Forget about what the live audience looked like, even Roy and the others watching TV were losing it with their facial expressions.
Especially Dahlia and Mary. These two women hadn't known Roy for very long and hadn't really seen much of the world, so their mouths were hanging open wide enough to fit a jumbo-sized lollipop.
"R-Roy, is this show for real?"
Mary asked Roy, looking totally incredulous.
"I'm guessing that first part was probably fake, but this part now? This has gotta be real!"
There's no way a human neck can rotate three hundred and sixty degrees, and they can't use special effects on a live broadcast, so that woman named Lan Li is probably actually possessed by a demon right now.
As he was talking, Roy's phone rang. He pulled it out and saw it was Saltana calling.
"Hey, it's Roy."
"Roy, did you catch Night Prowler tonight?"
"Yeah, I'm watching it right now! Are you watching too?"
"Yep. Ever since you said that host, Jack Deal, was suspicious, I've been keeping an eye on his show. I even went back and watched some of his old Night Prowler episodes."
Saltana was super serious about her work, bordering on a workaholic.
"So, Roy, what do you make of tonight's Night Prowler?"
"The exorcism at the beginning was likely staged, but what's happening now? That's gotta be real!"
"You sure?"
"At least seventy percent sure! Wanna bet on it?"
Saltana definitely didn't want to bet; seventy percent certainty was already pretty high.
"Saltana, you should probably tell the TV station to stop broadcasting this show. I'm worried something bad is going to happen!"
"That's impossible. I'm just a low-level agent right now; I don't have the authority to order a TV station to stop a broadcast! All I can do is report the issue up the chain."
Saltana was really frustrated, especially since they couldn't get ahold of Gerald, and the FEA office in Los Angeles was mostly filled with mediocre people, the kind who just wanted to collect their paycheck and avoid any extra work.
Roy thought for a moment and then offered a suggestion.
"Actually, it's not like we can't do anything at all. Maybe we could investigate where Max performed the exorcism."
This gave Saltana an idea.
"You're right! Roy, I'm heading to the Dolphin Hotel right now to meet up with you, and then we can go investigate this!"
While Roy was on the phone with Saltana, the Night Prowler show was still going on.
"Uh, Max, you might want to take a look behind you."
The host, Jack, gave Max a heads-up. Max turned around, looking surprised, and saw Lan Li, who had just finished her neck exercises, looking at him with a smirk.
Right then, Lan Li's pupils had turned a dark gold color, almost exactly like Roy's when he transformed, and her face was covered in twisting black lines. It looked seriously creepy.
Seeing this scene, Max started to panic because what was happening was definitely not in their script.
"Drew? Where are you?"
Max started calling out his assistant's name, and then he spotted Drew in the corner. He'd been thrown against the wall by some powerful force and was too sore to get up for a while.
Just as Max was about to run over and help Drew up, the possessed Lan Li suddenly spoke, stopping Max in his tracks.
"You better not leave the camera's view, darling Max."
Max froze instantly, beads of sweat forming on his forehead as he looked at Lan Li, a sense of dread washing over him.
"W-who are you really?"
Lan Li let out a nasty, piercing laugh.
"Hahaha, didn't you just say my name? Have you already forgotten?"
Max was stunned. He had indeed mentioned the name of a demon, the fallen angel Mastema, but that was just a name he'd picked at random while flipping through some资料 (zīliào - materials/information).
Could it be that he'd actually summoned the real deal just by saying a name?
In a panic, Max grabbed a crucifix and a Bible and started reciting the exorcism words he'd just used, pointing them at Lan Li.
"Mastema, I bind you, spirit of hatred, fallen one, by the authority of the Holy Trinity…"
Unfortunately, the possessed Lan Li didn't want Max to finish the exorcism. She opened her mouth and spat a large amount of thick, black goo onto Max's face.
The intense stench made Max feel like he couldn't breathe, and he started violently vomiting right there on camera.
The scene was absolutely disgusting, but it also showed why priests always bring at least one assistant when performing an exorcism.
Without someone to restrain the possessed person, the exorcism process is easily interrupted.
What happens when an exorcism is interrupted? Just look at Max's current situation.
Lan Li, who was now spewing what looked like oil from her mouth, looked at Max's suffering and let out a shrill laugh.
At this point, Drew, the assistant who had been thrown across the room earlier, had finally managed to get back on his feet. He didn't go to help Max; instead, he tried to sneak over to the computer while the demon wasn't paying attention to him to look up some information.
Clearly, the demon possessing Lan Li wasn't Mastema, so Max's exorcism attempt had failed completely.
Even though Max was a fake priest, their team had actually learned techniques from professional exorcist priests to make their act more convincing.
Unfortunately, performing an exorcism isn't just about learning the techniques; it also requires sincere faith and a strong will, things that these fakes definitely didn't have.
"Don't go, Drew. Don't you have any stories you want to share with your good friend Max?"
Drew's plan failed. Just as he got close to the computer near the filming area, Lan Li suddenly turned her gaze towards him.
The Night Prowler show on TV was still going on. This talk show, which was originally focused on guest interviews, had completely turned into a live reality show.
The live audience was glued to the screen, not even daring to breathe.
Just then, Saltana called again.
"Roy, I'm downstairs at the hotel!"
"I'll be right down!"
Roy picked up the remote and turned off the TV. The four women had been completely engrossed in the show and looked a little disappointed when the TV went off.
Heather even had a complaint.
"Roy, why did you turn off the TV?"
"There's something wrong with that show. We can't keep watching it! I have to go out right now, and you guys should really stay inside the Dolphin Hotel!"
Hearing this, Mary paused.
"Roy, can't I even go back to school?"
Roy looked at the short-haired college student.
"Mary, trust me! Staying in the Dolphin Hotel is the safest thing right now!"
Mary nodded, but there was a slight blush on her face, and it wasn't clear what she was thinking.
After instructing the women, Roy left the suite with his laptop.
The reason he brought his laptop was that he still wanted to watch the Night Prowler show, and he could log into the TV station's official website to watch it.
Saltana was driving a black Cadillac, which looked pretty official, probably a car assigned to her by the FEA.
"Roy, get in quick!"
Roy got in the car, buckled his seatbelt, and then opened his laptop to continue watching the Night Prowler show.
"What's happening on the show now?"
Since she was driving, Saltana could only ask Roy.
"The demon is trying to turn Max and Drew against each other!"
It turned out that Lan Li, the woman they'd brought in to perform the exorcism, was actually Drew's girlfriend.
Since Lan Li had experience performing in the drama club and was a pretty good actress, Drew thought it would be better to give the job to someone he knew rather than hiring another actor, so he asked Lan Li to do it.
Max himself didn't know about this until the demon possessing Lan Li revealed it.
Max was a little angry about this.
"Drew, you actually lied to me!"
Drew quickly explained, "Max, wait a second! I did mention this to you, but you were too busy hitting on some girl at the time, so you forgot! Besides, wasn't Lan Li's performance just now pretty good?"
Lan Li's performance just now had indeed been very impressive. Her body language, facial expressions, and delivery were all spot on, so much so that even Roy had almost been fooled.
This explanation made Max feel a little better, but the seed of doubt had been planted, and it wasn't going to be easy to resolve.
What's more, there was still a demon in the middle stirring things up.
"Hehehe! Max, why don't you tell your own story?"
Max's expression changed, and it was clear from this that he also had something to hide from Drew.
Drew noticed Max's expression, and his own expression turned sour.
"Max, what are you hiding from me?"
"Nothing! This demon is just trying to cause trouble!"
Max said this right in front of the demon, so the demon was naturally very unhappy. Just like it had done with Drew earlier, it threw Max directly against the wall.
This time, the fall looked pretty bad. Then Roy noticed that the camera had actually started moving.
If there wasn't another cameraman on set, then the demon possessing Lan Li was controlling the camera.
"Oh, dear Max, you better just tell the audience the truth, or this beautiful girl might just die!"
The demon threatened Lan Li's life, and Drew immediately couldn't take it anymore.
"Max, just tell him! Whatever it is you have to confess, I'll forgive you!"
Drew had said this much, so after hesitating for a moment, Max decided to come clean.
"Actually, I've been taking on private gigs, and I've probably made a few hundred thousand dollars in the past couple of years."
As soon as he said this, Drew got really agitated.
"Max, when we started working together, we agreed to split everything fifty-fifty! How could you take on private gigs behind my back?!"
Max quickly explained, "But those people only hired me because I'm good-looking, not because I can actually perform exorcisms!"
Well, well, it turns out rich women were coming to his door!
Did he also use his "demon-subduing staff" to exorcise those rich ladies?
But speaking of looks, even though Max had a goatee, he was handsome, with a pair of melancholic, sky-blue eyes. He probably really appealed to a certain type of woman.
In comparison, Drew's appearance was pretty average, the kind of person you'd lose track of in a crowd.
"That's still not okay! My idea is what made you famous! Every single dollar you've earned should have a cut for me!"
This made Max a little unhappy.
When someone becomes successful, they inevitably receive praise from all sides. Over time, they start to attribute all their success to themselves, thus overlooking the efforts of those around them.
This is a very common phenomenon in all sorts of industries, what people call "getting a big head."
Max had clearly started to get a big head, which is why he was unhappy with Drew's words.
"I told you, it's all because of my face; it has nothing to do with you!"
"Damn it! If I hadn't made you famous, how would those rich women have even seen you?!"
The two started arguing, their language becoming increasingly heated, with all sorts of words that couldn't be said on television constantly flying out. The show's producers had to use a "beep" sound to cover up the curse words.
For a while, the show was just a constant stream of beeping sounds, like a telegraph machine.
At this point, Saltana had already driven to the TV station. Roy had gotten Andy's phone number from Keller and called him directly.
"Mr. Harrison, are you at the TV station right now? I have some important business to discuss with you!"
"Alright, I'll wait for you downstairs."
To investigate the pre-recorded segment, they still needed help from someone inside the TV station.
Not long after, Andy came down from the TV station building.
"Mr. Black, what's the urgent matter you wanted to see me about?"
Roy gestured for Saltana to speak. Saltana took out her badge and showed it to Andy.
"Federal Emergency Agency. We'd like to ask you some questions."
Andy was taken aback for a moment, but since he worked at a TV station, he'd seen more than the average person and wasn't too nervous.
"FEA? I haven't heard of that government agency!"
Roy chimed in to explain for Saltana.
"Mr. Harrison, if you don't believe us, you can call Keller to confirm."
Roy brought up Keller's name, and Andy immediately fell silent.
"Okay, ask away. I'll try my best to answer anything that's not confidential."
Roy and Saltana exchanged a look. They hadn't expected Keller's name to be more effective than the FEA badge.
"We're investigating Jack Deal. We'd like to know where the live feed he showed on his program tonight was filmed."
This question made Andy scratch his head. He'd originally thought it was going to be something more private.
"Why do you want to know that?"
"You don't need to worry about the 'why.' Just tell us the answer!"
"Alright, I actually don't know the answer to that question. I'm not part of the Night Prowler production team, but I can call the show's director and ask."
With that, Andy took out his phone and started making a call.
A few minutes later, Andy got the answer.
"That live feed was actually filmed at the Hollywood Disney Studios, Stage 13, I think."
KABC-TV, where Jack worked, was a subsidiary of ABC (American Broadcasting Company). This major broadcasting company had been acquired by Disney in 1996, so KABC-TV could borrow Disney's studio lot.
But isn't Stage 13 a bit unlucky? Doesn't Disney care about that kind of thing?
Roy and Saltana got back in the car, ready to head to Disney Studios in Hollywood.
"Wait a minute, you guys aren't thinking of going to the Disney Studios right now, are you?"
"Is there a problem, Mr. Harrison?"
"You probably won't be able to get in right now. Why don't you take me with you?"
Andy seemed to want to use Roy as his way in, so he was being very enthusiastic.
But Roy didn't want to bring along any extra baggage.
"No need, Mr. Harrison. We have our own way! Thank you for your help, and we hope you won't mention our visit tonight to anyone."
With that, Roy and Saltana got into the black Cadillac.
The demon from The Cleansing Hour.