A cold night wind swept through the empty Hegaro Road. The streetlights cast a dim yellow glow that failed to pierce the darkness in the corners.
Ethan Cole stood by the roadside with his hands in his pockets, carefully observing his surroundings.
This was an old, quiet district with little foot traffic. Aging apartment buildings lined both sides of the street, many of their windows broken, staring like hollow eye sockets abandoned long ago.
The asphalt underfoot was damp. Yellowed newspapers and rotting food scraps piled up in the corners. Occasionally, a stray cat darted past with a soft rustle before disappearing back into the darkness.
"E Ethan big brother…" Lily stood behind him, her voice trembling. "I have a bad feeling… this place is kind of creepy."
Her fingers tightly gripped the hem of her skirt, her steps lighter than usual, as if afraid to disturb something lurking nearby.
Ethan glanced back at her. There was unease in her eyes.
"Don't be afraid. I'm here." He said calmly. "Maybe even you could handle this so called monster."
"But…" Lily swallowed hard. "The eyewitness account… doesn't it sound like a ghost?"
Ethan shook his head. "If it were a ghost, the police would be completely helpless already. Since it only targets single women, it means it has a physical body. It's just cautious and picks weak targets."
He bent down and picked up a fallen leaf, crushing it between his fingers.
One hour earlier, inside the temporary meeting room of the Blizzard Group.
A disheveled man in his thirties sat hunched in a chair, nervously rubbing his hands together.
His old jacket was worn in several places, the cuffs stained dark and oily. His eyes were wide with fear.
"It's true. I saw it with my own eyes!" he said, pointing at the map on the table with a dirty finger. "I was sleeping near that alley entrance that night."
"And then?" Eyelash stood with his arms crossed, leaning against the wall with a skeptical expression.
"Then…" the man swallowed. "I saw a woman in black stockings walking by. Her heels went tap, tap, tap. She was looking at her phone and didn't notice anything around her."
"And then?" Mountain Ape frowned.
"I kept watching her… and suddenly she screamed!"
The room lights flickered once.
Everyone held their breath without realizing it.
"I jumped up in fear, and then I saw it." His pupils shrank unnaturally. "A black shadow crawled out of her shadow and swallowed her whole."
"Swallowed her?" Ethan Cole stared at him. "How exactly?"
The man scratched his head violently. "In an instant. That shadow looked like a giant mouth. It swallowed her completely, and then there was nothing left. Only her high heels on the ground."
"You've been drinking too much, haven't you?" Mountain Ape scoffed. "There's no such thing."
"I'm not lying!" the man shouted in panic. "The police didn't believe me either, but I really saw it! That thing wasn't human!"
Based on that testimony, Ethan Cole and Lily arrived at the district.
But they found nothing.
The next morning, everyone gathered again to review the case.
The files showed that all victims were single women. The disappearances occurred between 11 PM and 2 AM. Most strangely, two incidents happened ten kilometers apart, yet only three minutes apart in time.
"Ten kilometers in three minutes?" Ethan Cole frowned as he read the report. "That's not normal monster speed."
"Exactly why people think it's not a monster, but a ghost." Eyelash tapped the table anxiously. "Who would believe something like that? But ten kilometers in three minutes… what else could do it?"
Lily shrank into her seat. "If it really is a ghost… how do we catch it?"
"Stop scaring yourself." Ethan closed the file. "Or maybe it's more than one monster."
Another day passed.
Two full days of surveillance yielded nothing.
They rotated stakeouts at different locations and set traps, but the so called Phantom never appeared, as if it could see through their plans.
Mountain Ape crossed his arms. "Let me be the bait."
Everyone fell silent and looked at him.
At 1.9 meters tall with muscles like steel cables, he looked like a walking wall. Even monsters would probably hesitate to pick a fight with him.
Lily forced a smile. "If it really is a ghost, it would run away just seeing you."
"Let me try!" Lily suddenly raised her hand, gathering courage. "I can pretend to be a girl walking home alone!"
"No." Ethan rejected immediately. "Too dangerous."
He thought for a moment, then clapped his hands. "Forget it. Everyone withdraw for now."
"Withdraw?" Eyelash raised a brow. "We're giving up?"
"No." Ethan said, sliding the file into his coat pocket. "We just change the approach. This thing is too cautious. It won't show itself while we're watching. I'll move on to another case for now. The water monster."
The city's sewer system was filled with a foul, damp stench.
Inside the narrow tunnels, wastewater flowed slowly, carrying fragments of trash.
Two rat type monsters crouched at a junction, nervously scratching the ground.
"Those search guys are finally gone," one of them said. "It's been three days since we brought back any food. The Rat King is starving."
"If we don't bring food soon, we're the ones getting eaten!" the other hissed, grinding its teeth.
"Are you crazy?" the thinner one lowered its voice. "They might still be nearby. Just wait another day."
"Wait nothing!" the stronger one snapped. "The Rat King has already started eating his own subordinates! If we wait any longer, we'll be next!"
The thinner one hesitated but still tried to hold him back. "But what if they're still ambushing us?"
"Ambush?" The stronger rat grinned. "We've got tunnels. We just need to be careful and we can escape anytime."
It was already impatient.
At 12:15 AM, the quiet district was lit only by dim streetlights.
Two rat monsters peeked out from a manhole crack, sniffing the air.
"You smell that?" the stronger one whispered.
"Human scent, just around the corner."
The thinner one licked its lips.
The two shadows crept toward the alley entrance.
Just as expected, a young woman in a black skirt and stockings was walking while looking at her phone. Her high heels clicked clearly against the stone pavement.
A sweet floral perfume drifted through the night air.
The stronger rat lunged out, claws tearing through the air.
It was about to land its attack.
"Bang!"
A shadow flashed past. Ethan Cole's fist slammed directly into its skull.
The blow crushed the skull instantly. The monster didn't even have time to scream before collapsing.
"Another one!"
Ethan stepped aside from the second rat's attack and swept his leg horizontally.
The monster smashed into the wall. Its spine snapped with a sharp crack.
Lily clapped excitedly. "Ethan big brother is amazing!"
In the end, Lily had insisted on acting as bait.
Ethan agreed after thinking it over.
After all, these monsters only attacked single women at night. They didn't seem very strong.
"No wonder it could cover ten kilometers in three minutes. So it was two rat monsters."