Zhang Team Leader's shadow—moved.
Not in response.
But in control.
It lifted its head before he did, fluid and seamless, as if it had ruled this body for centuries.
Then—
It smiled.
A face that did not belong to anything human.
Its mouth tore open violently, stretching to the ears, its outline warped and elongated by darkness itself—like the void clumsily imitating the forbidden act of "smiling."
Lin Wan's heart stopped for a beat.
"Something's wrong—!"
She had barely spoken—
The next second—
Zhang Team Leader's body moved.
Not by his own will.
His neck twisted—slowly, unnaturally—turning backward against every law of anatomy.
A sickening crack… crack… echoed as bones ground against each other, as if an invisible hand was forcing him, inch by inch, to turn from within.
"Don't move!!" Lin Wan shouted, her voice tearing through the air.
Too late.
His head—
turned to its limit.
Face forward. Eyes backward.
Those eyes—
Were no longer his.
The pupils dilated into dead black voids, devoid of emotion, holding only a cold, absolute scrutiny.
As if something higher—something ancient—was looking through him.
At her.
The air froze solid.
Lin Wan felt her scalp go numb.
She understood.
This wasn't possession.
This was—
Control.
The shadow was taking the body.
"Zhang Team Leader… listen to me."
Her voice dropped, each word forced out through tension:
"Don't look behind you."
"Don't respond to it."
"Don't trust anything you see right now."
His body trembled slightly.
For a moment—his soul resisted.
But then—
The shadow moved.
It slowly raised a "hand."
And in reality, his arm followed.
But something was wrong—
The shadow's arm was longer.
Much longer.
A stretched, tar-like extension of darkness reached forward—
And gently rested on Lin Wan's shoulder.
Cold.
Not just cold—
A suffocating chill, like being marked, branded, claimed.
Lin Wan's pupils shrank to pinpoints.
She staggered back instinctively.
At that exact moment—
"THUD!"
A heavy step echoed from deep underground.
Closer.
The crimson giant eye slowly narrowed into a slit—
As if confirming—
That Lin Wan was the chosen one.
—
"Good."
The man who walked out of the fire murmured softly.
For the first time, a trace of pleasure entered his voice.
"It has chosen you."
Lin Wan didn't look at him.
Her eyes were locked on Zhang Team Leader.
No—
On the shadow.
"Shadow moves first… then the person dies…"
She whispered.
Fragments in her mind snapped into place:
The people in the walls.
The dragged victims.
The woman whose shadow lagged behind…
Everything connected.
"It's not killing people."
Lin Wan suddenly looked up, her eyes blazing with clarity:
"The shadows are selecting—for it."
The air froze.
For the first time—
The fire-born man's expression changed.
From amusement—
To caution.
"You're faster than I expected."
He smiled.
Lin Wan's heart sank.
If she was right—
Then it was already too late.
—
Zhang Team Leader's shadow began to peel away.
From beneath his feet—
Like rotting black skin being torn off—
Slowly separating.
His body convulsed violently, a strangled sound forcing its way from his throat:
"Ah… ah…"
Lin Wan rushed forward and grabbed his wrist tightly.
"Look at me!"
"Zhang Team Leader, look at me!!"
She forced his gaze forward, cutting off his instinct to look back.
"You're still here!"
"You haven't been replaced!"
Her voice dropped low—
But carried the weight of command.
For a split second—
His pupils trembled violently.
Like something inside him was dragged back.
But then—
The shadow stood up.
Yes.
Stood.
From the ground, it rose into a full humanoid shape.
No features. No face.
Just a dense, living abyss.
Its "head" turned—
Toward Lin Wan.
Then—
It tilted.
As if studying her.
Learning her.
—
"Now."
The fire-born man spoke again, his voice tinged with excitement:
"The real selection begins."
The moment he finished—
The walls moved.
Not pulsing.
Opening.
Cracks split across every surface like gaping mouths.
Inside—
Not flesh.
But countless shadows.
Twisting. Crushing. Screaming silently.
Then—
All at once—
They lunged outward.
—
Lin Wan had time to do only one thing.
She reached out—
And grabbed Zhang Team Leader's shadow.
Not the man.
The shadow.
The moment her fingers touched it—
A catastrophic cold exploded into her mind.
"AH—!!"
Pain tore through her consciousness.
She heard—
Not one voice—
But thousands:
—"Live for me…"
—"Don't let it see you…"
—"The shadow… the shadow is real…"
Her mind fractured.
But she didn't let go.
She gripped tighter.
"You are not it!"
She roared through the darkness:
"You're just a—"
"Disguise!!"
At that instant—
Zhang Team Leader's body jerked violently.
His shadow—
Stopped.
Frozen.
As if time itself had been forced to halt.
Silence.
For one impossible second.
The fire-born man's eyes—
Changed completely.
No longer curious.
Only fear.
"So that's it…"
His voice warped.
"You don't just hear them."
"You can…"
"Touch it."
The moment those words fell—
The crimson eye—
Shot wide open.
And then—
A voice exploded directly inside Lin Wan's mind:
"Then—you die first."
—
Darkness swallowed everything.