Zach stood on the back porch for more than half an hour, still on the phone in the office upstairs.
This is no longer the reason for James or Annabel's embarrassment, but the content of the phone call has become an internal issue of the Holy Lord's faith.
Speak slowly.
In fact, we can all understand that James's call was most likely due to his character. What happened to Newton was something he couldn't ignore. But the whole thing was a situation that he, a human being, was unable to participate in, so he could only keep asking questions afterwards to show off his presence.
At the beginning of the phone call, the question about why the demon suddenly attacked Newton was just the beginning. James then asked a lot of very detailed things.
For example, Revro, who has been aiming to build a surveillance network in Newton, why as a Sabbat vampire took the initiative to join the defense battle of Newton and stood on the opposite side of the devil.
For example, why did the black witches stand up to defend the city? After all, the black witches are not a benevolent group. Their consistent attitude towards death is that death is everywhere. As a bloodline cursed by Papa Midnight, You have to learn to ignore it.
For example, why did Richie come to Barton for support in the first place? What is even more puzzling is that Richie just asked Benjamin's ancestors' firm, but he also asked Mayor Barton to transfer people. What is the relationship here? thing
Can we assume that this is the detective's obsession with the truth, James' desire to get more information without his own involvement? However, as the call lasted this long, Zach could already confirm that this was not James'... er, style.
Detective James, the detective's search for the truth is carried out by obtaining clues provided by witnesses and victims and interrogating criminal suspects.
And for this phone call, Grande, oh no, Annabelle, who has been questioned by James for more than half an hour now, is she a witness? Is he a victim? Or was it the demonic criminal who attacked Newton
It's understandable that James wants to understand the context of the incident, but this behavior is not James' pattern.
So who kind of behavior pattern is this
There is a kind of person in this world who, like the police, is extremely thirsty for the truth. But the purpose is different. The police regard the incident as a case that can be solved as a motive, and regard justice as the ultimate goal to obtain the truth.
But for such people, their motivation for obtaining the truth is not to solve the incident, but to expose it so that everyone, including those on the periphery, can know the truth of the incident.
So this kind of person asks questions without caring whether the person being questioned is a witness, a victim or the criminal himself. They don't care about justice, well, that's not right to say that, but compared to law enforcers who serve a fixed legal system, this kind of people care more about how to explain one thing clearly enough.
This kind of person is called a reporter.
That is... Haha, James' wife, Kate.
Different from James' professional needs, all James' obsession is probably just to finalize a verdict issued by the judicial system to criminals, while what Kate wants is a 10,000-word sentence that everyone can get for one dollar. Bought front-page news stories.
The needs are different, and the way of doing things is completely different. So Zach could be very sure that James, who was on the phone with Annabelle, was just a sounding board now.
This phone call is no longer just a question and answer, it is a visit. A reporter controls her police officer husband to get all the clues she can from the people most likely to understand the entire story.
The call then took off in all sorts of directions, starting with the motivations of various groups, and finally converging into what might have been a front-page headline: What would happen to Newton if no one helped him
Look, this is a question the police would never ask, but the press conference.
Annabell answered this question: "Angels will be crushed by demons, Newton will become a city of demons again, and the next one will be Barton, where the fallen angels are."
Like a good reporter would say, "You're telling me that Newton's angels will be vulnerable to the devil if no one comes to help him?"
"That's what I mean. The current angels in the Federation are a joke. How can angels raised by a city's population base compare with the hell of the Federation for four centuries?"
"But Jessica of Barton now controls most of Hell's time!" This may be James' true heart speaking.
"Yes, so there will be so many demons coming to this world to attack Newton, which is based in heaven. Do you think that if Jessica in hell manages the demons who have lost their time territory, it will be the turn of our human cities in this world? To withstand such an attack?" Annabel's answer, Zach couldn't tell whether it was mixed with private goods. This is a risk that reporters must make their own judgment for every interview, "This is the internal battle of the Holy Lord Faith. Ha, it's all It's not the old-fashioned angel vs. demon, it's demon vs. demon, demon vs. angel, angel vs. demon. Haha, I told you that Harrison (angel and ghoul) from the asylum participated in the war, so there are also angels vs. angels~ This Newton Defense War is a situation caused by the distortion of the contradictions of all creatures who believe in the Holy Lord. And we living creatures in this world are paying the price for these guys who believe in the Holy Lord."
Zach was unable to continue 'eavesdropping' on the phone calls on the second floor. Because... the prediction I told Logan before came true.
Grande Funeral Home has business, and a large number of grieving guests have entered the main entrance of Grande.
The office was occupied, and Zach could only work like a counter girl, writing down each customer's requirements one by one.
In the process, Zach got some post-war news that Nick and Roy didn't bring back
This demonic defense war is a pure alien incident. If it happened in Barton, it would be unsolvable, and it would be impossible to find a corresponding and rounded off vicious incident in human common sense.
However, this battle took place in Newton, and in Newton, there is a powerful being who can create connections between humans and aliens out of thin air, Phantom Rich.
Zach heard from these grieving relatives what the Newtown City Council said about the incident.
Because the Newton city government allocates all funds to Newton's facade project: Newton University, which is about to welcome an international exchange student program, there has been no improvement at all in the civilian infrastructure that has been hit hard. And communities where most senior citizens live are the most neglected places.
Then, under the "attack" of midsummer, the basic life support system of the neglected community was broken. Water, electricity, sewage, everything that modern humans depend on for survival.
In the end, the most vulnerable, helpless, and least capable group in a city's population just... died.
Sound ridiculous
It's not that ridiculous actually
The beginning of the demon's attack on Newton was to seize the human container on the outskirts of the city of Newton as the basis of the operation: someone has to wield the soul dagger, right
It would be absurd if the outskirts of a city were populated by powerful, resource-rich, and executive-powerful groups.
Everyone must distinguish this incident from the last time Newton was ravaged by the devil. The devil last time wanted to destroy Newton's upper class, the elite in Newton society, and the devil stood at the center of Newton. , knowing that he could no longer hold on to the city for revenge.
But this time: The demonic attack on Newton was from the outside in, starting with the vulnerable communities on the outskirts of the city. The groups that have sacrificed are naturally these vulnerable groups that have not been taken care of by the city government.
Quietly not disturbing anyone's retirement, and then died by being robbed of the body by demons, and died by the city's neglect of care. Look, if you compare these two together, the latter looks much more comfortable and reasonable.
At least the latter has someone to curse at. Otherwise, are you going to curse the devil? What's the point
People, dead. Someone's father, mother, brother, sister died in a way that makes modern civilization questionable. People who are still alive need someone to vent their anger on. Who could it be
This is the result after the war. People want an object to curse. The fantasy man 'hears' people's desires, and then makes this desire become a reality. And this target is the Newton City Government.
At this point, Zach could answer a question that James asked for Kate on the phone. Why did Richie, the fantasy man, ask Barton Mayor Anthony for support? The wonderful thing is that Anthony actually sent support to Newton.
This is probably the reason. Newton City Government, compared with Barton City Hall, is so rotten that it no longer deserves to exist! !
Barton's plan to annex Newton finally made substantial progress after the West Enders' plan failed unexpectedly with Blake!
Zach kind of hoped that Kate's reporter's sense of smell would pick up on this news. After all, the twisted battle between the Holy Lord's religious creatures cannot be printed in the newspaper, but the people of Newton are completely disappointed with Newton, which would be a great head. Edition title.
Zach continued to work. In addition to arranging Grande's guests, he also received calls from other funeral homes, including Allen's Nainad. "Is Ford contacting you?" Nainad asked because he called first. The phone number in Zach's office was always busy before it was transferred to Grande's external counter number.
"not at all."
There was a hint of irritation in Nenad's tone: "Ford sold some of his burials to me! You heard that right! He sells customers! He dislikes the people from Newton for taking up his quota for high-end burials. , so he sold it to me at a high price! This guy has no bottom line now!"
Zach didn't want to talk about Ford, "Have all our three funeral homes received jobs?" Zach frowned, "How many people died in Newton?"
"Revero is still counting." Nenad replied quite quickly, "You can ignore the numbers released by the Newton city government and the police. Our funeral home is now busy entirely because of these known deaths. I have relatives in Barton! It was Barton who put pressure on Newton and made the arrangement a priority!"
"How do you know that Patton put pressure on Newton?" Zach was really curious. Nick and Roy only brought back information during the war, and there was a complete lack of information after the war.
"I asked Aisela!"
"Oh." Zach curled his lips. This is convenient. With the identity of the Sabbat Lesembra, Aesela can contradict Zach, the guy who caused the Lesembra clan's civil strife, but she can't. Resistance to Nenad.
The information that Zach can summarize now is that the Newton City Government is still struggling to survive in the reality of Fantasy Rich, so good luck.
"I'm busy here too." Zach knew that Nenad's call wasn't just a complaint. "Just send someone to take care of the burial over there. I won't care." Zach added, "For the money Ford sells you, you can deduct it directly from the usage fees of the Grand Cemetery. I don't care."
This is actually quite heartbreaking. Grande’s current business operations are becoming more and more unorganized. Zach’s gray career income is enough, and Grande itself has no need to make money to support anyone.
The staff at the living quarters, technically members of the halfway house, are responsible for the city's community improvement program, yes, Ethela's program. This Lesembra serves her political purposes (Barton's political career, and Lesembra's restrictions on Toledo), and it will not prevent Grande from paying them wages. So Zach can get by very easily.
As for Allen Funeral, there is no way to relax, because the mill is now owned by Allen Funeral, and the mill is cooperating with the Southern District Police Department. In the future, it will represent the Sabbat's control over the new port in the Southern District. Nenad dare not relax. .
Nenad on the other side of the receiver seemed to sigh, "Can I tell the truth?"
It all started like this, Zach: "You tell me."
"I think there is no need for Ford Funeral Home to exist." There is nothing surprising. "Zach, the reform of the funeral industry in the West is almost ready. I know you don't want to stay in the West forever. Well, basically the West The people at the top of the Sabbat have also taken the initiative to come to you." For example, Roy, Nick, "Only the fighting Lesembula and a few clan ancestors are left in the west." Including him from Cappadocia Ancestor, "It's really a waste to have you stay in the West like that. Your stage is in Barton! Here where the Federation and the Republic come together!"
Although Nenad has a tendency to get more and more excited as he talks, Zach knows that the point is not that Nnad is blowing rainbow farts on himself, so, "You think it's embarrassing to have discordant sounds like Ford Funeral in Barton." Cratorado’s face, right?”
"That's right!" Nenad knew that Zach understood what he meant, "And to be honest, Barton doesn't need three funeral homes to compete. Grande has burial, and my Allen here specializes in cremation. His Ford existence What’s the point? Just to provide a contract to the North District Police Department? A morgue like the one in the West District is enough to meet the needs!”
Zach not only understood what Nainad meant on the surface, but also understood the meaning behind these words. Zach smiled and said, "Do you want to take the cooperation between Ford and the North District Police Department into your own hands~"
Nenad was quiet for a second, "Yes!" and then said very coherently, "Ford's activities in the North District are also a burden to Darcy, not to mention that the real trouble in the North District will always be that James Lance! Why should we let Ford stay there and make things uncomfortable for everyone?”
Zach didn't laugh. Ford did create a lot of trouble. Xiaobai's living corpse, embarrassment for Harrison's replenishment of necessities, and secretly trading corpses with demons. He was responsible for everything. He was a human undertaker controlled by a vampire. He was forced to be helpless in the industry, but everything he did was disgusting, in every sense of the word, and he even deliberately acted like he was targeting Grande and the vampires, "But you asked me to target a human funeral industry boss, I feel ashamed too." Zach replied to Nenad.
"I don't mind this!" Nenad said simply, "I'm just a third-generation Cappadocia, not an important role in the clan. I don't have to represent anything. I just don't like a human jumping in front of me. I Just deal with him, that’s totally fine!”
Indeed, Ford realized early on that his opponent was a vampire. This was a competition that was originally extremely unfair, but became 'magically' balanced after Zach's constant forbearance.
"No one has to pay the price with their life." In the end, Zach still added a new bargaining chip to Ford. Hypocrisy? No, this is true goodness.
"Of course, otherwise it wouldn't be interesting at all." This is hypocrisy.