PFC Chapter 2701 Hollywood Rhapsody (59)
Chapter 2701 Hollywood Rhapsody (59)
Chapter 2701 Hollywood Rhapsody (Fifty-nine)
Several people in shirtsleeves were crowded in a small room, fiddling with their headphones and the equipment at hand. Dino poked his head out from a ball of thread and shouted, "There's a sound! Listen to what they're talking about!"
The sound of electricity crackling came from the headsets. Several people sitting in front of the machine kept pressing buttons. A slightly indifferent voice spoke with a unique unclear German accent.
"...My former colleagues told me that they were on the verge of madness...They couldn't even use white towels. Anyone who dared to show signs of surrender would be killed immediately. People were very scared..."
"Yes, the church is also under their surveillance. They do not allow the invasion of Orthodox Christianity. If you always talk about some not-so-hot Bible stories, they will say you are a pagan..."
"I have very little medicine to offer, and I'm afraid it's almost gone now. I know Mrs. Dell's legs are still hurting, but the hospital has been plundered by them... May God bless the people."
"He's in the confessional!" Jonathan pressed the headset and said, "Change the channel, change the channel quickly!"
Nick came closer, leaned forward, and listened through the earphone on Jonathan's left side. His brown eyes were so deep that they looked like a piece of fallen skin.
"...I'm so sorry, Lord, I'm guilty..." The voice continued to sound intermittently, "People are dying, and I'm adding to the death of some of them. I know they are destined not to go to heaven, but maybe going to hell is also a relief..."
Nick's eyes widened immediately, his hands trembled a little, and he was so excited that he almost shouted out, but the sound soon came again.
"There are not enough anti-inflammatory drugs. Patients whose wounds have been sutured can only rely on their own immunity or wait to die. The two operations were not successful, and the one three days ago, the woman could not make it. She and her child died. I don't know how to eliminate this huge sin. I just hope you can forgive me, my Lord..."
"...I heard crows late yesterday, that means the army passed under my house again, I don't know what they want this time, maybe they are dragging another killed man out of his house..."
Dino was about to say something when Nick motioned for him to be quiet. He frowned and listened quietly.
"Arthur is a special patient. He asked me to perform surgery on him to remove the shrapnel that was embedded in his ribs in the accident that destroyed the abnormal laboratory three years ago. But I had to refuse him. Without enough medicine and an antibacterial environment, I couldn't just open his chest..."
"He acted in great pain, almost wailing, unable to utter a complete sentence. I don't know what he went through, but people of this generation are all the same. I can't do more for him."
"The day after I rejected him, I heard the news of his death. A group of people were hunting down his killer with great fanfare. This meant that he was not completely dead yet. There must be a secret that he took to the grave..."
Everyone in the small room gave up concentrating. Even though it was winter, the room was still very hot. Everyone was sweating. Even though the sweat flowed into their eyes, they had no time to wipe it off. Even Jones, who was standing at the door, was so nervous that he could hear his own heartbeat.
"I know that Arthur was a scientist when he was young. When I examined his wound, he kept mumbling some formulas. It seemed that he was dreaming about his work."
"I thought he had such a strong obsession that he could at least hold on for a while. Once the red flag entered Berlin, he might still be saved, but unfortunately..."
"Bang! Sizzle—"
A loud bang startled everyone in the room. The sound of electricity indicated that the noise came from the other end. They heard a lot of cursing in German, and Nick knew without even listening that everyone who broke into the room had a swastika on their shoulder.
"Fuck!" Nick couldn't help but curse in his native language. He took a deep breath, pointed to the door and said, "Go!"
A group of people hurriedly ran towards the door and were gone in almost an instant, and even the heat in the room quickly dissipated.
Soon a pale and thin boy came out of the bedroom door. Jones hurried to greet him and said, "Felix, why did you come out? Did they disturb you?"
"No, not really. I just want to know when this will all end." Felix said, "My heart is beating very slowly. Maybe it will stop soon."
"No, it won't. We are preparing you for an operation and everything will go well."
The boy only looked out the small window at the gray sky. The dry branches were covered with crows. When people in uniform passed through the streets, the crows flew up and turned into a few drops of black blood splashing on the sky.
Blood... too much blood.
This was all Nick saw when he rushed into the church. He didn't see any living people here, but there was a lot of blood. What was even more strange was that there were not many signs of a fight, as if someone had deliberately got a bucket of blood and poured it here.
"Oh my God..." Dino walked inside and looked around. Row after row of chairs in the church were covered in blood, and traces of splashes could be vaguely seen.
"Here's one with a cut neck." Dino pointed to one of the sources of blood and said, "It slid from right to left, almost cutting off the head, and then fell to the ground and choked to death before losing too much blood."
"There's another one over there," Nick said. "It looks like it was cut from the neck to the ribs, and it was just one cut."
"There are no signs of gunfire," one of them said. "None of the blood splatters were caused by gunfire."
"I know." Nick said, "They don't have much bullets now, so they won't shoot unless necessary. Look for any bayonet marks."
"Aren't these all made of bayonets?" Jonathan asked doubtfully, "Besides this, do they have any other cold weapons?"
Nick turned his eyes to him and said, "You think it was the Gestapo?"
"Of course, don't you think so?" Jonathan suddenly realized something was wrong after he finished speaking. He said, "If a group of people were arresting one person, how could the victim bleed so much?"
"More importantly, how come his neck was cut open here and half of his body was cut open there?" Nick asked. "Don't tell me you think only one person died with so much blood."
"Maybe they died together?" Dino knew it was wrong as soon as he said this, and then he continued, "What about the body? They would not secretly throw away the victim's body. They would rather leave his miserable state here for everyone to see."
"Perhaps they feel ashamed of the loss of their team?" Jonathan said, "Or is there something special about the doctor named Schiller that they need to cover up for him?"
Nick had already reconstructed what had happened here in his mind. He licked his dry lips and felt the sweat dripping from the hair on the back of his head, like a flood passing through the forest, washing away some of the rational parts of his brain.
"This is not a case of everyone dying together..." Nick whispered. He took a few steps forward and stepped on the gap where the blood was splattered. This was very difficult because the church was not big and a lot of blood had seeped into the cracks in the floor.
He walked forward and was almost at the side of the pulpit. In front of him was the statue of Jesus. Just as Nick was about to walk over, he heard a slight creaking sound.
"Get away! Get away quickly!"
Dino's roar was a little late, and Nick rushed to the side as fast as he could, but the heavily falling statue of Jesus still hit his feet, and Nick let out a scream.
The plaster statue of Jesus was smashed to pieces, and Nick was able to retract his foot. A large gash was left on his ankle, and it was visibly swollen, but the severe pain could not bring him back to consciousness.
Because behind the cross that Jesus was tied to, there were three corpses tied from top to bottom. The first person's neck was almost cut off, half of the second person's head was missing, and the third person's half body was cut open. When they fell down, their faces were facing down, and they looked like believers who were worshipping and praying in the ruins.
Nick swallowed.
He struggled to get up from the ground, endured the severe pain, and limped to the three men, then reached out his hand and opened the first man's mouth.
There was a small shiny thing inside. After Nick took it out, he found that it was a metal part, a bit like the bearing of a toy car, but it had been smoked black and its original appearance could not be seen.
The second had a piece of resin in his mouth that appeared to be part of an amber pendant, but it was also smashed and broken.
The third person's mouth contained a piece of burnt pine bark, only a very small piece, but the burning pine would produce a different smell from other trees, so Nick recognized it.
"What on earth is going on?" Nick asked.
"This must have some meaning," Dino said. "He wanted the people who found this to understand something from these bodies."
"What's that?" Nick was puzzled. He said, "Is it a Bible story or something?"
"There are many stories about the number three in the Bible," Jonathan said. "But the most famous one is probably the three wise men who brought three treasures to Jesus: gold, frankincense and myrrh."
"So it corresponds to these three pieces of junk?" Nick said, looking at the things in his hand: "Metal parts, resin, and bark?"
"Maybe that's what he thought. These three people are not saints." Jonathan said, "Maybe he was saying that they are just saints in disguise, and the treasures they brought are not worth mentioning."
"This is crazy," Nick exclaimed. He turned his head away from the three bodies and said, "Why did they come here? Why are they chasing Schiller?"
"He was a very easy target," Dino said. "He had considerable surgical expertise, he had access to drugs, and he didn't look difficult to deal with, which was enough for some people to do whatever they wanted."
"Yes, but they are totally wrong. I have said long ago that people who look like intellectuals are the most difficult to deal with, because if he can be the only carp in a pool of crocodiles, then either there is a shark behind him, or he himself is a shark. Let's go."
With the help of his teammates, Nick walked towards the back door of the church. He timed it very well, as someone rushed in shortly after they left. However, the first thing that sounded in the church was not the arrogant shouting, but silence.
Nick sighed and said, "Where else would he be besides this church? I guess we have to meet."
"Are you really going?" Dino said. "I'm not questioning you, but if he can take out three heavily armed Gestapo men in a church, he can take out you, too."
"He has no reason to do this," Nick said. "I know he looks crazy, but he is definitely not a crazy person. In any case, he is our hope to survive these last few months."
"That's also Felix's hope," Nick added in his mind.
After dinner, Jones was bandaging Nick's injured leg. The wound was not deep, but the injury to the ankle was fatal. It would soon swell up into a large area until it became stiff and completely unable to move, and its mobility was greatly weakened.
"Our people have tracked him down." Jonathan walked in and said, "He didn't go to church tonight. Instead, he went to a residential area in the old residential area in the city center. We haven't found anyone following him nearby."
Nick turned his head sharply, looked at him and said, "He went into a house? Who lives there?"
"According to the tavern owner downstairs, they are a couple named Eisenhart."
(End of this chapter)