《ALIENS VS PREDATOR: Steel City》 Chapter 1 Echo from the Past Freezing rain drizzled down like old men with prostate conditions. Echo Wang yawned as he looked at the road. He pulled out a rag and vigorously wiped the windshield, just as he noticed a series of lightning flashes in the distant sky. He held his breath and waited, feeling a bit surprised. "What? No thunder?" Echo didn''t care about this distant and unusual episode. In recent years, he no longer cared about many things and, surprisingly, he was happy about it. Not far from home, he turned on the radio: "...Affected by the strong cold air moving eastward, temperatures in the northern region will drop by 6 to 10 degrees Celsius. Today, rain will continue to cover northeast and north China. " Yeah, you don''t say... He changed the channel: "..... for a dream, travel a thousand miles; meet in Beijing." Echo liked this song, so he hummed along. The car was moving smoothly in the rain, like a bright green snail. Echo turned into District 1 and discovered that the spot where he usually parked was taken by a unfamiliar small van. But he felt no anger. "Well then, I''ll have to park somewhere else. No sweat." He shut off the engine, pulled out the key, engaged the hand brake, carefully placed the car coat, and then picked up the soy milk and deep-fried dough sticks from the passenger seat, holding them with his arms. He took a few steps to enter the building and then proceeded to the second floor. Echo rubbed his shoes on the doormat several times, then opened the door, and finally, he was home. After washing his hands, he brought out plates and bowls, along with the leftover pickles from yesterday. He placed the soy milk and dough sticks in separate dishes and set out chopsticks. Then, he went to knock on his son, Bart Wang''s door, . "Bart? Bart? Get up and eat. Fresh deep-fried dough sticks, yum yum." There was no movement. Echo waited for a while. He heard his son''s confused voice just as he raised his hand and asked, "What are you doing? It''s Saturday." "Deep-fried dough sticks and soy milk with plenty of sugar, just the way you like them. Again, the early bird gets the worm. You can practice painting after breakfast." ¡°Yeah. Yeah.¡± He sounded impatient. Echo set a small stool in front of a tea table and waited for the boy to come out in his pajamas, barefoot. His son was in fourth grade this year. The boy''s doing quite well at school. Echo didn''t have to worry about it. Bart was interested in drawing, too. Not long ago, he started wearing glasses. Bart was a quiet boy. This year, he had grown a lot, like a big boy, and sometimes they argued. Looking at the bright yellow, slightly saggy dough sticks on the dish, Echo reminisced about his eldest son, Sunny Wang, who was such a well-behaved boy in fourth grade. Every time Echo took a night shift and brought dough sticks home in the morning, Sunny would sit by the table, waiting. Was it... 18 years ago, already? Bart slurped his soy milk, grabbed a stick and stuffed it into his mouth. "Come on and eat, Dad, it''ll get cold before you know it." Echo stared at the boy''s disheveled hair and emaciated face, suddenly dazed. "......Ah, don''t bother. I''m not hungry now." The boy took another bite of his stick and looked up. "Yesterday at school, a classmate brought a novel called ''World War'' written by a foreign author." The Martians are amazing! Just one shot can melt a person. Dad, do you think aliens exist?" Echo had just taken a sip of soy milk and had not yet swallowed it. He was almost choked by this question. "Tell you what, this classmate is bad news. Why can''t he focus on studying at school? He should not be obsessed with this nonsense. You''d better stay away from this one." He regretted saying that even before finishing the sentence; it was really not a big deal. Apparently, it was hard to change one''s parenting habits. The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Bart opened his mouth, said nothing, put down his bowl and chopsticks, and went back to his room. Mr. Wang thought to himself, "That boy was surely stubborn for his age. Where did he get that?" He was still chewing on it while his son walked out of the room, put on a raincoat and boots, and pushed the door to go outside. "Hey, Bart, where are you going? It''s raining outside!" "Just walk around. It''s kind of stuffy here." "Don''t go far; it''s cold!" Echo held a dough stick in his hand and watched the iron door open and close. A gust of cold wind blew on his face and the smaller man disappeared into the darkness. This scene seemed somewhat familiar. Mr. Wang''s right eyelid began to twitch. Something felt off today. * * * "The weather forecast predicted rain all day today, so it''s better to take a break at home. Don''t forget to tell your brother-in-law." "......um." "I''ll go to work later. Don''t worry, I''ve made your favorite soy sauce pot noodles for you. What do you want for dinner?" "Anything will be fine." Byron Gong leaned against his bed and carefully flipped through a book in his hands. It''s Saturday, and it''s still raining. If that big idiot of a brother-in-law wants to go, fine. Byron won''t. "What are you studying?" Lila Huang approached and bent down to him. "Wow, potherb mustard? Are you studying recipes?" "Nope, this is not a vegetable.(author''s comment: you''ll have to know Chinese characters to understand the punchline) This is Shelley, the poet,'' Winter is here, will spring be far away?'' That one.¡± Lila took a closer look and realized she had mistaken the Chinese characters. She was a little embarrassed and pretended to playfully hit her husband. Then she said with a hint of shyness, "You can go live with him if you are so fond of this guy." Byron leaned forward and hugged his wife. "There, there, honey bunny, my bad. His poems were exceptional, but tragically, his life was cut short. He drowned in his late twenties. Speaking of dinner, how about a potherb mustard and tofu stew? The way you''ve done it, it''s perfect." The two of them made out for a while. Then, Lila broke free and straightened her hair and clothes. Byron closed the book. "Lila," his voice suddenly serious, "you know, I have been doing research recently. We can try having a test tube baby." She fell silent. After the steel factory went bankrupt, Lila suffered from derogatory...words from people. A few years ago, she finally found employment at a small hospital, working in cosmetology. She was planning to gain more experience and then start her own business. When you were the boss, you no longer had to worry about other people''s opinions. As a matter of fact, Lila had also heard that test-tube baby technology was already quite advanced, but it would cost tens of thousands of RMB. Now, the two of them were struggling just to pay the bills while living in her parents'' old apartment, which had not been renovated in a long, long time. She was sad and angry. "I was thinking, ah, I''m handsome, you''re gorgeous. It would be a pity for the two of us not to have a child. We have enough money in our bank account. Why not give it a try?" When he put it that way, Lila seemed to find some hope, and the corners of her mouth couldn''t help but rise. "OK. We''ll figure it out when I come back from work tonight." * * * There was a hole somewhere in the roof of the old van, and the rain fell on the pile of sacks in the back row, making a clattering sound. Erised Song paid no heed to the annoyance. He simply tightened his clothes, wiped his face, and continued to stare out of the window, his eyes red. Half an hour ago, Echo Wang ran upstairs. Erised had a feeling that today was the day he would get his revenge. Once THE general manager of Steel City factory, now cursed with white hair and a drooping back, he looked like an old man in his sixties despite the fact that he was actually fifty-one. Karma was a bitch. Ten years ago, that scumbag businessman Lu absconded with Erised''s money, leading to his capture. He served eight years in prison. The wife had already taken their daughter to the other side of the Pacific. Rumor had it that she had already hooked up with a younger man. As if that was not enough, his parents passed away one after another within one year of his confinement. No one paid Erised any attention anymore when he was released, and he had to work part-time as a miner in a godforsaken shit-hole for the past two years. "A bunch of assholes," Erised spat. Today, he was going to seek justice from Echo Wang, who had reported him to the authorities and ruined his life. The trap had been set up at the factory and was waiting for that old scumbag to take the bait. It would be better to take Byron Gong with him so that they can be companions until the end. The child? Just be more careful in your next life. As he contemplated, a boy in a raincoat came out of the building and busied himself by jumping in a puddle. Erised squinted for a long while. "God help me!" He had been here quite a few times. Finally, today he hit the jackpot! He turned to grab the sack. It''s pouring outside. Chapter 2 Unfinished Business Yeh''kull breathed a sigh of relief and looked at the red characters floating in front of her. The most challenging part of the mission was completed when she, R''ka, and Ku¡®dlak, following the instructions of the tribal elders, successfully retrieved the Alien Queen and several surviving alien eggs from the testing grounds on this planet. They were now ready to return to the mother ship. The Queen, who had been underwater for four years, was in hibernation. R''ka and Ku¡®dlak placed it in a stasis field. They would later send the Queen and the eggs to a testing ground in another galaxy. After that, she could take her "blood test" and become a proud hunter. She wanted her peers to know that she was not just a fertility machine, but a warrior like them. No, she was a stronger warrior than they were. This planet was once a tribal testing ground, and for thousands of years, hundreds of young Yautja warriors came here to undergo their tests. Kill or be killed. It''s that simple. She recalled an experience from less than thirty years ago. At that time, she was ordered to retrieve a scout vessel that had crashed into a rainforest on this planet. During the search, warriors from two local tribes happened to be fighting. They spoke different languages but wore similar green outfits with red markings and used essentially the same primitive projectile weapons. At that time, Yeh''kull was young and eager to prove herself, and she wanted to claim spoils. At first, everything went well. However, things took a turn for the worse when the hunter became the prey and narrowly escaped death at the hands of one of the primitive yet fierce warriors. Yeh''kull was seriously injured during the fight. Fortunately, she managed to cut off one hand of her opponent before escaping back to the ship. She also kept the three-edged bayonet stuck in her back. From that day on, she carried this crude yet deadly weapon with her to remind herself of the constant danger in hunting. * * * Suddenly, the hovering characters changed rapidly. The dim cockpit was illuminated by an orange light that flashed from above. Without hesitation, Yeh''kull put on her biochemical mask and connected to the ship''s main computer. "Proximity Alert! Proximity Alert!¡± Before she could react, the ship started to shake violently. If you find this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the infringement. "Thruster damaged, partial power loss; flight control system failure. Prepare for crash landing." Yeh''kull opened the communication link and immediately reported the situation to the mother ship. She then instructed her two companions to keep watch over the Queen and her eggs. Then, she raised her hand and moved the floating character left and right. Out of thin air, several circles and topographic maps appeared, revealing the approximate landing area. Coincidentally, this area fell within the boundaries of one of the tribes that she had encountered during her previous mission here, years ago. With her wrist computer, she accessed the alien language database and selected the language of the tribe. As she skimmed through the limited information, she realized that the language and written letters of the tribe had changed only slightly, making it easy to communicate when necessary. Yeh''kull did not go into a fight unprepared. After that, she stared at the rapidly approaching ground and contemplated, "This is no accident. They must have been ambushed by someone. Could the inhabitants of this planet do that? Did they already have that capability?" The spacecraft, still in stealth mode, crashed into the ground of an abandoned steel factory. With a loud boom, Yeh''kull fell into nothingness. * * * Yeh''kull, who regained her senses, did not have time to examine her injury. She had to assess the situation promptly before making any plans. Fortunately, she attempted to land in a sparsely populated area. The mother ship received the coordinates, and the elders instructed her to remain inside the spacecraft. Rescue was en route, and her mission had not yet failed. She checked the ship''s computer and found that the overall condition was not that bad, actually. However, there was a hull breach in the cargo area, and her fellow warriors didn''t respond to her calls. Yeh''kull discovered a large hole in the cargo bay, with ominous orange warning lights flashing. Good news was that the Queen was still in stasis, however after the crash, it seemed to show signs of recovery. The bad news was that R''ka and Ku¡®dlak had both passed out in their seats, with dead face-huggers dropped on their backs nearby. This meant that some of the alien eggs had resumed activity. Fortunately, Yeh''kull had experience in dealing with these situations. She put her two companions into a medical hibernation chamber to suppress the growth of the Xenomorph, so they could wait until they were back on the mother ship. These two were foolish and suffered the consequences of their actions. One should always wear biochemical mask when transporting alien eggs. This was Safety Protocol 101. She felt a sudden movement behind her and instantly turned around. Her wrist blades thrust out, impaling a face-hugger in midair. With a shake of her hand, the horrifying creature with eight legs flew away, leaving a trail of corrosive blood in its wake. Yeh''kull adjusted her mask and checked around for signs of these creatures. She had to clean up the mess, or the elders would send her back to Yautja. There, she would be responsible for taking care of the younglings, feeding them, and changing their diapers. She would never have the opportunity to become a real hunter. Chapter 3 The Monster Erised Song tried to suppress his rapture, but as he thought about all the years of his messed-up life, he couldn''t help it and let out a roar while slapping the steering wheel like a madman. The sack behind him moved, and he heard a whimper. The boy''s hands and feet were tied up, his mouth gagged, and his eyes covered with a black cloth. He didn''t want any complications, especially today. By the end of this day, he would be reborn; Echo Wang would die. With this in mind, he calmed down and stepped on the accelerator. The van was moving very fast in the rain, splashing water on pedestrians and eliciting bursts of cursing. Erised drove through the main gate of Steel City Factory. It is said that in the first few years after its downfall, there were still gatekeepers at the factory. Later, all of the valuable items were demolished and relocated. The once orderly and flourishing factory areas on both sides of the driveway were now littered with scrap metal that no one cared about. Like the factory, Erised had his time in the city, and now he was just another piece of garbage. Nobody cared. The van stopped behind the Hot-Blast Stove, next to the No. 6 blast furnace. Erised got out of the car and looked around in the rain. It''s Saturday, and it''s still raining. No one was coming to this hellhole. There were only stray dogs scavenging through the garbage. He heard a movement nearby, turned his head, and looked around for a while, but there was nothing there. The sound of the van arriving must have stirred the dogs. Erised looked at the No. 6 blast furnace. No. 6 was the last one that Steel City put into production back then. It was nearly 40 meters high and the only partially intact building remaining in the factory area. It''s the only legacy of that era, his era. Well, the legacy can suck it. Erised couldn''t care less now. Anyway, after today, he would fly away and focus solely on the future. He opened the door and carried the heavy sack along the maintenance tunnel to the top of the blast furnace. Didn''t know why, he looked back at the rusty stove, where the cold rain, like red-brown tears, was washing down from the giant steel monster. He couldn''t help but wonder, "For whom are these tears shed?" * * * Erised Song held up his raincoat, inserted detonators into the explosives, wrapped them in black tape, and turned on the power. Then, he carefully placed the IED into a plastic bag, followed by a cloth bag, and concealed it behind the exhaust valve where the boy was leaning. He turned and went down and back again. It was excellent because no one who came up the service tunnel could see him. This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings. He was 90 percent sure of his IED. In the past two years in the mine, Erised had maintained a low-key profile. He brown-nosed the "gunner" and bribed him with liquor and cigarettes. Only then did he learn the real deal from that wimpy little man. When he was confident in his abilities, he seized the opportunity of a particularly dark night to pilfer eight kilograms of ammonium nitrate explosive and a set of detonators. The rest were a piece of cake. Today, you could confidently go to any supermarket and purchase remote control devices. "Hunting Ground" was finished. Finally, he took a look at the sack, which was still dripping and soaked with rain, and realized that there was no turning back. He put that out of his mind and went down the service tunnel. It was still early, and now he had to take care of the only possible loophole - the van - and move it to a different location. He could not let Echo find anything that might alert him. The Steel City in the rain was gray and bleak. Naked and knotted steels tangled with ochre brick walls, resembling a monster born from a cooling pond. Erised saw the auditorium in the distance, where his fate had changed ten years ago. He always dreamed of that scene: first Byron Gong, the cuckold, then Echo Wang, who had orchestrated everything, finally himself, being taken away for investigation. This was the perfect place to end his nightmare once and for all. He suddenly felt something pass by the hot blast stove, and the hair on his neck stood up. Subconsciously, he reached into his pocket and felt the remote control trigger, which was shaped like a handle. He relaxed a little. Before Erised could comprehend any of this tension, there was rustling once again, not far away. He couldn''t stand it anymore. Erised leaned over, picked up a half brick with a sharpened end, and turned around, ready to strike. "WTF, come and..." It all happened too fast: a pale green shadow leaped from the ground right before his eyes. Erised only had time to see a creature that appeared to have a spider-like body, with meaty and eight bony legs. Then, Erised fell to the ground, kicking and grabbing. * * * Erised Song sat in front of his luxurious wooden desk. He''s waiting. Here, in Steel City, he was an esteemed hunter, well-established in his craft. There was a knock on the door. "Come in; the door is open." Lila Huang, wearing a yellow floral dress and red high heels, walked in. There was hesitation at the beginning. Then, as if making up her mind, she stepped to the side of his desk and stood beside Erised Song. "GM Song." He pretended to look at the documents without lifting his gaze. "Hey, Lila. Regarding the reform of the factory hospital, we are still working on a plan. " He paused and turned to look at her. The woman''s makeup was heavier than usual; her lips were blood-red, which looked strange. "I have always said that we must embrace change, especially young cadets. You have to have the courage to adapt and keep up with the times. Don''t burden yourself with outdated thinking. Take bigger steps. " Suddenly, Lila leaned over and embraced Erised. He expected to smell perfume, but instead he coughed when he was hit by a strong odor of engine oil. When he looked up, the face above was no longer that of the young and lustful Lila, but that of Echo Wang. "You scumbag!" All of a sudden, Erised straightened up and breathed heavily, with a nasty taste in his mouth. He vomited violently, then got up and stumbled towards the entrance of the hot blast stove. He found a relatively clean place to sit down and tried to figure out what had happened. He did not notice that there was a light green "spider" with eight legs lying still beside him. Its mission was accomplished. Chapter 4 The Reunion "Dad!" Echo Wang woke up. In his mind, he heard two voices: one childish, the other strange but somehow familiar. After a while, he sat up on the sofa, his heart pounding and throbbing, while his left eyelid twitched. Mistle Luo, his late wife, was like this back then. It''s not a good sign. Byron hadn''t called yet. It seemed that today, that son of a gun was going to cut me some slack, again. Echo looked at his watch. It was almost ten o''clock, and the rain hadn''t stopped. "Bart? Let''s have a barbecue for lunch. Son? Mr. Wang noticed that the boy did not make a sound. He thought that his son was misbehaving. "What? Are you still mad at me? Tell you what, we''ll get some beef tongue later, your favorite, okay?" He said before entering the boy''s bedroom. There was no one inside, but the window was open, and there were a lot of raindrops on the desk by the window. He looked out the window and saw that there was no one downstairs. He glanced at his old Jetta and stopped. There was a black object that resembled a plastic bag attached to the right rearview mirror. * * * "Byron, something has happened to Bart." As soon as Byron Gong opened the door, Echo rushed into the apartment, clutching a black plastic bag in his hand. "What''s the matter, brother-in-law? Sit down, take your time." Echo Wang seemed grim. He stood by the table and opened the plastic bag. From inside, he picked out a half sheet of A4 paper, on which a line of characters was printed. We have the child in our custody, and he can be released for a fee of 30,000 RMB. You will arrive at Furnace No. 6 at two o''clock this afternoon. Call the police. He''s dead. "It happened this morning." You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story. Byron''s expression turned dark as he pulled out his cell phone. "What the f***, brother-in-law, didn''t you call the police?" "If the police had been of any use, Sunny and your sister-in-law would be alive today." Byron scratched his head. He remembered that his brother-in-law had been holding a grudge for so many years. The police said that Sunny Wang''s death was a suicide, but his brother-in-law did not believe it for even a second. Henceforth, he had never asked the police for help in all these years as a taxi driver. Only God knows how many troubles he had run into, but he chose to deal with them in his own way. Echo''s face was covered by the raincoat, so Byron could not see his expression. "Brother-in-law, what would you do if we didn''t call the police?" "Gather the guys." "Gather what?" Are you kidding me?! Only a true kinsman, like myself, is willing to help. Everyone else will turn their back on you, don''t you understand?" "There''s this guy who I''m sure will help; he owes me." * * * At the end of the music, men and women on the dance floor, old and young, returned to their corners, talking excitedly while taking a break and waiting for the next dance. Mr. Wang saw Deschamps Ma wearing a black tuxedo with short, carefully combed hair. He seemed a little nervous, and his partner looked much younger than him. She was wearing a willowy crimson dress, radiant and full of life. Byron sounded envious. "Well, Captain Ma is doing well. I think he nailed the ¡®international style of ballroom dancing¡¯." Deschamps''s eyes met Echo''s. He was obviously startled, then muttered a few words to his partner and walked toward them. "I¡¯ll be damned! Isn''t this Mr. Wang? You''re Byron Gong from Steel City, admin, am I right?" Byron started to speak, but was interrupted by Echo. "Captain Ma, I haven''t seen you in years. The way you dress, people will mistake you for that detective, Marlowe." "Come on, I can''t be Marlowe, just like you cannot be Watson. My wife insisted on taking me to dance with her. It was all for fitness. Enough pleasantries. Why are you here?" "It''s Bart; he''s been kidnapped." Said Byron. "What?" Deschamps stared at Byron with disbelief. "You must be joking, don¡¯t you?" Echo glared at Byron and handed the piece of paper to Deschamps. "I assume it was someone who knew me, so they didn''t ask much. In the past few years, similar incidents have happened in our district. They just take the money and release the hostages. No one kills anymore." "I hear you, brother-in-law; it is possible. The police are cracking down on criminals quite hard this year. Some of them may be short of money." "Are you still blabbing about being an undergraduate student from the 90s? I bet now that all you get is your intellectual temperament, judging from your insights", Deschamps chuckled. "It''s true that I have been retired from the force for nearly ten years, but there''s definitely something wrong with the perp kidnapping a child and only asking for that sum of money. Listen to me; call the police now." Echo put the paper back slowly, and he said, "I came to you against my senses, Captain Ma, because I don''t trust the police. After all these years, I couldn¡¯t forget about Sunny''s death, not even one second. Sooner or later, there will be a reckoning. But I also realized that you are a good person¡ªthe kind of person who will stand up in difficult moments like this." Byron looked at Echo Wang and Deschamps Ma, stunned and speechless. "Hey, let me talk to the wife first." Chapter 5 Tinker,Tailor,Soldier,Alien The falling rain seemed to be prevented by an invisible hand in an inconspicuous part of the tower, altering its course from all angles. A shadow resembling shattered glass arose out of thin air, followed by the lime form of Yeh''kull. She was looking for something. This "hunting ground" did not appeal to the warrior. It poured every time she came. There were mishaps every time she visited. The surrounding area had been carefully scoured; it had taken her a little longer than normal to get rid of a few escaping face-huggers. Only one remained, most likely sheltering amid the debris near the ship. She felt disoriented; her head may have been damaged during the crash landing. Yeh¡¯kull had just received another communication from the mother ship. The elders would arrive soon and express their dissatisfaction with her progress. Calm the F down. Yeh¡¯kull was about to begin her "blood test". This accident was merely an appetizer. She adjusted her bio-chemical mask and spotted a faint heat signature, indicating one primitive chemical energy transport widely used by local humans. The vehicle stopped not too far from her ship. Fortunately, the cloaking device was still factional. Unless the vehicle ran into the hull, humans couldn¡¯t detect it with their naked eyes. The three humans stepped out of the vehicle and paused for a moment, as if arguing. Then one of them pointed to a smelting facility not far away. Yeh¡¯kull Look past that direction. She adjusted her vision and detected a smaller source of heat. Intrigued, she jumped all the way down the building to find a human youngling strapped up next to a remote-controlled explosive device. The device was quite crude, but it was more than enough to kill an unarmed youngling. Yeh¡¯kull felt sick; no matter how primitive a civilization, it was a universal belief that murdering younglings was unforgivable, a crime. She looked at the three people again and found traces of a face-hugger outside a building not far from them. According to the "hunter" code, Yeh¡¯kull should not reveal herself to the humans, but if they came for the "baby", then she was obliged to help. If not, she would take a few spoils along the way. * * * "Come, there¡¯s something." Echo Wang and Byron Gong tightened their raincoats and rushed toward the sound. They found Deschamps Ma checking around an empty minivan. "Look familiar?" "I''ve seen this car before. It parked outside my apartment this morning and took up my parking space." Deschamps remained silent. He went for the exhaust pipe and touched it. "Still warm. It''s been here for a while." Byron reached out and pulled the door, but was stopped by a furious Deschamps. "What the hell? You¡¯ll mass up the fingerprints!" Byron took back his hand, abashed. Then he took a screwdriver out of his bag. "Let¡¯s deflate the tires first." "Wait a minute! You idiot! It''s not right; something is fishy here." "What? Do you mean Bart?" Echo''s voice trembled. "Hard to say. But no matter who¡¯s behind this, the car was just in plain sight. When the suspect has the money, wouldn¡¯t he or she be running?" The three of them were all looking at each other in dismay, puzzled. "Let''s go to the No. 6 blast furnace first. Maybe that scum is frightened and has run away already." Byron bellowed. The three men turned around and advanced along the hot-blast stove towards the furnace. "You two go ahead; I¡¯ll cover the back." Deschamps whispered. "Why, Captain Ma, are you afraid of danger?" Byron said it indifferently but moved on nonetheless. "Shut up. I''ll take the lead, satisfied?" Echo made several steps to the front. "No, brother-in-law......" Just as Byron was going to make a point, he saw Deschamps take out an electric baton from the waist bag with such dexterity for his age, swinging backward. In the blink of an eye, the baton seemed to be blocked by an invisible force and stopped in midair. Deschamps felt that his hands were strained and confused. He subconsciously pressed the button and lit up the falling raindrops with blue electric arcs. The three men were shocked to see a tall, bipedal figure emerging out of thin air, first like a large piece of broken glass, and then a big guy wearing a ¡°motorcycle helmet" and dressed as a primitive tribal warrior appeared where they had just passed. This warrior was much taller and stronger than Byron, but he did not cover most of his body and only wrapped himself in something like a fishing net. The warrior crushed the baton with such ease that Deschamps had no choice but to swing the remaining half of the baton toward his opponent''s head. He didn''t expect that the big warrior could move swiftly like a cat. The warrior swung, dodged his attack, and pushed Deschamps flying with just one big, strong hand. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. Seeing that Deschamps was lying on his back in the mud, Echo and Byron hurried to help him. Echo held up his head and said, "Captain Ma! Captain Ma!¡± "Stop that, I¡¯m not fucking dead yet." His eyes were a little out of focus, but he seemed unharmed. "Who do you think you are? You dare to strike me? Don''t you know who I am? At this time, the warrior took a big step and moved in close. Byron took out his screwdriver and said, "Stop now! Elder abuse is a crime here. Let¡¯s dance, motherfucker." "Hai ng?i l¨¤ ai?" The warrior¡¯s voice did not sound very human. It was something like computer-generated and came from the "motorcycle helmet". "This is China. If you want to find some Vietnamese, you have to go southwest." Deschamps struggled to get up. Echo and Byron looked at him, confused. Deschamps spit out some bloody saliva: "When I were in the army in the 70s, I went to Gaoping and learned several words." The warrior paused for a moment and asked, "Who are you?¡± This time, all of them understood perfectly. The pronunciation was actually quite good. Echo was desperate enough that he could not care more about the obviously bizarre scenario. "We''re here to save my son; he''s been kidnapped. Whatever you are, wherever you come from, please help." * * * Yeh¡¯kull was quite surprised. When she got close, she realized that none of the three men were warriors or even in good health. In particular, the one with a brain abnormality actually sensed her presence even when she was in stealth and was able to launch a preemptive attack, damaging her clocking device. Maybe he could be of some use? As she looked around, she noticed that there were traces of a face-hugger heat signature at the entrance of the next building. It seemed that the time had come. Now she and these humans were in danger. "... the youngling... up there", She pointed with her left arm at the top of No. 6 blast furnace and said, "There. Danger ahead, you; follow me", she pointed at Deschamps, "inside is one of your kind." Yeh¡¯kull saw that the three men did not move a muscle, and then they got together and started discussing. She can''t wait. The mother ship was coming. "Now. We must act." They were startled by her interruption and all shut up. The one who was looking for his son, Echo, walked to the blast furnace, while the other one called ¡°Captain Ma¡± and the other approached her. Yeh¡¯kull, relieved that the humans understood her urgency, turned around and went to the Hot-Blast stove. According to sensor readings, that nasty face-hugger was here. She advanced carefully toward the faint heat, and her wrist blades slid out smoothly. Next to the heat source, she found the now-dead face-hugger, then a mutilated human corpse. "Fuck, what''s that bloody smell?" The young one shouted behind her. Yeh¡¯kull and the other human approached, and she lit the corpse with a beam of light from her mask. "Who the hell is this? He got ripped open or something?" Captain Ma covered his nose and crouched down to examine the corpse. The dead human had a desperate expression. One eye opened with a wild expression, while the other half closed. "If I¡¯m not mistaken, this is Erised Song, former general manager of the Steel City factory. The wound wasn¡¯t caused by an external force. It seemed to have exploded from inside out. You can find the body¡¯s fractured sternum; it''s broken outward." "Thank God that my brother-in-law did not come in here; otherwise, he would have seasonal nausea again." The younger human didn¡¯t come close. "Erised? What''s that son of a bitch doing here? Isn''t he in jail?" Deschamps forced himself to look again. "Was he eaten by a wolf? Intestines are all gone.. Then he found a strange object near the body, like a remote control for a toy car, with something taped to it. He picked it up and squinted. "Bombs. youngling..." Yeh¡¯kull pointed to the device and raised her arm outside. At this time, a strange squeaking sound came from somewhere outside; it was a combination of a pig and an elephant in pain, making one''s hair stand on end. Yeh¡¯kull tensed immediately, looking around in alertness. "Shit! Dame you, Erised! Byron, hurry up and take this; find Echo. I have a bad feeling about this." * * * Deschamps saw Byron rush out of the building, then pick up a long, thin steel bar from the ground. He felt like he was being targeted by a gun, and years of experience just warned him: danger was near. He caught a glimpse of that strange warrior; she was tall but nimble. Before anyone knew it, the warrior''s right arm held out two sharp blades, and even in the dim light, there was a cold flash. With a gust of wind blowing on his right side, he crouched down and rolled to the side. Then he looked up and saw something he would never forget in his life. An almost pure black beast, or monster, had burst out of the darkness like a nightmare, running towards the warrior with long arms and sharp claws like hawk''s, as if to tear her up. Instead of backing off, the warrior stepped forward and, looking for a right moment, swung her left fist and struck the beast''s long black head right on; the beast, flight backward by the blow, then twisted in the air, landed on the ground with all four, its shining back sticks stood up, and its bony spear-like black tail was swinging back and forth, sweeping stones and mantel scraps on the ground. Yeh¡¯kull turned to the beast and made a peculiar sound, as if she were urging the beast on; it was not a sound that humans could make. The black beast responded. Its upper and lower lips roll back, revealing silvery, almost transparent teeth and dribbled mucus. Then the sharp teeth opened; out of it wasn''t a tongue. Instead, it was a tongue with two rows of spike-like teeth. Deschamps was drenched in cold sweat right now; he couldn¡¯t move his muscles. He never thought that at this age, he would be able to experience something even more exciting than being on the vice squad. Fast like a cat, the beast turned around and swept the stones and mantels from the ground to the warrior with its tail. The latter covered her head with both arms, surprised by the trick. The beast, which seemed to have black, ragged bones all over its body, knocked the warrior to the ground, plunging the tip of its tail toward the warrior¡¯s head like a spear. Wrist blades flashed, she moved in time, the tail was immediately cut off, and yellow-green blood spurted out. The warrior pushed the beast off, rolled over to one side, got up quickly, then leapt into the air, raised her right arm, and launched a deadly blow. The black beast threw its mutilated tail forward, and a large glop of yellow-green blood flew out, hitting her mask. Yeh¡¯kull, surprised by the attack, shouted and fell to the ground. The beast jumped on her again. It held the warrior''s arms tightly with both hands and aimed her forehead with its big mouth open. In the split second, Deschamps rushed forward, plunging the steel bar through the beast¡¯s upper torso and driving it off Yeh¡¯kull. Without delay, she thrust her blades into the beast''s eyeless head. It broke free in a shrieking screech. Deschamps had to cover his ears. This nightmarish creature would never have been born naturally. It must have been created by some lunatics. The black beast stumbled out of the stove, yellow-green blood spilling along the way. It fell in the rain, and smoke rose from the body. The beast raised its head and howled for the last time, as if asking for help. Then it stopped moving. Deschamps, still in shock, realized that there was a smoky sulfur smell in the hot blast stove. Yeh¡¯kull stood up, looking all right except for some scratches on her armor and stains of yellow-green on the mask. So Deschamps went out of the stove with her. Looking up, he spotted Echo and Byron, not far from the top of the furnace. Alas, this crazy day was finally coming to an end. It was then that a deafening roar came from behind. The ground was shaking, literally. Chapter 6 The Queen鈥檚 Gambit "Fuck me, almost there, at last," said Byron, breathing heavily on the railing. He failed to take care of himself in recent years, and as a taxi driver, he used to sit all the time. His once flat abs had now become a mass of grumbling meat. He stood up straight and shouted, "Brother-in-law, did you find the boy?" Echo said something, his voice drowned out by a strange roar. Byron was so frightened that he stretched out his head and looked toward the sound. In one abandoned factory building not far from the hot-blast stove, air seemed suddenly twisted, and a huge iron-gray spacecraft appeared out of thin air, just like the way that warrior showed himself. It looked like a giant beetle with a big hole in the side, and something was tearing the hall from the inside. Unable to breathe, Byron stretched his neck and looked. The hole in the hull was broken by an invisible force, and a black shadow came out of it. The shadow came out, stretched, put its head back, and roared again. Even from a distance, Byron could definitely hear hatred and the intention to kill in the roar. The thing stretched its arms and legs and ran toward Yeh¡¯kull and Deschamps. The warrior took out a two-edged dagger from her back. No, she shook her hand. The two sides of the dagger suddenly stretched out and became a double-headed spear. Holding a spear in one hand, she faced the charging, huge black monster fearlessly. At this time, Byron saw clearly that the black monstrosity was about four meters high when it came close. Its huge and slender head was like an upended shield, covered with ridges and barbs. It had four arms. Two big claws could grab an adult like him very easily. Two small claws were less dangerous, but they were just as sharp and terrifying. "Damn, you''re a bigger fool than me. This time, we are all doomed." Byron thought that the warrior would have to face the huge monster head-on, but Yeh¡¯kull took out a frisbee-shaped device from her waist, raised it over her head, and a few sharp edges popped out around it. She threw the frisbee at the monster with a grunt. At such a distance, no one could escape from it. The frisbee ran over the monster¡¯s head and cut off a potion from that black shell. The monster seemed to be caught by surprise, hesitated, and squeaked angrily before speeding up to the warrior. Like magic, the frisbee flew back into Yeh¡¯kull. She used its force of inertia to her advantage and threw it out again, faster and more powerful than the last time. It struck the monster''s head right in the middle, but didn''t seem to pierce its chitin. The monster did not stop, and it crashed into Yeh¡¯kull. But she was ready. The warrior quickly rolled over to the side of the monster. She stood up and took out her spear, thrusting furiously. It hit the lower left of the monster. It screamed and turned around to grab the warrior. But she had already rolled over to the other side again. Another thrust struck its lower back again and again. "Fuck, yeah! Again! Stab at it¡¯s kidneys! It''s way better than football! Byron was captivated by the terrifying fight and forgot about anything else. Just as the warrior was about to roll over to avoid a strike, she did not see it coming that the monster would stage a feigned attack while swinging its huge tail right at her. The warrior was hit in the chest and flew out. Her spear flew out of her hand. Yeh¡¯kull hit a brick wall. Fluorescent green liquid, maybe blood, flowed from the lower end of the helmet. She fell to the ground, face down, catching Deschamps during the process, who didn¡¯t even have a chance to move. You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author. "Captain Ma!" Stunned, Byron shouted. He was indeed loud enough; the black monster looked up in Byron''s direction and jumped up with two long, strong hind legs. It hit the facade of the blast furnace, and the 40-meter-high steel building trembled. * * * Byron ran up as if his life depended on it, harried to the top. The top floor was a narrow space, with only a few exhaust valves and iron railings around it. At this time, Echo was busy untying the boy, but the rope was too strong, and his teeth were useless. "Get out of the way; I know what to do.¡± Byron pushed Echo away, took out a screwdriver from his pocket, and sawed furiously at the rope. Under the raincoat, he was now sweating profusely. ¡°Byron, something is crawling up here.¡± Echo said, hurriedly. ¡°Stop yapping; you miss the point EVERYTIME! Do you think I don''t know that?" With the rope undone, Byron cut the sack open with one stroke. Inside, Bart Wang''s mouth was stuffed and his eyes covered. Byron quickly untied him and found that Bart¡¯s eyes closed tightly, so he put his ears on the boy¡¯s chest. Fortunately, the boy still had heartbeats and should have fainted. ¡°Brother-in-law, hurry up.¡± Byron turned to look at Echo and found his brother-in-law sitting back on the floor, a huge black head sticking out from under the railing. It all happened in slow motion. It was too far to see clearly before, but now it was only a few feet away. The black monster had an elongated skull-like face, no eye, a mouth that was bigger than a tiger''s, and could swallow a man''s head with one bite. The wound on its head was now visible, with half of that frisbee protruding from the center and yellow-green blood oozing from the terrible wound; its right side was missing a chunk, and the incision was very neat, proving that the frisbee was actually quite sharp. At this moment, Byron found that Echo, his so-called brother-in-law, was so dispirited, it reminded him of ten years ago. If it were not for the boy, he would have followed his wife and son then and there. Byron stood up and raised the screwdriver. "Are you talking to me?" Just like that young man he was ten years ago. Then he rushed up and stuck the screwdriver in the monster¡¯s head with all the strength left in him. * * * The monster was surprised, confused, and did not expect this ¡°fragile meat¡± would dare to attack. But the two big hands were now holding the railing, so its smaller arms swung out and knocked Byron to the ground. His head hit the exhaust valve, and he felt the world spinning. It was that dream again. Byron was standing outside the nurse station of the factory hospital, watching like a creep as Lila turned around and stood on her toes in that red high heel. The lingering disinfectant smell, the warm early autumn sunshine, and that carefree young man He smiled. At the same time, Lila turned around and smiled at him. Everything was so beautiful, like a dream. ¡°Silly...¡± Byron shook his head; he could not die yet. Lila, his wife, was waiting for him to come home for dinner. So he stood up, holding the screwdriver in one hand, which was already covered with a yellow-greenish liquid, rolling and smoking, melting. ¡°Brother-in-law, hurry up and carry Bart to the loading cart!¡± ¡°What about it?¡± ¡°For God¡¯s sake, just listen to me for once and hurry the fuck up.¡± The monster was too large to enter the narrow top floor, and it could not claw its way in for now. It screamed at them and reached out to grab, to hurt, to kill. Byron hurriedly turned around and pushed Echo, who was holding the boy in his arms, to jump into one cart. As soon as Echo sat down, he raised the screwdriver and stabbed the traction cable. Fortunately, after years of erosion from wind and rain, the cable was already broken and soon fused. With a loud ¡°bang¡±, the loading cart swayed forward and then accelerated downward. ¡°Big B, it is still alive and coming in hot!¡± ¡°It¡¯s all right; I have another trick up my sleeve.¡± Without looking back, Byron took out the remote control and randomly pushed all the buttons...... ...... ¡°Boom¡±! Scrap mantels with fire flew over the three of them. The black monster was hit by the shock wave and fell from the top of the furnace with a deafening, bizarre screeching sound. Chapter 7 Paper Tiger After autumn, the Xiaoliang River roared forward. Waves rose and disappeared, repeating indefinitely, as if nothing had changed, yet everything had changed. Deschamps wrapped his jacket tightly. The autumn sunshine could not heat the cold air by the river. He shivered. Not far from the shore, Echo knelt in the middle of the crowd, holding his son Sunny Wang. The onlookers tacitly left space for the two. Father and son wept and hugged together. The two turned to look at him. Their faces blurred, and Deschamps forced himself to smile. Suddenly, a rumbling sound came from the lower sky, and it was dark and raining heavily all of a sudden. He opened his eyes with a jerk and sat up, looking around in confusion at the nearby warrior. The warrior stood up somehow and did not pay attention to him. Instead, she raised her hand and pulled off several small tubes connected to the mask. White gas spewed and hissed. Then Yeh¡¯kull took off the mask with one hand, revealing a face that Deschamps could not have dreamed of: a hard green skull covered with bone spurs arranged neatly along the edge, deep eye sockets, short eyes, yellow eyeballs that made people shudder, and the most incredible feature was the mouth, which was not so much a mouth as some kind of prey machine, with sharp teeth propped up in all directions. Inexplicably, he thought of the word ¡°predator¡±, and the face was physiologically frightening just to look at. Meanwhile, the warrior¡¯s long hair was tied into a number of small braids, which somehow looked intriguing. Deschamps stared at them. With the mask in one hand and a silver syringe grabbed from the waist in the other, the warrior inserted it directly into her jaw, which was still oozing green blood. The warrior¡¯s body shook visibly. She put the needle away. And I had the mask back on. Deschamps felt relief all of a sudden. * * * Even after the inhibitor injection, Yeh¡¯kull still felt pain all over her body, and her head was buzzing severely. She motioned to the human fighting alongside her to check on the alien queen, who had fallen to the ground. The human, despite his frail physique, had helped her kill the adult Xenomoprph earlier and deserved the honor. The Queen fell among rubble and scrap metal, lying on her back, with an I-beam steel through her upper torso. Yeh¡¯kull retrieved her retractable spear and approached the huge black monster carefully. There was no other way in this situation; she could only terminate it. Her failure would not be forgotten easily by the elders. Yeh¡¯kull silently walked up to the Queen''s huge head. At this time, the rain was even bigger than before, water washed the queen''s black shell, and yellow-green blood rolled around. It was everywhere. She raised her spear above her head with both hands, ready to deliver a final blow. With the blink of an eye, the Queen raised one huge hand and hit Yeh¡¯kull in the side, knocking her to the ground. Just as Yeh¡¯kull was in a daze, the young human male came out of nowhere, holding a brick, and drove the frisbee deeply into the Queen¡¯s head. The frisbee made a clear sound and pierced its hard shell. The black monster roared in pain, convulsing violently, then its arm hit the ground heavily and its head drooped to one side. That human threw away the brick and squared his shoulders: ¡°Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!¡± Deschamps rolled his eyes. ¡°You know nothing, son. This is called All reactionaries are paper tigers.¡± Stolen story; please report. * * * Bart, who was wrapped in a raincoat, slowly opened his eyes. Echo Wang paid no attention to the heavy rain and gently pressed his face against the boy¡¯s. ¡°Bart, it¡¯s all right; it¡¯s all right.¡± Then the rain stopped unexpectedly, the wind grew stronger, and everyone except the warrior was blown around; the sky turned black, and all of a sudden a blinding white light appeared in the distance. Echo held his son in one hand and used the other to cover his eyes. He thought he saw several tall, dark figures coming out of the white light but could not be sure. The warrior came up at some point, holding the blackened finger of the beast in one hand. She stood in front of the four humans and drew two lines on the top of the mask with the broken alien finger. The remaining corrosive blood left yellow-green marks on the metal surface, which seemed to be a sign. Then the warrior approached Echo and said he was going to poke him in the head with that finger. He took a back step while others were still confused, saying, "We do not do this these days. In ancient times, if words were tattooed on one¡¯s face, it meant he or she was forced into exile.¡± The warrior stopped, seemed to think for a moment, then put away the finger and turned to stride away. The four of them stared at each other. ¡°Just like that, ha? Not even a thank-you; not cool, dude, not cool!¡± Byron shouted at the warrior¡¯s back. ¡°You are an idiot; that¡¯s it¡±, Deschamps said. ¡°Besides, it¡¯s not a dude, anyway.¡± ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Byron looked at Deschamps angrily. ¡°Do you think I can¡¯t see that he¡¯s not one of us?" ¡°I mean, look at her breastplate. No matter where she comes from, the warrior¡¯s a female.¡± Yeh¡¯kull went back then, and both of them shut up. She approached Byron first and solemnly took out an iron-gray, three-edged bayonet. He took it without thinking. ¡°Na... Your name?¡± ¡°Big B.¡± ¡°Big... B... ¡° She nodded. Then she went to Deschamps Ma and took out her spear, which had already retracted to a short one. Deschamps caught it with both hands and found it was much lighter than expected. ¡°Captain...Ma?¡± ¡°He is Marlowe." Byron interrupted and was kicked hard by Deschamps. ¡°My name is Deschamps Ma.¡± The warrior put her right fist in front of her and nodded. Finally, she came to Mr. Wang. ¡°Echo Wang. Echo like it¡¯s from the past." He said it first. The warrior hesitated for a moment, nodded, then took a small object from her neck and put it in his hand. ¡°When in danger... press the mark.¡± The warrior looked at him and then at Bart Wang. ¡°Thank you. On behalf of my family and the peace-loving people of Earth, I express my heartfelt thanks and sincere welcome."Said Echo, holding the warrior¡¯s big hand with both his and shaking it up and down. * * * It was quite late when Byron Gong got home. Downstairs, he waved goodbye to the green cab; his strength disappeared after that, all of a sudden, and he could not even lift his arms. Fortunately, he looked up and saw the lights on at his small but cozy home. Byron went upstairs in the rain. With the door open, Byron found a teenage girl who he had never seen before sitting at the table. Just as he was about to ask, Lila poked her head out of the kitchen and said, ¡°Oh, you are back, Big B. What were you thinking? The rain never stopped.¡± Then she brought out a steaming bowl of soup and put it on the table. ¡°This is Lulu, my colleague¡¯s daughter; she¡¯s in junior high school. Her mom did night shift today, and I took her in for dinner.¡± ¡°By all means. Lulu, suit yourself, please. I was starving all the time in college and would eat anything when I came back home¡±. Byron hung up his raincoat and sat at the table without changing his shoes. ¡±What¡¯s so great about having children? Parents are worried for their children, like, constantly! It is not as good as pigeons.¡± The girl, Lulu, seemed to focus on eating with her head down and not paying attention to the conversation between the couple. ¡°How about that, Lila? Why don¡¯t we decorate first? Didn¡¯t you say that the old house is suffocating, like all the time? So we decorate the hell out of this place; you will be over the moon.¡¯ Lila did not take off her apron and stood at the kitchen door, with a bowl in hand still. ¡°So we are not going to...do the thing?¡¯ ''Love is like a lamp, and at the same time illuminate two people. It never diminishes. As long as we have each other, everything will be fine.¡¯ She smiled reluctantly and sat down at the table, trying to eat. She did not notice that at this time, Lulu looked at Byron with a blush. Byron, on the other hand, was looking at Lila with a smile, but she felt sad in her heart somehow. She was going to figure out how to open her own beauty clinic, starting Monday. * * * The next morning, Echo Wang woke up early. He didn¡¯t get much sleep last night; his mind was full of black monsters with sharp teeth and claws, fires and explosions on the blast furnace, and mysterious warriors cleaning up the scene like a magic show. The rain had stopped, and autumn was getting colder by the day. Echo looked out of the window, and a single golden leaf came from nowhere, spinning and flying away. He watched as the leaf fell to the ground, got up, and went into his bedroom. Echo put the amulet presented by the alien warrior in a small wooden box where Mistle Luo, his late wife, stores her jewelry, together with important documentation like their real estate certificate, and two voided ID cards. He took out a handsome green-cover notebook, looking through it with such love and admiration that he thought he had forgotten. At the end, Echo wrote a sentence on the last page. Epilogue "Mom, please, have some rest in the next room, I''ll go to the police station later." Said Bart Wang, he helped Claudia Li to the door of the master bedroom. She was almost seventy years old now, but had the physique of a woman half her age. It was clear that her sorrow was overwhelming, but she was not defeated. ¡°Your father has had a hard life, just like me. Fortunately, he didn¡¯t suffer in the end, he was gone in his sleep.¡± Claudia said with a sigh, ¡°Then I¡¯ll leave you be. It¡¯s tiresome to come back from Beijing so early in the morning. I¡¯ll get you something to eat.¡± ¡°Don''t bother, Mom. I''m not hungry now. I¡¯ll make porridge when it¡¯s done.¡± ¡°All right, I¡¯ll have some rest in the living room, then we can go together.¡± Bart turned back to the master bedroom and began to tidy up a tangled bed. Towards the end, he carefully folded the red sweater he had given his father as a present long ago and put it on the bedside, he would take it back to Beijing, as remembrance. Then he opened a drawer to take the household registration documentation and ID card to the police station, to...... handle the after life affairs. If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. For so many years, father had been putting his brother¡¯s green-cover notebook together with valuable things of this small family. The notebook reminded Bart of the scene of Echo Wang reading a poem: ¡°Snap your fingers.¡± His father, who had been working so hard all his life, that little old man, always wearing a cheeky smile: ¡°Blow the trumpet, tick, tick, tick.¡± He chortled, tears fell down. Bart looked through the notebook and found a line of words scribbled by his father on the last page: ¡°Are there really aliens in the world?¡± He was confused, somehow, but quickly pushed the question out of his mind, after all, this was not the right time for it. Then he was attracted by an old wooden box. He opened the box with a snap, inside was a strange amulet, followed by a note: ¡°When in danger... press the mark." All of a sudden, he felt struck by lightening, Bart recalled that day more than ten years ago, the deafening roar and dazzling white light. But the memory was like misplaced puzzle, the boy couldn¡¯t see it through. He sighed, put down the wooden box, got up and opened the window. It''s snowing. Bart looked up. The falling snow was so beautiful. He had seen it before. (End)