Cthulhu America, I can see the kill line.

"I have to admire you, Mr. Kong Jiu. I never expected that I, a mere doorman, would be able to see you again after you left Xinxiang. It truly delights me."

The doorman bowed and greeted him politely, a faint smile playing on his lips.

"You seem to have run into a little trouble and are planning to escape via warp travel?"

As soon as he stepped out of the door, he glanced back at the spatial rift that Kong Jiu had created, his eyes scrutinizing it as if he were examining a poorly made work of art, with a hint of mockery.

"Hmm, you still have the mind to do good deeds. You truly are a kind-hearted angel of death."

The doorman clapped his hands and feigned praise, but a hint of mockery flashed in his eyes.

"Come on, stop pretending."

Looking at the unpredictable visitor, Kong Jiu frowned and showed impatience. "Since you responded to the summoning ritual, it means you're willing to help me. Bring on whatever means you have."

The doorman smiled slightly, shook his hand gently, and the colorful bunch of keys appeared in his hand.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong...

"Oh, dear Kong, I love your straightforwardness."

He slowly swung the keychain, a slight smile playing on his lips, his eyes gleaming with amusement: "But liking it is one thing, we still need to agree on the bill first, how we'll split it."

Profit sharing?

Kong Jiu frowned slightly: "What profit sharing?"

"Didn't you want to save these people's lives?"

The doorman's key ring jingled softly, as if striking some kind of hidden rhythm.

"The plane crashed; they were the ones destined to die. They sent the merciful angel of death to change their predetermined fate of death and grant them a way to live."

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong...

"After death, it's not unreasonable for their souls to belong to the gods who once showed them great mercy and saved them, is it?"

As he spoke, the doorman turned his gaze to those people who had been frozen in time, turned into black and white, and blended into the background, his eyes carrying a kind of seductive profundity.

"If you don't believe me, you can go and ask them one by one if they'd be willing to pay the price of their souls after death to escape this disaster."

The keychain jingled incessantly, and the doorman's eyes grew even bluer. He turned around, stared intently at Kong Jiu, and smiled, "I think everyone will accept it gladly."

As Kong Jiu processed these words, his gaze gradually grew serious, and a sense of unease welled up within him.

"Your demands sound like those of a devil." He looked at the doorman, his eyes becoming more wary, his voice low. "Or perhaps, a devil trying to drag me down with him."

The doorman responded with a faint smile, neither denying it nor concealing a deeper, more enigmatic meaning.

Let me confirm.

"As you see fit."

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding!

The next moment, the sound of the keychain shaking stopped abruptly, the black and white of the world faded, and the roar of the plane engine caused by the slight vibrations rushed into my ears.

"That means psionic energy will reach countless dimensions..."

Mrs. Winchester was reciting the effects of the summoning when she was interrupted by Kong Jiu raising his hand, a look of confusion on his face.

"Flight attendant, tell everyone that a demon has come to make a deal: to save those who are willing to offer their souls after death and thus escape this calamity."

Kong Jiu's voice carried a hint of suppressed heaviness, and his eyes revealed complex emotions.

A list was presented ten minutes later.

Of the 349 passengers and 8 crew members, except for a very few devout believers who righteously refused upon hearing the word "devil," everyone else wrote their names on a thin list.

Holding the list in his hand, Kong Jiu's fingers trembled slightly, and an indescribable sorrow welled up in his heart.

Ding-dong, ding-dong, ding-dong...

The sound of the keychain rattling rang out again.

"See? I wasn't wrong, was I? Almost everyone would be willing to give up their so-called soul after death in order to live."

The familiar tinkling sound, accompanied by whispers, rang in my ears once more, and the surroundings gradually blurred into black and white again, as if time had frozen once more.

The doorman stepped through the door and reappeared before Kong Jiu, wearing that polite yet unsettling smile.

"Are you a demon or a god?"

Kong Jiu stared at this extraordinary being, who was clearly not a benevolent person, his eyes filled with vigilance and his voice questioning.

"Look at what you're saying." The doorman smiled slightly and waved his hand gently. "I'm just a doorman who enjoys serving others."

"However, since it was you who asked the angel to facilitate this business, it would seem rather unreasonable of me not to offer a discount."

The doorman waved his hand, and the list was snatched from Kong Jiu's hand and placed in front of him.

His azure eyes swept over the bunch of keys, and he gripped them tightly, gently twirling them in the air.

Golden rays flashed, and countless doors appeared beneath the feet of passengers and crew, as if a divine miracle had occurred.

"Regarding the aftermath, how about we split the burden: you get 60% and I get 40%?"

The doorman, in a tempting tone, offered a rather generous deal, his eyes gleaming with anticipation.

"I don't even know what the soul can do."

Kong Jiu sighed, a helpless expression on his face. This deal, seemingly a concession, was actually based on completely unequal information and lacked any fairness whatsoever; a sense of powerlessness welled up inside him.

Moreover, what kind of kind soul would be willing to give up their own soul if they could use it as leverage?

But what could he do?

He found helpers willing to save these people, at the cost of their souls.

Most of the people on board were willing to sell things they wouldn't need to worry about after death, just to survive.

Kong Jiu had no reason to refute any of this, and could only accept it silently.

The doorman seemed to know everything, a demon who had a firm grasp on everyone's will to survive, forcing Kong Jiu to make this "concession" deal.

Kong Jiu understood perfectly well that he had been used, and perhaps the plane crash was orchestrated by the doorman?

Perhaps from the moment he first came into contact with me, he was thinking of using me to harvest the soul of someone on this plane?

But in order to save people, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going.

Just as he was about to nod, a door with a slightly dim golden light quietly appeared beside him.

The door was pushed open, and a little girl with freckles tiptoed out, her face showing a mixture of curiosity and wariness.

"Abby?"

Kong Jiu looked at the unexpected face and was somewhat surprised, his brows furrowing slightly.

He had met the girl who had helped Estherus to deliver the souls of the dead once in Lixin Township.

Only then did he notice that the door she used when she delivered the fish soup that day bore a striking resemblance to the one the doorman used to enter and exit.

"Oh, Uncle Su is right, big brother, you really are here."

Abby, carrying a large pipe, skipped lightly out of the door, then turned around to scrutinize the doorman who looked somewhat flustered, his eyes filled with judgment.

The doorman's eyebrows twitched, his composure crumbling, and a hint of panic flashed in his eyes.

He kept a straight face, trying to remain calm, and asked politely, "Ah, Miss Abby, what brings you all the way from Lixin Township?" But a hint of nervousness crept into his voice.

"Janus, you said Abby was here, so I had to take over. Get out of here!"

The doorman's lips twitched, and he exclaimed in a hushed voice, "You bastard, Yuge, you can't do this..."

His face contorted a few times before he regained his polite demeanor.

Abby smacked her lips and glanced at the doorman a few more times, as if the sense of unfamiliarity had dissipated.

Only then did she bow and greet the doorman, "Hello, doorman. Uncle Su said I should go to heaven and find Brother Kong. He said he will take me with him."

Holding a large empty bottle, she looked innocent yet earnest, pointing at Kong Jiu: "It's him, the one with oil on his face."

Kong Jiu frowned, puzzled, and asked, "Miss Abby, do you know this guy spinning the keychain around? He's a devil who makes soul deals..."

A twisted, evil force suddenly gripped his throat, and Kong Jiu's face contorted in pain as he forced his words back down.

The doorman's eyes gleamed with a pale blue light as he glared fiercely at Kong Jiu, his gaze full of warning.

"You get 70%, I get 30%, don't say these things in front of Abby..."

Kong Jiu was initially surprised, then a look of joy flashed in his eyes. He shook his head, his face showing a look of smug satisfaction.

"82?"

"September 1st?"

"Damn it, I don't want your soul, you can have it all, but you better seal your mouth shut!"