Red.
Raymond Reddington's personal physical combat power was not particularly great. In fact, given his daily routine, a hitman with any sort of reputation could easily assassinate him directly.
If Locke were to take action himself, it would be a completely one-sided affair.
But...
Red had never relied on raw physical power to survive. He leaned entirely on networks, connections, and intelligence. It was precisely because of this massive web of relationships that people respectfully referred to him as the concierge of the underworld.
He knew everyone, and everyone knew Raymond Reddington. Furthermore, under most circumstances, people were more than willing to show him that respect.
Locke operated the same way.
Ever since the last live television broadcast, Red had made a specific phone call to him. He mentioned that he owed Locke a favor and wished to utilize Locke's reputation alongside a blank notification order. Locke had agreed to the request immediately.
He discovered later on that Red had used that blank notification order to terrorize the leader of an Albanian syndicate.
Locke felt it lowered his prestige slightly, but relationships were meant to be utilized in such a fluid manner anyway.
The following afternoon.
When Locke received Red's text message, he was currently inside Chester's residence.
Hanging up the phone, Chester—who had overheard Locke's conversation—watched him rise from the sofa.
"What did you purchase from Red?"
Locke smiled slightly. "A corpse."
Chester: "..."
Locke let out a hearty laugh upon seeing Chester's expression. He shook his head and recounted the details regarding Nina Bell's suicide and the bizarre promotion of that lawyer.
"I suspect Nina Bell sacrificed herself to something. That's why I asked Red to track down the corpse and the surveillance logs so I can confirm my theory."
Sitting a short distance away with her long hair down, Carrie looked up from the extracurricular book she was reading. Hearing the keyword "Voodoo," she asked,
"Voodoo... are they the entities that strike bargains with the underworld?"
Locke looked toward Carrie and nodded his head.
Chester glanced at Carrie and then looked back at Locke.
"Then you ought to bring Carrie along with you."
Locke smiled. "Although Red has guessed that Locke and I share an intricate connection, he hasn't actually..."
Carrie raised her hand, flashing the purple bracelet resting on her wrist.
"I can disguise myself."
As she spoke, the purple witch energy flared brightly. Her black hair shifted instantly into striking white strands, replaced by a sharp, stylish outfit paired with knee-high boots. Her mere appearance caused the temperature throughout the room to drop by at least two degrees.
Chester looked at Locke.
"Any other issues?"
Locke thought about it for a moment.
That works out fine.
If this matter truly involved the forces of the underworld, then having Carrie along as a witch was a solid arrangement. It would save him from needing to switch into his own witch template.
It was the same sentiment as always.
Although switching classes didn't require him to manually put on a disguise, the name associated with that template was simply something Locke's straight-male sensibilities could never fully embrace.
Half an hour later.
Inside an Audi R8 that was about to be reported as stolen, the vehicle roared forward at high speed, executing a perfectly smooth stop inside an abandoned water treatment facility on the outskirts of Jersey City.
Standing near the entrance of a deserted warehouse, two low-level operatives dressed in suits spotted the incoming silver Audi R8. They exchanged a brief glance and walked forward.
The Audi R8 had practically become another signature identity marker for Peerless.
"Mr. Peerless..."
As the two operatives stepped forward to greet Locke as he exited the vehicle, they froze slightly upon seeing the white-haired Carrie step out from the passenger side, wearing sunglasses and exuding an aura as cold as an iceberg.
A female companion?
A complete stranger they had never encountered before?
Locke noticed the expressions on the two operatives' faces but offered no explanation. There was no need to explain anything to inconsequential individuals. He spoke directly,
"Is the item inside?"
The two men snapped back to reality. "Yes, please follow us."
With that, the two operatives demonstrated an excellent survival instinct—asking nothing, saying nothing, and answering nothing extra. They were merely following their boss's instructions to deliver the item to this location and wait for Locke to take delivery. Now that Locke had arrived, nothing else concerned them.
Inside the deserted warehouse, a perfectly ordinary coffin rested in the back of a panel van. The two operatives whistled, prompting two more men to help lower the coffin—which still carried the distinct scent of fresh soil—down from the vehicle.
"Mr. Peerless, we shall take our leave now."
"Very well."
Locke nodded.
The operatives exchanged glances, climbed into the vehicle, and drove the panel van away from the scene.
Standing before the coffin, Locke tilted his head slightly and glanced at Carrie beside him.
Carrie gave a soft nod, extending her right hand as her witch energy surged forward.
*Crack!*
A crisp, distinct fracturing sound echoed out. With a sudden thud, the coffin before them began to fracture in a spiderweb pattern. Within the blink of an eye, the cracks covered the entire exterior.
The next second.
*Boom!*
The coffin instantly shattered into pieces, disintegrating as though it had been weathered by centuries of wind in a single moment.
Locke arched an eyebrow.
"A new ability, I see."
Carrie explained,
"Mr. Chester tracked down a lot of literature and descriptions concerning the historical lore of various witches for me. Those were things I couldn't find in the standard library, and a few of those volumes even carried a lingering trace of witch energy."
Locke smiled.
Chester was incredibly knowledgeable and well-traveled. After all, back when they were in Texas, one of that old fellow's former mistresses had been a succubus.
Locke had always found that fact to be quite extraordinary. For ordinary men, let alone staying with a succubus for three years, even spending two nights together would leave them completely drained. Yet Chester had somehow turned the tables completely.
As the dust settled, a corpse lay silently on the ground.
Skin intact.
Desiccated.
Devoid of any rot.
Locke cast his eyes upon it and let out a dismissive sneer.
"As expected, it was a sacrifice."
Sacrificing one's life to a demon carried a very specific hallmark: once they surrendered their life force, their physical remains would not undergo natural decomposition.
Because...
An entity originating from the underworld would claim ownership of the physical vessel. Or rather, it established a physical conduit connecting the underworld to the mortal realm, allowing the demon that granted the power to pass freely between realms using the physical corpse.
"Roar!"
A sudden, guttural screech echoed out from deep within Nina Bell's corpse. The next instant, dense plumes of black mist swirled upward, coalescing into the form of a furious, malevolent spirit.
Locke and Carrie stood directly ahead of the spirit. It let out an enraged shriek, baring its razor-sharp claws as it launched a foul-smelling assault toward the pair.
Locke's face remained entirely expressionless.
He didn't even harbor the slightest interest in acting himself.
"Carrie."
*Bang!*
The moment Locke spoke, Carrie—who had been briefly stunned by encountering a literal demon for the first time—snapped back to reality. In an instant, her white energy tendrils surged forward, laced heavily with witch power, riddling the furious, manifested spirit before them like a sieve.
Locke, who had shared his power with Carrie, placed absolutely no restrictions on the witch energy she could employ.
Had it not been for the physical limitations of Carrie's mental capacity, she could have achieved the same result as Locke—obliterating this furious spirit with a single glance using an absolute ocean of witch energy.
After all, this entity didn't even qualify as a proper demon; it was nothing more than a bottom-tier wraith within the underworld hierarchy.
The enraged spirit let out a piercing, pathetic wail.
Instantly, it dissolved into scattered black mist and shattered completely. With the destruction of the malevolent spirit, the uncorrupted corpse resting on the ground began to undergo a rapid transformation, rotting away at an extreme pace.
The stench in the air grew increasingly foul.
Turning around, they entered the vehicle and drove away.
Half an hour later, back inside Chester's residence.
The bearded Chester looked at the returning Locke and Carrie, slightly startled by their quick turnaround.
"That was fast."
Locke chuckled.
"It was merely a low-level wraith. Did you expect an epic battle spanning three hundred rounds?"
Who was he insulting? Him or Carrie?
Locke retrieved his tablet on the sofa and began playing the security logs from the New York Women's Correctional Facility that Red had provided.
Chester glanced at Locke as he examined the surveillance footage, then looked over at Carrie.
"Did you eliminate the spirit?"
Carrie nodded. "It was very weak."
Chester opened his mouth slightly. "Did you manage to discover what kind of bargain that spirit had struck?"
Carrie shook her head.
She had assumed Locke would ask, but Locke hadn't displayed the slightest interest in questioning it. When Locke called her name, she simply executed the strike naturally.
In truth, Carrie felt quite pleased to be of assistance.
Without looking up, Locke remarked,
"Is there really a need to investigate that? Considering that lawyer's bizarre promotion rate, it is perfectly obvious that another malevolent entity is assisting him."
Chester walked over. "Nina Bell?"
Locke offered an affirmative sound, turning the tablet around. The screen was frozen on a frame showing a prison guard removing a antique-looking doll from a holding cell.
"Do you see this antique doll?"
Or rather, a Voodoo doll.
Chester frowned.
"You suspect Nina Bell has bound her spirit inside this Voodoo doll?"
Locke smiled. "It's not a suspicion; it's a certainty."
Under normal protocol, following Nina Bell's suicide, her personal belongings inside the prison should have been turned over to her parents.
However, the documentation provided by Red indicated that this specific antique doll had been carried out by the lawyer instead of being handed over to her family.
After all, even if they wanted to deliver it, it wouldn't be possible through standard channels.
One facility was the New York Women's Correctional Facility, while the other was a maximum-security prison housing death row inmates; the structural management differed completely.
The administration within the women's facility was relatively relaxed. If an inmate maintained a stable mindset and didn't mind the alternative lifestyle, life on the inside wasn't drastically different from life on the outside.
Hearing Locke's analysis, Chester shook his head.
"Then why did you eliminate that wraith just now? By destroying that spirit, Nina Bell will inevitably be alerted the moment she realizes her cosmic creditor has vanished."
Locke let out an amused chuckle.
Chester looked up, watching Locke's smile.
The corners of Locke's mouth curled upward.
"Chester, do you honestly believe I need to accommodate her feelings? Furthermore, I expect she might actually be quite pleased."
"Pleased?"
"Indeed. Pleased that she has obtained a state of liberation. Or rather, she will be thrilled that the death of that wraith has transformed her into an unbound spirit."
"But..."
Locke looked at Chester with a calm smile. "Once her initial joy fades, she will discover that while she is indeed unbound, she has merely become a free, yet entirely trapped vengeful spirit locked inside that Voodoo doll."
Chester: "..."
***
Bonus for 300, next 3 at 500 stones like usual.
Have a great weekend y'all 💕
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