Chapter 4826

"People with serious disabilities are more likely to suffer from mental illness than the average person." Arrogance suddenly spoke: "This isn't discrimination, it's just human nature. Any marginal existence unable to function normally in society has this problem."

"You mean, Manas's mental state isn't quite normal?" Steve asked, "But you also said she's unlikely to have committed suicide. Could it be that she had others help her kill herself?"

Arrogance suddenly fell silent again. The others discussed among themselves, but got nowhere, and Greed clearly wasn't interested in this. He looked at Natasha and said: "That guy who tried to frame you—did you lay a hand on him?"

"Didn't get the chance," Natasha said, "The scene was chaotic back then—I didn't have time to strike."

"Then let's go beat him up tonight," Greed said, "You should still be able to recognize him, right?"

"Of course. The moment he opens his mouth, I recognize him. And judging by his relationship with Augustus, he's probably from Hampton too. If we go door to door, we'll definitely find him."

Greed nodded and said: "Then let's go tonight."

"Are you really okay doing this?" Steve said helplessly, "Sure, this guy shouldn't have framed you, but things aren't clear yet. If you end up hurting him, what then?"

"Going to the hospital won't delay the investigation," Greed said, "Don't worry, we know what we're doing. Worst case, we just scare him."

"You don't say—this might actually get us some answers," Bucky said, clearly interested, "Let's prepare properly, then scare him a bit. He might just spill everything from today."

The three were discussing how to intimidate someone, but Arrogance seemed to skip the topic entirely, no longer talking about the murder or anything like it, which made Stark and the others feel puzzled. Because there's no doubt that earlier, Arrogance had shown great interest in the murder case—even being the most interested—but now he suddenly clammed up, which is clearly suspicious.

But they also didn't know how to bring it up. They just felt Arrogance was from a completely different world than them, and they'd never been on the same wavelength since they met.

So the topic was dropped. They started discussing what to eat for dinner. Since lunch had been pretty bad, everyone had given up on going out to eat and decided to just make something simple in the new house.

Greed had plenty of ingredients. He fried a few dishes, while others made sandwiches and salads. Everyone sat around the table eating, opened a few bottles of wine, chatted and laughed, until it was completely dark outside.

Arrogance didn't say much, but he wasn't actually out of place. He was also a good listener, able to make everyone feel seen when they spoke. He occasionally spoke up, not on the same wavelength as the group, yet still managed to bring in some fresh ideas.

After the meal, they'd gotten to know each other quite well. The Marvel people had already noticed: people from the neighboring world seem to be like this. They carry a kind of melancholic air, like someone sitting alone by the window on a cold rainy night. But after getting along with them for a while, they also realized that the joys and sorrows between the two worlds are shared. They're not outsiders—they just prefer to dwell in thought rather than expression.

They actually hadn't drunk much, but after the day everyone felt a bit tired. Steve tidied up the things in front of him while saying: "Alright, let's wrap it up and go to sleep. We might still have to move furniture tomorrow."

Everyone also said "break it up, break it up," preparing to go to their respective guest rooms. But just then, Arrogance said: "We might still need to wait a bit."

Everyone turned to look at him. Arrogance lowered his head and glanced at his watch: "About half an hour."

Stark was about to say something when Greed said: "Then let's go to the living room and watch a documentary. 'Following the Starks' is just about to air."

"What the hell," Stark said, "That's a Stark Industries documentary, not about my family. Don't make it sound like some lowbrow Hollywood reality show..."

So they went back to the living room and watched the documentary via holographic projection. In fact, this documentary is just a Stark Industries promotional piece, put together by Howard to record the family's glorious history. It's not badly shot—it just lacks entertainment value. Some people uninterested in it have already passed out on the sofa.

Suddenly, Steve sat up straight. He turned his head toward the backyard, reached out and nudged Natasha beside him on the sofa. Natasha hadn't drunk much, but she was actually already asleep, then jolted awake, looking at Steve with confusion and drowsiness.

They woke each other up. Stark was the last to wake—he yawned and was about to head upstairs when Greed lunged, grabbed him, and pointed toward the back door.

Stark hadn't noticed anything, feeling puzzled and about to speak, but Greed gestured for him to stay quiet. Meanwhile, Steve and Bucky had already crept silently to the back door.

The tactical movements honed in life-or-death battlefield trenches—like they were etched deep into their genes. They moved one after another, crossing cover, each yielding the other's line of fire. Approaching the window, Steve stood by the frame, body pressed against the wall, peeking out slightly—and then saw, under the moonlight, a figure digging at something.

Steve turned his head to look at the others on the sofa, but saw Arrogance's gray eyes, gleaming with a different light in the moonlight. He shook his head at him.

So Steve pressed down Bucky, who also wanted to peek, then silently returned to the sofa. Stark looked at him with a puzzled expression, while Steve only paid attention to Arrogance's movements.

But Arrogance yawned, turned his head, and went upstairs to sleep. Everyone else was left bewildered by him. Steve looked at Greed, who also yawned: "Go to sleep. We'll talk about anything tomorrow."

Everyone was shocked. Right now, someone's sneaking around your new home's backyard, digging in the soil—looks like no good person, and you've spotted them, yet your response is to just go to sleep? What's the point of staying up this late then?

But everyone had also gotten used to it. Greed does what he does for a reason. So they all dispersed, went back to their rooms, pulled the curtains, and tried not to think about it. After all, nothing could be more dangerous than Shiler.

But when Greed went upstairs, he didn't go to his own master bedroom—instead, he went to Arrogance's guest room. As soon as he entered, he asked: "What's going on? Who is that guy? Why didn't we just grab him?"

"No need," Arrogance said, "We've still got plenty of time."

Facing Greed's puzzled expression, Arrogance sat by the window, watching the figure digging hard in the garden, and began to explain his guesses. This continued until the moon was high in the sky.

The next morning, just as dawn broke, everyone rushed out to the garden. Steve walked around the spot, then said: "This guy's clearly a novice—he didn't even think to save the topsoil to replace it after burying. All around is damp, fresh earth..."

"He must have dug a hole here," Natasha also stepped forward and said, "Looks like it's not very deep. What was he trying to do?"

"Only digging it open will tell us," Coulson had already pulled out a shovel, handed one to Steve and each of the others. They started digging, but actually didn't need shovels—just a thin layer of soil covered the hole. Steve's one shovel strike made his face turn grim.

He pulled the shovel back, brushed aside the surface soil—and there, in the shallow pit, lay a woman's corpse. Natasha sucked in a breath of cold air: "Manas!"

Everyone stepped back several paces. At that moment, Greed and Arrogance just walked out from the back door. Everyone turned to look at them. Arrogance walked over, glanced at the corpse, and said: "As I suspected."

"Cut the mystery," Coulson's tone was nearly pleading, "If you know something, just explain it already—this is too weird!"

"This place is haunted," Arrogance said, and then fell silent. Everyone could only look pleadingly at Greed.

"Literally speaking, it's not just this manor that's haunted—the whole Hampton region is haunted." Greed spread his hands and said, "Before, there were no signs, possibly because they used some method to suppress supernatural events in this area. But now the suppression failed, so the cases started breaking out."

Steve looked enlightened: "Should be related to Dracula, right?"

"Exactly," Greed nodded and said, "We suspect the Hampton people made a deal with Dracula. They let him hunt here, but Dracula had to help them suppress supernatural phenomena. Now Dracula's gone, no one's suppressing it, so naturally..."

Greed lowered his head to look at the corpse in the pit. Everyone followed his gaze. The woman's body showed nothing special—because the weather's been cold, it hasn't started decaying yet, and looks almost like she's just asleep.

"You mean, Manas was killed by a ghost," Natasha said, looking at the corpse, "Her father and some of the guests know the truth—they don't want this getting out, so they're rushing to find a scapegoat."

"Ah, that's it," Steve sighed, "I was wondering what kind of person could make such a big crocodile so wary. Turns out it's not a person at all, but a supernatural phenomenon. Ordinary people—no matter how rich or powerful—probably can't do much against something like this."

"Then they brought the body here..." Coulson paused slightly, "Could it be they're hoping Dracula will come back to clean this up for them?"

"Don't you find Dracula's behavior kind of weird?" Stark suddenly said, "Out of nowhere, he runs off to the Xiah Empire, saying he wants to taste alien flesh—isn't that pretty ridiculous?"

"He's lived this long—he's definitely encountered aliens before. With his abilities, leaving Earth wouldn't be hard. If he wanted a change of flavor, he'd have done it long ago. But leaving now? Looks suspiciously like he's running away."

"Indeed," Coulson nodded and said, "And sure, the asking price seems high, but based on current New York real estate trends, the expected price should be much higher than this. He sold in a rush—looks like he's really trying to escape."

"Could it be Dracula couldn't handle this either?" Bucky proposed, "Suppressing supernatural phenomena isn't simple. Dracula may be a vampire, but I've never heard he's strong in magic. Maybe the situation here has deteriorated to the point even he can't contain it—but since he didn't fulfill the contract and fears trouble, he's rushing to find someone to take over."

"No wonder he came to you," Natasha said, looking at Stark, "He probably figured finding someone at his level wouldn't help either. Even if you can't solve it, you could at least bring in the Avengers."

"You didn't already know what was going on, did you?" Hawkeye asked skeptically.

"I grew up here," Stark didn't answer directly, "And you don't need to blame me for dragging Shiler into this—he grew up here too."

Everyone fell silent. Obviously, anyone with ties to Hampton knows part of the truth. They chose to stay, likely because they want to resolve this. Whether it's Stark, Steve, Natasha, or Shiler—and even Dracula, who's already fled—they all feel Hampton's problems can't be dragged out any longer.