Chapter 117 Together
If the commotion so far can be compared to a "game", then in the eyes of the three outsiders watching the game, the game has just gone through the first round.
Each faction entered the scene, engaged each other, experienced their first "incident," and then summarized their gains and losses, drawing inferences based on the available intelligence. This process completed a "round." Aside from the pirate leader who ran into trouble yesterday, no faction in Jinye City had been eliminated. The objectives of each faction had just been revealed, so it was no exaggeration to say that the situation had just begun.
However, the game is a game because of the presence of players outside the board. For those with ample intelligence and immense power, a single thought is enough to accelerate the board, and eliminating anyone with a single word. Therefore, the shady agents don't care about the movements of the smaller players; their focus is always on those manipulators outside the board, working alongside them.
"Vansalar, what exactly do you want to do?"
Olek was looking at Vansalar, who had just returned from the mayor's residence. He scratched his ear, a look of boredom on his face. "I wanted to go see the scholar who caused this disaster, but it turned out to be as cliché as a spider's web. Confused, foolish, and obsessed with poison, but in the end, he was reduced to dust, completely boring and hopeless."
"You know I don't care about such trivial matters." Orlek frowned. "I'm talking about you, Nightmare King. Why did you condescend to come to this island?"
Vansalar rested his chin on the back of his hand and smiled hypocritically: "For the little game we love, my friend~"
"We've played countless similar games over the past fifteen hundred years. I've known you since you were a Rainbow Sinner. I know your impatience better than your mentor," Olek pointed out. "You're usually the first to leave in the first event, or at least visit in a dream after the characters appear. By the second round, we've already started fighting off the board, and by the third round, the game has often become the hellish hymn you love so much.
The game never made it to the fourth round—because no one could stand your nonsense, and you made me have to entertain myself every time I wanted to play."
"Admit it, you're enjoying it."
"For entertainment, yes," Olek said emphatically, "but this time, it's a serious matter. She is the last 'existing' Knight of the Discipline, and fate will inevitably lead her to the battlefield she once was. I will kill her, crush her flesh, obliterate her spirit, and send the fact of her existence into the depths of the sea, where even eternity cannot know.
Only on this matter will the entire Illusion Sea reach cooperation. If I were not afraid that my main body's actions would cause too much disturbance, I would have reported this matter to the King of the Sea long ago!"
Vansalar, fixing his nails, said nonchalantly, "Do you want to talk to 'Colorless'? You're so brave! Even I don't want to deal with that... that... 'thing'."
"You're wrong." Orlek's face was as gloomy as water. "I will meet with Jiyuan."
This sentence instantly dropped the temperature to freezing. It was a literal description; with a single word, their surroundings became a death trap where all who survived would perish. The Berne method cast a haze of history, transforming the conversation into unrecorded noise.
It stood up wordlessly and walked away from the two dignitaries. This was not something it could listen to, and even a priest was unworthy of hearing the ensuing negotiations.
Fansalar opened his eyes wide and marveled.
"You're serious."
"The Sea of Illusions is serious," Orlek corrected. "It doesn't want to see the Knight's Sky again."
"That's great! Shining enlightenment! Go for it!" Vansalar encouraged him. "This is exactly why I called you here. In this complex trend, you are the most suitable person to take action. No one will act because of you. After all, you are 'doomsday'! The misfortune of all beings! Even ultimate true machinery will rust in a harsh environment, right? As long as you are here, all deaths are reasonable!"
Olek kept shaking his head: "And you?"
"We in the Spiral Tower hate the lunatics from Shura Island the most, and we have always been at odds with the Knights."
Olek was tired of beating around the bush and got straight to the point.
"—But you like the Knights of Discipline the most, Vansalar."
Vansalar sat with his hands on his knees, elegantly dressed like a gentleman. His face trembled slightly, revealing a row of neat teeth between his upturned lips. Each tooth stood out, like a white, curved wall stretching from the base of his head to the center of his forehead.
"Hee, ha ha, ha ha ha ha ha ha!"
The Nightmare King laughed heartily, a shriek that had brought nightmares to countless islands. He placed his hands on the table and suddenly leaned forward. Countless bat shadows flashed in his eyes, like a demonic lair inhabited by evil spirits.
"Why keep testing me? I've been dead for over four hundred years, and this pathetic shadow can't even stop one of your tiny tentacles. Why should you worry about me?" Vansalar laughed loudly. "Don't worry! Go for it! Even if you kill everyone here, I won't do anything to you!"
Olek leaned back in his chair expressionlessly, then suddenly smiled.
"You seem to think that I have an eye disease and cannot see your little secret underground."
"Do you have eyes, old jellyfish? I thought you relied entirely on your tentacles to see." Vansalar stroked his chin arrogantly. "Anyway, that's it. I have my own whims!"
"Then let's make a deal. As long as we're within Gold Leaf City, I'll be in charge of this game. Beyond that, I won't interfere."
"We don't seem to have played this way before." Vansalar sat back on the stool, returning to his friendly, dark-skinned self. "Okay! That's quite innovative. I'll take your word for it!"
"We've played this game a thousand times, and every time you're the first to flip the table." Olek stood up. "This time, you must abide by the agreement."
"Do you want me to sign a contract for the library?" Vansalar shouted.
The little boy paused, his voice even colder than when he mentioned the knight.
"I've changed my mind. Please don't leave the cafe until the game is over."
Iron chains rose from the ground, crisscrossing the small cafe, sealing all the doors and windows. People couldn't see the demon's chains; they were restraints only for the two outsiders.
The gleaming iron chains reflected the boy's merciless gaze. A shimmering hue shone through them, transforming into the handsome face of a man. It was the first target chosen by the chain of misfortune: the talisman master Wu He, whose actions yesterday had failed in their attempts.
The color in the chains shifted, and Wu He's features faded, revealing the uneasy, fragile face of a middle-aged man. The chain of misfortune had begun again, and today's chosen target of misfortune was Iceman Sethron.
Vansalar chuckled. "I thought misfortune was equal to all."
"No, you know the common sense of the world." Olek smiled. "The misfortune of the strong is weakness, and the fate of the rich is poverty. But for another group of people, this is their life, and their misfortune is only exacerbated, mixed with separation and pain.
Misfortune is always more equal to the weak."
The Doom Demon left the small café, while Vansalar leaned back in his chair, still grinning happily. Bernfar returned to the table and sat down. He had no idea what the Nightmare King was thinking, nor what agreement the Archdemon had reached with him. But he saw the chains and understood that Orlek had his concerns.
The Nightmare King's power is fear, an emotion unrelated to strength. Many times, even when you've achieved success and fame, no longer vulnerable, you still wake up from dreams again and again. Because even if you could return to your former self, you still can't be sure of defeating the shadow of the past.
The lingering nightmare is fear.
·
The fire dyed everything crimson, burning so fiercely and violently that it seemed as if even the night sky would be burned hollow. The afterimages of the killers danced in the flames, their hands still warm with their blood, their bodies lingering with the pain they left behind.
He pushed through the smoke and flames, through the afterimages of the dead, moving forward, forward. Suddenly, his vision opened up, the sky and earth cleared, and rain washed over the scorched road. At the end of his sight was the overturned car, smoke, sparks, and washed away blood...
“…”
Chu Hengkong opened his eyes and looked at the white ceiling.
He hadn't thought about the past in a long time, and he'd always refrained from excessive nostalgia. But the past seemed unwilling to let him go, seeping into his dreams whenever it found an opportunity. He'd dreamt about the past for two days straight, as if some mysterious force was telling him not to forget his powerlessness, not to escape his fear.
He didn't dwell on it; overthinking was pointless. The small guard flags sat quietly in the four corners of the room. The portable shrine Youyou had personally crafted was still quite reliable. Vander stuffed his head into the bag and slept soundly on the pillow.
This was a miniature, species-specific sleeping bag he'd found at the market. It was said to block out light, block out noise, and be soft to the touch, ensuring a baby-like sleep. However, it felt rather like a ball of tofu sushi with squid tentacles. The golden-haired lady who'd made this comment was sprawled on the other side of the bed, her quilt half kicked off, the straps of her tank top slipping down her arms, her rounded shoulders tilted towards him. She looked as awful as could be.
She frowned, her lips tightly pursed, as if she were battling some great evil in her dream. Chu Hengkong admired her for a while, then sat down beside her bed and used his tentacles to pull the shoulder strap back up.
"If you don't wake up, I'll see you naked."
"Just look..." Ji Huaisu muttered in a daze, "If you dare to look, you have to marry me..."
"Hey, please don't engage in workplace sexual harassment."
"You're still talking about the workplace... you should just be partners with Zidan..."
Miss Ji turned over and buried her head in the pillow. Chu Hengkong scratched his head, realizing that his good partner might have been throwing a tantrum like a woman.
Although a good partner is always a tall and long-legged beauty, according to some people back home, if a beautiful girl is willing to talk to you, it is good luck, and if a beautiful girl is naughty with you, it is simply a blessing. But in reality, naughtiness is always synonymous with trouble, no matter how beautiful the woman is.
He tried to touch the girl's head, but Miss Ji pushed it away with one claw.
Women are indeed not the same.
"I really don't think it's necessary." Chu Hengkong felt helpless. "Things like transformations have different characteristics at each stage. No matter how powerful I am, I'm just a tough guy. After you reach level three, you will definitely be stronger than I am now."
"It's not a question of strength." Ji Huaisu said sullenly.
"You just ran into your fellow villager when you left home, and you're still worried about having no way out?"
"You don't understand." Ji Huaisu patted his leg with his claws. "I'm not worried about having no channels, I feel like I can't get promoted."
Chu Hengkong almost laughed out loud: "How is that possible?"
This was truly groundless worry. Ji Huaisu could already conjure ice and fire, even with her shadow, and her second-stage particles had already begun to possess the properties of third-stage particles. Chu Hengkong took it for granted that she instantly became a legend after her transformation. How could she not be able to reach that level?
"So you don't understand... When we reach the third level on the Supreme Path, we have to make choices. Pure Fire, Turbid Tears, and Unfixed Dust..."
Ji Huaisu fluttered his feet and said discouragedly, "I don't think I can do any of them thoroughly."
(End of this chapter)
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