A massive shadow flickered in and out of view at the city center. Although it was impossible to make out exactly what it was, anyone with half a brain would understand the risk of getting close to that thing.

Fortunately, the police station headquarters was located in the west of the city, a considerable distance from the downtown area, so they didn't need to go near it.

"Is it okay to breathe in this fog?"

Mia sat in the passenger seat, rhythmically clicking a lighter, a lollipop stick clenched between her teeth.

"It's definitely not okay. The question is just how severe the effects will be."

Lin Ye also had a plastic stick between his teeth, steering with one hand as he rammed a path through the vehicles blocking the road.

"I hope the Headquarters hasn't fallen yet. That way, we might be able to get some information about the situation in the city and outside."

Xivia caught the lollipop Mia tossed to her, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.

"... Doesn't feel great."

The police station's main gate was on the left side of the street. The open area inside the gate was covered in large patches of bloodstains, but not a single corpse remained.

Lin Ye parked the police car by the roadside. The three got out, lightened their footsteps, and entered the station.

Xivia led the way with her police baton, Mia was in the middle of the group, and Lin Ye brought up the rear.

The interior of the police station was eerily quiet. The corridors were everywhere stained with splattered blood.

Xivia was very familiar with the station's layout. She led them straight towards the Armory, but as they rounded a corner, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.

A grey object was placed in the middle of the corridor ahead, blocking their path.

It was a grey human upper torso, still clad in a police uniform.

"... Director?"

Xivia let out a sigh so faint it was almost inaudible.

The grey upper torso also noticed Xivia. At first, it shook its body excitedly, but soon calmed down and shook its head at her.

Its lips were sewn shut with thin grey threads, seemingly unable to produce any sound.

Lin Ye grabbed Xivia, who wanted to approach, and threw a scalpel towards the torso. The scalpel was suddenly split into upper and lower halves at a certain point mid-air.

"What's going on?"

Xivia took a step back and asked.

"A trap using someone familiar."

Lin Ye lit a Molotov cocktail and hurled it with force at the upper torso. The bottle was split into upper and lower sections, but the alcohol and flames still hit their target.

Flames burned on its body. Until it was charred black by the fire, the upper torso made no sound, only revealing an expression of extreme agony.

Soon, the upper torso stopped moving completely. Lin Ye threw a few more things near it. This time, those items were not split in half.

But Lin Ye still didn't approach. He was extremely wary of things related to familiar people.

Normal acquaintances weren't trustworthy, let alone one that was only half of a familiar person.

"Maybe we should just retreat and forget about the Armory."

Lin Ye said loudly on purpose.

"... Right. We should be able to find some spare ammunition elsewhere. The Armory might already be emptied out."

Although Xivia wasn't as cautious as Lin Ye, compared to the grey, half-bodied Director, she trusted her newly-met teammate more.

The moment the three turned around, the charred upper torso used its arms to prop itself up on the ground and silently began approaching them at a not-so-fast speed.

Lin Ye raised his phone. The front-facing camera perfectly captured its comical movements.

"So its movement speed isn't fast enough. No wonder it tried to pretend to be human."

As Lin Ye spoke, they had already started running forward. The upper torso's speed was mediocre and couldn't keep up with theirs at all.

However, they hadn't run far when they encountered a second grey upper torso ahead in the corridor. This torso was moving towards them, slightly faster than the familiar one behind.

"How? There wasn't anything here when we passed just now!"

Mia exclaimed in shock. She definitely didn't want to be split into upper and lower halves.

The corridor was a straight line, blocked by half-body monsters both in front and behind. They had nowhere to run.

"The walls and floor are fine! Their attack range is very small!"

Lin Ye took a bottle of mineral water from his backpack and threw it hard at the half-body monster ahead. The water bottle was split in half at the middle, but inertia still carried the two halves to hit the monster's chest.

The half-body monster happened to be crawling forward, and the impact directly knocked it over.

The moment Lin Ye released the water bottle, his hand shot out towards Xivia's police baton. He then took the baton and thrust it at the half-body monster.

The front end of the baton was not split in half. Seeing this, Lin Ye rushed to the monster, pinned it to the ground with the baton, and started pushing it forward as if pushing a hockey puck.

The front end of the baton was split into two halves, but this didn't affect Lin Ye's operation.

Just as Lin Ye had guessed, the effective range of the half-body monster's power was only a small area around its upper torso. When it was knocked down, the area beneath its body was not affected.

A crack appeared on the ground. Clearly, the half-body monster couldn't split the earth itself.

The half-body monster still tried to struggle, but Xivia, who had caught on to the trick, took over Lin Ye's job. With just a bit of force, she firmly pinned the monster under the baton.

Just then, a third half-body monster appeared ahead. Before Lin Ye could act, Xivia kicked the baton-pinned monster forward.

The third half-body monster was split in half, while the one kicked over remained unharmed.

Before it could get up, Xivia pinned it down again with the baton. The front end of the baton was split again, but the baton's quality was excellent, still keeping the monster pinned underneath.

"Nice shot!"

Mia very cooperatively cheered.

Lin Ye turned to look behind. The familiar one immediately stopped using its hands and began rapidly retreating.

Clearly, it wasn't without fear.

"I'm turning it!"

Xivia used the baton to change the half-body monster's direction. The three hid behind the monster. A crack appeared on the wall facing the monster's front.

"This is way too useful. Don't break it."

Lin Ye's eyes lit up. If this monster could maintain this state, they might even be able to leave the city in a straight line. If they fixed this monster to the front of the police car, he wouldn't have to play bumper cars anymore.

"True. It's a pity its power is limited. Otherwise, we could totally use it to clear out all the monsters in the city."

Xivia said excitedly.

"If its power wasn't limited, then when it fell over, this planet would be split in two."

Lin Ye definitely didn't want to mess with that kind of uncontrollable power.

"Right, that would be too exaggerated."

Xivia pushed the half-body monster towards the Armory. They didn't encounter another monster on the way. The familiar one sliced off a section of the wall and escaped through the gap.