Monster - Chapter 125

Chapter 125: Courting Death

Back at the hotel, Lin Sandie sat on the edge of the bed, drying her long, damp hair. Near the floor-to-ceiling window in her room stood a person, perfectly still. They wore a trench coat made of a special material, the lowered hood obscuring most of their face. This strange person stood in Lin Sandie's room like a ghost, a statue.

This was one of the zombies Lin Sandie had brought back from Thriller Paradise. Since its body was already dead, she had spent a large sum of money, using her phone to select it as a helper. Now, it was more accurate to call it a puppet. She had custom-ordered a device to keep its flesh from decaying. Though the cost was enormous, the results were outstanding.

The old Lin Sandie, relying on her own abilities, would never have noticed Lou disguising herself and following her after she left. Now, thanks to the puppet that had been keeping watch for her, Lin Sandie knew that Lou had not only eavesdropped on her phone call but had also followed her to a nearby restaurant.

After a period of training, Lin Sandie found that her physical fitness had indeed improved, but it was still below a passing grade. She could probably defeat a slightly stronger ordinary man after a tough fight, but against a mutated monster, the current Lin Sandie had absolutely no ability to resist. Now that she had puppets, it was more appropriate for them to handle such matters.

Lin Sandie ignored the puppet in her room and continued drying her hair, her mind occupied with how to handle the upcoming Remnant auction.

For Lou, all she needed to do was scan the properties of those monster Remnants to gradually break free from the Main World's rules that restricted her. Lin Sandie had benefited greatly from their previous adventures, not just from what Lou had shared with her, but also from what she had taken from the deceased Saya. At the same time, the puppets she kept also carried some Remnants, like the katana and shotgun Wei always had with her, and Mike's eyes with their distortion ability.

Lin Sandie currently lacked a magical item with rapid healing abilities. She planned to only look for such items at the auction. The rest of her time would be spent searching for her brother, Lin Youceng.

Lin Youceng had also mingled into this auction in Star City. No matter what she encountered on this journey, her original reason for entering the Disorder Land was to capture this brother who had become a monster and killed their parents, and to bury him beside them.

"City of stars, Are you shining just for me..." The sudden ringtone interrupted Lin Sandie. It was a song she quite liked, but she had never set it as her ringtone.

She turned her head toward the nightstand and, as expected, saw the red phone ringing.

Lin Sandie picked it up. It was an unknown number. But just as she registered that, the screen flickered, and the words "Unknown Number" changed to the name "Jian Yi."

Jian Yi? Lin Sandie recalled that when she was playing the Universal Game Machine, the final rankings showed that she had bumped the person originally in second place down to third. That person's name was Jian Yi.

How did this person have her number? And the number for this red phone, which had never been used to contact anyone else?

Seeing the phone continue to ring persistently, Lin Sandie paused for a moment before answering.

"Hi~" A bright, pleasant, but unfamiliar female voice came from the other end.

Lin Sandie remained silent, waiting for the other person to continue.

When Lin Sandie didn't respond immediately, the woman on the other end spoke with a hint of a smile in her voice. "Sorry to bother you so abruptly. Let me introduce myself. My name is Jian Yi. I'm a doctor, and also the leader of an organization called Bite Mark."

"What is it?" Why would the leader of Bite Mark call me? Lin Sandie asked, both puzzled and wary.

"I wanted to ask if you're interested in cooperating. I'm very interested in the Scorpion created by the Rose Society," Jian Yi asked, getting straight to the point.

Jian Yi's abrupt and ambiguous question caught Lin Sandie off guard, and she frowned slightly.

"I'm not interested." Lin Sandie was about to hang up.

"Hey, don't be in such a hurry to hang up. It was Ms. Sui Xi and Madam Julian who told me about you. Besides, I was the one who provided that batch of anti-decomposition devices you ordered, which is how I got your number."

Jian Yi was expressing a degree of goodwill, but after considering it for several seconds, Lin Sandie felt a growing concern about this seemingly scatterbrained woman who had called her. She felt the other party had likely mistaken her for Lou.

"What's the name of the person you're looking for?"

"Oh... huh? Aren't you Lin Yidie?"

Lin Sandie immediately hung up and stood to hang the towel she had been using to dry her hair.

If she really wanted to cooperate, she should have acted more trustworthy. Calling so suddenly and getting the wrong person—how could anyone agree to work with someone like that? Lin Sandie thought as she sat down on the armchair in the room and slowly closed her eyes. Unless... she's pretending to be a fool? But what would be the point of that?

She leaned back in the armchair, closing her eyes to rest for an unknown amount of time. When the alarm she had set beforehand went off, she didn't move. But the puppet, which had been standing quietly to the side, twitched its shoulders as if awakened. The puppet rolled its neck a few times and turned off the phone's alarm.

It's a good thing my room isn't next to Lou's. Her hearing is like a wild animal's. Lin Sandie controlled the puppet's body, opened the door, and stepped outside.

The puppet body Lin Sandie was currently using had originally belonged to Wei. She and Mike had been severely injured when the Dream Castle collapsed, after which Tree had taken advantage of their weakness, controlled them with the Trojan Horse, and made them attack her and Lou. They were then killed by Lou for good. Perhaps because they were high-ranking members of the Rose Society, the suits they wore offered better defense. So when Lin Sandie tried to control the zombies in Thriller Paradise, she discovered their bodies were surprisingly still usable and decided to keep them.

After leaving the hotel, Lin Sandie hailed a taxi and headed for Star City's famous bar district. Following the red phone's directions, she found a bar called "Lulu."

The bar's interior was dimly lit, with alternating shades of deep blue and warm orange creating an ambiguous atmosphere. It wasn't too late, but the bar was already crowded. A man with androgynous features was singing on a small, sectioned-off stage. He wore heavy makeup and would occasionally cast a seductive glance at his audience.

Lin Sandie found a high stool at the bar, a spot reserved for single customers. She took off her hood. Worried that Wei was too well-known in the Disorder Land, Lin Sandie had already disguised Wei's face, softening her features and putting in colored contact lenses to cover her now-grayish eyes. Despite this, the deceased Wei still possessed a stern, unapproachable aura.

This was likely because most of her spirit was tied to her weapons, and Lin Sandie always had this puppet carry them.

"What can I get you?" the bartender behind the counter asked while polishing a glass.

Lin Sandie glanced at the menu behind the bartender and said in a somewhat deep voice, "A whiskey, no ice."

I wonder what Wei's alcohol tolerance is like? I can use this chance to test it. If this body gets drunk, will it affect my control?

Lin Sandie's gaze shifted to the rest of the bar, and she quickly spotted the person she was looking for.

Her half-brother, Lin Youceng.

Dressed in the bartender's uniform of a white shirt and black vest, Lin Youceng was busy delivering snacks and drinks to the customers. He was much thinner than Lin Sandie remembered, and his hair was cut very short, giving him a more capable look than before. His delicate face bore a slight resemblance to Lin Sandie's.

"Your drink." The bartender pushed a glass of amber-colored whiskey toward Lin Sandie.

"Thanks." Lin Sandie took a sip, her gaze already withdrawn. She had thought that under the influence of the Scorpion, she would no longer experience any emotional fluctuations. But upon seeing Lin Youceng's face, a flicker of disgust still rose up uncontrollably. The feeling was fleeting, and Lin Sandie quickly began to consider how to take him back.

Clearly, she didn't have the patience to bring him back whole. The only option left was his ashes.

Being too emotional makes you vulnerable to turning into a monster. And here I am, thinking about how to kill my own brother and bring him back to atone to the parents he murdered. I've become a monster too... Lin Sandie thought with self-mockery. The Scorpion on her back had become even more voracious, devouring all her emotions, leaving her with only rational thought. She knew that what she was about to do to Lin Youceng wasn't because she missed her late father and stepmother, but simply because she believed this choice, this action, was consistent with who she was as Lin Sandie.

No matter what, she was Lin Sandie. She had to do things that were fitting for Lin Sandie, didn't she?

Sometimes, Lin Sandie felt like something else entirely, her perspective floating in mid-air, watching this woman named Lin Sandie and making her actions conform to her own imagination. Her true self was a player engaged in role-playing.

Only occasionally would Lou disturb this state of immersion, causing her detached spirit to "return to its place."

For instance, just now, as Lin Sandie's gaze swept past the bar's glass window, she saw a familiar figure. Lou, wearing a breezy camisole, was walking past the bar with her arm around a tall woman. Lou's face was flushed, and she seemed to have had a lot to drink.

Crack! The glass Lin Sandie had been holding shattered.

"Huh?" The bartender behind the counter looked strangely at the fine cracks appearing on the glass in the customer's hand, wondering what had happened.

Expressionlessly, Lin Sandie put down the glass, paid for the drink and a tip, and controlled the puppet to stand up and walk out.

And back in her hotel room, her real body opened its eyes. Her face was cold as she began to change clothes, preparing to go out.

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