America: The Cremator

Chapter 182 The Demon of Guns Descends on Seattle! [8.4K]

Upon hearing "S-level bizarre," Su Long's brows furrowed instantly.

He immediately sat up straight, having been relaxed and leaning against the rocks, and turned to stare at Stella beside him.

His thoughts raced through his mind.

Even so far, the highest level of supernatural beings he has encountered are only A-level Baphomet and Siren Head.

Judging from his battle experience along the way, the gap in strength between each level of the Weird is enormous and precipitous.

He is a C-level anomaly; he can now perform physical exorcisms using only his physical strength and basic skills.

The B-level monster is like the Nightmare Butterfly that was dealt with just a few hours ago. Its ability is extremely disgusting. He must first figure out the opponent's dimensional reduction mechanism, and then unleash the "Domain of Billions of Corpse Incinerators" at full power to destroy it with absolute firepower suppression.

As for the A-level anomaly—Surron recalled the battle he fought against Baphomet.

On that occasion, several exorcist teammates fought desperately to restrain the enemy, and he also overdrawn his domain power without reservation, and even borrowed a large number of high-level sacred objects, in order to barely repel the opponent.

But merely repelling them doesn't mean they can be completely killed.

Even at Grade A, it already possesses such a terrifying sense of oppression.

What would an S-class be like?

Is it some kind of irreversible natural disaster?

Or is it a concrete manifestation of rules that transcend human cognition?

"What was that demon's name?"

Stella paused for a moment after hearing Su Long's question, then turned her gaze to the surging waves.

"I don't want to repeat myself," she said, her voice tinged with obvious exhaustion and reluctance. "You can check the newspapers from July 24, 2018, on news websites. It's the front page of The New York Times; it explains it very clearly."

Upon hearing this, Su Long took out his phone from his pocket, opened his browser, and entered the date and Seattle as keywords.

The search results popped up, and at the very top was a high-definition, digitized newspaper.

The New York Times, Wednesday, July 24, 2018: [S-Class Mystery: The Gun Demon Descends on Seattle!]

[More than 2.7 people died, an elite exorcist force was wiped out, and the National Guard suffered heavy losses!]

This report is a joint report from our reporters and our Washington bureau:

Seattle – An official confirmed late Tuesday night that an S-class spectral monster known as the “Gun Demon” descended upon downtown Seattle, the capital of Washington state, at 6:14 p.m. Pacific Time on July 23.

It unleashed indiscriminate fire for 5 minutes and 23 seconds, turning the city's core area into a battlefield.

This catastrophic attack has killed more than 2.7 civilians, nearly wiped out Seattle's elite exorcist team, and caused serious casualties and equipment losses to the military, making it one of the deadliest and most bizarre attacks in American history.

Witnesses described a grotesque creature made of human skulls and surrounded by numerous firearms as limbs falling from the clouds above Seattle—indiscriminately firing at anything in its path.

"It was hell on earth," said Maria González, a Seattle resident who survived by hiding in a downtown café. "The gunfire never stopped, not for a second. People were falling, and we were powerless to do anything."

The Seattle Odds and Circumstances Response Team, responsible for protecting the city from supernatural threats, was the first to suffer the heaviest blows.

According to official reports, the unit has been largely wiped out: three Class A exorcists have died, 14 Class B exorcists have been killed, and another seven Class B exorcists are in critical condition with little hope of survival.

"Our bravest exorcists stepped forward to stand between the gun demon and the citizens, and they paid the ultimate price," Seattle Mayor Jenny Decker said at a press conference early Wednesday morning. "We have lost a core pillar of our supernatural defenses, and our city is being devastated by this unspeakable tragedy."

The National Guard, stationed in Washington state, was deployed to Seattle within two minutes of the attack, but was still unable to stop the gun demon. The bizarre creature disappeared abruptly at 6:19 a.m. Pacific Time after three minutes of firefight with the National Guard, just as suddenly as it appeared.

美利坚国防部于周三上午发布初步伤亡及损失报告：48名陆军士兵阵亡，135人受伤（其中124人伤势危重），6辆斯布莱德利战车被毁：4架阿帕奇攻击直升机坠毁：2架艾布拉姆斯坦克被击毁。

As rescue teams searched the rubble in downtown Seattle, the civilian death toll had risen to 27348 as of Wednesday morning, up from an initial estimate of 1.5.

Hospitals in the region are overwhelmed, with emergency rooms treating thousands of injured people, many of whom have suffered severe gunshot wounds.

Local officials warned that the death toll could rise further as search and rescue efforts continue in collapsed buildings and disaster-stricken areas.

In Washington, D.C., the president addressed the nation late Tuesday night from the Oval Office, calling the attack “a cowardly act of supernatural terrorism” and vowing to “hunt down the demon of guns and make sure it never comes again on American soil.”

Su Long quickly scrolled through the screen, reading the entire report word for word.

He turned off his phone screen and let the sea breeze brush against his cheeks.

This S-rank monster, named "Gun Demon," possesses truly terrifying abilities.

In 5 minutes and 23 seconds, less than six minutes, it slaughtered nearly 30,000 people, wiped out Seattle's official superhuman forces, and routed the modern army that came to its aid.

This thing is a complete killing machine.

Stella turned her head and looked at the extinguished phone screen in Su Long's hand, and calmly said, "My father is one of the seven seriously injured B-level exorcists mentioned in the report."

Su Long looked at her without speaking, waiting for her to continue.

"He was shot in the abdomen," Stella said softly. "The shot was extremely powerful, almost severing him from the waist. His internal organs were all shattered, and his spine was broken."

Stella clenched her fists tightly in the trench coat pocket, tearing the fabric into deep wrinkles.

"Not only that, the attacks of the Gun Demon are also accompanied by extremely strong resentment and vicious curses."

"When my father was taken into the operating room, his body was covered with black markings that looked like venomous snakes."

"Those lines are alive. They spread along his blood vessels, devouring his remaining life force and corroding his flesh. Modern medicine's antibiotics, serums, and even the most advanced cell repair technology are all useless against that curse."

Stella gave a self-deprecating laugh, her smile filled with helplessness: "At the time, I was pursuing a doctorate in medicine, and I always believed that as long as my medical skills were good enough, I could snatch people from the clutches of death."

"But at my father's bedside, all my professional knowledge, which I was so proud of, became meaningless. I could only watch as those black lines slowly crept across his face, and watch him take his last breath."

She is completely different from her usual rational self now; all that remains is vulnerability.

No wonder she became a top expert in researching supernatural beings, and no wonder she also served as a senior researcher at the Bureau of Oddity Support.

She tried to use scientific methods to analyze the monsters and to find medical solutions to combat the curse and pollution.

"We have far too little research on the supernatural," Stella said, turning back to look at the sunrise in the distance. "Human medical techniques seem utterly ridiculous in the face of the rules of those monsters."

The rising sun illuminated Stella's profile, but it couldn't dispel the gloom that had settled in her eyes.

"From that day on, I made a decision." Stella's tone suddenly became firm: "I will never again stand by and watch people infected by this strange entity die on my operating table."

Su Long gave up on offering words of comfort.

In this crazy world where death can happen at any moment, promises and comforts are meaningless.

He turned his head and followed Stella's gaze, looking at the red sun that had completely leaped out of the water on the horizon.

The temperature began to rise in the early morning, dispelling the chill of the latter half of the night.

"I'm telling you this not so you'll avenge me," Stella said softly, gazing at the dazzling sun. "Those kinds of anomalies can't be understood with common sense. They have no thoughts, no rules of survival, and not even a purpose."

She turned her gaze away from the sea and looked down at her feet, which were being washed by the waves: "I prefer to see it as a natural disaster rather than a specific enemy."

Stella gave a self-deprecating laugh, a laugh tinged with helplessness.

"Think about it, who would want to seek revenge against an earthquake, a tsunami, or a hurricane?"

She raised her head and looked directly into Surong's eyes: "Faced with that kind of absolute power, personal hatred seems too insignificant."

"Actually, I know very well that what I really hate is the version of myself that could only stand in front of the operating table and watch my father die helplessly."

Su Long didn't know what to say for a moment, so he could only listen quietly.

Stella took a deep breath, the sea breeze ruffling her blonde hair.

"Sulong, the reason I'm telling you all this today is because I feel you've changed."

She pushed up her glasses, regaining some of her usual rationality: "I heard you've officially become a B-rank exorcist, and tonight's actions prove that you're now capable of confronting a high-rank B-rank anomaly head-on."

"You're no longer troubled by financial problems like you were when we first met. Your abilities are growing rapidly, and you're becoming more and more confident."

Stella's tone shifted, becoming serious: "Confidence is definitely a good thing for ordinary people; it helps them thrive in society. But for an exorcist who constantly battles monsters—it's definitely not a good thing."

Upon hearing this, Su Long frowned slightly and fell into deep thought.

Stella's words were like a bucket of cold water poured over his head.

The demon of guns descended, and the elite forces of the Seattle branch were almost completely wiped out.

Three Class A exorcists tragically lost their lives.

What is the concept of an A-level exorcist?

The image of Mrs. Hedley immediately popped into Sulong's mind.

The oppressive aura emanating from that old woman remains vivid in his memory to this day.

There were three women as powerful as Mrs. Hedley at the time.

But when faced with the Demon of Guns, they couldn't even buy time; they were almost all wiped out in a single encounter.

Su Long reflected on his mindset over the past few days.

Indeed, ever since he mastered the "Domain of the Incinerator of Billions of Corpses," a sense of arrogance and fearlessness has crept into his subconscious.

He believed that as long as his mental strength was sufficient, and once his domain was activated, he could burn any monster to ashes.

He lost the sense of crisis he had when he first transmigrated, which was tantamount to courting death in a world rife with strange occurrences.

Su Long turned his head and looked again at the red sun on the sea horizon.

The warm sunlight stung his eyes. In that instant, Su Long's vision suddenly distorted.

The surface of that once dazzling sun began to undulate.

Immediately afterwards, a pair of huge, bloodshot eyes were forced out from the center of the sun, and below them, a gaping maw that occupied half of the sphere opened up, raising a strange smile at him.

The entire sky instantly turned a nauseating dark red.

Su Long abruptly closed his eyes and shook his head violently.

When he opened his eyes again, the sky was still a clear blue, and the sun had returned to its normal appearance.

The scene he just witnessed seemed to be a hallucination caused by extreme mental tension, which also reminded him of the true nature of this world.

"I thought that with my current strength, life in America would finally become easier and better." Su Long let out a long breath and laughed self-deprecatingly.

He turned to look at Stella, his tone tinged with emotion: "Thanks to you, Stella. Now, in my eyes, this world has become a stinking ditch where anyone could die at any moment."

Stella looked at him quietly without saying a word.

"However, this might be a good thing." Suron stood up and brushed the sand off his pants. "Thank you, Stella. I completely understand what you mean."

Facing the sea breeze, he said with utmost seriousness, "Don't worry, I won't die easily. I haven't lived enough yet."

Stella looked at Surong, and a faint smile finally appeared on her lips.

The sun had fully risen, and golden sunlight bathed the entire Alki Beach.

A new day begins in Seattle.

Stella bent down, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and carefully wiped the seawater and sand off the insteps and soles of her feet.

The seawater in Seattle was very cold, freezing my toes, which were originally as white as mutton fat jade, to the color of red agate. As I wiped my feet with a handkerchief, my feet were freed from the cold of the seawater and regained their original rosy color, looking white with a rosy glow.

She gracefully put on her socks and flat ankle boots, then stood up and straightened her trench coat, which was wrinkled by the sea breeze.

"Let's go, it's time to go back." Stella wrapped up the headphone cord of her Walkman and put it in her pocket.

The two returned along the same route.

The Porsche 718 started up in the morning light and headed towards downtown Seattle with a roar from its engine.

After returning to the city, Stella drove directly back to Harbourview Medical Centre.

She still needs to follow up and investigate the mess from last night.

Elena also went to the Bureau of Oddity Support, and is probably buried in piles of mission reports right now.

After thinking for a moment, Sulong decided to go and check on Hannah's place.

After last night's intense mental exertion, he desperately needed a high-calorie meal to soothe his protesting stomach, and Hannah's homemade pizza was the perfect choice.

However, when he parked his car downstairs at Hannah's somewhat old apartment building and unlocked the door, the apartment was empty.

The poor nun went out to work early this morning.

"Working stiffs like clockwork," Su Long sighed helplessly.

Unable to get pizza, Su Long could only make do with two hot dogs in the microwave before collapsing onto his soft bed.

Although Stella's potion alleviated the aftereffects of overdrawing mental energy to a great extent, the deep fatigue in the brain still needed sleep to repair.

He closed his eyes and fell asleep almost instantly.

I slept very soundly and didn't even dream.

"Buzz—Buzz—"

—

The phone on the bedside table vibrated violently, accompanied by a piercing default ringtone, forcibly pulling Su Long back from a deep sleep.

Su Long suddenly opened his eyes, turned his head to look out the window, and saw that it was already dark.

I picked up the phone; the screen showed 5:10 PM.

The caller ID showed a familiar number.

Su Long pressed the answer button and held the phone to his ear: "Feed."

Dania's energetic voice immediately came from the other end of the phone.

"Hey! Su! Long time no see! Are you free now?"

Normally, when Dania called him, her tone was always arrogant and fearless, but today, her tone was somewhat nervous.

"You're free. What's up?" Su Long sat up in bed, rubbing his temples. "Danya, you sound a little nervous today. What happened?"

There was a two-second silence on the other end of the phone.

"Su, as the executioner, the Yurievich family needs you now."

Upon hearing this, Su Long was taken aback.

He remembered the contract he had made with that Russian mafia godfather.

He agreed to serve as the Yurievich family's exclusive executioner, responsible for handling supernatural troubles that the gang's conventional firepower couldn't solve, as well as some of the family's shady dealings.

The reward for each strike is one mithril coin!

This is like a pillow delivered just when you're about to fall asleep!

Without any hesitation, Su Long threw off the covers and got out of bed.

"Tell me the address, I'll be there right away."

"I'll send the exact location to your phone," Dania said briefly before hanging up.

Su Long tossed his phone onto the bed and took out the Mithril Titanium Steel Scale Armor from deep within the wardrobe. The cool metal against his skin brought a sense of solidity and security.

After putting on the scale armor, Su Long put on a dark black windproof jacket over it, completely covering the scale armor.

He walked to the desk, picked up the Sirius, expertly checked the magazine, and then tucked it into the tactical holster on his waist. Next, he stuffed the Raphael, filled with crisp liquor, into his inside pocket.

Finally, Sulong picked up the brass knuckles and put them in the inside pocket of his jacket.

After organizing all his gear, Su Long walked to the entrance, picked up his car keys, pushed open the door, and strode out.

The executioner's job has begun.

It's unclear what kind of monster the Yurievich family has encountered this time.

Half an hour later.

The black Cadillac Escalade slowly pulled up at the edge of a street in the Ballard neighborhood.

This is Seattle's 98107 zip code district, a special area with a large Russian immigrant population.

Su Long opened the car door.

The detached houses lining the streets are mostly wooden structures, with a few sunflowers and chamomile plants scattered in the yards, looking somewhat listless in Seattle's cold and damp evenings.

The address Dania gave was fifty meters ahead.

It was a two-story building with off-white exterior walls and a black roof.

Compared to the meticulously manicured lawns of the surrounding neighbors, this family's yard looked as if it had been ravaged by a tornado.

The low wooden gate hung askew on its hinges, its frame covered with spiderweb-like cracks, clearly having been subjected to a tremendous external impact.

Su Long walked into the courtyard along the gravel path. Chamomile, trampled into mud, was scattered on the ground, and a clear drag mark stretched from the center of the yard all the way to the half-open door.

A Chevrolet sedan was parked on the porch with its doors wide open, revealing document bags and miscellaneous items scattered all over the floor.

"stop."

Two burly Russian men in black parkas emerged from the shadows, blocking Sulong's path. The bulging outlines in their pockets suggested that they were carrying deadly weapons.

Su Long didn't speak, he just stared at them coldly.

One of the burly men recognized Su Long's face, and his previously wary posture immediately relaxed. He bowed slightly, making way for him, and said respectfully, "Mr. Su Long, Miss is waiting for you inside."

Su Long followed the path cleared by the burly man and entered the house.

"Su, you've arrived."

Dania emerged from the dark corner of the living room.

Her attire today was completely different from usual. Gone was her usual vivacity; instead, she wore a black fitted trench coat, her long hair tied back, and her face appeared somewhat pale in the dim light.

Su Long nodded, his gaze sweeping around the room.

The curtains were drawn tightly shut, with only a dim glimmer of streetlights squeezing through the cracks in the window.

The air was filled with an extremely strange smell, a pungent odor that was a strong fishy smell forcibly mixed with a large amount of frankincense, sweet with a rotten smell.

The living room was a complete mess.

The once cozy home furnishings were completely destroyed; the sofa was overturned on the ground, and the expensive Persian carpet was torn apart.

There was still unfinished borscht on the table, and the tableware was scattered on the floor.

"The scene hasn't been touched. My father's people have taken over the place and haven't let the police get involved."

Listening to Dania's explanation, Surong stopped in the center of the living room.

The first body lay beside the coffee table.

That was Alexander Petrov, a Russian man in his prime.

He leaned against the collapsed sofa, his eyes wide open, his pupils filled with fear. He looked as if he had been dehydrated in a dryer for dozens of days, his skin clinging tightly to his skeleton, a dark brown like withered wood. All his muscles had atrophied and disappeared, his eye sockets were sunken, and his lips were so dry that his gums were exposed.

To be honest, he didn't look like a victim who had been dead for less than a day; he looked more like a dried corpse that had just been dug out of a pharaoh's tomb.

Sulong crouched down and gently pressed his finger on Alexander's arm.

It felt stiff and brittle to the touch, without any elasticity, and produced the sound of numerous skin and flesh fibers breaking.

"He was an excellent detective during his lifetime."

Dania stood to the side, her voice low: "Recently, he's been helping my father investigate my uncle's little tricks on the West Coast. Alexander is very steady; if he hadn't encountered a completely incomprehensible force, he wouldn't have been unable to even send out a distress signal."

Su Long didn't reply, but got up and walked towards the bedroom door.

The second body was kneeling there. Anna Petrova, Alexander's wife.

She maintained an extremely tragic posture, her head hanging limply, her dry, long hair obscuring her face, her knees on the ground, her upper body leaning forward, her hands pressed tightly against the bedroom door frame, as if trying to seal the door with her body.

Su Long brushed her hair aside, and what he saw was still a dehydrated and deformed face.

Behind Anna lay a little boy, his body curled up, as withered as a piece of charred wood.

Su Long walked into the bedroom and his gaze fell on the bed.

The five-year-old girl was curled up on the bed, her hands clenched tightly.

If you ignored her dry, orange-peel-like skin, she looked like she was taking a nap.

"Four." Su Long straightened up, his eyes turning cold. "The entire family was wiped out, not even a five-year-old child was spared."

Dania clenched her fists tightly, took a deep breath, and tried to suppress the surging anger: "The murderer made his move around eight o'clock last night."

"The family was having dinner at the time. Some important family documents were missing from Alexander's detective agency, and the scattered papers in the living room showed signs of being searched."

"This is no ordinary gang revenge." Su Long closed his eyes and activated his spiritual vision.

In his view, the originally dim room instantly changed color.

Strands of eerie, pale purple energy coiled around the four corpses like spider silk. These energies slowly drifted through the air, eventually pointing towards the throats of the bodies.

In Su Long's perception, all the moisture and even the spiritual power in the bodies of these four people were forcibly drained in a very short time.

Pale purple energy threads drifted slowly in Su Long's spiritual vision, like living tentacles, firmly adhering to the throats of the four mummified corpses. The energy was viscous and cold, carrying a greedy, sucking sensation.

"Drained." Su Long opened his eyes, his spiritual vision fading. "It wasn't a physical method, it was some kind of—life-draining ability. It instantly drained all the moisture and residual spiritual energy from my body."

Dania clenched her fists even tighter, her knuckles turning white. "Alexander is a cautious man; he has three different alarm systems installed in his house. That would leave him no time to even press the emergency button—"

“It wasn’t a sneak attack.” Surong interrupted her, walked to Alexander’s body, squatted down, and pointed to a barely visible dark red dot on the side of the corpse’s neck. “It was frontal contact. He knew the killer, or at least, he didn’t immediately recognize the threat before the killer made a move.”

He stood up and looked at Dania: "You said before that the files had been searched. The killer was looking for something and also trying to silence us."

Dania took a deep breath and nodded: "Sue, you're half right. But the killer—is not an outsider."

The living room fell into a brief silence, broken only by the occasional sound of a car passing by outside the window.

"The one who did it was one of our own family members." Dania's voice was low, tinged with an unspeakable sense of shame. "His name is Viktor Kovalev. He used to be one of my father's most trusted men, in charge of the family's cleaning work at the port." Later, he defected and joined my uncle's side.

She paused, then added, "Strictly speaking, it's not a complete break from the family. He still works under the Yurievich name, only the object of his loyalty has changed. But in my father's eyes, that's treason."

Su Long didn't comment on the family's internal strife, but went straight to the core member: "What kind of bizarre entity did he contract with?"

Dania pulled a palm-sized encrypted tablet from the inside pocket of her trench coat, quickly unlocked it, and pulled up a file:

[Code Name: C274]

【Name: Chupacabra】

[Alternative names: Sheep-sucking monster, Bloodsucking beast, Krupakabra]

[Level: C]

[Description]: The Chupacabra is a bizarre entity whose core habit is to feed on blood. It has no ability to change form and its appearance exhibits relatively fixed canine mutation characteristics.

The common form is that of a hairless canine, with its body covered in wrinkled, grayish-green or dark brown skin, and sparse scales visible in some areas.

Its head is cone-shaped, with dark red eyes and two pairs of sharp canines extending from its mouth; its limbs are thick and strong, with three sharp claws on its forelimbs that can easily tear through human clothing and skin.

[Environmental characteristics]: It appears without any obvious warning signs. When it appears, the area within 10 meters will be filled with the smell of oxidized blood. Short-term human contact may cause mild dizziness and nausea. There is no long-term environmental residual harm. The discomfort symptoms can be quickly relieved after leaving the area.

This entity prefers dark, damp, and secluded environments, hiding itself during the day and venturing out at night, with its activity being highest on moonlit nights.

[Ability Overview]: Chupacabra's core ability is blood sucking. By creating wounds on its prey, it can quickly extract blood from the prey's entire body from a distance. The process only takes 3-5 minutes. After the extraction is completed, the prey will quickly dry up and become a typical mummified corpse.

This entity excels at nighttime concealment and rapid movement, using its keen sense of smell to track livestock, and can jump heights of up to 2 meters.

The rice can easily climb over low walls and fences.

[Physical Hazard]: Moderate.

The core danger lies in its blood-pulling ability. After being bitten or scratched, the victim will experience uncontrollable, massive, spurting blood loss, which is extremely difficult to treat and will quickly turn into an extremely shriveled, dried-up corpse.

[Psychological Harm]: Low. This entity has no significant ability to cause psychological pollution and will not cause long-term psychological trauma. All psychological symptoms will subside on their own 1-4 weeks after exposure.

Sulong quickly finished scanning and handed the tablet back to Dania.

"A C-level anomaly, relatively easy to deal with."

Dania took the tablet, but her face showed no sign of relaxation.

"The problem isn't his rank. Sue, we've lost track of him. He's vanished into thin air, completely outside the family's intelligence network. We don't know where he's hiding now, or how many men my uncle sent are with him."

She walked to the window, pulled back a corner of the curtain, and looked out at the dark street: "However, through some special channels, we have identified his next assassination target."

"One of our family accountants, Ivan Petrovich, has the original documentation for some of my uncle's overseas fund flows."

"Time?" Su Long asked.

"At least three days from now."

Upon hearing this, Su Long nodded: "I understand. Your father means that I should become this accountant's bodyguard and take him out when Victor makes his move."

Dania nodded: "Yes. Ivan is important to us—and Victor must be eliminated; that's the rule."

""

"Okay, I'll take it." Su Long agreed readily. "I happen to have time to keep an appointment with someone else during these three days."

"Who?" Dania asked immediately, a hint of curiosity flashing in her bright blue eyes.

"An exorcist from London, England," Suron said without hiding anything, "invited me to deal with a very troublesome monster, and the price was very high—it didn't sound like an easy job."

Dania immediately took a step forward: "I'll go with you! More people means more protection!"

Su Long refused decisively: "No, this is too dangerous."

Seeing the slight displeasure on Dania's face, he added, "It's not just being polite, Dania, that's a high-ranking B-level, very difficult to deal with."

"Besides, you have family matters to attend to, and Ivan's bodyguard program also needs your coordination. We can't do without you here."

Dania opened her mouth, but ultimately swallowed her words: "Then be careful."

"Of course." Su Long nodded. "I will be there on time in three days."

>