Long-term salvation

"Hey, you guys are almost like an industry chain. Tell me, how did the recent visit to New Jersey connect you guys?"

"Um... Friday night."

"Isn't that when we first came to Hill Manor?!" Rhodes' eyes twitched slightly. He picked up Abigail and placed her on his knees, then hit the girl's butt several times, causing her to let out a few soft cries of pain and her face to turn red with shame.

Nayako next to her looked at Abigail's little face, raised her hand and asked seriously:

"Can you hit me?"

Rhodes: “…”

Sighing, Rhodes brought the two offspring of the evil god over and placed them beside him. It was a bit crowded for three people to sit on this small sofa, but no one complained about it. He stretched and then scratched the cat Pickman's chin.

The cat was squatting on Rhodes' head, and its tail was wrapping around the back of his neck, causing a slight itch.

The quiet Nayako and Abigail were both very cute. It would be even better if they could stop causing trouble for themselves every day... Thinking about recent events, Rhode turned his head to look at Abigail and asked:

"How has your health been recovering recently? The silver key on your chest has become quite dim."

"It's okay. Take your time. After all, I still need to accumulate energy to make bullets for you."

Abigail stretched out her legs and watched Pickman leap into her arms. She stroked the cat against its fur, and was slapped in the face by its tail. Ignoring the cat's resistance, the blond scion of the evil god continued:

"Although there's nothing wrong with my body, it's still a bit difficult to drop the Alicorn into this world... Ahem. In short, if you want to go to other universes, you still have to wait for a while."

After using them up at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant last time, Rhodes now only had the bullets provided by Nayako in his hands - he didn't dare to use this thing carelessly, and judging from the guy's condition, it was obviously not difficult to make this kind of bullet - destruction is always easier than creation.

"Don't worry," Rhode said, patting Abigail's head, bringing a smile to the girl's face. "By the way, there's one more thing—Nayako, I found new pages from the Book of the Dead."

"Two isn't enough. The more the better. As for the other things... I don't have any other options right now. Let's talk about something else."

Nayako shrugged. She stood up and walked to the corner of the room to dig out a large box from the junk. She placed it on the small table that Rhode had reached out to pull over, and said as she rummaged through the things outside.

"I got some interesting stuff through George Gammell Angell (Call of Cthulhu), a professor of Semitic languages ​​at Miskatonic University. Want to take a look?"

Rhodes leaned over and saw several letters soaked in the fishy and wet sea breeze. The ancient red sealing wax was indented in a disorderly manner, but if you look closely, you can see that the inside of the indentation is engraved with tiny and strange words - those are definitely not words that can be created by humans. Every time you look at them, you will feel a little dazed.

There was also a tattered model of a fishing boat in a glass bottle, its sails tangled with transparent tentacles of some unknown marine creature, looking like a carefully prepared "witness." In addition, there were some gold artifacts that exuded the smell of the ocean, as if they had been fished out of the seabed mud.

But this is not the most important thing. What is important is the strange relief. It stands in the storage room and is not conspicuous, quietly looking back at the ignorant and weak intelligent race.

"...a squishy head covered in tentacles, connected to a strange, scaly body with rudimentary wings..."

Rhode looked at the relief in his hand with some helplessness. He placed it back into the pile of messy gold products and sundries and sighed.

"Where did that professor get it from?"

"A town called Innsmouth. How about it? Want to come with me to take a look?" Nayako's eyes curved slightly, filled with smiles and anticipation. "You could also bring that Randolph Carter with you. Maybe he could help—but don't look at me like that. My father's reputation isn't very good. As his descendant, if I rashly go in, I'm afraid I'll be surrounded."

As she spoke, Nayako's ahoge brushed across Rhodes' face like a tentacle, as if she was examining an exquisite doll ornament.

"So, I need to finish some preparations. You'll have to wait a few more days."

"...Don't tell me you've already informed Director Randolph Carter and told him to prepare for the risk."

Rhodes covered his eyes with his hands. He could well imagine how happy the director must be. After the paranormal investigators of the Army Without Borders began their work, his opportunities for adventure became much less. He spent most of his time exaggerating real events and writing stories for publication. Not many people read them anyway, and those who truly believed would be laughed at by others... It was a way to conceal reality.

"Bingo!"

The descendant of the evil god jumped up and spun around the room, her face full of excitement:

"If Rhode gets seriously injured during your adventure, I can take advantage of the situation and replace your heart with one of mine... Puff!"

Before Nayako could finish his words, he was hit in the abdomen by the Pickman ball thrown by Abigail, and the latter's big forehead attack followed closely - in just a sentence, the two descendants of the evil god rolled on the ground.

"Rod's heart is mine!"

"The spleen is mine too!"

"Huh? Stop kidding, you idiot!"

"..."

Looking at the chaotic descendants of the evil god, Rhode tried his best to ignore their words about how to divide his organs. He slowly stood up and slipped out of the room, gently closing the door behind him.

"I think I should go for a stroll," Rhodes said as he walked through the corridor of Hill Manor and pulled out a cigarette case from his pocket. "I hope they'll have completed their assignment by the time I come back... Tsk, why does that sound so weird?"

If we wait for Shub-Niggurath's offspring to arrive, who knows what kind of chaos this place will become - please, please be more cautious!

Chapter 327 Daily Encounter in a Toy Store

The gray sky hung low like worn silk, and fine snowflakes were falling from the gaps between the wrinkled clouds. The wind was not strong, and the temperature was by no means unbearable.

Wrapping up the scarf he had exchanged with Bai Zi, Rhodes smoked a cigarette and strolled through the streets of Arkham Town. He raised his hand to respond to the greetings of passers-by, and then brushed off the white snow on his shoulders.

"The weather is nice today."

Rod said, then reached out to take the maple muffins handed to him by Mary and Weihua. The two of them had just returned from the town church - on Christmas Day, they were there distributing candy canes to children all over the town, and now they would occasionally receive homemade candies and desserts in return.

Not long after walking down the street, the girls ran into the idle Rhodes, who was standing in front of an electrical appliance store, watching the advertisement for Aperture Technology's new shower curtain playing on the TV in the window.

"Are the pancakes good? We still have plenty," Mika asked with a smile. She was wearing thick tights, a long skirt, and a gray hunting hat on her head. Snow was drizzling down. "If not, you can try the chocolate Swiss roll I made myself."

"No, let's forget this."

Rhodes smiled and declined the girl's kindness. After touching Mary's cat ears and having his waist twisted by the angry girl, he led the two of them through the park and to another shopping street. There were several gift shops there, just right for them to buy some gifts for people... such as the Cranes, Lucas and his brother, and Little 11 who also lived in Arkham Asylum.

After all, these children are the backbone of the future Army Without Borders, and are even reserve members of the [Mobile Task Force]. They have a good relationship with me, so it would be a good thing to visit them more often on weekdays.

"Let's go from the park first," Rhode said, putting the half-eaten maple muffin back into the bag. He really couldn't stand the American people's crazy sugar-laden diet. "We should go early and come back early. I remember Himari and the others will be returning to Hill Manor today."

"Well... I don't think it's that cold today. It's only around Christmas time that it gets terribly cold," Mary exhaled softly, a milky white mist escaping from her lips and dissipating on the breeze. "It's a good thing the church in this town has been expanded a bit, otherwise many of the townspeople who came to pray would have had to stand in the snow that day."

The girl was wearing a winter nun's uniform and a long beige windbreaker, looking like a serious adult. After noticing Rhode's gaze, she reached out and grabbed his arm, whispering:

"Pray, I've been praying for you Sensei. I'm so happy that you're back safely."

"I'm not going to die, Mary."

"You can't get hurt!" The girl's cat ears trembled, and her face became more serious. "When I saw you lying on the hospital bed with your eyes closed, my tears... uh... don't kiss me in the street! After all, I am a... uh... nun!"

After pressing his fingers against the embarrassed little nun's head, making all her soft attacks miss, Rhode turned his head to look at Weihua next to him, only to see the latter taking two steps back, her face full of shyness.

"No, no, no, it's too embarrassing to do this in public!"

Seeing this, Rhodes had no choice but to shrug his shoulders and walk towards the park. At this moment, the snow on the cobblestone road in the park was shoveled away by the workers hired by the city hall, and piled up into gray-brown mountains beside the road. Only a few thin spots of newly fallen snow covered the cracks in the gray bricks.

Without having to walk through the deserted park, you can hear the slightly noisy voices on the opposite street. Many parents with children are coming in and out of gift shops and toy shops. There are also some tourists from other places, but they mainly come to buy Christmas packages of Warhammer 40K chess pieces... Most of them are unlucky people who failed to make a successful reservation and can only choose to come here to try their luck.

After pulling up his scarf and whispering a few words to the two girls, Rhodes blended into the crowd and walked into a toy store to pick out some suitable gifts.

As soon as he walked in, Rhodes saw a young man in military uniform with "Blackwater International" and "Laurel Crown and Skull" armbands on both sides. This was a soldier of the Army Without Borders who used the Blackwater International military contracting company founded by General Hammer as a cover to facilitate daily activities. He was now arguing with a clerk about the calculation of the discount figures.

Come to think of it, this guy looks a little familiar... Thinking of this, Rhode walked forward, patted the shoulder of the young and somewhat immature soldier, and said:

"Carl Gallagher (Chapter 49, from the American TV series "Shameless"), what are you doing here?"

"Who called my name?" Carl turned his head, his eyes widening. "Wtf?! It's you! Luo..."

Reaching out to cover the boy's mouth, Rhode didn't want to be surrounded by a crowd of people. He withdrew his hand and tightened his scarf. Thanks to the system's help, people in this world wouldn't point fingers at his and other girls' bizarre hair colors. After glaring at the boy, Rhode helped pay the bill and dragged him to a secluded corner, repeating:

"Why are you here? And have you managed to enter the Army Without Borders?"

"Um... I'm just a new recruit, here for professional training." Carl rubbed his head sheepishly. He was holding several plastic bags filled with gifts for his family. "Actually, I still have the qualifications to enter Miskatonic University, as long as I can pass the exam."

Afterwards, Carl whispered to Rhodes about his experience, which was basically learning, training, and providing convenience to the agents of the Army Without Borders in Chicago.

After forcibly sending his father to a rehab center and leaving a large sum of saved money to his eldest sister Fiona, he came to the town of Arkham without distraction, ready to start a crazy life.

"That was quite an experience," Rhodes smiled. He patted Carl's chest, making him smile as well. "I haven't met this group of new recruits yet. I'll take you on a mission when I have time to avoid any trouble."

“…Actually, I wasn’t looking forward to it that much.”

"Although you're quite listless, I admire your outspoken idiocy. Here, take this pack of Red Apple cigarettes. It's my gift to you!"

Karl: "..."

Rhode smiled at Karl's wrinkled face and was about to say something when he heard a sharp gasp from the side. He turned his head and saw a little girl standing on tiptoe, seemingly trying to reach a doll on the shelf above.

After helping the little girl take the doll down, Rhode noticed something a bit off in the childish voice of gratitude. He stared at the girl's face carefully, and when she showed a hint of fear, he slowly asked, "What's going on?"

"Have you encountered anything strange recently?"

"...I met you, sir. A ghost head appeared in my toy house, and Mr. Smith and his family were very scared (from the first episode of the first season of "The Prankster" - The House of Heads)."

A ghost with ties to the energy of the otherworld is in Arkham? Who is seeking death here?

"In that case, this police doll is not suitable," Rhodes said, but then he noticed that the girl didn't seem to want to give up the police doll, so he shrugged and took out a doll that had not yet been put on the market from the storage space and handed it to her, saying with a smile:

"This is my gift to you. You can try it in the evening."

The little girl, Evie, nodded and carefully took the doll—a doll of an Ultramarines Librarian wearing blue armor and with bright blue paint in its eyes—she cradled it in her arms and quickly ran into the crowd to reunite with her parents.

Watching the little girl disappear in the crowd, Rhodes frowned slightly and decided to take some time to visit Miskatonic University. At the same time, he sincerely hoped that those guys would not do anything big to him.

But now... Rhodes turned to look at Karl and asked with a smile:

"I have some maple muffins here, would you like to try some?"

"…if you don't mind."

Chapter 328 The Trouble with Herbert (3K)

The town of Arkham was silent late at night, with only the streetlights on both sides of the street casting a dim light, casting the broken shadows of the falling snow on the ground, blending into the darkness.

On this winter night, darkness is growing and growing, and then waiting to disappear in fear.

Breathe... breathe... breathe... breathe... suffocate.

The ghost head that had attached itself to the policeman covered its mouth and nose with its hands and huddled in the toilet in fear, trying to hide.

Avoid that monster!

Heavy footsteps came from far away in the corridor, and the pace was deliberately slow, just to bring the most real fear - the crisp sound of the floor being broken did not stop for a moment, and the slight tremor spread along the wall, climbing up the body controlled by the ghost head little by little, like a sharp blade scratching the skin.

Guitou shrank back even further, beginning to regret his rashness, but it was obviously too late.

A fist wrapped in blue armor suddenly punched through the toilet door, causing Guitou to let out an uncontrollable scream.

Then, a face with eyes gleaming with bright blue lightning appeared from the crack in the door, and a deep and merciless voice rang out:

"For the Emperor"

"Don't come over here!!!"

After letting out a shrill scream, the ghost head was hit directly into the body by the fist wrapped in thunder - if the entire body was beaten into a pulp, it could be counted.

"!"

The little girl, Evie, suddenly woke from her sleep. She quickly turned on the light in her room so she could check her toy house. The outside of the toy house looked normal, and the ghost-headed doll inside was gone. This was a good thing, but there was a small problem... It was the Smith family:

The father was wearing the attire of an inquisitor, the mother was wearing the power armor of an armed nun, and the boy was wearing a simple linen training suit. The three of them half-knelt in front of the big man in blue armor and bowed their heads in greeting.

Little girl: "...Can I apply for a return?"

But no matter what, the girl's worries and fears were resolved, and in order to prevent this situation from happening again, she decided to save some pocket money and try the board game called Warhammer 40K - this thing is very popular among the boys in the town, and it has even become a sign for external tourism promotion - thinking of this, the girl hugged the think tank doll in her arms, turned off the lights and fell asleep peacefully.

When the light from the girl's bedroom window dimmed, the car parked downstairs of her house slowly started and drove towards Miskatonic University.

The streets were empty at this time, with only a black luxury car moving forward like a shadow.

The atmosphere in the car was a little heavy, but when Rod said that it was over, the others breathed a sigh of relief, especially Herbert West (from "Herbert West - The Resurrection") who was pulled out of bed.

Herbert had just been pointed at by Rod with a revolver. If anything happened up there, he would lose his head before the little girl could scream.

This guy was brilliant yet ruthless, a man who could sit at the same table with Mr. Victor Frankenstein. Of course, he was no less capable than Director Hannibal Lecter beside Rhode.

"I hope things can be resolved smoothly."

The elegant cannibal director wiped the cold sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief. Even he didn't want to be enveloped by Rhodes' murderous aura, not to mention Herbert, the protagonist of this trip.