I'm Constantine, Wanna Be Friends?

The Angel's Power gathered at his fingertips, Russell gently touched the girl's forehead. A point of light magnified infinitely, quickly spreading to the girl's limbs and bones.

The evil spirit residing within the girl's body was nothing more than a little devil from hell. How could it withstand the purest Angel's Power within Russell's body? It convulsed wildly, emitting sharp, eerie cries, and then broke free from the girl's body.

The evil spirit left her body, and the girl's violently trembling body suddenly stopped. Her whole body was soaked in sweat, as if she had just been pulled out of the water. Her head tilted to the side and she was no longer moving.

The evil spirit, defying gravity, floated in mid-air. It discovered that even after leaving the girl's body, it was still being continuously purified by the Angel's Power. In a moment of madness, it screamed and pounced on Russell.

The piercing, shrill scream was like fingernails scratching a blackboard, sending chills down one's spine.

Russell gasped, slapped the evil spirit to the floor with his backhand, and then stomped it into shattered black mist.

The exorcism is now complete!

Outside the door, the couple who had been watching the exorcism saw Russell nod in acknowledgment and rushed into the house, embracing their daughter in their arms.

The girl, freed from the torment of evil spirits and purified by the Angel's Power, regained a rosy complexion and gradually awoke to the calls of her parents.

"Dad... Mom... I'm so hungry..."

"..."

The family embraced and wept. The mother rushed to prepare food, while the father laid the girl flat on the bed, covered her with a blanket, and began to hold Russell's hand, thanking him repeatedly.

Thank you, but I still have to pay the $500 service fee.

Russell earned his wages through labor and was very generous with his money. Before leaving, he instructed, "Drink plenty of water and rest for a couple of days and you'll be fine."

Outside the door, the young man approached with an admiring look on his face. "Russell, I didn't know you were so good! That backhand slap you just did was so cool! Can you teach me?"

Are you sure?

"..."

The young man wasn't quite sure, so Russell walked past him toward the door, sorting through the previous clues, and decided to go to Gotham City first.

"That's surprising. Are you angels so down on your luck that you're even stealing business from exorcists?"

The voice carried a hint of mockery. Russell turned his head to look over. A khaki trench coat and a cigarette—a very familiar face. He had seen him in the Matrix, Speed, and Bram Stoker's Dracula.

There's no need to describe its specific appearance; Russell rarely cared about such things. After all, it's just a face, whether ugly or beautiful, it'll all turn to dust a hundred years from now.

The character for "person" is simply written with two strokes.

It's not about walking upright or sitting properly, but about having the right soul!

"Who are you?"

Russell frowned slightly. The familiar face and the plot he was in reminded him of something, and he wanted to confirm it.

"I am John, and I have come to exorcise demons just like you."

"Full name!"

"John Constantine! How about we become friends?"

"Roll!"

After Russell finished speaking, he turned and left.

When Constantine asked to be friends, Russell sensed a strong malice and a premonition that someone was setting a trap.

Admittedly, Constantine has the handsome face of someone in a movie, and based on the plot, he should be a decent guy.

But Russell's intuition told him that the other person was full of the thuggish air of a gambler and womanizer, and that his soul was full of swindling and deceit. Such a person was not suitable to be a friend.

In short, don't be fooled by Constantine's honest, expressionless face from the movies; he's the soul of a comic book character, the greatest super-conman in the DC Universe, and you have to be wary of him.

Russell strode out of the tenement building, hailed a passing taxi, and left without looking back.

It wasn't that he disliked Constantine; it was simply that the other man had a notorious reputation, was a chain smoker, a foul-mouthed jerk, and was destined to be a lone wolf, coupled with a gambler's mentality with no bottom line...

We can't afford to mess with them!

There's a saying that goes, "Perhaps Constantine isn't very strong, but he's a total jerk!"

At the end of the corridor, Constantine stood by the window until the taxi was out of sight before turning around and finding the talkative young man.

"Who was that person just now, and where did he come from?"

"What?"

The young man shook his head, indicating that he knew nothing. The exorcist was introduced by his second cousin's neighbor, his junior high school classmate, his online friend, his aunt, his pen pal, and his best friend's boyfriend. He had to keep his mouth shut no matter what.

"Hehehe, I understand."

Constantine smiled, opened his wallet, took out a US dollar and handed it over. The young man shook his head, indicating that he was not the kind of person who would bow down for money.

Constantine's smile widened. He understood, he understood everything. It would be a pity not to sell his teammates, but they couldn't be sold cheaply.

With two US dollars placed in front of him, the young man hesitated. He glanced at Constantine's wallet but still firmly shook his head.

Finally, after all the US dollars in his wallet were laid out in front of him, the young man spoke rapidly, "His name is Russell, he's from Gotham, he's a private investigator who'll do anything for money, his services are very broad, his detective agency is at ******, and his phone number is *****, that's all I know."

"Private investigator? Turns out we're colleagues."

Having gotten the answer he wanted, Constantine nodded in satisfaction, stuffed the US dollar back into his wallet, and strode away, leaving the bewildered young man behind.

Gotham City Airport!

Russell met Constantine in Los Angeles, the westernmost city in the America, while Gotham City is on the East Coast. Due to the time difference, the 6-hour flight time was increased by 3 hours, becoming 9 hours.

The plane tickets aren't worth much; you can still make a profit of $500 from the exorcism by going there and back.

What puzzled Russell was what the original body was thinking, spending 12 hours round trip just for $500. Did Gotham have no business to do?

He only roughly understood the reason after he pulled the business card out of his pocket.

The business card, with its black background and white lettering, looked very formal, but that was only in terms of the color. The front of the card displayed the name, address, and phone number of Russell & Detective Agency.

The reverse side lists a long list of contracted services in smaller print: exorcism, insurance consultation, legal counsel, fortune telling and spirit resurrection, massage and bone setting, housekeeping services...

There is also the mysterious Eastern Qigong, used by the royal family, which is professionally used to treat infertility and other difficult diseases.

It's fair to say that the only things missing from being an all-rounder are delivering packages and doing homework for kids.

"This guy is a complete fraud..." Upon seeing the business card, Russell immediately understood that this guy had only gone to Los Angeles to take on business because he couldn't make it in Gotham.

Moreover, it is highly likely that he has no intention of returning to Gotham City after this trip to Los Angeles!

For a moment, Russell felt somewhat melancholy. In Gotham City known for its talented people and simple, honest folk, anyone with hands and feet could make a living.

He couldn't even survive in Gotham City, so the identity the system assigned him must be incredibly awful.

Russell was right; the identity the system had assigned him this time was truly awful, a fact he became even more certain of after arriving at his detective agency.

Unremarkable appearance?

The storefront is dilapidated?

No, this is simply an unfinished building located in the suburbs!

From the outside, the detective agency is located on the second floor of an unfinished building. The name of the agency is affixed to the gray windows with black tape.

Inside, after passing through a staircase covered in dusty footprints, the kind without even a handrail, and past a wall painted with "Pay back your debts" on it, you'll reach the detective agency's main entrance.

It wasn't a glass door, nor a security door, not even a wooden door; his office didn't have a door at all.

Or rather, it existed before, but someone stole it!

The house was bare, with no trace of the interior. Even the posters on the walls had been torn off, leaving only four tape marks as proof that they had once existed.

Russell walked around the firm twice. Not only was the office area spacious, but even his bedroom was clearly visible.

(￣⊿￣)

"That's terrible, there's not even a toilet to sit on... Speaking of which, doesn't Batman care about this?"

Just as Russell was filled with emotion, a series of chaotic footsteps came from the stairs outside. Seven or eight burly men, some dark-skinned and some fair-skinned, broke down the door and... cough cough, walked right in.

"Luo, it's so good to see you. I thought you had run away." The white man in the lead was dressed formally and carried a briefcase, looking like an office clerk.

Russell raised an eyebrow. "To collect a debt or to take your life?"

The white man was slightly taken aback, expecting Russell's first words to be "give me a few more days," but after regaining his composure, he smiled and said, "I'm a businessman, what would I do with your life?"

"Of course, if you really don't have any money, according to the agreement we signed back then, several of your organs will belong to me."

Russell nodded. "Do you accept credit cards?"

"?"

Two minutes later, the POS machine showed $100,000 in his account, leaving the white man completely bewildered. He glanced discreetly at Russell as he retracted his credit card, and chuckled, "Russell, I never thought you, a piece of shit, could turn your life around. Tell me, where did you make your fortune?"

"Los Angeles! The golden city of the Golden State, where gold is everywhere, no joke."

The white man curled his lip in disdain, waved his hand, and signaled his henchmen to surround Russell: "Russell, the debt has been paid off, now it's time to calculate the interest."

Russell nodded and said sincerely, "That is indeed the case. I wonder if the lives of the eight of you are enough to pay the interest?"

"Hahaha... ha... uh, don't be impulsive, let's talk this out!"

As the white man laughed wildly, tears welling up in his eyes, a Desert Eagle was pressed against his forehead. His henchmen, oblivious to the situation, stood frozen in place, looking as if they had been immobilized.

"No problem, let's talk it over."

As Russell spoke, he narrowed his eyes and stared at the white man. His Mind Stone connection instantly invaded, and he began to control the man's mind. "Get a renovation team here. I want to see this place completely transformed within three days. If you can't do it, you can jump off the roof."

"..."

The white man nodded dazedly, then came to his senses a moment later, bowed and scraped to Russell, and left while making a phone call to the renovation company.

"I just forgot, I should have left with them, at least I could have hitched a ride."

Just as Russell finished complaining, another group of people strode in. "Russell, it's so good to see you. I thought you'd run away and never come back."

Russell: "..."

On the bright side, a ride-sharing opportunity has arrived!