"Special Management Department... Heh heh!"
From the depths of the darkness, a hoarse voice reached his ears.
Eyes crawling with black and red veins stared wide-eyed at Bai Zhou.
His mouth, smeared with black blood, stretched open in a sinister, bone-chilling grin.
"You're a cockroach too..."
"--!!!"
Bai Zhou jolted awake in bed.
The familiar ceiling came into view... Oh, it was the familiar ceiling covered in colorful posters.
"You're awake."
A cool voice with a hint of hoarseness came from beside him.
It startled Bai Zhou badly, yet paradoxically made him feel much more at ease.
"Morning, Ya."
Bai Zhou rolled over in bed, sat up, and looked over.
Her dark hair cascaded down as the Maiden leaned against the windowsill.
One leg stretched out casually, its toes lightly tapping the edge of the sill, while the other was bent at the knee to support her. Her slender wrist rested carelessly on her knee.
Her delicate five fingers hung naturally. Light from outside filtered faintly through the gap in the curtains, revealing the pale-blue veins on the back of her hand.
She tilted her head and rested it against the window frame. Her face was habitually half-hidden in shadow, while fine specks of light illuminated the other side of her face, her neck, and her straight, loose hair.
The air flowed slowly, carrying the lazy, sweet bitterness of coffee throughout the room.
--At that moment, Ya turned her head toward Bai Zhou and opened her ever half-lidded, rainbow-colored eyes.
It was as though a sharp bolt of cold lightning flashed through the bedroom.
She spoke softly:
"Are you ready, Bai Zhou?"
A new day had arrived.
August 28.
Tonight, the Blood Worship Cult would invade the base.
And Deputy Han would come to the Resting Mausoleum to conduct another "deal."
"Cockroaches..."
Bai Zhou thought of the dream he had just had.
The words spoken by the "Doctor" he had once met at Hengtan Elementary School inexplicably lingered in his mind.
So that was what he meant...
Only now did Bai Zhou suddenly understand in hindsight.
Perhaps he was overthinking it.
Or perhaps that "Doctor"—the uncle who seemed to hold considerable status in the Blood Worship Cult—knew something about what was going on here.
Cockroaches liked to hide in dark places during the day. They were social insects with a fairly stable social structure.
Most importantly,
cockroaches would eat the corpses of their own kind, because they were a source of high-quality protein.
--How much did that resemble the Special Management Department here?
The so-called elite Commissioners and senior officers of the Special Management Department.
They were nothing more than a group of... ghouls dwelling underground and feeding on corpses.
Thinking of this, Bai Zhou took a deep breath.
"There's no such thing as being too prepared."
"So, if you're asking whether I'm ready..."
Bai Zhou answered very seriously, and because he was serious, he hesitated.
Before anything truly happened, it was always difficult to confidently and cheerfully answer, "I'm ready."
Life wasn't cooking. There was no way to prepare every ingredient in advance, and one might not even know what dish would come out in the end.
If he had to give an objective answer, Bai Zhou could only say that he actually wasn't ready.
The disparity between enemy and ally remained impossible to overcome, and while they were inside the base, no one could say what unexpected changes might occur.
But when a person was about to be eaten by a beast, they would not give up running just because they had no shoes;
nor would they lose the courage to make one final attempt at danger merely because they lacked a weapon suited to hand.
By comparison, Bai Zhou had already done everything he could.
So his answer was:
"I'll do my best."
Do what one could, and leave the rest to fate.
Regardless of what happened, they had already made it to this day.
Then... he would simply gather his courage and keep moving forward!
"...Not bad."
Ya seemed very satisfied with Bai Zhou's answer.
"By the way, Ya."
"What is it?"
"Can I ask you a question?"
"What?"
Bai Zhou raised a hand and smoothed down the cowlick that stood up proudly every morning as usual. He looked at Ya and asked seriously:
"Why is it that whenever I see you, you're either appearing and disappearing in bizarre ways, sitting on a ribbon, or sitting on the windowsill? Doesn't your butt hurt?"
"..."
Ya remained silent, her face cold.
...Could it be because this looked cool?
Bai Zhou tried to understand, but failed.
So, for the sixth time, he earnestly offered his suggestion:
"How about sleeping on the bed from now on?"
"I really can sleep on the floor, you know."
"..."
Ya still kept her face cold and said nothing.
But looking at Bai Zhou's sincere and concerned expression, Ya eventually forced out two words:
"No need."
Then she continued, "That isn't important."
"--What's important is something else."
Bai Zhou blinked. "What?"
Ya raised a hand and pointed toward the bathroom:
"--Right now, go take a shower. Wash yourself thoroughly."
"Huh? How is that important?"
The abrupt change of topic left Bai Zhou confused.
"Why? I just washed before bed last night..."
Ya immediately stiffened her little face. "I told you to go, so go. I have my reasons!"
"...All right."
It didn't matter anyway.
Bai Zhou raised his arm, sniffed suspiciously, and smelled himself.
He didn't stink.
There was even the milky fragrance of body wash.
With a click, Bai Zhou went into the bathroom and carefully locked the door.
...The sound of rushing water soon came from next door.
The Maiden lightly landed on the windowsill, making no sound.
Then, with a swoosh--
she pulled open the curtains.
Cold white light from outside flooded in, illuminating the posters on the walls one by one.
The ceiling, the side walls, colorful posters everywhere...
They were all posters Bai Zhou had asked Section Chief Liu for, one or two a day.
After all, Section Chief Liu was his only channel.
Section Chief Liu thought Bai Zhou wanted to learn about the world and did not think any further. He never imagined that Bai Zhou was trying to cover up the traces of his brutal training in the dormitory.
However,
at that moment, one poster faced the window and was bathed in light, as if it were glowing.
Behind the poster lay the corrosive marks on the wall from Bai Zhou's first test of the Mechanical Spear-Gun, when the corrosive liquid from the Little Green Bottle had struck it.
The image on the poster showed the back of a ragged man spreading his arms to welcome the raging wind and rain.
--A line of dialogue was written above it:
"You know, some birds are never meant to be caged. Every feather of theirs shines with the light of freedom."
"Tap..."
Ya's gaze finally swept over the small dormitory.
At last, her eyes settled on the calendar hanging beside the wall.
Today was August 28.
Jiashen Month, Wuyin Day.
A suitable day for bathing.
And...
breaking houses and ruined walls.
--Meaning, the day to break through the walls.
Night fell in the blink of an eye.
Twelve-oh-one a.m.
The dormitory lights were still on, but it had long since been deserted.
"Caw--"
Accompanied by a shrill alarm, it swept across the skies above Branch 36 like a roaring ghost.
The entire Special Management Department base was thrown into violent mobilization.
The various fire positions that had long been deployed stirred for a moment, then fell silent once more.
The Blood Worship Cult, punctual as ever, had arrived as promised.
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