I write obituaries for the gods

"After Hurricane Katrina destroyed New Orleans, the surviving Roma people gathered together and began to wander."

Many years later, her team had grown quite large, and for some reason... this team came to the Rain City...

......

Interlude: In the Past, Under the Bright Sun (Part 1) (Fifth Watch)

2009, Liberty District, Rain City.

"You understand... I don't get too involved in gang matters. After all, they shoot each other in the streets every day. It's normal to have grudges and to like revenge."

"But even if it's for revenge... you can't activate an anomalous entity, can you? That thing is deadly..."

"I understand, I understand."

On the balcony of an apartment building in the old town, tide Leina was holding a small notebook, occasionally jotting down notes.

In front of her, a dark-skinned woman wearing a thick gold chain was complaining to her.

Outside the window, the sun shines warmly, and a gentle breeze makes the quilts drying on the balcony flutter slightly. Hundreds and thousands of quilts sway together between the apartment buildings, like a flock of birds spreading their wings.

“It’s on your tab,” Xileina said softly. “I will help you capture the ‘Wind Demon’ and contain it.”

“Okay, thank you,” the woman smiled. “According to the timeline… it should be arriving soon… Oh! Here it comes!”

With a whooshing sound of wind, Xileina looked up and saw an invisible gust of wind crash into the bedsheets of the neighboring building, flying over like a mischievous ghost.

tide Lena had heard the old woman talk about this strange and abnormal entity countless times: it would come to the old town every day at noon, randomly select a few households to enter, and take their belongings!

Sometimes they steal furniture, sometimes they steal money.

"Then I'll go!"

After tide Lena finished speaking, she grabbed a blanket and jumped off the edge of the balcony!

"Be careful, that thing is very powerful, even an AK47 can't kill it!" the old woman shouted from the edge of the balcony.

"It's alright, I'm an expert!"

"......"

An old Toyota sedan was parked downstairs in the apartment building. The door was open, and a Martin boot stepped out onto the mud.

"Headquarters has arrived at the location where the physical 'Wind Demon' was found and has begun containment operations."

"Received, be careful."

The young Jiang Zhengge drew his pistol, released the safety, and looked up at the sky.

What comes into view is a sky full of blankets: this is how it is in the old town of Liberty, where all the space between buildings is used to dry all sorts of things, and blankets are considered a relatively civilized way to dry things.

"It's hard to find..." Jiang Zhengge muttered softly, "Let me see, you're here—"

He suddenly saw the Wind Demon—a quilt darting around like a ghost, as if it were hiding from something.

Behind it, Jiang Zhengge saw a patch of sea blue.

"Don't run! You bad guy! Stop right there!"

It was a young girl who used a blanket as a parachute. She was as light as a swallow, and her gypsy silver ornaments glittered in the sunlight.

As the sunlight shone through, this moment seemed to transform into a slow, high-motion shot: the girl flew over Jiang Zhengge's head like a bird spreading its wings, her sea-blue curly hair dancing wildly in the air, like a wave passing between buildings.

"Hey... what are you doing..."

Then, under Jiang Zhengge's gaze, the girl kicked "Wind Demon" and immediately let go of the blanket, grabbed it, and fell down with it.

With a "thud," the girl slammed the wind demon to the ground, casually pulled out a crystal ball, and smashed it hard against the demon.

"caught you!"

As a dazzling, deep blue light flashed by, the outline of the quilt gradually deflated.

"Phew... all done..."

tide Lena stood up, gently wiped the sweat from her forehead, held the crystal ball up in the sunlight, and looked through the crystal at the wisp of wind flowing inside.

"You naughty child, who told you to run around like that?" Xileina said with a grin, "Next..."

"careful!"

A shout rang out, and Xileina turned her head to see an investigator raising a pistol at her—

"Oh!"

A bullet grazed her face and struck something behind her.

tide Lena turned her head and saw another ghostly blanket lying on the ground, twitching continuously.

Jiang Zhengge walked quickly past tide Leina, raised his pistol, and fired a series of shots at the ground:

"Bang bang bang!"

After firing the three spirit pressure bullets, the wind demon gradually dissipated like a deflated balloon.

"Are you alright?" Jiang Zhengge asked the girl beside him.

"It's nothing, it's nothing," Xileina said, rubbing her wrist as if still shaken, then flashed a somewhat innocent smile. "Thank you so much, officer! You were a great help!"

“We’re investigators, not police officers. We’re in charge of dealing with anomalous entities,” Jiang Zhengge frowned. “How could you take action against an anomalous entity on your own? Don’t you know that’s dangerous?”

“We are Rom Hunters,” Xileina said, puffing out her chest. “We specialize in dealing with anomalous entities in the Liberty District! We’re experts!”

"What kind of experts are you? Do you even have spirit pressure bombs?" Jiang Zhengge frowned.

"We can contain anomalies with a crystal ball! What do we need your bullets for!" Xileina held up the crystal ball.

"Alright, alright, stop talking." Jiang Zhengge had a headache.

He had actually heard of this group called "Rom Hunters" before: a group of Gypsies who performed exorcisms on the streets and had great prestige in the gang-ridden Liberty district.

“Come back with me,” Jiang Zhengge said. “This demon needs to be contained, and you also need to be questioned.”

"Why, why?" Xileina exclaimed anxiously. "I caught it, why should I give it to you?"

"This is the procedure, please respect it," Jiang Zhengge said.

Just then, he heard footsteps behind him:

"Miss Xileina, is this guy bothering you?"

Jiang Zhengge turned his head and saw several black men carrying AK47s walking over. They had red headscarves on their heads and their faces were unfriendly.

He's a member of the Red Gang.

The Red Gang is one of the major gangs in the Liberty district. Its members are ruthless and have caused many serious incidents in the area.

Jiang Zhengge immediately became alert. Almost simultaneously, the doors of several cars behind him opened, and several investigators from the First Division got out, their hands on their holsters.

"Boss, should we make a move?" Wu Hao said in a low voice. "These guys have blood on their hands, it's okay to kill them."

"Don't act rashly," Jiang Zhengge said softly.

At that moment, a splash of sea blue began to stir:

"Okay, okay, it's alright. They're friends. They even helped me fight the Wind Demon just now!"

tide Lena jumped in front of the group of black men and began to explain, waving her hands.

"Are you sure you're alright?" Old Hei frowned.

“Yes, yes, it’s alright,” Xileina said. “It’s just for safety’s sake. In short, you don’t have to be bothered by the Wind Demon anymore—it’s been captured! Its partner is dead!”

"Ugh! Miss Xileina, you're the dopest!"

The old men exchanged a few pleasantries with tide Leina before turning and leaving, not forgetting to glare at Jiang Zhengge before departing.

After they left, tide Leina walked up to Jiang Zhengge and extended her hand expressionlessly:

"Alright, are you satisfied now? Put the bracelet on me, okay?"

Seeing the girl's expression, Jiang Zhengge couldn't help but laugh.

"What's wrong?" tide Leina asked, sounding a little angry.

“It’s alright,” he said, opening the car door. “Get in.”

Getting along so well with this group of xenophobic black people... using a blanket as a parachute... using a crystal ball to catch anomalous entities...

He suddenly found the Gypsy girl in front of him quite interesting.

.......

Interlude: In the Past, Under the Bright Sun (Part 2) (First Update)

In the passenger seat of the Toyota, Xileina reached out and shielded her eyes from the glaring sunlight.

Jiang Zhengge put on his sunglasses with the hand that wasn't holding the steering wheel. He glanced at tide Leina with some curiosity and asked:

"So, you Gypsies really do have magic?"

“Rom people, Rom people,” Xilena corrected, frowning. “Of course we have magic! We’re clowns who roam the world, like to steal things, and perform magic tricks in the circus!”

"Wow, that's impressive..." Jiang Zhengge muttered. "So, Miss Roma, what's your name?"

“tide Lena Boswell.” tide Lena looked to the other side.

“My name is Jiang Zhengge, from the RBAI Rapid Response Division 1,” Jiang Zhengge said.

"I didn't ask you!" Xileina tossed her head in frustration. "I haven't committed a crime, have I? Why are you arresting me? Is it wrong to rid the world of a menace?"

“If we arrest you, you won’t get this treatment,” Jiang Zhengge said. “Where do you live? I’ll take you back, but we’ll have to register you first.”

Upon hearing this, tide Leina turned her head and looked at Jiang Zhengge with some distrust.

"Really? You're not planning to go to my house and arrest everyone, are you?"

"You have quite an imagination," Jiang Zhengge nodded. "So what if you do? You'll find out anyway, and if you keep it a secret, you'll be punished even more severely."

"You bastard...!"

tide Leina stared at Jiang Zhengge for a long time before letting out a soft breath.

She gave him the address, then kept looking in the opposite direction and stopped talking to Jiang Zhengge.

"..."

Half an hour later, Jiang Zhengge stopped in front of a row of bungalows.

"We've arrived," Jiang Zhengge said.

tide Lena looked out the window and was surprised to find that the guy had actually brought her back.

"Can I leave?" tide Leina pointed to the car door.

"Let me see the crystal ball." Jiang Zhengge held out his hand.

tide Leina hesitated for a moment, but finally took out the crystal ball and handed it to Jiang Zhengge.

Jiang Zhengge held up the crystal ball, and through the sunlight, he could see the tiny air currents flowing within the crystal.

"This thing was made by a Spirit Awakener, right?" Jiang Zhengge returned the crystal ball to tide Leina.

“You have a good eye,” Xileina nodded. “Yes, it was my brother who did it. His psychic ability is ‘blocking’.”

"Be careful, the physical form will appear after a while."

“We follow strict procedures, don’t underestimate us!” Xileina frowned. “So, are you still going to arrest me or not?”

Jiang Zhengge looked at the girl in front of him with amusement: she seemed very tough, but Jiang Zhengge could tell that she was actually a little scared.

He grabbed a cigarette, took out a lighter, and was about to light it when he put it down again.

“There are many private hunters, but most of them don’t end up well,” Jiang Zhengge said earnestly. “It’s not that I’m making things difficult for you, but if you can manage the Liberty District well, it will save us a lot of trouble. After all, this area is too chaotic, and we don’t usually like to come here.”

"But the problem is that the processes of confrontation, understanding, containment, and elimination actually have many hidden dangers. I want to understand you, which is also to ensure your safety, so that you don't make a mistake one day and cause a bigger mess."

"Then... what are you going to do?" tide Leina looked at Jiang Zhengge with a mixture of belief and doubt.

"Take me to see your... uh... laboratory? workshop?" Jiang Zhengge wasn't sure what word to use.

"The exorcism room." tide Leina's expression was mysterious.

"Wow, that's impressive," Jiang Zhengge laughed as he opened the car door. "Come on, show me the magic tricks of you... the Giromu people!"

......

That day, tide Leina led Jiang Zhengge into the house and showed him the exorcism room.