In the TV, Deng Jiajia’s trembling hands took the microphone, her knuckles whitened from the force.

Her eyes were bloodshot, tears forming beads on her lashes, rolling down as she blinked.

"Actually..." her voice was nearly shattered with sobs, "there weren’t just two of us who went down... Ren Xuan was also there..."

As she mentioned the name, her lips trembled uncontrollably, as if uttering those two words had exhausted all her strength.

Tears finally broke free, and she was sobbing uncontrollably, yet she still spoke with determined strength:

"He...he sacrificed himself so we could escape with the materials..."

Deng Jiajia suddenly bit her lower lip, blood seeping from between her teeth,

"He volunteered to stay behind, using his life to divert those man-eating monsters..."

The camera turned to Tang An, the male reporter, whose eyes were also red, his face engraved with immense sorrow.

He raised the microphone, his throat bobbing intensely, yet unable to utter a complete syllable.

The host sighed heavily:

"Ren Xuan’s sacrifice grieves us all... but it is because of fearless journalists like you that the people of Zone 9 can see the truth...."

The audience erupted in enthusiastic applause.

The host timely followed up: "So besides the live broadcast contents, during the interruption, did you capture anything else..."

"We did."

Deng Jiajia wiped away her tears with effort, smearing her makeup, but it made her appear more genuine, lending more credence to her words.

She took a deep breath, her voice carrying a hint of quiver yet incredibly firm:

"The footage was just too bloody, too taboo... merely watching it could very possibly contaminate and distort viewers’ cognition and awareness, the danger level is simply beyond imagination..."

She paused slightly at this point, her gaze sweeping over the crowd, then looked into the camera explaining to Zone 9’s audience:

"Therefore, the station, after careful consideration, decided to seal all related visual materials, and handed them over to the Executive Government officials.

I firmly believe, the Executive Government will manage to root out the mastermind behind those monsters, catch them all, and provide a rightful explanation to the deceased."

"Plop——"

The remote control in Feng Yuhuai’s hand dropped to the ground.

Her pupils constricted violently, her lips quivered, stuttering repetitively:

"One died...two more...two more..."

Feng Mu timely sat by, next to the clever Imoto, with a harmless smile on his face.

"Yeah, one died... a reporter," he drew out his tone, "two more reporters... are alive."

Feng Mu helped Imoto pick up the remote from the ground, then with unknown intent remarked:

"In this light, Father really doesn’t need to bother restoring that memory card, right?

The TV station already said it—the complete footage had been handed over to the Executive Government, as for the Patrol Office...we just need to wait obediently for orders from above."

Feng Yuhuai turned her head, her gaze stiffly falling on her brother, the words echoing endlessly in her mind:

"The footage is with the Executive Government... with the Executive Government... Executive Government..."

Feng Mu sighed thoughtfully:

"Perhaps, the Patrol Office has already received the directives, huh, catching these monsters might be very dangerous, just hope Father comes back safe and sound...home!!"

The corpse suddenly twitched with spasms.

First, the left ear pinna twitched bizarrely, as if it caught some inaudible whispers, then a "crack" from the index finger joint.

In the next second, Feng Ju was abruptly jerked upright as if pulled by invisible strings, standing ramrod straight.

His pupils dilated to the extreme in the darkness, faced with dense blackness.

There was nothing, no voice seeming to drag him from the abyss, nor the warmth of a daughter lying on his back.

Only the car door swung gently in the night breeze, like a hungry mouth, continually inhaling and exhaling the sobbing night wind.

"I’m not dead? Just now...was all a dream?"

Feng Ju lifelessly raised his hand, his fingertips tremblingly touching his chest.

Under the smooth skin, the ribs were neatly arranged with no sign of a bloody, fleshy crater.

"It was indeed a dream...Yuhuai could never..."

Just as he was about to exhale in relief, his fingers brushing his back suddenly froze—a clear tear in the fabric, with a sticky sensation under his fingertips.

Bringing it to his eye, he saw his fingertips stained with still-not-congealed, dark red blood.

"This can’t be..."

Frantically, he rummaged through his pockets, the mechanical fingers scratching the cloth created a harsh, grating noise.

When the shattered storage card was finally fished out, the whole world fell silent at that moment.

"Thump——"

A muffled sound emanated from the depths of his chest cavity.

It seemed like his own heartbeat, but that heartbeat was extraordinarily eerie and unfamiliar.

Feng Ju remained in a stupor for a good ten seconds before hearing the next "thump——".

Clearly, fear was about to burst through his skull, yet the heartbeat was so slow, so heavy, it suffocated him, like someone beating a skinned drum in an empty coffin.

After a long while, Feng Ju’s lips suddenly cracked open in a tearing grin.

No tears, no howls, but a suppressed, throat-constricting writhing.

"I’m dead!"

"I should be dead already...right?!!"

"Heh——"

He tilted his head, a pair of eyes fixating on the shattered storage card in his hand, the pitch-black car window reflecting a grin more chilling than a cry.....

"Yuhuai killed me?!!"

"My darling daughter?"

"It’s my... darling daughter!"

Feng Ju turned his head sharply, staring fixatedly toward home—warm light glowed from that window, like a flame luring a moth.

He laughed grotesquely while getting out of the car, lifted his foot about to head home, yet suddenly froze, showing intense, painful struggle on his face.

"Heh...hehe..."

A grotesque laughter seeped through the gap in his teeth.

He staggered out of the car door, but as he lifted his foot, he froze.

His facial muscles suddenly twitched violently, the left side twisted in a pained expression, the right side a furious rage.

He tremblingly took out his phone from his pocket, the screensaver still showing a photo of him and his daughter.

The name "Yuhuai" in the contacts flickered under his fingertips, yet he couldn’t press it.

Some invisible strength was stopping him—maybe lingering fatherly love, or perhaps something darker.

If I rush back now, is it to kill Yuhuai?

Or... to be killed by her once more?!!

"Bang——"

He slammed the door shut and slumped back into the driver’s seat, his entire face seemed to be torn by invisible hands, splitting apart.

Suddenly, he raised his hand and slapped himself twice, the sound of flesh against flesh echoing in the car.

"It was Yuhuai who killed me..." the hoarse voice gradually cleared, "then who is it that brought me back...?"

Feng Ju didn’t know if this counted as being alive, he listened to his terrifying heartbeat, watched the darkened veins under his skin.

He suspected he was alive, yet not completely alive.

Stranger still, a string of semi-transparent numbers floated across his retinas, decreasing at a visibly noticeable speed:

[335:54:59]

[335:54:58]

[335:54:57]

[335:54:56]