Chapter 3663: Evil Force (Twelve)

"Dr. Shiler! It's Dr. Shiler!!!" Many people began to cheer. Looking at the figure appearing in the lens, many film critics also smiled knowingly.

"No wonder he hasn't been accepting media interviews recently; turns out he was filming a new movie." Someone shook their head and said, "I said so. When I followed his personal account before, he seemed quite amiable, not the type to act like a diva. If it was for movie secrecy, that makes sense."

"But he really is quite something." The person next to them said, "So many media outlets and paparazzi staked out the sanatorium for half a month, and they didn't figure out they were filming a movie."

"You don't understand. They're filming a mockumentary. Didn't you see most shots just need a camera hanging around the neck? Without a film crew, naturally you can't tell they're filming a movie."

"I feel this isn't entirely a mockumentary either. The editing in the middle interspersed quite a few monologues and explanations about certain past events. It counts as a kind of hybrid mockumentary. Feels pretty good."

"Did you know? This movie reminded me of James Wan's 'Insidious' series, and 'Sinister.' They're all very classic indoor horror films. Not many scary shots, but they just make your hair stand on end."

"Did you notice? This doctor is much more amiable than he acted in 'Ilvermorny.' Is he trying to reverse the audience's impression of him with this? But this is a horror movie!"

The audience in the front rows kept discussing. The Avengers members sitting next to them weren't idle either. Natasha vaulted over the chair back, gave Shiler a thumbs up, and said, "I thought you didn't like acting. Didn't expect you'd act in two films back to back. What are you planning to promote with this one?"

"Keep watching and you'll know." Shiler smiled and said.

"Right." Eddie propped his feet on the ground, spun his swivel chair, pointed at a spot on the screen, looked at Shiler next to him, and said, "You said to plant foreshadowing here, but you only gave me a pile of police case footage. How do you want me to cut it?"

"Just splice the footage together." Shiler said, "Film the construction crew first, cut the shot, film the police cars driving into the community, use this shot of a bunch of police surrounding a house, then cut to the newspaper content. That's it."

"You want to imply something happened in that house?"

"Exactly. But actually nothing of the sort happened. Mephisto doesn't have the guts to steal ordinary people's souls right under the Sorcerer Supreme's nose. So he didn't create any tragedy. But to render the atmosphere, we can only borrow modern journalism techniques and wrong him a little."

"This isn't journalism, at least not mine." Eddie rolled his eyes, but still did as he said, splicing a pile of footage together, creating the plot that a tragedy occurred in a certain house and police came to investigate.

"Oh god, this newspaper shot won't work." Eddie said again, "You didn't even focus on this; the words can't be seen clearly. You really should learn photography."

"Can't help it, I'm an amateur, and this was a whim." Shiler shrugged and said, "Good thing I got the original newspaper. You help me shoot it."

Eddie took the newspaper from his hand, walked to the table next to him, and set up the camera. The lens aimed at the newspaper's front page headline, which read the front page headline fabricated by Shiler:

"Today's missing persons count has reached 23, with 2 new deaths. Police have fully sealed off the community. Citizens are requested not to go out at night and to protect their own safety."

Danny put down the newspaper, took another bite of his sandwich, then dragged a stool over and sat next to Shiler, who was looking up data on the computer, and asked, "Found anything?"

"The sanatorium's director, Dr. Rodriguez, has nothing special. Identity and education info are all public; he's even a minor celebrity online, and friends with superheroes. He shouldn't be a cultist or anything. But this sanatorium..."

"What about the sanatorium?" Danny asked with some curiosity.

"Just recently, the sanatorium underwent a renovation. Most buildings didn't change, but the civil hard finishes and soft furnishings were all redone. Don't you think that's a bit too coincidental?"

Danny thought for a moment and said, "You think the evil forces rampaging here might be related to the sanatorium's renovation?"

"If Mephisto wants to return to the mortal world, he must have an entrance. He would need his believers to summon him over. And to perform a summoning ritual, naturally a venue is needed. This is the Google Maps satellite view I found of the sanatorium before and after renovation. Can you spot the difference?"

Danny looked at the screen. On the left and right sides of the screen sat a Google Maps satellite aerial view each. The sanatorium's various buildings were clearly visible. One could see the renovated sanatorium's wall colors and yard arrangements were different, but the buildings were largely in the same positions.

"Wait." Danny said, "There seems to be an issue here. Is this a warehouse? Why was it removed? And what's this yellow thing?"

"That was indeed originally a warehouse." Shiler nodded and said, "But in the renovated sanatorium, the warehouse was removed, yet a sandpit appeared. Don't you think that's strange? Why would a sanatorium build a sandpit?"

Danny thought for a moment and said, "It is indeed strange. There are no kids here, no long jump athletes. What's the point of building a sandpit? Might as well keep the original warehouse."

"The problem might lie right here." Shiler said, "What can a sandpit do?"

"There's sand in a sandpit." After saying that, Danny looked a bit embarrassed. He scratched his head, then shook his head, obviously unable to figure out what a sandpit had to do with a demon.

"Sand is soft, it can be dug up." Shiler said, "If you want to find an entrance for a hidden basement, this is a good choice. At least more concealed than a cellar door, right?"

Danny suddenly realized. Shiler continued, "Johnny said there might be some vessel of Mephisto's power existing in the sanatorium. If it's an object, fine. If it's a person, he might be watching us right now. We can't act rashly."

"It's fine, the power goes out tonight. We'll wait until a bit later and go dig at the sandpit. If there really is an entrance, it shouldn't be buried very deep. We can go down and investigate. As long as we destroy Mephisto's portal to the mortal world, that remaining bit of power is nothing to fear."

Shiler nodded, then the two of them went to find Johnny to discuss this plan. Johnny didn't seem very agreeable, but couldn't hold out against their insistence, so he could only nod.

When night fell, Johnny stayed in the sanatorium, watching the situation inside. Shiler and Danny took advantage of the night to leave the sanatorium's main building and head toward the sandpit.

Arriving near the sandpit, Shiler crouched down, grabbed a handful of sand, and said, "Seems a bit off. It hasn't rained these past few days, and the temperature has been rising. The sand's surface shouldn't be this wet. Unless..."

"Unless someone disturbed it recently." Danny thought of it too. He took a deep breath, gripped the cross in his hand, sensed his connection with the Spirit of Vengeance again, and then said, "Maybe he's inside right now. We have to go down and look. We can't let anyone else get hurt."

They picked up shovels and started digging. The sand was loose, so it was easy to dig. After just a few shovelfuls, Danny probed down with his shovel, then said, "It's hard underneath. That's not right. A normal sandpit couldn't have this little sand."

They hurried and dug for a while more. Shiler crouched down, brushed away the last bit of sand, and saw a black door below.

"As expected. The original warehouse had a cellar door. After the warehouse was demolished, to cover up the cellar door, a sandpit was built here."

"I have a question." Danny said, "Only the sanatorium's owner should have the authority to decide what gets built inside the sanatorium, right?"

Shiler stayed silent. He felt along the edge of the cellar door with his hand. Suddenly, with a "Click," the door was pushed open a crack. An extremely thick smell of charring wafted out from within.

Both were choked, coughing as they backed away. Danny even fell back onto his butt, constantly waving the cross in his hand, trying to dispel this terrible smell.

Shiler pried the door open with his shovel. A clump of ash flew out, slowly scattering on the ground. Shiler peered inside, then said, "Seems there's light. Shall we go down?"

"Let's go." Danny gripped the cross and said, "We have to go."

Danny jumped down first, then Shiler. The ground below was very flat, and even the charred smell wasn't as thick as at the start. The two moved through the dark corridor.

"Have you seen Nelson?" Shiler asked.

"Who's that?"

"A patient in the sanatorium. After I posted the analysis about the mastermind behind the movie, he messaged me, telling me all the anomalies about the sanatorium. He said someone here has already been controlled by the devil, and the devil has started appearing in his dreams."

"He wasn't bewitched by the devil?"

"I don't know. The Bishop told me he's special, but it's also possible he's already been bewitched. Him contacting me proactively was to lure me here."

"And the person who contacted us is the sanatorium's owner, Dr. Rodriguez. Who do you think would be the devil's vessel?"

"I don't know, Danny. It's possible everything we've seen is a facade, the devil's trick to deceive us. Before finding the true source, we absolutely cannot let our guard down."

Suddenly, Shiler twitched his nose and said, "Do you smell blood?"

Danny took a deep breath, his expression grave as he nodded. They continued deeper, and at the end of the corridor saw a door. Faint light seeped from the door crack, and the smell of blood grew stronger.

The two walked to the door. Shiler opened the door a crack and looked inside. A young man in a patient gown was crouching on the ground, and before him lay a corpse with its abdominal cavity cut open. His hands were covered in blood, his mouth and face also smeared with blood, continuously digging out the corpse's organs and eating them.

His movements suddenly stopped, then he slowly turned his head around.

The light went out.

"Ahhhhh!!!"

A shrill scream rang out in the pitch darkness. Danny clutched the cross tightly, completely at a loss. Suddenly, a glow stick was thrown out, just happening to illuminate a face full of fresh blood, ferocious and terrifying.

Danny was tackled to the ground, and the young man bit down on his arm. Danny let out a cry of pain, but with all his strength he managed to throw the young man off. Shiler also walked over, just wanting to grab the young man's arm, when he was struck by an unknown force and sent flying.

Danny hurriedly scrambled up and smashed the cross against the young man's back, but it failed to inflict any damage. Danny tried to call upon the Spirit of Vengeance, but the Spirit of Vengeance did not stir at all.

The two could only grapple with each other. But the opponent's strength was immense; in two or three moves he slammed Danny to the ground. That blood-smeared face looked like a devil in the darkness.

Just as Danny was panting rapidly, desperately backing away, he heard a "Bang." The young man, like an evil ghost, collapsed before him. In the faint light of the glow stick, Danny saw the face of the sanatorium's owner, Doctor Rodriguez.

?? Here I come!

? (End of chapter)