Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 855: The World of Lies (3)

Caroline swiftly withdrew her hand, leaving 403 unable to fully grasp it. 403 was surprised—Caroline seemed to be afraid of something.

Perhaps it was his terrifying appearance now. 403 had long been accustomed to his current look and showed no sign of anger, merely saying calmly, "Stand up, let's talk elsewhere. There are too many people here."

Carlo grabbed his own hand, stood up with his head lowered, and hurriedly walked past 403—without turning back to see 403's expression. She didn't know what kind of look 403 had at that moment—was it one of scrutiny, concentration, or deep thought? Was it good or bad?

Caroline wasn't even sure if what she saw was truly 403's future, but she had seen the appearance of her Boss Boston... and their fates were intertwined.

Did 403 know that the current Arnold was the real Arnold?

If he knew long ago, why didn't he warn her? Suddenly, Caroline remembered what Nia had once said: "Don't trust anyone too easily."

A thought of retreat bloomed in Caroline's mind.

So, behind the teaching building, Caroline directly expressed her thoughts, "I don't want to continue anymore. I just want to leave. I don't want to be involved in such dangerous matters any longer."

403 was silent for a moment, then shook his head, "Caroline, I thought you were someone with perseverance, but you’ve disappointed me."

Caroline found it amusing, "Really? Then I’m sorry... but I’ve been disappointing people my whole life, so I'm used to it by now... In the end, you're only seeking revenge for yourself. I don't know what kind of revenge would satisfy you, but please don’t drag me into it. I’m just an ordinary person!""I told you, once this is over, I will help you clear your name by proving that it was Hailey who killed Livia," 403 said slowly. "But if you run away now, I’m afraid you’ll bear the murder charge for the rest of your life. If you’re lucky, maybe you can hide forever. If not... well, I think you can imagine the consequences yourself. Would you rather have nothing?"

Caroline froze.

403 stepped closer, speaking softly, "Two more days. After two days, you can walk out of this freely, return to your old life, or start a new one."

Caroline instinctively clenched her fist. She looked up and stared at 403, asking, "Will you always be there? If I’m in danger, will you show up?"

"As long as you do as I say, you won’t be in danger," 403 replied calmly. "Remember, even without you, I can still exact my revenge. But without my help, you’ll be a fugitive for life..."

Saying this, 403 pulled out a folded piece of paper from his clothes and slowly opened it in front of Caroline. "This is something I picked up outside. I think you might be interested."

Caroline took the folded paper from 403 in terror... it was a wanted poster with her face on it.

"How could they do this? I’m innocent!" Caroline became agitated at once.

403 shrugged, "After all, you’ve been missing for days, and the criminal fled the scene in broad daylight, didn’t they? Two days—just two more days... aren't you willing to try a bit harder?"

"What do you want me to do?" Caroline clenched the wanted poster into a ball and asked through gritted teeth.

"Tonight, I want you to be with him."

403 picked up a strand of Caroline’s hair, examining it carefully. Like a demon cloaked in burned skin, he whispered in her ear, "I think this should be quite easy for you."

Just Two Days...

---

When Boston returned to his hideout, there weren’t many people inside, just two of his men boredly watching a live soccer match.

"Where's Hailey?" Boston casually asked.

One of the men, drinking a beer, replied, "Oh, probably asleep? She had another fit earlier and broke something again. There's barely anything left to smash in there."

Boston nodded, then shifted his gaze. He pulled out a wad of cash, counted some, and threw it on the table. "I'm hungry. Go get me something to eat... Oh, and bring back a woman. I'll watch the place."

Seeing Boston's generosity, the two men were overjoyed, knowing that after expenses, they’d have plenty left over. They quickly put on their shoes and left.

Once they were gone, Boston swiftly locked the door, then headed toward a room inside—only Arnold had the key to that door.

But locks can't stop someone determined to open them... Boston licked his lips, took out a set of tools from his pocket, and easily unlocked the door.

Boston was well aware of the safe's secret—inside were all the bath salts they had recently obtained from that mysterious woman.

Seeing the stash, Boston’s eyes burned with greed. If he could sell off this entire batch, he’d have enough capital to stand on his own, with no need to rely on anyone.

With money in hand, who would be afraid of lacking soldiers or supplies?

Boston quickly packed all the bath salts into a travel bag, also taking the handgun from the safe.

Just as he was about to leave, he heard the sound of smashing and Hailey’s crazed shouting from the next room.

Hailey was a madman, frequently prone to violent outbursts. Boston had already planned to take the stash and go solo, so now he decided to finish things once and for all. Resolute, he walked up to Hailey’s locked door.

"You want to get out?" Boston banged on the door to get Hailey’s attention. "Do you want to leave? I can take you to see Arnold."

Inside the room, everything suddenly went quiet.

Hailey stared wildly, like a beast. Around his feet lay a pile of torn photos. Over the past few days, a mysterious person had repeatedly brought photos of Caroline and Arnold being intimate. The person never spoke, just silently dropped the photos and left, driving Hailey closer and closer to madness, until he was desperate to escape.

"I can take you to your brother... but you need to stay quiet and follow my instructions," Boston's voice was low, muffled through the door. "Otherwise, I can blow your brains out anytime."

"Let me—out—now!!!"

...

Caroline ultimately managed to return to 403's dorm room before Arnold… but she hadn’t really planned to follow through with what 403 had suggested — to have relations with Arnold. Even though, to someone of her background, the concept of chastity was cheaper than a loaf of bread.

The only person who could prove her innocence was 403, so she had no choice but to pretend to agree. She needed some time—time to find a way out.

Caroline instinctively thought of the business card that Dr. Franky's son had given her. At first, she hadn’t paid much attention to it, but now she was willing to try anything — it wouldn’t hurt to give it a shot.

However, she couldn’t use the phone Arnold had given her to make this call. So, after returning to 403's dorm room, she quickly stepped out again.

There was a payphone by the dormitory entrance, and Caroline went straight to it, dialing the number on the card.

"Hello, Bolton Logistics Transportation Company. How may I assist you?" A woman's voice came through the phone.

Caroline was stunned. She checked the number she dialed and confirmed it was correct… but why was it a logistics company?

"Hello, if there's no issue, I'll be hanging up now," the woman on the other end quickly said.

"Wait! Wait!" Caroline took a deep breath and recalled her conversation with Dr. Franky's son. An idea struck her, and she said, "South… Southern Cross!"

There was sudden silence on the line, but the call wasn’t disconnected. After a tense wait, the woman's voice returned, "Your request has been processed. I’ll transfer you now. Please hold."

Caroline froze. After a brief moment, a man's voice came through, "Hello, how can I assist you?"

Caroline quickly said, "I was told to make this call by someone. It was Dr. Franky's son. He told me…"

Before she could finish, the man interrupted her, speaking calmly, "Miss, just tell me what assistance you need."

Caroline gritted her teeth. "Listen, I’m caught up in a mess. I’ve been falsely accused of being a murder suspect. The person framing me is Hailey… and Arnold, they’re brothers. The police are after me, and I’m in a very dangerous situation..."

“What’s your name?” the man asked swiftly.

“Caroline... Caroline Swift!”

“Understood. We will resolve your issue as soon as possible.” The man said quickly, “Please wait in peace; it will be no later than one day.”

“Wait a minute, I haven’t finished saying...”

Caroline called out a few words into the microphone, but the call had already disconnected. When Caroline tried to call the number again, she found it had become a disconnected line.

With a sigh, Caroline hung up the phone... Clearly, the tone of the man who answered later was somewhat perfunctory.

Just waiting one day?

Caroline couldn’t help but shake her head; if it was that magical store, it might have been possible... But now, she couldn’t find that magical shop anymore.

She had no choice but to return to Room 403 in a daze, trying another idea—she went into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror.

She had seen several things that would happen in the future, some of which had already come true: the mother pushing a stroller, Dr. Franky, and her incident in the restaurant—plus three more instances.

One was seeing ‘herself’ being captured, something being stuffed in her mouth, causing her extreme pain.

Another was witnessing someone in a forest, she still couldn’t tell whether it was Arnold or Hailey, being stabbed in the chest.

And one just happened—when she encountered 403, an event related to Boston by the riverside.

Due to the scattered and fragmented nature of these visions, Caroline couldn’t find any clues—but reflecting on these strange perspectives, she discovered something.

Two of them occurred when her heartbeat quickened.

Did this mean that if she were in a state of extreme tension with a racing heartbeat, it could trigger this ability? Caroline thought this might work, so she began to stimulate her blood flow—exercise was the best way to accelerate her heartbeat.

However, after nearly half an hour of intense sweating and panting like a bull, she yielded no results—Caroline ultimately collapsed onto the sofa.

Due to exhaustion, Caroline was even unwilling to move her hands or feet, simply lying there, quietly listening to the sound of her heartbeat.

In the quiet Room 403, where no one else was present, Caroline stared blankly out the window. Suddenly, she became calm, and in a daze, some images flashed before her eyes.

She didn’t deliberately try to grasp these images; her consciousness fell into a strange state. Caroline didn’t know what it was but subconsciously didn’t want to break free from this state.

What she didn’t realize was that the air around her was subtly distorting, like ripples.

...

At this moment, on the rooftop of the dormitory building where Room 403 was located, two figures were slowly descending—Wolfgang, shining with golden light, and Noah, dressed in a gray robe.

They returned again from the crevice of dimensions—ever since the last time they used the 'Book of the Void' to capture a moment in time in the basement of the bar.

Lucifer’s whereabouts were a mystery, but Noah had not come back empty-handed.

“Is this the source of the interference?” Wolfgang frowned, looking thoughtfully at the dormitory building below, unable to help but say, “She’s just an ordinary person, and not even... pure.”

“She's not a specific witch; what does purity have to do with it?” Noah replied nonchalantly, “Physical purity is far less important than the cleanliness of the soul.”

Wolfgang shrugged, “I still prefer physical purity... but what exactly is her background?”

After a moment of silence, Noah slowly said, “She is a Dimensional Observer; she is awakening... her life form is undergoing transformation.”

“Isn't this just like you? The main world actually allows the existence of Dimensional Observer bloodlines... the child of taboo!”

Wolfgang opened his mouth. The Dimensional Observer is one of the top bloodlines among the many different Earths, and it is extremely rare; a single world might not even give rise to one, and the individual life before awakening is completely different from the one after awakening—only after fully awakening can it transform into another form of life.

“This matter can be studied later,” Noah said calmly, “But she... will become my bride. We will give birth to a perfect Observer... Caroline.”