Monster - Chapter 108
Chapter 108: Thriller Paradise - Trojan Horse
Miu stood under the eaves of the Dream Castle, watching the impending storm. Looking down from the castle on the mountainside, it could see Lin Sandie's car, after dropping Cheng Gui off at the foot of the mountain, immediately make a turn and park behind a large, concealing boulder.
After exchanging information with Lou on the "squad channel," Miu decided to first use its advantages to scout out the situation at the Dream Castle. At the same time, it kept a distant watch on Cheng Gui.
After getting out of the car, Cheng Gui started walking toward the Dream Castle on the mountainside while smoking. Outside, it was gloomy and dark, the sky looking as if it were about to collapse. The wind howled across the wilderness, and the ground, covered in rubble and gravel, made everything seem deathly still. The wind whipped Cheng Gui's black judge's robe, making it flap loudly. He still had the large, leather-bound notebook tucked under his arm, looking as if he were on his way to a trial.
Miu shifted its gaze from him to the interior of the Dream Castle. In contrast to the harsh environment outside, the castle was filled with flickering lights. Many men and women who had come for pleasure wandered through the sea of joy Enzo had created for them. Of course, this joy was built upon the people who had been turned into zombies.
The zombies here were much younger than the old, weak, sick, and disabled ones they had encountered in the ghost town. Most of them were good-looking. However, their fate was merely to be the playthings of these tourists. Enzo had arranged for them every evil game that existed in the human world. Zombies weren't people, so they could be trampled on with impunity; after all, they were just a group of dolls without dignity.
Miu was perched on the sill of a curved, floor-to-ceiling window in the castle. It suddenly hopped aside a few times, dodging raindrops that fell where it had just been. Inside, men and women were playing passionately, but there was no sign of Enzo. After scanning the area with its "Island," Miu found him in a basement somewhere, discussing matters related to Bite Mark with two of his subordinates.
"You're telling me you lost Saya?" Enzo, who had a thick beard and a deceptively simple and honest appearance, had small eyes that betrayed his brutality and cunning. He played with two copper-colored walnuts in his hand. As he asked the question, the atmosphere in the room grew tense, like a gathering storm.
Beside him stood a black Doberman Pinscher, as tall as a man's waist, with its head held high and chest puffed out. This breed of dog is naturally fierce. Two to three months after birth, their drooping ears are cropped into erect, pointed triangles, and their tails are docked. After training, they are commonly used for police searches, hunting, and herding.
This black dog had a very elegant build. Its dense, smooth, short fur clung to its body, which had a faint sheen under the room's light. It didn't match Enzo's image at all. However, it wore a strange-looking silver necklace around its neck. Its eyes seemed to hold a hint of disdain, yet it remained standing quietly by Enzo's side.
"B-Boss, that Saya… she has more than just those two cursed 'Remnants.' She has at least one other item that can conceal her tracks. I-I swear, she and that little police chick vanished right under our noses."
"She's just an ordinary person with no backing. Where did she get so many Remnants?"
"Th-that's still under investigation."
"What about the people from the Rose Society and Bite Mark?"
"Wei and the others are currently resting at a location in the Western World project. Morita seems to be on his last legs; his guts spilled out trying to save Wei. As for the Bite Mark people, we've sent men to block them. They should still be in the ghost town's mental hospital. Also, that one named Lou should be here soon. Should we send people to drive them away first?"
"No need to send them to their deaths. In Center City, she's someone who gives even the president of the Rose Society a headache."
"Yes, Boss. On the way here, this Lou picked up a male hitchhiker, but he got out at the foot of the mountain. He should be arriving at the castle soon."
"What's so special about a hitchhiker?"
These people don't know Cheng Gui is the Law? Hmm, perhaps it's on a different level. Cheng Gui is involved at the Tree's level… Miu thought, retracting its "Island." Lou was right. As they learned more and more of Leviathan's secrets, their powers were gradually being restored. The influence of the Main World's "Thus Have I Heard" was steadily weakening.
Previously in Center City, it couldn't control its "Island" for dynamic reconnaissance, but now it could.
As a basic skill possessed by every Guide, the primary use of the "Island" was reconnaissance.
After Miu withdrew its sight from the basement and once again swept its Island through the entire Dream Castle, it discovered Xing Meilu in a small room in the northeast corner of the castle, frowning as she applied medicine and changed bandages for Saya. The latter had been so severely injured in the ghost town yet had somehow survived. She was just wrapped in numerous bandages, which were now stained red with her blood.
"Xiao A'Lu, don't frown so often. Look, you're getting lines between your eyebrows." Saya tilted her neck up slightly, letting Xing Meilu change the clean bandage on it. Her eyes, however, glanced down slightly as she observed Xing Meilu with a smile on her lips.
"I'm not that young anymore anyway," Xing Meilu replied faintly.
"Saying you're not young in front of me?"
"…Even though you have those powerful, miraculous items on you, you should use them less if you can." The discarded bandages could almost be wrung out for blood, yet even so, Saya hadn't died. Xing Meilu felt that the so-called "miraculous items" Lou had mentioned were far too sinister.
"Alright, Officer Xing~~"
Xing Meilu's brows furrowed again. She pressed her lips together and lowered her head to clean up the removed bandages.
"We agreed before. Once you're done with what you promised Bite Mark, you'll come back to Center City with me."
"You want to lock me up that badly?" Saya put her clothes back on, her eyes hooking onto Xing Meilu.
"No matter who it is, they must pay the price for the crimes they've committed." Xing Meilu looked back at Saya, her expression incredibly serious and stern.
"You have your justice, and I have mine, Xiao A'Lu." Saya suddenly leaned in close to Xing Meilu. "For me, justice is sending everyone who killed Xu Yao to hell. And before that, I'll send anyone who gets in my way down there with them."
"…I'll help you. No matter how long it takes, I will make sure those people face the judgment of the law. You… you don't have to do this anymore." After glaring at Saya, Xing Meilu saw the large bloodstain on her clothes and remembered that when she was bandaging her, there wasn't a single patch of undamaged flesh. Her tone softened.
"Leviathan has a regulation: if the victim was guilty of heinous crimes, the killer can receive a reduced sentence at the court's discretion. If the people you killed really participated in murder, I will investigate each and every one…"
"You're one of the few truly righteous people I've ever met, Xiao A'Lu." Saya's gaze softened. She held the back of Xing Meilu's head and kissed her. "Just like her. And it was her sense of justice that got her killed."
"You have to stay alive."
Miu rolled its eyes speechlessly and turned its "Island" elsewhere, not wanting to watch Xing Meilu and the others whisper sweet nothings. Because of Lou, it was developing an increasingly twisted prejudice against so-called human love.
This castle before it didn't seem to have anything out of the ordinary. The so-called abnormalities were that the bad guys were bad, like Enzo; the cannon fodder were still cannon fodder, like the people enjoying themselves in various parts of the castle; and the people who should be in their respective places were in their respective places, like Xing Meilu and Saya.
Instead, it was Cheng Gui, the man who called himself the Law of Leviathan, who put Miu on alert. He had suddenly hitched a ride in a way that it and Lou couldn't refuse. It was impossible that he had come to the Dream Castle just to find a car to Center City.
After scouting the Dream Castle, Miu moved its "Island" back to Cheng Gui. He had already reached the castle's large iron gate and was methodically handing a ticket to the gatekeeper. Cheng Gui strode through the outer gate and, after passing through the garden in front of the castle, would soon reach the main entrance.
"Someone should be watching me right now, shouldn't they?" Cheng Gui didn't approach the main entrance immediately. Instead, he sat down on the stone ledge of the fountain in the center of the garden and looked up into the void. His voice was very low, almost inaudible to anyone but himself. "Needless to say, the 'Tree' is. But I know that when He watches me, it can only be through someone else's eyes. His Trojan Horse is powerful, but it has its limitations. So, He can't hear the sound of my voice right now."
"I can hear him with my 'Island,' and I can even read his lips," Miu thought smugly. "But how does he know? Even if others in the Tower Worlds learn about these skills, they usually wouldn't share such detailed information."
"I once met a Guide from the Main World who said he could know a target's every move. Besides, I am the Law itself. You must have come into contact with a Legislator's brooch, right? Its negative side effect is that long-term wearers will uncontrollably see, hear, and feel certain hidden truths. I can know things in even greater detail." To show his sincerity, Cheng Gui explained why he knew Miu was observing him.
"Fine. But even so, I'm not going to cheer for you. Just pretend you're talking to the air."
As a reasonably experienced Guide, Miu knew what to do and when. It answered in its mind and continued to observe Cheng Gui's every move.
"So, with the explanation out of the way… the Tree hasn't left me much time. I've been gradually devoured by Him over the years, to the point where I'm now no different from a brooch. It's time for a last stand."
"I've anchored myself to Lou. Of course, this doesn't affect her, because she only knows that the Law still exists in Leviathan. But it has a major impact on me, because if she dies, the Law will also perish. But as long as she's safe, I can continue to fight against the 'Tree' forever."
"Everything I said to her in the car was true, because the common enemy we face is the 'Tree'."
"Of course, things like 'companions' don't exist within the Law. The reason I'm telling you this now is to help you get a better grasp of the current situation so you can better formulate your upcoming plans."
"Tsk, tsk. Then why didn't you say this in front of Lou before?" Miu muttered.
But as soon as the thought emerged, the black feathers on Miu's back suddenly stood on end, as if it had thought of something terrifying.
"Has the 'Tree's' Trojan Horse infiltrated that deeply? Is Cheng Gui worried that if he said these things in front of Lou, the 'Tree' would hear it through the Trojan Horses inside Lou and Lin Sandie?"
A chill shot straight to Miu's head. It immediately checked its mental state over and over. Fortunately, the mental domain was a Guide's specialty, and it found nothing abnormal with itself.
"Could it be that the mental attack we experienced when we met Cheng Gui didn't come from him, but from the 'Tree'?"
"I've said all I have to say." Cheng Gui tossed the finished cigarette butt to the ground, tucked the large notebook under his arm, and walked toward the castle.
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