America: The Cremator

"My name is Leon Sue."

Su Long put the pistol back in its holster, turned to the side, and pointed to the incinerator behind him.

"The situation is not optimistic. Two of the corpses had already undergone mutations before I arrived, giving rise to some kind of strange thing, the type and number of which are unknown."

"It killed two of my body collector colleagues, threw their pieces into the original pile of body parts, and then disappeared."

"These are all that were left at the scene."

Su Long pointed to a pile of black and white ash next to him, and a transparent plastic bag on the hood—the kind most commonly used in supermarkets to pack food.

"The body fragments have piled up and begun a second mutation, so I had to quickly dispose of most of them."

Anthony stepped forward and picked up the plastic bag from the hood.

Inside were the shredded work ID, several pieces of fabric that were not yet fully carbonized, and several representative fragments of the body, such as teeth, eyeballs, and fingers.

Anthony frowned, glancing around at the heavy rain and puddles. "This is going to be a headache."

"It's raining heavily, in a remote area, there's no bloodstain, and no eyewitnesses. There's simply no way to track down this strange location..."

"We can only investigate and gather information first, then go back and write a report."

Surong stood aside, completely unconcerned about Anthony's complaints: "I suggest you hurry up. These fragments are starting to turn into black mud. Although they are small and not enough to create new monsters, they are still troublesome to deal with."

Anthony nodded and waved to Miles behind him.

"Miles, take the picture, take the sample."

The fat man, Miles, muttered a curse and reluctantly took a heavy SLR camera and a crossbody tool bag from the car. He first took close-up photos of the specific evidence and the scene, and then took out a few droppers and syringes to start extracting liquid samples from the body parts.

Anthony then took out a black instrument from his waist, which also appeared to be a modified Geiger counter, but was clearly more advanced and sophisticated than the cremator version in Sulong's hands. The screen displayed complex waveforms.

He walked around the crematorium, his probes scanning the ground, the wheels, and the cremation chamber that had just finished its work.

"Beep—beep—"

The sound emitted by the instrument was originally calm, but it became rapid when the probe was inserted into the cremation chamber.

Anthony stopped and stared at the readings on the screen.

The value rapidly increases from 5 in the background radiation.

5……12……18……22.

The value eventually settled at around 22, and the waveform showed a jagged, jagged pattern that had never been seen before.

This is not part of the radiation spectrum of common supernatural forces, but it did cause a dramatic change in values.

Although it hasn't reached the dangerous threshold of 50, such fluctuations are worth noting.

Anthony withdrew his probe, turned around, and his gaze fell on Su Long.

"Sir, do you have any clues about the fluctuations here?"

Su Long spread his hands, his voice sounding muffled from behind the gas mask.

"I'm just a body mover, how would I know about your professional issues?"

"Perhaps it's because it's a mixture of two types of corpses? Or is it a remnant left by that strange creature?"

Anthony frowned: "To leave behind a power residue with a reading as high as 20, this guy may have just passed by here, or even brushed past you."

Anthony put away the instruments and took two steps closer to Suron.

"I suspect you've already been affected by this thing's power... or have been cursed by it."

"For your safety's sake, you'd better come back to the branch office with us. Our equipment there can mitigate its effects on you."

Su Long's fingers, which were placed at his side, twitched.

Go to the branch office with this group of FBI agents?

This is not a good sign.

Agent Anthony characterized the residual power in the carriage as a strange remnant, but Sulong himself knew all too well that this power most likely came from the primordial fire.

Let's not even talk about whether that damn instrument will detect the system's power and the [Primordial Fire].

The mere fact that his end-stage uremia was revealed was enough to get him into serious trouble; he would not only lose his job but could also face legal consequences.

"No need, sir."

Su Long shook his head, took a half step back, and leaned against the door of the Ford F-550.

"I feel great, I have no discomfort."

"Besides... my work isn't finished yet. This car needs to be driven back to the branch office for cleaning, and I still have a report to write."

The neckless officer put down his camera, his fat face showing displeasure.

"Hey kid."

Don't be ungrateful.

"We are saving your life. If you are contaminated by that stuff, it may not look like anything on the surface, but in less than two days you will turn into a pile of rotten flesh."

"At that point, we'll have to ask your colleagues to collect your body."

Upon hearing this, Surong was not intimidated by the threats: "It's alright, Mr. Miles. I collect corpses for my colleagues, and my colleagues collect corpses for me. It's normal in our line of work."

Anthony raised his hand to stop Miles' threat, his tone remaining calm but with a hint of firmness.

"Mr. Leon Sue".

"If there is a risk of bizarre exposure, examination and treatment must be carried out. This is required by the Federal Corpse Disposal Act and is also my duty."

"I am responsible for my profession and your safety. Please cooperate."

Su Long turned to look at his crematorium truck in the distance.

"As for your car, I'll contact the Department of Corpses later, and they'll send someone to retrieve it tomorrow."

"Please get in the car."

Anthony opened the rear door of the Chevrolet Suburban and gestured for it to proceed.

Su Long looked at the open car door and then at Anthony's serious expression, knowing that he had no room to refuse.

Continuing to evade the issue will only arouse greater suspicion.

"Alright, sir, you win."

Su Long paused for two seconds, then released his grip on the car door handle and walked toward the huge Chevrolet.

He climbed into the back seat. The car was well-heated and filled with the smell of leather cleaner.

Anthony then got into the driver's seat and reported the situation to headquarters via walkie-talkie.

Miles squeezed into the passenger seat, struggling to fasten his seatbelt; his obese body made the car shudder.

Su Long glanced at the neckless detective and said, "Hey, has the suspension on this car been adjusted? It seems a bit soft."

Anthony chuckled: "It has nothing to do with the car. With this guy's weight, he'd wobble even in a tank."

The neckless agent blushed slightly, snorted coldly, and ignored the two's teasing.

The vehicle started, turned around, and drove away from the abandoned factory area.

The windshield wipers swung rapidly across the windshield.

A brief silence fell over the carriage, broken only by Anthony's heavy breathing.

Miles looked at the raindrops scraped to the edge of the windshield, as if he suddenly remembered something, and made the sign of the cross on his chest.

"God bless."

"Another mission has been completed safely."

"Praise Jesus, and let all filth stay away from us."

Su Long leaned back in the back seat, took off his gas mask, and revealed a thin face.

"Hey, Miles."

"I was blessed by Jesus last time."

"A bullet was flying toward my butt, but luckily Jesus reached out and blocked it."

Miles paused for a moment.

"real?"

Su Long's voice was soft, echoing in the enclosed carriage: "Unfortunately, I was still injured in the end."

Miles instinctively pressed, "Why?"

Sulong looked away and glanced through the rearview mirror at Miles's eyes, which were shrunk by his fat.

"Because the bullet went through the hole in his palm."

The air inside the carriage seemed to freeze for a moment.

Miles' face flushed instantly, and the veins on his neck throbbed beneath the thick layer of fat.

"Oh my God!"

"Leon! How could you say such a thing!"

"This is blasphemy! Making fun of God is a death sentence!"

Su Long leaned back in his chair, a mischievous smile spreading across his face.

Anthony turned his head and glanced at Miles with a hint of helplessness.

"Alright, Miles, don't bring your religious fanaticism to work."

Then, he turned back to look at Su Long in the back seat.

"Mr. Lyon, don't bother with Miles. He's just a scoundrel."

Upon hearing this, Su Long closed his eyes, seemingly to rest.

The vehicle sped along the highway, the light and shadow of the streetlights flashing alternately inside the car.

Seeing that the two had stopped arguing, Anthony continued to focus on driving.

His gaze pierced through the windshield, looking into the endless darkness ahead, and a strange sense of unease crept into his heart.

That strange waveform...

It is not considered strange.

It's not radiation either.

What could it be?

The next moment, Su Long suddenly spoke, interrupting Anthony's thoughts.

"Detectives, have you noticed...?"

"The color of the rain on this windshield... seems to have darkened."

Su Long squinted, staring intently at the rainwater streaming down the windshield, as if to confirm that this was not his hallucination.

Anthony sat bolt upright and slammed on the brakes.

"laugh--"

The massive SUV quickly began to slow down.

Along with the brakes, the sound of the Geiger counter also rang out.

"Da da da da da da—"