Chapter 72

"Click!"

Randy opened Beverly's door, but there was no one inside.

"Oh, it seems they've already started planning?"

He had just picked up his car and arrived at Lantern Bridge Street but was still a step late.

If he calculated the time right, they should be regrouping now, and after that, they would split up to find the memories they once lost.

Mike was the one putting in the most effort among them.

Randy lowered his head and recalled.

In one day, the Losers' Club split up to find the tokens of courage they had once collected. They were each terrorized by Pennywise in turn, revisiting childhood fears, facing various threats, and yet they found their own proofs of courage.

"Pennywise is really good at giving them experience points."

Each attack was just enough to make them almost fall apart, but he would always show up when they were about to break down and get them to band together again.

"Can't solve the problem but has to mess around anyway."

Originally, Pennywise could have lived a few more days, but he had to provoke Bill, even eating a child in front of him, causing Bill to lose all reason. He went to the clown's lair alone, dragging everyone into action ahead of schedule.

Honestly, Randy was happy to see someone give Pennywise trouble.

But the problem was this group didn't know that Pennywise had moved! His lair had been taken over by Randy!

"If they run into my corpse farm to cause trouble..."

Randy had set up many traps in the underground lair; they would be dead if they went down. He didn't care if the others died, but Beverly still had her uses and couldn't be lost this early.

Besides, Randy had no doubt that Pennywise would fan the flames, appear to continue harassing them, and then lure them into the underground lair, using Randy to get rid of them.

Now he's become the one wearing the shoe.

Randy was a bit annoyed, but solving this was simple—just get rid of Mike.

That guy's memory hadn't failed, and he was a cop, always fighting and resisting on the front lines. He was the one who gathered everyone, the core figure of their reunion.

"Once Mike is dead, and Pennywise stays quiet for a few days, the rest won't dig deeper. Or we could even push a scapegoat into the spotlight."

Randy took out his phone and dialed his contact in the police station.

"Hello, Officer Jackson."

"Randy, today's call is a bit early."

Jackson had just gone on patrol and had been waiting for that family massacre case to continue. He was looking forward to it.

"Haha, I'm house-sitting for Mr. George in West City, but I've noticed the patrols here are quite strict."

"That's normal. We'll probably be this busy for a while. Last night, there was another..."

Jackson mentioned a missing person case at the stadium from the night before, though it was strange that they didn't find any red balloons at the scene.

"I actually got up early to continue my patrols."

Randy sighed, replying, "It's really tough on you and Officer Mike."

"Mike? He's not tough; he took a leave of absence last night, said he had a way to solve the town's current dilemma. Ha, I don't know what to make of that."

"He didn't come in today?"

"No, Mike isn't being very friendly. I was hoping he'd take sick leave so I could accompany him and get half a day off, but he refused."

"Maybe he has something to do, like moving or something."

"Moving?"

Jackson almost laughed. "He's not moving; he's been living in that nearly collapsing house for over thirty years, collecting all sorts of strange artifacts. His place is practically a museum now."

Randy quickly asked for the address.

"Near the old meat factory. It's where Mike grew up..."

Randy quickly noted down the address, chatted a bit more, and then hung up.

Collecting strange artifacts? Isn't that where they gathered in the second movie?

Also, Pennywise needed a bit of a warning.

At least to make it lay low. If Pennywise didn't appear to assist, the fear in the seven would not surface.

Randy took out a red balloon and quickly filled it with air.

Then, he took out a marker and wrote a message on it.

"We need to talk."

Just as he finished writing, the balloon popped like a bubble, leaving no trace behind.

But Randy knew Pennywise had received the message.

He inflated another balloon and wrote a new message on it.

"Our agreement is still valid. I'll help you deal with the Losers' Club, but I need you to hide and not be so flashy."

After writing the message, the balloon exploded again, but unfortunately, Randy waited a bit longer and didn't get a response.

"Forget it; let's deal with Mike first."

Randy got up and headed to Mike's house.

The old meat factory was in the southern part of town.

Without a car, it would be a slow trip.

While driving, Randy suddenly noticed a billboard on the side of the road with only two simple letters, "OK," as a response.

Was this the clown's reply?

He glanced at the rearview mirror; a huge balloon had appeared in his back seat out of nowhere.

But when Randy expanded his senses, he didn't find Pennywise's presence.

Seems it's too scared to show itself.

"Pennywise, you need someone to take the fall for you now. As long as you control your appetite, they'll leave on their own in a couple of days."

The balloon in the backseat pulsated like a heart, but after hearing Randy's words, it immediately stopped.

A prominent billboard ahead appeared with a row of bright red letters.

"Wasn't the agreement to eliminate them?"

"Keeping our agreement is my charity to you, a cowardly believer. You have no leverage now, so you'd better do as I say."

This time, after Randy spoke, the red balloon in the back seat vanished.

However, when Randy passed the next intersection, a passerby inexplicably made an OK gesture.

Looks like it agreed.

The Losers' Club was a nightmare for Pennywise; both sides were equally terrified of each other.

If given a chance, Pennywise definitely didn't want to confront them. Even if it did take action, various reasons would still lead to its defeat.

Soon, the car arrived in the southern part of the city. Randy expanded his senses and quickly found Mike's house, also noticing the seven inside.

He arrived just in time; they were preparing to leave.

But then, Randy suddenly frowned. His senses seemed to have picked up something else.

There was a strange aura at the pig farm on the outskirts.