The rain roared, water cascaded from the workstation eaves like a curtain, splashing into the drainage ditch and kicking up waves.

The small identity badge bobbed in the current, soon lodging in a clump of sticky yellow mud.

Jamie’s face twisted as if he’d seen a ghost, unsure if he’d heard right.

This brazen Easterner, what did he say?

Pick it up for him?

"Sorry, you’re saying you dropped your badge and want me to fetch it from the ditch?"

The figure under the wide black raincoat nodded earnestly, sparking another round of laughter from the crowd.

Hearing the jeers, Jamie’s face flushed red and white, gritting his teeth. "Then you’re probably—"

His words cut off.

A cold gun barrel pressed against his forehead, the metal’s chill shooting down his spine, freezing the rest of his sentence in his throat.

The laughter stopped abruptly, replaced by incredulous stares.

A gun!

He’s insane—Cheng Ye’s lost it!

He dared draw a gun at the checkpoint, aiming at one of their own?

"Go pick it up for me."

Cheng Ye repeated, his smile gone, his face cold as if he’d become someone else.

There was bullying in the orphanage too.

In the cafeteria, the big kids ate first, leaving scraps for the smaller ones to fight over.

But from age five, Cheng Ye was always among the first to eat.

Not because of the big kids’ kindness!

"You trying to scare me?"

"I am scaring you."

Cheng Ye flashed a faint smile, lowering the gun from Jamie’s forehead to his chin.

The cold barrel jabbed upward, making Jamie’s jaw ache.

"Checkpoint Code, Chapter One, Article Three: During duty, an inspector’s orders are absolute."

"Disobedience is tantamount to being an infected entity."

"Mr. Jamie."

The soft click of the safety disengaging sounded. "Answer me directly: Are you an infected entity hiding in the North Station?"

Brazen.

Utterly brazen!

Jamie’s throat bobbed twice, but he stayed silent.

He could sense that if he said the wrong thing, this ever-smiling lunatic wasn’t joking—he’d actually pull the trigger!

Yet the gazes from the crowd pierced his back like steel needles, making it impossible to bend.

He could already imagine the mockery he’d face if he picked up the badge, becoming a laughingstock, a disgrace to the Western faction, tarnishing the entire North Station’s reputation.

But…

He didn’t want to die.

Even dying to an infected entity was better than being shot by an inspector for refusing to bend.

"Garcia, an inspector, is still fighting for his life."

"You’re just a nobody, no rank, no title. Just for pride, egged on by a few words, you’d throw away your life?"

The devil’s whisper continued in his ear.

Jamie snapped his head up, his eyes filled with fear.

He looked at the crowd, all urging him with their gazes, encouraging him to stake his life on proving Cheng Ye wouldn’t shoot.

But he…

"I’ll pick it up!"

Jamie’s legs buckled, and he scrambled toward the ditch.

Under Cheng Ye’s half-smiling gaze and the stunned stares of the young crowd, he dug the badge from the mud, washed it in a puddle, and wiped it repeatedly with the cleanest part of his collar.

"Inspector… Inspector Cheng."

"Kneel. Hand it to me."

What?

Jamie’s eyes widened, bloodshot and incredulous.

Kneel? Was he joking?

He was an inspector’s only son. He could bow his head to survive.

But losing dignity? Never, even if it meant death, even if it meant being beaten…

Boom!

A deafening shot rang out, the hot air grazing his cheek, leaving a searing burn mark.

Jamie froze, a warm liquid trickling down his pant leg.

He shot?

He actually shot!

How dare he?

Shooting a colleague, did he not fear the checkpoint’s rules and punishment?

The acrid smell of gunpowder hit his nose, his ears still ringing, the stench nearly choking him. But his mind was clearer than ever.

Adrenaline surged, restoring sensation to his stiff body.

Yet, despite regaining strength in his legs, he lacked the courage to stand tall.

Thud.

Jamie dropped to one knee, teeth chattering uncontrollably, instinctively offering the badge forward.

Something was lost forever, his pride, his arrogance, the dignity of an inspector’s heir.

But something greater was preserved, his pounding heart, his gasping breath, the fresh air flooding his lungs.

In front of everyone, he traded dignity for his life.

Was it worth it?

"Congratulations, you made the right choice."

The devil reached out, taking the badge and a piece of what he’d lost.

Silence fell over the crowd.

The earlier jeers, mockery, and instigation vanished with that shot.

By checkpoint rules, they, as inspector heirs, stood above ordinary people.

But when someone blatantly ignored the rules or worse, used them against them, they realized they were less than even the lowliest guards.

At least guards had official posts. If they died, the checkpoint could pursue justice.

But these nobodies? Dead was dead, maybe even branded as “infected entities” and reduced to ashes.

Blowing off nonexistent water droplets from the badge, Cheng Ye pursed his lips and turned as if to leave.

The crowd quietly exhaled.

But the next second, their breath caught, gripped by an invisible hand.

The madman didn’t leave?

What… what was he planning?

The black muzzle rose, sweeping slowly from left to right across the crowd, pausing to waver slightly at each person, as if silently calling names.

Who was he looking for?

Someone’s knees buckled, instinctively stepping back toward a workstation.

Bang.

A shot rang out, a bullet hole smashing into the epoxy floor, right at the tip of the person’s next step, inches from piercing their foot.

The figure collapsed in terror, screaming, “You’re insane! What are you doing?”

“Everyone, don’t panic.”

Cheng Ye toyed with the badge, a playful glint in his eyes. “I suspect an infected entity has infiltrated, egging Mr. Jamie to defy an inspector’s orders. I can’t pinpoint who, so what do you think?”

?

Confusion spread across the crowd, then someone took the lead, and all eyes turned to one person.

Under dozens of gazes, the target froze as if struck by lightning, nearly collapsing.

“No, it wasn’t me!”

“Is it him?” Cheng Ye turned to Jamie, still kneeling, and asked softly, “I know you’re a good kid. Tell me, was he the one egging you on?”

They were about the same age, Jamie might even be a year older.

But Jamie felt an eerie sensation.

In that moment, he faced not a peer, not an inspector, but a godfather baptizing him.

The godfather kindly asked, Is it him?

And he should piously reply, “Yes, it’s him, Raul Davidson!”

Davidson?

Wasn’t that the surname of the North Station’s deputy chief?

“Very good!”

Cheng Ye patted Jamie’s shoulder, smiling as he turned. “Mr. Davidson, could you come over here?”

His tone was utterly polite, but Raul felt a deathly threat.

He glanced around, seeing only gloating relief in the crowd’s eyes, glad they weren’t chosen.

Damn them.

They all egged Jamie on. Why me? Why me!

“Need me to repeat myself?”

Cheng Ye raised the Bison pistol, feigning a trigger pull.

The looming threat of death made Raul’s body stiffen, but unlike Jamie, he refused to kneel and live in shame.

He was the son of Deputy Station Chief Evan Davidson.

Only death standing, never life kneeling!

Even if he knelt to Cheng Ye now and survived, his strict father would strip him of his inspector inheritance, leaving him to die obscurely in some buffer zone corner.

Time seemed to freeze.

After a few seconds, Raul forced his legs to move, his face flushed, veins bulging on his forehead.

In those short steps, his mind rehearsed his next words. Even if it meant death, he’d die gloriously.

He’d show this arrogant bastard that not everyone at the North Station was like Jamie…

“Mr. Davidson, I need to report to the station chief. Could you show me the way?”

“Cheng Ye, it’s not—”

Both spoke at once, and a strange tension filled the air.

Raul snapped his head up, eyes wide with shock, as if he’d seen a ghost.

Jamie, kneeling, looked thunderstruck, his face paling as he grasped Cheng Ye’s intent.

Report to the station chief?

Show the way?

Those two words hit like a hammer, stealing his breath.

“Hm, what did you just call me?”

Cheng Ye raised an eyebrow, holstering the gun slowly, a puzzled look on his face. “Sorry, I didn’t catch that. Could you repeat it?”

The towering menace and ferocity vanished, his face under the wide raincoat returning to its earlier calm.

Raul turned, scanning the stunned crowd behind him. No one expected Cheng Ye to play so unpredictably.

For a moment, he was dazed, slow to react.

But then, a wave of relief washed over him, and he realized his body was soaked through, as if dragged from the ditch.

“Inspector… Inspector Cheng, I… I’d be honored to show you the way.”