*Sizzle sizzle sizzle* *Hiss!*
The chainsaw spun for nearly twenty minutes before Kelin finally stopped, exhausted and collapsing from the soreness and weakness in her arms.
I opened my eyes, panting heavily, finally having time to observe my surroundings.
With the chainsaw propped up on the ground, Kelin stared intently at the cardboard box.
The pools of blood that had just been scattered on the ground had vanished, replaced by specks of drifting ethereal matter that slowly rose into the air.
The cardboard box had been reduced to a pile of dust, as it had been sawn to shreds by Kelin.
There are seven pieces of cardboard, neither too big nor too small, lying on the ground, which together accentuate the tattered doll.
It wasn't the passage of time or wear and tear that caused the dilapidation, but rather the damage caused by Corinne smashing it down with a chainsaw. The sharp saw blade, spinning at high speed, cut it beyond recognition.
Yellowed cotton was everywhere, and two plastic eyeballs were missing. Starting from the nose, there was a hideous wound on the body's trunk, the tattered cloth was torn into pieces, and there were messy loose threads all around.
But Colleen didn't care about that; she looked at the location of the tattered doll's heart.
There was a spherical object there, emitting a quiet, distorted purple light—the [Core]!
However, just as tributaries of time will eventually flow into the main trunk.
Kelin's current "core" has been forced to the end of its life.
It swayed silently with purple light, drifting away into the void.
"Mr. Ragged Doll, are you Yi Hai?"
Seeing that the tattered toy was nearing its end, Kelin didn't mind talking to it in its final moments.
Let's treat this as an experiment and see if we can extract any information.
【What? Call me Dopegania! Cough cough...cough cough cough!】
It truly lives up to its reputation as an anomaly among the corpses.
Even at the end of his life, Dopegania, who was good at imitation and possessed a certain wisdom, did not give up his dignity and was unwilling to be compared with the inferior wretches like Tyrfon.
Especially for a nation like Dopegania, which is associated with a notorious reputation, the wisdom and self-esteem become even greater.
After cursing at Kelin, the tattered doll stopped cursing.
On the contrary, Broken Remains seemed to have some interest in Corinne.
It said with a complicated expression:
Speaking of which, little maid, you really did what I wanted to do but didn't dare to do back then.
"What did 'back then' mean?"
Kelin didn't quite understand.
Although she was still young, she possessed all the necessary knowledge as a maid in Victoria's household.
But it was precisely because she knew about it that she found it suspicious.
Hehe, you're still learning, little sister.
The tattered doll habitually mocked Kelin, then carefully admired Kelin's cute pouting expression, and suddenly felt that the gradually dissipating ethereal matter's [core] didn't hurt so much anymore.
It continued: "In our Dopeganian worldview, there are generally two kinds of understanding."
[First, they believe we are imitators, and all imitation is aimed at refining the "similarity" until we are completely identical, ultimately replacing them.]
[Second, they believe we are learners, and all imitation is in order to become a better "other." Then they draw a clear line between themselves and those they are imitating.]
And I belong to the category of imitators. Therefore, I can comfortably regard the life experiences of those I imitate as the first half of my own life.
The tattered doll paused, pondering how long its ethereal matter could last and how much more it could sustain its speech.
But after thinking about it carefully, I realized there was nothing to think about; I'll just say as much as I can.
The tattered doll said:
The powerful figures in this Balai Building are rarely outsiders; they are all people who suffered setbacks during their past struggles.
The seven surviving humans each left behind a doll; the prophecies inscribed on the dolls each foreshadowed their respective manner of death.
This also represents the methods we five used to drag you down. We hope that those who come after us will experience the same thing again.
"There were seven a moment ago, how did it become five again?"
Kelin put aside the murder method for the moment and immediately grasped the blind spot.
Why are there two missing people all of a sudden?
"...Heh, those were the two who killed the remaining five of us..."
No...that's not right either...
The tattered doll's tone suddenly turned melancholic, and it said sorrowfully, "It should be said that when we were all still human, it was the five of us who abandoned those two."
[So much so that after they were corrupted and turned into skeletons, they didn't spare any of us.]
Colleen let out a long "oh," her face showing understanding. The chainsaw stood beside her, and she punched her own palm.
"So when you said you were affiliated with the infamous Yi Hai, you were referring to those two Yi Hai who killed you, right?"
That's right...
The tattered doll continued, its voice tinged with bitterness:
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