When Roy got to Dahlia's apartment, he saw the door wide open, the deadbolt broken, and overturned furniture.
"Dahlia?"
There was no response from inside. Looking at the still-swinging door, Roy realized something was wrong.
Had Mahogany already gotten to her?
The door was still moving, so those guys probably hadn't gone far yet.
Roy was about to run out when he heard some movement coming from the bedroom.
Someone else was there?
Roy immediately thought of Dahlia's daughter.
"Ceci, is that you?"
Sensing fear, Roy quickly found Dahlia's daughter, Ceci, under the bed.
The little girl was clutching a doll, her face full of terror.
It seemed like the little girl must have just seen something that scared her so badly.
"Ceci, I'm a friend of your mom's. Don't you remember me? Your mom even brought you to watch my fight last night!"
When Roy said that, Ceci finally remembered.
"You're that handsome big brother who boxes... no, uncle!"
Yeah, being good-looking has its perks. People always remember you more easily.
Now that Ceci remembered, the fear in her heart instantly dissipated.
Roy reached out and pulled the little girl out from under the bed.
"Oops, if Uncle found me, does that mean I don't get McDonald's?"
What McDonald's?
Roy was taken aback for a moment, but he knew kids' thoughts were always all over the place, so he just went along with what she said.
"Of course not! If Ceci wants McDonald's, Uncle will take you to get all you want!"
"Yay!"
Ceci cheered, but her mood quickly turned somber again.
"Uncle, Mommy just got taken away by two policemen. Aren't the police supposed to catch bad guys? Why did they take Mommy?"
So it was the LAPD who did it!
"Ceci, can you tell me when this happened?"
"Just now!"
"How long ago is 'just now'?"
"Just now!"
Roy smacked his forehead, feeling a bit silly for trying to discuss time with a five or six-year-old.
With no other choice, Roy reached down and picked Ceci up. It was a bit dangerous to leave this little girl at home; it was better to take her with him.
"Ceci, I'm going to take you to find your mommy right now."
"Uncle, are you going to beat up those two policemen like you beat up that black guy?"
"I will!"
Carrying Ceci back to his car, Roy planned to take Ceci to a safer place first before going to the subway tunnels to find Dahlia.
So, the question was, where in Los Angeles was the safest place right now?
The Dolphin Hotel, of course!
"Mr. Black, why are you back?"
Gerald in the office looked at Roy strangely, because Roy was carrying a cute little girl in his arms.
"Mr. Orlin, some things you might want to stop, but the other side doesn't want to!"
Gerald didn't get to his position by being an idiot. He looked at Ceci and a thoughtful expression appeared on his face.
"So, Mr. Black, what are you planning to do?"
"Since they dared to mess with my friend, they better be ready to face my retaliation. This is personal! Texas cowboy, always settles the score!"
Roy looked at Gerald firmly, making his attitude clear.
Gerald nodded, indicating he understood.
"I understand! But as the director of the FEA's Los Angeles branch, I can't offer you any help. At most, I can only help you clean up afterwards."
"That's enough, Mr. Orlin. By the way, could you help me take care of little Ceci?"
"Of course, no problem."
Roy put Ceci down and then knelt down to talk to the little girl.
"Ceci, why don't you sleep here for the night? Your mommy will be back with you by morning."
It was actually already very late, way past a child's bedtime. Ceci was already very sleepy and had been yawning constantly in the car.
But in an unfamiliar environment, a child would definitely be scared.
The current situation was that Ceci was pulling on Roy's clothes, not wanting him to leave.
Then Gerald walked over, wearing what he probably thought was a very kind smile.
"You're little Ceci, right? Don't be afraid, Uncle's place is very safe!"
As a result, Ceci saw the smile on Gerald's face and immediately burst into tears, which made him very awkward.
Roy looked at Gerald sideways.
"Do you have any idea what you look like? Hurry up and get a female agent to take Ceci!"
Gerald coughed awkwardly twice.
"Actually, I'm considered a handsome guy among black people, especially when I was younger."
Roy was too lazy to pay attention to Gerald's self-boasting. He handed Ceci over to a female agent and then left the hotel.
Watching Roy's departing figure, the expression on Gerald's face gradually disappeared. He then walked to his desk and picked up the phone, dialing a number.
"Immediately order all members of the First Response Assault Reconnaissance Team (F.E.A.R.) to standby! Remember, this is not a drill!"
When Roy got to the parking lot, his phone rang again. He took it out and saw an unfamiliar number.
"Hello, who is this?"
"Hehe, Mr. Black, have you forgotten so quickly?"
Roy certainly wouldn't forget that emotionless, cold tone.
"Are you the subway driver?"
"Yes, I'm glad you still remember me, Mr. Black."
Roy took a deep breath, suppressing the anger in his heart.
"Did you guys grab Dahlia?!"
"Are you referring to Ms. O'Connor? She is indeed in our hands."
Roy didn't want to waste any more words with the subway driver and directly questioned him.
"You're looking for me, right? Tell me where Dahlia is, and I'll be there right now!"
"Ha! Although we are enemies, I must admire your courage, Mr. Black! Alright, since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. Go take the last subway train right now, and it will bring you to us. Remember, only you! Otherwise..."
Dahlia's voice suddenly came from the other end of the phone.
"Roy, don't come! There are so many monsters here!"
Judging by her voice, Dahlia was scared, but she didn't seem to be hurt.
This made Roy breathe a sigh of relief.
"Okay, I'll be right there! Before I arrive, you better not hurt Dahlia!"
"Or what?"
"You'll find out!"
After coldly saying the last sentence, Roy drove his Chevrolet Camaro to the nearest subway station entrance.
Luckily, Roy managed to catch the last subway train and saw the butcher, Mahogany.
Mahogany was still wearing the same suit as that day, carrying a large black leather bag. If you just looked at his clothes, it would be hard to imagine that this guy was a murderous demon.
When he saw Roy appear, Mahogany's eyes twitched. The beating he took that day seemed to be starting to ache again.
Roy ignored Mahogany and started roughly driving the last subway train's passengers off the train, forcing everyone to get off.
Because they feared Roy's strength, Mahogany's eyes twitched wildly, but he didn't stop Roy's actions.
Finally, after all the passengers on the subway were forced out, the last train finally started moving.
The subway roared through the tunnel, and before long, it arrived at an old, dilapidated section of the tunnel.
The walls of this section of the tunnel were covered in fungus and seemed to have never been maintained by any staff.
Soon after, the subway slowly stopped. Mahogany took the lead and got off the subway, and Roy followed.
The tunnel was very dark. Roy could only see his surroundings by the light of the subway car, but Mahogany didn't seem to be affected and led Roy forward.
There were no more tracks ahead, and no signs of an artificial tunnel. It was completely a natural cave.
The ground here was covered in human skeletons. It seemed that for the past ten years, the butcher had been transporting the people he killed here to feed those monsters.
However, the subway driver this time wasn't the same one as before, which indicated that the subway company also had big problems.
Mahogany couldn't speak, which made Roy a bit bored. He silently walked through the dark cave for more than ten minutes before arriving at a huge underground cavern.
There was finally some light here. Someone had lit many torches in the underground cavern.
Roy saw a small mountain made of skulls in the center of the underground cavern. An inverted cross was erected on the mountain, and Dahlia was hanging upside down on this inverted cross.
The upright cross represents Christ, while the inverted cross represents the Antichrist, which is to say, the devil.
The symbolism of this thing was similar to the inverted pentagram, generally a symbol of evil cults.
"You've finally arrived, Mr. Black! We've been waiting for you for a long time!"
The subway driver walked out of the darkness. He looked at Roy with a blank expression, his eyes devoid of any emotion.
Roy glanced at Dahlia. Her head was a bit congested from hanging upside down for a while, but she was still struggling desperately.
Dahlia's mouth was bound with cloth, so she couldn't speak.
"Is it just you? Then you can't stop me."
The subway driver showed a stiff smile, very much like an impersonator trying to imitate a real person smiling.
Along with this harsh laughter, a large number of monsters appeared from the darkness, the same kind he had seen in the subway tunnel that day, at least a hundred of them.
It seemed that the subway driver felt like he had victory in his grasp.
"I'm curious, how did you guys create such a large cavern underground in Los Angeles?"
Roy had many doubts in his mind. It just so happened that the subway driver had the upper hand on the surface, so maybe he could get some information out of him.
The smile on the subway driver's face stopped, and his expression returned to calmness.
"There's no harm in telling you. Our kind migrated here hundreds of years ago and lived in this underground area. About a hundred years ago, someone contacted us and made a deal with us. They are responsible for concealing our existence, and we just need to provide them with blood every once in a while."
Sure enough, there was a large organization concealing these monsters. Roy really wanted to know what this organization was called.
"Which organization are you talking about?"
"You'll know the answer soon enough. That organization happens to be interested in you as well. They will come to take you away personally. But your friend won't be so lucky; she will become our food!"
As soon as the subway driver finished speaking, Roy heard footsteps coming from behind him. It should be the people from the organization he was talking about.
Then, a team of mercenaries walked in from the tunnel. These mercenaries' outfits looked very familiar.
Looking closely, they were actually mercenaries from the Wooden House!
So, the Wooden House was cooperating with these monsters?
"Mr. Shapeshifter, we have brought the food as agreed. Can we take this person away now?"
The mercenaries brought in ten bound people. Judging by their orange jumpsuits, they should be some kind of hardened criminals.
"Of course, you can take the people away."
Roy looked at the surrounding mercenaries, feeling like he probably wouldn't be able to get any information out of them, so he prepared to make a move.
"Excuse me, did anyone ask for my opinion?"
Two mercenaries walked up, wanting to escort Roy away, but Roy pulled out his cursed dual daggers and stabbed them through the heart.
Roy used his Eyes of Judgment and saw that these mercenaries were all heinous criminals, so he could kill them without any hesitation.
The mercenary captain realized that Roy dared to resist and immediately ordered them to open fire.
These people clearly wanted to capture Roy alive, and the weapons they used were tranquilizer guns.
Unfortunately for them, Roy's reaction was very fast. He quickly grabbed the two people he had just stabbed and used them as shields to block the surrounding tranquilizer darts.
A constitution of 46 meant that Roy was basically immune to bullets as long as they didn't hit vital points.
But it didn't necessarily make him immune to tranquilizers. With so many tranquilizer darts hitting him, even if he didn't immediately fall unconscious, it could still affect his nerve reactions.
"Use tear gas!"
The mercenary captain continued to give orders, still using non-lethal weapons. But after giving the order, he suddenly noticed a faint shadow of a woman in white appearing before him.
Where did this woman come from?
The woman in white got closer and closer. Her face was completely covered by long hair, and the chill emanating from her body made the mercenary captain feel like he was suffocating.
Then, many mercenary members also screamed. They seemed to have seen similar terrifying images.
It's a hallucination! It must be a hallucination!
The mercenary captain bit his tongue, trying to clear his head, but the woman in white in front of him didn't disappear. Instead, she got closer and closer, so close that he could already see her large, bloodshot eyes.
"Ah—"
The mercenary captain finally couldn't help but scream.
The emotion of fear spread rapidly through the scene like a virus. Although the tear gas had been thrown out, the mercenary team was clearly in chaos.
The group of monsters in the distance looked at the mercenary team strangely, not knowing why they were in disarray, but the monsters didn't offer any help.
The agreement between the monsters and the Wooden House only involved Roy; other matters were not part of their deal.
Amidst the chaos, a powerful shockwave suddenly erupted from within the tear gas, instantly blowing the tear gas away.
Then, a tall man covered in black gas walked out. In his hand, he held a large, serrated sword burning with raging flames.
"Are you ready to face true fear?"
Ghoul Monster