The early morning light washed over the narrow streets of the gray zone. Behind a row of small shops, a young woman dragged a large sack across the ground toward a rusted metal dumpster.

The bag scraped against the concrete while she hauled it forward with both hands.

When she reached the dumpster, she lifted the sack with a strained grunt and shoved it over the rim.

The trash landed inside with a dull thump.

She leaned forward with both palms on her knees, breathing heavily as sweat ran along the side of her face.

Lifting one hand, she wiped her forehead and glanced over her shoulder toward someone standing farther down the alley.

"I’m telling you, Xia," she said, her voice rough from exertion. "Three of them. Young guys. They keep jumping people at night."

Shaking her dry dirty hands, she straightened up.

"No one walks around here after dark anymore. Who wants to get mugged?" the young woman continued. "And now, with the plague spreading around this gray zone too. It’s already bad enough without those idiots. Xia, when will your faction talk about this?"

Xia shrugged from where she stood. "I don’t know, Amy. Just come in and wash up."

Amy—the young looking lady who just threw the trash— chuckled and stepped away from the dumpster. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

Until—

Thud!

The lid shifted.

A flash of orange fur shot out from the container.

"Ah!" Amy jumped back in surprise as a cat leapt down onto the pavement and bolted past her legs. The animal’s body was smeared with dark streaks of blood across its fur.

"What the—"

Her voice stopped when she looked back into the dumpster. "Why’s there... why’s there blood in the—!"

Two empty eyes met hers.

A severed head sat against the pile of trash inside, the neck torn open and darkened with dried blood. The face was broken along one side, the jaw hanging crooked while thin cracks spread across the skin.

"AHHH!" she screamed, body trembling as she fell onto the floor.

Mangled dead bodies were piled beneath the trash bags.

Flinching, Xia bolted to her sister’s side. Helping Amy up with a hand on her waist, Xia glanced at the rusted dumpster. Eyes widening, one thing remained clear in her mind.

Turning to tend to Amy, her voice softened as she shielded her sister’s eyes with her palm, keeping the gore away. "Shh. It’s okay, Amy. You’re fine. Don’t... don’t say a word to anyone."

For the first time in months, there’s a murder in this Gray zone, near their very faction.

— — — —

Back in Light’s faction, steam filled the bathroom while water ran from the showerhead.

Standing under the stream was Fei Ming with his head lowered. One hand rested against the tiled wall while blood and dirt washed from his skin and circled towards the drain.

After a few seconds, Justice’s claws scraped against the bathroom door. "Let me in!" the ginger cat whined, dragging out the last word.

Over the last few weeks, Justice’s voice had changed from a soft toned baby to that of a spoilt, bratty, high-pitched voice of a male preteen. "...let me in! Why are you locking me out! I wanna bathe too!"

The scratching continued as Justice pressed his weight against the wooden door, dragging his claws down the surface again.

Still, through it all, Fei Ming ignored his cat.

However, that didn’t last. Justice stuck his paws in the little space under the door. "Let me in! Whatcha doing?"

Shutting the water and stepping out of the water, Fei Ming finally stepped out with a towel wrapped around his waist.

He crossed the floor, leaving damp prints behind him. When he opened the door, Justice pushed past his leg and entered the bathroom.

"Finally!" The orange Maine Coon jumped onto the edge of the bathtub and dipped one paw into the shallow water pooled along the bottom. His ears tilted forward while he pawed at the surface and watched the ripples spread across the tub.

Justice loved water. He paddled in circles, splashing droplets across the bathroom floors in pure delight.

Fei Ming finished drying himself in silence. Looking back at his cat, a small smile crept to his face. Justice was fully healed now.

When he stepped out of his room and walked down the stairs, the open yard behind the building came into view.

In the open training area, several men worked through sets of push-ups. Some were still sparring in a corner.

Amongst those who exercised was Olive, who knelt shirtless in sweatpants near the back, muscles shifting under sweat-slick skin as he lowered and pressed up again.

Fei Ming walked behind him without a word and dropped into position, starting his own set. He hadn’t really worked out before. But after his fight with his crazy cousin, Lu Yuan, he needed all the training he could get.

Olive finished his reps, sat up, and wiped his face with one forearm. Sweat dripped from his chin. Furrowing his brows, he looked sideways at Fei Ming. "You don’t look as malnourished as before," he said, voice hoarse. "What brings you here? Someone like you couldn’t care less about joining a faction. I’m curious."

"You aren’t running away this time, Olive?" Fei Ming responded.

When Olive stopped moving, he groaned, squinting and studying Fei Ming’s face as he said, "I saw you sneaking out of the faction last night."

Fei Ming lifted himself from the ground again without looking at him.

A mix of irritation built in the blue haired guy. Clicking his tongue, he added, "Don’t do that often. Some shitty ex-members cause trouble for us during the night."

Just then, voices rose from the entrance of the compound. Several men pushed through the gate as they walked across the yard.

"Where’s Light?!" one of them shouted.

The men in the yard slowed their exercises and turned their heads towards the commotion. One of the men—a bald one— stood in the middle, he lifted his hands up in the air as he shouted again, "Light! Come out here! The fuck are you doing hiding from us?"

"Hey! Don’t you have any decency?" shouted another man behind Olive. "Mr Light is our faction leader. Speak with respect!"

After a short argument among them, Light finally stepped out, adjusting his collar of the same white suit he had always worn. "What is it?"

"Three young men of ours were found dead near your faction," the bald man raised his voice. "Bodies dumped in a dumpster this morning. Your grudge against us finally cracked, huh? You murderer."

Raising both hands with his palms open, Light gave a polite smile on his face that did not quite reach his eyes.

"Gentlemen, you’re causing quite the ruckus so early. If there’s been a murder in the gray zone, investigate it properly. Don’t barge into my space without evidence."

The bald man thrust his hand forward.

Flame erupted from his palm, flickering hot. Before it could grow, Xia pushed through the doorway, her hair rolled into two neat buns on top of her head.

She shoved the man’s shoulder hard, forcing him sideways.

"There’s no need for violence," she curtly said, her voice loud enough to echo. "Talk like normal adults. Besides," her gaze flicked across the visitors and then aside, "those fucking bastards always go around causing trouble anyway. You lose nothing."

Xia could visibly see the man’s veins throb in his head as he gnash and grind his teeth. "What the hell?! You fucking—" he snarled and swung his firey fist at her head.

Xia ducked. Wind whipped through her hair. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared.

As if she teleported, she was right in front of the bald man, and he gasped.

Xia’s iron baseball bat materialized in her grip mid-swing. In a wild arc, she swung at his incoming wrist.

BANG!!

The bone cracking sound echoed in the air.

"ARGHHH!!!" screamed the bald man as he doubled over, clutching his broken and swollen wrist.

Still breathing loudly, Light stepped between them at once. "Enough." He kept the smile in place but pointed toward the exit

His voice turned ice cold. "Leave. If there’s a murder, handle it elsewhere. Don’t come back without real proof. And..." He narrowed his eyes into slits as a dangerous aura emitted out of him. One they could only perceive.

Intimidated, the bald man with the broken wrist, felt a shiver run down his spine. The more he looked at Light, the more his legs turned into jelly as a wave of coldness slip into his skin.

Light continued, "...don’t ever pick a fight with my members."

Instantly, they all turned and fled, muttering curses under their breath.

Once they were gone, Light exhaled slowly and reached over to pat Xia on the top of her head when he noticed she still stood still and unmoving. "Take a break. Calm down."

As Fei Ming remained where he was, he watched the exchange. Xia’s eyes stayed blown wide, her breathing loud through her mouth.

After a few seconds her shoulders dropped. The baseball bat vanished from her hand. Sighing as she turned, and walked away, she whispered something too low for anyone else to hear.

’Well, that’s over.’ Fei Ming knew his kills had been found. That was exactly what he had wanted.

He remembered waiting five full minutes after the fight, crouched nearby in the dark, observing the bodies. Their skin had begun to crack, thin lines spreading across faces and necks. That was when he knew.

Whenever he absorbed their human cores, the corpses turned hollow and fractured that way. Clear evidence, if anyone looked close enough.

He doesn’t care if he was caught later, but it’ll be a disadvantage if he looked suspicious to anyone now.

Especially with Helena keeping a close watch on him, and the curious wannabe detective Olive.