Dong~ Dong~ Dong~
Evening time.
From the distant Catholic church bell tower came the deep and melodious sound of bells.
Brian yawned, his eyes hazily opened, and he prepared to get up from the couch to see if he could find some new part-time work.
It wasn't just for the money.
It was also for medical treatment.
For some reason,
lately, his mental health had been worsening, and he was even often having hallucinations.
The hallucinations were alarmingly similar: the animals that he had once personally sent to their deaths by arranging accidents would replay their dying agonies before him, or the over a thousand dissected corpses from the past two years seemed to smile at him, asking why he had dissected them into parts...
After each hallucination,
Brian would feel an itch in his hands, a desire to destroy something.
He had survived until now by taking on job after job.
...
Just at that moment,
Pat Pat~
The sound of someone knocking on the door suddenly rang out.
Before Brian could ask who it was,
Click~
Accompanied by the ear-piercing sound of twisting metal,
the thick lock on the apartment door had been deformed and was forcibly pushed open.
A nearly two-meter-tall, burly man with black hair and a brute-like build, entered like a human barricade, glanced around the room, then strode over and sat on the couch opposite Brian.
Behind the man, two suit-wearing, bodyguard-looking men smartly closed the door and stationed themselves outside.
Creak~
The sofa, which had endured countless bloody fights with Brian and still held strong, made a noise as if it couldn't bear the weight any longer.
"Brian, my nephew, you've missed several family gatherings now!" the brute-like middle-aged man sharply looked at Brian, who had sat back down.
Suppressing the murderous intent in his heart, Brian shrugged, "Uncle, you know I have to pay a lot of medical bills for my adoptive parents every month. Besides work, all I can do is take on part-time jobs."
The middle-aged man was none other than Brian's uncle, the clan leader of the Kamor family, and also the boss of the largest Italian gang in Los Angeles—the Bloodbath Gang—Billy Kamor.
This was a truly cruel and cunning guy.
Brian had once witnessed Uncle Billy, at a family hunting gathering, engage in a bare-knuckle fight with a North American gray wolf. He then tore off the wolf's jaw with his bare hands, chewed it, and sucked the wolf's blood, appearing more wild than a real beast.
Furthermore,
his grasp on the human psyche was terrifying.
After specifically practicing micro-expressions for a long time, Brian was barely able to hide his antagonism from this uncle and feigned weakness purposefully.
For some reason,
this uncle had been very low-key in New York, until arriving in Los Angeles where he started to gradually make his mark.
In just a few years,
Uncle Billy led family members to replace the small local Italian gangs in several communities and even went beyond, consecutively absorbing several medium and small gangs, creating today's Bloodbath Gang.
...
Billy, hearing the complaints in Brian's tone, showed a light smile, "Brian, I've said that as long as you cooperate, your adoptive parents' medical expenses will all be covered by the family."
Brian nodded, "Uncle, did you come over because there's a pressing matter?"
After speaking,
he looked at the damaged door lock with a genuine hint of distress.
Replacing the lock would cost a significant amount.
The lock wasn't expensive, but the labor was.
And that was hard-earned money!
Truly hard-earned money!
Dammit!
If he had to break in, why knock in the first place!
But Billy seemed to have heard Brian's thoughts and was very sure, "You're cursing me in your mind!"
Without waiting for Brian's response,
he casually tossed a bank card onto the coffee table:
"Knocking on the door is a matter of courtesy, breaking in is because I don't have the patience to wait!
Brian, whatever you want to say is written all over your face.
This won't do.
It's not beneficial for what I have arranged for you next."
Arranged?
Brian's heart skipped a beat, and feigning calmness, his hand trembled slightly as he picked up the bank card, "Uncle, what's this?"
"There's over two million US dollars in there. Even if it's for providing your adoptive parents with the best and most expensive medical treatment, it should last for more than two years."
Billy lighted a cigarette, fatigue surfaced on his face, "Stop pretending to be calm; your act is too poor, your hands are shaking. Brian, you're actually quite astonished; that means you understand what I'm getting at."
"Alright, Uncle, sometimes I really suspect you have mind-reading abilities," Brian raised his hands in surrender and resignedly said, "Has there been a change in the three-year agreement's plan?"
Billy exhaled a large ring of smoke and nodded:
"More than two years ago.
I learned an astonishing secret from an old forensic doctor.
That secret might just be the Kamor family's opportunity to take off.
At that time, the old forensic doctor informed me
that in March 2006, the city of Los Angeles will initiate an expansion of the criminal experimental task force plan.
Those task force members will be given priority to forensic bureau professionals, veterans, and some other demographics.
There, you can get in touch with things unknown to ordinary people."
"Those things, are they the astonishing secret?" Brian's curiosity was piqued by Billy's words.
"Yes."
Billy nodded:
"I arranged for you to enter the Forensic Bureau and made a three-year pact just to verify the truth of this secret.
I don't trust outsiders.
The rest of the Kamor family members are not well-educated, their statuses are unclean, and they aren't too bright.
They could never join those criminal experiment groups.
But you, Brian, my most valued nephew.
You're different.
Your record is clean, your education is the highest among the family members, your relationship is associated with your adoptive parents, and you are my blood relative.
You are my best choice."
"So, Uncle, is your visit this time because that plan has been brought forward?" Brian swung the bank card in his hand, "Alright then, what do I need to do next?"
Based on Brian's understanding of his uncle.
This card probably can't be used yet.
Billy habitually pinched out the cigarette he had been smoking after two or three puffs, and seeing Brian's action, he couldn't help but laugh, "Your great-grandfather was right, getting the short end of the stick is the fastest way to grow up, at least you are not as naive as before now."
"People always grow up. Life is like a Q-tip; since you can't resist it, you might as well choose to enjoy it," Brian resignedly spread his hands, "We're family, I trust that you, Uncle, won't let me down."
People are forced out.
Without the life threats from his uncle, he indeed wouldn't have been able to have the acting skills on par with a professional actor he had now.
Billy nodded in satisfaction after hearing Brian's words.
He skillfully stuffed the cigarette butt into his pocket and stood up, saying:
"My men have been following the news from Z Mansion.
For some reason.
The criminal lab's expansion plan was brought forward by half a year.
When you receive the message.
Remember to sign up on time."
Seeing the other party preparing to leave, Brian quickly followed up with a question, "What exactly is the secret that I need to verify after I get in?"
This was related to the password for the bank card in his hand.
With enough money.
His foster parents could leave this world with dignity.
He could also act without any reservations, venting the anger he had accumulated over the past few months!
"You'll know when the time comes," Billy said, patting Brian on the shoulder, "A secret for a password, don't disappoint me."
After speaking, he went straight to the door, suddenly stopped, turned his head and implied something:
"By the way, Brian.
Today is the once in thirty years Blood Moon phenomenon.
I saw it once as a child.
For countless days and nights thereafter, that scene often appeared in my dreams.
It's simply God's most beautiful treasure bestowed upon mankind.
Trust me.
Tonight, when the Blood Moon returns, you absolutely wouldn't want to miss that beautiful spectacle..."
"The Blood Moon phenomenon?"
Brian nodded, dismissively replied, "Sure, Uncle, if there's no new verification order tonight, I will..."
"No 'ifs'!" Billy heard Brian's words, and the area around his deep brown eyes, to the naked eye, started spreading out with chilling, ferocious blood vessels, staring straight into Brian's eyes, "I mean, you must bask in the Blood Moon Radiance tonight and properly appreciate the gift God has bestowed upon mankind!"
What kind of eyes were those!
Brian swore that even when his uncle once brutally tore apart a strong adult North American gray wolf, the extremely violent look in his eyes was not as terrifying and chilling as today's.
He didn't know how much time had passed.
Brian shivered and came back to his senses.
He looked around somewhat dazedly.
Apart from the apartment door with only the twisted lock remaining.
The figure of his uncle had long since vanished.
Brian rubbed the goosebumps on his arms and slumped back onto the sofa, weakly covering his violently thumping heart, still in shock.
Such a gaze...
It was more suffocating than being stared at by a ferocious, bloodthirsty beast.
But something was off!!!
...
A thought flickered through Brian's mind.
His childhood experiences, over two years of training at the Forensic Bureau as a grown-up!
Especially these past few years.
Under severe spiritual torment.
His personality had already undergone a dramatic change!
Brian now could dismember the corpses he was autopsying with a smile, and afterward, eat a plate of spaghetti with tomato meat sauce.
These were all minor things.
When illness struck.
He would even have some very abnormal thoughts and impulses.
If it wasn't for the 'Pressure Transfer Method' recommended by the doctor.
Brian had no doubt that he would have become a professional serial killer driven by his inner desires.
Such a self.
How could he possibly be so dumbstruck by a person's gaze as if he had been hit by the Hard Control Skill in a game?
That's simply unscientific!
Is it possible that Uncle had launched a Spiritual Shock at him?
At that thought.
Brian himself laughed.
Yet a thought irrepressibly rose in his heart: Could Uncle Billy really be human?