Chapter 57
"Why hasn't that kid come back yet?"
In a rare three-story villa in the deserted area, a team of gifted individuals who had occupied an area on their own were drinking together.
One of the men, whose body was covered with dense scars, frowned and looked out through the window.
"If he hasn't come back yet, he must be dead." A blonde woman shrugged. "It seems that everyone in that church was killed."
Even the children are not spared. Tsk.
——Okay, although, they are also evil people who don’t even spare children.
She continued, "The church is still quite far from us. We can let the people ahead handle any problems. They should be the ones getting anxious and angry right now."
After all, ordinary people in the vicinity have been secretly spreading rumors that an awakened god has descended to the world, and those high-ranking gifted holders must be hating him to death.
"Bena."
A deep voice interrupted her gloating.
A man with short, dark blond hair came down from upstairs and called out her name, stopping her from continuing. After a moment's silence, he also looked in the direction of the church, and finally said in a deep voice, "...I want to go and see it myself."
"Boss?" The big man by the window looked at him in surprise, then belatedly realized, "...Is it because of Xiao Moer?"
Xiao Mo'er is the daughter of their boss, James. Because of James's special ability, ten years ago, they were hunted by the Picket Tower all the way until they were exiled to the wasteland.
But the wasteland is more terrifying than they imagined.
Even someone with a unique talent like James couldn't always protect his beautiful wife and daughter. The people following him weren't quite sure of the details, but they knew the outcome.
James' wife was already dead, leaving behind his daughter who had lost both legs and eyes. She was extremely resistant to the outside world, and her memory was forever stuck at the age of seven.
James might have been considered a good person in the past, but after so many years of erosion and influence in the wilderness, he can only be said to have some conscience now, especially when facing a girl who is about the same age as his daughter when the accident happened.
"If you're sure, I won't object," the big man said, frowning. "But you have to understand, that place is incredibly eerie. Although there have been numerous sightings of civilians seemingly living well inside, so far, no one with the intention of investigating has ever come out."
——Even those civilians who have been trained at the bottom of the wasteland and have developed evil intentions are like this.
"Yeah." James nodded: "I know."
"Don't worry, I'll be fine."
His gift, "Puppet Heart," allows him to create puppets of those he has killed, preserving their abilities. The higher the puppet's level in life, the better its durability and the longer it can be used.
But what attracted the Patrol Tower's covetousness, and what gave him the confidence to not fear death, was a special branch of this ability—
"Death and life exchange."
When he dies, he can use his final moments to directly transfer his consciousness to any of his puppets, possessing both his own and the puppet's talents. He only needs to find a new body before the puppet's durability runs out.
——This is equivalent to immortality in disguise.
However, this ability can only be used for himself. James has no interest in so-called immortality, let alone using someone else's body. Therefore, he has no idea at all. Even when he was in the patrol tower, he knew the special nature of the ability and did not report it at all.
——But who would have thought that the patrol tower could actually detect talent...
James looked a little tired as he recalled the past: "I'm leaving tonight."
After saying that, he went upstairs again and opened a door.
Sitting upright inside was a young girl with long dark golden hair. There were several horrific scars where her eyes were, and there was nothing in her eye sockets, which completely ruined her pretty face.
She was sitting in a wooden wheelchair, her skin a grayish-white color that gave no sign of life, and she was carefully touching a little bird that had landed on her hand from nowhere.
However, when James saw the bird, his expression suddenly changed. He stared at it nervously and said, "...Mo'er, it's very dangerous if we can't confirm whether it is a gifted product."
He could see that Mol's mental state seemed much better today. At least she was not trapped in the memories of her seven years old as usual.
The girl was stunned for a moment, then fumbled back and said, "Dad?"
The voice is neither sad nor happy.
James blinked a few times, holding back his tears, and stepped forward with a smile: "Well, I'm here. If you like birds, I'll catch one for you someday. This kind of bird from unknown origin..."
"No, Dad. I won't open the window casually anymore."
She said calmly.
James's breath hitched: "That's not what I meant..."
Mol shook her head. "Even if you caught one, I can't see it, and there's no way it can stay awake for long... I can't feed it myself, and I don't want anyone else to feed it for me."
She whispered, "I have a headache, Dad...you go out."
James had no choice but to walk out of the room and close the door.
Hearing him leave, Mol's fingers stroked the bird's wings, again and again.
In order to take better care of her, her room is not soundproof, making it easier to control or comfort her when she is mentally unstable, or to let other female gift holders help her - of course, only female gift holders live on the third floor.
What she didn't tell anyone was that she was awake longer, simply because she suddenly awakened her talent a few days ago.
Perhaps it was because she had no legs and was too obsessed with movement, her gift was a pair of wings that looked just like the birds in the wilderness.
At the same time, her hearing has also improved greatly.
So she heard what they said—she heard the “church.”
Moer knew that her father had been persistently looking for a way to repair her broken limbs in the past few years, but the existing talents were basically of no use to broken limbs.
"Church...huh?" she murmured.
She involuntarily increased the strength in her hands, and the bird flapped its wings and flew away. She opened her hands and remained silent for a long time, then slowly opened her wings, and with difficulty used her hands to support herself to the window, and flew towards the direction she heard.
She could sense that she didn't have long to live. Maybe tomorrow, or the day after tomorrow, she would become a cold corpse.
She didn't want to die in front of the uncles and aunts she knew. Even if she died on the road, she would be satisfied as long as she could walk out of that room.
"James, Molly, she flew away!!"
The man gifted with Eagle Eyes shouted nervously.
"……What?!!"
James suddenly opened the window and saw More flying in one direction at an extremely fast speed - the direction where the church was.
His pupils shrank for a moment, and then he rushed downstairs.
…
…
After several expansions, the church has become more holy and magnificent and can accommodate more people.
But César didn't stay with those people.
He knew that distance was very important. He was always good at manipulating people's psychology and rarely appeared in front of them. He basically stayed in his private garden or a room in the church that didn't lead to the outside world.
There was no door in that room, and César would manually use his talent to separate the walls every time he entered.
He calmly watered the flowers and plants he planted, then took a step back naturally and calmly.
——A new falling object from a high altitude, protected by thick vines and flowers, hit the spot where he had just stood.
Xizel's mood remained unchanged, and he even joked with the comics: "Is the comic world finally not satisfied with just hitting me with tree trunks or beams?"
Comic Will: "..."
I was so angry, but I still had to keep a polite smile.
Why is his sense of humor always so heartbreaking?
The black-haired boy lowered his head slightly and looked at the human-shaped object that fell down through the satin on his glasses.
It looked like a girl with golden hair and a pair of colorful wings on her back. It was worth mentioning that there was nothing where her legs and eyes would be.
Xizel raised his eyebrows slightly, having already identified her identity.
Before he could do anything, she came to him on her own, which saved him some effort. So he didn't mind giving her a gift.
So he squatted down and stretched out his hand to the girl who had finally come to her senses.
…
…
Xia Zuo put the small wild fruits he had just picked into his bag, leaving only a few for himself to fill his stomach.
Although due to weather reasons, it is becoming increasingly difficult to find these edible small fruits.
Having just escaped an investigation due to a mistake made while crossing a cross-region checkpoint, he was in urgent need of replenishing his strength.
He didn't want to kill indiscriminately, especially when facing people who might know nothing. Because of this, fighting with restrained hands and feet was sometimes more exhausting than going all out.
The brown-haired boy sat on a tree branch. His originally bright golden eyes now looked a little dim and silent because he remembered something.
He reached for his neck and pulled out a thin black rope from layers of clothing. On the rope were strung fragments of his gifted crystal that had been sealed with transparent crystals.
The brown-haired boy lowered his eyes, held it in his palm and squeezed it, then muttered to himself gloomily, "I wonder how Ursula is doing..."
Will they be captured by the Federation? Or will they be devoured by their kind who have long been accustomed to the deep sea environment?
He shook his head and stopped thinking about it. After filling his stomach, he quickened his pace and ran towards the northwest.
The closest human settlement to the Eastwood Lunatic Prison is the Wasteland, one of the fifteen marginal districts. If Caesar had originally come out of the Wasteland, then he must have been there.
Xia Zuo planned to start from the wasteland and walk through the fifteen marginal areas in the northwest direction. After a year, he would look for the entrance to the Eastwood Lunatic Prison.
"It gets colder the further north we go..." He muttered to himself as he ran quickly, "Winter is coming soon."
Fortunately, when he passed by the Gray Moon District, he secretly took away a few thick sweaters hidden in a basement... Although they were knitted for Caesar, he could never wear them again.
Xia Zuo took a deep breath and regained his spirit.
By the time he reached the deserted area in about ten days, it would probably be winter. He should first think about how to survive the freezing cold in the north.
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