Trafford's Trading Club

Chapter 978: The Darkest Hour

"She's... pregnant?"

Song Ying was shocked, covering her mouth, while Song Haoran frowned deeply.

Many times, people's attitudes toward pregnant women are subtly different.

This woman may be utterly evil, this woman may be hated by all, but when a little life is growing inside her, her situation becomes different.

She might not be forgiven, but the life growing inside her is innocent.

A pure, untainted life always evokes sympathy.

Our respect for pregnant women comes from their great role in nurturing life.

"This is too cruel!" Song Ying's face turned pale—on the stage, there was only the seven- or eight-year-old Paul, and the unborn child inside the pregnant Joan in the red dress. Only one of them could survive.

In an instant, as Song Ying looked at Alaya again, the girl with blue hair and blue eyes no longer seemed delicate and cute, but rather inexplicably frightening.

Because everything was happening under her will—she had set the rules for this brutal survival battle, and she had personally created this cruel situation.The red-dressed Joan on the steel platform stood frozen as if struck by lightning.

She lowered her head, her palm gently resting on her abdomen, her hair covering her face. Her sorrow, joy, or hatred were hidden from view—only her slightly trembling shoulders were clear.

"This can't be! This can't be!!"

Song Ying suddenly became agitated, quickly walking to Luo Qiu and grabbing his arm. "This isn't right! It's completely unreasonable! Think of a way! Think of something!"

"I've already said, I won't interfere with Alaya's work." Luo Qiu shook his head. "Since I've said that, we can only wait for the result."

"But this is so strange... it's so strange!"

Song Ying gripped Luo Qiu's arm with both hands. "It's so unreasonable! Why must there be such a choice? Paul is just a child! What's wrong with him surviving? There are so many people in this world, billions of people, can't... can't even a small life like his be allowed to survive?"

Luo Qiu remained silent for a moment.

Song Ying became even more anxious, her voice trembling, "Think of something... there's no time left!"

Alaya had already said there were only sixty seconds left, and time was rapidly passing by—perhaps less than half the time remained, perhaps even less.

"Conservation," Luo Qiu finally spoke.

"What?" Song Ying froze, as did Song Haoran behind her.

"Something like the conservation of mass," Luo Qiu sighed. "Physically, everything on Earth is governed by the law of conservation of energy. Liquids, solids, gases, they can all be converted into one another, and humans exist within that cycle. The soul... if the soul has mass, it should also follow the law of conservation. Since it's all about conservation, if one part of it is even slightly excessive, everything will become chaotic and the current balance can no longer be maintained. Even though this current stage..."

Luo Qiu paused and glanced at Alaya.

The girl was focused on the changes on the steel platform, and at the same time, her arm slowly extended... Luo Qiu knew that time was probably running out.

The steel platform began to crack, pieces of steel falling into the abyss below—this meant the space for red-dressed Joan and Paul was rapidly shrinking.

The huge steel plates falling from mid-air disappeared into the abyss in an instant, with no sound—yet it was this silence that made people feel fear.

Time seemed to stop at this moment, as the space left for red-dressed Joan and Paul to move became minimal, and the falling steel plates were nearing the feet of red-dressed Joan.

She looked down, then suddenly walked toward Paul.

Behind her, the steel plates continued to fall—finally, when she reached Paul, only nine pieces of steel remained, forming a 3x3 grid.

She and Paul were standing on the center plate.

"Paul... is it?" red-dressed Joan suddenly spoke, reaching out to touch Paul's cheek.

"Mom?" Paul looked at her timidly.

She softly asked, "Do you know who gave you your name?"

Paul shook his head, confused.

"I don't know," red-dressed Joan slowly crouched down, looking up at Paul's face. Her voice became gentle. "I... I have a child in my belly right now, about to be born. Although you don't know who gave you your name, this child inside me hasn't been named yet. Do you know that, Paul?"

Her hand slowly moved, grabbing Paul's wrist.

"Mom..." Paul suddenly became scared, "I'm afraid..."

At this moment, four corners of the remaining nine steel plates fell away—only five remained, forming a cross pattern.

"Don't be afraid, Paul," red-dressed Joan's voice became softer. "By the way, Paul, have you met your father?"

As soon as Paul heard the word "father," he immediately covered his ears—he seemed extremely afraid to hear that name.

Red-dressed Joan slightly opened her lips, but quickly stood up and hugged Paul. "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid. Come, listen. Can you hear anything from inside my belly?"

At that moment, the steel plates fell again.

...

The remaining five steel plates fell away, leaving only one plate that was just large enough for them to stand on.

Alaya extended her other hand—this meant that the time she had given was up, but since the result hadn't appeared yet, she would execute the backup plan, eliminating the "unstable" factors and recreating them in the original timeline.

【Target locked.】

【Clearance program initiated.】

At that moment, the palms of Alaya's hands began to gather a little bit of faint light—the light quickly transformed into blue and white orbs.

And in those orbs, Song Haoran felt despair—he could feel the enormous power contained in them!

"Can you wait for a moment?" At that moment, Luo Qiu suddenly reached out and gently pressed on Alaya's wrist, looking at her.

Alaya tilted her head, seemingly puzzled, and looked at Luo Qiu: 【Request? Order?】

"If it's a request, would you refuse?" Luo Qiu stared into Alaya's eyes.

The blue light flickering in her pupils expanded, then quickly contracted. Alaya directly responded: 【Affirmative: Time limit reached, clearing must proceed.】

Luo Qiu pondered for a moment—during that time, Alaya ignored him, and the two light orbs were about to be released.

Luo Qiu finally spoke: "Order."

At that moment, the light orbs in Alaya's palms paused, 【Acknowledged: Sub-admin Alaya, ID 003, clearing program temporarily paused... Program paused.】

With that, Alaya slowly lowered her hands and looked at Luo Qiu, 【Report: The time limit has arrived. The "unstable" factors will affect the timeline, recalculation in progress... Recalculating...】

"Actually, there's still some time left, isn't there?" Luo Qiu looked at Alaya. "Since you've already eliminated two, it means the burden has been reduced. So, we can extend the time a bit more."

Alaya's gaze flickered, and she even closed her eyes. Several seconds later, she said: 【Beginning to correct the time limit, correction in progress... Correction in progress...】

Alaya fell into silence, and upon seeing this, Song Ying let out a sigh of relief. She looked at Luo Qiu, showing a relieved smile. "I knew I didn't make a mistake in trusting you!"

"No," Luo Qiu shook his head. "I just wanted to test whether the so-called root permissions can actually command Alaya... Once the time is up and there's still no result, the original outcome will only be delayed."

"No matter what..." Song Ying gritted her teeth, "You still stepped in to help, didn't you? That at least proves you're not like her... Do you know, the feeling you gave me just now is exactly the same as the feeling I got from Alaya!"

Luo Qiu said nothing, simply turning around to silently watch the last steel plate where Red-dressed Joan and Paul stood.

He suddenly asked, "Do you think her current tenderness is real or fake?"

Song Ying opened her mouth instinctively and looked over.

At that moment, Red-dressed Joan's face was full of tenderness, her lips curved in a motherly smile as though she were nursing a child.

Real or fake, no one could say for sure.

She had said it herself; she was an actress.

...

"What do you hear?"

With only one steel plate left, Red-dressed Joan showed no fear. Her gaze was soft, seemingly able to influence Paul, whose emotions gradually stabilized.

Paul looked up, confused, at Red-dressed Joan. "Mom, I don't hear anything."

"Really don't hear anything?"

Paul slowly shook his head.

Red-dressed Joan gently caressed her abdomen, her eyes lowering. "But I can hear the baby inside, always calling me 'mommy, mommy.' Do you know, this child often chats with me."

Paul opened his eyes in disbelief.

Red-dressed Joan patted Paul's head. "Do you want to know what this baby says to me?"

Paul nodded.

Red-dressed Joan's voice grew clearer. "He tells me, 'Mommy, mommy, I want to come out soon, I want to meet mommy.' That's what he says to me. So..."

Red-dressed Joan smiled faintly, reaching out to lift Paul under his armpits. "So, if mommy wants this baby to come out to meet her, but needs Paul's help, will Paul help mommy?"

"Mm!" Paul nodded firmly.

Red-dressed Joan whispered, "Such a good child, mommy will always love you, always, always."

She lifted Paul, extending her hands beyond the last steel plate. "Always, always, forever, forever..."

As it seemed that Red-dressed Joan would let go of her hands—once she did, Paul would fall into the abyss below, into the dimensional gap.

"Don’t!"

Finally, Song Ying screamed from below in terror.

The voice, sharp and piercing, clearly echoed through the empty, silent mirrored world, reaching Red-dressed Joan and Paul.

But Red-dressed Joan didn’t respond. She merely smiled at Paul, "Paul, do you know? Mommy really wanted to be your mom. I really, really wanted to give birth to you. But if Paul is here, mommy can't give birth to him."

"Does mommy not want Paul?" Paul asked, his face filled with fear.

"I do," Red-dressed Joan suddenly said, "I do want Paul. The child I give birth to will be named... Paul."

In an instant, Red-dressed Joan released her hands.

Paul fell from the last steel plate into the abyss below.

At that moment, Red-dressed Joan’s gaze was cold, watching Paul fall. Her face showed no expression as she calmly said, "I’m not your mom. But one thing you can be glad about is that you’ve already met your father—though, just this timeline’s version."

"Mommy..."

The voice, the tiny figure, quickly disappeared into the dark abyss. Only Red-dressed Joan remained on the steel plate.

Song Ying's hands, which had been clutching Luo Qiu's arm, fell limp at that moment.

She looked at Red-dressed Joan standing on the plate, her gaze growing colder, as though she were looking at a corpse, a lifeless object.

"Why... why did it turn out like this..." Song Ying felt a chill, instinctively hugging herself.

She stared blankly at Luo Qiu, only to find him unmoving, not even blinking. She looked at Song Haoran and saw that his usual smile had turned into a faint, cold expression.

"I've won!" Red-dressed Joan suddenly shouted loudly, "Alaya! This time, I really won, right?!"

【Boundary time correction complete... Boundary time has reached critical point...】 After a pause, Alaya finally opened her eyes, her blue pupils shimmering with light as she looked at Luo Qiu: 【Question: Should the clearing process continue to be paused?】

Luo Qiu silently stared at Red-dressed Joan. After Alaya’s third inquiry, he finally spoke, "Even if the sea is filled with countless dazzling pearls, there are times when they can't break out of their shells. Sometimes, they can't even take shape... Do as you like, Alaya, I don’t care anymore."

【Understood.】 Alaya nodded: 【Root permission granted, continuing clearing process. Backup plan activated, Joan recreated.】

Alaya spread her hands, and a ball of light appeared from her palms, slowly drifting out.

In the air, the light stretched, reshaped, and eventually formed into a human shape. As the light receded from this figure, it revealed... another Joan.

But this Joan appeared pale, as though sculpted from clay.

From Alaya's words, this Joan was not from the same timeline—she was a recreated Joan.

【Memory, recreation.】 Alaya nodded to the recreated Joan's forehead, 【Fusion initiated, virtual soul implantation... implantation successful... fusion in progress... estimated fusion time 400 seconds... waiting.】

The recreated Joan’s complexion gradually normalized, as though she had fallen into a deep sleep... Red-dressed Joan suddenly screamed!

"What are you doing!!! What are you doing!!!" Red-dressed Joan shouted frantically, "I won! I already won! The one left here is me! I have the right to replace this timeline’s Joan! I’m the winner! Alaya!! Alaya!! Are you going back on your word?!! Let me go!! Let me go!!"

【Rejected: Victory conditions not met, 'unstable' factors still exist. Clearing process restarting.】

Alaya slowly raised her hand, and the terrifying light ball reappeared from her palm.

"What do you mean victory conditions not met?! It's just me left!!" Red-dressed Joan shouted desperately, turning to Alaya. "Are you blind?!! I threw Paul down! How can there still be 'unstable' factors here!!"

But Alaya remained silent.

This made Red-dressed Joan even more frantic. "Liars!! You’re all liars!! You’ve been using me for entertainment!! You’re all liars!!! You never planned to let any of us go! You want us all to die! You’ve taken everything from me!!! Liars!! Devils!!!"

"Idiot!" Suddenly, Song Haoran's voice rang out.

This seemed to trigger Red-dressed Joan even more, but Song Haoran coldly sneered, "You seem smart, but how could you not figure out the simplest thing? Even though you're the only one left on stage, isn’t there another one? Do you really think you’ve won?"

"Another... another one?" Red-dressed Joan’s eyes widened as she suddenly turned around.

But the last steel plate was only one square meter in size, where could anyone else hide? Red-dressed Joan spun around, seeing nothing but empty air. "You’re lying!! There’s no one here!!"

"Who said there’s no one?" Song Haoran squinted, continuing to sneer. "He’s inside your body. He’s the child you're carrying."

Red-dressed Joan seemed struck by lightning.

"Don’t you get it?"

Song Haoran glanced at Alaya and then said, "She said the victor can replace the Joan of the original timeline, but she didn’t mention anything about this child that shouldn’t even exist... The child in your womb, I suspect, was conceived in another timeline, right? In this timeline, the child itself is the greatest 'unstable' factor! As long as you carry him, you can never win! You’re just wasting your effort."

"It’s impossible... It can’t be... It’s not true! I don’t believe it, I don’t believe it... I don’t believe it!!" Red-dressed Joan suddenly pressed her hands firmly to her head. "You’re lying to me!! You’re all lying to me!!"

Song Haoran, being someone from the martial world with his own set of rules for handling grudges, looked at Red-dressed Joan and sneered, "Heaven’s sins can be forgiven, but self-inflicted sins cannot be tolerated."

"I don’t want this—!"

Red-dressed Joan suddenly screamed, and in that moment, she raised her palm—clutching a Western-style fork!

This fork must have been used by Sweatshirt Joan. When did it end up in Red-dressed Joan’s hands? A brief thought flashed through Song Haoran’s mind... Was it dropped when Sweatshirt Joan pushed White-dressed Joan off the platform?

But there was no time for Song Haoran to think further.

Because at that moment, Red-dressed Joan suddenly plunged the fork deep into her own abdomen...

【Initiating.】

The light orb in Alaya's palm instantly detached and shot towards Red-dressed Joan at high speed.

The orb blazed brightly, shining as blindingly as the sun.

Amid this white light, Red-dressed Joan on the steel plate screamed in agony—when the orb approached, she raised her trembling hands, as though holding something... a life, bloodied and dying.

"I won..."

The blazing white light finally consumed everything, all sights, all sensations.

...

As the light slowly faded, the steel plate was no longer visible, and naturally, neither was Red-dressed Joan.

However, it seemed this wasn't the end—because the recreated Joan still had not opened her eyes.

"Are... humans really this terrifying?" Song Ying stared blankly at Song Haoran, "In the end, did she... do that...?"

Song Haoran said nothing.

"At least, he’s already come. Even though he didn’t open his eyes, and never saw the mother who gave birth to him at first glance... but he did come."

It was Luo Qiu's voice.

When Song Ying looked back, Luo Qiu had already walked forward and without warning, jumped into the dark abyss.

"Wait for me here."