Above ground, Bangkok is a tapestry of neon lights and bloodshed; beneath, it is a breeding ground for despair.
In order to evade the pervasive 'dark satellite' surveillance of the Truth Cult, Ah Zhan kicks open the rusty entrance to the Blue Line subway, carrying the exhausted Marlene. The heavy roller shutter slowly slams shut, extinguishing the last glimmer of red light from above ground and plunging the surroundings into a chilling silence.
[System Environment Scan: Bangkok Underground Passage]
[Light intensity: 5%]
[Interference Level: Top Tier (Detector Sensitivity Reduced by 90%)]
'Uncle... it smells like a century-old rotten freezer here.' Marlene clutches Azhan's clothes tightly; the Qingyin guzheng in her hands emits a weak, uneasy resonance in the darkness.
Azhan didn't answer. In his left hand, he held an old-fashioned emergency lamp salvaged from the ruins. The dim yellow light flickered in the pitch-black tunnel, casting countless grotesque shadows.
'That's the smell of death.' Azhan's voice echoed in the empty station hall. 'Stay close to me. The darkness here has teeth.'
'Buzz—snap!'
The combat power detector on Marlene's wrist suddenly emitted a puff of black smoke. The pointer spun wildly before finally stopping completely.
'Damn it! The detector malfunctioned!' Marlene exclaimed. 'Combat power index... it's gone to zero?'
'No, not zero, but...' Stealth.' A-Zhan stopped, gripping the hilt of his large cleaver with his right hand. He could feel countless eyes watching them from the pitch-black depths of the tunnel.
These monsters no longer roared like the cyborgs on the surface. They were the Truth Cult's latest assassin-type mutants — the Netherworld Corpses — capable of blending into the shadows through mimicry and of emitting a silent magnetic field that interfered with electronic waves.
[Stealth Warning: Unknown life wavelength detected.]
[Combat Strength Index: Unable to...] [Display]
[Warning: you are in the light; the enemy is in the dark.]
Whoosh!
A thin whooshing sound swept through the air. Without opening his eyes, A-Zhan's body shifted three centimetres to the left in an odd arc.
'Ding!' A jet-black bone needle slammed into the concrete pillar behind him, instantly corroding a large, smoking hole.
'Heh, got you.' A dry laugh echoed from the darkness, like two pieces of sandpaper rubbing together.
Three twisted figures plummeted from the ceiling pipes. Their bodies were half-formed... transparent and dark green with unusually long limbs and bony blades as sharp as scalpels at their fingertips. The combat strength of these monsters isn't fixed; it fluctuates between 10,000 and 20,000 as they become more integrated with the shadows. However, they remain perpetually 'invisible' to the detectors.
Instead of turning on the lights, Ah Zhan stomped on the emergency light on the ground, shattering it. 'If you can't see it, then don't look.'
[Status Switch: Extreme Sensing Mode – Mind's Eye Activated]
A-Zhan closed his eyes and everything around him transformed into a primal sonic waveform. He could hear the monster breathing, the vibrations of its bone blades cutting through the air and the sound of putrid liquid flowing through its veins.
'Left rear, three metres high; right front, underground,' murmured A-Zhan, instantly drawing his greatsword and unleashing his ultimate technique: Zero Style: Secret Crossing!
His counterattack was like a black thunderclap; there was no large-scale burst of supernatural power. In the enclosed tunnel, an excessively strong shockwave would... The tunnel collapsed, and he used the purest, most primal fighting techniques.
Instant Kill: A flash of blade light and the zombie charging straight at him was cleaved in two from head to toe before it had even materialised. Purple blood splattered onto the rails, hissing loudly.
'
'Heavy Hammer': His left fist slammed into the monster's chest cavity, striking it from the side. A flash of golden-purple flame instantly turned the monster's internal organs into a liquefied substance.
'Targeted Cleanup': A-Zhan sidestepped and delivered a powerful tomahawk kick, finishing off the last one. The zombie slammed heavily into the wall.
'Is that all?' A-Zhan stood in the darkness. Although the detector remained black, his arrogant presence caused the shadows throughout the tunnel to tremble.
'Hehehe... This is just an appetiser, Master Zero.' A heavy, metallic rumble echoed from the depths of the tunnel as if a colossal object were hurtling towards them at incredible speed along the subway tracks.
[Death countdown: 00:59]
[The rumble in the darkness is approaching.]
Rumble!
Two enormous, blood-red searchlights blazed from the tunnel, which had previously been deathly silent, like the pupils of a monster awakening. This wasn't an ordinary subway train, but a 'Ghost Train' clad in heavy alloy armour, its front end riddled with barbs and spikes. The train was emblazoned with the massive black dragon emblem of the Truth Cult, and thick smoke reeking of rotting flesh and engine oil billowed from the exhaust vents on the roof.
'Uncle! It's coming! It's not slowing down at all!' Marlene cried out. A strong wind whipped her hair around and the deafening roar almost made her drop her guzheng.
'Jump!' A-Zhan's eyes flashed. A split second before the steel behemoth crashed into the platform, he grabbed Marlene's waist. His body transformed into a black lightning bolt as he leapt into the air right in front of the train.
The train roared past beneath them at 200 kilometres per hour; the vacuum it created was enough to tear an ordinary person apart. A-Zhan's right hand plunged his large cleaver into the armour plating on top of the train's roof, accompanied by a piercing spark and a metallic tearing sound. The cleaver was fixed firmly to the speeding train's spine like a nail.
The rooftop was far from peaceful.
Dozens of ghostly zombies seeped from the gaps between the carriages like viscous liquid, charging towards A-Zhan against the terrifying wind pressure.
'Maintaining balance at high speed?' A-Zhan scoffed. The demonic markings in his eyes gradually turned wild. 'Then I'll play a bigger game.'
Ultimate move: 'Zero Style – Gale Reversal!'
Wielding his cleaver in one hand, A-Zhan performed a death dance on the rooftop of the rapidly moving train. With each slash, a zombie's head rolled off and was blown by the wind into the darkness behind. His movements were fast and seemed to defy inertia, as if he were an integral part of the train itself.
[Power Level Fluctuation: 0...0...0... (Detector short-circuits and self-immolates due to overload).
'Something's wrong.' A-Zhan stopped suddenly, holding his large machete horizontally in front of his chest. Above the engine room sat a figure that was both familiar and unfamiliar: 'Citizen A-Zhan, you are suspected of illegally boarding a military supply train and blatantly damaging public transport facilities.'
The voice was still deep and rigid, carrying an appalling sense of order, but now tinged with a cold electronic tremor.
As the smoke cleared, a man slowly rose from the engine room. It was Officer Zack — or rather, 'Cyborg Zack'.
His left side was still covered by his tattered white police uniform, but his right side had been replaced by extremely complex red liquid metal. His right eye was no longer a gentle pupil, but a rapidly spinning red electronic eye. Even his right arm had completely transformed into a multi-barrelled machine gun exuding an aura of destruction. It was a multi-barrelled machine gun.
"Officer Zack? You're not dead?" Marlene's eyes widened in disbelief, but she could sense something strange: 'No... your spiritual power... why has it turned grey?'
[System scan: number RC-01, semi-mechanical enforcer.]
Combat Power Index: 35,000 (extremely unstable).
[Evaluation: Remnant of Order forcibly implanted with the 'Die-hard Program' by the Truth Cult.
'Zack, the Black Dragon King must have spent a lot of money on this outfit, right?' A barely perceptible glint of anger flashed in Azan's eyes.
'Order needs to be maintained, in whatever form.' Zack (RC-01) coldly raised his right arm and the multi-barrelled machine gun began to heat up rapidly, with red supernatural energy gathering at the muzzle. 'Citizen Azan, execute the termination procedure.'
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
A deadly fire net formed from countless bullets mixed with purple demonic energy engulfed the train. The roof armour was riddled with holes. A-Zhan moved with incredible speed, teleporting within the confined space of the roof. With each afterimage shattered, his true form appeared closer still.
He appeared two metres in front of Zack, his large cleaver slashing upwards. Zack still gripped the golden revolver in his left hand, but instead of firing, he used the barrel to block A-Zhan's heavy blow. Clang! Metal and golden light collided, causing the front half of the train to jolt violently from the impact and nearly derail.
The two faced off at the front of the speeding train. Zack's electronic eyes flashed wildly as he seemed to struggle with the control programs within him. Meanwhile, A-Zhan's right hand subtly transformed its golden-purple aura into a violent crimson.
'For this "order", you even sold your soul?' A-Zhan stomped through the roof, his entire being resembling an enraged demon.
'The soul... is not in the code.' 'It's within the protected area.' Zack answered stiffly. A clear tear rolled down his left cheek, blown away by the wind.
"Uncle! This train isn't going to the surface; it's going to the supernatural core reactor beneath Bangkok!' Marlene, sensing the shocking truth through the vibrations of the guzheng, exclaimed, 'If it crashes into it, the entire underground city of Bangkok will collapse!'
Azhan first looked at Zack, then down at the accelerating 'steel monster' beneath his feet. He realised that this wasn't just an ambush, but a suicide terrorist attack.
'Since you're already dead, I'll send you on your way one last time.' Azhan slowly unwrapped the black bandage around his neck. His previously suppressed 'zero-value domain' began to expand fully in a suicidal manner.
'Zack, wake up, or die by my hand.'
[Combat Power Index Countdown: 00:10]
[Train is about to enter collision course.]
The "Leviathan" train's piercing scream was almost deafening, a groan of death from the violent friction of its metal wheels against the rails.
'System... priority... annihilation... A-Zhan...' Zack's mechanical right eye flashed red and his liquid metal face contorted in an attempt to hide his human expression. He raised his right arm and pressed the rotating machine gun close to A-Zhan's chest.
'Zack, look at me!' A-Zhan didn't flinch. His left hand gripped Zack's mechanical shoulder tightly, his fingers digging deep into the liquid metal. 'Is this the "order" you claim to uphold, reduced to this monstrous state and used to blow up the city you've protected your whole life?'
"Order... is the Black Dragon King's will..." Zack's voice was hoarse, a strange combination of electronic sounds and raw vocals.
'Bang!'
An energy blast exploded at close range, instantly shattering Ah Zhan's battle suit at the chest and splattering golden-purple blood onto Zack's white police uniform. Ah Zhan grunted but stepped forward instead, slamming his forehead hard into Zack's mechanical eye.
"Uncle! Catch this!' Marlene, using her last ounce of spiritual power, hurled the broken psychic earpiece precisely at Ah Zhan.
Ah Zhan's right hand swiftly caught it and, in the instant that the earpiece flickered with a faint blue light, he pressed it against Zack's left ear. 'Marlene, synchronise!'
[Warning! External interference frequency detected! Soul Synchronisation: 1%... 15%... 50%".
The previously berserk Zack suddenly froze. Instead of commands, his earpiece played the tranquil sounds of a Bangkok morning as interpreted by Marlene — the most ordinary sounds of the city that he had heard countless times while on patrol.
"I... am... Inspector number... 0715..." Zack's right hand trembled. His right arm, which had transformed into a machine gun, began to regenerate forcibly. Golden holy light erupted from his heart, fiercely battling the purple demonic energy within him.
"Ah Zhan, take her away." Zack's left eye cleared up. He pushed Ah Zhan away with his last bit of strength. The supernatural core reactor beneath Bangkok was now almost within reach. That enormous, eerie blue sphere of light was like the pupil of death.
"We can't escape." Ah Zhan looked down. The train's braking system had been completely disabled by the Black Dragon King.
"Then I'll be the brake." Zack gave a bitter laugh and leapt into the air. His right hand, which was made of liquid metal, instantly liquefied and transformed into countless extremely tough golden chains. One end locked onto the load-bearing pillars on either side of the tunnel, while the other end wrapped tightly around his waist and the train's hook.
"Ultimate Move — Judgment of Justice: Eternal Shackles!"
Zack used his body as a bridge spanning the speeding train and the tunnel wall. The immense inertia stretched his mechanical joints to their limits in an instant. Amidst flying sparks, his body cracked and splintered.
Ah Zhan's eyes widened in shock. He whirled around; his 'Soul-Slaying Greatsword' was impaled on the roof; his left hand gripped Marlene tightly; and his right hand transformed into a black shadow as he attempted to pull back the nearly torn Zack.
Miraculously, the train slowed down just ten metres from the reactor. Zack's police uniform was completely stained crimson with blood. The golden revolver slipped from the rails with a final, sharp creak. 'Boom!'
The train derailed, but Zack had absorbed eighty percent of the force that would have devastated the underground. After a deafening collapse, the entire subway station fell into a deathly silence.
Amidst the billowing smoke and dust, Ah Zhan crawled out of the rubble. Covered in blood, he clutched the unconscious Marlene tightly in his arms and rushed frantically towards the pile of twisted metal debris.
"Zack! Get out here! You stubborn cop!"
He finally found Zack buried under a pile of scrap metal. The right side of Zack's mechanical body had been completely destroyed and his left side was lifeless. Yet he still sat upright, his right hand clutching the twisted police badge tightly.
Written crookedly in blood on the ground beside him was his last principle: "Order still exists."
Ah Zhan knelt on the ground in silence for a long time. He didn't shed a tear, but slowly reached out and closed the eyes of his nemesis and comrade-in-arms. Then he picked up the dulled gold revolver from the ground and placed it in his pocket.
'There are no police in Bangkok now.' Ah Zhan carried Marlene on his back as he stepped over the scrap metal towards the only exit leading to the surface. His combat power index was still [0], but a faint golden light shone through the black aura enveloping him at that moment.