By faith Abel offered a sacrifice to God more beautiful than Cain's, and thus received a testimony of justification, a testimony of God's gift to him. Though he is dead, he still speaks by faith. —Hebrews

"You want to be empowered." Sasha said calmly, "It's not very difficult for me. ”

He sat on the only chair in the room, and. Strong Jacob knelt in front of him, and the distance between the two people was so close that as long as Sasha raised his hand, he could touch the forehead of the elder: "Moreover, there is no danger, not at all." He said softly, "I know what to do." But the biggest problem is," the ghoul's son smiled fleetingly in the golden light: "Thanks to you, I'm in a very precarious state right now, Mr. Strong Jacob, my power is boiling and roaring in my body, I can't control it, just now, I'm sorry, I can't quite figure out how long we've been here, let's just think, not long ago, I almost killed my friends and brothers because of this—I'm sure you've seen the consequences— Everyone's abilities are different, and it's hard to say what will become after enhancement, but it's easy to guess what the outcome will be after losing control, and the best one will be death, or worse, I can't guess. ”…… He was silent for a moment, giving time to think, and then spread his hands slightly: "Of course, if you are willing to wait a few days...... I can't guarantee it, but ......"

"There's no time." "There's no time," said. He repeated.

"You might die."

"The Lord will give strength to his people; The LORD will bless his people with peace. ”

"I am not Jehovah."

"You are the Messiah, the anointed one of God, the chosen one of the Lord."

“…… That's a glorious title. Sasha muttered, "It's just that most of the time doesn't end well." The first to be identified as the Messiah was Jesus, who was crucified by the Romans, even though he was resurrected three days later—something Sasha was sure he didn't have. Not to mention the frequent occurrence of various "pseudo-Messiahs" after this, Ajiba in 132 C.E.? Root? Joseph was beheaded by the Romans, and the unknown Jewish "Messiah" of the 12th century repeated his mistakes. Beheaded by the then caliphate, Thomas in the 16th century? The same is true of Min Cai, 17th-century Savatay? Sebi was captured by the Turks and converted to Islam for his own life, and since the two world wars, people have expected more than usual a Messiah to lead them out of war, hunger, and poverty, and there are even more people who claim to be Messiahs, and the most similar thing about them is that they end up ...... Quite "wonderful". "Well, I guess a title doesn't matter," said Hopkins Jr., "Mr. Strong Jacob, I want to know." Beelzebub. Is Bisandi still alive? ”

paused, as if he didn't understand why he would ask the question: "Alive. ”

"Anthony. What about Hopkins? ”

"Alive, at least until it leaves our sight."

"What about the others?"

"All alive."

“…… Very good. Sasha said, "Then." Please come over again. ”

He put his hand on. Strong Jacob's neck.

***

"Messiah." Anthony. Hopkins said softly, crossing his fingers across his chest, "That's a glorious title, it's a pity that it's hard for a character with this honor to get a good end." He observed the group of people in front of him, and everyone he looked at couldn't help but turn their eyes away from him. Including the "head".

The smell of blood on his body was dizzying, his iris was crimson, and his black pupils were as thin as a needle's nose.

"I don't understand why the 'Agency' would tolerate this kind of ......," said the man behind the "Leader", who thought he was speaking quietly, but the ghoul's eyes fell on him at once.

"They tolerate me for basically the same reasons as they tolerate you." Hopkins muttered, "This is one of the hardest things for me to bear." ”

Obvious. The guy didn't understand, he might have wanted to say something, but the person next to him grabbed him: "Okay, okay." The man whispered, "Shut your mouth, don't you realize that all that stinky folly is about to overflow your throat?" ”

The "chief" can only act as if he doesn't hear anything: "Aren't you going to do something?" ”

"What to do? I think I'm done. Hopkins nodded politely to the crowd, "If you need it, sir," he said as if to a dog or a cat, "I'll go back to the hotel and take a shower and change my clothes." After all, this dress seems to be suitable for Halloween, when the time comes. I'll come back to you if I can. ”

The ominous meaning contained in the last sentence made the "head" straighten the corners of his mouth.

"Sasha. Hopkins at Strong Jacob's. ”

"That's right, as you said," Hopkins said cheerfully, "since he is what they think of as the 'Messiah'—the Messiah—that means—that they will serve him and take care of him, and I don't have to worry about him, do I?" He made a wicked gesture: "Don't be too disappointed, sir, I thought you knew I wasn't Catherine." ”

He let out a short, icy laugh and took two steps back, disappearing into the darkness.

"Shall we chase?"

"Chief" shook his head, his mind was seen through by Hopkins, fortunately, the ghoul didn't say much, but he hesitated, Catherine was not there, Hopkins ...... And Martin ...... The leader didn't dare to let him have any chance to be in the same room with the first two, although the people around him were all superpowers, and one or two of them had very good abilities, but they were still rookies, and they still needed to be honed, but the object of training must not be a ruthless and strong opponent like the Supervising Sect. The wounds left by the Hopkins father and son a few years ago have not yet fully healed, and the nations and other organizations that have come to value the Stranger are constantly competing with them for each new person, and the institution can no longer afford to lose more.

"Hey," one suddenly whispered, "do you feel anything?" ”

The "head's" face suddenly turned white.

***

The "head" is also a person who has been "baptized" by the power of sanding, and of course he knows what is happening.

trembled, and an alien force was slowly but surely invading his body, his bones. His veins and flesh were shaking from this, his nerves tingling, his skin tightened, his instinct screaming to resist—it was digging into his internal organs, and even deeper, his heart, his brain, and his soul, it was changing them, correcting them, strengthening them—and it was for this reason that his intellect was willing to fight his instincts with all its might. No, don't refuse, that's what you pray. What you wanted, what you longed for—the whole process was so long, painful and frightened, that he could no longer maintain his original position, and fell to the ground, his limbs spread out. Constantly gasping for breath, tears and sweat flowed uncontrollably, soaking through his clothes and the carpet underneath.

Maybe it's not just sweat, but an offending smell that fills the air, and even the rich scent of roses can't hide it - the loose muscles don't seem to stop where one can see.

He voluntarily took off the crown of radiance, along with the power that had always protected it. Delivered to those in front of him – delivered to the "Messiah."

"Lord, help me......" he groaned weakly, "help me." ”

Sasha didn't speak. Holding his hand, he leaned down from his chair and looked at calmly. Strong Jacob. The latter looked no better than those addicts who had injected a lot of drugs, their plump muscles and skin disappearing in tens of seconds as if they had been treated with cinematic stunts, and the facial contours collapsed. The eye sockets are blue and black, and the cheeks are sallow. Only those eyes still seemed to be on fire.

"Do you feel it?" Sasha shook his hand: "Strength." ”

closed his eyes, then opened: "...... He felt that ...... was completely different from what he had imagined, to be precise, not from heaven, but from hell. But...... He did feel, never felt so clearly, his power, so close that if it could breathe, he would have felt a slight touch of dampness and warmth on his face.

"Alright," Sasha clapped his hands nonchalantly, "you can do what you want." ”

Heyman got up from the ground slowly, he looked terrible, but it could also be said to be great: "I can't be sure," he said, his voice hoarse: "...... Maybe I'll need your help, once again. ”

"I said it would be neither dangerous nor difficult for me to open that door," Sasha leaned back in his chair, his golden eyes shining in the light, "I'll be waiting for you here." ”

***

Anthony. Hopkins certainly couldn't go back to the hotel, he just needed a tiny room, a room, quiet, warm, of course.

He landed in the garden, surrounded by the scent of wild chrysanthemums, and the faint light had no effect on the ghoul, and he stood in the courtyard for a while and walked to the back door. The back door of the house opened in the kitchen, and it took only two flicks of slender fingers to open the door.

The dangerous intruder walked silently, but the sudden sound of a soft collision and leaking orange-yellow light made him stop.

A child in orthodox pajamas, that is, long pajamas from neck to knees, stands next to an open refrigerator, with a jar still tightly clutched in his hand and barefoot. He looked at the man who looked like he had come out of thin air.

The child's eyes widened, his mouth opened, and the jar fell out of his hand.

Hopkins took the jar, and the jar was open, and inside was a gelatinous object very similar to the color of his eyes, the scent of wild chrysanthemums and honey blended together—a shallow depression was slowly returning to its original shape—and he stuck out his tongue and licked it, a handmade blend of sauce, free of flavors, additives, and preservatives, with crumbs of strawberries and apples inside.

The boy was no more than seven or eight years old, with a slender and soft neck, and the smell of his body reminded Hopkins of his own son (the boys always looked a little alike), and his reddish-brown eyes blinked blinkingly: "'And the woman said, I know that the Messiah, who is called Christ, is coming. When he comes, he will tell us all things. Do you know where this phrase comes from? ”

The child's eyes widened in bewilderment, he did not understand what was happening, but the voice of the navenile instinct told him that he should listen to the man, "John," he said hesitantly, "chapter four...... Twenty-five bars. ”

"Very right," said the ghoul, "you have a good pair of pious parents, my dear, please remember to remind them to go to a Mass of thanksgiving." ”

He tucked the boy under his armpit (like a bag of flour) and walked briskly upstairs.

He hadn't forgotten to hook the door of the refrigerator with his toes, plunging the room into darkness again.

(To be continued)