Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

"Get lost! I don't want to have anything to do with those ICE idiots!"

Kong Jiu growled, grabbed his backpack, and without looking back, shoved aside the ICE agent who had come to invite him, rushing out of the hotel like a shooting star.

Mina has been cleared of suspicion, not because the real culprit was caught, but because she made those idiots in ICE finally realize that there was a bigger conspiracy behind the case.

As for revealing the truth behind the conspiracy?

Kong Jiu admitted that he was indeed itching to find out more.

But working with those idiots in ICE?

He could see the ritualistic traces behind the case in half a day. How could those "elites" of the Magic and Holy Grail Enforcement Bureau let a case hang for two years and make it seem like an unsolved mystery?

Even when he bluntly pointed out to Betty that "you didn't even notice the ceremony," the brainless smoker still maintained an official tone, her calmness infuriating:

"Thank you for pointing this out, Kong Jiu. I will immediately report to ICE headquarters, restore Ms. Mina's personal freedom, and arrange for further investigation."

Upon hearing this, Kong Jiu laughed in anger. He was all too familiar with what this kind of perfunctory official jargon meant.

He believes Mina should be freed.

But what about a "follow-up investigation"?

That's just like that "go home and wait for news" message after the interview—pure empty promise.

Since he had already helped so much, and ICE was still behaving this way, why should he get angry again?

"Let's go, Mina."

He softened his tone, turned to the girl, and said, "I've fulfilled your first request."

He shook his head, took Mina back to the hotel room, and began packing his things, preparing to leave Xinxiang.

"What are your remaining two requests? Tell me quickly."

As Kong Jiu stuffed his meager luggage into his bag, he glanced at Mina, who was rolling around on the sheets, and asked helplessly.

"The second one," Mina stopped what she was doing, blinked, "you have to come back to Red Rain Fortress with me to see the old man."

Kong Jiu readily agreed; it was just a matter of course for him.

After getting ready, he gave Mina a warning look, and she obediently raised her black umbrella. He then reached out and pulled back the hotel curtains.

Outside the window, the sky was blue, but a murky blood bar floated on it; pedestrians on the distant street also had blood floating above their heads.

Kong Jiu stared blankly out the window, his heart filled with mixed emotions.

While in Hills, Squich told him that the Iron Curtain was a tool for oppressing the lower classes and an embodiment of order.

The rich and the poor are divided into strict classes; the oppression of the weak by the strong is distorted into a matter of course; people suffering in the midst of hardship indulge in faith, numbing themselves... All these rules distorted by the Iron Curtain together forge a world where "kindness is weakness".

So what about Xinxiang? How does it oppress people?

"Amerigo is hopeless."

Kong Jiu sighed, "It's one thing for ordinary police officers to muddle through, but even the psionic police are doing the same..."

He called to Mina, checked out, and left.

Just as I reached the corner of the elevator, a familiar figure suddenly came into view.

"Hello, Mr. Kong Jiu."

The doorman smiled slightly as he approached, pressed the elevator button, and said, "I heard you're leaving Xinxiang, and someone asked me to bring her to meet you."

The elevator doors slowly opened, and a head floated out.

She was a woman with short, neat hair and a resolute expression, looking every bit the powerful career woman.

There was no broken neck, only wisps of smoke, and the eyes shimmered with a pale blue psionic glow—the most common psionic reaction.

Seeing the flying head coming, Kong Jiu's eyes sharpened. Mina, on the other hand, seemed completely unfazed, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary.

Mina gently tugged at Kong Jiu's collar, pulled him down, and whispered in his ear, "This is Betty, or rather, Betty's head. Betty is this one over at the Blue Team's headquarters."

"Hello, Mr. Kong."

Betty spoke in a friendly and sincere tone, "My body was so stupid that it missed the opportunity to recruit such a talented person as you."

She gave a wink, and the doorman beside her raised his hand and gently swiped in the air, opening a small door and taking out a document.

"Just the fact that you know the concept of 'sacred number' makes you far more knowledgeable than those ten-year veterans in the Summoning Department."

As the doorman handed the documents to Kong Jiu, Betty spoke up: "Have you considered working for ICE, Mr. Kong Jiu?"

Kong Jiu merely glanced at it, showing no interest whatsoever.

"Sorry, I don't want to talk about this right now."

He said in a cold tone, "If you're really interested in hiring, my address is Room 2, Building 13, Carnation Community, Jiting Street, Central District, Hills. You can send me an email."

The subtext of these words is no different from the interviewer's "Go back and wait for news."

After saying that, he grabbed Mina's hand, turned around without looking back, and walked into the stairwell next door. He hurried downstairs, leaving only his head and the doorman staring at each other in bewilderment.

"Door boy, do you mean...?" The head asked cautiously, with a questioning tone.

"I appear in this form solely to serve humanity; there is no need to ask for my opinion," the doorman said politely and respectfully.

Listening to the footsteps fading away in the stairwell, Betty sighed softly.

"ICE, constrained by partisan infighting, is powerless to stop the collapse of the Iron Curtain, but what kind of figures can the Summoning Department summon to stop the Bloodline's plan?"

Once the footsteps had completely disappeared, Betty's face showed signs of fatigue and worry.

"What about former President Abel?" the doorman asked casually, yet threw out a shocking name.

"No... The fact that the Summoning Department could summon a phantom deity like yourself is already a miracle among miracles. To summon a heroic spirit like Lord Abel? That's wishful thinking..."

Betty shook her head helplessly, floated into the elevator, and the doorman silently followed.

The elevator doors slowly closed, and everything in the hotel returned to normal, as if nothing had happened.

Downstairs, Mina held up a black umbrella, looked at the blazing sunlight outside the hotel, and unconsciously leaned closer to Kong Jiu.

Kong Jiu reluctantly took the black umbrella and held Mina's petite body tightly in his arms, trying to keep her completely hidden in his tall shadow.

"I have a question, Mina," Kong Jiu lowered his voice, "How much blood magic did you use to transform yourself from a human into a bloodline?"

Mina snuggled gently against him, but didn't answer.

Well, it seems this young lady is unwilling to reveal it.

Just as they stepped out of the hotel, several men in black uniforms surrounded them from a corner.

"Hello, Mr. Kong Jiu."

The man in the lead pulled out his identification—an ICE agent.

He continued, "ICE has heard about your deeds, and the Department of Astrophysics is very interested in you. Could you please come over?"

"No." Kong Jiu refused decisively, picked up Mina, and quickly walked to the roadside, waving to flag down a taxi.

"The Celestial Department isn't some small place like the Spirit Summoning Department. The conditions we offer are more than ten times better than those for a lowly clerk like Betty..."

Two men in black kept in hot pursuit, continuing to chatter beside Kong Jiu and Mina.

"Since you already know I rejected Betty, why are you bothering me?" Kong Jiu, holding his umbrella, glanced at the two of them with displeasure. "You know the address, right? Send it to my email, and I'll consider it."

The man in black, emboldened, blocked Kong Jiu's path. "Please, you must reconsider! We desperately need your assistance in certain cross-dimensional research!"

"Get lost! I don't want to have anything to do with those ICE idiots!"

Unable to bear it any longer, Kong Jiu grabbed his backpack, shoved the two men aside without looking back, and stormed out of the hotel.

boom!

Suddenly, a man in black pulled out a pistol and fired at the unsuspecting taxi driver.

The poor driver didn't even have time to utter a groan before he disappeared from the driver's seat.

"No, you absolutely must come with us today. Right now."

The gun barrel, emitting blue smoke, slowly turned towards Kong Jiu.