Back at the research institute, Mary skillfully operated the computer, using motion sensing to push and paste the images suspended in the air.
“Number 1386, Number 3695…” Mary pulled the fragments out of the memory bank one by one, first finding a blurry, colorful vase, turning it 180 degrees, and placing it in the center of the image.
Then place another fragment of memory, scattered from a flower, behind it.
The next fragment of the scene shows a foot stepping on a flower petal.
Mary is like a master editor, connecting those fragmented clues. As more and more fragments are put together, the originally static images are assembled into a moving film, and sounds, smells, and touches gradually fill everything.
After more than an hour of polishing and editing, a memory of Clarence's conversation with Sabrina appeared before Todd's eyes.
Freshly picked flowers lay quietly in a vase, while the first rays of morning sunlight streamed into the room, casting a golden glow on the dew-covered petals.
Unfortunately, this tranquility was completely shattered by the room's enraged owner.
In the first-person perspective, the vase was thrown to the ground with great force, the ear-piercing sound of shattering accompanied by flying shards, and flowers scattered all over the ground.
An exasperated male voice rang out: "Sabrina! You said you failed? What happened?!"
A young woman dressed in a white workshop robe sat on the desk and lazily stretched: "Do I have to say it again? My identity has been exposed, and I can no longer stay in Theodore's laboratory."
Clarence took two steps forward and stomped heavily on the flowers on the ground: "How is this possible? How is this possible?! I remember you said that you had mastered all of this woman's expressions and movements!"
Sabrina tossed her hair, looking helpless: "I have indeed been observing this woman, who is Theodore's assistant, for a long time, and things went smoothly during her first week in the lab. However, this woman has a lover at her workplace."
"lover?"
"An Etanian, good-looking, good build, good voice..."
Clarence yelled in exasperation, "Sabrina!!!"
The young woman tilted her head and said, "Impatient guy, fine, I'll just get to the point. One night, he came to ask me to spend the night with him..."
"You agreed?!" Clarence's face was darker than the bottom of a pot.
“I didn’t want to arouse suspicion, but to be honest, I was a bit bored at the time. So, we slept together…” Sabrina’s expression became intriguing: “The problem was, I knew this woman’s movements and expressions, but I didn’t know her positions in bed. Perhaps it was my wildness and passion that made the lover realize that something was wrong.”
Clarence kicked away the shards and petals on the ground and muttered, "What have you done?!"
“I killed him.”
Sabrina shrugged: "That Etanian pretended to be innocent in bed, but turned on me as soon as he put his pants on and threatened to report me to Theodore. I had no choice but to kill him."
Clarence slumped weakly into his chair, shook his head, and asked, "So, what else did you learn about Jerome during your week at Theodore's lab?"
"Not many, but crucial enough."
Sabrina's words immediately piqued Clarence's interest.
"Tell me about it!"
"Theodore seems to be using a black liquid to cure the mutations of the inheritors. This liquid comes from a place in the North called the Shadowlands."
Clarence pondered, "The Land of Shadows? I remember that's what the barbarians call the realm of gods?"
Sabrina continued, "Theodore used this black liquid to try to treat several mutated inheritors, but the success rate was not high, and most of the samples still died. Even Jerome, who survived, was, in Theodore's own words, a 'failure'."
Clarence followed up with, "The result of 'failure'? Did he say what it would be like if he succeeded?"
He said that all species in the world will undergo a major evolution!
The memory imagery has ended.
As Todd watched the screen turn black, the words "black liquid," "Northern Realm," "Land of Shadows," and "evolution of species" still echoed in his mind.
Is the key to curing the heirs in the North?
Todd turned to Mary and asked again, "Besides this memory about Theodore, is there anything else?"
Mary stared intently at the screen in front of her, then replied absentmindedly, "This part is the most complete. The other memory fragments are too damaged to be pieced together."
Todd moved closer to her and asked curiously, "What are you looking at so intently?"
On Mary's screen, several oil paintings depicting ** were displayed.
Mary carefully examined the titles below the paintings: "Sleeping Venus," "Susanna in the Bath," "Danaë," and so on.
Todd finally understood what had happened. In his previous life, when he was participating in a school activity, he visited a world oil painting exhibition. He didn't remember much about the other works, but these oil paintings, which depicted the female body, were imprinted in his subconscious mind and had now been unearthed by someone.
He ran over, quickly shielding the screen with his back, and awkwardly smiled at Mary, saying, "There's nothing to see, just a few nude oil paintings."
Mary asked him excitedly, "Your Majesty, who painted all of these?!"
Todd's lips twitched as he said, "These are all works by masters!"
Mary looked at the screen with suspicion, craned her neck to take another look, and said, "I've been exposed to countless paintings since I was a child, but I've never heard of these paintings before! You're telling me these are works by masters? Then may I ask, who are the masters who created them?"
Only now did Todd realize that it was possible to sweat profusely in the soul space. He desperately tried to recall, "I remember there was someone named Joel something, and another one named Ann something..."
Mary's face darkened: "Your Majesty, no matter how noble your status, you should not treat art so frivolously. I have never heard of any of these masters you mentioned!"
Seeing that he couldn't explain himself, Todd simply gave up and shifted all the blame to the vague and unknown: "I'm not referring to this place, but to a much more distant world."
Mary opened her eyes wide, pointed to the sky, made the sign of the cross reverently, and slowly nodded in agreement.
To Todd's surprise, Mary, having emerged from the soul space, used her "hypermeability" to meticulously imitate and display the famous paintings she had seen, stroke by stroke. This caused a massive upheaval in the entire art world of Twilight City.
Mary remained tight-lipped about the origins of the paintings, only vaguely mentioning that she had copied King Todd's collection, which came from a far more distant place.
Of course, these are all things to be discussed later, so let's leave them aside for now.
Because the first official examination for Muxi City has officially begun.
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