Chapter 3913: Chapter 3030: Dense Shade of Green Trees, Long Summer Days (28)

The car had been driving for a long time, and Wanda felt the driver making several turns, bringing her to a very secluded place. If she had been a Gothamite, she might have used magic to find out where this was, but she was actually an outsider, so even if she could use magic, she did not know where she was.

However, after Wanda had fully integrated with the power of Scarlet for the first time, she essentially became one with the Scarlet Power, just as Barbados is, Wanda is the power itself. She didn't need to actively use magic to detect anything; as long as this power spread, she was omnipresent. Now, her human form was just a part of the omnipresent Scarlet Power, and her body would not confine her consciousness.

Wanda didn't let the Scarlet Power spread too far, just a few kilometers around the car. Although she didn't know the exact location, she noticed that there was a large forest on one side of the road after the car passed it.

This proved that it definitely wasn't the city center, but rather should be close to the suburbs, and most of the suburbs in Gotham did not have so many trees. Wanda thought this must be a special place, with the forest serving as an important clue to ascertain her location.

The car quickly came to a stop, and Wanda was genuinely surprised to find that it was a crematorium.

America is vast with a sparse population, so although there isn't much emphasis on the idea of resting in peace buried in the earth, most people can afford a burial plot, and many communities provide public cemeteries. Besides, viewing the body is an indispensable part of funerals, and most people choose burial in a coffin.

But because the East Coast is by the sea, many people choose sea burials, which involves scattering the ashes at sea, and that necessitates cremating the body. Furthermore, a few years ago, Gotham was quite chaotic, often with mob violence leaving bodies behind. Such bodies were generally burned as a cost-saving measure.

What surprised Wanda was not that this was a crematorium, but that this crematorium was very new, obviously not one of those old buildings, yet most of the crematoriums one saw in America were quite aged.

This was understandable; the population of America had always been stable, the native land had never experienced a destructive war, and most buildings related to the population had been built around the time of the nation's founding. There was no explosive population growth, so there was simply no need for new construction, just repairs and refurbishments were sufficient.

Crematoriums, even more so. The population of Gotham had reached its current size decades ago, and the number of people using crematoriums hadn't changed in decades, there was simply no need to build new ones, and even if the city government was flush with cash, they wouldn't waste it on this.

Moreover, in the religious culture of America, graveyards are revered as the closest places to heaven; having a cemetery nearby can raise property values. But crematoriums are different. In Christian culture, hell is a place full of flames, and people tend to have a negative impression of crematoriums.

If a crematorium were to be built in an area, it would require the consent of all residents in the community. If even one person refused to sign, it would be very difficult to construct. How did this seemingly new crematorium come into being?

A faint red glow flickered in the eyes of the Scarlet Witch. Her instincts told her that this was no ordinary place, filled with an ominous aura, but she couldn't pinpoint what exactly was off. All she could do was rein in her power and prepare herself.

The gleam in Raven's eyes dissipated; a puzzled look crossed her face as she watched the surveillance footage. Dick, who was also looking at the monitor, turned back to her and asked, "What's wrong? Is there something unusual?"

"There's a car... at the crematorium to the east. A clone I deployed across from the crematorium, on Ding Street by the motel, saw it drive up to the side door. Is that normal?"

"Could it be carrying a body for cremation?"

"But it should go through the main entrance," Raven replied. "In recent days, the bodies brought in for cremation have all come through the front, and the coffins are taken out there. Why would this car go to the side door?"

"Might it be a private vehicle?" Dick began searching through the surveillance footage, saying, "Did you catch the license plate number?"

"No, but you just need to pull up the surveillance for that street to see it. I've already dispatched someone there."

Dick operated the computer, and soon enough, a black car appeared on the screen. He watched as it slowly made its way down the street, turned a corner, and made its way around to the back of the crematorium. However, there was no surveillance there, so it was impossible to see how many people were in the car or whether there was a coffin.

"I'm trying to get in," said Raven as the purple magic light in her eyes flickered on and off. Two shadowy figures stealthily approached the crematorium, but soon, one of them was spotted by a security guard.

"Something's not right," Raven frowned deeply and said, "These clones are agents. How could this security guard..."

Suddenly, she gasped, grabbed Dick's arm, and said, "That security guard has a gun!"

Dick gripped her hand back and said, "Stay calm. It's normal for security guards in such places to have guns; it might be to prevent disturbances..."

"No, it's not a rifle that you can buy from a gun store!" Raven said. "A pistol! And it has a silencer!"

Dick stood up abruptly at that.

Although buying guns in America isn't very difficult, and gun control in New Jersey isn't strict, that pertains to rifles and shotguns that are easily discovered. The control over handguns, which can be easily concealed for use in assassination, remains relatively strict, and silencers are not permitted for sale to private individuals; even the police can't get them.

This indirectly proved that if someone had a silencer, they were definitely up to no good; because if the benefit they could derive from that silencer wasn't significant enough, they wouldn't go to the trouble of getting it. You could arrest a hundred people, and maybe not one would be innocent.

It's normal for security guards to carry guns, but it's not normal for them to carry silenced pistols," Dick said as he grabbed Raven's arm to calm her down. "Have your people back off a bit."

"It might already be too late," Raven replied, biting her lip. "I had no idea there was something off about the crematorium. If they're doing something shady now, I'm sure I've spooked them."

"Don't panic," Dick always had a steady demeanor. He continuously rubbed Raven's back to ease her anxiety before saying, "If they are really doing something shady, especially involving personal harm, you disrupting them might have actually saved someone."

"But what if they become desperate..."

"Isn't there a hotel across from the crematorium? Is it taller than the crematorium?"

"Yes, by about four or five stories."

"Take me there now. We can use binoculars to scope out the situation opposite us. I also have a cloaked drone provided by Tim. If they don't have any countermeasures, it might be able to fly in for a look."

Raven's emotions settled slightly, and after taking a deep breath, her purple glow flashed, and she and Dick appeared in the room where she had positioned the clone earlier.

The angle from this room was excellent, not only providing a clear view of the street below but also a direct line of sight to all the windows of the crematorium.

It was now after hours, and the crematorium staff were gradually leaving. Dick used the binoculars for a sweep and didn't spot anything unusual, then he went to the window on the side of the room to release the drone.

Dick stared intently at the screen, and Raven leaned in to look as well. The drone flew in through the gap of an open window and circled around inside the four-story building, but no matter how it looked, the scenes were just normal office settings.

The drone flew out from a rear window and as soon as it did, it captured footage of a car parked by the side entrance - the same black car that appeared on the surveillance cameras.

A burly driver was sitting in the driver's seat. The drone edged a bit closer, making Raven incredibly nervous, as it was only optically cloaked. Its noise was very minimal, but its flight still disturbed the air. She was really worried about it being detected.

But Dick's hands were steady from start to finish, showing no sign of nervousness. He controlled the drone, slowly approaching the driver's seat when suddenly, the driver moved.

Raven nearly screamed out loud, but Dick remained still. Fortunately, the driver only reached for his phone and said into it.

"What? Agents are here? Are you sure?"

Raven bit her lip hard. She shouldn't have approached recklessly. The clone was an agent, but she was not; she didn't have that kind of experience. She had indeed alerted them.

"You're making a mountain out of a molehill," the driver snorted before adding, "We agreed I'd do this one job. If you want another run, I won't do it for less than 50 grand. The heat's on, and if that iron-faced Gordon catches me, I'm done for…"

"They're definitely up to no good," Raven whispered. "Do you think they're trying to dispose of a body?"

Scratching his ear and blowing on his finger, the driver said, "I've told you guys before, I used to haul corpses for the Mob. But now you want a live one? Can you blame me for the price hike? 50 grand, not a penny less."

Raven's eyes widened. "Did you hear what he said? A live one! They've got a live person!"

The specifics of the conversation on the other end of the phone were unclear, but the tone of desperation was evident. Nevertheless, the call ended. Dick waited a while with the drone, but no one came out, and as dusk set in, the driver left alone.

Dick circled the drone around the crematorium as he said, "Seems they couldn't agree on the price. The other party couldn't move the hostage. But it makes sense, kidnappings by the Mob weren't that common, and they're even less so now."

Raven was still a bit nervous, but she asked instinctively, "Why is that?"

"If there's a vendetta, they'd just kill directly. If it's for money, there are too many risks in the process of trading. Robbing a bank is more profitable with that effort, and even if they wanted to coerce someone by threatening their family, there's no need to actually kidnap them. Just finding out where the family members usually go and dropping off something is enough to threaten them."

"Who do you think they're abducting then, who's worth all this trouble?"

"And those few unfortunate cases all generally have one thing in common," Dick continued. "The kidnappers have a secret that cannot be disclosed, and only by holding the lives of the informed can they truly ensure compliance."

Suddenly, his manipulation of the drone paused. Raven looked at the screen to see a densely overgrown bush on the hill behind the crematorium, hiding a very concealed path. Following this path up to the middle of the hillside, they saw a door to an abandoned bunker.

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