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Chapter 242 Frozen
After knocking Mels out and locking him in a cage, Lei Yin hid and led the eight women outside. Some of them tried to run away, but he stopped them to avoid alerting people in the church. He knew that the building must be equipped with surveillance cameras or security systems, and they could be discovered if they were not careful. If it were just him, he could easily come and go, but with so many women, things become much more complicated.
A few days earlier, upon learning of the disappearance of Ryoko Kuroda and her two friends from the police, he sent people to investigate their whereabouts. After a thorough search over several days, his agents found the taxi driver who took them on the night they disappeared. The driver recalled that the three women got off the cab on Shinjuku Heiwa Street and entered an apartment building.
Following this lead, Lei Yin learns that the apartment belongs to a doctoral student named Murata, but his neighbors haven't seen him for half a month. If Murata isn't home, who let Ryoko Kuroda and her friends in?
It took Lei Yin's agents two days to go through Murata's recent call records and other information, discovering that he had frequent contact with an Italian man named Andre, his former mentor. Strangely, Andre also disappeared a month ago, and the police were looking for him.
Faced with such a complicated missing persons case, Lei Yin had no choice but to investigate Andre's whereabouts and background. He found out that this Italian man had joined a rising cult called Andis half a year ago. Just before his disappearance, Andre frequented the cult's church.
The mysterious disappearance of so many people couldn't be a coincidence or something a few people could pull off. In the end, Lei Yin focused his attention on the Andis cult. Unfamiliar with this emerging religious organization, he decided to infiltrate it for easier investigation. However, the cult had a complicated process for recruiting new believers, and he didn't have the time to go through it. Instead, he found another way to blend in.
Through his investigation, Lei Yin discovered that the head of the Tokyo branch of the Andis cult, Daimon Eitai, was looking for henchmen. Although he didn't know what they were planning, Lei Yin took on the identity of an indebted Japanese mercenary who fled to the United States a few years ago and staged a fight in a bar to attract Daimon Eitai's attention. In the end, he successfully infiltrated the cult as planned.
However, he didn't expect to witness the "miracles" performed by the cult's leader, Mexias. Even now, he can't find any flaws or weaknesses in their tricks.
As they climbed the stairs, a woman suddenly fell to the ground. The two women next to and behind her quickly helped her up and ask with concern, "Hana, are you okay?"
With their help, Hana Tachibana struggled to stand up. "Your hand is so hot. What's wrong?" Tomoko Yamaguchi, who was supporting her, asked worriedly.
"I'm fine. Let's go," Hana Tachibana replied, eager to leave this cursed place. However, after only a few steps, she felt a darkness before her eyes and collapsed again.
"Hana!" Tomoko Yamaguchi immediately held her arm. "What happened?" Lei Yin approached and asked.
Tomoko Yamaguchi explained, "She suddenly fainted, and her whole body is burning up, like she has a fever."
Because Lei Yin was in disguise, the three of them, including Ryoko Kuroda, couldn't recognize him at all. They only felt that this man was very mysterious and didn't understand why he came to save them. However, that wasn't important. What was important was that he might actually be able to help them escape from this place.
Lei Yin touched her forehead, and without saying a word, he carried her on his back. Just as they were about to continue down the stairs, he suddenly stopped and said, "Quickly, use handkerchiefs or something to cover your mouths. If anyone makes a sound, none of us will be able to escape. Hurry up."
Eager to leave, the others complied, taking out handkerchiefs or tearing off their sleeves to tie around their mouths. Once everyone was prepared, Lei Yin immediately sped up and led them upstairs.
After leaving the basement, Lei Yin suddenly took out a pair of goggles similar to diving goggles and carefully led the others toward the main entrance. Unlike the basement, he knew that there must be security measures in place here, so he proceeded with extreme caution.
As they approached the entrance to the corridor, he saw the red light emitted by the infrared alarm system that Mels had mentioned, through his goggles. The alarm system was installed at the exit and covered a large fan-shaped area, making it impossible to pass without triggering the alarm.
Lei Yin had no choice but to go upstairs to assess the situation. He gestured to the others, and they followed him to the second floor. Seeing that he wasn't continuing forward but going upstairs, the women were filled with doubts, but they eventually followed him.
Upon reaching the second floor, he saw that the balcony he had climbed in from earlier was now covered in a faint red light. Apparently, the people in the church had activated all the alarms. He couldn't help but feel fortunate that he had arrived earlier, or else he wouldn't have been able to enter even if he had seen the alarm system through his goggles.
Although the infrared alarm system was simple in principle, it was quite tricky for intruders. As long as there were no blind spots during installation and the main power supply was not tampered with, there were no better ways to bypass the system other than avoiding the light or shutting down the main unit.
Since all the windows and entrances were covered by infrared alarms, it meant that they couldn't leave without triggering the alarm. Lei Yin calculated that if they tried to escape forcefully, the chances of getting all eight women out safely were only 50%. He no longer considered them as ordinary cult members, so it wouldn't be surprising if they had guns. At this point, the best approach was to call the police directly. Although he didn't want to do this since it would be quite troublesome for him, he decided to use the safest method after weighing the options.
After making up his mind, he was about to take them back to the basement exit when he suddenly realized that two people were missing.
"Where are the other two?" Lei Yin asked quietly.
"I don't know…"
"I also don't know when they left," another girl whispered.
Lei Yin knew that something was wrong. He immediately put down Hana Tachibana, who was on his back, and asked Ryoko Kuroda and Tomoko Yamaguchi to support her. He then quickly ran downstairs. Reaching the staircase, he looked ahead and saw that two women were trying to force the front door open. However, because the door was locked from the inside, they couldn't open it at all.
It turns out that the two women, desperate to escape after enduring so much torment, thought that the mysterious man was in league with their captors when he went upstairs instead of leading them out. They tried to sneak away and open the door to escape, but they unknowingly triggered the alarm system.
"Those two idiots really screwed us over," Lei Yin muttered under his breath before rushing back to the second floor, leading the other women to the entrance.
When they arrived at the entrance, Lei Yin, somewhat irritated, pushed the two women still trying to open the door aside, only to discover an electronic password lock above the door. He couldn't help but smile bitterly to himself. It would take him at least ten minutes to pick this lock, but there was no time for that now, as both he and the women could hear hurried footsteps and commotion coming from the second and third floors.
"Everyone, follow me," Lei Yin knew there was no time left to retreat, so he led them back towards the basement, looking for a place to hide.
"Who's there?"
"Turn on the lights! Quickly!"
"Don't let them get away!"
A few men who had run from the second floor to the staircase shouted when they saw shadows running in the pitch-black church.
The commotion outside interrupted Mexias, the leader of the cult, who angrily put down his whip and covered the whip-scarred body of Kimiyama Kiku with a blanket before leaving the room.
"What's going on?" Mexias asked a follower when he reached the second-floor staircase.
"Master, there's a thief who has snuck in. We're trying to capture him," the follower respectfully replied.
Mexias's face changed, "A thief? What did he steal?"
As the follower was about to answer, Mexias quickly ran up to the third floor.
When he reached the room at the end of the third floor, he took out a card, inserted it into the card reader, and entered the password on the keypad.
The door quickly opened, and he walked in. After a while, he came out of the room, his face returning to normal.
When he returned to the staircase, he asked another follower, "Where is Deacon Mels?"
The follower replied, "I haven't seen Deacon Mels. Master, should we call the police?"
Mexias was about to agree when he suddenly remembered the women locked in the basement and changed his mind, "It's just a thief, there's no need to involve the police. We have so many people here; surely, we can catch one thief, right?"
The follower immediately replied, "Please rest assured, Master. I will catch the blasphemer who has desecrated our sanctuary."
"Very well," Mexias nodded in satisfaction.
After performing a ritual gesture to Mexias, the follower enthusiastically joined the search.
A while later, another follower rushed over and said, "Master, the intruder has taken Deacon Mels hostage. He demands that we open the door and let them go, or he will kill Deacon Mels."
"How did Deacon Mels end up in his hands? How many of them are there?" Mexias frowned as he asked.
"There are nine in total, one man and eight women. The man is the one holding Deacon Mels hostage," the follower replied.
"Eight women?" Mexias thought of something and his face changed. He then said loudly, "We absolutely cannot let them escape, even if we have to use firearms."
The follower was surprised by Mexias's command and hesitated, "But Deacon Mels is in their hands. Shouldn't we call the police and let them handle this?"
"No. We can't notify the police. Turn on the signal jammer immediately so that the intruder can't call for backup. Hurry!"
"I understand." Although the follower found the order somewhat unreasonable, he didn't question it and ran to the inner hall on the first floor.
"Mels, you fool!" Mexias gritted his teeth in anger.
Now the situation had become much more complicated. He knew that the women were the ones he had captured and locked in the basement, so the police couldn't find out about this. However, in front of so many followers, he couldn't disregard Mels's safety either.
After thinking for a while, he went back up to the third floor.
At the entrance to the basement, Lei Yin was facing off against a dozen followers.
"Release Deacon Mels," the followers repeated their unimaginative demand.
"Please, let me go," Mels, who had regained consciousness but had his hands tightly bound, begged for mercy, no longer caring about his dignity as a deacon.
"Shut up." Annoyed by his noise, Lei Yin punched Mels, causing him to double over in pain and cry out.
Hearing Mels's scream, the followers outside became even more anxious.
"Did you get through?" Lei Yin asked Ryoko Kuroda, who was using her phone to call the police.
"I did, but the call suddenly disconnected. I'm redialing now," Ryoko Kuroda said while listening to the phone.
Lei Yin had an idea and said to her, "Give me your phone."
Although puzzled, Ryoko Kuroda handed over her phone. Lei Yin checked the display and muttered, "Still no signal. Those bastards must have activated a signal jammer."
It was normal not to receive a signal in the basement, but it was unreasonable to have no reception after coming out. He also knew that it was common for signal jammers to be used in solemn places like large churches or conference halls. If a phone rang during the climax of a ceremony, it would be extremely unpleasant. The high cost of such a device was a drop in the bucket for Andis' wealth.
"What do we do now?" Ryoko Kuroda asked anxiously.
"There will be a way. Besides, we still have our esteemed Deacon, right? Everyone, follow closely behind me and follow my orders." After saying that, Lei Yin held Mels by the throat with his left hand and pointed a pistol at his forehead with his right, slowly walking out.
Seeing the man come out, all the followers immediately surrounded him. However, they didn't dare get too close due to the gun in his hand and Deacon Mels being held hostage.
As Lei Yin walked forward, he spoke loudly, "If any of you dare to stop me, I'll kill your esteemed Deacon Mels right away."
Seeing him getting closer to the women, the followers hesitated, unsure of what to do.
When Lei Yin, holding Mels hostage, came within three meters of the followers, he shouted, "Back off now!"
The followers instinctively retreated a few steps.
A few minutes later, Lei Yin finally led the eight women into the church.
Although they were surrounded by watchful followers, all the women's eyes gleamed with excitement when they saw the church's main entrance.
At that moment, Mexias emerged from the crowd and carefully examined Lei Yin. After a while, he spoke furiously, "Yagami-kyo, so it's you! You shameless traitor!" Although Lei Yin's face was covered, Mexias recognized him by his stature and thick eyebrows.
Laughter came from behind Lei Yin's mask, "Head Deacon, I think you're mistaken. Don't forget that I'm not one of your followers, so how could I be a traitor? Enough wasting time. Open the main gate and let us leave."
Mexias squinted and said, "What if I refuse?"
Lei Yin sneered, "So, to you, capturing a mere visitor like me is more important than the safety of the respected Deacon Mels. What a surprising notion. Poor Deacon Mels, it seems you're really pitiable, being sacrificed by the Head Deacon."
Mexias' eyes flashed with resentment, and he coldly said, "Release Deacon Mels now, and I'll let you go."
Lei Yin replied, "Though I'd like to believe your promise, please open the gate first, Head Deacon. We'll release him when it's safe."
"You arrogant blasphemer, I'll make you regret this." Mexias suddenly opened a leather case in his hand, revealing a strange black object inside.
Feeling uneasy, Lei Yin immediately shot at the object.
"Damn it!" After the gunshot, Mexias' roar of anger could be heard.
Then, a strange beam of light, somewhere between blue and purple and somewhat resembling a laser, shot toward them.
Though the light wasn't blinding, it was wide enough to cover all of them and several nearby followers.
"Dodge it!" Lei Yin, sensing something wrong with the eerie light, shouted and jumped to the side.
But at that moment, an indescribable intense pain suddenly attacked his brain without warning. Lei Yin found himself completely immobilized, as if his body no longer belonged to him. He couldn't even make a sound. The same happened to Mels in front of him, the eight women behind him, and the few followers nearby. All were frozen by the strange light…
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