America: The Cremator

Sulong walked through the half-open bronze doors of the church, where the nave was extremely empty.

Twelve massive marble columns lined both sides, extending towards the altar at the far end of the field of vision.

Dozens of rows of walnut benches were neatly arranged, their backs coated with varnish, reflecting a faint light in the dim light, and there was no one there.

Clearly, the people praying in the church had been evacuated long ago.

Su Long walked forward on the stone slabs, his footsteps echoing in the high-ceilinged space.

Above the intersection of the cross-shaped building, a huge glass skylight casts down the cold natural light from the outside, cutting out a well-defined square area of ​​light in the central marble altar area.

On the stone steps beside the altar, there are two rows of containers.

White ceramic basins and brass basins were placed alternately, each filled with a clear liquid, with tiny droplets of blood floating in the center.

At this moment, Hannah was dressed in a pure black nun's robe, the fabric flowing smoothly and covering her body completely, her back ramrod straight.

She knelt directly beneath the crucifixion sculpture, her palms facing down, hovering above a basin of clear water. Bright red blood flowed along the lines of her palms before dripping into the basin.

With a continuous dripping sound, the blood spread rapidly in the water, turning the transparent liquid a pale pink.

It turns out that the pale pink holy water used to soak the bullets was diluted with Hannah's blood.

After a dozen or so drops of blood fell, the wound on Hannah's palm seemed to show signs of clotting, and the rate at which the blood was dripping slowed down considerably.

An older nun stepped forward, took the brass basin from under Hannah's hand, and quickly replaced it with a new white porcelain basin.

Hannah picked up a small silver-handled knife from her lap, pressed the tip against the somewhat congealed cross-shaped wound in her palm, and with a flick of her wrist, plunged it downwards.

The blade tip cuts through the newly scabbed tissue, penetrating deep into the flesh, and then the handle is gently twisted.

Hannah frowned slightly, then quickly relaxed.

The blood flowed out at a noticeably faster rate, forming a thin red line that fell into the porcelain basin below.

Su Long walked to her side and stood behind her, slowly asking, "Does it hurt?"

Hannah didn't turn around; her gaze remained fixed on the ripples in the basin. "I'm used to it."

She switched hands, transferring the knife to her left, preparing to cut open the wound on her right palm, and then asked, "Are we heading out to work?"

As Su Long watched her movements, he felt a stinging pain in his palms: "Yes, according to the superiors' regulations, the cremation bureau is in pairs, teaming up with a small team from the supernatural support bureau, to go down into the sewers."

"We're grouped with Elena's task force, and she sent me in to urge you on."

The tip of the knife in Hannah's hand pierced her right palm, and blood gushed out.

"Ten minutes."

"This time, a large amount of holy water is needed. The stock has been used up, so I need to make it on the spot."

Su Long nodded, took two steps back, and leaned against a marble pillar to wait.

Seven minutes later, Hannah stood up, and a nun came forward to wrap white gauze around her hands.

Hannah hurriedly took off her nun's habit, said goodbye to the eldest nun, and pulled Suron outside.

As the two walked out of the church, beams of searchlights cut through the rain in the square.

Elena waited beside the huge Panda armored vehicle, rainwater sliding down her tactical vest.

Seeing the two approaching, she took a tactical vest and an FN57 pistol from the equipment box behind the car and tossed them to Hannah.

"Put them on."

Hannah took the equipment.

She skillfully fastened the tactical vest, pulled the slide of her pistol, checked the chamber, and inserted the spare magazine into the slot of the tactical vest.

His movements were fluid, clearly indicating he wasn't a newbie.

Elena glanced at the two of them.

"Get in the car."

After saying that, she turned and crawled into the heavy rear compartment of the armored vehicle.

Two fully armed special forces members then took the driver's seat and the passenger seat, respectively.

Suron and Hannah climbed into the back of the truck, and the hydraulic tailgate slowly rose and closed behind them, shutting out the sound of the rain outside.

Inside the vehicle, red tactical lights illuminated the interior. Elena sat on the long metal bench opposite her, turning on the tactical terminal on her wrist. The screen, about the size of a mobile phone, displayed a complex map of the sewer system.

"Let me briefly explain the mission details."

"At 9:00 a.m. this morning, a municipal sewer cleaning team lost contact in the target area, and all twelve members are missing."

"At 10:30, two patrol teams that were ordered to investigate lost contact in the sewers."

"At the time, we classified this place as a Level C disaster."

Elena slid her finger across the screen, and a red marker lit up the entire network area.

"At 5 p.m., a C-level free exorcist entered with his team, but they all disappeared again."

"Authorities issued a Level B warning an hour ago."

"Now, the twelve task forces will enter simultaneously from these twelve marked entrances and advance towards the central main drainage hub, inspecting each section in turn."

Elena looked up, her grey-green eyes fixed on Suron.

"Sulong, you only have one mission."

"Burn all the corpses along the way, whether human or monster."

"The incineration rate must reach over 80% to ensure that no new strange things emerge on our way out."

"Is there a problem?"

Surong adjusted the shoulder strap holding the fuel tank on his back: "No problem."

Elena received an affirmative answer, turned her head, and looked out through the window, which was only the size of a crack.

Surong then looked at Hannah sitting opposite him; her face was sickly pale, and her lips were bloodless.

Clearly, she had just lost a lot of blood.

Su Long reached into the inside pocket of his rubber raincoat, pulled out a square wrapped in tin foil, and handed it over.

It was a milk chocolate I casually grabbed from Stella's desk.

Hannah paused for a moment, then reached out and took it.

"Thanks."

She tore open the foil, stuffed the chocolate into her mouth, and chewed vigorously.

The sugar and calories softened her complexion slightly.

"Sizzle—"

The armored vehicle braked suddenly, its tires screeching as they rubbed against the ground.

"Arrived at the target point, entrance number 11."

The driver's voice came through the car's loudspeaker.

The tailgate swung open with a bang. A cold wind mixed with raindrops rushed into the car.

The group jumped out of the car and found themselves in a back alley of an abandoned industrial area.

There is a huge circular manhole cover on the ground, more than 1.5 meters in diameter, with the number "11" cast on it and the emblem of the municipal engineering project.

Two special operations team members stepped forward, inserted crowbars into the holes on the edge of the manhole cover, and applied force simultaneously.

The heavy cast iron manhole cover was pried up and removed.

A plume of white steam, mixed with an indescribable smell, billowed out of the cave entrance.

Elena was the first to walk to the cave entrance and turn on the tactical spotlight on the side of her helmet.

"Down."

She grabbed the iron ladder on the well wall and her body disappeared into the darkness.

Two special operations team members followed closely behind.

Surong glanced at Hannah, gesturing for her to go first.

Hannah took a deep breath and grabbed the slippery iron ladder.

Sulong eventually climbed down as well.

The sewer space was much larger than I had imagined.

This is a main drainage ditch with concrete maintenance walkways on both sides and rushing black sewage in the middle.

The air was cold and damp.

Even with a self-filtering mask, the stench of rotting, fermentation, and excrement can still penetrate the nasal cavity.

The beams of spotlights overhead flickered in the darkness, illuminating the thick moss and grime on the walls.

The team moved forward along the maintenance tunnel.

The only sound was the splashing of military boots in the puddles.

I walked about 500 meters.

Elena suddenly stopped and raised her right fist.

The line came to an instant.

The Geiger counter hanging around her neck began to chime.

drop.

drop.

Drop drop drop.

The frequency increased sharply within seconds, eventually merging into a series of sharp buzzing sounds.

Elena drew the silver greatsword from her back.

"Notice."

"Confront the enemy."

A sound came from the dark corner ahead.

It was the sound of some huge, moist, soft tissue rubbing and wriggling against the concrete wall.

Smack—

Smack—