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🕑 Added 2025-07-03 16:52:00 +0000 UTCChapter 176: One More Look and I'll Explode
Gerald arrived much earlier than expected, though he'd broken away from the main group and only brought a helicopter, traveling light.
Seeing the ground covered in mercenary corpses, Gerald wasn't too surprised. After all, he knew Roy had gone up against the Demon King with Iris.
Taken down the Demon King? What's a few mercenaries?
Roy: That sounds a little sus!
"Mr. Black, no survivors?"
"Don't you trust my work?"
Roy nudged the mercenary captain at his feet with his shoe.
"This guy's a special one I saved just for you, and I even recorded our conversation on my phone."
Saying that, Roy pulled out his phone and played the recording for Gerald.
The more Gerald listened, the brighter his eyes got, especially when he heard the mercenary captain say:
"You're certainly not the first, and you won't be the last!"
The phone recording quality wasn't great, but Gerald wasn't a judge. For the FEA, this evidence was more than enough to nail Amalgamated Technologies and Black Mountain Military Corporation.
"Mr. Black, you nailed it!"
Gerald was so excited he almost jumped for joy.
"There's even better news. I took out a monster Amalgamated cooked up using bio-engineering in the swamp. All those giant spiders you saw were born from that thing."
"Excellent! I'll take custody of the body once the main force gets here! Oh, by the way, Mr. Black, do you know where Amalgamated's lab is?"
"It should be inside the gold mine in town, not too far from here."
Hearing this, Gerald let out a weird "heh-heh-heh" laugh.
"Awesome! This time, I'm definitely going to make Amalgamated eat dirt!"
Looks like Amalgamated had really given Gerald a hard time before. Judging by the way he's acting, he must have been holding back for a long time.
Poor guy, looking at his thinning hair, he might be completely bald the next time we meet.
Just then, Samantha, who was standing nearby, asked Gerald with concern.
"Sir, won't Amalgamated try to get revenge on us later?"
Gerald snapped out of his excitement and looked at Samantha, surprised.
"And this lady is?"
Roy gave a quick introduction.
"Samantha Parker, the sheriff of this town, a friend I just met."
Gerald's lips twitched a little. He knew Roy's MO and probably figured this somewhat attractive female sheriff was Roy's new conquest, so he patiently explained.
"If it weren't for the evidence Mr. Black found, Amalgamated might indeed try to retaliate later, but with this evidence in hand, any retaliation would be suicide. Besides, Mr. Black has agent status, and Amalgamated messing with people around him is a big no-no."
Roy hadn't thought of that.
America is a real cop country. There are over 800,000 sworn police officers, an average of one for every 350 people. And that doesn't even include all the secret service types you never hear about.
Going after an agent's family is a major taboo. After all, every agent has family, and then you'd have the FBI, CIA, and who knows who else knocking on your door.
Gerald winked at Roy, like he was saying: "You're welcome for the assist!"
Roy rolled his eyes.
"Even so, you still owe me the money."
"Oh, Mr. Black, that really hurts my feelings!"
Gerald said it with the most serious face, making it hard not to laugh.
Samantha looked at Roy and Gerald strangely. One was an agent, and the other was a director, but their relationship didn't seem like boss and employee at all; it was more like they were buddies.
What happened next was pretty straightforward. The FEA's main force arrived in the mining town pretty quickly. Then, the First Response Assault Reconnaissance Team (FEAR) started going into the swamp to clear out any giant spiders that had escaped, rescue any kidnapped residents, and recover the corpse of the human-faced spider.
The FEA agents headed to the gold mine to take over Amalgamated's research facility.
None of that was Roy's problem, so after giving the mercenary captain and the recording to Gerald, and after they settled on the price, Roy said he wanted to take off.
Gerald didn't object. He really didn't need Roy anymore.
"Samantha, do you and the kids want to come with me? If you don't, you might have to stay in town."
Even though she'd thought about leaving her hometown before, Samantha still hesitated when the moment actually came.
"Don't you need to pack your things?"
Roy knew Samantha was already leaning towards moving, she just hadn't fully committed yet.
"Just bring some changes of clothes. We can always come back and stay in the old house here once in a while."
The old houses in a run-down little town like this probably wouldn't sell anyway. Luckily, the property taxes in these places aren't too bad, so leaving it here wouldn't cost much.
"You're right. I'll go get Ashley and Mike."
"Don't tell anyone else we're leaving. I'm only able to go because of Mr. Ollin's connections."
"I understand."
Back in the warehouse, Moke was still dreaming that his relationship with his dream girl, Samantha, would improve after they went through this tough time together. Little did he know this would be the last time he ever saw her.
A yellow Chevrolet Camaro drove across the desolate Utah plateau.
This state has a total area of 219,887 square kilometers but only a little over three million people. The population density is pretty low, you could say.
For comparison, Dongda Sanxiang, which is about the same size at 210,000 square kilometers, has a resident population of sixty million.
Plus, eighty percent of Utah's population lives in the capital, Salt Lake City, so Roy drove the whole way without seeing another soul.
The scenery around them was pretty boring, so the people in the car just chatted to pass the time.
"Roy, since you're heading back to Texas from Los Angeles, why are we going through Nevada and Utah?"
Ashley, who was away from home for the first time, was like a little kid, constantly asking questions.
Compared to her, Ashley's mom, Samantha, was pretty quiet, staring out the car window, probably lost in thought.
And her younger brother, Mike, was more introverted, so he didn't say much either, only chiming in occasionally when a topic he was interested in came up.
"Because I'm going to get baptized into the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints."
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the Mormon Church, and the Fundamentalist branch is the traditional group that still holds onto the practice of plural marriage.
After the Mormon Church went mainstream in 1935 and ditched the tradition of polygamy, the Fundamentalists were pushed to live on the border between Utah and Arizona.
Roy had written letters to the Mormon Fundamentalists a while back and finally got a reply agreeing to let him join. He just needed to get baptized.
Ashley looked at Roy in shock, and even Samantha looked at him curiously. Only Mike was too young to really understand what the Mormon Fundamentalists were all about.
"Roy, why do you want to join the Mormon Church?"
"Because I have a lot of girlfriends, and I want to give them a home."
Roy didn't try to hide anything. There wasn't much point in lying. Ashley would find out eventually, so he figured it was better to be upfront and lower her expectations.
That way, Ashley might be more likely to accept reality later on.
Ashley opened her mouth, a little taken aback. She'd just been daydreaming about her Prince Charming Roy taking her home to get married, and now Roy had just burst her bubble.
Samantha subtly glanced at her daughter.
"Roy, do you have a lot of girlfriends?"
Just then, Elureesa, who was sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly raised her hand, eager to answer.
"I know! I know! Elureesa has lots of mommies! There's Mommy Dahlia, Mommy Heather, Mommy Penny, Mommy Saltana, Mommy Amy..."
Elureesa started counting her mommies on her fingers, but she ran out of fingers on one hand and had to switch to the other to keep going.
The more Samantha heard, the more worried she became. That was already five!
Ashley stammered, interrupting Elureesa's rapid-fire list.
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"Ro... Roy, can you really take care of so many girlfriends?"
"Of course, no problem! Looks like we're here!"
Roy drove the car into a peaceful and quiet little town. There were a lot of those wooden houses with really big yards. These were the traditional homes of the Mormon Fundamentalists, where one house housed a whole big family.
Roy followed the road to the church in the center of town, where he completed the special immersion ritual of the Fundamentalists with the bishop they had arranged to meet.
This ritual was basically just the baptism to join the church.
Afterward, Roy donated some money to the Mormon Fundamentalists and got his official Mormon Fundamentalist ID. With that, he could openly marry multiple wives.
After the joining ceremony, Roy and the others didn't rush to leave the valley. Instead, they decided to rest in town for a bit.
After all, nobody had gotten much sleep last night because of the eight-legged monster incident.
Especially little Mike, whose eyes were practically falling shut. Roy talked it over with Samantha, and they decided to hit the road again tomorrow.
Maybe because Roy had come clean about having so many girlfriends, Ashley's enthusiasm for him had cooled off. She didn't come to bother him that night.
That made Elureesa pretty happy. She could finally enjoy her fresh baby milkshake without being disturbed.
As if she was trying to make up for the baby milkshake she missed yesterday, Elureesa slurped extra enthusiastically this time. For a while, the "squeak, squeak, squeak" sound filled the room.
Anyone who didn't know better would have thought there were mice in the hotel!
In the end, Elureesa insisted on sleeping with her feeding tube, which left Roy feeling pretty helpless.
After trying to coax her for ages without success, Roy just let Elureesa have her way.
The next day, Roy woke up early and went outside the hotel to get some fresh morning air.
The town was still quiet, and the residents hadn't woken up yet.
The pace of life here was really slow. Roy suddenly thought this place would be perfect for retirement. Maybe one day when he got old, he could move to this town.
"Roy, you're up really early."
Samantha appeared from the hotel sometime later. She had dark circles under her eyes, so she probably hadn't slept well either.
"Samantha, why don't you sleep in a little longer? We're not leaving until noon."
"Aren't you up this early too?"
Roy looked at Samantha, sensing she had something she wanted to talk about.
"Hehe, my body's a bit different from yours. Even if I don't sleep for three days, I could still easily run a marathon."
Samantha thought Roy was full of it. Who could run a marathon after being awake for three days? That's not even human.
Well, Roy wasn't exactly human anymore. He was a Nephilim now.
"Roy, I want to talk to you about Ashley."
Samantha finally couldn't hold it in anymore and wanted to talk to Roy about her daughter.
"Samantha, just spit it out."
"Roy, Ashley seems to have a crush on you. She couldn't sleep all night because of you and just finally dozed off."
"Uh-huh, and?"
Roy raised an eyebrow, his expression unchanged.
Samantha took a deep breath.
"Roy, if you can't break up with your other girlfriends, then please leave Ashley alone."
As a traditional Christian, Samantha obviously couldn't accept the Mormon Fundamentalists' practice of plural marriage, even though she still liked Roy.
Though what kind of "like" it was, was hard to say.
Roy shrugged.
"Samantha, I never made a move on Ashley. She's always the one who comes to me, including last night."
Samantha opened her mouth. Actually, she knew what her daughter was like. This kind of thing, going to a handsome guy's room in the middle of the night, was definitely something Ashley would do.
This kind of forward behavior made Samantha, as her mother, feel a little embarrassed.
But there wasn't much she could do. Girls this age are easily swayed by charming guys. Samantha should probably be grateful that her daughter was somewhat cautious and hadn't let any of those smooth talkers get too far.
Roy patted Samantha on the shoulder and started to sweet-talk her.
"Samantha, life's too short. When you're faced with a choice, it's best not to go against your heart, or you'll definitely regret it when you're older. Besides, the choice you're facing now might just be a test from God. All you need to do is make a choice that aligns with your heart and what's right, and leave the rest to God."
Roy pulled out his "leave it to God" card again. He'd used it to charm Jennifer and Needy before, and now he was using it on Samantha.
This line of reasoning was pretty effective on more traditional religious Americans.
Samantha happened to fall into that category. After listening to Roy's words, she lowered her head and fell deep in thought.
Roy quickly pressed his advantage.
"Samantha, I don't think you should only be thinking about your daughter. You need to think about your own life too!"
Hearing this, Samantha instinctively looked up at Roy. His mesmerizing blue eyes made her heart race.
Samantha quickly turned her head away. She was afraid that one more look would make her explode, and getting any closer would melt her.
"I'll go check if the kids are awake!"
Samantha's heart was pounding, and she hurried away from Roy.
Roy raised an eyebrow and smiled slightly, not paying too much attention, and continued to enjoy the view of the valley.
By now, some of the residents had woken up, and the small town in the valley was starting to come alive.
Chapter 177: House of 1000 Corpses
When they left the small valley town, Samantha and Ashley both had dark circles under their eyes, clearly having not slept well.
On the other hand, Elureisha and Mike, being kids, were full of energy after a good night's sleep.
Roy drove his beat-up yellow Chevy Camaro down from the Utah plateau and into Arizona, then further into New Mexico.
The roads were desolate, and the conditions were pretty bad, but thankfully the Chevy Camaro held up.
Roy thought this used car was a bit magical. Ever since its exterior got damaged in the motel incident, it hadn't had any other problems. Even this long round trip of over a thousand kilometers went without a hitch, which was practically a miracle.
However, while the Chevy Camaro didn't have any issues, the GPS navigation went haywire, leading Roy to get lost in the remote areas of New Mexico.
Roy couldn't find a suitable place to stop for the night until much later.
To make matters worse, they were running out of gas. If they didn't find a town or a gas station soon, the car might just break down on the road.
By this time, Samantha had moved to the passenger seat because Elureisha wasn't just unhelpful, she was actively making things worse.
"Roy, the map says there's a gas station about a mile up ahead."
"How accurate is this map?"
American maps have always been unreliable. Because the country is so vast and sparsely populated, who's going to constantly update the maps? Gas isn't free, you know?
So, the more remote the area, the less accurate the map. Roy had been burned by this before.
Samantha flipped through the map to find the date.
"It says it's the latest one from this year, so it should be somewhat reliable."
"Let's hope so!"
Roy sighed. Everyone else in the car seemed listless, especially Elureisha, who looked like she was about to shrivel up from boredom.
Just then, Roy finally saw a glimmer of light in the darkness. The enhanced perception provided by his Assassin's Heart made his vision incredibly sharp.
"I think I see neon lights! Looks like the map might be right after all!"
Right by the side of the straight highway sat a gas station, but it was closed.
Next to the gas station was a peculiar little shop with flashing neon signs and a creepy clown mannequin out front. It instantly grabbed the attention of Elureisha and Mike.
"Mommy, can I go look in that little shop?"
"Daddy, I want to go see too!"
Just hearing those two sentences, anyone would assume Roy and the others were a family, even if the "dad" looked way too young.
Samantha thought for a moment. They had been driving for most of the day, and it had been pretty boring. Maybe Browse through the store would be a good way to change things up.
"Roy, I'll take the kids to check out that little shop."
Roy nodded in agreement and gave Elureisha a look that told her to behave.
"Go ahead. I'll knock on the gas station door and see if anyone's working the night shift."
Their spare gas was all gone. Roy needed to fill up all the gas cans. Who knew if they'd encounter another gas station on the road ahead?
Samantha practically dragged Ashley away. Ashley didn't really want to look at some shop; she would have preferred to stay by Roy's side. However, Samantha didn't want her spending too much time with Roy.
The four of them walked into the strange little shop. The display cases inside were filled with all sorts of bizarre things, like mummies, a jackalope, and some kind of fish-man.
This made Mike and Elureisha very excited.
Considering Mike's fondness for spiders, it was clear the kid had unusual interests. As for Elureisha, she was just curious about anything new.
Ashley, on the other hand, felt a chill run down her spine looking at these eerie creatures, and goosebumps started to rise on her arms.
The shop was empty. Samantha casually picked up a flintlock pistol from a shelf to take a look. It seemed to be some kind of decorative piece.
"Where's the owner?"
"Who knows? Maybe they stepped out."
Ashley rubbed her arms, feeling an inexplicable coldness. Just as she finished speaking, a middle-aged, overweight man with clown makeup walked out from the back room.
"Welcome to Captain Spaulding's Museum of Monsters and Madmen! Sorry about that, I was just using the restroom."
Mike jumped back, startled by the sudden appearance of the middle-aged, overweight man.
No wonder, the guy's makeup was pretty grotesque, and him popping out like that was definitely a little scary.
Samantha greeted the middle-aged man.
"Are you the owner of this place?"
"Yes, indeed! You can call me Captain Spaulding!"
Samantha put down the flintlock pistol and picked up a curved knife. It was surprisingly sharp, actually having a sharpened edge.
"How much do these artifacts cost?"
Captain Spaulding shook his head repeatedly upon hearing this.
"Artifacts? No, no, no. Captain Spaulding doesn't deal in artifacts. Captain Spaulding only has treasures!"
Hearing this, Ashley, who was in a bad mood, was a bit dismissive.
"Tch, you can't possibly be saying that mummy and fish-man are real, can you?"
Captain Spaulding gave Ashley an annoyed look, and Samantha also glared at her.
"Ashley, mind your manners!"
Ashley pouted and stopped talking.
Captain Spaulding immediately changed his expression and began telling everyone about the history behind the exhibits in the shop's display cases.
The guy was a natural storyteller and seemed to have some acting chops. He quickly had Mike and Elureisha engrossed in the bizarre and fantastical tales.
The two kids momentarily forgot about the fatigue of their journey.
However, stories always come to an end, and soon Roy entered the little shop.
"Samantha, there's no one at the gas station! Sir, could I buy some gas from you?"
Captain Spaulding looked at Roy, his eyes darting around.
"So, you folks are here for gas! Well, you're in bad luck. That gas station only operates during the day. But I do have some spare gasoline here that should get you to the nearest town!"
Roy immediately pulled out his wallet.
"How much?"
Captain Spaulding enthusiastically walked over and tried to put his arm around Roy's shoulder. Roy dodged it; he had no desire to be touched by this greasy middle-aged man.
This made Captain Spaulding a bit awkward, so he turned his head and called out for his "associate" to come out and cover up his embarrassment.
"Associate, go help this gentleman fill up his gas! Folks, I also have some interesting little performances here. Would you like to take a look? The ticket price isn't expensive at all!"
Roy frowned slightly, realizing that this was probably the owner's way of forcing a bundle deal, like how you might have to watch an energetic dance performance if you wanted to buy gas in the middle of nowhere.
However, if it only cost a little money, Roy didn't really care. It would be a good little diversion on their trip.
"Alright, how much are the tickets?"
"Hehe, that'll be a hundred bucks per person, kids are half price!"
That came out to $450. It definitely wouldn't cost that much to fill up the gas tank, but Roy was too lazy to haggle.
"Here you go. After the show, you need to tell me the quickest way to the next town."
"Of course, no problem at all. Please, follow me!"
Captain Spaulding led them to the back room. It turned out to be a small theater that could seat a dozen or so people. This must be where the guy put on his "performances."
"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls! Welcome to the dusty old Museum of Monsters and Madmen, where all your darkest fantasies of the macabre can come true!"
Hearing this, Roy couldn't help but yawn. He had encountered several demon lords, and there was even a succubus sitting right next to him. This kind of line just didn't excite him at all.
On the other hand, Mike and Elureisha were pretty pumped up. Kids their age loved listening to slightly scary stories. Even Ashley showed a hint of interest.
"First up, we have Albert the Sadist!"
Captain Spaulding pressed a button, and a gaunt old man puppet appeared on stage.
"In his lifetime, his favorite thing was to beat his own butt with a mace. At the same time, he was a sadist who loved nothing more than eating the fresh, juicy flesh of disobedient little children!"
Captain Spaulding suddenly leaned close to Mike, his sinister tone startling the boy.
Samantha frowned slightly, but the story was actually pretty similar to the kinds of things parents often said to scare their kids, so she didn't say anything.
Ashley patted her younger brother's shoulder and giggled.
"Mike, were you scared? You big scaredy-cat!"
But soon, Ashley also got a taste of it.
"Next up, we have Ed the Girl Killer! He suffered from severe mental illness, and his greatest hobby was collecting the lower parts of young girls!"
Captain Spaulding looked meaningfully at Ashley, causing the young girl to instinctively grab Roy's arm.
Now, not only was Samantha frowning, but Roy was also starting to furrow his brow.
This kind of story probably wasn't suitable to be told in front of children, right?
The innocent Elureisha curiously asked Roy, "Daddy, what's a lower part?"
This question made Roy a bit awkward. Thankfully, Samantha, being a responsible mother, leaned over and whispered an explanation in Elureisha's ear.
"Oh, so it's where girls pee!"
Captain Spaulding looked at Roy somewhat strangely because Elureisha, this "daughter," clearly looked older than Roy, yet she was asking such a childish question.
However, Captain Spaulding didn't interrupt his performance and instead continued to introduce the third puppet.
"Third, we have Dr. Satan Quentin, a well-known figure in this town. He was once an authority on surgical procedures, capable of granting eternal life through brain surgery. Many years ago, he was found hanging from a tree outside of town, but soon after, his body disappeared. Everyone suspects that this guy used some kind of evil surgery to turn himself into an undead!"
Is this undead guy perhaps into kindling the First Flame?
Samantha finally reached her breaking point.
"Enough! These kinds of stories are not for children!"
Saying this, Samantha pulled Mike and Ashley up, preparing to leave the theater.
Captain Spaulding chuckled.
"In that case, I suppose the show's over."
Roy also took Elureisha and left.
"Captain Spaulding, could you draw me a quick map?"
"Of course, no problem at all!"
After the map was drawn, Roy's car was also full of gas. The five of them resumed their journey.
Captain Spaulding watched Roy and the others drive away, a bizarre smile spreading across his face.
They hadn't driven far when a torrential downpour suddenly began. Visibility became extremely low, and Roy had to slow down.
Suddenly, Roy noticed a woman with an umbrella standing by the side of the road, trying to flag them down.
In the middle of the night, a woman hitchhiking on the side of the road... this scene looked a little eerie!
Roy remembered the last time someone flagged him down in such a desolate area was during the Southern Demon incident. Hopefully, this wasn't going to be another situation like that.
On second thought, someone flagging them down wasn't necessarily a bad thing. Amy had once flagged down Roy's car because her own had broken down, and that was how Roy managed to unlock the Perfect Blood.
So, Roy slowly pulled over to the side of the road and lowered his window to say hello.
"Hey, ma'am, do you need some help?"
A hot blonde woman in denim attire saw Roy and her eyes lit up.
"Hey there, handsome. Could you give me a ride?"
Roy looked the blonde woman up and down, feeling like she probably wasn't a bad person.
"Ma'am, what are you doing out here alone so late?"
"I left my place to go into town to buy some things, but then it started pouring rain. I just happened to see your car and thought I'd ask for a ride. Handsome, could you give me a lift?"
"Alright, get in."
There were already five people in the Chevy Camaro, but if Mike sat on his sister Ashley's lap, they could make room for one more.
"Ma'am, what's your name?"
"Baby Firefly."
What a strange name. Baby Firefly, huh?
"Could you point me in the right direction?"
"Sure thing! Just take a left at the next fork in the road, and that'll take you to my place! Handsome, would you like to come in for a bit?"
Baby started flirting with Roy without a care in the world, causing Samantha and Ashley to both frown.
"Bitch!" ×2
The mother and daughter simultaneously blurted out the curse word.
After that, the car continued driving for another ten or so minutes before inexplicably stalling.
Roy looked at the dashboard in surprise, only to find that the fuel gauge showed empty.
"Roy, what happened?"
Samantha, in the passenger seat, asked curiously.
"We're out of gas!"
"How could that be? Didn't that associate guy fill up our tank?"
"I checked the gauge when we left, and the tank was definitely full then!"
"Huh? Could the fuel tank be broken?"
Roy unbuckled his seatbelt and opened the car door.
"I'll get out and take a look."
It was raining heavily, and visibility was extremely low. Fortunately, Roy had a flashlight. He lay down under the car to take a look and sure enough, he saw gasoline dripping from the fuel line.
"Damn it, it really is leaking!"
Roy's expression was grim. They were in the middle of nowhere, and it wasn't even certain if a tow truck would come out here.
Just then, the blonde woman winked at Roy.
"Why don't you come to my place for a while? I'm sure I have some spare gas!"
Roy looked at the blonde woman, Baby, a thoughtful expression on his face.
To be honest, the things that had happened tonight seemed a little too coincidental. First, a weird middle-aged guy, then a blonde hitchhiker on the road, and now the car suddenly running out of gas due to a leak. It felt like a very common trope in horror movies.
Could he have accidentally gotten caught up in another horror movie plot?
The possibility was very high!
So, Roy put on a warm smile and looked at Baby.
"Sure! How much further to your place?"
Hearing this, Baby was very happy. Just a few more minutes and they'd be at her place!
"Alright, you take the others ahead first. I'll push the car and follow behind."
After saying this, Roy whispered a reminder in Samantha's ear.
"Be careful!"
Baby Firefly (Sheri Moon Zombie)
Chapter 178: Now I Ask the Questions
Samantha looked at Roy with surprise, a little confused by his earlier warning. She pretended to be concerned and leaned closer to whisper, "Roy, can you really push this car by yourself? And why did you say to be careful?"
"It's not just a muscle car; I could push a semi-truck if I had to! She's way too friendly, I've got a bad feeling about this!"
Roy's expression was very serious, which made Samantha instinctively believe him.
"Then we'll head up ahead!"
And so, Roy pushed the car from behind while Samantha led the kids, getting rained on, as they followed the blonde bombshell, Baby.
A few minutes later, Samantha saw a large house built in the woods. The lights were on inside, so someone was definitely home.
"This is my place! Y'all want some towels to dry off?"
Baby was still being overly friendly, making Samantha a bit suspicious. Roy wondered if he might have been wrong.
Then, Baby's mother, Sophie, appeared. She was a well-preserved woman in her middle years, looking a bit older than Samantha, but she was heavily made up and dressed very provocatively.
"Hello there, children! I'm Sophie, Baby's mother. Thank you so much for bringing Baby home!"
Sophie immediately acted very friendly towards the kids, especially the youngest, Mike. She even tried to kiss the little boy.
However, Mike was rather introverted, and the strong smell of Sophie's cheap perfume was a bit overwhelming for him.
"Mom, there's a handsome guy pushing the car back there! Hurry and have your brother bring the tow truck to help!"
Sophie's eyes lit up as soon as she heard there was a handsome guy.
"I'll go right now!"
But just as Sophie was about to move, Roy walked in.
Samantha looked at Roy in astonishment.
"How did you get here so fast? Roy, did you just leave the car outside?"
"Nope, I already pushed it right up to the front."
Baby walked to the door, somewhat surprised, and looked out. Sure enough, there was the yellow Chevy Camaro.
Roy had only been a little over a minute behind Samantha and the others. His speed was truly astonishing.
However, Baby didn't think too much about it, just marveling at Roy's strength. So, she walked over to Roy and started looking for an excuse to touch him.
"Oh my, sir, your clothes are all soaked! Why don't you take a shower and change? You'll catch a cold for sure otherwise!"
With Roy's physical condition, he wouldn't even sneeze if he stood in the rain all day. But he wanted to see what kind of game Baby was playing, so he didn't refuse.
"Sounds good!"
Roy gave Samantha a look, but she didn't catch it. They still lacked a certain level of understanding between them.
No choice then. Roy could just relay the message to Elureisha and have her play it by ear.
Elureisha, who also had a playful side, immediately winked to show she understood.
Roy was about to follow Baby upstairs when Baby's mother, Sophie, suddenly rushed over to try and stop Baby.
That's right, Sophie didn't stop Roy, she stopped Baby.
"Oh, Baby! Let your mother handle this kind of thing. You go entertain our new friends!"
"No need, Mom! You're getting older; let your daughter handle this hard work!"
The mother and daughter actually started bickering as if no one else was around, like they were fighting over a prized possession.
"Stop arguing, Baby, why don't you just show me upstairs?"
Roy was starting to feel uncomfortable being all wet, so he forcefully interrupted the mother-daughter spat.
Once upstairs, Baby led Roy to the bathroom and immediately showed her true colors.
"Hey there, handsome. Want me to help you take a shower?"
"No thanks!"
Roy pushed Baby out of the bathroom.
This woman was so forward; she was clearly easy. Roy wasn't that desperate. He had no shortage of beautiful women around him.
Being rejected so directly, Baby huffed and kicked the door before leaving.
Roy quickly took a hot shower. After drying off, he realized a new problem: he didn't seem to have any dry clothes to change into.
"Hey, could someone do me a favor and grab a clean set of clothes from the car?"
The women all looked up and saw Roy's flawless physique, collectively swallowing hard. Baby and Sophie even couldn't help but cross their legs.
Only Elureisha and Mike didn't understand what was going on and just wondered if everyone was thirsty.
"I'll go! I'll go!"
Ashley jumped up and rushed out the door to get Roy's clothes, making Baby regret being too slow to react.
Even though Roy had just rejected her, Baby couldn't resist his good looks.
Soon, Ashley came back upstairs with the clothes and handed them to Roy, but she didn't leave.
"Ashley, why aren't you leaving? You wouldn't happen to want to watch me get dressed, would you?"
Ashley blushed and bit her lip tightly, but the rebellious streak in the girl had been ignited. If he didn't want her to watch, then she definitely wanted to watch.
"What's the matter? Are you afraid to let me see?"
Roy didn't really care. Seeing his body through the eyes of a younger version of Black Widow wasn't a loss for him; he was just worried about scaring the young girl.
"Well, I'm going to change now!"
Saying this, Roy reached for the towel as if he was going to open it. Ashley was indeed fooled and instinctively covered her eyes with both hands.
"Hahaha!"
Hearing the laughter, Ashley realized she had been tricked and couldn't help but make a face at Roy.
"Alright, no more joking around. I'm really going to change now!"
"Hmph! It's not like it's anything special anyway. If you don't want me to see, then fine!"
Ashley snorted and turned to leave.
However, Ashley's steps were very slow, and she quickly glanced back as she went downstairs.
"Ashley, is Roy done changing?"
Samantha noticed the girl's strange expression and asked with concern.
At this point, Ashley completely hadn't heard her mother's words until Samantha tapped her arm.
"Oh, Roy told me to come downstairs first. He just started changing."
Samantha was quite happy to hear this, feeling that even though Roy was young, he knew his boundaries.
Just then, Sophie made a suggestion.
"It seems like it's about that time. My husband and older boy should be back for dinner soon. Why don't you all stay and eat with us?"
Samantha was a little embarrassed and wanted to politely decline.
"Oh, I don't know about that. We're intruding as it is; how could we possibly stay for dinner?"
As a result, Mike's stomach very unhelpfully let out a loud growl, instantly making Sophie and Baby laugh.
"Ma'am, you might be able to hold out, but you can't let the kids go hungry! Youngsters at this age are in a crucial period of growth!"
This left Samantha speechless. Just then, Roy came downstairs, having changed his clothes.
"Roy, should we stay here for dinner?"
Roy looked at Sophie and Baby, who were both looking at him with hopeful expressions, and nodded.
"Sure, let's eat."
"I'll go get dinner ready right now!"
Sophie happily walked into the back kitchen, leaving Baby alone to entertain the guests.
Half an hour later, Roy and the others started to take their seats.
The dining table was a very long one, indicating that the Firefly family must be quite large.
Soon after, the other members of the Firefly family entered the dining room.
First was an elderly, overweight man with snow-white hair. He was the oldest member of the Firefly family and Baby's grandfather.
Then, Sophie's younger son wobbled in. He was very tall, even a head taller than Roy, but his body seemed somewhat deformed, possibly due to gigantism.
Following him, a disheveled middle-aged man walked in.
Roy assumed this was Sophie's husband, Baby's father, but he was actually Sophie's eldest son, just someone who had aged prematurely.
After waiting for a long time, Sophie's husband and other older son still hadn't appeared. Mike's stomach had already growled several times.
Sophie quickly clapped her hands.
"My husband must have gotten held up by something. Why don't we start eating?"
The oldest man was already starving and immediately started gobbling down his food, eating in a very messy and unappetizing way with juice and gravy splattering everywhere.
Roy picked up his knife and fork and poked at the steak in front of him. He noticed obvious blood oozing from it, guessing it had just been quickly seared over a flame before being served.
No wonder dinner was ready so quickly!
Roy found it hard to accept such rare steak, and the strange smell of the meat didn't help. So, he didn't touch it and instead started eating the salad on the table.
Samantha seemed to be in a similar situation, even though they were both very hungry.
Only Elureisha couldn't eat any of the food, so she just played with the steak on her plate with her knife and fork.
Sophie looked at Roy and the others with a smile.
"What's the matter? Is dinner not to your liking?"
Roy casually replied, "Sorry, we're all vegetarians."
Hearing this, Sophie looked at Roy strangely.
"Can vegetarians have a physique as good as yours?"
"Oh, that? That's from eating protein powder."
An impeccable answer that Sophie couldn't find fault with.
Just as the atmosphere was becoming a bit awkward, a fat middle-aged man walked in. This guy's face was covered in ridiculous clown makeup.
It was none other than Captain Spaulding, the clown owner of the little shop they had visited earlier.
With such a coincidence, even the rather slow-witted Ashley sensed that something was wrong. She looked at her mother, Samantha, for help.
However, Samantha didn't notice her daughter's gaze. She was focused on Roy, now completely trusting his earlier judgment.
After all, so many coincidences happening together couldn't possibly be just coincidences.
"Oh, honey, you finally made it! Come on and sit down; the steak's still hot!"
Captain Spaulding sat down at the head of the table in a very casual manner, looking at Roy and his group with a scrutinizing gaze. It wasn't the look of someone observing humans, but rather like someone inspecting livestock.
"Well, what a coincidence! Didn't expect to see you folks again here?"
As Captain Spaulding spoke, the atmosphere at the dinner table seemed to shift. The Firefly family members had mostly finished eating and were now sizing up Roy and his group with malicious looks.
This made the Parker family (Samantha, Ashley, and Mike) feel uneasy. Samantha had already slipped her hand into her pocket; she was carrying a revolver.
Roy, however, looked completely unfazed, ignoring the Firefly family's hostile stares and continuing to act as if he was just having a casual conversation.
"It is quite a coincidence! Wouldn't you say this might be something someone deliberately arranged?"
Captain Spaulding laughed, and his family joined in with loud, unrestrained laughter.
After they had their fill of laughter, Captain Spaulding's expression suddenly changed, and he stared fiercely at Roy.
"Maybe it's the Lord's doing! That we could all meet here tonight!"
God definitely wouldn't make such an arrangement. It was unclear who the "Lord" Captain Spaulding was referring to even was.
"Really? Well, your Lord must really dislike you, otherwise he would never have arranged something like this!"
Roy's words stopped the Firefly family's laughter. The eldest son, Baby's brother, slammed his hand on the table and stood up fiercely.
Ashley and Mike were so startled by this action that they leaned back in their chairs.
"Hey, pretty boy, what are you saying?!"
"Otis, sit down! Don't be so rude to our guests!"
With just a few words, Captain Spaulding stopped his eldest son's actions, making him sit back down quietly.
"Sir, I'm very curious. You don't seem scared at all?"
Roy spread his hands out.
"Why should I be scared? You haven't done anything yet!"
Captain Spaulding suddenly burst into laughter, clapping his hands.
"Oh, that's right! We haven't done anything yet. But we're about to start a very special game, would you like to participate?"
As he finished speaking, a fierce look appeared on Captain Spaulding's face, clearly not giving Roy and the others a chance to refuse.
And while he was talking, the men of the Firefly family had already stood up and surrounded Roy and his group.
The smile on Roy's face gradually disappeared, and he spat out three words.
"I refuse!"
Otis, who had been looking at Roy with displeasure for a while, reached out to grab him, wanting to force him down onto the table.
But Roy was faster. He picked up a table knife with one hand, grabbed Otis's hand with the other, and then used the knife to directly pin Otis's hand to the dining table.
"Agh—"
This scream was like a starting gun. Baby's tallest brother also reached out his demonic claws towards Ashley. Samantha immediately pulled out her revolver and shot the big guy.
Immediately after, the fat old man lunged at Mike, but Elureisha, who was next to Mike, suddenly stuck out her long legs and tripped the old man, sending him sprawling face-first onto the floor.
Seeing their eldest son injured, Sophie and Baby immediately picked up knives and forks and charged towards Roy, completely abandoning their earlier flirtatious attitudes.
"Get lost, you!"
Roy kicked both women to the ground with one kick each, then slammed Otis's head hard onto the dining table, directly smashing a hole in it.
In less than a minute, only Captain Spaulding was still unharmed in the Firefly family. This situation was somewhat unexpected for him.
"Who the hell are you people?!"
This level of combat was definitely not something ordinary people possessed. The Firefly family hadn't been very selective with their prey, assuming Roy and his group would be easy to deal with since there were more women.
Who would have thought that among these five people was a former Marine, a Nephilim, and a succubus?
It could even be said that the Marine was the least powerful fighter among the three.
Roy stood up, kicked the old man who was rolling on the ground to the side, punched the third brother who was trying to get up, knocking him unconscious, and then walked behind Captain Spaulding.
"Sorry, the rules of the game have changed. Now I ask the questions, and you answer!"
《House of 1000 Corpses》Poster (Top left: Sophie, Top right: Baby, Middle: Otis, Bottom left: Captain Spaulding, Bottom right: Third Brother)
