The man bowed and nodded as he prepared to leave. Before he could take even one step, Jarvis called out, "Wait!" The man stiffened and turned back. Jarvis frowned and asked, "Moron! Have you seen any helicopters working around here lately?" He paused, then added, "The kind from out of town." The man let out a small sigh of relief. He thought for a moment, then nodded. "Yeah. I have." Jarvis's eyes lit up at once. "Tell me everything." The man described the color of the helicopter and what it looked like. As soon as Jarvis heard it, his face broke into a grin. "That's them!" If someone had seen the helicopter, things would have become much easier. Jarvis had been anxious for days. He kept worrying that the other side had already let that strange bird go. If that were true, his tracking technique—based on a feather—would naturally jump around with no pattern. Now that he knew the helicopter really had passed through this area, he finally relaxed. So they really were traveling across the country. The answer was strange, sure—but it was still better than believing he had been chasing nothing but a random bird the whole time. Matthew spoke up from the side. "When did you see the helicopter? Did it land?" "Uh... the day before yesterday? Or maybe earlier," the man said, scratching his head. "I don't remember exactly. It didn't land. It flew straight north." Then he looked toward the ocean, his eyes suddenly lighting up. "Oh, right! The helicopter came the same day the sea appeared."He rolled his eyes as if recalling something important and added, "The seawater came with the helicopter!" "What?" Matthew stared at him. "That's impossible. Water doesn't follow a helicopter. Stop making things up." But his mind betrayed him. That night in Greendale, he and Jarvis had searched everywhere and still failed to find the killer. Then, out of nowhere, a massive helicopter appeared in the middle of the night. Matthew felt goosebumps rise all over his arms. There were ghost ships at sea; did that mean there were ghost helicopters on land too? The man kept talking. "I'm serious! If you don't believe me, ask other people. A lot of folks saw it that day. The sea really did come in with the helicopter. It was huge. You couldn't miss it." Matthew and Jarvis exchanged a look. This was getting way too absurd. Jarvis waved his hand impatiently. "Moron! Get lost." The man turned and left at once. Matthew didn't even notice. He grabbed Jarvis by the sleeve, his voice tense. "Jarvis, maybe we should stop chasing them. Something's not right." When he thought about it carefully, they had never seen the enemy's faces. They didn't know how many people there were or even whether they were men or women. Their only clue was a single feather. The helicopter signals and the tracking readings kept vanishing and reappearing, like they were never really there at all. The more Matthew thought about it, the creepier it felt. "What if the helicopter is full of birds?" he whispered. "In fantasy stories, animals turn into monsters all the time. What if we've been chasing a bunch of ghost birds this whole time?" Jarvis shoved him aside, clearly annoyed, and strode forward. "Enough nonsense. Come with me. We're getting fuel."Matthew followed him on shaky legs. "Hey, wait, hear me out!" The man who had just been threatened stopped walking. The fear vanished from his face. He turned around, watching their backs grow smaller, and let out a cold laugh. "Fucking foreigner," he muttered. "You're dead for sure." How would he know where to find fuel? He didn't. What he did know was the location of the meanest, poorest, and most violent gang in the city. He stared at the tall building in the distance and spat hard on the ground. "Fine. I'll let someone else do the dirty work." You like waving knives around, don't you? Those gangsters will teach you a real lesson. The man stood there grinning for a while. When he thought about that outsider's accent and cocky attitude, he still felt annoyed. In the end, he didn't even bother fishing anymore. He turned and walked back in the direction Matthew and Jarvis had come from. Normally, no one looking for gas would come to the waterfront, unless their vehicle had broken down nearby. Sure enough, he soon spotted a large truck parked by the roadside. He pulled open the door. Warm air rushed out, much warmer than outside. It had clearly been driven not long ago. He curled his lips into a smile. "Big truck. No fuel. Out-of-town plates, yeah, this is the one." He reached into his jacket and pulled out a small knife. It was meant for self-defense, but earlier that fast-moving outsider had pinned him before he could even react. Now it finally had a use. Still smiling, he stabbed the blade into the tire. Hiss. "Go ahead," he muttered. "Keep looking for gas. I'll just wreck your ride." Meanwhile, Natalie had already returned safely to the armored vehicle. She and Cassian headed toward the white chapel with the pets and Angus. Angus sat inside the vehicle, still clicking his tongue in amazement. "Man, this thing is insane! It's just as nice inside as it looks outside!" "Bonnie, I'm not saying this because I'm clueless," he went on honestly. "I've ridden in all kinds of fancy cars over the years. But this interior? This is something else."