Puzzle Madness

Chapter 18 Tears
啪：
John Dou lit a cigarette, took a deep drag, and let the smoke rush straight out of his nostrils. The pager in his pocket was not as lucky as the cigarette box. The screen was so broken that the words could not be seen.

He never wore a watch, but it was definitely not past the time he had agreed with his partner.

John Dou took another puff and ran his palm over the uneven, dented elevator wall. It looked as if someone had vandalized this elevator with a sledgehammer.

These old neighborhoods are likely to be full of unruly kids; who knows how many people have vented their anger here, but haven't yet used spray cans to paint graffiti.

The distracting thoughts suddenly left, and John Dou thought of his official business:

Rest for a moment. Later, I'll contact Richard at a pay phone and have him transport the client to a safe house. I'll try to pry all the information out of the client.
Da. Da, da.

John Dou turned his head sharply:

It was the sound of footsteps, gradually growing louder and louder; it was piercingly loud in the almost deserted residential building.

Someone is approaching—
Hey.

The footsteps stopped outside the elevator door.

John Dou frowned and said nothing: the corridor outside the elevator was in chaos and blood due to the fight; but it was no different from an ordinary brawl.

The inquiries from nearby residents were also to be expected, as they had dealt with numerous civilian witnesses during field operations. The appropriate tactics and protocols were naturally well-remembered, and there was ample time to evacuate before local law enforcement arrived.

But somehow—perhaps because of the client—at this moment, his heart was beating faster and faster; his chest was shaking like a drum.

[There's no need to make a fuss. The emergency brake has been pressed anyway, and the elevator door can't be opened from the outside.]

Just then, the person outside the door spoke.

"You have cigarettes in the ladder."

Through the steel elevator door, John Dou heard the muffled words, which were blocked by the steel and seemed fragmented; it was like a call from another world.

The words weren't actually that vague: it was just the drum beating in his chest that muffled some of the sound.
-
what?
John Dou wanted to ask, but was confused by the strange and fragmented words.
In the next moment:
He made a record of many possibilities that flashed through his mind, but the reality still deviated from John Dou's guess.

The person outside the door was indeed unable to press the button to open the elevator door. But the door was still open.

Click, click, click—dang!
The elevator shaft door—there were two of them, inside and outside—warped and twisted with a creaking howl, then tore open completely; half remained stuck in the gap, and the remaining half fell to the ground.

As if it were just a dry cardboard box.

condition!
The remaining half of the elevator door was torn off and fell to the side; the dust and ash between the elevator floors were shaken off by the vibration, making the elevator seem to be covered with a layer of white mist.

boom!
Through the dimness, John Dou saw the outline of—
There were no tools or instruments, only a solitary figure.

It was a young boy, his petite frame draped in a bright yellow raincoat. Even in this room where there was no rain at all, he pulled his rain hat up over his tangled hair, obscuring his features.
"You were smoking in the elevator."

The voice is very soft, without the hoarseness of voice change.

John Dou lowered his head: the cigarette between his fingers was still burning, but the smoke drifted in the dust. And beneath his blood-stained hands lay the body of his client, covered in bright red.

Funny and weird things came over John Dou's mind—
Why is this child still concerned about whether he is smoking in the elevator after seeing such a scene?
[No, there's something even stranger--]

John Dou stared at the two elevator doors, which were torn apart like soda crackers and dangling on the ground. His consciousness seemed to have lost power, and he was confused:

He ripped open the elevator door with his bare hands.

Strange, John Dou felt very strange: a hazy astonishment enveloped him, but he could not be surprised by the horrible sight - this was an experience he had never had before.

But exhaustion overwhelmed his mind, forcing all his previous training to the surface like a conditioned reflex. John Dou put his cigarette back in his mouth and reached into the inner pocket of his windbreaker, intending to pull out the police ID and badge provided by the company. Both his own face and the [client's] face had been seen. He couldn't take such a risk. He had to take the child away and dispose of him. If there were any family members, they would also need to make necessary arrangements.

"Don't be afraid, this is law enforcement—do you have an adult at home?" [But how old is he? Fourteen? Fifteen? Perhaps there's another way.]

Perhaps it was because of what the client had said not long ago that it had aroused the softer side of him that still existed, the more human side.
John Dou sighed, smoke coming out of his mouth again: Since joining this industry, how much have I done--
"You were smoking in the elevator."

The sound came again, this time closer.

The young man in the yellow raincoat stepped into the elevator: John Dou could see the other person's face clearly within arm's reach.

【! 】

At this moment, John Dou returned to reality - it seemed as if everything was wrapped in a layer of gauze; he knew what had happened, but could not realize what it meant.

[Crazy, he has ecstasy——]

As if awakened from a dream: John Dou glanced at the elevator door that was twisted like cardboard. At that moment, he suddenly felt that there might be some leakage in the elevator he was in.
John Dou could feel the coldness rising from his tailbone, climbing all the way to the top of his head like a solid entity; the hair all over his body seemed to become hard, as if it was about to push through the fabric he was wearing.

His eyes grew wet: John Dou reached out and wiped them away—unbeknownst to him, cold sweat had already soaked his entire body. John Dou saw the boy's eyes, eyes he had never seen before.

The iris is pitch black, but the sclera is as white and dense as porcelain.

No, it's not just that.

Is there something else wrong?
It was almost a subconscious reflex: John Dou suddenly raised his pistol and pressed it against his temple - his movement was so strong that a circular red mark was pressed on his skin in an instant.

"what."

He wanted to howl, roar; to put all his emotions into the trigger - but in the end, only a low murmur came out.

Snapped!
John Dou pulled the trigger. The empty chamber made a sound, but the invisible bullet spun along the rifling and smashed into John Dou's brain. They blasted the sadness and grief from his heart, releasing them everywhere:
Once again, with this ritualistic act, he recreated the scene of his past crime: unreservedly releasing his ecstasy with unprecedented intensity.

Silently.

After the gunshot caused by the empty chamber trigger, there was a brief silence: the boy in the yellow raincoat did not move, and neither did John Dou - if shivering and shaking were not counted.

The silence was broken by someone else: the [client] who was knocked unconscious by John Dou and lying on the ground.

"!!!!!!"

The [client] suddenly let out a shrill, piercing, inhuman howl. She seemed to wake from her coma with this sudden change, her chest suddenly arching upward, then suddenly crashing down to the ground. She rolled and squirmed, shaking the elevator. She covered her eyes with her hands, her fingertips twitching and cramping, as if trying to dig into her skull along the hollows of her eye sockets.

Tears kept flowing from between the client's fingers, like covering an open faucet with his hand. These tears were originally clear, but now they were tinged with a faint pink. I wonder how long it will take before other capillaries burst and the tears turn deep red?
This is just the beginning:
The cries and howls came from even further away—first from the nearby residential buildings, then from the streets and alleys outside the complex, and then spread to even more distant places. These tiny, dense cries and wails were like the unison of a choir, with a faint rhythm and following an inexplicable beat.

The sobs and cries were gradually replaced by higher-decibel sounds: the friction caused by the sudden braking of tires, the thud of vehicles crashing, and the choked screams—
The whole city is crying.

When humans are crying beyond their limits, it is difficult to accomplish anything else.

Tears welled up in John Dou's eyes, flowing down his rough beard and rough pores, and into the corners of his mouth. With a salty taste in his mouth, he stared blankly at the M1917 revolver in his hand:

He had never unleashed his powers like this before.

Even in his past tests and late-night fantasies, he had never imagined he could achieve such a level—no one had. Whether it was the distance and area that could be radiated, covered, or the intensity of the effect.

If the people in the company and those in the [high-level office area] knew that he had such power, they would never let John Dou do anything more than a small field clerk.

The sadness in his heart was inexhaustible, like a spring from the ground: this sorrow and regret almost drowned John Dou himself.

Perhaps I cannot reach the level of "pillar level". As a sinner, I cannot be released endlessly and without care like a patient; but...
"But, but. Even if it's just a tiny bit of madness, even a tiny bit of this kind of power. I don't want it either."

(End of this chapter)