The Docks

After leaving the alley, Ryan did not go home immediately.

Simon's words had indeed put him on his guard, but the problem was that once you knew certain things, it was very hard to pretend you didn't. Especially regarding the Lantern.

Over the past few days, Ryan had become increasingly aware of the side effects of the Lantern aspect.

His sleep was decreasing.

Previously, he needed at least six or seven hours of sleep a day. Now, even if he only slept for three, his mind remained perfectly sharp.

Sometimes, he would suddenly wake up in the middle of the night with his brain automatically organizing the archives he had read during the day.

Every name, every date—he could recall them clearly, as if they were carved into his brain.

Furthermore, it was becoming harder and harder for him to tolerate the “unknown.”

If there was no answer to something, his mind would keep dwelling on it until he figured it out.

It was the same with the matter of East Port.

After returning to his attic room, Ryan sat on the edge of the bed in silence for a long time. In the end, he picked up his coat, put on his hat, and pushed open the door to head out.

...

East Port was located on the easternmost edge of the East End, close to the River Thames.

By the time Ryan arrived, the sky was nearly dark.

Gloomy clouds pressed down overhead, and the distant river surface was a dull grey, looking like frozen lead.

The air was thick with the heavy stench of coal smoke, fish, and rotting seaweed.

The docks were quieter than he had expected.

Normally, this place should have been bustling, but now many warehouse doors were shut tight, with City Hall seals pasted over the wooden planks.

A few cargo ships were moored along the shore, but there were almost no dockworkers in sight.

Occasionally, a few people would pass by, but they all kept their heads down and hurried away, no one speaking.

In the distance, a crane swayed gently in the wind, making a creaking sound that felt somewhat eerie.

Ryan walked slowly along the docks, naturally spreading out his Lantern perception.

Soon, he detected something abnormal.

It was too cold here.

Not in temperature, but a coldness of aspect.

Faint, grayish-white traces lingered everywhere in the air, clinging to the wooden planks and warehouse surfaces like a thin mist.

An ordinary person wouldn't be able to see anything, but in Ryan's eyes, those traces were incredibly obvious.

Winter.

And in no small amount.

Ryan's expression grew serious. He continued walking deeper, soon arriving at an abandoned, cordoned-off warehouse district.

This place had clearly been deserted for a long time.

Black mold grew all over the walls, shattered glass littered the ground, and the wind wailed as it swept through the empty alleyways.

Suddenly, Ryan stopped in his tracks.

His Lantern perception had detected something.

He slowly lowered his head.

In the muddy water on the ground, there were several footprints.

They were very large, and their shape was wrong—not like human feet, but more like some large beast. Five long, slender claws had sunk deep into the mud, nearly thirty centimeters in length.

Ryan's pupils contracted slightly. He followed the footprints forward and soon discovered a second trace.

It was a piece of bone.

To be precise, it was a gnawed human arm bone. Clear bite marks remained on it, and the inside of the bone had even been bitten open and sucked clean.

Ryan knelt to examine it, his face darkening bit by bit.

This wasn't a dog, nor was it a rat.

The bite marks were too large, and the bite force was terrifying. More importantly, a very faint, grayish-white aura lingered on the surface of the bone.

Winter aspect.

Just then, the Lantern lore in his mind suddenly surfaced on its own. As if triggered by something, a word slowly emerged—

Ghoul.

Ryan's body stiffened slightly.

He immediately recalled the descriptions from his esoteric lore.

Certain individuals who had long-term contact with Winter and death would gradually lose their humanity. They consumed corpses, hiding in graveyards, sewers, and abandoned buildings, surviving on death and decay.

At first, they were just human.

Later, they would turn completely into monsters.

Ryan slowly stood up, his gaze sweeping into the depths of the darkness.

The sound of the wind grew louder, and the distant warehouse district was dead silent.

But in the very next second, he suddenly heard a sound.

Crack.

It sounded like a bone being crushed—very soft, yet exceptionally clear.

The sound came from behind the warehouse.

Ryan's body tensed instantly. His right hand instinctively reached into his pocket for the lens, his breathing slowed, and the Lantern light began to swirl deep within his pupils.

In the darkness, something seemed to be moving.

A tall, thin, distorted shadow slowly darted past from behind the warehouse wall, moving at incredible speed, vanishing in the next instant.

Ryan stood in place, making no move to give chase. Instead, he slowly took a step back.

Because just now, he had felt it.

That thing had noticed him as well.

In the darkness, there seemed to be a pair of cold, hungry eyes watching him.

The wind of East Port suddenly grew even colder.

Ryan did not move.

The cold wind swept through the abandoned warehouse district, rattling the sheet metal.

The shadow from before had vanished too quickly, too quickly to be a normal creature, but his Lantern perception told him that the thing was still nearby, and it was watching him.

Ryan slowly took another step back, placing his foot down gently, trying his best not to make a sound.

His right hand was already inside his coat pocket, gripping the lens. The cool touch helped him calm down slightly.

Chase after it?

The moment the thought arose, he suppressed it.

What a joke.

He had only recently advanced, and the Lantern aspect wasn't a warrior path. Being able to see didn't mean he could fight.

Especially since this was East Port, clearly an area where some Winter aspect power had bled out. Venturing deeper rashly was no different from seeking death.

With this in mind, Ryan began to back away slowly.

One step.

Two steps.

Three steps.

The surroundings remained quiet, with only the sound of the wind echoing deep within the warehouse district.

The shadow from before seemed to have left.

Yet Ryan did not relax in the slightest. On the contrary, he expanded his Lantern perception to its absolute limit, constantly observing the surrounding walls, the ground, the warehouse windows, and even overhead.

Just then, his gaze suddenly locked.

Overhead.

Along the edge of a shattered window frame on the second floor of the warehouse, something had just moved.

Ryan's pupils contracted sharply.

In the next second, a deathly pale human face slowly peeked out from the darkness.

The thing was hanging upside down on the wall, its limbs twisted as it clung to the brickwork like a spider.

Its cloudy, whitish eyeballs stared intently at Ryan, its mouth split all the way to its ears, filled with sharp fangs.

Tattered clothes still hung from its body, faintly resembling a dockworker's uniform.

But now, it no longer looked human at all.

Ryan's hair stood on end.

A ghoul!

Almost simultaneously, the monster moved.

Its mouth suddenly split open, letting out an incredibly bizarre, shrill laugh.

“Clack—”

“Clack, clack, clack—”

The sound was like bones grinding together, grating painfully against his eardrums.

Ryan spun around and bolted.

Boom!

The wall behind him burst open as the ghoul lunged straight down from the second floor at terrifying speed.

The moment it landed, it propelled itself forward with all four limbs, giving chase like a wild beast.

Ryan didn't dare look back, sprinting toward the exit of the docks like a madman.

The wooden planks beneath his feet vibrated continuously, and the sound of sharp scratching from behind drew closer and closer.

It was too fast.

Far faster than any human.

Ryan even suspected this thing could outrun a galloping horse.

In the next second, a sudden chill washed over his back.

He instinctively threw himself to the side.

Rip!

The fabric of his shoulder tore instantly, leaving three claw marks on his coat.

If he had been even a fraction of a second slower, his shoulder would have been torn open.

Ryan rolled and crashed behind a nearby wooden crate, panting heavily.

The ghoul did not pounce immediately.

Instead, it stopped a short distance away, crouching low and staring intently at him.

Saliva dripped continuously from the corners of its mouth.

Drip.

Drip.

As it hit the ground, it actually left faint traces of grayish-white frost.