The lights went out, and the night darkened.

The straight Black Pillar merged with the night sky, losing any distinctiveness.

Most of the shops along the street were closed, and vehicles and pedestrians on the roads became sparse.

Many of the worried people outside the food street couldn't hold on and went home to wait for news, leaving only a few persistent figures who couldn't stand for long and found a stone pillar a little farther away to sit and wait.

Wang Xiuli sat on a stone pillar by the edge of the road, her eyelids drooping with sleepiness.

Suddenly, she heard the sound of many vehicles approaching, and a rancid smell permeated the air.

She rubbed her eyes and looked toward the street. One sanitation garbage truck after another and vehicles covered with black tarps formed a long dragon as they emerged from the night.

Like a bloated, malodorous arthropod, they slowly entered the food street.

The soldiers under martial law moved aside the roadblocks to allow the vehicles through but sternly stopped several people who came forward to inquire.

The terrifying sound of guns being cocked dispelled any thoughts of questioning.

Feng Mu, hiding farther away in a darker, quieter alley, also watched the procession of garbage trucks with suspicion, full of confusion.

Only when he saw those few slightly clumsy vehicles covered in black tarps did he suddenly understand everything.

Those were corpse transport vehicles from the crematorium, and they had all been brought here.

Then, as Iron Bone, who no longer feared the cold, he suddenly shivered on the spot, feeling a chill permeate every pore of his body.

He thought in shock and uncertainty, "How many people have died that even the corpse transport vehicles aren't enough, and garbage trucks have to be used?"

A corpse transport vehicle could hold six bodies without issue, while a garbage truck could be filled with... dozens?

Feng Mu felt a chilling horror in his heart, even ignoring the issue of respect when using garbage trucks to transport bodies, as it paled in comparison to the potential death toll.

So many vehicles that they could fill up with people from the entire community... right~

"Wait, can't all be dead, can they? Was the whole community living with the extremely evil members of [Destiny], all the delivery men who got lost delivering to me?"

Feng Mu could only use sarcasm to suppress the swirling emotions in his heart, whether it was fear or anger; he couldn't tell.

He just looked up at the Black Pillar merging with the night sky, feeling as if not just the Black Pillar but the entire night sky had turned into a bloody dining table.

And the enormous shadow above was an unprecedentedly terrifying monster sitting at the table, picking meat debris and blood from its teeth.

The Black Pillar silently dispersed.

The barrier isolating the air vanished, and the nauseating smell of blood swept through the street like a wave, a scent that couldn't be masked by the accumulated rancid stench from dozens of garbage trucks.

The breathing of Wang Xiuli and the others seemed strangled by a hand, their faces turning deathly pale.

Through the darkness and distance, what they saw was unclear, but they could vaguely make out the soldiers seemingly lifting heavy objects in pairs, throwing them onto the garbage trucks.

Some sanitation workers, holding large brooms and shovels, got out of the vehicles, and before long, the sounds of "scrape scrape" from sweeping and "splash splash" from running water echoed from the community ground.

The cleaning sounds were quite usual, akin to those Wang Xiuli made while cleaning at home.

But that time, her mind involuntarily visualized sickening scenes, her stomach, empty after a night without food, churning, her throat heaving as if she would vomit.

The people waiting alongside her seemed to share the same intuitive imaginings, each hurrying away, no longer daring to wait there.

Wang Xiuli, quite timid, hesitated for a moment before retreating to a farther place.

Within the community, dismembered limbs were mixed together everywhere, indistinguishable from each other.

The soldiers of the Investigation Corps, the chiefs of the Patrol Office, the extremely evil members of [Destiny], and the aimless Blank People, once reduced to broken bodies, bore no hostility, no hierarchy, melding into a mush, swept joyfully into garbage trucks.

Each old, shabby low-rise building seemed to be repainted for free overnight, uniformly colored red.

"The trouble with people is that no matter what skin they wear in life, the blood they shed after death is all the same color," the special commissioner mused inexplicably in front of a stairwell.

He looked at the heap of bodies, the topmost being a woman with a scarred face, clutching a sword hilt even in death, her fierce eyes glaring skyward.

"These people wish even in death to climb to the sky. Yet they're just ants crawling on the ground, why strive for wings?" the special commissioner mocked, caressing the badge on his chest.

Standing aside, Wang Yilin kept silent, not joining the conversation. He, too, was an ant from Lower City, but he had never fantasized about the sky, believing Upper City's grandeur outshone the sky's five colors.

The special commissioner wasn't annoyed by the silence and smirked, saying, "Gather up the bodies of the extremely evil members for a group photo. I'll document it and report credit to you."

Wang Yilin understood this and quickly agreed.

He signaled to Feng Ju, instructing, "Assemble the seven bodies of the extremely evil members."

Feng Ju stood still, not moving immediately, but covertly glanced at the special commissioner's frowning expression, boldly asking, "Director Wang, aren't there more than seven bodies here?"

Wang Yilin was briefly stunned but hadn't yet responded when he heard the special commissioner ask with a half-smile, "Then, according to your count, how many should there be?"

Feng Ju knew he had gambled correctly and saluted, replying loudly, "Reporting to the special commissioner, there are a total of 14 bodies of extremely evil members here."

The special commissioner pursed his lips. "Explain."

Feng Ju: "Seven bodies were closely monitored, out in the open, and seven were covert operatives hidden in the community. Ultimately, all were captured in a joint operation by our Patrol Office and the Investigation Corps, and after fierce battles, they were all executed on the spot."

Next to him, Captain Zhou Jian of the Investigation Corps side-eyed Feng Ju, finally showing a slight smile, thinking, "A smart man, more sensible than that foolish Director Wang Yilin."

The special commissioner gazed intently at Feng Ju. "What is your name?"

Feng Ju stood at attention, "Reporting to the special commissioner, my name is Feng Ju."

After a deep look at Feng Ju, the special commissioner said indifferently, "Go about your business."

Feng Ju breathed more heavily, turning to instruct a few chief constables to assemble the bodies.

The special commissioner whispered in Wang Yilin's ear, "Director Wang, you have competent chief constables under you. I think this Feng Ju is quite good; you should rely on him more in the future."

Wang Yilin nodded in deep agreement.

It was then that he fully understood; the need to encircle the community and slaughter it cleanly was not just part of the "kill all" policy; it was also to piece together seven bodies.

With the whole community dead, the covert [Destiny] operatives concealed among them were naturally slaughtered too.

Who would say they weren't really here? Was it you, was it me, or was it the bodies on the ground?

Heh—

So, losing over a thousand suffocating Blank People just to assemble seven extremely evil bodies; where in the world could one find a more cost-effective deal?

Indeed, the special commissioner from Upper City has truly... left us Lower City People in awe with his method of earning merit.

Wang Yilin felt his mindset elevated to an unprecedented height, shifting his perspective and vision of the world; a whole new door was opening for him...

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