Chapter 88
No matter how chaotic the real world outside of consciousness might be at this moment, Ye Yihe had no time to think about it.
His eyes reflected Fyodor's face—cold, arrogant, indifferent, polite, humble, docile, obedient—it could be paired with different adjectives at any time, just as the other person had always done.
Only now did Ye Yihe realize that no single word could truly reveal the real Fyodor. He was too deeply hidden; every word he uttered was so cryptic that it was impossible to discern whether it was genuine affection, pretense, or a fleeting sincerity.
"What exactly did you do?"
Ye Yihe loosened his grip on Fyodor's neck slightly. His voice was extremely low, slow, and somewhat hoarse.
"I didn't do anything,"
His vital point was still in the other's hands. Fyodor's hand rested on Ye Yihe's wrist, but he didn't try to struggle. He only breathed heavily for a moment, and when he looked up at Ye Yihe again, a slight smile appeared on his lips.
"I'm just sitting here, praying to God..."
"God heard my prayer."
Somewhere within this palace of consciousness, a faint, vibrating hum emanated, like the cry of a whale from the deep sea.
"You're lying."
Ye Yihe's throat tightened. A certain urgent emotion was pounding in his heart, so vividly present in his chest, filling his eardrums, that even the fingertips touching the other's skin began to burn.
“You’ve been planning this all along… from the moment you called Gogol over, to the moment you threatened Sakashita, and even to the moment you told me not to reveal your existence to Dazai,” Ye Yihe gritted his teeth, “you’ve been guiding the outcome toward the situation you desire.”
Fyodor didn't answer these questions. He just looked at Ye Yihe and suddenly asked, "Don't you think that my killing of Kyogoku Natsuhiko was also part of a plan?"
"…………" Ye Yihe's fingertips visibly trembled slightly.
When he spoke again, his voice was extremely low, but the slight tremor was even more obvious. "If you... even saving me was just to deceive me, why didn't you kill me in the first place? You could do it, even now."
"Just like when I almost drowned."
Ye Yihe was perfectly clear-headed.
Don't be fooled by his current apparent advantage and ability to kill Fedor at any moment; it's all an illusion.
He possessed Fyodor's body; this was Fyodor's consciousness space.
Breathing is not even necessary in the realm of consciousness; it is merely a physiological instinct, not a necessity.
If the system doesn't intervene, his mental strength will be far less than Fyodor's. If the other party wants, he can be devoured in a matter of a single thought from Fyodor.
At this moment, Ye Yihe finally understood why he had fallen into that sea-like water and even experienced the fear of near death when they first coexisted in the consciousness space.
It turned out that in that instant, Fyodor had sensed the danger he posed.
At that time, the system was undergoing a self-software upgrade and did not intervene, which is why he never thought in that direction.
From the very beginning, Fyodor had firmly maintained control over their relationship, using a more sophisticated approach to dismantle his defenses and subtly guide him to this point without him even realizing it.
What's this now? The true colors are revealed.
Ye Yihe was almost laughing out of anger.
"I will not kill you."
A tense, deathly silence filled the palace. Fyodor said slowly, "And I won't let you die."
“But you want to kill everyone in the building,” Ye Yihe said through gritted teeth.
His fingers tightened even more, forcing Fyodor to tilt his head back slightly with his force, making it difficult for him to pronounce words—but his purplish-red eyes remained calm, like the snow-covered plains of a Russian winter.
“To be precise,” Fyodor’s voice was soft but steady, without any wavering, “it is that everyone except you must die.”
Ye Yihe's eyes widened: "…………"
"The Yokohama mafia will die in this struggle, the superhumans will die from Tatsuhiko Shibusawa's superpowers, and the politicians, and everyone else, will die in the great purge to come."
The heavy Bible slipped from his lap to the ground. Fyodor grasped Ye Yihe's wrist with one hand, his purplish-red eyes narrowed slightly, and he coughed twice, reciting words that sounded like a prayer in fits and starts.
"Sin is thought, sin is breath. In this way, everyone will be freed from sin..."
"...Including you?"
After a moment of silence, Ye Yihe spoke.
Yes, including me.
Fyodor's five fingers on Yeyhe's wrist slowly tightened, but the gesture was not one of resistance against the unbearable feeling of being strangled, but rather as if he had grasped some unique and sacred beacon.
"Human beings are both sinful and foolish, and only death can offer them redemption."
"After the flood that overturns everything, only you will survive... and reach the [Promised Land] where sins have been purified and guilt has been eradicated."
The answer was far colder than Ye Yihe had anticipated. Fyodor's scheme involved far more than just killing Oda Sakunosuke and his group; it included superhumans, humans, and even himself.
He did not act out of personal interest, grudges, or ambition. Rather, he didn't even care about his own life.
This time, Ye Yihe remained silent for an even longer period than before.
Fyodor's feelings were real, and so were his ideals.
Fyodor could compromise, could back down, could play the cello for him on New Year's Day, could keep his promise to take him to see the aurora, and could even kill Kyogoku Natsuhiko to protect him, even at the cost of being shot himself.
But Fyodor can also scheme, can use, can use his appearance to hide himself, only to make his next move at the crucial moment, and can achieve his goals in a more subtle way, even abandoning his subordinates in the same way.
For Fedor, there was no conflict between the two.
At this moment, he is the only one feeling pain.
Because he cared about Oda Sakunosuke and their lives, even though he would leave after accumulating enough resurrection points, he still cared.
He had lived in this world for four or five years, which was a quarter of his life before he died.
Even if you keep reminding yourself that you don't belong to this world, the feelings you've developed with everyone aren't so easily erased—at least you can't just stand by and watch them get killed by Fyodor.
That's impossible.
Ye Yihe looked directly into Fyodor's eyes. "I cannot accept this outcome. Regardless of whether one is a superhuman or not, the fate of the world should not be determined by your mere words."
"You don't think humanity is [evil]?"
Fyodor slowly let out a soft chuckle, accompanied by the breathy sound of coughing as he spoke.
Even though breathing wasn't required in his consciousness space, the feeling of being choked was painful enough, yet he seemed to have accepted the pain completely, presenting a quiet, silent sacrificial posture.
“I won’t discuss these philosophical questions with you,” Ye Yihe frowned. “I only know that life is precious, including yours.”
For a fleeting moment, Fyodor's eyes, which seemed to have sunk into the depths of nothingness and darkness, twitched slightly.
Ye Yihe did not notice this subtle fluctuation, but simply released his five fingers from Feodor's neck, leaving several reddish bruises.
But those were just bruises. Ye Yihe knew that even if they weren't in the consciousness space at this moment, he couldn't bring himself to actually kill Fyodor.
Just as Fyodor never consumed his spirit.
Even after so much time has passed, and even after Ye Yihe actually released killing intent towards Fyodor in the first few seconds, Ye Yihe's own mental landscape still has not manifested in this consciousness space.
This means that the system determined that he had never received any death threats from Fyodor.
This is a two-way fall.
Fyodor's feelings were equally genuine and passionate, repeatedly searing Ye Yihe's heart during every second of their confrontation.
"Can't we think of another way?" Ye Yihe said in a low voice.
"To eradicate evil, it must be thorough."
Fyodor gazed at his messiah, his expression remaining calm.
“This is just one plan,” he said. “Whether it is realized or not will not affect the future outcome. But I know that you will definitely try to stop me, even at the cost of mutual destruction. Therefore…”
therefore.
Ye Yihe wanted to continue listening, but his consciousness suddenly became uncontrollable, dragged by a gentle, irresistible force into a deeper state of exhaustion and despair, until it reached a place where countless beautiful dreams floated and sank.
"you……"
Unable to maintain his balance, Ye Yihe swayed and fell completely into Fyodor's outstretched arms after managing to utter only one syllable.
In this space that he could control at will, Fyodor forced Yeyhe into a deep sleep.
"Wait until you wake up again,"
Fyodor said softly, "It will all be over..."
"Including this palace of consciousness."
…………
In the small building in the real world.
The moment Ye Yihe collapsed unconscious, Oda Sakunosuke caught his body and knelt down on the tatami mat.
"What's going on? An enemy attack?!"
Chuuya, who was sitting on the back of the sofa, suddenly stood up, his body hunched over in extreme alertness, his eyes sharp.
Pushkin, whose physical fighting ability was practically nonexistent, skillfully and consciously hid behind Ivan, saying, "Good brother, protect me."
Ivan: "..."
“No, that’s not it.” Oda Sakunosuke shook his head. “Let’s wait and see.”
He is extremely sensitive to the killing intent of enemies and possesses the ability to foresee the short-term future. If an enemy were to launch an attack on Ye Yihe, it would be impossible for him not to have detected it beforehand.
He was more inclined to guess that this sudden situation was a personality switch.
only……
"Ah, she's awake! She's awake!"
A moment later, Pushkin emerged from behind Ivan and was delighted to see his boss had woken up safely.
“What’s there to be happy about?”
Dazai's iris-like eyes were fixed on the body that had opened its eyes again, and he let out a knowing chuckle.
"In fact, it was an even worse development."
Having regained control of his body and stood up again, Fyodor picked up the white fuzzy earmuffs that had fallen onto the tatami mat, carefully put them on, and gave Dazai Osamu a smile.
"Nice to meet you, Dazai-kun."
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