Act05 Doom and Gloom: Disaster and Darkness

Foreword:

Disaster is the first step on the road to truth.

[Part 1: Blood Knights]

"Is there anything else you need to tell me, Ms. Glory?" Leslie's eyes darted away, unable to meet the gaze of this murderous tyrant.

Xue Ming instructed, "I need a suitcase, at least 130 centimeters long, with no special requirements for width or thickness, just the standard size. I also need two sets of new clothes, and a quiet hotel room."

Leslie nodded and stood beside the phone booth, covering his mouth and nose, gagging, but still trying to shield the Little Brotherhood sir from the corpse inside.

Xue Ming and Liuxing left the scene with the laborer, and no sheriff or militiaman came to inquire or check on them throughout the entire process.

--So Xue Ming's conjecture is correct.

The towns and counties near Clearwater Bay have become the strongholds of criminal gangs.

The trading hub is practically defunct. Apart from commercial activities such as selling agricultural products and chemical products, it is a gathering place for numerous gangs. Even if she killed a drug dealer in front of passersby near the train station, no local law enforcement would intervene.

She took the meteor to the hotel, and discussed it with Leslie before entering the room.

"I need two suits, the looser ones."

Leslie perked up. "Any requirements for the fabric? And the shirt size?"

Xue Ming glanced at Liuxing and said to Leslie, "They should all be loose-fitting and easy to move in. Buy her a pair of sneakers."

Leslie: "Color?"

Xue Ming: "Black."

Leslie: "A tie."

Xue Ming: "Black."

Leslie: "Shirt."

Xue Ming: "Black."

Leslie nodded.

He dared not speak, but he could vaguely guess the purpose of these clothes.

He's a manager in the Beggars' Sect, wearing a white suit and a gold watch—all for business purposes.

Ms. Glory wore a black suit and shoes for easy movement to cover up the bloodstains, in preparation for the murder. As for the suitcase, it was likely her weapons case.

After changing her clothes, Xue Ming told Liuxing not to wander around, as she needed to go back to the luggage storage area at the train station to retrieve her equipment.

She told Leslie, "Take care of my sister, I'm going to buy some stuff."

Upon hearing that business was coming in, the Black Brother immediately offered to introduce Glory to the best gunsmith workshop in Forty-Eight District.

But Xue Ming wasn't interested. He coldly took out the hotel memo and gave instructions to Leslie.

"Write the Cult Leader's mission objectives here, including the location, time, and a clear summary of the action."

Leslie: "I understand."

Xue Ming took a chef's knife from the kitchen, tucked it into his sleeve, and moved very quickly.

"I admire you for not liking drug dealers. Protect my sisters and work for me; I won't treat you unfairly."

Leslie hesitated, about to follow Ms. Glory, but stopped at the door.

A long time passed before Ms. Glory finished ordering dinner for S272 and was about to leave the hotel.

Leslie stood in front of the hotel entrance and finally asked.

"Ms. Glory, I find you to be a very strange person—"

G117 had just turned around when she finished tipping the receptionist, and she looked at the Black Brother with curiosity.

Leslie continued.

"--If you hate drug dealers so much, why do you work for them?"

Xue Ming: "Since you hate drug dealers so much, and your father was killed by them, why would you work for them?"

In an instant, Leslie's expression changed several times. He clenched his fists weakly, then looked away, unwilling to meet the gaze of this rising star of the Religious order. He feared that burning look in his eyes, and seemed to be able to guess something, but dared not utter a sound.

When he turned his head again, Glory disappeared into the garden square in front of the hotel like a nimble and unpredictable demon.

In Forty-Eight District, the local security force is known as the [Blood Knights].

It's not that these militiamen have any unclear relationship with the vampires, but rather that when the land was first being developed, this place was right next to the settlements of astral creatures. The hybrid children of humans and monsters took the initiative to act as the protection group for the pioneering teams in order to reintegrate into human society, similar to the local militia in villages and towns.

More than three hundred years have passed, and the Blood Knights still protect the people who live and thrive on this land, but their protection is selective and purposeful.

Like the leader of this generation of Blood Knights, in the election for the governor of Forty-Eight District, as the popular leader of the astral beings, he mobilized the elders and folks of the community to cast more than 30,000 votes, and finally formed a faction with the new governor to obtain the position.

If Spanish Bullfighter are still serving the Abyssal Railway, they are infiltrating militias with unwavering loyalty.

So the Blood Knights had long since betrayed Ming De and was now under the command of the Forty-Eight District Governor. He did not accept Guangling Zhixi's orders and instead directly obeyed the Governor and some bandit Religious order. He and Guangling Zhixi were not even sworn brothers, and he had secretly committed countless illegal and criminal acts.

When Xue Ming returned to the luggage storage area at the station, she opened the locker door according to the locker number reserved by the boss.

Her heart sank immediately, because the contents of the box were wrong—

--That's completely wrong.

The martial arts and martial arts she designed, Wu Huan and Wen Yu, have disappeared; Yinhe and Jingguang have vanished without a trace, replaced by a Springfield M1884 rifle and a Kimber 1911.

This infuriated Xue Ming. You see, she hadn't been this agitated even when drug dealers were shouting "two hundred thousand or eighty thousand!"

If those women with kids came up to do sales, they were outstanding employees struggling on the front lines of this sinful city, using ruthless survival tactics. Xue Ming slit her throat, sending her to her release, guiding this wicked soul to the other side—a great deed indeed.

Back to the two guns and the greatsword, these things actually cost Xue Ming millions—now they've become old toys from the last century, and she completely doesn't understand them.

Also missing were 650 rounds of 9x39 ammunition.

Now, only two .45 ACP remain at the storage area, totaling forty rounds.

Where did her guy go?

This all started with the Blood Knights --

--Let's start with the command center of the railway station's security department.

"She killed someone as soon as she entered the city! How dare she!"

People come and go outside the office, while the office itself is noisy and bustling.

The leader of the Blood Knights sat at the long table, hearing his assistant's shouts beside him, followed by shouts from other members of his group.

"This newbie in the Little Brotherhood doesn't know the rules. Didn't Silver Bay teach her how to be polite and follow gang rules?"

Counting from left to right, there are six astral hybrid monsters present, all of whom are core members of the Blood Knights.

They all resembled half-human, half-lizard creatures, with protruding noses and mouths, blue skin, and upturned eyebrows and eyes. The one in the middle was the largest.

The one with the most power and the biggest physique is called the Zhuai Ge Oliver.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were separated on either side.

The three members of the Internal Affairs Department are Blue Eyes, Tinkerbell, and Four-Eyes.

The three from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs are Big Boss, Band-Aid, and Baidong.

These six individuals represent six major groups: large-scale accounting, general cost accounting, munitions logistics management, explosives handling, emergency medical and trauma treatment, and routine police patrol.

Zhuai Ge Oliver, is their leader and commander-in-chief. He is also the leader of the Blood Knights, the militia organization in Forty-Eight District. Anyone who sees this lizardman outside the command center has to call him "Chief."

They are rare individuals from the Astral Plane, and originally had close ties with the Star Realm Gang, so they couldn't Little Brotherhood.

These days, the Little Brotherhood even taking matters into their own hands, killing drug dealers at the train station.

Blue Eyes, his expression agitated, stuck out his long, split tongue. "This is practically a slap in the face to you, Zhuaige!"

"If we're pricing it according to the meat ration coupons," Tinkerbell, the female lizard with seductive eyes, whispered to the Zhuaige, displaying her beautiful figure, her tail casually wrapping around her boss's thigh. "That appetizer vendor can work for another sixteen years, earning at least fourteen million. Oliver, this can't be let off so easily."

[Part ②: The Messenger of Death]

The bespectacled henchman promptly placed a dark weapon case on the table.

"Boss, I found this at the train station—it's related to Glory."

Inside the weapon case was a black umbrella, along with the Milky Way and scenic views.

When more than six hundred rounds of ammunition were lined up in front of the soldiers in the field service group, the lizardmen suddenly fell silent.

The Big Boss neck throbbed, his scales trembling with the tension in his muscles; he knew what these highly lethal rifle bullets meant.

"Hey, Four-Eyes, you're saying these things are related to Glory?"

Four-Eyes immediately replied, "It's her stuff. She knows the password. I originally wanted to send someone to stake out the luggage storage area to find out who left it at the station, but I didn't expect this."

The Big Boss, "How many more people does she want to kill?"

Four-Eyes retorted, "How should I know!"

"Don't be impatient."

At this moment, the Zhuai Ge Oliver asked his two subordinates to quiet down.

The powerful astral hybrid grabbed Jingguang, gently stroking the gun barrel, inspecting the slide and touching the inscriptions.

"I've never seen a gun like this before. The ammunition and bolt design are very unusual; it doesn't seem like it was designed for human use. Four-Eyes, tell me in detail what's going on."

Four-Eyes stammered, "Last month, an unmarked package was delivered from the Shambhala Transfer Station. I went to the logistics center to check, but the person in charge completely disregarded my Blood Knights title and refused to reveal any information. At that time... at that time, I withheld the package."

Oliver's eyes hardened. "Aren't you afraid of offending the cargo owner?"

"So," Four-Eyes immediately explained nervously, "So I stuffed two guns into the container. They're weapons to kill anyway, and if it doesn't interfere with the owner's work, I'll just..."

Oliver: "You just want to swallow this whole box?"

"It's for you! For you!" Four-Eyes immediately flashed a fawning smile, sweating nervously. "It's for Zhuaige, to praise Zhuaige!"

Oliver: "Are you sure these weapons belong to Glory?"

Four-Eyes adjusted his glasses and emphasized, "It absolutely belongs to her. Only she went straight to this container, entered the password, and retrieved the goods."

Oliver: "Where is she now? Has she come looking for trouble?"

Four-Eyes: "She's on the first floor. In the lost and found."

A very long time passed, Zhuai Ge Oliver remained silent.

He put down Jingguang, picked up Yinhe again, looked at the gun barrel made of Silicon Carbide Emery, pulled the handle, and gently pulled the trigger.

"A fine gun; it would be perfect as a gift."

Big Boss of the weapons depot, standing nearby, immediately chimed in—

"--Great! Great! It just so happens that the second young Star Realm Gang has his birthday tomorrow! If you, boss, could give this thing away..."

Oliver's eyes turned fierce and sinister. "I want you to teach me how to do things?"

Four-Eyes immediately asked, "Boss, what about the woman?"

"Just give me a rough draft," Oliver replied casually. "She came to pick up the guns, delivered two guns, and received two guns. Is there anything wrong with that?"

Four-Eyes: "But... where are the bullets? So many bullets!"

Oliver: "Didn't you stuff a bullet in there?"

Four-Eyes: "There are only two boxes of pistol ammo. All the other bullets are here. I didn't leave her any rifle ammo. I didn't dare."

"Does she dare to oppose us militiamen?" Oliver said confidently. "Our bulletproof vests and scales are impenetrable even to pistol bullets! What does she need these rifle bullets for? To attack the police? I've already shown leniency by not charging her with possession of illegal weapons."

These hybrid monsters were enormous. Oliver, for example, was nearly 235 centimeters tall and three meters long including his tail. He was much stronger than Anna, the Earth Dragon.

Anna, being a half-snake Earth Dragon monster, has short limbs and is far weaker than these hybrid lizards.

Oliver's two large arms are strong, almost as thick as his head, and his thighs are as wide as the waist of a pretty internet celebrity on TikTok.

Xue Ming's weapon design seemed tailor-made for these monstrous units.

Right now, at this very moment--

--The Band-Aid, which hadn't spoken for a long time, suddenly barked.

The lizard sister from the celestial realm was talking to her boss about the recent frustrating things that had happened.

"Last week, a gang shootout occurred in front of the Bowen Library. Forty-six people died in the gunfight, and twelve others died from their injuries. Eight of them were students from South City University, innocent civilians. The child of a professor from the Institute of Biology came to our workplace to demand an explanation. He lost an eye and also lost his father."

Oliver said impatiently, "What? You want to pay me back?"

The Band-Aid seemed indifferent. "I tried my best, but I couldn't save him. There was nothing I could do. I told him that life is unpredictable and death is predestined. But he didn't want money."

Oliver: "So what does he want?"

Band-Aid: "He wanted justice. He asked us why drug dealers could get guns, why they could open fire and fight in the streets near the library, why they could use students as human shields, why his father had to die, and why it took us more than two hours to arrive at the scene."

At this point, Band-Aid seems to be in a very difficult situation.

"Zhuaige, you know I'm not very educated, I don't know how to answer."

Oliver: "Find an opportunity to kill him. Big Boss, you take care of this."

"Huh?" The Big Boss surprised. "This is such a trivial matter? You want me to go and kill someone?"

"This is a cultured man." Oliver patted the Big Boss head. "If he doesn't die, he'll keep asking questions. He'll write articles, he'll write things on online media to make things difficult for us, he'll go after Ming De —then everyone will be in a difficult position, and it'll cost a lot of money. And judging from what Band-Aid said, this kid is impervious to reason, he doesn't even want money. So there's no point in talking about it? You can only take the life of someone who doesn't want money. Disaster is the first step on the road to truth."

The Big Boss nodded slightly. "Understood."

Four-Eyes was still a little worried.

"Boss, are you really not going to talk to Glory?"

Oliver: "I don't think I have anything to talk about with Homo sapiens. This is Forty-Eight District, not District 18. At Mimir Hot Spring Market, we'd be a delicious dish on their table."

"Hahahaha." Blue Eyes chuckled, "Boss, you're really good at joking."

At this point, the Zhuai Ge Oliver arm around his secretary's waist and grinned, "You can negotiate with food? Can you reason with it?"

Four-Eyes: "She also has a gun."

Oliver wants his bespectacled little brother to be brave.

"One Kimber's cigarette, forty bullets, what big commotion can she cause? And there's a Springfield cigarette out of bullets—relax, kid. You did a good job this time, we're keeping the stuff. But make sure you check the numbers on your bonus this month."

Four-Eyes immediately relaxed his brows and beamed with joy.

He hurried downstairs to tell his lover the good news. He ran towards the Civil Affairs Investigation Department as fast as he could, and had just reached the service hall when a strong and uneasy feeling enveloped this monstrous hybrid.

That was a warning from the bloodline of ancient mountain demons, an instinctive reaction to danger inherent in the nature of wild animals.

He looked out the window and saw a conspicuous police tape.

Just as he was wondering why the police station looked like a crime scene, with such a police cordon around it...

A woman dressed in a black suit, black tie, and black shirt, who looked both incredibly familiar and unfamiliar, had just pushed open the spring door of the corridor and was staring expressionlessly at the refined-looking Little Four Eyes with glasses.

The woman was gesturing as if she wanted the four-eyed man to answer the phone.

Four-Eyes didn't dare to breathe loudly. He looked at the empty office; there was no one in the weapons management department, and no one in the archives either.

He pulled his phone out of his pants, only to find it was constantly connected.

His partner had called him before, but he was Zhuaige, so she probably forgot to hang up.

Immediately afterwards--

The strange woman then took out her phone from her pocket, tapped the screen lightly, and then hung up.

In that instant, the man with Little Four Eyes was utterly shaken. Had this woman overheard the entire meeting?

"Glory! What did you do to my wife?!"

Xue Ming did not answer, but instead responded with a question.

Where's my gun?

Four-Eyes shouted angrily, "You audacious criminal! How dare you threaten the militia?!"

Xue Ming: "You audacious thief, how dare you threaten the Little Brotherhood?"

The two started moving at the same time. Xue Ming simply kicked open the spring door, showing Little Four Eyes the view of the corridor behind it.

The forty-two clerks on the first floor were tied together in a large circle around four pillars. They all reeked of alcohol. They were gifts that Xue Ming had found in the storeroom. They were all high-proof liquors that could be burned to ashes with just one fire.

Several bloodstains ran from the guard post next to the front hall to the main hall. Following the bloodstains, the four-eyed man found evidence that the Blood Knights's guards had been shot. There were seven of them in total, all with bloody holes in their eyes. They had all been killed with a single shot and dragged to the front desk by the murderer, where they were piled up into a tower of lizard meat.

The main culprit was right in front of him--

--Inquiring about the whereabouts of the firearms.

The Little Four Eyes asked nervously, "Where's Boris?! Where did the security captain go?"

Xue Ming kicked open the fire extinguisher cabinet. "Are you looking for him?"

A corpse fell from the fire cabinet, the barrel of a Springfield rifle stuck in the Barry of this hybrid monster, piercing its intestines. It seemed to be fleeing its killer in terror before dying, and after such severe injuries, it finally succumbed to its wounds in the cabinet.

"Damn it! You fucking bastard!" The Little Four Eyes retreated step by step in surprise and fear. "How dare you!"

"Nice gun." Xue Ming pulled out Kimber 1911 and pointed it at the Little Four Eyes. "But I prefer my own."

Immediately afterwards, the ferocious-looking man took out a lighter and lit a cigarette.

--She reasoned with the bespectacled man calmly.

"Give me back my things, or your wife, and these bastard lizards who collude with drug dealers and bully innocent people, will all be burned to ashes in one fire."

"No, no, no! No!" The Little Four Eyes nervously turned on his radio. "Zhuaige! Zhuaige! She's here! She's here to get a gun! She wants it!"

Xue Ming: "Speak slowly and clearly, don't be nervous."

Upon seeing the security captain's miserable state, the Little Four Eyes man became incoherent.

He had never seen such a fierce person before, and he was terrified.

"Zhuaige, help me! Help me!"