He then used a wet wipe to clean all the blood off his hands and face. Only after that did he take out a set of clothes of the same style from the trunk, putting them on piece by piece. By the starlight, he glanced at the car window, quickly tidied his hair, and looked at his own clean, sunny reflection in the glass. Yet, the expression on his face showed an indescribable sense of gloom.

　　"Shhh... shhh..."

　　Behind him, the sudden sound of scales scraping against gravel rang out, a rustling that made one's hair stand on end.

　　However, there was no shadow appearing around him, as if it was just an auditory hallucination.

　　William Carter heard the sound and smiled, reaching out to adjust the car's rearview mirror to face behind him.

　　Through the mirror, he saw a pitch-black python, as thick as a water barrel, crawling over the sand behind him. Its upper body was raised, covered in patches of markings that looked like human faces. On its back were two dark red, veined, fleshy membrane wings, tightly wrapped around its body—who knew how spectacular they would look if unfurled.

　　The snake's head was ferocious, with one blind eye.

　　Atop its head sat a crooked black beret, its expression oddly human and stern.

　　"Is it done?"

　　The strange snake with human-face markings suddenly opened its mouth, staring at William Carter through the mirror. Its tongue quivered as it spoke in a hoarse voice.

　　The voice carried the weight of an elder.

　　A brilliant smile appeared on William Carter's face. He nodded gently, as satisfied as if he had just helped an old lady cross the street.

　　The black python's eyes filled with even more worry as it tentatively asked, "And the bullets?"

　　"Used them all up."

　　"......"

　　The black python fell silent. After a while, it sighed helplessly, "Do you really have to use up all your bullets every time?"

　　"Of course not, Instructor."

　　While straightening his bow tie, William Carter smiled and said, "Even if I used up all my bullets, it still wouldn't be enough."

　　"......"

　　The strange snake suddenly didn't know what to say, its vertical pupil in the single eye showing a helpless expression.

　　The car started quietly, slowly driving forward along the abandoned, unlit road under the starlight. The deserted old building behind was left farther and farther away. No one knew what had happened inside. From the outside, it looked as if nothing had happened at all.

　　"Still, you need to be careful."

　　The strange python appeared in the rearview mirror. At some point, it had slipped into the car, its body now a bit smaller.

　　Its dark red single eye still fixed on William Carter, full of worry and admonition: "You haven't officially taken office yet, so you're not under official protection."

　　"Hmm..."

　　William Carter glanced at the map spread out in front of the passenger seat and smiled, "By dawn, we'll almost be there."

　　Where William Carter's eyes landed, a small town was circled in red pen.

　　That was Scrap Iron City, a small town on the edge of the third city ring, bordering the wilderness. According to the data, the town's population was less than a million. On the Kua Fu Group's barrier planning map, it was already the edge of the edge, almost to the point of being abandoned.

　　William Carter was on his way to report for duty there.

　　"Is this really about whether you get there or not?"

　　Instructor was exasperated by William Carter's way of chatting, his voice involuntarily rising.

　　But William Carter glanced at it in the rearview mirror with a beaming, obedient look, making its anger feel like a punch into cotton.

　　"You can never kill them all..."

　　Instructor's voice sounded a bit helpless, but he still tried to persuade him: "It's been over seventy years since the first secret war."

　　"The power of demons has already seeped into reality."

　　"They possess supernatural powers over life, strength, fate, and so on, descending in the guise of gods."

　　"You can never imagine how tempting this is to ordinary people, nor how many will willingly fall..."

　　"......"

　　William Carter listened to the strange python's words, still smiling: "A demon is a demon. Gods don't look like that."

　　"And those who worship demons are just corrupted monsters."

　　"......"

　　Instructor grew angry: "Do you think killing these monsters means you won't attract other trouble?"

　　"Like the one just now—so young, yet already mastered the method of creating folded space. You think he's an ordinary person? Even if I can help you erase some traces, if someone wants to investigate, there's no guarantee they won't trace it back to you..."

　　"......"

　　"So what?"

　　William Carter smiled, "If someone comes to investigate, I'll just kill them too."

　　"......"

　　Instructor suddenly fell silent.

　　It suddenly realized that this guy seemed to have said something serious in a joking tone.

　　"Instructor, isn't this what you once taught us?"

　　In the silence of Instructor, as he drove seriously, William Carter unexpectedly offered an explanation: