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But what made General Ross most anxious was that he wasn't sure what his position in Karl's heart truly was.
After all, what he could do for Karl, others could do just as well.
And as long as that man was willing, there were plenty of people now, tripping over themselves to cling to his powerful leg.
Even though General Ross had previously indicated, both overtly and covertly, his desire to join Karl's ranks.
However, to his regret, the latter had never given a clear response.
General Ross understood that he was being tested!
If he wanted to firmly secure himself on Karl's great ship, which could swiftly lead him to success, he would have to pay a greater price...
So, even though he was burning with anxiety, he dared not show the slightest bit of it.
He was afraid of annoying Karl.
He could only silently pray in his heart that Lady Luck would once again favor him.
Hmm?
If Angels exist...
A hint of surprise appeared on Karl's face, "So that means, in this Universe I am in, there are Heaven Faction forces, right?"
After a moment of thought, Karl asked, "What was lost?"
"This... the Vatican Church didn't say."
General Ross explained somewhat awkwardly, "But they promised that if Mr. Karl agrees to take on this commission, they will not only truthfully disclose all information, but also, after the mission is completed, fulfill one of your requests to the greatest extent possible!"
"Fulfill one of my requests?"
Karl almost laughed, what an arrogant claim!
If I were to ask them for those so-called "holy relics" at that time, would they choose to give them, or would they directly renege on the debt?
However, for the Vatican Church to make such a promise, it indicates that this incident is quite tricky, and the lost items are significant enough.
This piqued Karl's curiosity.
Whether or not there was a request was irrelevant to him.
He just wanted to take the opportunity to see if he could learn more about the Heaven Faction forces.
Since he had already provoked two Hell Lords.
Then, based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is a "friend," why would he miss an opportunity to develop another ally?
So...
"Alright, have the Vatican Church contact me directly later."
Karl said to General Ross on the other end of the phone with deep meaning, "However, my action this time is not to help them, but purely to help you."
"I always grant requests to my excellent employees, so... Ross, don't disappoint me!"
After a period of testing, General Ross had clearly met Karl's standards for recruiting talent.
He had strength and ambition.
Most importantly, General Ross had been widely criticized and condemned within the Department of Defense due to his repeated failures in the "Hulk Project."
The capital that had originally supported him also abandoned him, no longer providing any resources.
General Ross instantly transformed from a once sought-after rising star into an isolated outsider.
From Heaven Faction to Hell... reality is that naked and cruel!
Later, by a strange twist of fate, General Ross unexpectedly found a second spring in his career through negotiations with Karl!
So now, whether General Ross admitted it or not, he had already been deeply branded with the Hyperspace Group's mark.
At least that's how it seemed to outsiders...
Presumably, General Ross also understood this point, which is why he subsequently provided all possible assistance within his authority in his interactions with Karl.
And he had expressed his desire to join Karl's side multiple times.
He had no choice; he urgently needed a strong backing to stabilize his position!
However, Karl didn't mind the other party's ambition and motives, because he always appreciated people who "knew their place" in their hearts.
It's not that he's afraid of your ambition and aspirations; he's afraid of you being too mediocre!
Since the other party had passed the test, it was a good opportunity today to clarify the matter and bring him under his wing.
"Mr. Karl... no, Boss, please rest assured, I will not disappoint you."
An old hand like General Ross naturally understood the meaning of Karl's words in an instant, and he was immediately overjoyed.
He never expected that the powerful backing he had dreamed of would actually be his one day?
He truly became an employee of the Hyperspace Group!
As one of the witnesses to Karl's rapid rise, General Ross knew far better than others what this special identity represented and how much value it held!
Power, wealth, strength...
These things, which could drive the World mad, would all become readily available after becoming a member of the Hyperspace Group!
Most importantly, if something happened, Karl... oh no, Boss, he would truly protect you!
This alone was thousands of times better than those cunning politicians who would "take the benefits and leave you to take the blame."
"Boss, if you have no further instructions, I will immediately inform the Vatican Church of this news."
General Ross had clearly seamlessly transitioned into the role of an "employee."
He couldn't help it; he was just too eager to advance!
"Go ahead."
Karl nodded contentedly; it seemed he had gained another workhorse... oh no, another excellent employee!
A few minutes later.
An unfamiliar video call came in.
"Greetings, esteemed Mr. Karl Merks, I am Bishop Warren McCoy, and I will be fully responsible for all matters concerning this commission."
As soon as the call connected, the figure of a short, stout, and kind-faced cardinal appeared before Karl through a holographic projection device.
Then, the other party first briefly verified Karl's identity and his willingness to accept the commission, before revealing the true content of the commission.
"Mr. Merks, have you heard the story of the thirty silver coins?"
The thirty silver coins?
Although Karl was a firm atheist in his previous life.
But during his student days, he had more or less dabbled in those popular religious stories.
"You must be referring to the thirty silver coins Judas received for betraying Jesus, right?"
Karl asked knowingly, "Isn't that just a story?"
"That's right, although we all know this story and this betrayal, what I want to tell you is... these thirty silver coins truly exist!"
Bishop Warren's tone fluctuated slightly, "To successfully bribe a devout believer to betray his Lord with just thirty silver coins, it must sound very ironic, right?"
"But regardless of Judas's true motives at the time, he later received the punishment he deserved... And what I am about to tell you is the untold latter half of this story!"
"After Judas committed suicide out of remorse, perhaps by fate's design, Matthias, chosen by lot by the apostles to replace him, unexpectedly discovered Judas's body and the thirty silver coins scattered at his feet."
"And when Matthias touched those silver coins, he felt the malice and curse left behind by Judas, as if his sin-laden soul had become deeply bound to these silver coins... making them evil and powerful!"
"So he buried these silver coins and Judas's body together in the ground, naming that place 'Blood Field'."
"It wasn't until 1892 that the Papal States, the predecessor of the Vatican, unexpectedly found clues about these silver coins in ancient documents.
Afterward, they sent people to confirm the exact location of Judas's body and the thirty silver coins, and then they built a special monastery in that area and dispatched a large number of devout monks to be stationed there!"
"The reason the Vatican Church went to such great lengths was because, along with these silver coins, Matthias's warning was also discovered... that these silver coins, imbued with powerful evil forces, must never see the light of day again."
"As loyal believers, the Vatican Church heeded the warning, firmly locking those silver coins underground and guarding that monastery for generations..."
"Until a little over a month ago, that monastery suddenly lost contact with the Vatican Church.
When we found out and sent people there, we discovered that all the guards in the entire monastery had been torn to shreds..."
It also included an Angel's agent, and the thirty silver coins locked in the underground vault had vanished without a trace."
"The killer left no clues at the scene, so over the past period, we've tried almost every possible method to find leads, both scientific and magic… but ultimately found nothing."
Bishop Warren did not continue speaking, but politely chose to remain silent, giving Karl time to digest the information above.
Over a month ago?
Somehow, when Karl heard that date, his mind immediately connected it to the altar on Belle Isle that linked to Hell.
Could it be a demon that escaped at that time who committed the crime?
Wait?
Karl suddenly remembered that during the interrogation of Shou, he seemed to have heard from it that Hell Lord Marduk Kurios was secretly brewing some unknown major event.
He needed Lilith's help to open a dimensional portal from the real World, which was why he agreed to release the soul of the "Ancestor Vampire" Varna.
And this major event seemed to be related to Heaven!!
Σ(°△°|||)
It couldn't be such a coincidence, could it?
To verify his guess, Karl immediately asked, "Can you be more specific about the time of the attack?"
"Yes, the exact time of disappearance should be 36 days, 14 hours, 09 minutes, and 09 seconds ago."
Damn it, it really was those demons at work!
Almost the moment Bishop Warren stated the time, Karl had already confirmed his suspicion.
Heh heh, interesting.
Is that Hell Lord going to war with Heaven?
Karl's curiosity was now completely piqued by this incident.
Anyway, he was idle, so solving this case would be a good way to pass the time.
"Do you have photos of the scene? I want to see them first!"
"Yes, I'll have someone send them to you right away…" Bishop Warren said very considerately, "Mr. Merks, if you ever want to personally visit that monastery, I can arrange it for you anytime."
With that, he proactively ended the video call.
Tsk tsk, no wonder he could climb to the position of Cardinal.
Look at his discernment, look at his thoughtfulness, don't you think he deserves to be a Cardinal?
Soon, photos of the crime scene were sent over.
Karl opened them one by one and his brows immediately furrowed… because it was too damn gruesome!
The screen was filled with dismembered bodies, internal organs, severed limbs… In short, there wasn't a single complete corpse to be seen in the entire monastery.
Everyone looked as if they had been ground alive by a meat grinder.
No wonder the Vatican Church had exhausted all means and still couldn't find any useful clues.
Because this kind of thing simply isn't something humans could do!
However, the same problem now lay before Karl.
Even if he had guessed that this incident was the work of Hell Lord Marduk Kurios's subordinates, finding key clues from it became a crucial and pressing issue.
As Bishop Warren said, they had already exhausted all conceivable methods and tricks.
If there was only a crime scene but no clues, unless that God of Death elementary school student who likes to say "the scheming frog has been touching your belly" personally arrived, everyone else would be useless…
Eh?
Wait a minute!
Karl looked at the screen full of bloodstains and shredded flesh, and a man's figure suddenly appeared in his mind… To be precise, it should be an old man!
Perhaps that man's ability could help?
After all, he possessed a Bug-level sense of smell that could suppress Mystique's shapeshifting ability just by scent, and could even determine the entire process of an event by smell, or even directly "smell" the spectrum!!
"Frank, immediately go to the Mexico border and find a ride-share driver for me, his name is… Logan Howlett!!"
...
...
South-central U.S. region.
Oklahoma City.
A used car dealership.
"Sir, this car is 8200 dollars minimum, honestly this price is already a great deal…"
A middle-aged female salesperson pointed to a sky-blue pickup truck in the lot, vigorously promoting it to the bearded, tired-looking old man in front of her.
"And I can also give you a free repaint and tire replacement service. Once the car is installed and adjusted, I'll help you complete all the relevant paperwork. How does that sound?"
The bearded man didn't waste words, directly pulling out a thick stack of U.S. dollars from a blood-stained envelope and shaking it. "I'll give you ten thousand dollars, but you have to skip that damned paperwork process."
Normally, excluding the preparation phase of submitting a series of documents, just submitting the application, processing, and later picking up new documents, the entire vehicle transfer process would take at least 5 to 10 days!
During this period, if it coincided with holidays, it would be extended further.
And what this bearded man… Logan Howlett… lacked most was time!
Just a day ago, he was still immersed in the routine life of a "ride-share driver" all day long.
Only to earn enough money to buy a yacht as soon as possible, and then take Professor X out to sea to face the approaching death together.
However.
Such a peaceful life was completely ruined by the appearance of two women.
Just a day ago, a Mexican Nurse named Gabriela suddenly approached Logan with an 11-year-old girl named Laura, hoping he could drive them to a place called Eden in North Dakota.
She first paid a 30,000-dollar deposit, promising to pay another 20,000 dollars upon safe arrival.
Although he guessed that this matter wasn't so simple, in order to buy the yacht sooner, Logan Howlett gritted his teeth and agreed.
But unexpectedly, disaster struck from then on.
First, before their departure, Gabriela was killed in a motel by an armed security group called the Raiders.
Then these people chased Logan Howlett, Professor X, Caliban, and the little girl Laura to the abandoned smelting plant where the four of them were hiding.
After a fierce battle, the Mutant Caliban was captured, and Logan Howlett had no choice but to escape with Professor X and Laura by car.
After a sleepless night of driving, they successfully escaped from the U.S.-Mexico border to Oklahoma City.
During the escape, Logan Howlett learned the truth about Gabriela and Laura being hunted, as well as Laura's true identity, through a video Gabriela left on her phone…
It turned out that in a laboratory under a company called Yuckley Genetics, a secret experiment had been ongoing.
That was to use early collected Mutant DNA samples to breed a new generation of Mutant test subjects through surrogate mothers in Mexico.
The project leader, and also the founder of Yuckley Genetics, Dr. Sander Rice, hoped to monopolize Mutant abilities through this technology and then profit in the weapons market—just like Vought Corporation's Superman Project.
However.
Although Yuckley Genetics had put a lot of effort into this experiment, the results were not successful.
Because many of the Mutant children they trained as killing machines showed extreme aversion to violence during the process of success.
They didn't want to fight, they didn't want to kill… They even committed suicide for it!
So these "soldiers" who didn't want to fight suddenly became worthless to Yuckley Genetics.
Thus, they began to adjust their research direction and then developed a new individual, X-24, who was more aggressive, preferred killing, and was more obedient to commands!
And as this experiment succeeded, Dr. Sander Rice also issued the cruel order to euthanize all remaining Mutant experimental children…
And Laura was one of the many Mutant experimental children, project number X-23!!