CHAPTER 45: CHAPTER 45: THE PRIEST’S MONOPOLY

Jinshui District Police Station.

The body of the Black Magic Master found dead in the rented apartment had been sent to the morgue. Henry sat in Raymond’s office, flipping through the crime scene photos and written files, his expression quite interesting.

"I told you, Jackson’s abilities are quite exceptional. Asking for his help will definitely solve the problem." Henry laughed.

Raymond nodded in agreement, "Compared to those procrastinating and greedy guys at the church, these Chinese Exorcists are indeed easier to get along with, not only more efficient but also very straightforward."

"If it weren’t for the cooperation deal between the church and the police higher-ups, I wouldn’t leave any work for those priests. Replacing them with Chinese Exorcists would be much more practical." Henry put down the photos and lit a cigarette, looking very disdainful as he spoke.

At this moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and a blonde priest with slicked-back hair walked in from outside.

Wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses and with an arrogant expression, he said to Raymond, "Chief, I heard there’s been a case in Jinshui District that seems to involve an Evil Spirit. How is your investigation going? Why hasn’t our church received any request for help from your station? What exactly are you doing?"

Upon hearing the priest’s questioning, Henry squinted his eyes, smoking, with a hint of displeasure on his face.

In America, a country that believes in God, there is basically a church in every neighborhood so believers can attend weekend services.

However, the priests who got their positions in this way did not take on the responsibilities they should have when the public faced crises related to Evil Spirits.

Many times when Evil Spirit incidents occurred, the victims, troubled by the Evil Spirits, had no choice but to call the police for help, and the police, unable to handle it, naturally had to notify the church.

Yet due to the church’s many rules, they choose to let people die to adhere to these rules, never breaking protocol to act.

This resulted in the priests’ efficiency being disastrous in every instance. In all his years as chief, Henry had encountered many cases where by the time the church’s priests finally decided to act, the victims had already been killed by the Evil Spirits.

Therefore, although he is white, he harbors extreme loathing and aversion towards the church.

Amongst all the officers, there are many who share Henry’s sentiments, Raymond being one of them.

Between the Eastern Exorcists and local priests, they are entirely more inclined towards the Eastern faction.

Raymond, being the chief, could not speak ill of the priest even if he wasn’t fond of him, as doing so would offend the church. He could only smile and say, "Father Bell, there’s no need to be concerned about that case. Our police station has already resolved it. Thank you for your attention."

"Resolved? How did you resolve it? Don’t think of just suppressing the case and closing it carelessly. Let me tell you, Raymond, if any Evil Spirits appear, you must notify the church so the priests can perform exorcism right away. Otherwise, the residents of Jinshui District could be in danger, and you can’t bear that responsibility." The white priest criticized unceremoniously.

Raymond smirked disdainfully. If the police station wished to have the church’s priests exorcise, they must pay a considerable commission to the church and the priests.

Many priests rely on this to earn money and will make exorbitant demands during the process, greatly fleecing the local police station.

This priest clearly wasn’t here because of the Evil Spirit but to make money.

Raymond had encountered this sort of thing many times. Even after paying, the priests would always dawdle, refusing to act promptly. By the time they did, the victims had been tortured by the Evil Spirits and were already in the hospital for emergency treatment.

"Don’t worry, Father Bell, I would certainly not take chances with Jinshui District. This case has truly been resolved. I have work to do. Please go back. If we encounter any trouble that the police can’t handle in the future, I will be sure to seek your help at the church right away."

Facing Raymond’s perfunctory response, Bell realized he probably came in vain this time, could only snort coldly, and without even bidding farewell, turned and left.

"These priests drag their feet during exorcisms but show up very eagerly to ask for money when they hear of an Evil Spirit case." Henry spat disdainfully.

Raymond shook his head, "I’m used to it."

At the police station’s entrance, Bell got into a Porsche 911. Not having been enlisted for an exorcism job this time, he felt very annoyed being sent back empty-handed.

Slapping the steering wheel, Bell took out his phone and immediately dialed a number, "Come out, I’m at the entrance."

Soon, a chubby white policeman sneaked out from the police station, looking as if he was afraid of being seen.

He quickly got into the passenger seat of the Porsche, showing a fawning smile to Bell, "Father Bell, what’s so urgent for you to call me out?"

"What’s going on at the police station? Didn’t you say Raymond had an Evil Spirit case? Why did he tell me my help wasn’t needed?" Bell glared unfriendly at this officer.

The white policeman awkwardly explained hurriedly, "Father Bell, there was a case before, but I heard Chief Raymond got an Eastern person to help. The case is already solved."

"An Eastern person!"

Bell instantly roared, "Is Raymond kidding? How could he not ask a priest but go to an Eastern person? Is he trying to fight the church?"

Ever since all the churches joined forces to develop a rating system for priests, they had also arrogantly set up an unofficial assessment and evaluation for all exorcists.

While monopolizing the exorcism industry in North America, they also intended to tightly control all exorcists through the evaluations. In such an environment, white and black exorcists are particularly favored. If you believe in God, you qualify to perform exorcisms.

However, Chinese Exorcists like Sun Yan, who use exorcism techniques differing from those of the church, are considered heretics and secretly discriminated and suppressed, facing immense difficulty picking up any exorcism business, thus forced to band together to make a living in the cracks.

Upon hearing Raymond would rather ask an Eastern Exorcist for help than notify himself, this was like an invisible slap across the face of the church, infuriating Bell as a priest.

Unconsciously, he had missed out on earning a sum of money.

"Do you know the background of that Exorcist?"

"Seems like he’s running a graveyard in Gospel Town. I heard some colleagues at the police station mention it." The white policeman replied uncertainly.

At the police station, he was just an unpopular fringe character, naturally unable to know much information. Precisely for this reason, he showed ingratiating behavior towards Bell.

"Gospel Town..." Bell muttered this name. Even as a priest of Saint Anna City, he’d never heard of this town’s name, indicating how low its sense of existence was.

Nevertheless, this didn’t stop Bell from personally visiting, to warn that Chinese Exorcist daring to steal his business.

After all, on this North American land, Eastern people are the outsiders, needing the approval and permission of local priests like him to conduct business.

In Bell’s view, Eastern Exorcists who don’t believe in God are only worthy of picking up the scraps of exorcism jobs, and whether or not they get those scraps depends on his mood.

"Get out of the car."

Having learned about the situation, Bell immediately changed his attitude, shooing the white policeman out of the car like swatting away a fly.

As the Porsche started up and swiftly disappeared down the street, the white policeman’s once-fawning expression instantly changed to one of disdain, "Ugh, what a piece of work."