Winchester M1897

"Western paranormal events are not as mysterious as those in the East, nor are they unsolvable. The main theme of Western paranormal phenomena follows a certain pattern. If one thoroughly studies its nodes, demonic incidents can actually be resolved.

This is because, in Western paranormal events, some demons always have a certain degree of causality.

At the same time, their appearances and possessions are not without reason. Compared to demons from hell who directly manifest themselves, the essence of the spirits lingering in the human world is weaker. They need to go through three stages to fully possess a human body and control their consciousness.

These three stages can be summarized as follows...

One: Humans enter their territory and trigger some kind of fuse or medium, leading to the appearance of the demon.

Two: After the demon appears, initially they emit slight noises, such as voices, footsteps, or even manipulating the victim's body, causing mental distress and pressure.

In this second stage of the demon, ordinary people usually find it difficult to remain calm. Ask yourself, if you knew there was something invisible in your room, would you be afraid? From his personal perspective, if it were his past self, the standard answer would be yes! Because he couldn't bear the sudden disturbances every day, yet he couldn't see anything, causing his nerves to fray until they weakened.

So, this is the harassment of the demon, which gradually intensifies, further destroying the target's will.

When this stage is reached, the demon will progress to the next stage, which is the third stage: possession.

And from the three pieces of evidence given by Ed, the information revealed indicates that this demon is clearly on the verge of entering the third stage of possession.

This final step is very dangerous.

In summary, successful possession by a demon indicates that it has taken control of the target's consciousness. Simply put, the victim is in mortal danger.

"Although you have the recognition of the church, the application for exorcism permission must also pass through the headquarters of the church. By the time it goes back and forth, it will be too late," Anderson said calmly, seemingly sensing surprise emanating from his phone.

"I am a legitimate priest of the church and do not require permission. Therefore, for the safety of the victims, it is best for me to personally intervene..."

 [Trigger random task]

 [Random task: Exorcise the demon and save the Peren family]

 [Successful reward: +5 points]

 [Do you accept?]

Having just finished speaking, Anderson, hearing the sudden mechanical sound in his ear and seeing the task window appear out of nowhere, smiled with satisfaction.

It seemed that just as he was thinking of personally exorcising the demon, a task was triggered.

"Accept the task," Anderson silently thought, and the task panel disappeared in an instant.

At the same time, a surprised voice came from Ed through the phone. "Father Anderson, it's great that you can come in person. The address is Harisville, Rhode Island..."

Quietly noting down the address, Anderson grabbed the cardboard box and rose to his feet, making his way back to the lounge while calmly saying, "Is Rowling here?"

"Rowling? She's right next to me," replied Ed through the phone, followed by a gentle female voice.

"Father, I'm here."

"Okay, Rowling, my cross for you is still there, right?" By this time, Anderson had reached the lounge door.

"Yes, Father."

Listening to Rowling's voice, Anderson subconsciously remembered the faint aura lingering around her.

It was a very strong curse, but he couldn't trace its source or the danger it posed, so he could only use the cross he had kept with him for over a decade to suppress this evil aura.

"If there is any danger, I authorize you to recite the Lord's Prayer with my cross..." Anderson said as he threw the cardboard box behind the door and opened the closet in the lounge to retrieve the tools for exorcism.

"The merciful Lord will forgive you; you don't need to worry about anything."

Perhaps his words were a bit too serious, and there was a moment of silence on the other end before someone finally spoke up.

"Father, regarding the matter from the church..."

Just as Anderson, carrying his backpack, stepped out of the lounge, he heard this and smirked.

The church in this parallel world was somewhat overbearing, controlling and monopolizing the priority of paranormal events through its doctrines, much like obtaining permission for exorcisms, which was similar to how ordinary people needed the approval of the police to investigate and solve murder cases...

Of course, there were reasons for this.

The church could create such a situation because it was inherently opposed to demons and had the power to resolve these paranormal events.

So, exorcism permits were also to prevent any mishaps, because some paranormal events were not simple, and if an uninformed amateur attempted an exorcism, it could not only trigger a larger chain reaction but also risk the life of the victim.

Things that require professionals to handle should be handled by professionals, just like him.

Thinking of this, Anderson calmly said, "You are registered paranormal experts of the church, so I trust you to discern the severity of the situation. With me present, you don't have to worry about anything on the church's end..."

A deep sigh came from the phone. "I understand, Father."

"Well," Anderson said, speaking words that bordered on blasphemy with a calm smile.

"Let's discuss the rest when I arrive."

With that said, he hung up the phone, made the sign of the cross toward the statue of Jesus, hung the sign "Out for a few days, please understand" on the door, and headed in the direction of home. He always made sure to have enough tools before setting out; otherwise, he would feel a bit uneasy.

Anderson also felt regret about this because his cheat didn't have the standard configuration of storage space that other travelers had.

Upon arriving home, Anderson didn't pause for a moment and headed straight for the underground warehouse to organize the tools he would need for this trip.

To deal with these unseen demons or spirits, he preferred to use a shotgun and specially made salt bullets, because the characteristics of a shotgun were very convenient. With self-pressed bullets, he could handle any situation flexibly, even if he encountered physical monsters, he could reload accordingly.

Based on this, Anderson walked to the shelf full of firearms, his eyes immediately drawn to the row of shotguns, then picked up one.

Looking at the classic shotgun in his hand, Anderson's mind automatically recalled its specifications.

Winchester M1897, weighing 3.6 kilograms, with a barrel length of 29 inches. It could fire 12 or 16 gauge lead bullets, and the magazine could hold five shotgun shells while the chamber could accommodate one more separately, giving it a total capacity of six rounds.

In addition to this, the Winchester M1897 was an external hammer type shotgun without a trigger disconnect device, allowing it to fire rapidly.

Rubbing the Winchester M1897, Anderson smiled to himself and muttered, "You're the one, buddy."