But what made General Ross feel most anxious was that he wasn't sure what his position was in Karl's heart.
After all, what he could do for Karl, others could do just as well.
And as long as that man was willing, there were plenty of people who would break their heads to get on his thick thigh.
Even though General Ross had repeatedly expressed, overtly and covertly, that he wanted to join Karl's command.
Unfortunately, the latter had never given a clear response.
General Ross understood that the other party was testing him!
If he wanted to successfully weld himself firmly onto Karl's big ship that could carry him quickly to the road to success, he had to pay a greater price…
So even though he was burning with anxiety, he didn't dare to show it in the slightest.
For fear of annoying Karl.
He could only silently pray in his heart that the goddess of luck would once again favor him.
Hmm?
If there are angels…
A hint of surprise appeared on Karl's face, "Then that means the universe I'm in has a [Heavenly Force]?"
After thinking about it, Karl asked, "What's missing?"
"This… the Vatican didn't say."
General Ross explained somewhat awkwardly, "But they promised that if Mr. Karl agrees to take on this commission, they will not only truthfully inform you of everything, but also do their best to fulfill one of your requests after completing the task!"
"Fulfill one of my requests?"
Karl couldn't help but laugh. What big words!
If I were to ask them for those so-called 'holy objects', would they choose to give them or would they simply deny it?
However, the fact that the [Vatican] was willing to make such a promise was enough to show that this incident was quite tricky and the lost items were important enough.
This aroused Karl's desire to explore.
It didn't matter what he asked for.
He just wanted to take the opportunity to see if he could learn more about the [Heavenly Force].
Now that he had already provoked two [Hell Lords].
Then, based on the principle that the enemy of my enemy is my 'friend', why would he miss the opportunity to develop another ally for himself?
So…
"Okay, have the people from the Vatican contact me later."
Karl said meaningfully to General Ross on the other end of the phone, "But my action this time is not to help them, but simply to help you."
"I have always been responsive to the needs of my excellent employees, so… Ross, don't let me down!"
After a period of testing, General Ross had obviously reached Karl's standard for recruiting talents.
He had the strength and the ambition.
Most importantly, General Ross had suffered a series of failures in the "Hulk Project", which led to a lot of criticism and accusations within the [Department of Defense].
The capital that originally supported him also regarded him as an abandoned son and no longer provided any resource support.
General Ross went from being a popular rising star to an isolated marginal figure.
From heaven to hell… reality is so naked and cruel!
Later, by chance, General Ross unexpectedly ushered in the second spring of his career through negotiations with Karl!
So now, whether General Ross admits it or not, he has been branded with the [Hyperspace Group].
At least that's how it seems to outsiders…
Presumably, General Ross also understood this, so in subsequent contacts with Karl, he did his best to provide all the help within the scope of his authority.
And he had repeatedly expressed his desire to join Karl.
There was no way, he now desperately needed a thick thigh to help stabilize his position!
However, Karl didn't mind the other party's ambitions and motives, because he had always appreciated people who were "a little bit forced" in their hearts.
He was not afraid of you having ambitions and aspirations, but afraid of you being too mediocre!
Since the other party had withstood the test, then today he would take the opportunity to clarify the matter and bring him under his command.
"Mr. Karl… no, Boss, please rest assured, I will definitely not let you down."
General Ross, such an old fritter, naturally understood the meaning of Karl's words in seconds, and was immediately overjoyed.
He never expected that the thick thigh he had dreamed of would one day really be hugged?
He really became an employee of the [Hyperspace Group]!
As one of the witnesses of Karl's rapid rise, General Ross knew far more clearly than others what this special identity represented and how much gold it contained!
Power, wealth, strength…
These things that are enough to make the world crazy will all become readily available after becoming a member of the [Hyperspace Group]!
The most important thing is that if something happens, Karl… no, Boss, he will really cover you!
This alone is a thousand times stronger than those cunning politicians who "take the benefits and let you take the blame".
"Boss, if you have no other instructions, then I will immediately inform the [Vatican] of this news."
General Ross had obviously seamlessly transitioned to the role of "employee".
There was no way, who told him to want to progress too much?
"Go."
Karl nodded in satisfaction. He had another cow… no, an excellent employee!
A few minutes later.
An unfamiliar video call came in.
"Respected Mr. Karl Mara, hello, I am Bishop Warren McCoy, and I will be fully responsible for all matters related to this commissioned task."
As soon as the phone was connected, the figure of a short, fat, and amiable cardinal appeared in front of Karl through the holographic projection device.
After that, the other party first briefly verified Karl's identity and whether he was willing to accept the commission, and then told the real content of the commission.
"Mr. Mara, have you heard the story of the [Thirty Pieces of Silver]?"
[Thirty Pieces of Silver]?
Although Karl was a firm atheist in his previous life.
But in his student days, he still had some knowledge of those popular religious allusions.
"You should be talking about the thirty pieces of silver that Judas got for betraying Jesus, right?"
Karl asked knowingly, "Isn't this just an allusion?"
"That's right, although we all know this story and this betrayal, what I want to tell you is… the [Thirty Pieces of Silver] really exist!"
Bishop Warren's tone fluctuated slightly, "It only takes thirty pieces of silver to successfully bribe a devout believer to betray his Lord. It must sound very ironic, right?"
"But no matter what Judas's real motive was at the time, he later received his due punishment… and what I'm going to talk about next is the unknown second half of this story!"
"After Judas committed suicide out of remorse, perhaps by fate, Matthias, who was selected by the apostles through drawing lots to replace him, accidentally discovered Judas's body and the thirty pieces of silver scattered at the foot of the body."
"And when Matthias touched those silver coins, he felt the malice and curse left by Judas on them, as if his sinful soul was deeply bound to these silver coins… making them evil and powerful!"
"So he buried these silver coins and Judas's body together in the ground, and named that piece of land [Blood Field]."
"Until 1892, the predecessor of the [Vatican], the [Papal States], accidentally found clues about these silver coins in ancient documents.
Then, after sending people to determine the specific location of Judas's body and the [Thirty Pieces of Silver], they built a special monastery in that area and sent a large number of devout monks to station!"
"The reason why the Vatican made such a big fuss is because, along with these silver coins, there was also a warning left by Matthias… absolutely do not let these silver coins containing powerful evil forces see the light of day again."
"As loyal believers, the Vatican heeded the warning, firmly locked those silver coins underground, and guarded that monastery for generations…"
"Until more than a month ago, that monastery suddenly lost contact with the Vatican.
When we discovered it and sent people there, we found that all the guards in the entire monastery were torn apart…
Including an agent of an angel, and the [Thirty Pieces of Silver] locked in the underground vault were also missing."
"The murderer did not leave any clues at the scene, so in the past period of time, we have tried almost all possible ways to find clues, scientific and magical… but in the end, we have achieved nothing."
Bishop Warren did not continue, but politely chose to shut up, leaving time for Karl to digest the above content.
More than a month ago?
For some reason, when Karl heard this date, he immediately thought of the altar on [Belle Isle] that connected to hell.
Could it be that the demons that ran out at that time committed the crime?
Wait?
Karl suddenly remembered that he seemed to have heard from [Beast] during the interrogation that the [Hell Lord] Marduk Curios seemed to be secretly brewing some unknown major event.
He needed Lilith to help open the dimensional channel from the real world, so he agreed to release the soul of the "Progenitor Vampire" Varna.
And this major event seems to be related to [Heaven]!!
Σ(°△°|||)︴
Isn't this too coincidental?
In order to verify his guess, Karl immediately asked, "Can you be specific about the time of the attack?"
"Yes, the accurate time of loss of contact should be 36 days, 14 hours, 09 minutes, and 09 seconds ago."
Damn it, it really was those demons!
Almost the moment Bishop Warren said the time, Karl had already confirmed his guess.
Hehe, interesting.
Does that [Hell Lord] want to go to war with [Heaven]?
Now Karl's curiosity was completely aroused by this incident.
Anyway, he was idle now, so it was good to relieve his boredom with this matter.
"Are there any photos of the scene? I want to take a look first!"
"Yes, I'll have someone send them to you right away…" Bishop Warren said very consciously, "Mr. Mara, if you ever want to go to that monastery to see it yourself, I can arrange it for you at any time."
After saying that, he took the initiative to hang up the video call.
Tsk tsk, no wonder people can climb to the position of cardinal.
Look at this eyesight, look at this sensible energy, tell me, should people be this cardinal?
Soon, photos of the crime scene were sent over.
Karl opened them one by one and took a look, and his brows suddenly frowned… because it was too damn miserable!
The screen was full of corpses, internal organs, and broken limbs… In short, in the entire monastery, he couldn't see a complete body.
Everyone seemed to have been crushed alive by a meat grinder.
This also explains why the Vatican used all kinds of methods and couldn't find any useful clues.
Because this thing is simply not something that humans can do!
However, the same problem now also lies in front of Karl.
Even if he has guessed that this incident was done by the subordinates of the [Hell Lord] Marduk Curios, how to find key clues from it has become a very important problem at present.
As Bishop Warren said, they have already exhausted the methods and tricks they could think of before.
If there is only a crime scene but no clues, unless that death elementary school student who likes to say "a scheming frog always touches your belly" comes in person, otherwise anyone else who comes will be in vain…
Eh?
Wait a minute!
Looking at the blood and minced meat on the screen, a figure of a man suddenly appeared in Karl's mind… to be precise, it should be an old man!
Maybe that man's ability can help.
After all, he has the ability to restrain Mystique's transformation with smell, and can also judge the entire process of the incident through smell, and even directly "smell" the Bug-level sense of smell of the spectrum!!
"Frank, immediately go to the [Mexican] border to find a ride-hailing driver for me, his name is… Logan Howlett!!"
…………
……
[America] South Central Region.
[Oklahoma City].
A used car trading market.
"Sir, this car is at least 8200 dollars. To be honest, this price is already very cost-effective…"
A middle-aged female salesperson pointed to a sky-blue pickup truck in the car lot and tried her best to promote it to the old man with a beard and a tired face in front of her.
"And I can also give you a free repainting and tire replacement service. After the car is installed and tested, I will help you complete all the related procedures. What do you think?"
The bearded man didn't talk nonsense, and directly took out a thick stack of dollars from a blood-stained envelope and shook it, "I'll give you 10,000 dollars, but you have to skip that damn procedure link directly."
Normally, excluding the preparation stage of submitting a series of documents, the entire vehicle transfer process takes at least 5 to 10 days just for submitting the application, processing, and receiving the new documents!
This period may be extended if it coincides with holidays.
But right now, this bearded man... Logan Howlett, what he lacks most is time!
Just a day ago, he was still immersed in the routine life of a "private car driver."
Only to earn enough money as soon as possible to buy a yacht, and then take Professor X out to sea to face the upcoming death together.
However.
Such a peaceful life was completely ruined by the appearance of two women.
Just a day ago, a Mexican-American nurse named Gabriela suddenly approached Logan with an 11-year-old girl named Laura, hoping he could drive them to a place called "Eden" in North Dakota.
She paid a deposit of $30,000 in advance, promising to pay another $20,000 balance upon safe arrival.
Although he guessed that this matter was not so simple, Logan Howlett gritted his teeth and agreed in order to buy a yacht as soon as possible.
But unexpectedly, disaster struck.
First, before departure, Gabriela was killed in a motel by a group of armed security personnel called "Reavers."
Then, this group chased Logan Howlett, Professor X, Caliban, and the little girl Laura all the way to the abandoned smelting plant where they were hiding.
After a fierce battle, the mutant Caliban was captured, and Logan Howlett had to drive away with Professor X and Laura.
After a sleepless night of rushing, they successfully escaped from the US-Mexico border to Oklahoma City.
During the escape, Logan Howlett learned the truth about Gabriela and Laura being hunted down, as well as Laura's true identity, through a video left by Gabriela on her phone...
It turned out that a secret experiment had been going on in a subordinate laboratory of a company called "Alkali-Transigen."
That is, using early collected mutant DNA samples, new generation of mutant test subjects were bred through surrogate mothers in Mexico.
The project leader, and also the founder of "Alkali-Transigen", Dr. Zander Rice, hoped to monopolize the ability of mutants through this technology, and then profit in the weapons market—just like the "Compound V" of "Vought International".
However.
Although "Alkali-Transigen" has spent a lot of effort on this experiment, the result is not successful.
Because many mutant children, who they were training as killing machines, have shown extreme aversion to violence in the process of success.
They don't want to fight, don't want to kill... they even commit suicide for this!
So these "soldiers" who don't want to fight have become worthless to "Alkali-Transigen" all of a sudden.
So they began to adjust the research direction, and then developed a new individual X-24 who is more warlike, more fond of killing, and more obedient!
While this experiment was successful, Dr. Zander Rice also issued a cruel order to euthanize all remaining mutant experimental children...
And Laura is one of the many mutant experimental children, project number X-23!!
