Chapter 4831

Everyone moved just like when they had dealt with Manus's corpse earlier — acting first, then carrying the body down to the cellar. When they returned, Steve said with some puzzlement, "How come we didn't hear any noise?"

The others were also a bit puzzled, because everyone here had sharp ears and keen eyes. Not to mention possessing superhuman senses, their hearing was certainly more acute than ordinary people's. Although everyone's physical qualities had improved now, and it wasn't difficult for an adult to move a corpse, it should have been impossible to make absolutely no sound at all. Yet strangely, no one had heard anything.

Dracula said the house had excellent soundproofing, and only then did Greed recall: "We were sitting in the great hall at the very front, and the back door was shut too — not hearing any sound is perfectly normal."

"But this can't go on," Steve said with a frown. "Who knows how many more corpses they'll send over; before long the cellar won't have any room left."

It was clear that although Steve had made a decision, he still wavered, wanting to find an excuse to intervene but not knowing where to start.

"We do need to think of something," Greed spoke up. "Judging from their actions so far, they are completely powerless against ghosts. That's actually not good either."

Everyone turned to look at him. Greed continued: "If we want to thoroughly resolve things here, we have to figure out what exactly is causing the supernatural phenomena in this place. Although we've speculated a lot before, it's all just guesswork — none of us are the parties involved."

"Hampton's people clearly know something. If they're too weak, they'll all be killed by ghosts or suffer mental breakdowns before the housewarming party even arrives, and then we won't be able to get anything out of them."

"What do you plan to do?" Stark asked. "I can use the arc reactor to restore power to Hampton, but that's not a long-term solution either. These ghosts stem from their own delusions; if they can't overcome their own delusions, they're doomed."

"Let's make a trip to Augustus's house," Greed said. "Bucky, Coulson, and I will go; the rest of you stay here."

Hearing Greed's selection, they all knew — Greed was probably intending to employ some extreme measures. Bringing a superhero like Captain America along wouldn't be appropriate.

"Stephen..." Steve suggested another candidate, because he felt the Sorcerer Supreme should be able to protect them.

Greed shook his head: "No need. Matters here can't compare to the importance of his medical records."

Greed changed clothes and left with the others. Snow kept falling outside, but fortunately the snowplows ran on diesel and weren't affected by the power outage. The social workers were still fairly conscientious; although they sensed the community atmosphere was a bit off, they still diligently cleared the snow from the roads. They drove and soon arrived at the gates of Augustus's estate.

The place was already desolate — not even the lights were on, only the living room showed a bit of firelight. When they walked in, they saw Augustus, the father of the two bride sisters, curled up beside the fireplace.

"Don't kill me... don't kill me... I just loved my daughters too much. You falling was just an accident... you're all dead, there's no need to implicate my daughter..."

Greed merely walked over, took one look, and sighed: "He's completely lost his mind."

"From what he's saying, his daughter caused someone to fall to their death before, and he helped cover it up, so that's why he's so afraid now?" Coulson speculated.

"If it were just that, he would have convinced himself long ago," Bucky shook his head. "The matter of the deaths must have a very strong connection to him for him to be this terrified."

"Let me ask him," Greed said.

Both men knew his abilities, so they didn't speak, just watched. Greed quickly began hypnotizing Augustus — actually quite difficult, because a person who has completely broken down won't cooperate. Greed could only administer some fear toxin to him, fighting poison with poison, and only then extracted some information.

Simply put, Augustus's estate originally had two maids. The recently widowed Augustus took a fancy to one of them and constantly harassed and teased her.

His two daughters didn't want their father to remarry so soon, because if he remarried and had new children, he might not value the two of them as much. So they devised ways to push that maid down the stairs.

After Augustus discovered it, he helped the sisters cover it up, staging the maid's death to look like a hanging suicide.

The remaining maid, being a fellow townsman of the victim and on good terms with her, thought to report it — but Augustus silenced her too, staging it as a wrist-slitting suicide.

The police were all bought off, and both maids were outsiders with no backing whatsoever, so despite the case being full of suspicious points, it was just muddled through and closed.

"No wonder his younger daughter was strangled to death, and his elder daughter has many wounds on her arms — the same ways those two maids died," Bucky said.

"I implanted some memories in him," Greed continued. "Temporarily pulling him out of his mental breakdown, and making him vaguely remember that he himself killed his two daughters."

Coulson realized almost instantly what Greed intended. Sure enough, Greed looked at him and said: "You drive him to the police station now. Say he contacted you wanting to turn himself in."

Coulson nodded and went to handle it. Greed and Bucky soon returned to the estate. Before long Coulson came back too. He said: "The station took Augustus in. They looked relieved. The snow might stop soon."

"It won't be that easy," Greed shook his head. "Using Augustus as a scapegoat, giving them an excuse to convince themselves, can indeed raise their mental defense to a certain degree. If we'd done this before the power outage and the area lockdown, it would definitely have been very effective."

"But now, large-scale supernatural phenomena have already occurred. Trying to convince yourself this has nothing to do with ghosts while experiencing ghost walls — the difficulty is completely different. Self-deception has its limits."

"Then you intend to..."

"Augustus won't hold together for long. He'll soon collapse again, and then be killed in the police station."

"So the police will break down and come to us first?" Steve guessed. "That way we don't have to wait for the housewarming party; they'll reveal some things to us."

But Greed shook his head again: "Bearing official duties yet able to lie with eyes wide open — a corrupt cop's moral baseline is certainly lower than others'. They'll blame heaven and earth, but never themselves."

Steve thought for a moment, and it was indeed true. Police have professional obligations; putting on the uniform means bearing responsibility. At least when they first became cops, they surely received such education — so the burden of doing evil should be heavier than for ordinary people. Yet even so they can act with impunity, which proves they must be even worse than others. Hoping for such people to have a conscience awaken is unrealistic.

"Gotham at least has a James Gordon. Hampton might not lack a good cop with a conscience either. As long as there's one person unaffected, he'll definitely come find us — because the police know the Avengers are here."

Only then did Steve's face show sudden realization, but he still asked with some doubt: "Will there really be one? The few cops who came looking for us — it seemed like they were all seeing ghosts in this house."

"Being able to see ghosts doesn't necessarily mean doing something unconscionable," Greed shook his head. "Like me and Tony — we haven't done anything unconscionable here either, yet we can still sense supernatural phenomena. You too. Seeing ghosts only means knowing the inside story; being attacked by ghosts is what indicates a guilty conscience."

Steve nodded — indeed. Since coming here, although they'd seen supernatural phenomena, they hadn't been attacked. It was like — although he still occasionally saw a vague human figure in reflective surfaces, that figure just stood there quietly, showing some loneliness and sadness, with no aggression at all.

And the supernatural phenomena Greed encountered were even milder — just cups and dishes flying up, the rug occasionally shifting position. The supernatural phenomena encountered by people who haven't done bad things are indeed just poltergeists as Dracula said, not worthy of being called ghosts at all.

"As for whether there really is such a good cop, I think there is," Greed continued. "If it relied on Dracula alone, he probably couldn't have kept Hampton peaceful for this long. There must be someone who knows the inside story but truly hasn't done anything unconscionable, maintaining basic order and preventing miscarriages of justice. Otherwise, given these people's character, things wouldn't have dragged on until today before exploding."

After a moment's thought, the others also understood what he meant. If there were no restrictions at all, then with the moral baseline of these upper-class people, there would probably be countless wrongful cases every day — this place would simply have become a giant slaughterhouse, and the supernatural phenomena would have erupted on a large scale long ago; Dracula couldn't have suppressed it.

When they came to Hampton, basic order still existed here — proving the upper class still had scruples and didn't dare commit evil without restraint. Besides the possibility of ghosts retaliating against them, there must also be a force in reality that they fear. The kind where if they truly dared kill without bottom lines, the other side would definitely make them pay.

The existence of such people is the main reason Hampton hasn't completely fallen but can still be maintained. Combined with Dracula's forceful suppression, it's lasted this long.

"I originally wanted to wait until after the housewarming party, when the upper class would be terrified to the extreme and would naturally volunteer to hand this person over. But now it seems we have to draw him out first and make him act. Otherwise..."

"Bang!"

A sniper bullet directly shattered the second-floor window, passed through the skylight, and struck right in the center of the living room.

Stark's armor deployed instantly, a laser beam firing back along the sniper's trajectory. Bucky kicked off the wall and leapt to the second floor, blocking the line of fire. Steve grabbed the shield nearby and threw it to him.

"Don't!" Greed suddenly shouted. "Don't move!"

Steve looked at him with some puzzlement. This shot didn't seem like an attack, but the provocation was extremely strong — no one knew who would dare provoke the Avengers like this.

"Wait," Coulson also spoke up.

"Bang!"

Another loud crash — the second-floor window shattered directly. A tall figure jumped straight in, landing in the middle of the living room, scanning the people around. Upon seeing that outfit and the white skull emblem on the chest, Coulson covered his forehead.

"Captain Castle!" Coulson shouted at him. "What are you doing!"

The big man who had burst in also frowned deeply. At this moment, Greed walked over and picked up a sniper bullet head from among the floor fragments — it was a silver bullet.