Monster - Chapter 143

Chapter 143: Center City - A Pleasant Surprise

After being rebuffed, Lou could only return to Jian Yi's office.

In truth, Lou wasn't entirely helpless about being expelled from the Island. Having recovered many of her Sentinel abilities, she could infiltrate the Island undetected by Lin Sandie and observe her from up close. But her conflicted feelings left her unable to make a decision about anything.

She was acting just like a complete rookie.

"Buddy, you broke my tablet." Jian Yi, who was already back in her office, turned her tablet toward Lou in accusation as she walked in. The poor device had two distinct, cracked indentations on its sides, a testament to the uncontrollable emotions Lou must have been feeling while looking at it.

Lou glanced at her, walked straight to the sofa, and lay down, propping her crossed legs on the armrest. She appeared relaxed, but her usual smile was absent.

"What happened to her after Lin Sandie killed me?"

"After you left Star City, she followed you and made a deal with me. She agreed to let me study the Scorpion on her body, but in return, I had to save her. I thought it was strange, until I saw her, covered in wounds and holding your head. Only then did I understand what she meant."

"Then why did Lin Sandie turn into a monster, too? She had the Scorpion installed, didn't she?"

"The Scorpion is a device that suppresses emotions to prevent monsterization. But we discovered that at the moment you were killed, Lin Sandie's emotions were likely so intense that the Scorpion couldn't bear it and broke down completely. She began to mutate at that very moment. Even after I replaced the Scorpion, her mutation was irreversible, and she lost all movement below her head."

Lou squeezed her clasped hands so tightly that her knuckles turned white.

"The Scorpion she has now is one she requested herself," Jian Yi continued. "I believe I told you before that we developed the Scorpion on commission from the Rose Society, and behind them is the Tree. We have some of Tree's biological samples here. These samples are in a constant state of mutation, self-destruction, and rebirth, and they're highly active. Using this, we developed a prototype of the Scorpion. The first three generations were all derived from this prototype."

"You installed the prototype on Lin Sandie?" Lou's brows furrowed tightly, a rare sight.

"If we hadn't, she would have died. We utilized its constant regeneration ability. The downside is that it has self-destructive tendencies. Lin Sandie has already mutated into a monster, and her emotions are spiraling into madness. When her emotions reach an uncontrollable level, she dies, and then she is resurrected."

"…While I was gone, how many times did she go through this death and rebirth?"

"Many times in the first two months. She frequently lost control of her emotions, and the Red Scorpion would pierce her body all over. After twenty-four hours, she would reawaken, and the Red Scorpion would heal her. All we can do is suppress its activity. She's slowly adapting now, and these emotional outbursts are much rarer. For the past half-month, her mental state has been quite good."

Half a month ago was when Lou had gone to see Sui Xi, which was right when Lin Sandie had also gone to see her.

Lou sat up on the sofa and touched her forehead, remaining silent.

"Ultimately, Lin Sandie is now fighting the Red Scorpion while also harnessing its properties. She's gradually regaining feeling in her limbs."

"With this Red Scorpion installed, is she influenced by the Tree?"

"Yes," Jian Yi answered with certainty. "And that's also her intention."

"Why?"

"She wouldn't tell me that part. She used a phrase, 'the cuckoo occupying the magpie's nest.' Do you know what that means?"

Lou took a deep breath, now more certain than ever that Lin Sandie must be in contact with some official from the Main World, allowing her to view Leviathan's problems from a higher dimension.

"Are you helping her just because she satisfied your wish to study the Scorpion?"

Jian Yi glanced at Lou and rubbed her chin. "To be honest, I'm just being swept along in some of this. The Rose Society hasn't stopped Lin Sandie's actions—in fact, it seems to be what they want. I suspect the Tree wants her to shoulder some of His madness and loss of control, perhaps even use her to transfer all His negative aspects onto herself. The intentions on both sides are subtle. I'm just a middleman going with the flow."

"My position is relatively passive right now, because I don't know what's truly best for her. If you must know why… after all this time together, it's not just me. Everyone in our organization wants her friendship. She's a very charismatic woman. You get that, don't you?"

"I do." Lou felt a stabbing pain deep inside, a pang of tenderness for Lin Sandie.

"Right now, the arrangement between the three of us is that I'm responsible for her treatment, and the Rose Society is responsible for her care."

At these words, Lou's head snapped up to look at Jian Yi.

"That woman from the Rose Society, Kang Yi, is living with Lin Sandie. You didn't know?" Seeing Lou's reaction, Jian Yi gave her a baffled look.

"…"

"So, are you satisfied with that explanation?"

"Do you have any advice for me?"

"If you can, I hope you'll get closer to Lin Sandie and talk with her more. You have a huge impact on her emotional state, and I believe it's a positive one."

"You flatter me. She just threw me out."

"She never throws people out. People she dislikes can't even get near her in the first place."

"…" Lou fell silent again.

"A positive influence will make it easier for her to master the Red Scorpion and speed up her recovery. It would break my heart to see such a wonderful woman confined to a wheelchair for the rest of her life."

"I'm leaving," Lou said, getting up to head out.

Jian Yi stood and followed her, adding,

"Is there some kind of misunderstanding between you two? Still, if you've decided not to be with her, then quietly disappearing from her life is also a decent option."

"How is that a decent option?!" Lou snapped, turning with a fierce expression.

Jian Yi shrugged.

"She's getting along well with Kang Yi from the Rose Society. Her emotions have been stable lately, and everything is improving, albeit slowly…"

"Kang Youyou is straight!" Lou retorted, turning to leave without another word. She was furious with herself.

After leaving the Bite Mark base, Lou once again wandered the streets aimlessly. Several times, she considered secretly infiltrating the Island to check on Lin Sandie, but she stopped herself each time. She felt she should be focusing more on finding Little Rabbit.

Before she knew it, sleet began to fall, and the sky turned completely dark. Unsure of her whereabouts, Lou took shelter under the eaves of a small convenience store, where she bought a pack of cigarettes and lit one up.

Lou rarely smoked; in her memory, she hadn't had a cigarette in decades. She only ever smoked under specific circumstances.

"You look like a stray dog." A crow with sleek, glossy feathers suddenly appeared out of thin air, landing on Lou's shoulder.

Lou's eyes widened at the sight of Miu. Her lips parted slightly as she breathed a sigh of relief, blowing a mouthful of smoke right in Miu's face.

"Damn it!!" Miu immediately took flight, cursing loudly.

"Little Crow, you're not dead? Heaven must be blind." Lou grinned, dropping her cigarette and stamping it out.

"And you still haven't finished the mission, you good-for-nothing!" Miu flew over and slapped Lou on the head a few times with its wing.

"Hey, I'll treat you to dinner. What do you want? How about that barbecue place up ahead?"

"That's more like it. But I suggest you contact Pie first."

"…Later. Let's eat first." Lou pursed her lips and headed straight for the nearby barbecue restaurant.

Miu settled back on Lou's shoulder and began to chatter. "I only recovered two days ago. I checked our mission progress from the Main World and discovered that after you killed Yan Ting and came into contact with Lin Sandie, Leviathan's monsterization accelerated rapidly. It got so bad that the connection to the Main World was severed."

"Yeah, I figured as much. When I went home with Lin Sandie for the funeral, the Pie I met was actually the Tree in disguise. He tricked a lot of information out of me and set a huge trap for me later on."

It made me lose my mind and hurt Lin Sandie…

Then again, even without the Tree, hurting her was inevitable. It was just that before, I thought the harm was within acceptable limits, and that I could give her more of what she needed. But now that it's come to this, I…

"Hey!" Miu the crow chirped, seeing Lou sitting frozen at the table, lost in thought.

"What do you want to eat?" Lou picked up a pen and started circling items on the menu.

"Whatever. As I was saying, the connection to the Main World was severed. But after you were 'killed' by Lin Sandie and you two separated, Leviathan started to stabilize again, and the connection was re-established."

"Why is that?"

"We don't know. The officials speculate that Lin Sandie might be able to replace the Tree and become the very essence of Leviathan."

"She's also proven that she can be an outstanding Guide." Lou handed the menu to the server, her expression troubled as she rested her chin on her elbow.

The so-called Tower Worlds were bizarre and varied. Their forms were strange, and their inhabitants were all different, like countless distinct planets. They were mostly formed from the consciousness projections of people from the Main World. Good people in the Main World could project good Tower Worlds, while bad people could project vicious and dangerous ones. There were even projections of the negative aspects of good people, or the positive aspects of bad people, and so on. The Tower Worlds were full of endless wonders. Anyone who could overcome their world and become its essence could be absorbed into the Main World as a Sentinel or a Guide. And all Sentinels and Guides in the Main World were candidates to become a Main God. Breaking out of one's native Tower World, traveling to the Main World, becoming a Sentinel or Guide, and then, through one's own efforts, methodically rising to the rank of an official—or, while still a Sentinel or Guide, catching the eye of a Main God and inheriting a vacant title—this was the goal for most of them.

Of course, there were exceptions, like Lou.

From the very beginning, she had believed she would die if she couldn't find Little Rabbit, so she never cared about titles.

But now, it seemed there was someone she couldn't help but care about. This person existed within her reach, no longer an ethereal figure in some unknown place, no longer a phantom whose very existence was in question…

Her instincts drove her toward Lin Sandie, to think about her. But what about Little Rabbit? Could she really let her go just like that? And would that truly be fair to Lin Sandie?

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