Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 975: The Administrator and the Authority Holders

Fear belonged to Han Bingjiang, but surprise was shared by Song Haoran and Song Ying.

Along the way, the two had somewhat understood the situation from the words of White-Clad Joan—the matter of the ring and the time-space jumps.

At first, Song Haoran and Song Ying only thought that there were two Joans—the one in the hoodie and the one in white. But at this moment, a third Joan appeared before them, and this Joan was with Luo Qiu!

Perhaps because White-Clad Joan had caught up, and the Joan beside Luo Qiu had also arrived, the mental focus of Hoodie Joan was momentarily distracted. This allowed the tense Han Bingjiang to seize the opportunity, moving Hoodie Joan's arm holding the fork away and headbutting her forcefully in the face.

This attack was effective, and Han Bingjiang managed to break free from Hoodie Joan.

However, Hoodie Joan quickly got back up. She did not move this time but furrowed her brow as she observed her surroundings. As for Han Bingjiang, he pressed himself in fear against the wall of the corridor, nervously surveying his surroundings, including ahead of him.

Three Joans—his mind could barely process this sudden influx of information.

His face turned pale as he felt dizzy. After rubbing his eyes hard, everything remained the same. He muttered, "Crazy... It's crazy!"

"Which one are you?" Hoodie Joan didn't immediately respond to Han Bingjiang but instead looked at the Joan in the checkered shirt beside Luo Qiu and asked with confusion, "How can there be another one?"

The Joan in the checkered shirt stood dumbfounded, seemingly unsure how to respond. She looked frightened, her ankle slightly shifting backward.Luo Qiu suddenly looked at Hoodie Joan and said, "The clothes you're wearing now were actually taken off her body. Do you understand now?"

Hoodie Joan froze, her gaze fixed on the Joan in the red checkered shirt, but she tilted her head. Suddenly, she angrily said, "Impossible! Absolutely impossible! She's already dead! Not even gods could save her!!"

"Nothing is impossible," Luo Qiu replied calmly. "Just like in most people's thoughts, it shouldn't be possible for the three of you to appear here at once. You are not sisters, nor are you twins. You are independent individuals, each recognized as Joan in your respective timelines. Yet, you all still ended up here."

Luo Qiu seemed to know something, perhaps from the Joan in the red checkered shirt beside him or some other reason. Regardless of the cause, it seemed much clearer than the information he'd gotten from White-Clad Joan... Song Ying looked at Luo Qiu with some unfamiliarity. Even facing this incredible situation, he remained calm and collected?

Even Song Haoran, looking at Luo Qiu now, was somewhat surprised and seemed to be in deep thought—before returning to China, he had a brief conversation with his father. From his father, Song Haoran had learned about Mr. Blind’s evaluation of Luo Qiu.

—Everything unbelievable happening to him was probably destined, simply a matter of course.

This was the conclusion Mr. Blind had given after some deep thought when Song Haoran asked him about it on the plane.

So, this calmness was also natural?

Song Haoran licked his lips and, as he looked at Luo Qiu, his curiosity grew stronger.

Perhaps sensing Song Haoran's gaze, Luo Qiu casually looked over, causing Song Haoran’s heart to skip a beat. This once again reminded him of the giant serpent’s eyes he had seen during an adventure in the Golden Kingdom years ago, as well as the gaze of the golden statue guarding the temple.

"It’s almost time," Luo Qiu suddenly said. "Now, will you leave on your own, or should I take action? Due to the presence of the three of you, the space I’m in has started to become unstable."

"Space instability?" Song Haoran snapped back to attention from his thoughts and instinctively asked, "What do you mean?"

Luo Qiu gave a slight smile, his gaze like a comet—brilliant and with the unshakable will of a boulder. He nodded. "Haven't you noticed? It's quiet here."

"Quiet?" Song Haoran was taken aback.

Everyone—Han Bingjiang, and the three different Joans—instinctively looked around. Indeed, everything felt eerily silent.

Silence at night is quite normal, but here... this was an airport! One of the busiest airports in China, and it was this quiet?

There was no one around!

Apart from those directly involved, the area was completely deserted!

Whether in the hallway, nearby stores, or the circular corridors below, even the escalators had stopped... the entire world seemed to have been reduced to just them.

"Where is everyone?" Song Ying asked, her voice trembling as she looked around. The sudden silence was truly bone-chilling. "They... they all disappeared?"

"They didn’t disappear," Luo Qiu shook his head. "We’ve simply temporarily left the normal world... Don't worry, we're still in our original space, but it's like we’re in a mirrored world."

"Mirrored?" Song Haoran repeated.

"Reflected, you can understand it that way," Luo Qiu explained. "I’m also entering this space for the first time, so I studied it a bit... I’m sorry I took so long."

"Is this some sort of alternate space?" Song Haoran could only respond with what he understood.

"That’s one way to think about it," Luo Qiu replied calmly. "But you don’t need to worry too much about it... There are many cases of mysterious disappearances in the world, and different places have different names for them—like divine disappearance or being lost. People often vanish suddenly from one place and reappear somewhere else, spanning unimaginable distances. This is essentially achieved through the mirrored world of this space."

Song Haoran was suddenly struck by something. He immediately asked, "Did that woman just teleport using this mirrored space?"

With that, Song Haoran looked toward Hoodie Joan, who remained silent, seemingly deep in thought, but at least quieted down.

"After all, it’s more convenient to jump between the mirrored world and reality than jumping across different timelines," Luo Qiu said, glancing at Hoodie Joan. "And it's more economical, right?"

"You..." Hoodie Joan glared at Luo Qiu, furrowing her brow. "You’re not from this timeline, are you? How do you know all this, even more than I do?"

"No, I’m not from another timeline," Luo Qiu replied nonchalantly. "As I said before, this is my first time in a mirrored space. I couldn’t help but study it a bit more, so I ended up arriving late."

"Hmph, so what did you figure out?" Hoodie Joan suddenly asked, sneering.

At that moment, Song Ying quickly said, "Luo Qiu, be careful! This woman is crazy! She can teleport."

"I think the ring she’s wearing can’t be used anymore," Luo Qiu waved his hand, signaling to Song Ying not to worry. "Otherwise, she could have used it to leave this mirrored world."

With those words, Hoodie Joan’s expression immediately turned cold and unfriendly.

"No wonder, no wonder!" Han Bingjiang, in fear, looked at the hoodie-wearing Joan. His voice almost attracted everyone's attention: "No wonder those guys said they couldn’t find you in the footage… so it’s like this! You’ve been traveling back and forth between here and reality, avoiding the surveillance, and setting me up! You... you vicious woman!"

"Who’s more righteous, Han Bingjiang... the version of you in this world has never done anything wrong?" Hoodie-wearing Joan sneered coldly, "Can you honestly say you’ve never broken the law? It's a regular thing, isn't it, with your kind of work? For the sake of attention, for fame, you lie constantly, fabricate nonsense... Do you think you’re a good person?"

Han Bingjiang’s face turned red from the mockery, but since there were so many people around, he wasn’t as scared of the madwoman as he was before. He immediately sneered, "No matter what, I’ve never killed anyone like you!"

"Hahaha!!" Hoodie-wearing Joan couldn't help but laugh, "I end lives, but you... you end lives' hopes. Compared to me, do you really think your sins are light? Han Bingjiang, do you know why you’re at this airport today?"

Han Bingjiang froze... Why am I at this airport?

At first, it was because he had received intelligence that the female celebrity Joan was in a relationship with a boyfriend and was planning to introduce him to her parents... His eyes widened in disbelief as he gasped, "That anonymous tip, was it... was it you... did you provide it?"

"Does this world really have coincidences?" Hoodie-wearing Joan sneered, "I remember that if I wanted to become this version of Joan, I had to plan things out carefully... if you’re going to blame someone, blame yourself for becoming too famous, Han Bingjiang... scum, beast, garbage! No matter which world you’re in, you’re just as disgusting! Like a cockroach, not worth saving!"

"Bitch!!!"

"I’ve cut it off before." Unexpectedly, hoodie-wearing Joan suddenly spoke with a strange smile, "In another world, I’ve cut it off before... snipped off your manhood, snip-snap."

"I’ll kill you!!" Han Bingjiang’s eyes turned bloodshot, and in a mad rage, he charged at hoodie-wearing Joan!

But in that instant, hoodie-wearing Joan’s body mysteriously vanished, causing Han Bingjiang to miss his target completely! His body continued moving forward due to inertia, but at the same time, Han Bingjiang felt a sharp pain from behind!

Hoodie-wearing Joan had reappeared in the same spot and instantly stabbed the fork directly into Han Bingjiang’s back!

Ah—!!!

Han Bingjiang screamed in agony, collapsing to the ground.

At this moment, Song Haoran whistled lightly, muttering, "This woman really has one last trick up her sleeve… what a tough character."

After falling to the ground, Han Bingjiang painfully turned over, but at this point, hoodie-wearing Joan was already using the fork to viciously stab him in the chest!

Ah—!!!

The fork pierced through!

Hoodie-wearing Joan grinned madly, both hands gripping the fork, stabbing it deeper into Han Bingjiang’s chest, then into his abdomen!

Blood splattered, hitting her face and even her lips, a redder shade than any lipstick.

"Die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die, die!!!"

"Ahhh!!! Someone save me!! Help me!! Help me!!! I’ll do anything!! Save me… ahhh!!!"

With each piercing of the fork, Han Bingjiang’s body jerked in reflex!

The pain caused his neck to stiffen, his head tilting back violently, his eyes wide open, as though something was holding them open, tears streaming out. His hands reached forward, trembling as he screamed in agony!

This was a brutal and bloody way to kill!

The gruesome sight made the Joan in the red checkered shirt standing next to Luo Qiu suddenly cover her mouth, retching, looking uncomfortable, holding onto Luo Qiu’s shoulder, "What do we do... he... he’s going to die..."

"Do you want to save him?" Luo Qiu suddenly asked.

The red-shirted Joan’s eyes fluttered, "No matter what, it’s still... a life."

"Even if this man is trying to ruin your life as Joan?" Luo Qiu spoke calmly, "If there’s no accident, this man is about to destroy your career and your life... Of course, there may be some twist and this won’t happen, but his original intent was to use these methods to gain benefits. So, would you still want to save him?"

The red-shirted Joan slightly parted her lips, hesitating, "I... I..."

She looked back at Han Bingjiang, watching as he struggled less and less under the torture, until he no longer struggled at all… she still didn’t say a word.

"Unfortunately, you didn’t plan to save him." Luo Qiu spoke indifferently.

"Even if... even if I wanted to save him, it’s too late, right? He... he can’t be saved anymore." The red-shirted Joan gritted her teeth, "It’s already... impossible to save him!"

"Perhaps you’re right." Luo Qiu suddenly said, "At least, trying to change Han Bingjiang’s predetermined death here would come at too high a price..."

As he spoke, Luo Qiu suddenly looked up, gazing into the air.

A faint light, a faint sound.

It felt as though the sounds of all things surrounded them.

When the faint light reflected in everyone’s eyes, everyone instinctively looked up. In the air, a soft blue light began to gather.

The figure of a girl appeared, around eleven or twelve years old, with smooth, deep blue long hair.

Her body was light, wearing a magnificent, deep blue gown.

She closed her eyes, her soft blue hair drifting slightly in the air.

Finally, the girl slowly opened her eyes, which were deep blue, like the ocean.

"Universal Manager, Alaya, Serial Number 003."

The girl's voice was enchanting, and she looked towards Luo Qiu, "Nice to meet you, esteemed Root Authority."

(End of Chapter)