: The Demise of Group 2

On this day, Qin Jin lived a leisurely and carefree life, enjoying the relief and joy that came after everything was finally over.

As they left the cabin, Constantin, sitting in the passenger seat, seemed somewhat absent-minded. He was smoking a cigarette, but his attention was focused on the runic revolver in his hand, which he unconsciously rubbed, his eyes looking somewhat vacant.

Qin Jin glanced in the rearview mirror and saw Alessa vigorously rubbing the bloodstains stuck to the doll in the back, focused and calm. Noticing Qin Jin's gaze, she looked up, then lowered her head again expressionlessly and continued rubbing.

Qin Jin guessed the question Dante was pondering from his expression:

"Hey, John!"

Qin Jin broke the silence, speaking in a relaxed and nonchalant tone:

"Don't overthink it. That thing... is a demon that has fused with invisible power. It's already good that your gun can even hurt him. It's normal that you can't kill him."

Startled awake, Constantine turned his head and shrugged.

"I understand what you mean, but coincidentally... I know of a powerful weapon somewhere, but it's in the hands of a very troublesome person. So, I never thought about it before, but now..."

He paused, his gaze sweeping across the Santa Monica Mountains receding into the distance in the rearview mirror. "I think we should still get our hands on them. It'll give us a much better chance of getting our hands on these things in the future."

Qin Jin's expression remained unchanged; he simply asked calmly:

"Oh? What is it?"

"A sacred shotgun crafted from gold, its barrel engraved with a holy cross and exorcism incantations, possessing immense power!"

Constantin licked his lips: "Most importantly, its ammunition can be self-contained. We can add some stuff that counters Eastern monsters, and it should be able to wipe out this kind of thing..."

At this point, he seemed to remember something: "I'll go check it out tonight. If... if something goes wrong or something else happens, what do you think?"

"OK, no problem." Qin Jin's gaze remained fixed on the road stretching ahead. "Call me if you need to."

Constantine's tense shoulders seemed to relax a little, and he nodded: "Okay."

As the car entered downtown Los Angeles, the bustling urban atmosphere immediately enveloped us.

Qin Jin first took Constantine to the Pan American Loft at 259 South Broadway.

The building carries the glitz and glamour of a bygone era and the sense of decay of today. The huge neon sign for "Pan-American Lofts" is missing a few letters. Constance Dante's residence was located on the top floor of this building.

Constantine got out of the car, waved to Qin Jin and Alessa, and disappeared into the dimly lit entrance.

The Dodge started up again and quickly returned to Qin Jin and Alessa's residence in the Green Grass community.

As soon as they entered, Qin Jin urged Alessa to take the things out of the Frankenstein doll and then go take a shower. She skillfully unzipped the doll and placed the small toys inside one by one on the table:

First came her favorite Gru Super Red Hawk, then two heavy boxes of .454 Casull ammunition; followed by a large C4 plastic bomb wrapped in oil paper, along with a detonator and remote control; two round defensive grenades, two smoke grenades; a military kukri, and a large bottle of concentrated nitroglycerin labeled with danger tags…

God knows how she managed to stuff all that stuff in there!

Qin Jin sighed, picked up the nitroglycerin bottle, and carefully placed it high up, away from the washing machine.

"Alessa, I've told you so many times, these things... are too dangerous. Especially this," he pointed to nitroglycerin, "Don't bring this next time."

Aresa just blinked her big, gray-blue eyes without saying a word, and it was unclear whether she had heard her.

She held the hollowed-out doll, watching Qin Jin stuff it into the washing machine, pour in laundry detergent, and start the combined washing and drying cycle.

As the dryer hummed, Alessa came out of the shower and changed into a clean black Gothic lace-trimmed dress.

She held up the gothic dress she had taken off, her lips slightly pouting:

"Qin, it's torn." She pointed to the rips in the cuffs and hem of her skirt.

Qin Jin took the dress, looked at it, and gently patted her head: "It's okay, we'll mend it outside later."

There are only three of these dresses; it seems I'll have to go to that old lady at the flea market to get them repaired.

Next, the two began to deal with the stag that had been knocked unconscious and brought back.

Qin Jin skillfully bled the stag in the kitchen, then skinned and butchered it. The blood was processed and placed in the refrigerator in the basement, while the hide and head were packed up and thrown into the trash. Finally, the venison—

Qin Jin cut the venison into pieces, packed them in bags, and visited the surrounding neighbors with Alessa, thus both processing the meat and conforming to the American lifestyle.

It took them an hour or two to deliver all the venison. Qin Jin and Alessa also established initial relationships with their neighbors. Many neighbors were very friendly towards Qin Jin's police officer status and invited him to visit their homes in the future.

Back home, Alessa seemed to remember something, so she opened the freezer in the basement, took out the remaining frozen cow's blood, and poured it into the kitchen sink. She was really fed up with the awful smell.

The two then went to the flea market and found the old woman who had sold the item.

The old woman's eyes lit up when she saw Alessa dressed in a gothic outfit. Without hesitation, she took on this troublesome but unprofitable business. When Qin Jin asked her to help buy two more outfits, she immediately agreed.

After nightfall, Qin Jin sat at his desk and, by the light of the desk lamp, quickly typed out the official version of the report on the cabin incident.

In the living room, Alessa curled up on the sofa, clutching her dried and fluffy Frankenstein doll, watching the noisy family soap opera on TV with a bored expression, her eyelids starting to droop.

As night deepened and the city fell into relative tranquility, Qin Jin and Alessa each returned to their rooms to rest.

However, this tranquility was abruptly shattered at around 4 a.m. by a piercing cell phone ring!

It was Frank, the supervisor, calling.

Qin Jin instantly snapped out of his daze, grabbed his phone, and asked, "Supervisor?"

Frank's hurried, hoarse, and regretful voice came from the other end of the phone, with extremely noisy background noise—sirens, wind, and the cacophony of phone calls—like being in a speeding car.

"Qin! Something's happened! At the cabin... Team Two might... might be completely wiped out!"

Frank's voice trembled with anger:

"After you left during the day, the FBI called and told us to guard the scene, that the X Investigation Team was coming to take over, and not to touch anything... Damn it! I should have refused then!"

Frank roared hoarsely, his voice filled with despair and fear:

"I just got a call saying Will and the others... they're in trouble! Luke's body is missing! Come quick, come quick, see what the hell killed them! Now! Immediately!"

The call was immediately disconnected, leaving only a busy tone.

Damn it! The FBI's X team has interfered and left them to guard the body?

Qin Jin immediately realized that it must be a zombie coming back to life!

If the zombies in the zombie-raising grounds rise from the dead, Will and Davis from Group Two are definitely in grave danger. They emerged with at least the strength of black zombies, far beyond what the rest of us can handle!

He immediately got up, quickly put on his clothes, and grabbed his car keys and service pistol.

Upon reaching the third floor, he knocked on Alessa's door. "Something happened at the cabin. I'm going out for a bit. You stay home and wait for me to return."

The door opened a crack, and Alessa nodded quietly, her eyes shining like two stars in the darkness.

Qin Jin didn't delay any longer, quickly went out, got into the Dodge, and was about to call Constantine when his phone rang again. It was Constantine calling back:

"Qin! I just got a call, saying... saying that Team Two might all be dead?"

"Yes."

Qin Jin turned the key to start the machine, replying, "The FBI sent Frank to guard the scene. It's probably a zombie. Team Two is finished."

"Fuck the FBI!"

Constantine cursed, "I'm at the entrance of the Eastern Columbia Building, are you coming to pick me up?"

"Wait."

Qin Jin drove quickly to his destination and saw Constantine standing at the entrance from a distance. However, in the dark corners near the building, he sensed something unusual, like…

There was a lingering smell of sulfur mixed with resentment and malice.

He stopped the car, and just as Constantine, cigarette dangling from his lips, sat in the passenger seat, his gaze warily swept in the direction of the scent, but he immediately received an explanation:

"There's a bar here called Midnight Bar. It's a gathering place for half-demon, half-angel, half-wizard, and half-vampire. The owner is very powerful."

"Yeah?"

Qin Jin felt relieved and began to refocus his attention on the tragedy that had just occurred, but he also silently memorized the name of the bar—

A gathering place for dark creatures? That's interesting!