Bloody Mary

Sun Hang had originally intended to make up an excuse to brush it off, but for some reason, the words that came to his lips were the same ones 0401 had just spoken—

"Curiosity killed the cat."

"Are you threatening me?" 0398 raised an eyebrow, a hint of wariness in her eyes.

"Just saying, don't be so tense." Sun Hang smiled, no longer paying attention to 0398, and followed Captain Huang forward.

He felt a very strange sensation. The person who had stepped forward to slap the middle-aged woman earlier, and the one who had just threatened 0398, felt as if they weren't him... or perhaps, it was another personality within him.

Or was that the real him before he lost his memory?

With such doubts, Sun Hang walked in silence... but as they went deeper into the corridor, they gradually smelled a peculiar odor.

It was a mixed smell of rust, decay, and fetidness. Just one whiff made the contents of their stomachs churn, and even the peacekeepers couldn't help but cover their noses and mouths.

Fortunately, they soon reached the end of the corridor, where a wooden door with peeling paint appeared before them.

The unbearable stench was also at its most potent here.

The forensics expert's face turned grim. He hesitated for a moment before walking up to Captain Huang and whispering, "It's the smell of decomposition, and a strong smell of blood... The missing women have likely been dead for a long time... and the method of murder might have been extremely brutal..."

"I know." Captain Huang reached out towards the wooden door but couldn't bring himself to push it open.

"Maybe we should just leave," 0401 said with a look of fear. "I have a bad feeling... there's something, uh, unpleasant inside."

"Captain Huang, this kid is right. At this hour, the 'Hunters' should be arriving soon," one of the peacekeepers also advised. "Whatever happens next has nothing to do with us anymore."

Captain Huang stood before the door, conflicted. On one hand, the truth he had been pursuing for so long was likely behind this door; all he had to do was open it to get the answer. On the other hand, he was afraid to face that truth.

As Captain Huang wavered, Sun Hang walked over and placed his hand on the door.

Faintly, Sun Hang felt as if something inside the door was beckoning him.

The nauseating smell, to his senses, besides the initial fetidness, concealed a hint of fragrant, subtle aroma, like the nectar emanating from blooming flower buds.

He suddenly felt a bit hungry.

Taking advantage of the others' inattention, he pushed the door open.

Behind the door was a hall exceeding three hundred square meters. The floor sloped downwards along a series of steps. The suffocatingly strong smell of blood was useless even when covering one's nose and mouth. Tension seeped into everyone's nerves through their remaining pores, making the very air feel thick.

Sun Hang descended the steps and, at the far end of the hall, saw a square blood pool.

This pool, comparable in size to a swimming pool at an amusement park, was filled with viscous, crimson blood. Fragmented, deformed bones floated in the blood, appearing and disappearing.

Above the blood pool, a naked young woman was suspended. Her body was so swollen, it looked like a specimen that had been soaked in formalin for many years.

Her skin had a strange, pale green hue, and her body was covered in shocking wounds. Blood slowly seeped from the torn flesh around the wounds, flowing down her body and finally dripping into the blood pool beneath her feet.

Several thorny vines extended from the blood pool, coiling around the young woman.

The sharp thorns pierced her skin and burrowed into her flesh, as if feeding on her body, draining the last vestiges of her life force.

On her shoulder, a vividly colored rose was in full bloom.

This young woman was still alive; Sun Hang could sense her faint breathing.

But with every passing second, the woman grew weaker, while the rose on her shoulder became more vibrant.

Footsteps sounded from behind, followed by a gasp of shock, "Xiao... Xiao Jun?"

It was clear that the young woman suspended above the blood pool was the last missing intern peacekeeper.

As for the other missing young women... Sun Hang glanced at the bones floating in the blood pool.

But ultimately, Sun Hang's attention was drawn to the rose... A strange desire arose deep within him: he desperately wanted to tear that flower off, shove it into his mouth, and chew it forcefully...

This thought grew uncontrollably in his mind. Just as Sun Hang was about to act, 0401's voice rang out in despair, "Bloody Mary?!"

Sun Hang's consciousness returned to clarity.

Bloody Mary?

Was that the name of the rose?

Sun Hang suddenly remembered who the person in the oil painting outside was.

It was Countess Báthory from European legends, who was said to bathe in the blood of pure maidens to maintain her youth.

For each bath, she would kill two maidens and bury their remains beneath the bathroom floor.

So, the reason those young women disappeared was all to nourish this beautiful "demon flower"?

"Is it an Oddity?" Sun Hang turned to look at 0401 and asked.

"Of course it is..." 0401 said with a grimace. "Serial Number D37, 'Bloody Mary.' Over a decade ago, its appearance was the culprit that turned half of the Southern City Development Zone into ruins... Why is it still alive? Wasn't it dealt with by the Investigation Bureau?!"

"A flower, could it really destroy half a development zone?" Sun Hang was somewhat puzzled.

"What truly destroyed the Southern City Development Zone were people," 0398 continued from where 0401 left off. "Bloody Mary's thorns spread through every street and alley, burrowing into every building with living beings inside, wantonly draining all the flesh and blood it could reach... To completely eliminate it, the Xiazhou Federation had to air-drop large quantities of napalm into the Southern City Development Zone, incinerating Bloody Mary and the blocks it occupied together."

"So that's how it was... No wonder many of the ruins we passed earlier had burn marks," Sun Hang nodded. "So, this thing is afraid of fire?"

"No... this isn't the 'Bloody Mary' from over a decade ago," Captain Huang's voice sounded. "That 'Bloody Mary' was long since burned to death. I participated in the operation back then; I watched it turn to ashes with my own eyes."

"Then what are we seeing now?" 0401 asked hysterically, waving his arms. "It can't be my hallucination, can it?!"

"Seeds, they're seeds... That 'Bloody Mary' from back then left its seeds," Captain Huang murmured. "'Bloody Mary's' seeds need to be watered with blood to sprout, and now..."

And now, it had bloomed.