Fifty-Three: Fabrication and Falsification

I picked up the coffee cup from the table and glanced again at my badge—now I was Colonel Longinus, a title that filled me with joy and never ceased to please my eyes. Salvador Major, Lieutenant Feizhong, and Lieutenant Solace sat around me; in a year and a half, we had accomplished quite a lot.

But it had also been a year and a half worse than a dog’s life.

At first, I followed the special task force in plain clothes, descending floor by floor from the twenty-ninth level, slipping through cracks and holes, working overtime. Within three days, we had searched nearly thirty floors, proving that Maizong’s worries were unfounded. To be honest, when the search ended, we grumbled behind Maizong’s back but secretly breathed a sigh of relief—the Sun King was not as dangerous as he imagined, which was tremendous news for us.

In some way, we preferred proving Maizong wrong rather than right.

Afterward, all the rangers, whether Valkyries or from the laboratory, worked in three shifts around the clock to enter the Black Coffin’s underground levels. This was the reservoir, quarry, and iron mine beneath Black Coffin, located 400 meters underground. There, we saw the astonishing heavy shield tunnel boring machines from the last century—steel beasts rivaling Yune—but sadly, they had become nothing more than scrap metal.

Perhaps the architects of the Black Coffin originally intended to build a complex rail transit system around it, designed not for civilian use but military purposes; otherwise, why bury it so deep?

This reservoir connected with deep underground water, ensuring the water supply for Black Coffin town. Although there was slight contamination, the residents neither knew nor cared. Yet the Black Coffin itself did not need this underground reservoir; its source of clean water remained a mystery.

Deep below, we discovered those mushrooms and many Cerberus demons. Fully armed rangers posed little threat to them. We suffered casualties, but by the end of the operation, no more than ten had died because of them.

Then came the physical labor.

Getting rangers to overcome psychological fear was not difficult; most didn’t know exactly what they faced, believing these were just living fossils of the lost—some needed explanations even of what fossils were. Understandable, not everyone was as studious as I, nor was everyone like me, the reincarnation of Saint Longinus.

The hard part was dealing with emergencies promptly. On several occasions, infected individuals actually awoke. Their assimilating ability was weak—they could kill but not revive. I rushed to finish them off and covered it up with clumsy excuses.

As the clearance intensified, we all became miners rather than officers or soldiers, pushing carts to haul infected statues upward. There were so many statues—how had they infiltrated underground? I couldn’t answer. Perhaps when bathed by the full moon’s glow, they turned to blood-like water and desperately dug downward, yet still could not escape eternal slumber.

Why was there not a single awakened one among the Sun King? Had no one learned to avoid the moonlight? I didn’t want to ponder too deeply. As Maizong said, such speculation did no good.

Black Coffin town was once called Silicon Valley. The remaining buildings were not tall but complex and spacious; each had to be searched. Infected appeared here as well, not numerous but spread over a large area. The Elder Council urged us relentlessly to accelerate our work—this was a matter of life and death, and we dared not slack off. The first reconnaissance took three months, followed by monthly detailed searches by district.

Each month brought a near full moon, the perfect time to destroy infected and produce embers. We worked swiftly and efficiently, piling statues in the square and evacuating all civilians, letting the moonlight do the rest. After destruction, we transported the embers back underground. Maizong said the darker and colder the place, the faster they crystallized into usable building materials—only a month was needed.

At last, we obtained materials capable of fully reconstructing Black Coffin town and doubling its diameter. In the governor’s words: this was a great campaign, humanity finally uncovered the truth, declared war on the apocalypse’s culprit, and achieved a brilliant victory.

Of course, as the operation concluded successfully, all rangers earned generous overtime pay. I was personally promoted to colonel and shamelessly elevated Salvador and the others. Not long ago, the Sword and Shield Society recalled Milesse and sent new diplomats and bodyguards; relations between Black Coffin and Sword and Shield were improving. Though I felt the loss of an important ally in Milesse’s departure, in the long run, I hoped he would rise in the Sword and Shield Society—our brotherhood guaranteed mutual support.

Salvador still hadn’t fully recovered from Betty’s departure; he refused any romance, clearly she was his true love. On the bright side, his practice with the blade grew more diligent.

I gave him the room on the thirty-third floor; he insisted on living alone. I visited a few times and always saw Betty’s photo and clothes there.

I would pat his shoulder understandingly, gaze warmly into his eyes, and say softly, “Don’t overdo anything; take care of yourself.” He’d blush and reply, “I’m not, you’ve got it wrong!”

Of course, I’d say, “No, don’t hide it, I’ll help you. Want me to stop by their place and freshen things up? Last time I saw Betty in those semi-transparent socks—quite nice…”

Then Salvador would chase me off and accuse me of spying on Betty—this ungrateful boy! But he was in his adolescence; who wasn’t? I didn’t mind. Occasionally, I’d sneak over to Betty’s place and secretly leave what Salvador longed for on his desk, like a kindly Santa Claus fulfilling a child’s wishes of old.

Lamia finally had time to complete the surgery we’d long awaited. I won’t describe the details here, but those days exhausted me more than the entire year of clearing infected. So tired I could barely straighten my back. If someday I died at home, in bed, would it count as dying in the line of duty? I think it should—after all, I was serving the rangers’ colonel.

Yes, she was promoted again and remained my superior.

Now, I was temporarily assigned as chief detective at a lower-level police station. It seemed Le Gang wanted me to take it easy for a few months. Yet the place was rife with gang rivalries and frequent assassinations. I knew few of the militia under me were clean, but I was too lazy to manage it for now.

Suddenly, Salvador said, “Sister said she wants a child.”

I sighed, “I asked experts; they said it’s difficult. Lamia and I are so-called ‘descendants of demons.’ Reproduction is a tough problem, but we will do our best.”

Feizhong handed me an advertisement and said, “Chief, you’d better take a look.”

I asked, “What is it? Going to another concert?” Recently, a woman singer had become popular in Black Coffin, performing often in theaters on various floors. Feizhong, a living corpse, was surprisingly fond of such things—a shame for a living corpse.

He shook his head. “Nothing to do with that.”

I read aloud: “‘Ten Days of Wilderness Horror,’ this week’s bestseller in Black Coffin, recounting the dawn of the rangers’ pioneering days, the discovery of Yune, and the legendary Colonel Longinus’s love-hate saga with the author—a genius young female writer named Bettista. The author once rose as a star among the rangers, leaving traces throughout the San Francisco wilderness. Later, she retired from service to write full-time, her works strange yet authentic, filled with astonishing rangers’ secrets...”

Salvador and I both shouted in anger, “What nonsense is this!”

Feizhong asked, “You know this Bettista?”

Salvador trembled all over, “She’s Betty! Betty! She retired to become a writer?”

I shouted, “Who else could it be? What does this book even say?”

Solace raised her hand. “I read it recently. It tells how you and Salvador—called ‘Sado’ in the book—quarreled over Bettista during missions, but she wisely kept calm, handled the romance correctly, led you through crises again and again, and ultimately relied on her to discover and bring back Yune. Then, to preserve your brotherhood, she decisively cut ties, left you, and left the rangers, casting away all fame and fortune.”

I slammed the table in fury, shouting, “Nonsense! Damn that woman!”

Salvador asked, “Did her actions reveal ranger secrets?”

I said, “Reveal? She’s just fabricating lies! Scoundrel—I’ll expose her to the press!”

Feizhong said, “She’s itching for a confrontation with you. The newspaper craves a story. The more you argue, the better her book sells.”

Solace smiled, “The funniest part is she uses her home being burglarized as promotion, claiming after the book got popular, her intimate clothes were frequently stolen—maybe some shameless obsessed fan.”

Salvador and I exchanged looks; I saw cold sweat on his forehead, and I wasn’t feeling much better.

I said, “She used my name in the book. Can I charge her for that? It’s clearly infringement.”

Solace said, “I don’t know. I’m heading back to the barracks now. Chief, thanks for the treat.”

I hurried, “I never said I’d treat! All my money must be handed in! Hey! Hey!” But it was no use; they and Salvador quickly left me behind.

I checked my watch: 3:30 p.m., two hours left until shift’s end. I was slacking outside; the corrupt crew inside probably weren’t working either. Though this was unfair to the residents of this level, my abilities were limited. Expecting me to straighten out this nest of pests in a few months was impossible. In a few months, I’d return to the barracks, and nothing here would change.

Besides, they treated me fairly well.

I returned to the station with a stern face. Deputy Chief Xie Bade obediently approached with a smile: “Chief, what’s got you upset? My brothers and I will handle it for you.”

I asked, “Have you read that ‘Ten Days of Wilderness Horror’?”

Among ten men, six nodded: “Of course! It’s a great read!” “We always guessed the protagonist was you—you’re the legendary hero of our rangers.”