly.

The thick, grayish-white fog appeared transparent to him like a faded painting, and two scarlet weakness markers were moving at great speed through the forest, heading straight for his face.

Behind her, Lia saw Suron standing still, his lips tightly pursed, his eyes fixed on the direction from which the monster was attacking. Evan's arm muscles were tense, his longbow was drawn to its full extent, the bow creaking loudly, and a warm, spiritual light flowed wildly across the arrowheads.

"roar--"

With a gust of foul wind, two ghouls covered in pustules finally tore through the mist, opened their drooling, blood-red maws, and pounced on Su Long from the left and right.

"Bang!"

A deafening gunshot rang out in the woods, and the bullet instantly pierced the ghoul on the left between the eyebrows, the violent impact blowing half of its head off.

Dark red blood and brain tissue sprayed in a fan shape onto the withered leaves behind it. The massive body crashed heavily onto the muddy ground and slid several meters away.

The ghoul on the right had already rushed forward, its sharp claws aimed straight at Suron's throat. He clenched his left fist, and "Lucas" flashed a cold light in the dim light.

With a slight thought, the primordial fire instantly enveloped his left fist, and he slammed it mercilessly into the oncoming ghoul.

"boom!"

A muffled explosion rang out, and the fireball was triggered!

The violent shockwave of fire exploded upon contact, and the high temperature and immense force blasted the ghoul's head into countless charred fragments flying everywhere.

The headless remains twitched twice before falling straight down at Su Long's feet. Not a single drop of blood flowed from the wounds; they were all instantly carbonized by the high temperature.

Just as Suron was dealing with the two monsters, there was also a commotion on Hannah's side.

"There are three more on the right!" Leah's anxious voice rang out again.

Hannah quickly took the heavy Bible into her hands. The pages moved without wind, and dazzling holy light burst forth from the pages, instantly dispelling the thick fog around them.

Three ghouls, slightly smaller in size, had just peeked out from the mist when they were struck by the blinding holy light and let out a shrill scream.

"Whoosh—"

—

Evan reacted swiftly, releasing his fingertips. The silver arrow, shimmering with spiritual light, transformed into a blur, pinning the leading ghoul to a thick tree trunk. The remaining two ghouls, enduring the scorching holy light, frantically pounced on Hannah.

Hannah held the Bible in both hands, her lips moving rapidly as she recited the obscure prayer.

Several chains of holy light shot out from the pages of the book, instantly wrapping around the necks of the two ghouls, then tightening sharply and piercing through their chests.

"Come here!" Hannah shouted, and the two ghouls were dragged out of the dense forest by chains, carving two deep trenches in the muddy ground.

Intense holy light poured down the chains onto them, like scalding sulfuric acid being poured onto snow, producing a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The two monsters rolled and struggled wildly on the ground, their shrill screams echoing through the forest.

Just over ten seconds later, the screams stopped abruptly. The two ghouls, purified by the holy light, ceased all movement and turned into two charred corpses, their bodies pitch black and emitting a pungent, burnt smell.

The battle ended in the blink of an eye.

Surong's gaze slowly swept across the surrounding dense forest. After confirming that no more weak points appeared, he put "Sirius" back into its holster, turned around, shook the ashes off his left hand, and looked at the still-shaken group: "It's clean for now. Let's deal with the bodies."

Hannah closed the Bible, her chest heaving slightly, and walked over to Suron, helping him drag the scattered ghoul corpses together. Evan and Leah also came forward, and the four of them surrounded the five mutilated corpses.

Su Long pulled out his silver-tungsten alloy dagger, squatted down, and began searching the corpse for the bracelets needed for the assessment.

The bodies of these ghouls were severely twisted and deformed, some of their wrists even swollen to the size of their thighs. With swift movements, Su Long quickly picked out five light blue plastic bracelets covered in slime from the bodies of the five corpses.

"One for you and your sister, and the rest are for Hannah and me." Surong used his dagger to pick up two bracelets and handed them to Evan.

Evan took the bracelet, wiped the stains off it with a tissue, and nodded, saying, "Thank you. If it weren't for you, we would have been in a real mess just now."

Suron wiped the remaining three bracelets on a blade of grass, handed two to Hannah, and kept one for himself.

He looked down and examined the small object in his hand carefully. The bracelet was made of a very special material, and it felt like some kind of high-strength plastic.

The light blue surface is coated with a waterproof and reflective layer, and its design is almost identical to the inpatient wristbands worn by patients in hospitals.

Su Long wiped away the bloodstains with his thumb and saw a string of black letters and numbers printed on the front of the bracelet:

M00398.

He then turned to look at the two bracelets in Hannah's hand, which also had serial numbers printed on them, M00412 and M00275 respectively.

"What are your numbers?" Surong looked up at Thorne and his sister.

Evan glanced at the trophy in his hand and replied, "Mine is M00501."

Lia leaned closer and handed the bracelet to Su Long, pointing to the writing on it and saying, "Mine is a little different. It doesn't start with M, it starts with F, and the number is F00134."

Su Long frowned as he looked at the five bracelets. Four of them started with M and one with F. What did that mean?

Evan sheathed his longbow, looking at the mangled limbs on the ground, the dark red blood having seeped deep into the soil. He glanced around at the swirling fog, his brow furrowing slightly: "What do we do with these corpses? Just leave them here?"

Su Long stepped forward, looked at the disgusting remains, and said calmly, "Leave it to me."

As he spoke, he flicked his finger, and a wisp of golden flame fell into the center of the pile of corpses. The raging golden flames instantly engulfed the five corpses completely. In just a few seconds, only a few puddles of grayish-white ash remained on the ground.

As the burning process ended, a pale blue system notification popped up on my retina.

Burn 5 D-Rank Ghostly Ghouls to gain 5 experience points.

Lia leaned closer, her face full of surprise, staring at Su Long's palm and the knuckle duster on his hand. Her tone was incredulous: "Su Long, is this golden flame also your ability? When I saw you smash the monster's head with one punch, I thought it was the knuckle duster's power!"

Su Long put his hands in his trench coat pockets and nodded frankly: "This flame is indeed not the power of a sacred object; it's more of my special ability."

Leah gasped, her gaze sweeping over Su Long as if he were a monster: "So, you're either a Relic-type Contractor capable of wielding three Relics simultaneously, or a Bloodline-type Contractor born with a special awakening?"

After the initial shock, Lia suddenly turned to her brother, who was tidying up his quiver, and stomped on his foot without hesitation: "Look at him! He's so strong! Much better than you!"

Evan stood up with a wince of pain, walked over to Leah, and flicked his sister's forehead with his index and middle fingers without any hesitation.

Leah winced in pain and quickly covered her forehead with both hands, glaring at Evan in protest.

Su Long looked at the two lively siblings, shook his head with a smile, and suddenly said, "Everyone, although the spoils have been distributed, I have a question."

Hannah stopped tidying her handbag, looked up at him, and Evan and Leah gathered around.

"What's wrong?" Evan asked, puzzled.

Su Long looked at the bracelet and slowly said, "I feel there's a big problem with this bracelet."