Chapter 153 Another World Side Story - The Angel of Death

"I still can't believe you were so careless as to grab that thing with your bare hands!" Vladimir muttered to himself as he sat in the Nautilus's conference room.

This time, Barry, unusually, stood on the same side as Vladimir. Floating in mid-air, he was also quite annoyed: "Yeah, we should at least take some protective measures."

“That’s the Dead Sea Scrolls, a top-tier legendary item.” Pu Songling, with his face devoid of features, spoke with apology but no remorse: “That top-tier item was floating right in front of me, how could I possibly resist grabbing a handful?”

At that moment, Cervantes suddenly popped up: "Ah, to be honest, I'd like to touch it too."

Shelley nodded in agreement: "I want to too!"

"Then just bear with it!" Vladimir rolled around in his chair, starting to panic. "Roland, Verne, why don't you two do anything about it!"

Romain Rolland and Jules Verne suspiciously turned their heads away, offering no comment on Pu Songling's behavior.

To be honest, even they might not be able to suppress their feelings.

Just now, the UN infiltrated (as much as possible) a city under the jurisdiction of the Fen Empire and attempted to steal their national treasure, the Dead Sea Scrolls, which are said to reveal all the possibilities.

In some respects, they succeeded; they've even gotten close to the Dead Sea Scrolls.

However, they have now clearly failed and have been discovered. Just as they were clashing with the defending forces, the Dead Sea Scroll, which had been sealed off and whose origins were unknown, suddenly floated mysteriously into the air and drifted through the outer wall of the submarine into the UN headquarters as if there were no obstruction.

Then, Pu Songling, who was closest to the Dead Sea Scroll at the time, grabbed the Dead Sea Scroll in mid-air without thinking, causing a powerful shock to erupt from the Dead Sea Scroll, and all UN members lost consciousness on the spot.

The end result is that the current UN has absolutely no idea where it is.

Looking out from the observation deck, all you see is pitch black; even the dedicated lighting can't reach the end.

It was as if some kind of pitch-black substance had formed a curtain, surrounding the Nautilus, making it impossible to discern its location.

The UN members, who were still confused about the situation, gathered in the conference room and began to look at each other in bewilderment.

After Vladimir and Barry had finished complaining, Romain Rolland finally found an opportunity to speak: "The Dead Sea Scrolls are said to be artifacts that 'reveal all the possibilities of the world,' meaning that whoever possesses the Dead Sea Scrolls can see all the developments."

"However, many also claim that the Dead Sea Scrolls are not a demonstration of possibilities, but rather a 'parallel world player,' allowing glimpses into other parallel worlds."

Vladimir gave a muffled "Oh": "So what's going on now? Large-scale VR?"

Vladimir's voice was clearly tinged with resentment. Romain Rolland could only admit he didn't know either. Christie, however, who had been pondering the matter, had a different idea: "I suspect the Dead Sea Scrolls' power isn't just about 'seeing' other worlds; it's very likely they also have the ability to transport people to parallel worlds."

Everyone looked at Christie with confusion, and Verne spoke first on behalf of everyone: "How did you deduce that?"

“This isn’t a deduction.” Christie’s smile was noticeably fainter than usual. She pointed out the window. “If I’m not mistaken, all of those are… ‘No one survived.’”

When everyone at UN heard this, they instinctively looked out the window at the black "curtain" and involuntarily shivered.

Finally, Verne used the Nautilus's robotic arm to collect a small amount of the "veil" and had Christie confirm it.

The outer curtain was indeed entirely made of a supernatural substance called "No One Survives".

Upon receiving this result, everyone in the UN looked at the seemingly harmless "veil" outside and felt a chill run down their spines.

—If there is such a large area of ​​“no survivors”, does that mean that everyone in this area has died?

And if they hadn't all been inside the well-sealed Nautilus, would they have died the moment they were transported here?

Romain Rolland stood in front of the observation deck, clicking his tongue in amazement: "Christie, could you really make such a commotion?"

Christie looked out the window at the "curtain" of unknown depth and height, her expression unreadable: "I can't do that."

Her best achievement to date was the siege of the Smiling Merchants, where she used her supernatural abilities to cover the entire surface of London, bringing London back to the era of the "Foggy City".

Even then, at most she caused a thin layer of gray mist to rise over the streets of London.

The current situation is completely beyond her control.

"So you don't know the situation either." Romain Rolland turned to look behind him. "Verne, where are we?"

"I don't know, anyway, all we have around us is air and these supernatural abilities."

Verne pressed one hand firmly against his brow, as if struggling to control something: "I'm diving, and using 'Deep Sea Roaming' to explore my surroundings, at least to know where I am."

"Christie's 'No One Survives' theory cannot directly corrode matter; even if all signs of life disappear, there should still be buildings or man-made structures remaining."

Romain Rolland sighed: "So you want to come down to the ground and see what's going on?"

I just don't know if it's safe on the ground.

Romain Rolland held a pessimistic view on this.

—As it turns out, it really isn't that safe.

A group of UN members stayed on the observation deck, pointing and gesturing at the unidentified black entity separated by a window.

It was a rather abstract silhouette, like the figure of a British soldier wearing a top hat, standing outside the Nautilus, waving a long stick-like object and moving back and forth.

Apart from him, the streets illuminated by the searchlights were deserted, and there were no corpses in sight.

This thing looks remarkably like Christie's "Soldier".

However, everyone felt that the figure in front of them looked much more human than Christie's "soldier".

(Walgrave, who was also watching the spectacle, smiled without saying a word.)

Defoe, who was peering out the window the furthest from the window, craned his neck to examine the unidentified object outside and couldn't help but ask, "Is it trying to get in?"

Robert replied to Defoe, "No, in fact, I think its movements seem more inclined to 'show' us something."

Robert pondered for a long time before finding the right words to describe it.

"Its movements were brimming with a clear sense of pride, as if it were showing off something to us in the manner of a 'displayer.'"

Exupé blinked; he also felt the scene looked familiar—like when Vladimir and Barry had the upper hand over their opponents.

If Exupé could realize this, then others certainly could too.

Romain Rolland gave a soft "Huh?": "Christie, do your soldiers have their own emotions?"

“It doesn’t generate its own emotions.” Christie shook her head, and Vargrave fell silent. “However, soldiers within a certain range will indeed exhibit different behavioral tendencies depending on my emotional state.”

“Those soldiers who are still connected to me through the domain do indeed carry some of my emotional characteristics. I remember that synesthetic individuals can also sense my emotions through the soldiers.”

"So, these soldiers are all manifestations of 'Christie's' emotions?" Cervantes' expression was complex. "How should I put it... it feels a bit strange..."

Barry was much more direct: "Is Christie in this world only eight years old?"

Making such a blatant and even embarrassing boast feels like something a child under eight years old would easily do.

Christie: "The problem is that I realized from the age of six that this kind of showing off is boring. I don't get any lasting pleasure from other people's brief feedback and it only disappoints me, so I haven't done it."

"But I awakened my special ability at the age of fourteen, which doesn't fit the timeline."

Barry: "..."

No, I feel like there are a lot of flaws in this statement.

Vladimir was just as speechless as Barry: "Christie, are you precocious?"

This made the two older children suddenly feel very awkward.

"That's not important." x3

Barry and Exupé, rejected by the Big Three, ran to a corner and started drawing circles.

Christie exchanged a few words with Romain Rolland and Jules Verne, though her gaze remained thoughtfully fixed on the view outside the window.

Suddenly, Christie turned to Verne and said, "Verne, please move it as I say."

"I think I know where I am now."

A moment later, the Nautilus moved in the direction Christie had described, the submarine, which relied on its supernatural abilities, making almost no sound.

On the equally silent streets, this quietness seemed eerily eerie.

The "soldier" who had been outside the window followed the Nautilus for a while when it started moving. However, as the speed difference gradually diminished, he fell behind and is now out of sight.

On the streets, you can see other "soldiers" who look the same patrolling from time to time, all trying to get close to the Nautilus.

However, after realizing they couldn't keep up, the soldiers quickly gave up.

Pu Songling, who was also a summoning-type ability user, pondered: "These soldiers probably weren't given any orders from the very beginning."

That's why they were "strolling" aimlessly on the street, without making any response to their sudden appearance.

But Pu Songling was curious about what these soldiers were showing off.

Cervantes and Pu Songling had different focuses: "This looks like London."

The more you look at the architectural style and some iconic buildings, the more similar they seem.

This is indeed London.

Christie even knew what time of year London this was.

—This should be the time when the Smile Chamber of Commerce was being besieged.

However, unlike the timeline in which the UNs lived, it seems that Christie in this world failed to intercept Goethe.

As a consequence, Christie's life ended at that time.

Everyone at the UN was speechless as they looked at "Christie" under the searchlight.

It was a completely dehydrated mummy, but those familiar with Christie could still recognize her from the mummy's face.

On his gaunt face, one could still vaguely discern the expression on Christie's face when she died.

It was a calm, relaxed smile.

Christy here must have been dead for some time. Her abdomen had been brutally pierced, leaving a fist-sized wound. The edges of the wound still showed some burn marks.

Meanwhile, the black substance belonging to the superpower "No One Survives" was continuously gushing out from Christie's broken spine, its color even darker than that of the UN's Christie.

—The location of the supernatural substance was discovered by Exupéry's investigation, and he also took several close-up photos for Romain Rolland to determine the cause of death.

Romain Rolland also confirmed that the scars should have come from Goethe's "Faust," proving Christie's conjecture to be correct.

Christie here was indeed killed during the siege of the Smiling Merchants when she failed to intercept Goethe.

Because "no one survived," all the microorganisms were killed, so the bodies did not decompose. Instead, they lost water and oxidized under the influence of the natural environment, eventually becoming mummies.

This factor also prevented the UN from confirming Christie's time of death. After all, a body wrapped in something that no one survived is not something that can be safely taken to a laboratory for testing.

but...

"It's quite unexpected that 'No One Survived' could still function after your death, Christie." Slowly ascending into the air, he finally broke free from the black veil at an altitude of over two thousand meters, staring in astonishment at the black substance enveloping the entire city of London.

“It’s even stronger now.”

—That's normal. "No one survives" is a superpower that kills everything. A "living" user can only affect its effectiveness.

Christie lowered her gaze slightly, looking at the city of London shrouded in a black curtain.

"Now I know why the soldiers here have that sense of pride. Because 'I' here am indeed showing off something."

Behind her, Vargrave's expression gradually took on a hint of longing.

"She's showing off, this art, this black fog city, the fog city of death."

Christie here must have sensed it when she died, that resentment that permeated her very bones.

However, unlike Christy of the UN, she was killed by Goethe and could not prolong her life by relying on the fact that no one survived; she could only wait for death to come.

How can one find relief from such a dull death?

UN's Christie didn't know the specifics of what happened, but she guessed what had led to it.

As death drew ever closer, Christie decided to create a "work of art" on the fly.

Even if time is limited and perfection is impossible, at least leave behind a "work".

That's why this "Foggy City of Death" exists.

This is a work that Christie conceived during the process of dying.

It was precisely because the desire for recognition of their work still lingered in the memory of the dead that those "soldiers" influenced by Christie's emotions made such blatant displays of arrogance.

They are displaying and showing off this work, and they have an absolute sense of pride in their work.

Even the gradual fading of the entire UN crew and the Nautilus couldn't make Christie's gaze leave this black, foggy city.

—I have seen your work, but I will definitely surpass it.

Unlike you, who only creates in a rush when you're about to die, I have absolutely ample time to create.

so.

I can't possibly lose.

Finally, UN disappeared from this world, and the Black Fog City also vanished from Christie's sight.

——

"Even if the user dies, the ability, which is a manifestation of death, can still continue to be activated after the user's death, and can even exert power far exceeding that when the user was alive."

"In a sense, the essence of 'No One Survived' is an abnormal entity with supernatural abilities conceived using Christie as its body. It is a 'Death Angel' that only truly descends into the world when Christie dies. Those black, unidentified substances are merely byproducts of the Death Angel's activities."

"It is recommended to prolong the life of Agatha Christie, the 'Angel of Death,' as much as possible until a definitive method to suppress or kill it is found."

—Excerpt from ASA's speech at the World Council of Supernatural Abilities.