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"She will dedicate herself to our great cause and return her soul to Knull's throne, bringing us pious blessings!"
Deehar's high-pitched voice was filled with fanaticism, and even an experienced old officer like Frank Castle couldn't help but feel a chill run down his spine when facing such mad cultists.
He frowned, his gaze sweeping over the devout faces of the surrounding cultists, his heart filled with confusion and incomprehension.
In this era of information explosion and advanced technology, how could anyone still be deluded by cults and believe in them so deeply?
He pondered in his heart, could these cults truly possess some kind of soul-bewitching magic that could make these fanatical believers willingly sacrifice their precious lives without hesitation?
But he knew in his heart that the answer was undoubtedly no.
At this moment, Frank Castle really wanted to shout at all the believers present: Damn it, a bunch of idiots!
But he could only bury this anger deep in his heart, maintaining a facade of composure.
"Alright then… but if I wasn't brought here to be sacrificed, then what do you want me for?" Frank Castle asked with a frown.
Deehar, with that eerie smile on her face, slowly replied, "Sheriff Frank, in fact, since its inception, our Dark Church has always welcomed individuals of social value like you to join. If you are willing to join us voluntarily…"
Her voice was very soft, yet it carried a seductive hint, as if weaving an invisible spiderweb from which one could not escape.
"Stop, just stop right there!"
Before the other party could finish speaking, Frank Castle eagerly interrupted her, his face showing a hint of anger and vigilance, and he said loudly:
"There are some things I still don't understand. You wouldn't be specifically using Misty to lure me in, would you?"
"But what if it wasn't me who went to the town at that time, but other officers? Wouldn't your plan have failed then?"
As he spoke, he quickly sorted out the clues in his mind, "Or… no matter who went there that day, they would eventually be brought back here by you?"
After speaking, Frank Castle stared intently at Deehar, trying to find the real answer from her expression.
"Giggle giggle…" Deehar chuckled, "I didn't expect Sheriff Frank to be so smart. You guessed correctly. The Dark Church's motto is to embrace all, so no matter which officer went to rescue Misty at that time, they would eventually be brought here."
She tilted her head slightly, a hint of cunning flashing in her eyes, "However, compared to other mediocre officers, I still prefer talented individuals like Sheriff Frank, who are both brave and resourceful."
"How about it, do you want to join us and worship the great Knull?"
No, is your initiation ceremony really so simple that someone would voluntarily agree to join?
Frank Castle felt a wave of disgust in his heart. He glanced at the empty altar in the center of the main hall. A faint smell of blood seemed to linger on the altar, making him want to vomit.
He said with a disgusted look, "You wouldn't think that just by letting me watch a sacrifice ceremony, I would willingly join you, would you?"
"Don't dream about it. My profession and my values absolutely forbid me from doing such brainless stupid things… So you'd better give up early!"
"To be honest, compared to joining your cult, I'd actually prefer to stay in the dark prison in the Underground Room. At least there I don't have to face your disgusting ugly face!"
"To be honest, compared to joining your cult, I'd actually prefer to stay in the dark prison in the Underground Room. At least there I don't have to face your disgusting ugly face!"
Frank Castle's voice was very firm, without the slightest hesitation or wavering.
Seeing Frank Castle's unyielding attitude, Deehar's face instantly darkened, and a fierce anger flashed in her originally charming eyes, clearly showing some displeasure.
Especially since the other party dared to say she was ugly, this made the anger in her heart burn fiercely.
You ignorant, self-absorbed, middle-aged, greasy old White man, don't you look in the mirror and see what you look like?
My beauty has been personally praised by My Lord Void Knight!
Pah, what an ungrateful bumpkin!
Deehar, in an extremely displeased mood, had prepared long speeches to persuade him to surrender, but now she forcibly swallowed them back.
However, in the end, she was still somewhat unwilling to give up, and she coldly reminded him:
"Sheriff Frank, you just rejected your only way out… You should know that 'The Gods Are Coming,' and in the future World, only the believers of Knull will be spared!"
"And the believers in this church at this moment are almost all ambitious individuals from all walks of life. They hold vast resources and financial power in their hands, and can easily help you achieve wishes that were originally impossible to realize!"
Death, money, power… even sex!
Frank Castle suddenly began to understand how these cults captivated people's hearts.
They first create a life-and-death, imminent crisis for you, and then offer you an extremely generous 'surrender' option. Under such an extreme contrast, it is believed that most people with wavering wills will voluntarily choose to compromise and thus join the Dark Church.
But the more he understood this, the more Frank Castle felt disgusted and resistant in his heart, and he immediately shook his head without hesitation, refusing, "Sorry, I'm not interested in your Knull."
"Miss Deehar, if you don't mind, please send someone to take me back to the prison now…" Frank Castle straightened his back and said fearlessly, "I want to enjoy some peace before you execute me!"
"That's truly a pity."
Seeing this, Deehar no longer insisted. She immediately raised her chin slightly and nodded to Misty Knight, who had been standing silently behind her, instructing:
"Misty, send Sheriff Frank back first."
"As for how to deal with him next, we'll wait for My Lord Void Knight to arrive before making a decision… But don't blame me for not reminding you, Sheriff Frank, by then, you truly won't have a choice!"
Void Knight?
Frank Castle silently memorized the name in his heart.
It seemed that this Deehar in front of him was merely a small leader, and the real mastermind should be that so-called Void Knight, right?
But who could his/her true identity be?
Subsequently, pushed by Misty Knight, Frank Castle walked back along the original path to the Underground Room where he had been held earlier.
But when he reached a corridor, he suddenly kicked Misty Knight, who was following behind him. The latter was caught off guard and stumbled, almost falling.
Frank Castle then charged forward a few steps, reaching the rectangular steel grating on the ground. He used his hands to pull up the grating and jumped down without a second thought.
This was the only way he had observed carefully on his way in that offered a chance to escape!
Although he had no idea whether this secret passage led to the sewers or somewhere else, for Frank Castle at this moment, as long as it allowed him to no longer remain here, that was enough!
"Roar—"
Misty Knight, realizing what had happened, let out a roar, and then the dark Symbiote instantly enveloped her entire body like a surging black tide. Her body began to swell, and her muscles bulged.
However, because her body instantly expanded to about three meters, she was unable to smoothly enter the Underground passage like Frank Castle.
"What's going on?"
Deehar hurried over after hearing the roar.
She looked at the steel grating that had been flipped open on the ground, her face instantly darkened, and she asked coldly, "Where is he? Where is Frank Castle?"
Misty Knight pointed in the direction of the sewer, explaining with a trembling voice, "My Lord Deehar, I'm afraid he has already gone down into the drainage pipe through this passage!"
"Useless, you useless good-for-nothing!"
Deehar was immediately enraged, and the dark Symbiote instantly enveloped her entire body. Her originally slender figure instantly became robust and muscular, like a demon from the dark abyss.
She lifted Misty Knight in front of her and mercilessly rebuked her, "My Lord Void Knight is about to arrive, and you've caused such a huge mess at a time like this…"
"I don't care, it's all your responsibility that he escaped. If you don't want to be punished, then you'd better catch him back before My Lord Void Knight arrives and atone for your mistakes!"
"Yes." Misty Knight quickly scrambled up from the ground, pleading with a trembling voice, "Please forgive me, My Lord Deehar, I promise I will catch him back!"
…
Twenty meters below the church.
Frank Castle crawled forward continuously along a narrow, concrete-poured drainage pipe that could only accommodate one person crawling and was filled with various pungent, foul odors.
His body rubbed against the rough pipe wall, and every step forward was extremely difficult, but the desire to survive drove him to keep crawling.
Soon, he successfully reached a very wide main drainage channel.
The spaciousness of this main drainage channel greatly exceeded his expectations; it would even be appropriate to describe it as a tunnel.
Its overall height was about 5 meters, with a main drainage channel about 5 meters wide in the middle, and pedestrian paths about 1 meter wide on both sides for maintenance personnel.
Many pipes of varying thickness and purpose were also laid on the walls on both sides, including lines that supplied power to the Underground lighting equipment.
Since it was not the rainy season, even in the main drainage channel in the middle, there was not much Water flowing, only less than twenty to thirty centimeters of turbid sewage slowly flowing, with various garbage floating on the surface, emitting waves of putrid odor.
"Phew, it looks like I made the right bet!"
Frank Castle clutched his left arm, which had been injured during the fall, and the pain from the wound made him frown.
He walked unsteadily along the drainage channel, although he was not sure where he was heading.
But according to common sense, the Underground sewers of any city should have a steel ladder leading to the ground every so often.
They either connect to the gutters set up along the roads, or to the circular manhole covers found in streets and alleys!
If he was lucky enough for it to be the latter, then Frank Castle could successfully escape from here!
However, he had not gone far when he saw many claw marks on the walls on both sides of the passage, as if left by a Beast's sharp claws!
Those claw marks were deeply embedded in the wall, looking very ferocious.
"Could there be Symbiote monsters lurking here too?"
Frank Castle's heart tightened at the sight, and he cautiously slowed his pace, advancing carefully. But before he had gone much further, he saw more than a dozen brutally decapitated corpses behind a corner.
These bodies had clearly been piled here for some time, and their grayish-White, balloon-like corpses were covered with nauseating maggots, emitting a strong stench similar to rotting flesh and animal entrails.
The smell was so intense it was almost suffocating.
But even so, Frank Castle still endured the pungent stench, covering his mouth and nose with his hand and clothes, and slowly walked forward, beginning to search the pockets of those corpses, hoping to find a phone with power in it.
Heaven helps those who help themselves!
When he searched the fifth body, Frank Castle finally found a phone with one bar of battery left, and it was one without any screen lock.
A hint of pleasant surprise flashed in his eyes, "Merciful God, I am Your most loyal believer…"
"I know that for a long time in the past, due to work, I have somewhat neglected communication with You, but even so, I am still Your most loyal believer, please be sure to believe this!"
"Regarding my work and life, I have never made any requests to You, but this time… right now, I want to ask You for something…"
Frank Castle used trembling fingers to dial a number on the phone, then held the phone high and prayed devoutly:
"Please grant me some signal, so I can escape from this cursed place!"
…
Meanwhile, on the other side.
Osborn Tower.
In a certain laboratory, Peter Parker, who was originally working with Harry Osborn to build a signal emitter, quickly asked when he saw Gwen walk in from outside the door with a phone:
"Gwen, what did the Hyperspace Group say? Are they… willing to help us with this operation?"
"I don't know either…"
Gwen frowned, shrugging helplessly, "The Hyperspace Group didn't directly agree to our request. They just asked me for the coordinates here, saying that they would send a specialist later to assess the risk level of this crisis and then decide whether to provide assistance."