Chapter 431 - 284: Silence of the Lambs

Chapter 431: Chapter 284: Silence of the Lambs

The captain of the Guard Corps’ Seventh Squad sat in the Magic Cinema, feeling a little uneasy.

Being invited by a Devil to watch a Shadow of Evil starring a Devil sounded just like the first step in a story where some unlucky character gets their soul tricked away.

’I wonder if they’ve called for reinforcements outside.’

’If something really does go wrong, I hope the Commander can handle it.’

He fiddled with the Shadow Demon Ticket in his hand.

Because people enjoyed collecting used Shadow Demon Tickets as souvenirs, for about two years now the front of the tickets had been printed with poster art or specially designed character illustrations.

And the poster art on this ticket looked very strange.

It was a headshot of a woman, showing only her facial features, with the outline of her head blurred.

From her eyes and brow, he could roughly tell it was Lady Starling.

But her mouth was covered by a moth.

Moths didn’t represent anything good. In the scriptures of the Church, moths were a symbol of corruption and despair.

The captain didn’t think this moth was added just because it looked nice; it definitely had to be alluding to something.

’Speaking of which, what does the title *Silence of the Lambs* even mean?’

’It makes no sense whatsoever.’

The captain examined the moth closely. The pattern on its back was a skull, which made it even more sinister. Still, it was fairly common, since it was a film with a Devil in it.

’Wait, there seems to be something inside this skull?’

The captain’s eyes widened...

"Ah!"

"Sir?" the person next to him asked. "Are you all right?"

"It’s nothing, it’s nothing..."

The captain patted his chest. He had just faintly seen the outlines of naked human bodies within that skull.

Or rather, the skull itself was made of people.

’This is terrifying.’

’Coming to see this Shadow of Evil was definitely not a good idea.’

Just as he was about to study the skull again to confirm his eyes weren’t playing tricks on him, the theater suddenly went dark.

The screening was officially starting. The only light left in the theater was the eerie green glow of the emergency exit signs.

After the classic Zog roar intro, a cold, desolate forest appeared on screen. The brown-black branches were sparse with leaves, and a thick fog obscured the sky.

Even though nothing dangerous had appeared, the scene sent a chill down the captain’s spine. There was an indescribable eeriness to it.

This feeling was scarier than a giant beast jumping out at him. The unknown is always more terrifying than the known.

Twin Tower City didn’t have a winter.

In the captain’s view, this kind of bleak winter scenery was inherently unsettling.

The kind of winter he liked was the one from *Frozen*—the kind with cotton candy-like white snow, ice sculptures, reindeer, and big fluffy dogs everywhere.

Not this kind, with decaying branches and rotten leaves all over the ground.

Then, the Shadow of Evil’s title appeared.

It used a cold, hard font in black with a white border, unlike most other Shadows of Evil, which liked to use elaborately designed artistic fonts for their titles.

Perhaps influenced by the image of people hidden in the skull, or because of his preconceived notion that a film involving a Devil had to be problematic, the captain just felt that every Element in this movie concealed some evil, waiting to jump out and scare the audience.

With this self-induced paranoia, the captain began his first-ever experience with a thriller.

It was also the first-ever thriller experience for the entire audience.

This was the very first thriller to appear in the Feilin film industry.

The old *Holy Mountain Journey* had some thrilling aspects, but the scares in that film were too direct. Besides, it was mainly a story about the warmth and coldness of human nature; the focus wasn’t on being a thriller.

The captain would later learn that his intuition was correct. Every Element in the film was deliberately made to feel sinister and evil. This was called "atmosphere building."

Making people feel panic on a psychological level is always more sophisticated than a simple jump scare from a monster or ghost.

"Starling! Crawford wants to see you, in his office."

"Thank you."

As the names of the main cast and crew scrolled by, Starling ran back to the Deepwater City Special Police Department.

’The role this Devil is playing is a detective?’ The captain quickly realized.

He knew what a detective was.

They were practically in the same line of work as the Guard Corps. He couldn’t remember which countries, but some had already started implementing a police system.

The captain thought it was a more rational system than the current Guard Corps. Within the police, people with different specialties were responsible for different types of incidents.

Unlike the Guard Corps, where the same group of people handled everything from arguments and brawls to lost items, fraud, murder, and even traffic accidents.

’It’s not scientific. Not scientific at all.’

But he’d never dared to say this to his superiors. He was just an unpopular squad leader who’d been exiled to a "retirement" squad.

The film depicted a novel police station where the staff consisted of all sorts of races. Of course, the strangest one was definitely Starling.

A Devil.

As she moved through the police station’s corridors, the people she passed looked at her with a hint of mockery in their eyes.

Distrust.

Her colleagues didn’t trust her.

’Just like my own colleagues don’t trust me.’ The captain keenly perceived the meaning this scene was trying to convey.

’Why don’t they trust her?’

’She hasn’t even done anything yet. And judging from the training scene in the woods at the beginning, her skills are more than up to par.’

’Is it because she made some huge mistake in the past, or simply because she’s a Devil...’

’It’s probably the latter.’

The captain guessed.

The Starling in the film didn’t appear in a completely Human form; she retained a few of her Devil traits.

Two small, pointed horns on her head, and reddish pupils.

The default attitude of other races toward Devils was one of distrust.

He was the same, and so were most people in the city. That was why, when Starling took photos with her fans, it was mistaken for a cult ritual, and she was reported.