Chapter 3321

Outside is the dark and deep city, the light of police sirens flowing between the cold buildings. Inside the living room, separated by a wall, it is bright and warm, the firelight from the fireplace dispelling the dampness on Shiler from the rainy night.

When he walked in, the man only then saw that he was followed by someone. Judging by the figure, it seemed to be a woman, but she was wrapped up tightly, and her face could not be seen at all. Firelight flowed along the fabric, and the slightly exposed skin on her hands had terrifying scars.

This startled the owner of the house, but Shiler seemed not to care at all as he said, "She is my assistant; accidents are inevitable in this line of work."

The man frowned, but still stepped back, letting the figure behind him enter. He managed to force a smile and said, "Yes, sir. I heard that you protected the York family of three and saved the Deputy Mayor's sister. I just want to protect my family."

"Of course, of course." Shiler nodded continuously, placed his toolbox at hand, walked over to the sofa and sat down, then said, "I came here to do exactly that, so you don't have to be so nervous. The Angel of Death won't invade your house today, and even if he comes, I will make him leave."

Such repeated reassurance still had a certain effect. The man's tensed muscles relaxed slightly, but he did not sit down, only pacing to the side of the kitchen island.

"It's truly a nightmarish time; I've almost forgotten what it's like outside. Fortunately, my house is safe enough to withstand bombs. But if there are demons, that's another matter."

The man turned around to look at Shiler and said, "Do you think the matter of demons is real?"

"So you don't believe in the existence of demons, then why did you ask me to come over?"

"I absolutely do not mean to question you, sir. But after all, I haven't seen it with my own eyes..."

"Then you just wait for the day you see it with your own eyes." Shiler stood up again, picked up his toolbox, and then said, "I still have many appointments, so I'll take my leave first."

"Wait." The man hurriedly called him to stop, and then said, "That's not what I meant. I asked you to come here, of course, to perform an exorcism ritual, but I just want to know if this ritual can protect me and my family."

"Still the same thing, if you don't believe, why did you ask me to come over?" Shiler shook his head and said, "If you have any better way, then use it. I don't have time to waste with you."

The man walked a few steps quickly, blocking Shiler's path, and then said, "Alright, Mr. Shiler, it's my fault. I shouldn't have questioned you. Actually, what I want to ask is, can we only expel demons?"

"What else?"

"I mean, can't we... can't we completely kill him?"

"Are you talking about the Angel of Death? Of course, if you use missiles to blow up half of Gotham, you can certainly kill him."

"Isn't there a way with less commotion? Like finding a sniper? Is he afraid of bullets?"

Shiler shook his head and said, "I understand that you haven't seen it with your own eyes, so you don't dare to believe in the existence of supernatural powers. But the fact is, you are not the only one who can afford a sniper, and the Angel of Death is still fine to this day."

The man seemed to finally have no hope left. He walked to the sofa and sat down, then said, "How long can the effect of the exorcism last?"

"Seven days at most." Shiler said, "And it only has an effect once. If there's a second time, it might not be able to deter him."

Hearing that the time was so short, the man was even more terrified. He gripped the armrest of the sofa and said, "I can pay more."

"This is not a matter of money, sir. The demon behind the Angel of Death has a very high status, otherwise he wouldn't be so arrogant. Being able to hold him off for so long is already quite good."

"Are we doomed to perish?"

"No. The devil is usually very picky and won't randomly find someone to possess. As long as you can find a way to kill the possessed, he might choose to return to hell."

"You mean killing that Angel of Death can exorcise the demon?! But we can't deal with the demon, so we can't kill him!"

"Then that is not a problem I should be concerned about, my wealthy Mr. Tycoon. Next, we should talk about the price."

Shiler sat back down, took a contract out of his toolbox, and said, "Time is tight, so I won't beat around the bush with you. You have an office building on Bourbon Street, right?"

"That's right. It was originally bombed into ruins, and after it was rebuilt, some people felt it wasn't safe, so I bought it at a low price as the headquarters for my branch company. Are you interested in this building?"

"Yes. Bourbon Street is full of drug-addicted lunatics; if I cause some commotion there, it won't trigger any chaos, it's a good hideout."

An exorcism ritual in exchange for a building sounded a bit too expensive, but this actually made the man breathe a sigh of relief. But out of a businessman's nature, he still started to haggle with Shiler. Shiler was also very accommodating, promising that after obtaining ownership of the building, he would lease it to him at a low price for office use, saving the trouble of moving.

The two parties signed the contract, and after the transaction was completed, Shiler began to prepare for the exorcism ritual.

He required the man to clear out the house; apart from the owner of the house and the exorcist, no one else could be present.

The man hurriedly sent his family to another house and instructed them not to go out, then returned to this house himself to participate in the exorcism ritual.

When he returned, Shiler had already prepared the props. The living room was brightly lit by the firelight of countless candles, and various strange props were placed on the ritual table in the middle, including porcelain shards, feathers, and various statues.

This type of mysterious scene actually gave the man a sense of security. He walked to the ritual table, and Shiler took out a small knife and said, "Cut your fingertip and drip the blood here. Then I will light the incense, and you will feel some dizziness and difficulty breathing; this is normal. When you wake up, the ritual will be complete."

The man picked up the knife, and when he cut his finger, he grimaced a bit. But thinking about being able to get rid of this anxious life, even if only for a few days, he still followed through and cut his fingertip.

Fresh blood flowed out, and a burst of smoke suddenly rose from the ritual table. The man was stunned for a moment, and just as he was about to say something, Shiler used the lit grass roll in his hand to ignite the incense.

The scent of the incense was very rich, a blend of sweet and bitter, with a faint, elusive fragrance. The man was soon intoxicated by this aroma.

"Bang!"

His legs went soft, the man collapsed and lost consciousness. Shiler walked over to lift his body up, while the clown Maria, who was following behind him, walked to the side and opened the garage door.

The man had a very long nightmare. In the dream, he became a mouse chased by snakes, constantly traveling through sewers, eating that disgusting rotting meat, and then he himself became rotten.

Consciousness gradually returned, and a glimmer of light began to appear before his eyes. He blinked hard, and for a moment felt the heat of a crowded crowd rising around him, the various whispers making his head ache terribly.

"Haha, David, I knew you'd come too."

The man called David opened his eyes hard, and the slight pain from his fingertip finally made him sober up.

"What's going on? Wasn't I performing an exorcism ritual?" He sat up and covered his head, saying somewhat blankly.

"You were indeed tricked too." That familiar voice sounded in his ear. David turned his head and actually saw a familiar face.

"Mr. Deputy Mayor, why are you here?"

Only then did he have time to examine the surrounding environment. He looked around and was so shocked he couldn't speak, because everyone squeezed in with him now were acquaintances. They had appeared together on golf courses or horse tracks, and had also fought all night at negotiation tables.

These people were all elites who belonged to the same wealthy class as him.

And they were definitely not in David's manor now. David opened his eyes wide and looked carefully, only to find that they were all locked in a prison cell, and the style of the floor and walls was very much like Arkham Asylum.

"Who did you bet on?" The white-haired Deputy Mayor asked.

"What?"

"Who did you bet on in the Death Pool? It should be Bane, right?"

David spent a long time coming back to his senses. He seemed to understand a little, and looking at these people, he said, "You bet on Bane too?"

"I'm afraid so. Too many people bet on him, so we are squeezed together now. Look, the cell opposite is much more spacious."

David looked up and found that it was indeed as the Deputy Mayor said; there were only two people in the cell opposite, and the sign on the cell door had a small plant drawn on it. David immediately guessed that this was the room for those who bet on Poison Ivy.

But he still didn't understand why things had developed like this. Just as he revealed a puzzled expression, the Deputy Mayor snorted coldly and said:

"Don't you understand yet? That Shiler is a liar, and the most dangerous and crazy criminal. All of this is a trap he created!"

The Deputy Mayor reached out and grabbed something from the side. David looked closely and found that it was actually the trap booklet that had been sent to them before.

Then he understood what the Deputy Mayor meant. The Death Pool scandal was exposed, ultimately leading them to fall into the abyss. And the initiator of this gambling pool was Shiler; only he had the reason and ability to expose this booklet. All of this was his trap.

But it was too late to realize this now. And it seemed he didn't just want to ruin their reputations, but wanted to squeeze out their last bit of value, using their lives to have a truly exciting and bloody Death Pool.

The chaos in the Upper District was still continuing, but the GTO team led by Nightwing keenly sensed that something was wrong.

"Someone reported to the police again, their family members have gone missing." A team member in uniform walked over and said.

"What does Batgirl say?"

"Too many surveillance cameras were destroyed, leading to incomplete surveillance footage, and she doesn't know which street they went missing on either. Could it be the Angel of Death?"

"Impossible. The Angel of Death is keen on fire and explosions; the place where he is must be full of firelight, it's absolutely impossible for people to go missing so quietly."

"Nightwing, you have to see this." Batgirl walked over and handed Nightwing a mobile phone, on which a surveillance video was playing.

A woman wrapped up tightly was lowering her head to fiddle with something in the trunk. At the edge of the surveillance blind spot, one could see a shoe; what was packed in the trunk was clearly a living person.

Nightwing stared intently at the scars on the back of the woman's hand that had been corroded by chemicals.

"Clown Maria..." He whispered, "I knew she wouldn't be quiet for so long. But why does she want to kidnap these rich people?"

"I guess she prepared a surprise game." Batgirl sighed and said, "She knows Batman isn't dead, and she wants to use this method to lure Batman out."

?? The reason there were so many typos yesterday was because the author was outside, went to an internet cafe to type, but didn't really know how to use the keyboard, and the cursor was always misselected, leading to inserting words in the wrong place. I've arrived home today.

? (There might still be some errors because the proofreader has been busy recently, everyone can just use the error correction function when you see them.)

? (End of chapter)