Six police cars rolled into the abandoned construction site, carrying Liang Wan and twelve armed officers.
The unfinished building loomed under the night sky—bare concrete walls exposed, steel rebars jutting out like broken bones. Against the darkness, it resembled a massive beast crouched in ambush, waiting to devour whoever stepped inside.
Broken bricks littered the ground. Cement dust coated everything. An idle crane stood frozen nearby, its silhouette eerie and lifeless.
Liang Wan gazed out the window.
Too quiet.
No movement. No voices.
"They're probably inside," Ruth said calmly from the front. "Relax. Intelligence says it's just a few small-time dealers. Low risk."
Liang Wan smiled faintly. Fear wasn't something she lacked—but it wasn't ruling her either.
Ruth grabbed his rifle and stepped out. The others followed, forming up around him.
She scanned their gear instinctively—bulletproof vests on every officer. Three M4 assault rifles. Two shotguns. Solid firepower.
After issuing quick instructions, Ruth led the team inside. Liang Wan followed at the rear, camera raised, recording every step.
The building was massive. Room after room passed in tense silence.
Then—voices.
They came from the first-floor atrium.
Liang Wan ducked behind a concrete pillar and peeked out.
Seven or eight men stood in the open space, dressed oddly, arguing loudly over stacks of cash and several bags of white powder.
Drugs.
Her pulse quickened. She zoomed in, filming steadily. This footage alone could send them all to prison—and make headlines by morning.
Ruth grinned.
Perfect timing.
With a sharp wave of his hand, he charged forward.
"Police! You're surrounded! Drop your weapons and put your hands up!"
For half a second, the dealers froze.
Then chaos exploded.
Guns were drawn. Shots fired wildly as the dealers scattered.
"Damn it!" Ruth cursed, diving for cover and returning fire.
The shotgun roared. One blast sent a dealer flying backward.
The other officers joined in immediately.
Gunfire tore through the atrium.
The police advantage was overwhelming. Within moments, two dealers lay dead, unmoving.
The firefight lasted barely two minutes.
Ruth tightened the perimeter, gun raised.
"Drop your weapons!" he roared. "Hands up! Come out now—or you're dead!"
"Shit—it's Ruth!"
The remaining dealers panicked. They knew the name. They knew the reputation.
Low on ammo and outgunned, they made their choice.
Weapons clattered to the floor.
An officer cuffed one of them and exhaled. "Easy enough."
He glanced at Liang Wan. "You got all that, right?"
She lifted the camera, smiling. "Every second. You guys look heroic."
Then—
Something moved.
Her smile vanished.
On the fifth floor.
A shadow.
Fast. Deliberate.
Her heart lurched.
"Wait," she whispered urgently. "Did we clear everyone? I just saw movement—fifth floor."
The officer turned—
Bang.
The shot punched straight through his body.
He collapsed, convulsed once… then went still.
Blood spread across the concrete.
Liang Wan stared in horror.
Bulletproof vests didn't fail like that.
"What kind of weapon—" she gasped.
She didn't finish the sentence.
Gunfire erupted from above.
She dove behind a stack of cement bags just as bullets rained down like a storm.
"Bang! Bang! Bang—!"
The noise was deafening.
Concrete shattered. Dust filled the air.
In less than a minute, hundreds—maybe thousands—of rounds tore through the atrium.
"You said they only had pistols!" Liang Wan shouted, voice shaking. "What the hell is this?!"
Ruth's face was twisted with fury and disbelief.
The intel was wrong.
Dead wrong.
And now one of his men—gone.
He grabbed a captured dealer, shoved his gun against the man's head.
"How many of you were here?" Ruth snarled. "What weapons? Talk—NOW."
The dealer sobbed. "I swear—we were only eight! You caught all of us!"
"Then who the hell is upstairs?!"
"I—I don't know!"
Bang.
The dealer's skull exploded mid-cry.
Blood splattered across Ruth's face.
"Bastards," he spat, shoving the body aside. "They killed their own."
Liang Wan fought the urge to vomit.
Still filming.
Still thinking.
The dealer hadn't been lying.
Which meant—
Two separate criminal groups.
Same building.
Same night.
Pure, lethal coincidence.
She shared the thought with Ruth.
His face darkened further.
The shooters upstairs had military-grade weapons.
Those weren't used lightly.
This wasn't a street deal.
This was a major transaction—and they were eliminating witnesses.
Including the police.
"We need to pull out," Ruth barked into the comm. "Joe, Mike, Jason—cover fire! Everyone else, fall back! Now!"
The M4 rifles roared as three officers emptied their magazines.
The fifth-floor fire weakened.
Two officers sprinted—
Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang.
They collapsed mid-run.
"Sniper," Ruth said hoarsely. "Burst-fire."
His blood ran cold.
Automatic sniper rifles.
Precision killers.
They could wipe out the entire team without reloading.
Breaking out was impossible.
Their only hope was survival.
"I've been a cop for thirty years," Ruth muttered. "This… this is the worst."
Then—
An explosion.
The shockwave slammed into Liang Wan, knocking the breath from her lungs.
Two officers were torn apart instantly.
Grenade launcher.
Ruth's face drained of all color.
"They have grenades…" he whispered. "We're finished."
Two rifle grenades screamed toward them.
"RUN!"
Too late.
Liang Wan slumped against the concrete, despair flooding her eyes.
She was too young.
She didn't want to die like this.
Then—
A blood-red crescent of light tore through the darkness.
It sliced cleanly into the grenade.
BOOM!
The explosion rocked the atrium, cement bags collapsing as dust engulfed everything.
Liang Wan was thrown to the ground, barely conscious.
Coughing violently, she forced her eyes open—
And froze.
Standing before her…
Was a skeleton.
Dark white flames burning in its eye sockets.
The same skeleton from her bathroom.
Lin lan.