Chapter 82

"How should we handle it?"

"Keep it in the underground lair and take good care of it. We just collected a new batch of nourishment, right? Feed it to him directly. As long as we maintain his basic life signs, he won't need much nourishment—he has his followers to supply him."

"Understood."

Pennywise cautiously covered the child abuser with a white cloth, still wary of the thorns.

"By the way, where did you hide that witch?"

"I hid her in a supermarket basement in the west city. The owner, John, is also a child abuser, but I warned him that it was meant for someone else, so he shouldn't have the courage to touch it."

Randy was speechless. It seemed that while Pennywise sought talent, all that was coming out of Derelict Town were scum.

Pennywise seemed to recall something interesting and continued, "That John, he's also a supermarket owner, and Beverly works at that supermarket."

Randy nodded. Beverly needed to work on her image.

Then he said, "Make sure to invite your old friends over."

Pennywise obediently nodded, "Understood."

"You'll get a share of the rewards, just like now. This flower is your prize."

Merely intimidating followers wasn't enough for the long term; occasional rewards were necessary.

Randy took out the lotus flower, which contained quite a bit of belief power. However, since it was forced out in one go, it had too many impurities. It needed purification if he were to use it, which would cause significant loss.

For Pennywise, it was perfectly fine. This guy was also a belief devourer and could easily consume it.

It was like serving a piece of rotten meat to a person—it would need to be cut and cooked, but animals could eat it without any processing.

Pennywise looked at the lotus flower wrapped in dark mist, saliva dripping from his mouth.

"So delicious."

However, just as it reached out to touch it, Randy immediately retracted it and took out a seed.

"I can give it to you, but I need you to help me cultivate this seed first. I need one of your abilities."

Though it was intended for Pennywise, most of it would be used as nourishment, accelerating the growth of the seed inside. There would be little left for actual use.

In the end, Pennywise couldn't resist the temptation and agreed to Randy's proposal, swallowing both the flower and the seed.

While its aura became stronger, its physical form didn't show much change due to the seed.

Randy smiled kindly, "You'll handle the rest. Remember to take good care of the child abuser; this will be a stable energy source. Also, avoid causing trouble during this period!"

Pennywise agreed to everything. Having experienced Randy's various powers and gained benefits, it dared not resist.

It didn't want to end up buried underground as nourishment.

Just as it was about to leave, Randy spoke again.

"By the way, the address next to Beverly's house, 15 Lantern Bridge Street, go there and feed the dog."

"?"

Though puzzled, Pennywise nodded in agreement and then quickly departed.

Not long after it left, the house also disappeared.

Randy picked up the vortex mask from the ground and stored it, then headed towards home. However, before reaching his doorstep, he heard an argument in the nearby forest.

It was Susan come looking for him.

After hanging up the phone, she had been waiting for Tommy to show up. When more than half an hour had passed without any sign, she called again only to find the phone no longer answered.

So she drove to Carrie's house to demand an explanation.

Now she was arguing with Margaret.

Margaret had seen Tommy leave with her own eyes, so she spoke firmly.

"Why should we be concerned about where he went? Even if he was found, I would personally tell him to stay away from Carrie!"

"Ha! Who would want to get involved with your daughter? That freak? Please, it's a whole house of delusional people."

Margaret was tough with Carrie but had no way to deal with others.

"Better than you, you degenerate who got pregnant before marriage!"

This statement instantly enraged Susan, escalating the argument. Susan even threatened to have someone get Carrie pregnant.

Just as things were about to turn physical, the police arrived.

It was Margaret who had reported them in advance, and patrol officers were nearby.

They quickly separated the two parties.

After taking statements from Carrie and Margaret, the police advised Susan to go home and check things out along the way.

Susan left, still cursing.

Thinking about the ominous rumors about Carrie at school, she was even more worried. Could it really be that Tommy approached Carrie and then faced an accident? Was he captured by the clown?

She didn't blame herself for letting Tommy provoke Carrie; she only blamed Carrie for being the source of disaster!

After they left, Carrie also felt unwell. Margaret looked at her with a particularly suspicious gaze.

"You killed someone."

Carrie quickly explained, saying she had rejected Tommy and had no idea what happened to him afterward.

"You have magical power. You could have quietly killed him."

After saying this, Margaret turned and went back inside, leaving Carrie alone and heartbroken.

Randy thought that Derelict Town should have one more bully in its camp now.

However, the recently arrived police had also reminded Randy.

He took out his phone and dialed Beverly's number.

"Beverly, where are you now?"

"Randy? I'm not at home right now; I'm at Mike's place."

After friends and family in America passed away, it was customary for family and friends to keep vigil. Since Mike had no family, it fell to his friends to do so.

"I just learned about Mike's passing, and I heard he was one of your closest friends. My condolences."

"I'm used to it."

She should be used to it by now. With no family left around her, and the only friend still in town also gone, she had become accustomed to such losses.

"Should I come over to help?"

"No need, Randy. You should rest well..."

After a few more exchanges, Randy hung up.

When he said he would come over, it was just a formality since it was already late. However, he still planned to visit the next day.

Also, Beverly's strength needed to be improved. After all, she was just a strong-willed woman with a mortal body and was unlikely to handle severe dangers well, especially not the local child abuser.

The damned afterlife world always favored the evil side.

That night, Randy continued with his planning. The darkness made it easier for him to move about.

This time, the target was parts of the Central City area and some remaining regions along the forest.

When Randy arrived at the cemetery, he made an interesting discovery.

Beneath the tombs, there were interconnected caves. The entrance was small, just enough for a person to crawl through, like an underground labyrinth.

Upon further inspection, Randy noticed that many of the coffins in the cemetery were empty, with some even having large holes, allowing rats to come and go.

Randy remembered an old story about how cemetery rats survived by feeding on corpses.

He expanded his senses and soon found a large space deep within the cave, where a giant rat was hiding.

Unlike the previous ratmen, this one still resembled a rat, but was as large as a crocodile, with a fierce appearance and sharp claws.

"Another rat, and it seems to be quite gluttonous."

Randy quickly entered the cave, where swarms of rats covered the ground, and the giant rat was still sleeping.

"Compared to the previous ratmen, this one has no sense of danger."

Randy shot an electric arc to wake it up.

Then, before it could react, he immediately summoned vines to bind it and pulled it in front of him.

"Don't want to die, do you?"

Such a monster had likely developed intelligence, at least enough to understand human speech.

As expected, upon hearing the words, the giant rat nodded frantically, its eyes full of a desperate desire to live.

The more beastly a creature, the more it senses danger, and a rat, being so sensitive, had no intention of resisting at all.

Randy looked around at the surrounding bones and various burial jewels.

"Grave robbery?"

The giant rat nodded again.

"That's useful."

In the future, this cemetery would likely have many residents, and this giant rat could serve as a transporter for nourishment.

Randy summoned a seed, which slowly grew into a hand ring, and then strapped it to the rat's forelimb.

"Remember this scent, dig through to the sewer, and find the source of this scent. Deliver any fresh enough corpses to that place. Understand?"

The giant rat nodded.

"Derelict Town doesn't keep idle hands. Either you transport nourishment or become nourishment yourself. Of course, if you perform well, there will be food for you."

The giant rat nodded vigorously.

Randy smiled with satisfaction. "By the way, send these treasures over as well."

Many of these burial items looked quite valuable and could be exchanged for cash in other cities, which would be a significant income.

A preliminary estimate showed that there were still more than a dozen fresh corpses in the cemetery. Although most were older and provided limited nourishment, even mosquito legs are meat.

"Oh, and there's a place in the cemetery you'd better avoid. Let them rest in peace."