The giant digital sign atop Shanming City Radio and Television Station had been battered by torrential rain for so long that its lights began malfunctioning erratically.
The overcast sky looked even more oppressive from the rooftop of the city's tallest man-made structure, as if it might collapse at any moment.
This was closest to the heavens and closest to the rain, so naturally it offered the clearest view of a famous university in the southwest—a university that was now becoming the source of ominous signs for the entire city.
That source was not something tangible, yet a strange force shrouded Shanming from every direction.
In the howling wind, the old, poorly maintained digital billboard creaked. In the downpour, its exposed wires had been corroded by water stains, brewing a disastrous accident in places no one would notice.
In the dim daylight, a massive shadow hung over that man's head, as though some great weight could crush him into pieces at any time.
The man stood alone, solitary and isolated, looking down from a lofty position upon the dead city engulfed in misfortune.
He seemed detached from it all, yet unable to escape.
An inconspicuous black speck gradually drew near through the rain and lightning, like a drop of ink dripping across this apocalyptic dead city.
In such terrible weather, no ordinary bird could fly like that. It was like some illusory thing that did not belong to this world, ignoring the wind and rain as it approached at a steady speed.
Its black feathers took on a faintly splendid sheen beneath the rain, while its sharp black eyes radiated endless strangeness. As its eyes shifted, the Eerie Red Light within them formed crimson lines.
Everything indicated that it was no ordinary bird.
As it flew swiftly closer, its two claws