Dare Kill My Bird

Midnight.

Zhang Ze returned to the Police Station. The courtyard was empty, and the police cars were parked in the garage. The moment he got out, he keenly sensed something unusual.

This aura was far too familiar.

Though it was not as intense as the Door-After World, it carried a powerful resentment, like a reactor constantly emitting radiation. Zhang Ze was like a Geiger counter, immediately detecting the unsettling atmosphere.

He looked once more at the Police Station before him.

The plaque above the entrance was covered in rust, as though many years had passed. The stone tiles on the ground were blanketed in moss, having seemingly aged decades overnight.

He had only been gone for half an hour.

Yet upon returning, it felt as though half a century had passed.

"Wait. Don't rush in yet. Haven't you noticed what's different about the Police Station?" Zhang Ze stopped the carefree Kuai Liang.

Kuai Liang had not noticed at first, but after Zhang Ze pointed it out, he too spotted something strange.

That was right.

The West City Police Station before them was far too unfamiliar. It was like the Raccoon City Police Department Leon had returned to after many years—ruinous signs were everywhere.

The ground was coated in thick dust.

The windows were covered with grimy plastic film, making it impossible to see inside.

Standing at the entrance, all they could hear was the intermittent wind brushing past their ears, striking against their hearts like wind chimes.

The mission had begun.

Zhang Ze's gaze shifted slightly. Black liquid gradually seeped out where Kuai Liang could not see it, and his hands slowly turned deathly pale and slender, like the hands of a dead woman. As a crow cried overhead, Zhang Ze's vision instantly expanded to encompass the entire Police Station.

Crow's Vision.

This ability was absurdly overpowered.

Zhang Ze was no fool. Charging recklessly into the Police Station was not wise, so he first sent a crow flying through it.

The corridors remained silent.

But the silence was frightening. Aside from the wind, there was no movement at all. Plaster had fallen from many walls, the floors were pitted and uneven, and there was no trace of anyone having lived here.

Even stranger was this.

When the crow flew into the deepest part of the square-shaped corridor, Zhang Ze clearly saw a shadow suddenly cover the crow's head.

"Caw!"

The crow let out a miserable cry and died on the spot.

"Survive in a place like this until the second day's daylight? No wonder it's a two-and-a-half-star Scream Index scenario."

Zhang Ze's eyes shifted as he said to Kuai Liang, "You can see this place is seriously wrong too. I'll go in alone. You wait outside for me. How about it?"

Kuai Liang was just an ordinary person.

If he entered this haunted place with him and something happened, he would die even faster than the crow.

Under these circumstances, Kuai Liang would only hold Zhang Ze back. Zhang Ze would never agree to take him along.

"What are you saying?!"

"Mr. Zhang, I'm a police officer. How can I let you risk your life while I hide safely in the rear?"

"No. I have to go with you!"

Kuai Liang spoke with righteous conviction.

Zhang Ze paused, stepped closer to Kuai Liang, and lowered his voice. "Let me tell you a secret. Actually..."

"Today is Crazy Thursday."

Kuai Liang froze.

He had thought Zhang Ze was about to say something important, but that opening completely baffled him. Why not say spaghetti mixed with Number 42 concrete while he was at it? It was way too absurd.

But before he could say anything, Kuai Liang's vision suddenly went black, and his mind instantly lost consciousness.

Zhang Ze withdrew his Ghost Hands, placed the unconscious Kuai Liang in the passenger seat of the police car, then shut the door.

"This time, I don't have to keep acting."

"So what if you're haunted? It's not like I'm not a ghost too!"

Countless crows spread their wings from Zhang Ze's hands and surged into the Police Station. Through Crow's Vision, Zhang Ze completely ignored the dim lighting and took in everything around him.

After entering the Police Station, Zhang Ze followed the route he remembered and went first to Captain Yan's office.

The office was empty as well. All the computers were shut down, and a discarded police uniform lay on the sofa. It looked as if no one had come by.

Zhang Ze inspected it once.

He found no signs of haunting.

But the table also lacked the leftovers Zhang Ze had eaten and the coffee cup he had emptied.

The only people on night duty were Kuai Liang and Master Guan. The cleaning lady did not work at night, and Zhang Ze did not think Master Guan would be bored enough to come over specifically to clean the place.

In other words, this Police Station looked identical to the West City Police Station in reality.

But it might actually exist in an entirely separate space.

Just like Silent Hill: one was the Surface World, no different from reality, while the other was an Otherworld filled with Fierce Ghosts and hiding all kinds of monsters and demons.

"I don't see any door either."

"Although the aura is very similar, and it's reasonable to suspect that whatever caused all this is connected to the Door-After World, I really haven't seen a door."

Zhang Ze frowned slightly and continued forward.

He needed to make sure Master Guan was safe.

His two videotapes were still with the old man.

"Caw!"

The crow closest to the Technical Department answered the summons, squeezed through the crack in the department door, and slipped inside.

But the next second.

Crow's Vision suddenly went black.

It had died again.

"Something was in this room just now too. And now again."

"I'd like to see just how terrifying it is."

Zhang Ze was not the least bit afraid. He directly kicked open the Technical Department's door.

There was still no one in the Technical Department.

Zhang Ze saw a police uniform draped over Master Guan's chair, as though it had been taken off temporarily. But there were no footprints, indicating that he had not left in a hurry.

"If Master Guan left, then he left. But he couldn't have taken my videotapes with him too, could he?"

"What exactly is going on in this place?"

He had considered that there might be a ghost Behind the Door, perhaps even a Red-Clothed Vengeful Ghost, ready to fight without a word.

He was not afraid of that. Who wasn't a Red-Clothed Vengeful Ghost these days?

But he had never expected Behind the Door to be completely empty.

The crows would not die for no reason. Some force must have killed them. The shadow Zhang Ze had seen through Crow's Vision also proved that.

"Don't hide."

"You're a ghost, and I'm a ghost. Let's have a little heart-to-heart."

"Honestly, I'm only here to investigate Lost Media. I have no designs on you, so there's no need for you to make such a big fuss."

"But you harmed the police technician responsible for repairing my videotapes. That's a little inappropriate, isn't it?"

Zhang Ze spoke aloud.

The Technical Department was so quiet that not even the faintest sound could be heard. The cold made one's hair stand on end. After Zhang Ze finished speaking, he received no response. His voice repeatedly struck the corridor walls, leaving behind chilling echoes.

Zhang Ze picked up a pair of scissors from the desk.

He rubbed the dust off the handle.

His hand came away black.

"Fine. Looks like it's something that bullies the weak and fears the strong."

"You dared kill my bird, dared touch my people, but you don't dare face me head-on, huh?"

The black liquid in Zhang Ze's hand gradually gathered into a door, but it did not stop there. More liquid poured out continuously, as though a faucet had been turned on.

In only a few minutes, it covered two-thirds of the Technical Department.

Using Lingling's ability, Zhang Ze was trying to draw out the door.

But this door... was far larger than the previous one.

It was also a silent threat, showing that Zhang Ze had the ability to drag the entire Police Station into his own Door-After World, leaving whatever was hiding nowhere to escape.