What surfaced from the sea was another molecular dish from God. This time, due to a meticulous human arrangement, it lacked the wild beauty of previous random chaos, but the sense of order made one realize it was some form of human art, and thus even more terrifying.

Natasha swallowed her saliva. Now she knew why the cellar, once filled with corpses, was empty.

The gradually rising monster resembled an Ouroboros composed of limbs and organs. The separated parts were rearranged in a way that defied ordinary comprehension but could vaguely be sensed, not merely a random mix. It felt like if there really existed a creature formed by human body parts, the most reasonable and aesthetic way would be exactly this.

It presented a circular shape, with vertebrae-linked trunks and a head. The partially skinned spines were inserted into mouths, joining together to form the backbone of this ring. All arms were on the inner side of the ring, while all legs were on the outer side, resembling whiskers, swaying gently with the seawater.

In fact, this form seemed less about containing mystery and religious metaphor, and more like some primitive creature already discovered, like a paramecium or magnified cell, appearing somewhat scientific.

When those whiskers kept paddling, driving the massive body forward, it looked more like a primitive ciliated organism, freely roaming the Earth’s primordial oceans. Ignoring its components, it didn’t seem particularly aggressive.

Yet this extremely bizarre sense of contradiction created an even greater horror, leaving the people on the boat completely petrified.

The Avengers stood watching from the cliff, only able to see roughly, but the people on the small boat could see every detail of the creature clearly.

Even though it was very cold, after being soaked in water for so long, all the body parts were bloated. And as every head was posed with its mouth open, they could clearly see the features up close. The neighborhood in Hampton was not particularly close-knit, but people in the same circle were familiar with each other’s faces. They could easily recognize who these faces once belonged to, yet the change in state profoundly conveyed a deathly aura.

The people on the boat were stunned, mentally overwhelmed, their brains crashing completely. The first scream even came from Steve on the shore.

Steve was evidently frightened as well, instinctively throwing out his shield. His strength aimed it precisely at one side of the ring, toppling it over, which created a more horrifying scene.

Initially, it was hard to determine whether the creature moved on its own or was driven by the sea. However, being attacked, the monster desperately tried to right itself, making all its arms, legs, and even spines twist and thrash, splashing waves and overturning two boats.

No one dared to imagine what those who fell into the water might see beneath the surface, but this thoroughly awakened everyone, screams spreading across the entire shore as everyone frantically rowed to escape.

Yet, the sea’s winds and waves were not so easily dealt with. Cruelly, it began to snow and wind blew at that very moment, making rowing ineffective, leaving people screaming, spinning in place.

"What are you waiting for?" Greed looked at Frank, "Isn’t this the best opportunity for a sniper? Don’t you recognize Helai?"

Frank swallowed hard, licked his lips, opened his mouth, and then closed it. After hesitating for a while, he finally said, "I think, a gun isn’t the only way to solve a problem."

Frank himself didn’t expect these words to come from his mouth. But he couldn’t say he feared the creature might be shot and then struggle ashore, climbing up the cliff, forcing him to flee with his gun, could he?

On the shore, including the Punisher, no one felt inclined to fight the monster. When a glance at something already makes you want to run away, fighting it is unwise.

Stark, rationalizing, also knew such a monster could not be very strong because it was carbon-based, after all. Even if aquatic, no creature could withstand high temperatures and explosions. But asking him to fly over and fire missiles now, he wasn’t willing. What wrong did missiles do?

Despite being pale, Steve, true to his role as Captain America, bit his lip and said, "No, they will all die here. I have to go down there and save them!"

Everyone looked at him with astonished eyes. They didn’t exactly not want to save people, just were a bit avoidant. They knew Shiller wouldn’t let everyone die here, and he’d ultimately handle the creature himself, sparing them the trouble.

At this moment, Steve stepped forward, forcing everyone to admit that Captain America was indeed America’s last conscience. Hampton might not exist, but Steve Rogers’ opinion could not be ignored.

"I’ll go down," Strange sighed. Among all, he had the highest mental defense; after all, the Cosmic Sorcerer could come in any strange, bizarre form. Considering himself a guardian of the human race, he didn’t wish for too many deaths. So, with a wave of his cloak, he gently descended.

He didn’t touch the boats; instead, using magic to calm the sea somewhat. Under extreme fear, adrenaline-driven, this group of pampered wealthy individuals rowed with the vigor of professional rowers, soon distancing themselves from the creature.

Even those who had capsized began climbing back onto their boats, rowing with the strength of an infant, soon escaping the creature’s range.

The creature, perhaps realizing it couldn’t catch up, or having been oblivious from the start, slowly submerged back into the sea after its brief appearance. But no one breathed a sigh of relief; the Atlantic was likely tainted for good.

The nearest beach isn’t far from here, a half-hour row and they’d reach it. Everyone clumsily crawled ashore and stumbled towards the road. However, as they returned to the bounds of East Hampton, the ghosts came back.

These people, already frightened, had fragile spirits, and their hallucinations took advantage of this vulnerability. Chaos began anew among the crowd.

Fortunately, Steve and the others had already driven over, The Avengers acting as if they had come to offer support. Bucky, still shocked, said, "Good heavens, how did you get yourselves like this?"

"There... there... there..."

Many shuddered, pointing to the sea, but couldn’t utter a single word, not knowing what to call the thing they saw on the sea. "Ghost" and "monster" seemed too frivolous.

Steve was tired too, only waving his hand to signal everyone to get in the car. But they didn’t dare return to the hillside estate, nor approach the sea again. Steve had no choice but to escort them to a park.

"Now can you tell us what actually happened?" Natasha spoke up timely, "Honestly, I can’t imagine anything that could scare you like this. It’s just a few murders, right?"

"No!!" someone roared, "It’s haunted, don’t you understand? There are ghosts!!!"

"That’s really odd. What ghosts? Only you can see them, and we can detect nothing at all?" Coulson also approached inquiringly, "We haven’t observed any anomalies, just saw you running around screaming. What’s really going on?"

"You don’t understand! It’s simply..."

Many were still biting their tongues, but some had been frightened to total collapse. They rushed forward, attempting to grab Natasha’s pant leg, but she sidestepped them, leaving them to lie on the ground, saying, "The ones we killed have turned into ghosts to take revenge on us! God, save us..."

"Then tell us how you killed them, and why these people turned into ghosts..."

"There’s a ghost! There’s a ghost!"

Those mentally broken cannot consistently discuss a single topic. They’d utter some useful information and then start repeating themselves, crying and screaming all the while. Natasha and Coulson cajoled for a long time but couldn’t extract anything useful.

"Don’t rely on God," Arrogance said, "God has long abandoned you, just as you abandoned those you once harmed. You should know, right? ’Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.’ You went wrong long ago."

With those words, everyone fell silent for a moment, as if completely overwhelmed. Many were dumbstruck and ceased shouting and crying, sitting there numbly.

Steve looked at Arrogance, not understanding the significance of those words or why they could quiet the group down. Greed told him, "They know very well what’s going on."

The others also looked at him, seemingly waiting for an explanation. Greed sighed and said, "Those being haunted by ghosts have all killed before. These living folks may not be innocent either; nearly every one of them has blood on their hands. Even in Gotham, the density of murderers isn’t this high."

Steve furrowed his brow. Before the banquet began, he suspected that some may have committed murders, thus being haunted by ghosts. But he found that the number far exceeded his expectations. It’s as if there were no innocents here, which certainly isn’t normal.

"If one day you saw a ghost, what would you think?" Greed didn’t look at Steve, knowing Steve wouldn’t feel guilty, so it was just a rhetorical question. "These guys surely aren’t good people. Even if they haven’t killed, they’ve done other bad things. For instance, pharmaceutical giants may conduct illegal medical experiments or accept bribes; those in the insurance industry might deny claims, leading to families being ruined; prosecutors might unfairly judge, letting killers walk free. They all know these things in their hearts."

In America, if one rises to the top, they can’t possibly be clean, for the rules of this society are like that.

After entering the internet era, during the initial accumulation phase, perhaps they hadn’t harmed anyone. But once they become wealthy, they must find ways to gain power. Otherwise, it’s like a child holding money walking through a busy market, and others would see them as fat sheep ready to be devoured.

In this country, to gain power, there are no clean methods, relying on attacking opponents, political schemes, and public opinion wars to succeed. Once they have power, yet don’t bear the corresponding responsibility, tragedies are bound to happen inevitably.

Rich people aren’t that stupid. There’s no situation where they only make money without realizing how many people they’ve harmed. Just like an insurance company denying a claim—they know very well that withholding a payout might ruin a family or even many families. They’re fully aware, no matter how grandiose their talk is outwardly, it can’t deceive themselves.

In such cases, when suddenly facing the vengeful spirit of a victim, they are bound to feel guilty. It’s often said Eastern people, when feeling guilty, pray for divine intervention, but Westerners are the same, if not more so, for divine authority thinking is the underlying logic in the West.