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🕑 Added 2025-06-18 16:21:55 +0000 UTCChapter 137: Only Noble People
The shapeshifter's expression changed.
Since these monsters were Beelzebub's followers, they could naturally recognize other demons. So, they immediately recognized Roy after he transformed into the Son of the Devil.
However, recognizing him at this point was too late. The die was cast, and there was no possibility of reconciliation.
Roy, having drawn his Hellfire Chainsaw Sword, had already begun a massacre among the cabin mercenaries. With Sadako and Kayako's help, the mercenaries couldn't mount any effective resistance and were easily sawed into pieces by Roy.
The shapeshifter's powerful fighting ability made his eyes twitch, as if he couldn't control the nerves around his eyes, just like Mahogany.
"Ah, Mr. Blake, so you're a demon too. Why didn't you say so earlier?"
Roy sneered. There wasn't necessarily no conflict between demons. For example, Belial, the King of Sloth, didn't have a good relationship with Asmodeus, the King of Lust. Demons under the two demon lords often fought.
Roy was currently on Belial's side. He didn't have too much conflict with Beelzebub, but that didn't mean he couldn't take out Beelzebub's followers.
"Say whatever you want in hell!"
With that, Roy released a large amount of fear shadows towards the monsters, instantly throwing some of them into chaos. However, because the monsters were spread out, the fear shadows couldn't control too many of them.
Since Roy was being uncooperative, the shapeshifter had no choice but to let out a sharp scream, ordering all the monsters to besiege Roy.
Then these monsters witnessed the terror of technology. The chainsaw sword, empowered by the forces of hell, had terrifying destructive power.
.44 Magnum bullets couldn't kill these monsters, but they were easily sawed in half by the Hellfire Chainsaw Sword, and because the hellfire burned their wounds, it completely destroyed their powerful self-healing abilities.
As a result of the siege, Roy was unharmed, but the monsters left behind a large number of corpses. In just a few minutes, thirty to forty monsters were killed as easily as cutting melons and vegetables.
Fear began to rise in the monsters' hearts, and Roy fiercely harvested that fear.
"Hahaha! Is this all you've got?"
Actually, these monsters were quite strong. Their strength and agility were generally above twenty, and their constitution was around thirty.
Without using large-scale destructive weapons, it might take more than ten times the number of troops to take down these monsters, and there would still be a lot of casualties.
If it were in an underground environment, the casualties would be even more terrifying.
Unfortunately for the monsters, they encountered Roy.
This one-sided slaughter quickly caused the ghouls' morale to collapse. Some of the monsters began to flee, which showed that they actually had some intelligence.
"Stop! If you make another move, I'll kill this woman!"
The shapeshifter and Mahogany stood on either side of the inverted cross.
Roy, his eyes bloodshot, stopped moving. Another monster tried to sneak attack him, but he grabbed its neck, slammed it to the ground, and stomped on its neck, breaking it.
Seeing this action, the shapeshifter and Mahogany's eyes both twitched, but they didn't say anything about Roy's behavior.
Roy leaned on his chainsaw sword, slightly out of breath.
"What do you want?"
"Mr. Blake, this was our mistake! We're willing to return this woman to you. You've also killed quite a few of our kind. How about we just pretend nothing happened?"
Roy looked at the shapeshifter and Mahogany, and surprisingly saw fear in their eyes. It seemed they were genuinely scared.
"Heh, now you know to back off? Too late!"
Roy instantly switched to his Smith & Wesson M625 and M629 revolvers from his inventory. As soon as he held them, they began to transform into hell weapons.
But because Roy's shooting speed was so fast, the revolvers' skin hadn't fully transformed before the bullets were already fired.
So, the first two shots were still regular bullets, merely pushing the shapeshifter and Mahogany back a step, moving them away from Dalia.
Then, the two hell revolvers spat out burning bullets, directly blowing off both of their heads.
\[Ding! Obtained Mahogany's Fate Treasure Chest! Open it now?]
Getting the Fate Treasure Chest meant Mahogany was dead.
The shapeshifter didn't drop a treasure chest, but that probably wasn't because he wasn't dead. It was more likely that this guy had very little Fate power and didn't have a treasure chest at all.
The deaths of these two caused the remaining monsters' morale to completely collapse. When Roy continued to chase after them, he discovered that these monsters had already fled through some tunnels.
The walls of the huge cavern were covered in caves, and behind the caves were intricate tunnels.
After Roy sensed the fear and took out a dozen or so more monsters, the rest all fled into the depths of the earth.
There was no point in chasing them any further, so Roy reverted from his Son of the Devil form and went to the inverted cross to untie Dalia.
Roy thought that after being untied, Dalia would be scared of him, especially since she had seemed quite traditional before. However, he didn't expect her first words to be about her daughter.
"Roy, how's Ceci?"
She really was a good mother, so good that even the little ghost girl wanted to keep her as her own mother.
"Ceci's fine. I took her to a safe place. You'll be able to see her in a little while."
Dalia let out a breath of relief.
"That's good!"
Dalia tried to stand up, but because she had been hanging upside down for too long, her legs were a bit numb. As soon as she stood up, she fell into Roy's arms.
This made her face, which was already a bit red from the blood rushing to her head, even redder.
"Sorry, Roy!"
"It's okay! Dalia, aren't you scared of me?"
Dalia looked up at Roy.
"Are you referring to that demon-like appearance just now?"
Roy nodded.
Dalia pursed her lips, then gave a faint smile.
"I was just kidnapped by two police officers tonight, which made me realize that identity doesn't mean everything. There can be bad people among the police, and naturally, there will also be good demons."
This made Roy recall a saying he had heard in his previous life.
"There's no such thing as a noble profession, only noble people!"
Hearing this, Dalia felt it made a lot of sense.
"Who said that?"
"I don't know, I heard it from someone else too. Dalia, since your legs are a bit numb, let me carry you out on my back!"
"Mmm!"
This time, Dalia wasn't as polite as before. She very naturally leaned on Roy's back, pressing her body close to his.
This made Roy realize something. It seemed he had successfully reeled this fish back into his pond.
"Hold on tight!"
Feeling the increasingly rapid heartbeat behind him, Roy hooked his arms under Dalia's long legs and began running towards the subway tunnel.
Not long after Roy left, a well-dressed, handsome middle-aged man suddenly appeared in the huge cavern.
Looking at the inverted cross and torches on the skull mountain, the middle-aged man began to speak to himself.
"Already gone? The residual aura is still quite strong. They shouldn't have left long ago... Hmm, it's indeed Belial's aura. Could that lazy woman have done it? Or perhaps just her follower..."
After a moment of contemplation, a burst of fire suddenly appeared beside the middle-aged man, and a seductive female figure emerged from the flames.
"Beelzebub, my daughter is dead! Did you do this?!"
The voice was incredibly beautiful. Even though it was an accusation, it sounded like a flirtatious plea. Elizabeth's voice was considered quite seductive, but it was completely inferior to the voice from the flames.
"Asmodeus, why would I attack your daughter? What benefit would that be to me?"
"But my daughter, Adela, died in your territory! Are you really saying you had nothing to do with it?"
"No, no, no, this isn't my territory. I'm just temporarily residing here. Your follower might have indeed encountered some other trouble. Why don't you sense the aura here?"
The flame suddenly expanded and then quickly shrank back to its previous size.
"This aura... it's that bitch Belial! So she's the one who did it! Damn it!"
Belial, who was currently lazing around in her luxurious villa in Waterfall Town, suddenly started sneezing uncontrollably.
"Achoo! Weird, could it be that little Roy is thinking about me?"
The flame began to shake violently, appearing very unstable. The middle-aged man seemed a bit surprised by how angry the flame was and, putting on a good-natured act, began to劝说.
"Asmodeus, it's just a follower. What's there to care about?"
"You don't understand! Adela wasn't just any follower! She—"
The voice suddenly stopped. The flame must have realized that if it continued, it would reveal a secret.
"In any case, I won't let that bitch Belial off! You just wait and see!"
After uttering those harsh words, the flame dissipated into the air.
The middle-aged man smiled.
"Hehe, it seems there's another good show to watch."
With that, the middle-aged man also disappeared into the cavern.
After running for a while with Dalia on his back, Roy soon found a large number of soldiers guarding the tunnel. The letters F.E.A.R. could be seen on their tactical vests.
"Sir, target spotted!"
FEAR was actually here? Could it be...?
"Roy!"
Sure enough, Sultana was on the scene. She recognized Roy at a glance.
"Roy, are you alright?"
Sultana rushed to Roy's side, checking his body.
"I'm completely fine. This blood on me isn't mine."
Dalia was resting her head on Roy's shoulder and had actually fallen asleep in this situation.
It seemed the fright of the night had completely exhausted her.
Sultana sized up Dalia's face.
"Is she the one you were going to rescue? She's a real beauty!"
Roy sensed that Sultana's words had a double meaning and quickly changed the subject.
"Sultana, why are you specifically guarding this place?"
"I had just gotten home and laid down when I received a call from Gerald. He told me to bring a team to guard the subway tunnel to prevent the worst-case scenario. What was the situation inside?"
The worst-case scenario was, of course, Roy failing to rescue her, and the ghouls in the subway running out and killing people everywhere.
"There's a huge cavern deep in the tunnel with a complex underground system. There were about one hundred and fifty ghouls that just appeared. I took out a little over half of them, including the leader, and the rest all ran into the depths of the earth."
After listening to Roy's account, Sultana frowned deeply.
"This is troublesome!"
Without the leader's control, these ghouls have lost their organization and will likely become scattered and disorganized.
And there definitely isn't enough food underground to sustain them, so these guys will eventually return to the surface.
When that happens, the FEA will still have to deal with it, not to mention how the organization behind the ghouls will react after tonight's events.
"I also discovered that those ghouls are connected to the Cabin."
As soon as she heard the word "Cabin," Sultana immediately became alert.
"Shh! Don't talk about this here. Let's go back first!"
Back at the Dolphin Hotel, Roy took the sleeping Dalia to Ceci, who was also asleep, and put the mother and daughter in the same bed.
Afterwards, he went to Gerald's office to meet with him.
Sultana was also in the office. She must have already reported the situation because Gerald's expression was very grim.
"Mr. Blake, you said you encountered the Cabin with the ghouls?"
"Yes! The Cabin sent a group of mercenaries to trade with the ghouls. Their target was me. And the Cabin is also providing food for the ghouls in exchange for the ghouls providing some blood to the Cabin every so often."
Gerald frowned deeply, considering the information Roy provided.
After a moment, Gerald spoke.
"I'm afraid the Cabin isn't the only organization cooperating with the ghouls! The Cabin is a secret organization whose purpose is to research supernatural powers. They rarely get involved with cults, but based on the LAPD situation, there's clearly a cult operating in Los Angeles."
Gerald's assessment made some sense, and both Roy and Sultana agreed with his judgment.
Sultana began to piece together the events from the beginning based on the available information.
"From what we can tell, the ghouls probably appeared beneath Los Angeles a long time ago. They have strong bodies, so about a hundred years ago, they gained the worship of a cult. The cult began to offer sacrifices or provide sustenance to these ghouls, and this continued until today. Later, the Cabin discovered the ghouls and started to get involved. We don't know the extent of the Cabin's involvement yet, but it's definitely been going on for quite some time."
Gerald tapped his fingers rhythmically on the table.
"Sultana, I want you to be responsible for rooting out the 'Cabin' in Los Angeles these next few days! I don't want to see those disgusting rats anymore! As for the cult within the LAPD, let's wait for a response from the FBI before we deal with that."
Roy and Sultana left Gerald's office. The older sister yawned in front of Roy.
"I never thought things would turn out like this!"
"Yeah, who would have thought?"
Roy and the FEA were both ready to call it quits, and Gerald even paid hush money, but then things took a sharp turn, and the ghouls ended up screwing themselves over.
"Roy, I'm too tired. I won't chat with you anymore today. I'm going to bed."
Sultana didn't go back to her apartment. After all, it was almost dawn, and going back and forth was too much trouble. She simply booked a room at the Dolphin Hotel.
It was an FEA property anyway, so they wouldn't charge Sultana.
Roy shrugged and went to Dalia and Ceci's suite, wanting to check on them before heading back to his own room to sleep.
But he found that Dalia was actually awake.
Asmodeus, the King of Lust
Chapter 138: Dahlia
"Dahlia, you're awake? Why don't you try to get a little more sleep?"
Roy noticed a tear track on Dahlia's face, like she had just been crying.
Seeing Roy walk into the bedroom, Dahlia immediately looked away, trying to appear nonchalant, not wanting him to see her crying.
"It's nothing. I just had a nightmare."
So, she was woken up by a nightmare!
No wonder, Dahlia has definitely been through some really scary stuff these past few days. It could leave a psychological scar that lasts a lifetime.
Roy didn't really have any great solutions for this. Maybe he should help Dahlia find a therapist?
"It's okay, Dahlia! This hotel is owned by FEA, and it should be one of the safest places in Los Angeles right now. You can feel safe staying here for a few days..."
Before Roy could finish speaking, Dahlia suddenly rushed over and hugged him.
"Don't move! Just let me hold you like this for a second! I, I need some security!"
Dahlia leaned against Roy's chest, her whole body almost completely pressed against his. At first, her body was a little stiff, but after a few seconds, she went limp.
Roy really didn't move. He just gently patted Dahlia's back. Soon, he felt the clothes on his chest getting damp.
"When I was really little, my parents got divorced. At first, they fought like crazy over who would get custody of me, but it wasn't because they loved me. They just used me as a tool to get back at each other. The custody battle lasted a year, and I ended up being awarded to my mother, but she really disliked me. She often said that just seeing me reminded her of my father. In the end, she sent me to a foster home..."
Roy already knew this story from watching the American version of "Dark Water."
But watching a movie and hearing the person involved tell it themselves is a different feeling, especially when the person is crying in your arms at this moment.
Maybe it's because she'd been through tough times herself that she didn't want her daughter to go through the same. Dahlia had always tried her best to create the best living environment for Ceci.
Unfortunately, sometimes personal effort isn't enough to change things. Making the right choices is what really matters.
These things must have been weighing on Dahlia's mind for a long time. She didn't have anyone she could confide in. It wasn't until she met Roy, and with almost facing death just now, that she finally couldn't help but say what was on her mind.
"Dahlia, it's all over now. All you need to do is focus on the present. The future will definitely get better!"
In this situation, Roy could only say some comforting words to try and cheer Dahlia up.
Dahlia raised her head, looking at Roy with teary eyes, and said the words she had always wanted to say.
"Roy, if only I had met you sooner!"
If it had been sooner, he wouldn't have transmigrated yet!
"Maybe we really have met before. I heard a saying: all encounters in this world are reunions after a long separation."
These words stunned Dahlia. She was at her most emotional right now, and hearing such a poetic sentence instantly filled her heart with emotion.
"Yeah, maybe my meeting you is a reunion after a long separation. That's why you've always been able to save me!"
Dahlia's eyes lit up, and she started to believe that everything was an arrangement of fate.
Speaking of which, besides this time Dahlia was kidnapped because of Roy, the previous two times she was in danger, Roy happened to show up and save her.
Under this psychological effect, coupled with being emotionally overwhelmed, Dahlia finally let go of the shackles in her heart.
"Roy, kiss me!"
At first, Roy thought he had misheard, but seeing Dahlia close her eyes with a full blush on her face, if he didn't do something, he'd be letting his player reputation down.
He lowered his head and gently took Dahlia's soft lips in his. Their noses touched closely, and they could feel each other's breath. Because of this, some tears that hadn't dried yet got on Roy's face.
This situation made both Dahlia and Roy crack up laughing.
"Roy, carry me out!"
Being intimate in front of a child is definitely not a good idea, even though Ceci was sound asleep.
So, Roy carried Dahlia in a princess carry to the living room of the suite and closed the bedroom door.
Actually, the sofa in the suite could also be unfolded into a bed, which was for the convenience of some families staying there. There were even blankets in the living room.
Roy's enthusiasm shocked Dahlia.
Although she had been married before, Dahlia had never seen such magnificent positive energy, which made her feel a little scared.
"Wait, what's happening?"
However, judging from Dahlia's somewhat panicked expression, she probably hadn't brushed up on her sex education in a long time, so it was normal for her to feel scared.
Tunnel excavation is indeed very blocked at the beginning, which is why professional tunnel boring machines are needed for digging.
However, prolonged use of tunnel boring machines can easily overheat, leading to mechanical failure or damage, so water is needed for cooling.
Digging a tunnel can accidentally break through the groundwater.
"Roy, I finally understand why you have two girlfriends!"
Dahlia looked at Roy, panting.
"So, you're not mad anymore?"
Roy remembered that the night before last, during the first match of the Santa Monica Cup qualifiers, Dahlia ran off after seeing Heather and Penny, and then didn't return Roy's calls or texts.
"I'm not mad anymore. Now I just hope I have a sister who can help me share the load!"
This scream was because the tunnel boring machine had started the tunnel excavation work again, and the strong impact was irresistible.
"So, do you know you were wrong now? You actually dared not to reply to my texts or answer my calls!"
"I was wrong! Forgive me, Roy!"
"You know you were wrong, huh? Then will you dare to do it again next time?"
"I'll never dare again! Please, no, don't, oh—"
【Ding! Obtained Dahlia O'Connor's Destiny Treasure Chest! Open it?】
At this moment, Dahlia's soul felt like it had reached heaven. She couldn't feel anything around her, only that incomparable sensation.
Covering Dahlia's body with a blanket, this mature married woman looked like she had just been pulled out of the water, truly explaining what it means for a woman to be made of water.
Ten minutes later, Dahlia finally came back to her senses from the afterglow, looking at Roy with a dazed expression.
"Roy, I thought I had died just now! My soul felt like it left my body and went to heaven."
"Did you see God then?"
Dahlia smiled.
"No, there's only you, you little pervert, in heaven!"
"Little pervert, huh? Then I'll show you how powerful this little pervert is!"
Roy was about to restart the tunnel boring machine, which was still stuck in the tunnel, for more digging when he heard Ceci's voice from the bedroom.
"Mommy, where are you?"
It turned out that Ceci had woken up and was looking for her mother.
Hearing her daughter's voice, Dahlia immediately became nervous. She looked at Roy apologetically.
"Roy, should we call it a day for today?"
Roy was a little helpless. He hadn't had his fill, but he could only take out the tunnel boring machine, making a "pop" sound.
Dahlia wanted to put her clothes back on, but something was constantly flowing out of a certain part of her body because it wasn't plugged up anymore, and she couldn't stop it.
Helpless, Dahlia could only grab her clothes and go to the bathroom to empty the contents of her body before putting them on.
"Ceci, Mommy's in the bathroom. I'll be out in a minute!"
Hearing her mother's voice, Ceci in the bedroom stopped making noise.
Dahlia went into the bedroom to comfort her child, and Roy got up to take a look out the window. It was already broad daylight outside.
It seemed impossible to have a rematch today. After thinking for a moment, Roy went to the bathroom for a shower.
While showering, Roy suddenly remembered that he still had several treasure chests that he hadn't opened. Why not open them now?
First was Adela's Destiny Treasure Chest.
Regarding Adela, Roy felt that he should have been able to get both the Conquest Treasure Chest and the Destiny Treasure Chest, but he only got one Destiny Treasure Chest. He felt that he had been treated unfairly by the system.
【Opening Adela's Destiny Treasure Chest...】
【Obtained 3 Spirit Attribute Points!】
【Obtained 1 Willpower Attribute Point!】
【Obtained special ability: Lustful Illusion!】
Unsurprisingly, Adela, who had abandoned her physical body to become a cyber succubus, didn't yield the physical attributes that Roy wanted most. All were mental attributes.
The 1 point in Willpower successfully brought Roy's willpower to 40 points.
Moreover, he also got a special ability. This treasure chest opening was pretty good.
Roy was about to check the ability of Lustful Illusion when he suddenly heard another message from the system.
【Special ability Shadow of Desire and special ability Lustful Illusion can be fused. Fuse?】
Huh? Special abilities can also be fused?
Of course, he would choose to fuse!
【Fusion successful!】
【Special ability Shadow of Desire and special ability Lustful Illusion fused into Domain of Desire!】
【Domain of Desire: You are the embodiment of lust and original sin, capable of completely controlling the desires of others, bringing them pleasure or pain!
Passive ability: Massively increases charm, massively expands the ability to collect lustful aura.
Active ability: You can now expand the Domain of Desire, affecting all living beings within a certain range.】
It seems pretty powerful. Compared to the original Shadow of Desire, the collection range and influence range have expanded several times.
It would have been better if this ability was the Domain of Fear. Expanding the Domain of Desire might be a little too spicy to look at.
However, this did point Roy in a direction. If he could find other fear-related abilities, maybe he could fuse and upgrade the Shadow of Fear.
Perhaps Adela's treasure chest had used up all of Roy's luck, as the next two treasure chests didn't yield any special abilities or items.
【Opening Mahogany's Destiny Treasure Chest...】
【Obtained 1 Strength Attribute Point!】
【Obtained 2 Stamina Attribute Points!】
【Opening Dahlia O'Connor's Destiny Treasure Chest...】
【Obtained 1 Agility Attribute Point!】
【Obtained 1 Memory Attribute Point!】
Overall, however, Roy was quite satisfied.
After showering, Roy got dressed and came out of the bathroom. At this time, Dahlia had just finished comforting her daughter and came out of the bedroom.
"Roy, are you getting ready to leave?"
Roy nodded.
"I'm going back to catch some sleep. By the way, Dahlia, don't go to work for the next few days. It's best if Ceci doesn't go to daycare either. Stay at the Dolphin Hotel to avoid any retaliation."
Dahlia hesitated for a moment.
"Wouldn't that be a little much?"
"It's okay. FEA is loaded and doesn't care about this little bit of money! Just think of it as winning a prize, getting a free vacation with food and lodging."
This explanation made Dahlia laugh.
"Okay then, I'll stay at the Dolphin Hotel for the next few days. It just so happens that my daughter seems to be having some emotional issues lately, and I can spend some quality time with her!"
"Ceci has emotional issues? Should we find her a therapist?"
Roy thought that he was somewhat Ceci's stepfather now, so he should care about his daughter.
"It shouldn't be that serious yet. Maybe it's because I haven't spent enough time with her recently."
Dahlia was embarrassed to continue troubling Roy and quickly explained.
"That's good. How about a goodbye kiss?"
Roy pointed to his lips, and Dahlia kissed him sweetly.
At this moment, Dahlia felt like she was on her honeymoon, and she couldn't help but say, "Come back soon, honey!"
"I will."
Roy straightened his clothes and hummed a little tune as he returned to his suite, room 1208.
Heather and Penny didn't know how long they had waited last night, eventually falling asleep.
This made Roy feel a little guilty. He had to make it up to the two girls.
So, Roy lifted the covers and found that Heather and Penny underneath were actually wearing those cheerleader outfits.
Whoa! So, the two girls had prepared a little surprise for him last night!
Roy was very touched.
"Roy, why are you only back now?"
"Something happened, but I've already taken care of it!"
"Wait, is it already daylight?"
"Yeah!"
Chapter 139: Wise Angel
Europe, Vatican City.
It was six in the morning back in the States, but it was already noon over in Italy.
This is the holy land of Christianity, a must-see pilgrimage spot for all Christians.
Today, St. Peter's Basilica was suddenly off-limits to tourists. The official word was that they were doing some maintenance inside.
This kind of thing happens a few times pretty much every year. After all, St. Peter's Basilica was first built way back in 1506, so it definitely needs regular upkeep because of its age.
But inside the church, there weren't any workers doing maintenance. Instead, there were hundreds of clergy members all bunched together. If you didn't know any better, you'd think they were about to elect a new Pope or something.
The Pope, wearing a light yellow outfit, was leading a bunch of clergy members around a pool of clear water that was about waist-deep, loudly chanting from the Bible.
As the clergy kept chanting, it looked like little sparks of light were floating out of them and into the pool. These glowing lights didn't disappear in the water; they just kept on shimmering.
More and more glowing lights filled the pool until the whole thing was packed with them, and you couldn't see the bottom at all anymore.
Seeing this, the Pope nodded and said to the people next to him,
"Get Iris ready."
Pretty soon, a nun wearing a black eye patch came over to the edge of the glowing pool.
This nun had a classic Latina look, with tan skin that had a real Mediterranean vibe.
Even though she was wearing a loose white nun's habit, it couldn't hide her nice figure. But most of the clergy there were older guys, so nobody was really paying attention to how the nun looked.
"Iris, are you ready?"
Iris took a deep breath.
"Your Holiness, I'm ready!"
"Great. Now step into the pool, open your heart, and pray sincerely to God. You'll feel that holy presence pretty soon."
Iris gave a slight nod and slowly stepped into the glowing pool.
The pool, which was only about waist-deep for an adult, now seemed to go on forever as Iris walked down until the water went over her head, and she still hadn't reached the bottom.
A normal person would definitely freak out in this situation, but Iris had a strong faith, so she felt really calm inside.
After going completely under, Iris didn't feel like she couldn't breathe. Instead, she had this amazing feeling of comfort, like she was back in the womb.
The pool water blocked out all the outside noise, letting Iris really connect with her inner self.
Before long, Iris heard a voice calling her name in her mind.
Are you to be my vessel on Earth?
Who are you?
My name is Uriel!
The glowing lights in the pool suddenly started to disappear really fast, like something was sucking them all up.
Seeing this, the Pope immediately got tense.
A moment later, Iris came out of the now clear pool, her face totally blank. She looked over all the old guys there with this really wise look in her eyes.
"My name is Uriel!"
The Pope let out a little sigh of relief and was the first to kneel down and bow to the nun in white.
"We welcome the arrival of the Wise Angel!"
All the other clergy members knelt down and bowed too.
"Alright, get up! Tell me why you needed me to come down to Earth?"
All the old guys there were shaking and helping each other up.
Especially the Pope, who was over seventy and had to kneel – he almost couldn't get back on his feet.
But as soon as Uriel put a hand on the Pope's shoulder, he instantly felt lighter, like he was back in his younger days, full of energy.
"Lord Uriel, it's like this: we've lost contact with Lord Michael!"
"Michael's lost contact?"
Uriel frowned a little, her calm expression turning surprised.
"Yes, Lord Uriel! We've tried to get in touch with Lord Michael, but it's been two months, and we still haven't been able to reach him!"
"I understand. Let me see what's going on."
Uriel's eyes under the eye patch suddenly turned silver and gave off a bright light, like she could see through time and space.
But after a few moments, Uriel's frown got even deeper.
"That's weird, why can't I see what happened?"
The Pope looked a bit nervous at Uriel's expression.
"Lord Uriel, has something terrible happened?"
"The fate of the past seems to have been messed with by some kind of force, so I can't see clearly! But I have seen Michael's location, so you all don't need to worry."
The scene cuts back to the West Coast of America.
Roy, the boxer, had an extra-long "morning workout" with cheerleaders Heather and Penny that didn't wrap up until almost lunchtime.
After their morning exercise, Roy's stomach was totally empty, and he was starving.
Heather and Penny had eaten a good amount of high-protein stuff, but they still needed some real food.
Their plan to catch up on sleep had to be bumped to an afternoon nap.
While eating lunch, Roy checked out the local Los Angeles newspaper.
Not surprisingly, there was nothing about the subway cannibal monster in any of the papers. And there were no reports of anyone going missing on the subway last night, so it looked like Roy's little intervention after getting on the last train had done the trick.
According to the paper, everything in Los Angeles was hunky-dory, peaceful and quiet, like nothing had happened.
But Roy knew how many hidden issues were lurking beneath the surface of this calm scene.
At least for now, the FEA (presumably a fictional organization) must have made some kind of deal with the cult behind the cannibal monsters. Neither side wanted this to blow up in the public eye.
This also meant that Roy and Dahlia probably wouldn't have any more trouble.
After all, Roy managed to take down half of those cannibal monsters. He didn't believe the big shots in those cults weren't scared.
If they pushed Roy too far, none of them would be able to get away.
After finishing the newspaper and putting away enough food for five people, Roy finally felt satisfied and went to take a nap with Heather and Penny.
The two girls had also worked pretty hard during their "morning workout" and definitely needed an afternoon nap to rest up.
They slept until dusk. Because Roy had such a high constitution score (49!), his recovery ability was insane. He only needed a few hours of sleep to get his energy back to full.
Heather and Penny had been awake for a while already. They'd gotten plenty of sleep the night before and were now in the living room watching soap operas.
After getting dressed and coming into the living room, Roy started talking to the girls about his plans for what to do next.
"Open a studio?"
Hearing Roy's idea, Heather and Penny both looked surprised.
"Yeah, I'll probably be working with the FEA a lot, picking up some freelance gigs. If I pay taxes as an individual, I'll get totally ripped off!"
Heather had already taken over her family's business and knew a bit about this kind of thing, so she immediately agreed.
"Roy's right! We definitely can't let the feds get away with that!"
Just thinking about it made Heather wince. She'd had to pay a huge inheritance tax – all those sweet, green US dollars!
Penny seemed a little hesitant.
"But we're not accountants, and we don't really know the laws in all the different states."
Heather thought for a second and then made a suggestion.
"Roy, we could hire Nord to handle this!"
Nord was the lawyer who helped Heather with the inheritance stuff back then. The old guy was trustworthy and really reliable.
Roy nodded.
"Sounds good! Heather, you get in touch with Nord and have him help us sort out the studio situation. Afterward, I can make him the studio's legal advisor."
"Okay."
Penny looked at Roy and Heather.
"But we still need an accountant, otherwise, dealing with taxes is going to be a pain! The bar I used to work at was the same – every year, the owner would be grumbling and complaining."
Yeah, in a country like America with so many taxes, you could end up throwing away a ton of money if you don't have an accountant.
"Let's just get the basic structure of the studio set up first. We can figure out the accountant situation later. If we have to, we can just outsource it to an accounting firm."
Penny suddenly thought of something and grabbed Roy's arm, shaking it.
"Honey, I want to work in your studio! Otherwise, I'll be so bored doing nothing all day!"
Then Heather also grabbed Roy's other arm.
"Honey, me too!"
Roy thought about it for a second. He did need to find something for the two girls to do, otherwise, they'd just be sitting around doing nothing and getting lazy.
"Alright, maybe you guys could try studying for an accounting certification! For now, you can be my secretaries!"
Secretary for work stuff, and for other... ahem!
Penny seemed to catch on to what Roy was thinking and suddenly sat on his lap, using a fake sweet voice.
"Boss~ then you have to pay me a really high salary, okay?"
You had to give it to Penny – she knew how to have fun. That one sentence made Roy snap to attention.
"That'll depend on how you perform!"
Penny felt Roy's, uh, "enthusiasm" and instantly went all weak in the knees.
"Boss~ I'll definitely perform really well!"
Then Heather joined in on the role-playing.
"Boss~ me too!"
The three of them were getting into it, but they didn't actually go all the way. The two girls had just had a pretty intense "workout" in the morning and were still a bit worn out, needing some time to recover.
After that, Roy's life in Los Angeles suddenly became a lot more chill.
The Santa Monica Cup elimination rounds weren't until the weekend, so he didn't have much to do for now.
Heather and Penny, on the other hand, got busy. The two girls started making arrangements for the studio.
Especially Penny – she seemed serious about getting that accounting certificate and bought a ton of study materials to learn accounting on her own.
This was a good thing, so Roy encouraged Penny and hoped she'd succeed.
He also spent time with Dahlia and Cici. Roy's company made them smile more and more, and the dark clouds of the past seemed to have completely disappeared.
Of course, there were also Saltana and Mary, but Saltana had been working crazy hours lately and was basically MIA.
As for Mary, Roy would chat with her every time he went to UCLA.
Roy could tell that Mary liked him a lot, but they just hadn't quite crossed that line yet.
It was that whole "more than friends, but not quite lovers" thing.
This was probably because Mary was a little unsure about Roy's, shall we say, "enthusiasm" for women, so she hadn't been able to fully commit.
Whatever, Dahlia was like that at first too, right?
But he still managed to win her over, didn't he?
As long as he kept things going like this, Roy was confident he'd eventually win Mary over too.
Man, he was just so busy! Roy wished he could be in two places at once so he could manage his time better.
But in the past few days, Roy had this feeling like someone was watching him. He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination.
Or maybe Beelzebub's cult didn't dare to attack him directly, so they sent someone to keep tabs on him. If that was the case, that cult was pretty ballsy.
Roy decided to find a way to draw out whoever was watching him.
That night, Roy, Heather, Penny, Mary, Dahlia, and Cici had a barbecue on Santa Monica Beach, just like a family.
It was a shame Saltana was working non-stop lately, totally exhausted, and couldn't make it to the barbecue.
Otherwise, it would have been perfect.
Mary seemed to really love kids and spent the whole time playing with Cici. That girl definitely had the potential to be a great wife and mother.
Cici was having a blast. Having a pretty older sister play with her, her cheerful laughter echoed in the night sky by the beach.
Just then, Roy felt that sensation of being watched again.
There wasn't really anywhere to hide on the beach. Roy looked around and quickly spotted a young guy in the distance, sneaking glances at them from behind a beach umbrella.
Using a beach umbrella late at night? That was way too suspicious!
"I think someone's spying on us!"
Roy's words surprised the women. They all started looking around, trying to find the spy.
"No need to keep looking. That guy's over there by the beach umbrella."
Dahlia looked towards the beach umbrella and immediately saw a familiar figure.
"I'm going to go grab that guy. You all wait here for me."
With that, Roy instantly took off, running towards the beach umbrella.
"Wait, Roy!"
Dahlia tried to call Roy back, but with an agility of 32, Roy was gone in the blink of an eye.
There was nothing Dahlia could do but tell Heather and Penny,
"Could you please keep an eye on the kid for me!"
After saying that, Dahlia ran off in Roy's direction.
The spy saw Roy running towards him and took off, but he was way too slow compared to Roy. He hadn't run very far before Roy tackled him to the ground.
"Alright, buddy, you actually dared to spy on me! If you don't want any trouble, tell me right now who sent you!"
"F*** you! Nobody sent me!"
"Still being tough, huh?"
Just as Roy was about to rough up the spy, Dahlia ran over, out of breath, and stopped Roy.
"Roy, don't! It's my ex-husband, Kyle!"
Roy raised an eyebrow, lowering the fist he had raised.
Oh, it was the ex-husband. Roy thought it was Beelzebub's cult!
Kyle stood up angrily, glaring at Roy and Dahlia.
"Dahlia, you divorced me because I cheated on you, so why would you get with this womanizing jerk!"
Kyle started grilling Dahlia, clearly holding a lot of resentment.
Dahlia was momentarily speechless. They did get divorced because Kyle cheated, which she couldn't stand, leading to the breakup.
Roy glanced at Kyle. The guy had some decent looks, but he was skinny and weak – definitely a pushover.
"People are different. I can handle three or four at once and keep them happy. Can you do that?"
Iris (original character, couldn't find a suitable image, using this for now)
(End of this chapter)
