"What do I need that for?" said Bod grumpily. "It won't raise my wages."
"But you can take it home and show it off to your brother."
Bertie's eyes lit up as he thought of something.
"Silence!" Yeda turned around and glared at them fiercely.
——The eye contact failed miserably. Gresham was as tall and strong as a brown bear standing upright, and he was able to appear "arrogant" without lowering his head.
Bertie coughed dryly and lowered his head to act obedient.
Yeda looked at them and sneered, "It's time to make amends, both of you. The task of finding out the truth is now up to you."
Gresham suddenly lowered his head and found that Yeda was serious. His face turned green: "Boss, Bertie has met with them before."
"Yeah, what's the problem?"
There's a big problem, Gresham thought bitterly. It would be fine if Erica's friends were genuinely suspicious, but what if they were innocent? He and Bertie would be like drunken fools, publicly throwing punches at ordinary people, and then have to sincerely apologize for their deception and deliberate provocation.
If the other party is too angry, Erica will pass the matter on to Annie...
What a sin.
"Don't worry, the insurance has been purchased," Yeda said coldly. "If anything happens, we will take care of your family for you."
Gresham: “…”
Okay.
This story tells us to cherish life and not flirt with colleagues during work... no, it means fighting and joking with them.
**
"It's actually very simple," Hugo said to Yuri, crossing his legs. "Because we've never fought them before, it's practically impossible to build a battlefield model in advance. And they know nothing about us. In this situation, whoever strikes first will have the upper hand. Sometimes, all it takes to claim a human life is a tiny calculation... Have you heard of the movie called 'Final Destination'?"
Yuri: "No."
Hugo ignored his silence: "In short, a series of seemingly coincidental accidents are enough to cause devastating consequences, and now we will be the ones who take up the sickle."
"I don't think I'm capable of completing such a detailed plan," Yuri said gravely. "You're my teacher, so you should know my limitations."
"I'm just giving an example," the android waved his hand. "There's no need to be overly dramatic. I'm not..." Its eyes flickered. "Some of my kind used to enjoy slaughtering humans, but I think excessive enjoyment at a time like this will only lead to them dying before the end, like the tasteless little bosses in the comics—they really didn't even get to see the final judgment."
"Also, considering that Azathoth only wants to watch the fun this time, and you're just an ordinary person, let's change our minds to horror movies and turn them into action-packed R-rated movies. What do you think?"
"--Mr. Hugo, why don't you want to do it yourself?" Yuri suddenly asked, "If Mr. Williams could deal with the enemy, it wouldn't be a hassle at all."
“It’s fun to proactively increase the difficulty of the challenge.”
Yuri sighed, his expression becoming even more serious. "Fine, whatever you like, but I don't like getting blood everywhere. I almost got fired for making a mess before."
Hugo looked a little surprised.
And humans look back at it with indifference and powerlessness.
Finally they reached a consensus, and Hugo said happily: "I will pay attention to this."
**
Arthur held a videotape he had copied from a video store, transcribed the audio into other formats to plug into human electronic devices. He dug out an old second-hand pair of headphones and put them on his head with great interest.
Harsh, monotonous, and at first glance nauseating music came out of the headphones. Arthur walked on the street with light steps, like an ordinary teenager, exuding positive, sunny and cheerful energy.
Ten minutes later he walked into a regular newspaper office and told the staff that he had made an appointment to meet in advance.
Another five minutes later, Nixon, wearing a coat and holding an unlit cigarette, hurried out of the elevator and asked directly, "Who are you?"
Arthur smiled at him and said, "I want to buy a painting from you."
"……What?"
The boy approached him with a familiar air. Nixon froze, trying to retreat, but found himself unable to move. Arthur searched his coat and trouser pockets, but couldn't find what he was looking for. With a slightly disappointed expression, he raised his head and asked with a smile, "Where's your wallet?"
"Breast pocket," Nixon heard himself answer in a flat voice.
"Thank you!" Arthur took out his wallet from his pocket and found a palm-sized piece of paper folded in the inner compartment. He unfolded it and took a look at it, then folded it back into its original shape. Finally, he patted Nixon's shoulder and asked regretfully, "How do you manage to stay rational?"
"...I don't know what you mean." Nixon bit the tip of his tongue to stay awake with the help of the pain.
"You know perfectly well," Arthur said, "that humans just love to play useless tricks. Well, consider this your reward for taking your painting. But there won't be a next time. Children who lie will be punished."
He ignored Nixon's livid expression and continued, "Tell me everything you know about Him, or I will contact that human named Igor Sullivan to come and collect your body."
Half an hour later.
Their prolonged conversation had already caught the attention of the other staff members. Many, observing Nixon meeting with outsiders during work hours, wanted to come over and ask what was going on, but an inexplicable psychological pressure prevented them from moving. They could only periodically glance out of the corner of their eyes at the small corner where only the two of them were.
"Well, it seems there's a limit to how much He loves everyone," Arthur said. "I thought He was so partial to that human that He would keep everything related to him under His wings, just like in the past—well. But things always change, even gods do."
"But maybe He doesn't like Sullivan as much as He seems."
He straightened his clothes under Nixon's angry gaze and said kindly: "Don't tell anyone about our conversation. You know the consequences."
"What on earth do you want to do?!"
"I just wanted to take this painting and test His attitude," Arthur said without hiding anything. "Look, since He doesn't care that much about humans, it's normal for me to want Him to favor someone else, right?"
"You're dreaming," Nixon whispered. "This is impossible."
"Who is dreaming?" Arthur hummed. "Is it me, you, or Him who never opened His eyes?"
**
"Bang--"
"Bang--"
"Bang--"
Three heavy thuds.
Three bullets hit the bull's eye.
Igor put down the gun that Garcia had kindly provided, walked over to the drowsy Azathoth and asked, "Do I really not need to take a look?"
Azathoth woke up with a start like a wet cat, and said half sleepily and half doubtfully, "What is there to see?"
"I don't think Hugo will take action." Igor said carefully.
Azathoth nodded: "Three hundred years old liar."
The human chuckled at the comparison, but his smile was fleeting. "But Yuri might not be able to stop."
"Ah... is that what you think?"
"He gives me the impression that he has been isolated from the real world for too long," Igor said. "Hugo likes to use plots from movies or TV shows as analogies, but Yuri takes them seriously."
"Do you know?" Azathoth said slowly, "When we first met on that desolate planet, if you had answered a little later, I would have killed you."
Igor raised his eyebrows: "But you didn't do anything. Is it because I reacted too quickly?"
Azathoth snorted, "I'm telling the truth. Don't think I fell in love with you at first sight. Even if I did, it was just a feeling for food."
"Isn't it great?" The gray-haired man held Azathoth's hand and leaned forward slightly. "What flavor do you like? If you can't taste it, your preferred scent will also do."
Azathoth unceremoniously stretched out his hands and pinched Igor's face. "Shut up. What I want to say is that Yuri doesn't understand physical pain, and he has experienced too much mental suffering. This makes it easy for him to have the illusion that taking someone's life is a very easy thing."
"He and you weren't having a drink together."
Igor didn't struggle and replied vaguely.
"Don't worry about the details." The evil god, a level eight human language player, was a little angry. "You know what I mean. As long as he can get past the constraints of morality over the years, he can easily kill because he can't empathize with the pain and fear of others before death."
He let go of his hand. Igor sat up straight, rubbed his cheek, and continued calmly, "Until he realizes the preciousness of life, just like you did after you met me."
"That metaphor is rubbish."
"You said that first."
The self-righteous double-standard god Azathoth changed the subject and sighed, "I hope Hugo won't be so stubborn as to force me to come out and save the situation. That would be too ugly."
——The evil god stepped in to stop his followers from killing people. The Vatican really should give him a certificate of zealous citizenship.
On that thought, he and Gresham could probably shake hands: sincerely hoping that awkward moment never comes.
**
Anne ran out of the Red Line Corps headquarters.
No one noticed.
The little girl rubbed her furry head, feeling a little indignant and a little sad, like a child who had run away from home without telling her parents. On the one hand, she was excited to regain her freedom, but on the other hand, she was worried because her parents did not value her as much as she had imagined.
She sent two communication requests to Erica, but to no avail. The Hongxian Army had already taken control of the mobile terminal, and any external information could not be received by the target before permission was granted.
The capital is filled with a peaceful atmosphere at noon.
The autumn sun was warm but not glaring. Private spaceships moved forward on their predetermined tracks. Hover cars passed through the sky one after another with their blue tails. A few birds chirped and jumped from one treetop to another, ignoring the busy humans moving forward.
Anne took a deep breath and walked towards the nearest bus stop.
At this time, she especially wanted to see Erica in person.
No matter who deceived whom or who concealed whom, until the final result came, they were Anne's only friends.
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