The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

Drummond, dressed in a gorgeous suit as if attending a dinner party, jumped out of the car and walked into the dilapidated bookstore under the astonished gaze of morning rush hour commuters.

Drummond rushed into the bookstore and searched through the piles of books, with beads of sweat on his forehead. When he finally found the dusty "The Secret of Alchemy", he felt an inexplicable irritation.

Immediately afterwards, also under the escort of a police car, he returned home smoothly.

He tore off page 13, which contained some strange symbols and an obscure text about "soul refinement."

Although Drummond himself was a master of soul manipulation, he had never heard of the symbols and so-called soul refinement in this book.

Could it be that the church has recently uncovered some ancient manuscripts and discovered some secrets about the soul?

Or was it that damned Cyrus Morton? He had a hidden trick up his sleeve?

Drummond thought irritably, feeling intuitively that if he did what the kidnappers asked, it might cause irreparable damage to his soul.

But if Alex died like this, his soul would not just be injured, but would most likely be attacked by Saphocris or his descendants.

Just as he was hesitating, the alarm clock reminded him that he had less than five minutes to hesitate.

Drummond must decide within five minutes whether to take the risk of the unknown or the risk of his soul being devoured.

"Has there been any response from the Vatican?" he asked anxiously.

"The Sistine Chapel is in turmoil over the death of Archbishop Emeritus Paul Fitzgerald. Besides demanding a thorough investigation, many are busy courting His Holiness the Pope in hopes of filling the vacant cardinal position..."

In a word, the Vatican said it "can't help" - well, of course, after they snatched food from the church and forcibly acquired several non-profit hospitals that were originally intended to be sold to the Holy See, the Vatican would not be in a good mood.

Drummond sneered, sighed, and made a decision.

He lit the cigar with shaking hands, burned the paper to ashes, and then doused it with whiskey.

As he scattered the wine-scented ashes at the roots of the oak tree, he felt an invisible chill rising from the soles of his feet and rushing to his forehead.

He didn't know why, but at that moment, he felt as if some invisible force was gently yet firmly tearing a hole in the depths of his soul.

Although the damage was minimal, it made Drummond alert. He considered himself an expert in manipulating souls, but this was the first time he encountered a method of manipulating souls that he could not understand.

The kidnapper's call came in at the right time.

"Very good, Mr. Drummond, you're a quick learner." The other party's electronic voice was surprisingly satisfied, which made Drummond even more dissatisfied. "Congratulations, you successfully defended Alex's left arm. Now it's his right leg's turn."

The other party didn't even bother to send the video - it was obvious that the robber knew he had a way to confirm whether Alex was dead or alive.

The question now is, how much does he know?

How much do the great knight of the Church and the traitorous Cyrus Morton know when they are united?

Drummond tried hard to remain calm.

"Now, leave immediately without any entourage or electronic devices, taking only your most precious gold coin. Remember, it's a gold coin, not a credit card or a check, but pure gold."

James gritted his teeth and took out a treasured gold florin from the safe. It was bought cheaply from a bankrupt nobleman before he made his fortune in 1793.

"The florin, a gold coin from Florence before the Black Death (note: after the Black Death, the purity of the florin dropped from 99.7% to 99.2%), was minted with 24k gold from Transylvania, Hungary. It was called the perfect currency of the Christian world by Chaucer in The Canterbury Tales."

It was after James bought this gold coin that his luck started to improve and he rose rapidly to become one of the richest people in the world.

Therefore, James also regarded this "perfect currency" as his good luck amulet. He was extremely reluctant to lose this gold coin.

Tsk, I wish I had bought some of the 24-carat "Crown Gold Coins" issued by Queen Victoria.

James thought with some heartache.

"Very good, this gold coin is very good." The person on the other end of the phone seemed very satisfied.

"Now, go to the Merrion Rose Maze and find the 'Angel Fountain'. Throw the gold coin into the fountain, then follow the path east until you see an abandoned greenhouse. In the third flowerpot in the greenhouse, you'll find a note."

"Remember, you only have thirty minutes. If you exceed that time, Alex will sadly have to say goodbye to his right leg."

After that, the phone was hung up again.

The Merrion Rose Maze, a members-only garden, was once the home of the CEO of JPMorgan Chase. Identity checks were extremely strict, yet the kidnappers actually managed to sneak in...

Could it be that this kidnapping gang also includes financial vultures who covet the Drummond family's wealth?

Drummond didn't have time to think about it and rushed out of the apartment.

The wind in late winter and early spring was still cold, but he felt an unknown fire burning in his body.

…………

Although Drummond was furious, Enzo and Al, who had successfully driven away from Kaguya Town, were in high spirits.

They clapped their hands, swayed their heads, and sang Italian folk songs loudly.

As if to respond to the brothers' good mood, many cars would rhythmically honk their horns twice at the two brothers when passing them.

Al also responded by beeping and clapping the horn twice, with a smile on his face.

Until they were caught up and stopped by a police car.

"Hey, Mr. Policeman, what's up?" Al was still happy even when he rolled down the window.

However, the policeman's question confused the two brothers. He pointed to the roof of the car and asked, "What's going on with that old man lying on the roof of your car?"

276 Series

"Old man? What old man?" The two brothers were both stunned.

Until they handed their driver's license to the police, got out of the car, and saw the man lying on the roof - it was the old man they met last night who spoke incoherently but showed them the way.

This thin and withered old man was dressed in rags, but he seemed to be completely unafraid of the cold.

The little old man was lying on the roof of the car with his arms and legs spread out, his face up and his body snoring as the cold late winter wind blew on him.

As if sensing the gazes of several people, the old man frowned.

But after he smacked his lips and scratched his neck, his expression relaxed again and he continued to sleep soundly.

"When did he climb onto the roof of our car?" Al looked at Enzo in disbelief.

"Could it be when we were sleeping last night?" Enzo frowned, thinking that this was the only possibility.

The two brothers didn't look fake, and the old man looked quite comfortable, without any signs of being restricted.

The police thought this was most likely a misunderstanding caused by the old homeless man.

So he breathed a sigh of relief, handed back his driver's license as a matter of routine, and asked, "Do you know him?"

"Well, we got lost in Ka-Kaguya last night, and he showed us the way." Enzo smacked his lips. "He was wandering near a woods..."

Upon hearing that it was indeed the old homeless man, the police quickly lost interest.

"Let's send him back to Kaguya Town." Enzo made the decision.

The policeman nodded. "Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Vitali. Good luck."

With that, the police jumped into the police car and drove away, not even bothering to wake the old homeless man up and get him to give a statement.

"Enzo, are we really going back to that damn place?" Alco was still frightened of Kaguya Town.

"What else can we do? Let this old man wander around Princeton? Or send him to a winter emergency shelter? Maybe he has relatives or friends in Kaguya Town!" Enzo said helplessly.

Al sighed as well. "You're right, but we better wake him up first. I don't want to be stopped by the cops again."

…………

Drummond rushed towards the rose maze.

The news of Alex's kidnapping has spread across the United States, and there is no need to pretend to be calm now.

In fact, there has not yet been a large-scale short-selling of the Drummond family's holdings, which is the result of his hard work and sniping.

The news of Alex's kidnapping became known to the entire United States in a short period of time, without even giving him any time to react. He was not given any internal notification before the report was broadcast. There must be some conspiracy.

Drummond thought grimly, and found the Angel Fountain in the Rose Maze.

Without hesitation, he threw the gold coin in. The coin sank to the bottom of the water, creating a circle of ripples. James felt a dull pain in his chest, as if something important had been stripped away.

He then sprinted down the trail, searching for the abandoned greenhouse.

The rose maze has not yet bloomed and there are few tourists. It looks particularly deep and secluded under the sunlight.

The shadows of the trees swayed and the bushes shook, as if countless pairs of eyes were watching in secret.

Drummond found the greenhouse and pushed open the creaking door. A rotten smell hit him. He followed the instructions and found the third flower pot. Sure enough, there was a folded note inside.

"It's time to defend Alex's left leg. Go to the old location of the company you first acquired, and at noon, burn the note and scatter the ashes over your former office."

Drummond felt an unprecedented sense of humiliation and anger.

He was a tycoon in the financial and medical complex, an old fox who had made his fortune 230 years ago, but he was fooled by the mysterious kidnappers and ran around the city like a clown.

He believed that if he did not do so, the cruel and cunning kidnapper who had teased him would never be satisfied with just "taking off a leg".

Instead, it would kill Alex cleanly and efficiently, destroying his carefully constructed soul defense against Saphocris.

So now he had to rush to the beginning of his business empire, the Pine Street Saltpeter Works in Philadelphia.

The saltpeter plant was located at the intersection of Pine and Grape Streets in the Northern Liberties section of Philadelphia.

The gunpowder raw material factory was secretly funded by the Continental Congress in 1778, and transformed into the production of soap and candles after the Revolutionary War.

The original owner, Samuel Whitaker, was forced to mortgage the factory due to gambling debts, and Archibald obtained his IOU through a Charleston slave trade ship owner.

Archibald Drummond took a fancy to the factory, but the original owner insisted on a high price and refused to let go.

During the yellow fever epidemic, Philadelphia was plunged into panic, and Archibald hired the "Crow Gang" to dump rotten cotton in factory wells to create the illusion of plague.

He then bribed the city hall clerk to modify the health inspection report and list the factory as a "serious source of pollution."

In the end, Archibald used Whittaker's mistress to obtain the location of his hiding place and sold it for three barrels of medicinal brandy plus 200 Spanish silver dollars.

It can be said that this abandoned factory was the starting point of Archibald Drummond's fortune, and it was the first pot of gold he made from the yellow fever without relying on the devil Suffocates.

Therefore, this old building has extraordinary significance for Archibald Drummond.

Nothing embodies the American Dream more than Philadelphia's Pine Street Saltpeter Works.

A good luck charm, the old factory that made him prosperous - for Archibald Drummond, these distant memories seemed like a historical reckoning that had finally caught up with him.

"Huh, ridiculous, history has ended." Drummond shook his head and threw away the ominous thought.

He drove to the abandoned old building, which had once been the symbol of the starting point of his empire.

As the noon bell rang, he tremblingly lit the note, watched it turn to ashes, and then scattered the ashes towards the window of the office that once belonged to him.

As the ashes drifted away in the wind, James felt a huge sense of fatigue coming over him, as if his body had been hollowed out.

He felt that his willpower was rapidly disintegrating, and that strong self-confidence that he had in control of everything was disappearing bit by bit - to be more precise, after facing the kidnapper, his self-confidence disappeared bit by bit.

Only at this moment did he finally admit it.

He knew that this was more than just a physical drain.

The phone rang again, the electronic synthesized sound still calm and indifferent.

"Mr. Drummond. Did you feel that? That little, tiny, loss of control."

Drummond leaned against the cold wall, gasping for breath. "Who... who are you? What do you want?! Get that bastard Cyrus Morton out here and face me!"

Drummond was a little hysterical.

"I want you to face up to what you've done, Mr. Drummond." The electronic synthesized voice became particularly solemn.

"The last step is now, return to your mansion. In your study, find the deed to the piece of land you are most proud of."

"Find him and tear him into pieces, the more pieces the better."

Drummond suddenly burst into laughter: "Hahahahaha, good! I know who you are! I know who you are!"

"Do you think I'll let you push me around? You picked the wrong opponent!"

After saying that, Drummond hung up the phone without waiting for the other party to respond.

Despite this, Drummond's body couldn't stop shaking.

He felt unprecedented weakness and fear, and the powerful feeling of being in control of everything was gone.

He knew that he had to recuperate, recover, and resolve the tiny flaws in his soul in order to prepare for the final battle.

And now it's time for his "loyal" subordinates - Marco Giuseppe Romano, Vikram Chandrasekhar, Theodore Lancaster - to come forward and deal with those "troubles" for him.

He wanted to let them know that the Drummond family's empire would never collapse because of his momentary weakness.

…………