In the rented apartnt in the Queens District, Danny was scrolling through his phone while eating a sandwich. Seeing sothing funny, he laughed out loud, slapping his thigh, double-tapping the screen to like and save.
"You know, this post actually makes a lot of sense," Danny said, "... Why hasn't this blogger moved everything yet? No, I have to check out the original website. Finally found soone who gets it."
Danny tapped into the forum interface, nodding frequently at the content. Stretching his neck to swallow the sandwich, he said, "I told you, the final behind-the-scenes manipulator is definitely related to Hell. It was hinted at before through the stained glass window patterns. Cain might be controlled by so stronger evil force..."
Sliding further down, Danny's hand suddenly paused. He brought the phone closer, staring at the na on the screen and said, "phisto?! How is this possible! The behind-the-scenes manipulator is phisto?!"
"Wait a minute." Danny suddenly stood up and said, "Most people think the Demon King of Hell is Satan. I read several posts before all guessing this, but how did this author point out phisto?"
Danny vaguely heard the response of the Spirit of Revenge within him. He nodded and said, "Exactly, this guy knows what he's talking about, not like those who started researching magic after the movies got popular; he might be soone from the circle. At least he understands those Demon Gods; otherwise, he wouldn't randomly ntion phisto."
Danny carefully read the article again, frowning more with each line. He said, "This guy knows quite a lot about the magic realm. Many of the terms he uses are different from those enthusiasts, and his tone lacks admiration and curiosity for magic, instead showing so pessimism. That's the normal attitude of a mage."
"He said the behind-the-scenes manipulator is phisto and even suggested that this might be phisto making a movie to promote himself. Does he have so inside information?"
Danny's expression grew increasingly serious. He clicked on the opponent's profile but found nothing. He sat restlessly in the room, continuously refreshing replies, hoping to see if the author of this post had any new responses.
A knock on the door startled him, pulling his consciousness from his thoughts. Danny walked over to open the door, and Johnny appeared outside, carrying a bunch of plastic bags.
"I brought you pizza," he said, "and your favorite blue can of beer. Put these frozen fast-food items in the fridge first."
Danny looked a bit embarrassed, awkwardly unsure where to place his hands. Johnny ignored him, walked in, and began rifling through the fridge.
"There's an electrician training course on the community street tomorrow, you might want to check it out," Johnny said, "Electrician salaries are pretty good, and working in space would be even better."
Danny's lips moved, seemingly wanting to say sothing, but ultimately said nothing because he knew he had no right to refute. He's completely reliant on his brother's support.
Danny had long discovered his ntal state was unstable. This is not due to the Spirit of Revenge's influence, but due to his personality. He had tried to work several tis before but failed each ti, currently a jobless vagabond.
No inco naturally ans no way to pay bills. It's Johnny who rented the apartnt for him, periodically brought so food, and even wanted to cover the psychiatrist's fees. But unfortunately, it's too expensive, so he only offered suggestions like "spend more ti outdoors."
Of course, Danny doesn't like living this way, but he lacks the courage to take that step again. He can't stand others looking at him like he's a monster, and he also wanted to know how Johnny endured this life.
Johnny's work isn't high-paid either. He used to modify cars for people, but because he refused to join in petty theft or sell car owners' information to thieves, his inco was never high. He also had to deliver als to support expenses for other Motorcycle Gang mbers.
Danny knew Johnny was taking community college night classes, seemingly trying to learn a trade to earn more money. anwhile, he also worked for phisto, hardly having any spare ti, looking worn out.
"How's he been recently?" Danny probed.
"You an phisto? He's been quiet lately, hasn't assigned any new tasks." Johnny sat down, opened the pizza box, grabbed two beers, and said, "I have more ti to study now. After getting the Flying Shuttle maintenance certification, I'll find work over at the Bronx station. You can move there too. If we both save up so money, maybe we can open our own auto repair shop..."
Johnny isn't a very interesting person nor does he love joking around; he always speaks straightforwardly and seems tired. But his words always bring hope. Danny was encouraged too. He said, "I think I can give it a try, but it'll take so ti. You should take a look at this first."
Danny handed his phone over, the screen displaying that post. Johnny skimd it and initially seed indifferent, only scrutinizing it upon seeing phisto's na. Clearly, he, like Danny, realized the problem.
"Do you think it's possible phisto is behind the scenes causing trouble?" Danny asked, opening a beer.
"Hard to say, but he has indeed been unusually quiet recently." Johnny, uncharacteristically not arguing, said, "If he truly plans to make a movie to promote himself, then perhaps he's controlling so people in the crew."
Danny perked up, he said, "I think the author of this post must have uncovered sothing. I plan to contact him to thwart phisto's plot."
Johnny took a sip of beer and didn't refuse. He said, "phisto can't co to Earth himself, he must have found a deputy. If it's not , maybe it's that guy from Las Vegas. It's also possible he found other followers, it's hard to say."
Danny didn't listen; he was already typing to send a ssage to the author of the post. It wasn't long before the author replied to him.
"Oxford Institute of All-Souls? What's that place?" Danny muttered to himself.
Johnny suddenly looked up and said, "The author of the post is a researcher at the Oxford Institute of All-Souls? Are you sure?"
"He said he was, and showed an honorary degree certificate."
"It seems things are indeed a bit more complicated." Johnny said, pressing his tongue against his upper palate, "That place is a very authoritative mysticism institute, researching all the common knowledge areas of mysticism, and often dealing with mages. If that's their conclusion, the possibility of it being real is very high."
"He said he's now in Arica and wants to et . Should I go?"
"Aren't you worried it's a trap by phisto?"
"I'm not completely without ans of self-defense. Besides, if he really dares to show up in front of , I'll definitely beat him to a pulp."
Johnny didn't answer; he kept drinking beer, sip by sip. He seed to be thinking, or perhaps he didn't care.
Danny hurriedly ate a few bites of pizza, finished a can of beer, put on his jacket, and dashed out the door like a rocket.
He took the Flying Shuttle to a café in Manhattan. Just about to go in, he looked down at his sowhat shabby attire, then at the suit-clad elites around him, feeling even more embarrassed.
He rubbed his nose, slowed his pace, and slowly walked into the café, scanning the surroundings with his eyes. He finally found the man described in the ssage: "wearing a turtleneck sweater, glasses, and with a tal badge on his chest."
Danny walked over and sat down, first studying the man. The man wasn't completely Caucasian; he seed mixed-race, predominantly Eastern, with brown eyes that looked gentle, fitting Danny's image of a scholar well.
"Hello, I'm Cage, the person who contacted you on the forum..."
"Hello, Naog Sokhup." Shiller handed over a business card, pushed his glasses, and said, "I've already explained everything to you. In short, I suspect phisto may have possessed soone in the film crew, forcing them to shoot a movie about him, to quickly recruit followers. I don't want that to happen, do you?"
"Of course! I feel the sa as you!" Danny said. "We must not let phisto's plot succeed. But my brother says he might have possessed a new follower. Do you know who that is? How do we deal with him?"
"No news yet. But I've contacted so friends in the industry. They will investigate all the crew mbers. The person he has possessed will surely exhibit so abnormalities. Once we identify the target, we might be able to use a devil banishing ritual to send him back to hell."
Danny nodded vigorously and said, "Let's do it. But what can I do?"
"Since you managed to find , it ans you've definitely had dealings with phisto. Now, I want to know everything you know about phisto." Shiller stood up, taking a tray from the waiter and placing two cups of coffee in front of them, and continued, "No rush, we can discuss this slowly."
Danny indeed knew quite a bit, and he began speaking hesitantly, mainly about phisto's activities in the world. Shiller listened while taking notes, pondering possible weaknesses of phisto.
During the note-taking process, he glanced at his phone and noticed several missed calls from Stark, all of which were marked as silent by him.
"Hello? What's up?" Shiller asked.
"Shiller!!! A guy with long hair just impersonated you!!!" Stark's frightened roar ca through the phone, "He got into my lab!!! Looked exactly like you!! I thought I saw a ghost!!!!"
Shiller said with so surprise, "How did you know that wasn't ?"
He was indeed surprised that Stark could tell. He thought everyone would just assu it was one of his other personality traits suddenly surfacing.
"At first, I thought it was one of your other personality traits too. But you know, Little Morgan caught a cold recently, I'm worried sick. He comforted for exactly 12 minutes and 26 seconds, but didn't ask for a single penny! I knew it couldn't be you!!!"
Shiller hung up the phone with a "bang."
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