Chapter 625: Morbid Crisis (Part 11) (Patreon)

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Just as the atmosphere in the room turned tense and awkward, the door was suddenly thrust open. A beam from a flashlight pierced the darkness, causing Angela to shield her eyes with her arm.

Agent Kayla entered the room. Upon spotting Angela and Constantine, she paused momentarily. "It seems the building just experienced a power outage. Are you two alright?"

"We're fine," Angela replied, her voice slightly strained. As Kayla stepped further in, she remarked, "Is the clue you're looking for in this room? I've combed through the entire fourth floor, leaving only this room unchecked."

"You go ahead and search. We'll check out the other rooms," Constantine said, swiftly leading Angela out into the corridor. Once there, Angela jerked her hand away, exclaiming, "What are you doing? I won't let that agent rummage around in my sister's room!"

Constantine halted, locking eyes with her. "Didn't you hear her? She's investigating the disappearance of an agent."

Taking a deep breath to calm herself, Angela pondered for a moment. "If someone is conducting unauthorized experiments here and concocting a massive conspiracy, then aside from Soviet spies within this organization, the missing agent that she's looking for might've also infiltrated this group and was murdered by them."

She continued with determination, "What's clear is that my sister's death is connected to the people conducting these experiments here. They're also the target of my vengeance. Even for the sake of the citizens of Metropolis, I can't let their conspiracy succeed."

"So, you're suggesting we cooperate with the agent?" Constantine asked.

"Exactly." Angela said firmly, facing him. "Right now, our primary mission is to halt this organization's plot. We share a common enemy."

"Don't you want to confront those demons anymore?"

Angela looked back briefly, saying, "Regardless, demons can't launch a large-scale invasion on the city of Metropolis at the moment. But if our water supply gets tainted, many in Metropolis will perish."

Just as she turned to head back, Constantine grasped her arm. She looked at him, but his gaze wasn't on her—it was fixed on the hallway ahead. "I smell something strange..."

Before he could finish, the lights flickered and went out. Angela was about to question him when she felt a forceful tug on her arm, pulling her sideways. A vast shadow soared past her left side.

"Demons from Hell!" Constantine shouted, "Damn it, why is it here? Move! Hurry to the room with the magical circle!"

They sprinted back to the room they'd just left. On seeing them rush back, Kayla looked puzzled, especially when the ceiling began to darken ominously, as though shadows were about to drip down.

Lighting a flame, Constantine illuminated the room, revealing a menacing dark figure descending—it was the demon he had mentioned.

This time, there was no need for any special vision to see the creature. Kayla retreated a few steps, exclaiming, "What the hell is that thing?!"

"It's a demon," Constantine explained. But then, confusion evident, he added, "This is a demon from the depths of hell. They shouldn't be here, nor should the hellhound. What's going on? Are they trying to invade Metropolis?"

Facing the terrifying monster, Kayla reached for her radio. "Anderson Mental Hospital has a black monster! I need backup! Repeat, it's a black demon! I need backup!"

"Don't bother! The FBI can't handle this!" Constantine's eyes remained fixed on the looming figure. The magical circle at his feet seemed ineffective against this physical demon, and he relied on burning pages from a holy book to keep the room lit. If darkness consumed them, they'd be easy prey for the demon.

"I didn't call the FBI!" Kayla's voice dropped cold. Before Constantine could reply, she uttered a foreign word: "Sukarno!"

Time rewinds a few dozen minutes. Just before the demon's first invasion of Isabella's room, Bruce and Lex had already arrived at Anderson Mental Hospital's basement.

After leaving Isabella's room, they headed to another building, retrieving the key to the basement. They also found valuable clues in the employee dormitories, including a list of staff members.

The list revealed that the head of the laboratory was a female researcher named Elisa, a graduate from Metropolis University.

Bruce and Lex deduced that the man and woman they had overheard in the corridor earlier might include this lab head, Elisa.

Within the materials they discovered, it was evident that Elisa not only headed the laboratory but was also the initiator and researcher for all the projects. Furthermore, there were three management levels, all of whom resided within the underground laboratory and seldom showed themselves on the surface.

Understanding the hierarchy, Bruce knew whom to seek. After he and Lex successfully reached underground, they made their way straight to the nearest laboratory, planning to interrogate someone for the information they sought.

The researcher they captured was merely a low-level minion who knew nothing. However, he did share some details about the structure of the underground rooms.

From this, Bruce and Lex deduced that Elisa's office was situated in the deepest part of the underground facility. Furthermore, every corridor was fitted with monitoring equipment. If detected, all the guards from both the ground and the surface would be alerted.

Having this knowledge, Lex and Bruce incapacitated another researcher, stripping him of his uniform and donning it themselves. Bruce instructed Lex, "You enter the lab and gather as much data as possible. I'll find Elisa and understand what they're truly up to."

Lex didn't refuse the plan because he realized that what was needed next wasn't intelligence, but agility. Following Bruce would only slow him down.

They decided on a rendezvous point and began their separate missions. Bruce started navigating cautiously, avoiding the cameras and heading towards the deepest part of the lab.

However, just as he was nearing Elisa's office, an invasion by a force called the "Demon" began from above. Darkness engulfed the entire building, similar to a power outage, plunging Bruce's vision into obscurity.

Once he adjusted to the darkness, he realized the camera's views were also obscured. Seizing the moment, he dashed towards Elisa's office.

Outside the office, he heard an eerie creaking sound, reminiscent of someone sawing something. Bruce approached the window stealthily, peering inside. Amidst the pitch black, he made out a figure standing on a stool, sawing through something with a hand saw.

When the lights finally returned, Bruce's pupils contracted in horror. Inside the room, he saw a man in a suit sawing off a woman's head. The woman, her face contorted in agony, stared directly at Bruce.

The suited man stood on her chest, using a saw to cut through her spine. With a final snap, the woman's head was severed. The man discarded the saw and positioned the corpse on a chair, using iron wire to fasten her upper body.

Bruce was certain this man was the perpetrator of the serial murders. The armless corpse before him, tied with iron wire, matched the previous victims perfectly.

After adjusting the corpse, the man affixed the severed head back onto the body, only it was attached backward, making the woman appear as though she was looking over her shoulder.

From his vantage point, Bruce finally grasped the theme of these serial murders: telescopes symbolized farsighted vision, signal receivers represented acute hearing, mice represented prey, and the backward head denoted a creature's ability to rotate its head by 180 degrees.

"Owls…" Bruce muttered to himself. "The killer's target is owls."

Then, as the murderer was about to turn, the second Demon invasion from above began, and the lights flickered off. In the last sliver of light before darkness, Bruce recognized the face of the murderer, a face he knew well yet found eerily unfamiliar: Professor Shiller Rodriguez. Except now, his complexion was pale, his eyes reflecting a deranged madness Bruce had never seen before.

[Read at www.patreon.com/shanefreak, without ads and support the work.]

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Next Chapter >>Chapter 626: Morbid Crisis (End)