America: The Cremator

Upon hearing this word, which carried an eerie atmosphere, Su Long frowned, sensing something was amiss: "Sacrifice? What sacrifice?"

Hannah crouched on the ground, her gaze shifting between the five twisted corpses: "I'm sorry, I wasn't deeply involved in the research group's project; I only remember some general information..."

"This appears to be a loan contract, where the blood of multiple people is forcibly injected into a core container as collateral to borrow power from certain beings."

Surong looked at the fat man referred to as "the container" and the strangely smiling statue of the Virgin Mary next to him: "Can you tell who this person is borrowing money from?"

Hannah shook her head: "It's hard to judge. There are too many strange beings that use blood as a medium of power, unless my mentor comes to the scene."

Su Long was silent for a few seconds, then turned and walked towards the pile of body bags in the corner: "It doesn't matter anymore. Since we don't know the source, we'll just burn them. Once they're reduced to ashes, whether it was a loan or collateral, it will be meaningless."

In his view, this corpse, with its bizarre death and deep entanglement with supernatural power, was definitely a huge experience package.

Even if no powerful terms are extracted, just burning the experience points it provides would probably raise his physical attributes to a new level.

Just as he was about to move the body, Hannah quickly stepped forward and blocked his way with one hand: "I suggest you don't touch this thing yet."

"The blood in the body produced by the interruption of this ritual has not been completely transformed, which means that the power of the strange entity that responded to the prayer is very likely still residing in this body."

Hannah pointed to the inverted cross wound.

"If it's just some minor, insignificant anomalies, that's fine. At most, it'll just give you a few days of high fever or a week in the hospital, costing you tens of thousands of dollars in treatment."

"But if it's a big thing, and you touch or burn it rashly, you're very likely to be cursed, or even directly marked by it as a new payer."

curse.

This word struck a nerve with Surong.

The "hatred of rain" brought by that girl in the rain still torments his life, making him unable to even drink a sip of pure water.

If he were to be burdened with an unknown curse, this body, already on the verge of collapse, would likely be completely ruined.

Su Long narrowed his eyes and activated his spiritual vision ability, causing some subtle changes in the scene in his field of vision.

The obese corpse was not surrounded by a clear halo like Elena's lantern had been before; instead, it was shrouded in a hazy, misty substance.

It's not clear.

Perhaps it was because more than 24 hours had passed since the ritual ended, and most of the spiritual energy had dissipated, or perhaps it was because his spiritual vision level was only 3 points, which was not enough to perceive the secrets of this level.

"How about this," Hannah said, seeing Su Long hesitate, "My advisor, Professor Woch, is very interested in this high-quality sample. If I give him a call, he'll definitely be willing to pay for the body."

She held out her hand and waved her five fingers in front of Su Long.

"I'll get at least five thousand dollars, and we'll split it fifty-fifty, how about that?"

Seeing her anxious expression, Su Long quickly made a mental calculation.

Five thousand US dollars—the corpse is clearly worth far more than that.

Given Hannah's previous lack of understanding of the research group's work, she was clearly a marginal figure within the group, and the other party did not offer a reasonable price.

"No."

Su Long refused decisively.

Hannah was clearly taken aback by his refusal of this windfall, paused for a moment, and then raised her voice.

"Hey, are you serious?"

"Everyone else is risking their lives to make money, but you've chosen to take the risk rather than earn it. Are you going to stick to your so-called professional ethics?"

Su Long shook his head: "No, I just feel... since we've already abandoned our principles, we should earn more!"

"If such a highly scarce sample can only sell for five thousand US dollars, then your advisor is being incredibly stingy, or rather, he doesn't consider you one of his own?"

"I know a real tycoon who's just as interested in this kind of thing as your mentor, and she's very generous with her money!"

Hannah looked at him suspiciously: "Are you sure? A cremator from the Department of Corpses could actually know high-ranking people in academia?"

"I don't know if she has a high social status, but I do know that her wallet is really thick!"

"Hannah, just put your phone in your bag and wait for my message... I'm sure you'll be shocked by the price this body fetched."

After saying that, Su Long walked outside the tent and scrolled through his phone's contacts to find "Stella Green".

I thought I would only contact her when I was extremely short of money and needed to sell my blood, but it seems that the plan needs to be brought forward.

Make a phone call.

A few ringing tones came through the receiver, followed by Stella's slightly surprised voice.

"Hey, Mr. Suron."

"I didn't expect you to contact me first, but I have to remind you that according to the Red Cross's safe blood collection interval standards, it's not time to have your blood drawn again yet."

"However, if you really need the money urgently, I can lend you a sum in my personal name, with interest calculated at the federal benchmark rate."

Listening to the long string of remarks from the other end, Su Long couldn't help but sigh. Only when women truly need you can you know how proactive they really are.

"Professor, I'm here to discuss other business."

"I have a corpse here, perfectly preserved, killed in some kind of bizarre sacrificial ritual... Would you like to take a look?"

There was a second of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by the rustling sound of papers turning: "Specific address."

"In the East Duwamish Greenbelt, walk about 800 meters from the south entrance, and you'll find the tent that looks like vomit."

"I'll be right there."

……

Half an hour later.

A person dressed in a pure white protective suit and wearing a fully enclosed gas mask walked from a muddy path in the distance.

Her equipment was clearly far superior to the cheap stuff worn by Suron and Hannah; her mask even had an electronic voice enhancer and a built-in breathing system, and she was carrying a silver-white metal box.

Hannah nudged Surong's arm with some confusion: "This is the tycoon you were talking about?"

Su Long nodded and went to meet him.

"You're taking a long time, Professor Stella."

Stella's voice came through the electronic speaker, with a slightly distorted, mechanical quality, but her unique intellectual charm was still evident: "Mr. Suron, you're being too harsh. I didn't stop for a single minute after I finished your call."

Then, her gaze fell on Hannah next to Suron.

"Who is this?"

"My temporary work partner, Hannah."

As soon as Su Long finished his introduction, he saw Hannah freeze in shock.

She stared intently at the laboratory badge on Stella's protective suit chest—a scepter pattern made of intertwined DNA double helix structures.

The next second, she practically teleported in front of Stella.

"Professor Stella Green."

"I never expected to run into you here!"

Stella tilted her head slightly, looking at the overly enthusiastic girl through the mask.

"Who are you?"

"I'm a biology student at the University of Seattle. I attended one of your lectures before, the one about 'extraordinary biological cell activity,' which was absolutely amazing."

Hannah's voice trembled slightly with excitement: "I'm also researching the field of supernatural beings now, and I've been following your papers closely."

Stella nodded upon hearing this: "I see. Seattle University does indeed have quite a few students researching this field."

"However, there aren't many people like you who go so deep into the front lines."

Which research group are you in?

"I worked as a research assistant under Professor Wojciech."

Stella let out a soft hum upon hearing this, seemingly familiar with the name but not particularly fond of it.

"Woch, his research is too conservative, and the funding is pitifully small. There's not much to be achieved by following him."

"After that, I'll inform Woch that you should report to my research group next week, and I'll give you the same treatment as a graduate student."

Hannah was stunned.

The overwhelming surprise made her forget to breathe for a moment.

How could someone go from being a marginal figure in a poorly funded research group to working directly under a top expert like Stella, who has an independent laboratory and a huge budget?

Unexpectedly, Su Long, an ordinary cremator, would know Stella, an academic giant!

"Thank you, Professor Stella. I will definitely report on time."

Su Long, standing to the side, couldn't help but cough.

"Cough cough."

"Could we put the recruitment process aside for now and talk about how business is?"

Stella turned around and strode toward the wooden table. "Alright, let's take a look at the condition of the goods."