Chapter 56: Pursuit and Kill
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Bill Abbot was a successful businessman.
Ever since the Federation strongly supported the development of steam power, he seized the opportunity, obtained a large amount of high-quality and cheap coal through measures like pre-signed contracts, successfully earning a large amount of Golden Dragon coins, and has constantly grown since then.
By now, he had become a somewhat famous businessman in Nia City, contemplating the auction of a coal mine.
But that damned gallery visit nearly ruined everything for him.
He was practically shivering whenever he thought of those eerie incidents.
In the face of such peculiar existence, an ordinary person had no strength to resist at all!
“Thank goodness the church is there! Thanks to the Goddess!”
After personally witnessing the Goddess Church sealing off the gallery and then being taken to the church for several days of observation and ‘purification’ rituals, Bill finally felt much relieved.
He had finally utterly forgotten that damned, lethal portrait.
Moreover, he had obtained an address enabling him to contact the exorcist brothers.
As soon as he got back home, he had the butler fetch a bottle of fine wine from the cellar to steady his nerves. Meanwhile, he gazed at the slip of paper, which was the address of a doll shop, murmuring to himself: “Perhaps… I should hire some bodyguards, real ones, with mysterious powers…”
After surviving from the gallery for the first time, he purchased a supposedly misfortune-transferring doll out of superstition, but it didn’t help much.
Although he didn’t get killed on the spot like Mr. Gilbert, he was still caught and brought back to the gallery just like Lady Xi Ling.
If he hadn’t bumped into Su Lu, he would have been a goner.
“The church can’t possibly assign people to keep me safe in the long run, but it seems like those brothers can…”
“Hmm… I should approach them cautiously and politely at the outset and gradually win their favor.”
His instinct as a businessman immediately made him realize the value of the mysterious power and the Rod brothers.
Leaving all else aside, if he ever ran into it again, it would be his lifeline!
After finishing his red wine and feeling a bit more spirited, Bill sat in his study, pondering the auction of the coal mine.
Just then, his eyes flickered.
An uncontrollable desire emanating from the bottom of his heart made the hand holding his pen start to tremble.
He violently swept the reports at hand onto the floor, picked up a piece of fresh paper, and began sketching a figure— a portrait of a middle-aged man with goat horns and a pair of mysterious pupils.
With no paint at hand, Bill bit his finger straightaway, painting the man’s eyes a bloody red with his blood.
This was the portrait of a demon!
“Ha! Ha!”
After he completed everything, Bill gripped his throat, collapsed in a chair foaming at the mouth.
After a long while, he recovered, seemingly forgetting what had just happened. He stuffed the portrait into some random pile of papers, tidied the desk, and went to bed.
Real terror had clearly not been blocked up.
But was being disseminated anew via some other eerie channel!
Anyone who had seen the portrait of the demon would be affected by the curse without exception!
At this point, Su Lu and Rod had no idea about this.
Seven days later.
Su Lu walked into a private detective agency.
“Hello, how may I assist you?”
The receptionist, a blonde-haired and green-eyed secretary, greeted him.
“I’m here to see Detective Fatima Montari. I have an appointment with her,” replied Su Lu.
“Oh, you must be Mr. Pottery. Detective Montari is waiting for you in her office,” responded the secretary with an understanding nod, before leading him to an office.
A pile of thick files filled the desk, behind which sat a tall girl with fiery red hair, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, adding an intellectual charm: “Mr. Pottery, you’re here!”
At this point, she stood up, shook hands with Su Lu: “Regarding your commission, we have results.”
“Go on!”
Su Lu sat on the sofa, taking the file that Fatima handed over.
‘Mr. Pottery, you commissioned two tasks, both of them were missing person cases. However, we were helpless with the first one, regarding Miss Bess Taylor’s whereabouts. All we know is that she has become a wanted criminal by the entire Federation and seems to have moved to the western part of the Federation recently…”
Fatima admitted regretfully: “She is extremely dangerous, I don’t advise you to continue pursuing her…”
In fact, just to complete this task alone, it had been quite a stressor for her.
“What about the second person?”
Su Lu asked neutrally.
‘Mr. Kira Gales, he recently completed a scientific expedition and is currently anchoring at Posey Port with the ‘White Bird’ exploratory vessel, indefinitely!
His address is in the file.”
This task was rather straightforward, after all, Mr. Kira Gales was somewhat of a public figure, his whereabouts were easy to obtain.
“Posey Port, is it?”
Su Lu nodded thoughtfully. It was the largest trade port in the Federation, housing the landmark – a hundred-meter-tall Goddess of Light Memorial Tower.
He looked over the file, showing a smile: “I’m very satisfied with your services, this is the promised reward!”
Having said that, he reached into his pocket, took out three Gold Dragons and handed them over:”One is for Bess and two are for Kira.”
“We’re glad you’re satisfied!”
Fatima stood up and politely escorted Su Lu to the door of the detective agency.
‘Looking at the situation… I should go find Kira Gales first, obtain the [Spirit
Medium] profession enhancement, if all else fails, I could always double job…’
‘Bess really is fierce, she has actually been able to hold out for this long under the Federation’s containment… Her strength certainly exceeds my assumptions. However regrettable, I do hope that she is directly exterminated by the Federation to spare me the future trouble.’
Su Lu returned to the House of Dolls while musing.
Suddenly, his eyes hardened, his inspirational sense opened in the face of the alert.
The Doll shop was empty, a doll display cabinet had been knocked over, various dolls scattered all over the floor.
At the entrance, several police officers were maintaining order, with a circle of onlookers gathered around.
“What happened?”
Su Lu’s gaze sharpened; his inspiration led him to focus on the wall. On it, written with fresh blood, were a few words—’We’ve found you!’ “Found who? Me? Rod? Or Sean!”
Su Lu didn’t enter to identify himself, he directly left and headed to the abandoned factory known only to him and Rod.
This was actually their main base, the House of Dolls was nothing but a point of contact, even Sean didn’t know anything about this place.
As soon as he entered the gate, he saw Rod fully armed, he asked urgently: “Are they here for you? Who are they?”
Su Lu suddenly remembered that Rod’s visit to Nia City seemed to be due to some trouble back in his hometown.
But given that Su Lu himself had a lot of issues and Rod didn’t wish to reveal all the details, he didn’t inquire further. It could be assumed that it had everything to do with some evil organization.
From the looks of it now, the trouble that Rod had gotten into was quite hefty, leading them to pursue him all the way here.
“It’s the Black Death Society!”
Rod was loading ammunition into his shotgun, he answered in a slow manner: “This is a group of lunatics who consider death to be the final destination, and take pleasure in spreading diseases and plagues, causing horrifying disasters!”
“I’ve broken up several of their branches, the page of that magical book and the subsequent [Doomsayer] ritual were all grabbed during those confrontations.
From a book known as the “Festival of Death”…’
“This cult worships death, and the “Festival of Death” is their holy book, following me like rabid dogs… I never thought they would continue their pursuit all the way here to us.”
“This is my problem, I’ll deal with it myself!”