"Old Hans has turned! Quick, grab your weapons!"
Hearing this, Granny Tao's bony hands trembled, and she failed to hold onto the teapot.
Crash.
The teapot fell to the ground, shattering into pieces.
Tea splashed everywhere, staining her worn clothes.
Granny Tao leaned against the wall and slowly sat back down, her face pale, her cloudy eyes filled with disbelief.
Vill-V quickly supported her. "Grandma, are you alright?"
"Didn't they say... Old Hans was one of my regulars. I have to take a look." Granny Tao shook her head and pointed outside with trembling fingers.
Vill-V nodded and helped her to the window.
Outside, a group of armed residents were locked in close combat with a ragged old man.
The man's body was covered in strange red patterns, his eyes lifeless, his movements stiff.
"Is that... a zombie?" Vill-V narrowed her eyes, confusion flickering across them.
The Honkai was not some virus. Those infected and turned into zombies wouldn't retain their original appearance like in some biohazard scenario.
The transformation into a zombie was essentially the replacement of the entire person by something from Imaginary Space.
The strength of a Honkai zombie went without saying. Even the weakest among them required a MOTH soldier's full attention—let alone civilians armed with steel rods and chainsaws.
However, the transformation process wasn't instantaneous. That "Old Hans" was clearly still in the middle of it.
"No... this isn't a zombie. The transformation shouldn't be this slow. What is this?"
"The Honkai phenomena in this city violate many of the known patterns."
The half-transformed "zombie" was nothing more than a living target and was quickly subdued.
Seeing it fall, Granny Tao let out a sigh. This kind of thing had long become commonplace. The residents of Twilight Street were merely clinging to survival.
"Sigh... Old Hans, Old Hans. You just had to ignore Madam Ma's warning. Now look—her prophecy came true again."
Vill-V and Hua exchanged a glance, both realizing this must be connected to "Madam Ma."
Seeing the confusion on the young couple's faces, Granny Tao explained, "Old Hans was our barber. Probably didn't believe in it and secretly drank from the well."
"In this Twilight Street, for convenience, some residents dug a few wells together. But those who drank from the water soon showed different symptoms. Some turned pale within days and died, and those who came into contact with them also got infected and died one after another."
"In more severe cases, they turned into those monsters outside the city, biting and killing people everywhere."
"Madam Ma said the well water was cursed, so she led people to fill it in."
"Old Hans lived on the 30th floor of Building 11. With his old bones, how could he keep fetching water from the river every day?"
"Look at this Twilight Street—such a small area, yet over 500,000 people pass through daily. Being able to live on the 30th floor is already fortunate. Many others can only set up tents on rooftops."
"Madam Ma organizes water deliveries to sell, but it's not free—you have to pay."
"These old folks can barely lift a pot. They save wherever they can and stretch what little they have."
Clearly, this Madam Ma was exploiting the residents' superstition for profit. Even if she wasn't directly part of the Ghostfire Syndicate, she was certainly connected to them.
Vill-V immediately stood up. Now that she knew Madam Ma was linked to the Ghostfire Syndicate, the sooner they dealt with this problem, the better. They couldn't let her continue harming people.
Their purpose here was to find members of the Ghostfire Syndicate. As for understanding the people's situation—that was something Su should handle.
"We're leaving, Granny Tao. Take care of yourself. This city will get better—I promise. If anything happens, contact us at Kowloon Stronghold."
Vill-V left behind a business card and address she had taken from a thug's pocket earlier, then grabbed Hua and left.
Granny Tao picked up the card, her expression changing slightly. "Sigh... you're still young. Why join a gang..."
She watched their departing figures with concern.
Then she slowly shuffled to the phone and dialed a number.
"Hello... Madam Ma, it's me, Tao... Those two youngsters joined Kowloon Stronghold... yes, yes, the ones I told you about... Please enlighten them a bit..."
"Oh, don't worry about me. I've already fed them the blood. It'll take effect in three days. Our 'offering' is ready. Those two tender youngsters will surely satisfy you."
...
In the open space behind the kindergarten.
Stood an old woman with a grotesque appearance.
To hide the scars on her face, tattoos covered her protruding, bony features. Her fingers were long and strong, each nail chipped and coated with remnants of black polish. Beneath her worn black leather jacket, her back bulged unevenly, like a hunched camel.
She was Madam Ma.
Most residents on the outskirts of the twilight city lived in hardship, just like Granny Tao.
Only by joining a gang and gaining its support could life become somewhat easier.
As a result, most people chose to join gangs, becoming enforcers and further deepening the city's vicious cycle.
Others became runners for the gangs, known as Straw Sandals, responsible for managing the residents within their territory.
Madam Ma was precisely one such Straw Sandal for this area.
At this moment, she was warning a disobedient "stubborn element"... using an example to intimidate the rest.
The unfortunate Old Hans that Vill-V had seen was the "chicken" she had killed to scare the monkeys.
"What a pity, Old Hans. Heh. You saw it too, didn't you? This is the curse for not believing in Madam Ma. Heh heh heh."
Her words sent chills down the spine of the bearded, disheveled middle-aged man in front of her.
This man, surnamed Tan, had once been an investigative journalist stationed in this city by Shenzhou News.
As someone raised in a materialist society, he naturally didn't believe in such superstitions.
But after watching people around him turn into terrifying zombies one by one, even he began to waver.
Moreover, Madam Ma's "prophecies" had indeed helped them avoid several sudden "curses."
At present, only two people were still resisting, trying to find conclusive evidence to overthrow Madam Ma's rule.
In fact, a year ago, more than half the residents had resisted her.
Now, after her coercion and inducement, only two remained.
And just now, Old Hans had also fallen.
Of those who dared resist Madam Ma, only Reporter Tan was left.
"Heh heh heh... without power, yet you still want to do good deeds? Like an ant trying to shake a tree—overestimating yourself. Who are you putting on this act for? Your audience, Reporter Tan?"