novelraw Chapter 1381 - 747: Paying for Services
Chapter 1381 - 747: Paying for Services
Jimmy was quite surprised by the gun he acquired unexpectedly, because theoretically, only Roland and he should possess such a gun in this world, and each of them should have two, so there should be no outside circulation.
Roland once said he was the last Gunman, so it was obvious that if this gun wasn't Roland's, it must have been left behind by a previous Gunman, which makes the origin of the shadow beast a bit interesting.
If it's a monster of this world, then it means a Gunman came to this world, leaving one behind here, implying he never fought the shadow beast. The beast took it as a trophy, but given the power of the shadow beast, this theory is problematic. Even Jimmy, not yet a full Gunman, could defeat the shadow beast head-on. It wouldn't make sense for an official Gunman to be defeated by such a thing and even lose his weapon.
Therefore, it is likely that the shadow beast is not a monster originating from Earth but from another world with Gunman activity, such as the Dark Tower World or another world. Regardless of whether it obtained it accidentally or defeated a Gunman in another world and then accidentally came to Earth, it's all a plausible explanation. Moreover, this might somewhat explain why the shadow beast was so weak; perhaps crossing worlds weakened it enough to be killed by Jimmy alone.
All of this is Jimmy's speculation. He knows very little about the Dark Tower World and Gunmen, and previously, because he took the place of the original Jimmy, Roland was reluctant to talk much to him until Roland left Earth.
When Roland called earlier, it was actually a good opportunity, but due to a twist of fate, Jimmy didn't connect with Roland. Now he has left a message on Roland's phone, but he doesn't know when he will return and check his phone. Whether they can contact each other is left to fate.
Jimmy doesn't have a solid plan to cleanse the gun yet, but that's not the issue. The biggest issue with the gun might be the negative energy it absorbed from the shadow beast. As for the dirt or other substances it might have from staying in the "junkyard" for so long, those are easy to clean.
Jimmy has thought of a method; after rinsing it with a high-pressure water gun, directly soaking it in high-concentration Holy Water should be able to remove the negative energy on it. The reason Father Horton wasn't infected is probably because, after leaving the cave, the shadow beast was doused with Holy Water, temporarily neutralizing its negative energy and allowing Father Horton a chance to be saved. Based on this reason, Jimmy believes high-grade Holy Water should do the trick.
Even if it can't entirely resolve it, once back in New York, whether it's Father Rodney or Father White, the purification ceremony they perform can cleanse the gun. In any case, for him now, there are many ways to handle it; knowing more people makes things easier to manage.
The handling on this side soon concluded; the priests packed and sealed all collected items. These things need to be taken back for inspection and destruction by experts. If the shadow beast were just a typical monster, they wouldn't care this much, but the fact that a priest got infected indicates it could still pose significant dangers even after death; simply destroying the cave wouldn't suffice.
Moreover, this is the Church's first time killing a shadow beast, so they need to gather the corresponding information. In the future, if others encounter it, they'll be prepared.
However, these matters don't relate much to Jimmy. He confirmed there was nothing particularly dangerous among the collected items and then reported back to Lambert. After that, he rested in Dallas since he was injured, albeit lightly, which was reason enough to rest.
Taking advantage of the downtime, some matters needed to be dealt with promptly. When he killed Carlos Escobar before, he obtained some intelligence, some of which exceeded FBI's authority. But for Jimmy, it wasn't over the top, he just couldn't do it under his own identity.
Regarding changing identity, the one he prepared earlier was definitely unsuitable, so in the current situation, there are only two routes to take. One is to seek Tom's support. With Tom's understanding of the CIA system, finding a suitable route to silently cross the border shouldn't be hard, but it would leave some people with his image evidence. Even making a passport requires providing a photo.
The other route is through the Intercontinental Hotel's channel, but it's still inconvenient to let Winston's people know about this. Those folks are sharp, easily deducing some issues, so Jimmy plans to take a more circuitous route.
These tasks don't have time constraints, doing the preliminary tasks now isn't that hard. The more prepared he is, the fewer loopholes there will be, making it less likely to trace back to him. He can take his time, with safety as a priority.
In the afternoon, taking advantage of having time, he used an identity document he prepared before to buy a second-hand car and drove overnight to Albuquerque. The money he left there earlier can now be retrieved. The dirty money he handled was mostly at the Intercontinental Hotel, inconvenient to use, and now this batch of money can be used for business.
As to why he chose to drive back and forth, it's to keep his movements tied to Dallas. Now, he has a reason to rest there, and as long as no one scrutinizes him, his cover should remain intact.