The residents’ final, frenzied curtain call was as fierce as it was fleeting.

The shrieks and howls that had surged through the Central Police Station were cut off in an instant. It was as if a raving lunatic had suddenly been forced underwater mid-scream. As the echoes faded like a final, dying struggle, silence crept back, seeping into the building bit by bit.

Chaisi bolted for the stairs.

Those who hadn’t been invaded and knew nothing about the Nest’s residents seemed stunned by the sudden shift from shrieking to dead silence, unable to process what had happened.

Even Jin Xueli was frozen to the spot, staring at the suddenly collapsed Ashley, not yet thinking to run. As Chaisi turned to leave, she seemed to ask something, but he didn’t catch it and was in no mood to make conversation.

The moment he understood Ashley’s half-spoken sentence, Chaisi’s world became like a fast-forwarding shot in a movie: the background blurred and stretched, rendering everything indistinct. All the rushing colors surged forward for the sole purpose of reaching a destination as quickly as possible.

’The mastermind had set a trap for me not just for the "rumor," but to remove me from the equation. I’m the biggest obstacle standing between them and the Kai Family.’

’So, what would the mastermind do now that the situation had changed, now that they knew I’d used the "Nest communication network" to seize control of the Central Police Station?’

’Would they just tuck their tail and run, praying Ashley wouldn’t expose them and pretending this whole thing never happened?’

’Of course not.’

’Once you make a move against the Kai Family, you have to be prepared for a fight to the death.’

’If I were in the mastermind’s shoes, I’d adapt. With my biggest threat—me—stuck in one place, I’d use the opportunity to strike at my real target. That means Uncle Kai could have been in danger for some time now.’

’...Are he and Aunt Hai still at the cemetery?’

’What good would a handful of bodyguards be?’

’I’ve already wasted too much time... I can’t even bear to think about what happens if I’m too late.’

A searing, sour bitterness coated Chaisi’s tongue, as if he were tasting some kind of chemical.

He reflexively pulled out his phone to call Uncle Kai, but his eyes caught the fluffy ball charm dangling from it, and he froze. Only then did he remember: he still had Jin Xueli’s phone.

"Wait,"

Just as Jin Xueli re-entered his thoughts, she caught up to him from behind. "Wait a second!" she shouted, out of breath. "Ashley’s not dead! Did you know that? What’s going to happen to them?"

It wasn’t so much that she had caught up with Chaisi, but rather that she was being chased.

Behind her, the shadow of the arm that had shot out of Ashley’s eye socket had disappeared, and her eyes had returned to normal. But her gaze still couldn’t focus; her neck was half-twisted, one eye looking at the ceiling, the other at the corridor wall.

She stumbled along, chasing Jin Xueli. With each step, her limbs swung loosely and her spine went crooked, like a marionette being dragged about haphazardly.

"...Go where?"

’Ashley can already speak again?’

Even Chaisi, who was in no state to pay attention to his surroundings, couldn’t help but freeze when he heard the voice from behind him.

"Where you go? Where where? Take me watch TV watch TV watch TV—"

"What’s wrong with her?" Jin Xueli seemed pained to even look at her. She hurried after Chaisi, running down the stairs. "She hasn’t turned into a resident, has she? The way she’s talking—"

"Not a resident,"

Chaisi’s reply was terse. He tossed her phone back, and she fumbled to catch it. "Here. Weren’t you leaving?"

’He didn’t have a shred of energy to spare for her, not for the life-saving trick that had piqued his curiosity, not even if she could walk out of the police station and turn into God himself.’

’Right now, only one thing in the world mattered.’

’The cleanup at the Central Police Station would have to be left entirely to Mercury. I’ll need to borrow a few of her Mercenaries, too. How much force did the mastermind send to the cemetery?’

’Uncle Kai couldn’t reach me, so he should have called the Household Hunters immediately... I wonder if they can hold on. Why hasn’t my own phone rung even once?’

’Or is the situation so bad that the Hunters who got the message and rushed to help didn’t even have time to send me a single text?’

The first call he made to Uncle Kai was rejected by a soft, indifferent female voice: "Sorry, the number you have dialed is temporarily unavailable..."

Chaisi fought the urge to snap his phone in half. He called Aunt Hai next. This time, the call connected, but no one picked up.

Something had happened. He had been right.

The last shred of hope he’d been clinging to was extinguished by those two calls.

"Mercury!"

He rushed to the first floor, and just as he shouted her name, he saw the group of people who hadn’t been invaded being herded out of the cells at gunpoint by Mercenaries into the center of the main hall.

’...Of course. This was Mercury’s favorite part.’

’Especially when she got to do it inside a police station... She must have been looking forward to this for a long time.’

Someone threw the main breaker, and the lights in the Central Police Station flickered back on as if bewildered, re-illuminating the chaos inside. Those who had been invaded by the residents and then abandoned were now sprawled on the ground in twos and threes, scattered everywhere. Ashley seemed to be the first person in the entire building to get back on her feet and speak.