The North American Gourmet Demon Handbook

"You forgot to start the car. We're still in Old Robert's yard!" Sheriff Larry laughed loudly. "It seems that time has not only brought you experience, but also taken away some memories."

Mayor Vincent laughed too. He started the car. "You're right, Larry. There's still a problem. That's how to convince investors to put the call center in Ferntown instead of Mumbai or Bangalore."

"Asia is a problem, huh?" Sheriff Larry said with a laugh.

When talking about Asia, the burly man remembered the harm Li Shanze had brought to him, and the smile on his face disappeared.

The injury wasn't from his injured right hand, or to be more precise, it wasn't physical. Instead, it was Li Shanze's words "European American" that deeply stung his heart.

What an arrogant bastard! How dare you compare God's chosen people with Neko and Huangpi?

Sheriff Larry punched the car door angrily, and then the severe pain made him scream out: "Ah!"

"Seriously, Larry, don't you need to see Dr. Benjamin? Your hand looks pretty badly injured."

"No, no, you just need to take me home."

"What about your hands?"

“I pray to the Lord.”

"Well, God bless you."

The car carrying the two people shook off the snow and slowly drove out of Robert's yard.

024 Homecoming

"Telephone call center?" Li Shanze nodded and said thoughtfully, "I see. Thanks for the information, Xia Li."

When the mayor was giving a speech to his companions, the car failed to start in time, and their conversation in the car quietly fell into the ears of the witch lady.

So, the witch found an opportunity and secretly revealed the content of their conversation to Li Shanze.

This conversation was packed with information. Li Shanze immediately grasped many key words, such as drugs.

Li Shanze immediately recalled Officer Kate's pointed question: "Aren't you curious about where this boom came from?"

Now Li Shanze has the answer.

It seems that this town of Fern is a drug den, and it is a drug den with a complex network of systems that even a sheriff who has received drug control training cannot break it down.

And, according to Kate's hint, the center of all this seems to be in the abandoned "Goodfellas" herbicide factory.

Tsk, it’s indeed a tricky job.

Li Shanze was shocked.

Although things were indeed dangerous, as a well-educated Chinese, the anti-drug side of Li Shanze's blood was awakened.

So he raised his head, looked at Kate who was still watching from a distance, and mouthed, "Don't worry, I will deal with the herbicide factory seriously."

The experience of escaping from the police after traveling through time and killing a few provocative bastards during the day gave Li Shanze considerable confidence.

It could be seen that Li Shanze was serious. Kate nodded, the corners of her mouth slightly raised, and there was a faint smile.

Mrs. Robert saw all this.

Now Mrs. Robert's dissatisfaction with Li Shanze has reached its peak.

What? This Mr. Li is going too far!

He was just whispering love to Charlie, and now he raises his head to seduce Kate!

What’s even more outrageous is that Kate is not very good either. As long as a man gives you a good look, you can’t help but smile!

No, I have to think of a way! I can't let Kate and Charlie, these two good kids, get deeper into trouble!

Oh, yes, I got it. Isn't this Mr. Li going to invest in Fern Town? If he can't invest, then won't there be fewer opportunities to meet Kate in the future?

I'll start from here first, and then slowly persuade Charlie to leave!

Having made up her mind, Mrs. Robert immediately and enthusiastically took Li Shanze's hand. She had completely forgotten what she had said to Mr. Robert before: "Leave the young people's affairs to the young people."

"Oh, Li, since you are a good kid, I have to treat you honestly. I think you should not invest in Fern Town. It's not a good place!" Mrs. Robert shocked everyone.

"Martha! What nonsense are you talking about!" Mr. Robert shouted angrily.

Finally, a good young man came who didn't look down on Fern Town and wanted to invest in this poor town. Why did this woman drive him away?

What Mr. Robert couldn't tolerate most was that Mrs. Robert suddenly started to slander her hometown, so he was furious and roared, "Why is Fern Town not a good place! Huh?"

Mr. Robert's neck became even redder as the blood rushed up.

Before Mrs. Robert had the chance to "outsmart Li Shanze", she angered her husband first. She had to stop for the time being, smiled awkwardly at Li Shanze, pulled her husband to the corridor, and tried to explain her thoughts.

Before Mrs. Robert could say anything, there was a loud barking of dogs and the sound of cars parking at the door, followed by a knock on the door.

"It's me! Dad, Mom, open the door, I'm back!"

This familiar and kind voice made the couple look at each other, and then Mr. Robert left his wife who was talking nonsense aside, walked over quickly with an expressionless face, and opened the door.

A young man walked in against the wind, snow and darkness. He had a face covered with stubble and bandages on his face, head and neck. He looked disheveled.

"Elijah, you're back." Mr. Robert looked at his son who had been away from home for many years with a calm expression. His tone was as calm as if his son had never left home. He turned his head calmly and ordered, "Martha, go cook."

Mrs. Robert burst into tears. She rushed forward and hugged her son. "Son, you're back. It's good that you're back. It's good that you're back. Thank you, the Supreme God, for blessing our family reunion. Amen."

Mrs. Robert prayed passionately and made the sign of the cross on her son's back, not caring about whether she was being pious or not.

However, Ilya, who always thought his parents were too superstitious and ridiculous, agreed with them this time. He even closed his eyes and prayed with his mother.

"Thank you, Almighty God, for blessing our family to be reunited. Amen."

Inside the room, the witch blinked and whispered to Li Shanze, "It's Uncle Nick's son who's back. But why does his voice sound so familiar to me?"

In fact, it was normal for the witch to feel that the voice sounded familiar, because she had just heard Elijah's voice in the afternoon.

This Elijah Robert was actually the young man from the poaching gang that Li Shanze let go out of pity.

After receiving a good education, Elijah felt that his parents were ridiculous charlatans who blindly and ignorantly worshipped non-existent gods.

Therefore, the energetic Elijah could not tolerate the pious, serious and extremely oppressive religious atmosphere at home.

After being repeatedly forced by his father to preach and required to meticulously follow the religious rituals, Elijah finally couldn't stand it anymore.

He simply took the money he had saved and ran away to Cleveland.

Over the years, he made a fortune, but he never went home to visit his parents, and even joined a poaching gang.

What attracted Elijah to the poaching gang was not anything else, but that when he was drinking in the bar, he heard them declare that they were going to participate in the "Hunting God" program and that they could really kill "God".

They also got a holy object, which is said to have special effects on these "false gods" that are like mountain spirits and monsters.

After showing off his skills with this "holy object", killing a newspaper vendor without leaving any trace and successfully putting the blame on him, Elijah's world view was overturned.

It turns out there really are gods in this world! But my parents worshipped the wrong gods! They worshipped a false god!

No matter what, I'm going to prove my father wrong!

Ilya, who was full of ambition and determined to return home, decided to join the gang. He bought a Hummer and a rifle and joined this "righteous and sacred" gang.

However, this small gang got off to a bad start. After the failed robbery in the morning, Elijah suddenly became more skeptical about life and behaved himself.

Why did they see the illusion of towering ancient trees when they were chasing Li Shanze and were forced to stop the car?

Why did the rifle in his hand inexplicably turn into a badger, and he was bitten and scratched by it, leaving him covered in wounds.

Why are his enemies so physically strong that they can dismantle cars with their bare hands? They are simply not human.

Why do radios and car engines suddenly stop working?

Why did that inhuman enemy, after brutally killing his three accomplices, choose to let him go after hearing his incoherent begging for mercy?

Elijah had no way of explaining all this, especially not with the scientific knowledge he had learned.

The well-educated Elijah certainly knew Conan Doyle's famous saying: when all the impossible has been eliminated, the remaining answer, no matter how absurd, is the truth.

Author's words: Thanks to Wukong and Cheguluxi for their recommendation votes

025 The Convert

Ilya, who began to realize that "divine power" really existed in the world, naturally came to a conclusion.

The towering tree that suddenly appeared and lay horizontally was the Lord's divine power, and the radio and engine failure were the Lord's divine strength.

Those blind blasphemers were punished to death by the Lord God - Elijah's original companions had been transformed into "blind blasphemers" in his heart.

Because of his parents' piety, he was forgiven by the Lord, so the Lord only sent a holy badger to punish him slightly.

The physical being who carries out the punishment on behalf of the gods is not a human being, so he is naturally a messenger who carries out the punishment of the gods.

After such imagination and explanation, Elijah has become one of Buchaska's most devout believers - to be frank, perhaps the only one.

Filled with remorse and gratitude to his parents, Elijah was carefully bandaged by Dr. Benjamin in town, and bravely returned home after several years.

Robert and his wife were naturally overjoyed to see that their son had "turned over a new leaf" and no longer spoke "blasphemous words" that were disrespectful to the Lord.

In the eyes of Robert and his wife, their son was able to repent and even perform religious rituals perfectly, which he had been unable to learn when he was a child. This was naturally a display of the Lord's supreme power.

The family of three was so excited that they hugged each other and cried bitterly.

The sound of crying was quite loud, and in the living room separated by a wall, the witch lady could hear it very clearly without the need for her enhanced ears.

The three guests had heard that the host's son, who had been away from home for many years, had returned, and out of courtesy, they were about to go out to express their welcome.

However, the sudden sound of crying and hugging each other made them stay in the living room obediently.

"Anyway, this is a good thing, a good thing." Kate Mackenzie broke the awkwardness. "Besides, now that Robert's son is back, where are you going to stay tonight?"

The house that Li Shanze had borrowed before was the room that Robert and his wife had reserved for their son. Now that the owner had returned, it was naturally inconvenient for Li Shanze to continue disturbing them.

"That's true, but there must be a hotel in town," Li Shanze said indifferently.

"However, the hotels in town have been booked out by the program crew and tourists recently, so it's hard to find a vacant room." Officer Kate said slowly, "Why don't you stay at my house?"

After saying that, Kate picked up the coffee and took a sip.

In Kate's opinion, arranging Li Shanze in her "home" - actually a temporary residence - would make it more convenient for her to monitor Li Shanze nearby.

In any case, it makes her feel much more at ease than letting Li Shanze, the "cannibal", run around the town. She doesn't need to be vigilant all the time, and she can also take the opportunity to observe whether Li Shanze really doesn't eat human flesh as he said.

Moreover, Kate thought that she could further observe the relationship between Charlie and Li Shanze and find an opportunity to divide them, thus making it easier to rescue the poor witch from the clutches of the ogre.

However, before Kate finished her words, the door of the living room opened, and Mrs. Robert, with red eyes, said, "Let me introduce you, everyone. This is my son——"

Then Mrs. Robert heard Kate invite Li Shanze to live in her house.

This suddenly awakened Mrs. Robert from her ecstasy of her son's return home. She suddenly remembered that there were two young and beautiful girls who had been seduced by Li Shanze and were waiting for her to rescue.

But this progress seems a little too fast. How did I get to the point where I invited this man to my home without realizing it? No, I have to think of a solution quickly!

Mrs. Robert was speechless. She got stuck in the middle of her introduction to her son and forgot to introduce her son's name to the others present.

Everyone present, except Robert and his wife, was surprised to see Elijah's familiar face.

"Ah, it's you!" Charlie was the most impatient. She pointed at Elijah and exclaimed in surprise.

Fortunately, Li Shanze reacted quickly and pulled Xia Li in time, preventing her from saying, "Aren't you the poacher who shot at us this morning?"

Li Shanze was not only considering saving face for Robert and his wife, but he was also worried that after Charlie said this, police officer Kate would arrest Robert and the interrogation would reveal that he had killed three other people and burned two cars.

Li Shanze didn't know that Kate already knew about this. In Li Shanze's opinion, he had tried his best to drive the two cars to a remote, desolate wilderness covered by forests, which was enough to delay the police for a few days.

Maybe he would leave Fern Town in a few days. Naturally, the later the police knew about this kind of thing, the better - he didn't expect that Kate could catch up with his pickup truck on horseback, and had a value judgment on this matter that was different from that of ordinary police officers.

At the same time, Li Shanze was also rapidly deducing in his mind how the situation would change next, how to deal with this young man, how to calm him down or threaten him so that he would not call the police.

Li Shanze's counterattack during the day could certainly be considered legal, but he himself did not seem so legal. Li Shanze did not want to be forced to flee because of such a thing.

Li Shanze also looked at Kate, thinking about the possibility of using the deal that had just been reached to take advantage of Kate, a police officer of high status.

Of course Kate noticed Li Shanze's little action, but she pretended not to know, put the coffee cup back on the table, sipped the hot coffee, and sneered in her heart: Okay, I will just watch your clumsy performance as a cunning ogre.

However, Elijah's behavior afterwards surprised Li Shanze and Kate equally.

The young man, who looked disheveled and covered in bandages, knelt down in front of Li Shanze.

With tears in his eyes, he shouted loudly.

"It is you! You are the messenger of God! You are a holy brother who has been called from heaven! Thank you for your forgiveness and grace, thank you for your teachings and punishments! It is you who has led me back to the right path, it is you who has enlightened me to the truth, it is you who has enabled me to understand the will of God, and it is you who has enabled me to receive the grace of God!"

"My soul, bless the Lord and praise His holy name with all your might! My soul, bless the Lord and do not forget all His benefits! Amen!"

Although Li Shanze had already prepared countless ways in his mind to deal with Ilya, the young man he had just fought during the day, this strange development still caught him off guard.