The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

"I understand your anxiety, Mr. Drummond. We at the FBI will do our best to help you find your son. Please rest assured."

"No, we didn't find any trace of the Mr. Cyrus Morton you mentioned at the scene—yes, we couldn't extract any DNA related to that Mr. Morton, yes."

"If the robbers have contacted you before or try to contact you in the future, please be sure to notify us. We, the FBI, are more professional in dealing with robbers and can increase Mr. Alex Drummond's chances of survival."

"Although this is against FBI regulations, Deputy Director Clark has informed you that you have the right to review any leads the FBI obtains. Yes, of course, of course, I understand. Thank you for your understanding."

Kate finally managed to get rid of the angry-looking James Drummond and breathed a sigh of relief.

"It must be hard dealing with such a big shot," Agent Idris Julio consoled with a smile.

"Yeah, it's hard." Kate stretched and shook her head.

But the hard work Kate described was completely different from what the agents understood.

For the Grand Knight of the Catholic Church, resisting the urge to kill Archibald Drummond was the real hardship.

"Where's Esposito?" Kate hesitated whether to transfer more manpower from the Vatican through Esposito Lopez. "No, forget it, it's okay."

But then she waved her hand and gave up the idea.

Not to mention whether the Holy See is still reliable and how much enthusiasm it has in fighting the devil.

Just the assassination of Paul Fitzgerald yesterday was enough to cause chaos in the North American branch and even in Rome for a while.

At this critical juncture, it is better not to provoke them.

Kate decided not to rely on the power of the Church in this battle against the devil.

Therefore, she had to hold her breath, concentrate, and meditate seriously to accumulate her willpower to the maximum.

"1793, yellow fever in Philadelphia, Archibald Drummond, Suffolk the Plaguebearer, the unfinished mission of our predecessors, the sovereignty of Malta..."

Kate silently chewed on the fragments of past history to motivate herself.

…………

And in the RV, in the room Claudia had just been assigned, she was also praying softly.

Claudia knelt on a cushion, holding a rosary in her hand. Moonlight danced across the pages of the Bible, and she had creased certain passages, from the Book of Philippians to the First Book of Peter, by rubbing them repeatedly.

"Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, present your requests to God with thanksgiving. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus..."

“Cast all your cares on Him, for He will take care of you…”

Then she opened the Psalm Book: "The Lord will keep you safe from coming in and out from now on and forevermore. He will watch over you on your ways, when you go out and when you come back."

Just as she was about to recite the traditional Catholic exorcism prayer, her cell phone rang.

She hurriedly stood up and ran to her phone, only to find that the caller was none other than her eldest brother, Enzo Vitali.

Claudia's voice trembled: "Hello, is this Enzo?"

"Oh, it's me, Claudia. Al and I got lost and drove to a place where there is no cell phone signal. We just found a place with signal. Hahahaha!" Enzo's hearty laughter came from the other end of the phone.

Claudia relaxed all of a sudden, and she even fell onto the bed unconsciously. "That's great, Enzo, I'm glad you're all right."

"Well, it's getting late today, so we won't be rushing. We'll go to Princeton tomorrow morning! Al, come and tell Claudia you're safe!"

On the other end of the phone, Enzo was greeting Al.

"Good evening, Claudia!" Ar's cheerful and silly voice came out of the phone, making Claudia feel particularly cordial.

"By the way, you may not believe it, but we may have found Mr. Li's hometown today. It's a very peaceful Japanese town called Kaguya. We also met a crazy old man by the lake--" Al said carelessly.

Claudia's heart suddenly tightened.

When Claudia thought of Li Shanze's dismissive attitude when he mentioned Japanese-style decoration, and even said that only the toilet could be decorated in a Japanese style, she knew that her master had a very strong aversion to Japan.

So she desperately corrected him, "No! That's not Li's hometown! Don't tell him he's Japanese, he'll get angry!"

"Oh, okay... okay..." Although Al was confused, Claudia on the other end of the phone couldn't lie. "I promise not to mention it. I promise not to mention it."

After being corrected by Claudia, Al forgot to mention the crazy old man on the phone.

The brother and sister chattered for a while before hanging up the phone.

Enzo took the phone Al threw to him and reclined the passenger seat: "Okay, go to sleep. We'll leave this damn place when the fog clears."

"I really hope your B-movie law works and the fog will really dissipate when the sun rises." Enzo muttered and found a comfortable angle.

Having experienced so much that day, the two brothers fell asleep quickly.

What they didn't know was that before dawn, the indigo fog had quietly risen up, almost swallowing up the Ford Escape parked in the open space.

The car was originally painted dark blue, but in the indigo mist, the car was almost unrecognizable to the naked eye.

The ragged, mad old man was lying on the roof of the blue car, his arms and legs spread out in a state of disgrace, blocking the blue mist from moving forward.

Finally, daybreak came and the sun came out.

The blue mist melted and dissipated like snow under the gaze of the sun.

"Wake up, Enzo! It's dawn, let's get going!" Al excitedly woke up his elder brother.

"Oh, okay, it's my turn to drive today." Enzo rubbed his eyes, yawned, and was about to open the door.

Seeing that Enzo was still sleepy, Al refused and said, "Let me drive. You can drive after we get to Princeton."

"Fasten your seat belts and let's go!" Al stepped on the accelerator excitedly.

…………

Unlike the jubilant private investigator Al Vitali, financial tycoon James Drummond was furious from the start of the morning.

Because he received a "gift" from the kidnappers, a complete arm - the right arm of his son Alex Drummond.

"Yes, a man wearing sunglasses, a mask, and a black windbreaker gave me $50 and asked me to deliver it here!"

The kid on the skateboard with his baseball cap tilted on was terrified.

James Drummond's rage had the oppressive feeling of a superior. The kid on the skateboard was so scared that he didn't even dare to cry. He looked pale and felt like vomiting.

If he had known that the package contained an arm - no, for the sake of fifty dollars, he would probably still have made the trip.

At this time, James Drummond's secretary once again brought a private line.

"Dad, save me! Please, save me! He tore off my right arm, and I don't want to lose my other arm! No, I don't want to die, Dad!"

Alex's crying was deafening on the phone.

Then, Alex's crying gradually faded away, and the electronic synthesized sound that made James Drummond so angry that his teeth ached sound was heard again.

"Are you satisfied with my gift, eh, Mr. Drummond?"

"I wonder if this precious gift has made you more patient and more willing to listen carefully?"

James Drummond took a deep breath. "What do you want? What can I do to stop hurting Alex and bring him back safely?"

Although he acted as if he was suppressing his anger and swallowing his anger on the phone, in fact his eyes were cold and fierce, like a poisonous snake ready to bite.

He looked at Deron McGee, who was examining the arm.

McGee looked regretful and shook his head slowly.

Sorry, I can't help you. I can't divine Alex's location.

McGee lip-synced and hurried off.

Although the financial conditions offered by the Drummond family were indeed generous to Deron McGee, who was raising money to repair the Paradox Bell Tower.

But the sudden phantom pain in Dillon McGee's prosthetic hand still made him suddenly alert.

Dillon McGee immediately realized who the enemy of the Drummond family was. There was only one person in the world who could make the great wizard of the Brotherhood of Time so difficult.

Realizing that the person opposite him was Li Shanze, McGee had no choice but to not get involved in this mess.

Not to mention the chaotic internal strife within the Sage School, McGee was completely helpless just because of Li Shanze's space-time singularity.

This money can be earned but not spent.

McGee didn't even wait for James Drummond to try to keep him, he disappeared in a flash.

Seeing that the great wizard of the Brotherhood of Time, Dillon McGee, was ready to escape when the situation got bad, James Drummond's cheeks twitched.

His tone had to become serious: "Sir, let's have a good talk, a good talk."

275 Instructions

"You'll soon know what I want."

Li Shanze chuckled, and the electronically synthesized emotionless laughter rubbed James' nerves like sandpaper.

"Now, let's talk about your son, Alex. He's safe. Almost intact."

Li Shanze told some very tasteless jokes.

James Drummond looked at Alex's bloody right arm that was sent back, suppressed his anger and said nothing.

But his rapid breathing still reached Li Shanze's ears through the phone.

Li Shanze continued, "You may be angry. However, since you control so many pharmaceutical companies, so many hospitals, and so many health insurance companies, you must have a considerable level of medical knowledge."

"An adult man's arms account for 5.8% of his total body weight. This means that if you cooperate with me, you can have a son who is 94.2% healthy!"

"That's much higher than the payout rate from any health insurance company you control! Shouldn't you be grateful?"

James Drummond quickly analyzed the "kidnapper" on the other end of the phone.

The wizard of the Brotherhood of Time refused to divine, indicating that he possessed a power strong enough to disrupt time-related sorcery.

The fact that he has such strong opinions about medical insurance shows that he is a cynical psychopath.

The fact that he pulled off Alex's arm without any care shows that he is a cruel and bloodthirsty veteran who must have killed many people.

There probably aren't many people who fit this description... They seem more like religious lunatics.

Wait, could this guy be a Grand Knight of the Knights Hospitaller? Like Ebenezer Loganfield, who disappeared after attacking a Boston church the night before?

Is this guy coming for me, or for Suffocres?

After a series of twists and turns, James Drummond accidentally guessed Li Shanze's true purpose.

Of course, the old knight Loganfield, who had just successfully killed Paul Fitzgerald, was inexplicably blamed.

Humph, two hundred and thirty years ago, your predecessors crossed the Atlantic in groups, but all failed. I alone succeeded in fooling them all.

Two hundred and thirty years later, you are just an old madman standing alone, while I have an entire huge business empire. What gives you the right to fight me?

Drummond calmed down, and there was even a smile on the corner of his mouth, with a bit of disdain.

But his tone still sounded anxious. "Yes, I appreciate it, sir. I'll prepare some old, non-consecutive US dollar bills for you. But how much do you need to release Alex? If it's more than a million dollars, I'll need some time to prepare."

No, how come you're more skilled than me? Who of us is the kidnapper? Li Shanze bared his teeth.

He hadn't even thought about the detail of the old US dollars with non-consecutive numbers, but he didn't expect that the cunning Drummond would take the initiative to bring it up.

"Who told you I wanted money?" Li Shanze's tone was calm, as if he was talking about the weather.

"Now, listen up. This is your first mission."

"Right now, put on your most expensive custom-made suit and your favorite tie. Then, go to that 24-hour used bookstore downtown and buy a copy of The Secrets of Alchemy (1987)."

Oh, it turns out that people from the church came to visit.

Hearing Li Shanze's request, James Drummond sneered in his heart.

"Buy it and tear out page 13. Remember, it has to be page 13."

"Then, burn it to ashes. Light it with your most expensive cigar and extinguish it with your most expensive whiskey. Finally, scatter these ashes at the roots of the oldest oak tree in your yard."

"Hurry, Mr. Drummond. It's 8:26 in the morning. You only have one hour. Otherwise, you'll receive your precious son's other arm."

After saying that, Li Shanze hung up the phone without saying anything.

Is this some kind of bullshit exorcism?

Hearing Li Shanze's commanding tone, Drummond became angry.

If he had not borrowed Alex's soul to help suppress part of Saphocris' soul and could not afford to lose Alex at the moment, he would never have compromised with the fanatical religious fanatic.

Drummond felt sick, but he had no choice. The kidnapping case at this point in time really hit his soft spot.

He had to dress as quickly as possible, rush out of the mansion, and jump into his Rolls-Royce. Despite the busy Philadelphia traffic during the morning rush hour, he still contacted the Philadelphia police as a sponsor to provide clearing services.

So, a luxurious Rolls-Royce, escorted by four police cars, drove to the door of an old bookstore.