novelraw Chapter 387: You could have at least pretended to struggle in the bathtub
Chapter 387: You could have at least pretended to struggle in the bathtub
"It seems you’ve forgiven me, so let me raise another toast to you!"
"What a tolerance for alcohol! I’m overjoyed you’ve forgiven me, I must toast you again!"
Roderick watched as Alexander kept toasting him, his face turning dark. This guy, he’s just too much!
He himself was substituting water for wine, continuously toasting, the picture of a warm, neighborly boy, the epitome of a respectful, good youngster.
To the uninitiated, they might really think this guy was a good kid.
Just toasting would have been fine, but the problem was, the wine was spiked with sleeping pills!
Unfortunately for Roderick, he couldn’t reveal his identity at the moment, knowing full well the wine was drugged, he still drank glass after glass.
Judging the time was about right, Roderick pretended to be affected by the drug and fell into a dizzy faint.
He was curious to see what these two kids were up to.
In Roderick’s view, they probably just wanted to knock him out and escape. What could two kids do, kill him?
Unfortunately, he guessed right.
Pretending to be unconscious, Roderick squinted through a tiny slit, watching as one started to clean up the scene and the other picked up a syringe.
Especially the one cleaning up, his actions were too practiced, his mind frighteningly meticulous.
Roderick lay motionless as the two of them propped him up and placed him in the bathtub.
Only after they left the room did he open his eyes: "These two, they’re really something else! Drugging and injecting poison! I didn’t expect to be the victim in this cycle."
Cursing, Roderick climbed out of the bathtub, satisfied with his performance:
"That was flawless! Smart, cautious, impeccable acting. This Mist Instance, it’s like it was tailor-made for someone as clever as me! Time to go out and gather some information, to find a way to break this cycle!"
Using the effect of Ghost Energy to dry his wet clothes, Roderick stepped out of the room with a confident smile.
But in the next moment, his smile froze on his face.
In front of the door stood the same man and woman, surrounded by Ghost Energy. Without a word, the woman plunged two long knives straight through his chest.
"Impossible! How did you... discover..."
As life quickly drained from him, Roderick’s last thoughts weren’t of resistance or begging for mercy, nor of finding a way to save his life, but rather of his perfect acting, how it could possibly have been detected.
"Karin’s father, though hot-tempered, always yelling and hitting her, would never do that sort of thing! Besides, he’s known for his foul mouth..."
Alexander wanted to explain to Roderick the inconsistencies he had revealed, but seeing Roderick’s life fading away, he shook his head and said:
"And you, you fool! You could have at least pretended to struggle in the bathtub!"
With these words, Roderick, unwilling to accept his fate, widened his eyes in disbelief as his body collapsed, losing all signs of life.
"Karin, you’ve killed a participant and now possess the qualification to leave this cycle. Hurry and go!" Alexander said as Roderick fell.
But Karin shook her head, her gaze complex as she looked at Alexander for a long moment before speaking, "I will take you with me."
"Are you serious?" Alexander, somewhat incredulous, suddenly thought of something and exclaimed in shock, "Have you regained your memory too?"
Karin nodded and sighed, "The White Clothes had long suspected that this world was not as simple as it appeared, that some force was covertly observing us. We just didn’t expect our first target to be me.
Although you somehow blocked my memories and dragged me into this cycle, the power of a Guardian is beyond your imagination. You should have acted yourself. Once I regained my power, you could no longer block my memory."
"So, you still want to take me with you, instead of just killing me?" Alexander, or rather, his façade, looked a bit uneasy, realizing he had underestimated these Guardians.
Originally, his plan involved harnessing over 70% of the forbidden energy of the entire Federation civilization to create a Horror World.
This forbidden energy, being the dominant consciousness’s emotional energy, had a powerful influence. Being of the same essence as the Guardians, Alexander had planned to gradually influence and even reclaim Karin through repeated cycles, using his own amassed forbidden energy to gradually disintegrate several Guardians.
However, he hadn’t anticipated Karin regaining her memory the instant the cycle broke.
Now, Alexander wasn’t sure if his plan had succeeded. If it hadn’t, Karin would have killed him or restrained him by now. But if it had, she didn’t seem entirely subservient to him.
"You don’t understand!" Karin shook her head, her eyes filled with complexity as she looked at Alexander: "We Guardians, formed from what you call forbidden energy, have wandered the endless cosmos, accompanied only by relentless consumption and solitude for hundreds, thousands, even millions of years without change.
Ironically, though born from emotion, we never possessed any feelings. The experiences of these days are something I never had before! I will take you out of here as a token of gratitude for this novel experience you’ve brought me. After this, we will have no further ties."
In her eyes, a fleeting trace of loneliness and reluctance was visible. Without experiencing what she had gone through, it was impossible to fully comprehend how precious these moments were to her.
"Are you not yearning for freedom? The freedom to walk the earth and experience all that you’ve gone through?" Alexander asked.
"It’s futile!" Karin shook her head without hesitation and replied:
"Your efforts to oppose us are in vain because White Clothes is different from us. She is the true controller of the forbidden, representing the power of forbidden in your terms.
As long as White Clothes remains unchanged by your actions, nothing you do can prevent the arrival of our father, an existence you can’t even begin to comprehend!"
"The black river that roams the starry skies? The black beetles that can devour psychic power?" Alexander asked.
"How... how do you know about that?" Karin was suddenly startled. In her eyes, Alexander, no matter how resourceful, was just a native of the psychic world.
Like NPCs in a game, she naturally felt a sense of superiority. But it would be startling if an NPC suddenly started talking about servers and network modules.
"Come with me!" Alexander spoke again:
"What we know is far more than you can imagine! Don’t you want to experience a new life, like a real person, with friends, family, and your own life, instead of continuing to feel the eternal loneliness in the vast darkness of the universe?"
Seeing the hesitation on Karin’s face, Alexander continued:
"You’re wrong about one thing. Your father, the black river, we call it the Underworld River. I have a plan. It’s a long shot, but not impossible. With your help, our chances of success will greatly increase. We need this opportunity, we have no other choice. But aren’t you in the same position?"
Alexander’s words shook Karin, her eyes revealing indecision. Clearly, she was truly moved, but had not yet made up her mind.
"Karin!" Alexander suddenly smiled, took Karin’s hand in the same way he had done countless times in their childhood, and asked:
"You promised to marry me, to protect me. Does that still count?"
You can never imagine the impact of Alexander’s words on someone who had wandered the cosmos alongside a great river for countless years, mostly in slumber, waking only to devour and slaughter, seeing nothing but the unchanging blackness of space. After experiencing a semblance of normal life, these words resonated profoundly.
"Are you serious?" Karin stared intently at Alexander, fearing to see any hint of deceit in his expression.
"Having experienced countless cycles yourself and being a convergence of forbidden energy, you should understand the truth of these emotions better than I do," Alexander replied without hesitation.
Indeed, Alexander was artificial, and so was Karin, but the experiences they had gone through, the repeated cycles, were all real.
"Fine! I agree! I can also help you subdue everyone except White Clothes! Although I don’t think you can succeed, if you do, I hope you will grant us the freedom to enjoy real life," Karin said.
"Of course, let’s go! We have a big play to perform next!"