Monster - Chapter 151
Chapter 151: Center City - Miracle
Lin Sandie had already gone back to her room to rest. Lou sat alone on the sofa in a daze, clutching the recovered rabbit doll.
She felt the protective layers she had built around herself slowly dissolving, yet she remained where she was, uncertain of the scenery outside.
She felt she should act a certain way toward Lin Sandie, but these were just instinctual actions. The ripples in her heart swayed continuously, gently. The fact that Lin Sandie was the Little Rabbit wasn't like a stone crashing into a lake; it only slightly altered Lou's behavior, while her mind had yet to fully accept it.
Perhaps it wasn't a matter of acceptance, but rather of not having adapted to the news yet.
The very thing she had been searching for was right within her grasp, so perfect that it made Lou wonder if she was already dead.
Is this real?
Lou asked herself quietly, gently rubbing the face of the rabbit doll in her arms. She watched its cotton-stuffed face deform under her touch, then released her hand and watched it return to its original shape. She repeated this single motion, sitting on the sofa, staring at the rabbit in her hands all night.
Only when the sky began to brighten did she slowly rise from the sofa, put the rabbit doll away carefully, and head outside.
What she needed to do now seemed much simpler. First, she had to get Lin Sandie some nourishment. Lin Sandie's body was different from her own; it had never been tempered and was merely that of a mortal. After everything she had done, it was riddled with wounds. Now, she needed to do something to replenish Lin Sandie's strength and make her healthier.
As Lou thought this, she pulled a pair of canvas shoes from the shoe cabinet and put them on. Her mind naturally drifted back to their first meeting, when the Little Rabbit's first thought had also been to buy her something good to eat. Back then, she had been in the same state as Lin Sandie was now, her body on the verge of collapse. Round and round it went; things always seemed to return to the same place.
Although she could see the sky brightening from the top floor, the moment she went downstairs, the entire Black Goat Walled City was still shrouded in darkness. It took Lou some time to find the farmer's market on the edge of the Walled City. The sanitation there was worrying, but because she had arrived so early, she was able to buy the freshest meat, vegetables, and fruit.
After buying a pile of groceries and deciding on the dishes she would make, Lou began to plan her second course of action.
When she returned to the apartment, Lin Sandie was already awake. As Lou entered, she saw her sitting on the sofa, staring at her in a daze.
"I'll make you something delicious," Lou said with a smile, holding up the groceries.
"You don't have to do this," Lin Sandie said, somewhat at a loss for words.
Lou put the groceries in the kitchen, washed her hands, and ran back to the living room, sitting down next to Lin Sandie.
"Just be yourself. You don't need to deliberately change anything," Lin Sandie continued.
"How do you know my original self isn't like this?"
Lin Sandie blinked.
"Since I was a child, my life has revolved around all sorts of missions. To complete them, I was selfish most of the time. When I wasn't on a mission, I was just as selfish, doing whatever I pleased. But I have important things too. Not many, but I always treat them with great care."
Like the search for the Little Rabbit. Like the Little Rabbit herself.
Lin Sandie saw a light in Lou's eyes and a smile on her face as she looked at her. It was a smile that came from the heart, making her feel as if she were in a dream, giving her a sense of unreality.
"You've had it hard all these years," Lin Sandie said in a low, sincere, and profound voice, gently taking Lou's hand. Lou's experiences were filled with a hardship and pain she could never imagine.
"It wasn't hard." Lou's expression tightened, and her voice caught in her throat, but a smile quickly returned to her face. "To witness a miracle, it wasn't hard at all."
In her moments of despair, when she was ready to give up on life, she was able to reunite with Lin Sandie. This gave meaning to all her journeys, a result to all her searching. All she felt now was sweetness.
Lin Sandie's eyes grew moist. She moved slightly closer to Lou, and seeing that she didn't pull away, she wrapped her in an embrace.
"You are my miracle," Lin Sandie whispered, resting her head on Lou's shoulder, her arms gradually tightening. "Thank you. Thank you, Little Fool."
Lin Sandie said "thank you" twice. For the person before her, she was equally grateful to fate for letting them meet.
They held each other, silently feeling the surge of emotion. After a long while, they separated, both a little shy to look at each other, as if it were their first meeting.
"Can you let me be a part of what happens next in Leviathan?" Lou asked sincerely, taking Lin Sandie's hand in hers.
"You're already a part of it," Lin Sandie said, adjusting her posture slightly.
"Our target is Tree, but because He is a foundational existence in Leviathan, His spirit is connected to its citizens. The reason people turn into monsters is that His spirit is in serious trouble. To save Himself, He tacitly allowed me to be fitted with the Scorpion on my back, which helps Him share the burden of His spiritual madness."
"On the other hand, Tree wants to use the Red Scorpion to control me. Cheng Gui said before that every citizen of Leviathan has a 'Trojan Horse' in them, which is how Tree can control everyone. Only those with strong mental power can resist. He can't control me with the Trojan Horse, so He has to use the Red Scorpion. But for now, I'm still useful to Him, and I can't guess what His next move against me will be. I've been feeling uneasy lately, so I used my Island to temporarily evade the Rose Society's surveillance and get as far away from Tree's influence as possible. That's why I'm hiding in the Black Goat Walled City."
Hearing this, Lou recalled what Jian Yi had said about the Rose Society being responsible for Lin Sandie's care. That meant her every move was under their watch. However, this surveillance had not yet escalated to a supernatural level, and Lin Sandie had hidden herself in the lawless land of the Black Goat Walled City before it could.
"Tree is contradictory, fickle, and unpredictable. But maybe we've been overthinking it. The reason Tree is so hard to predict is that He's gone completely insane," Lou offered her speculation.
"Insane?"
"I've encountered situations like this on missions before. It's like when the root has completely rotted, the decay reflects onto the common people. Tree is sometimes mad and sometimes rational, which is why He seems so contradictory."
"A mad pseudo-god might be even more terrifying," Lin Sandie mused. Then, Lou gave her an even more terrifying answer.
"We just have to be crazier than Him," Lou said with a grin.
"What's your plan?"
Lou took the pen from Lin Sandie's hand, wrote a few letters on the paper, and said, "Tree's forces are the Rose Society, some people in the Upper House, and Zhao Jie's family, plus maybe a few powerful fighters. To you, these are the people who pose a real threat to your life. I want to deal with them first."
"You're going to kill them all?" Lin Sandie frowned slightly. While this was very much in line with Lou's style as an Outsider, it was a bit much for her, as she wasn't sure if every single one of them deserved to die.
The guilty should die, and the innocent should live. That was Lin Sandie's principle.
"We don't have the right to judge. So let's have someone with the right to judge make the decision, how about that?" Lou smiled. She didn't dislike Lin Sandie's mercy; in fact, this was the Little Rabbit she remembered, one with principles and a bottom line.
Lin Sandie paused, then had a sudden realization. "You want Cheng Gui to judge them?"
"Yeah. It's the law of Leviathan. It has the right to decide who lives and who dies, doesn't it?" Lou winked. "I'll take it to pay them a visit. I think it will be more than happy to."
"Alright." Lin Sandie nodded, no longer dwelling on the matter. As for Zhao Jie, who might be a blood relative, she didn't give it a second thought.
Lou waited in silence for a moment before speaking. "I thought you'd say you wanted to kill Zhao Jie yourself."
After all, according to Lou's investigation, this grandfather of hers was the main culprit behind her mother's death.
Lin Sandie shook her head.
"I know why Zhao Jie turned on his wife and daughter. I investigated it before. Do you want to know?" Lou asked.
"There's no need." Lin Sandie blinked, her eyes calm. "I thought about killing him before. I saw him once from a distance, and he hadn't turned into a monster. If I really had to kill him, I was afraid you would worry."
Seeing Lou looking at her, Lin Sandie continued, "Didn't you say you don't kill people, only monsters?"
"I'll also take action against people who have no value in existing." Lou's moral bottom line was not nearly as high as Lin Sandie's.
Lin Sandie lowered her head and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, her cheeks growing slightly warm. "I have to set some kind of example, after all."
"Okay," Lou said, feeling the air around them warm up as well. "The law will decide who among them deserves to live or die."
"Mm," Lin Sandie took a breath to compose herself, then continued, "I've already investigated. The place where Tree is located is most likely the top floor of that building called the Salai Building, but it's unclear in what form He exists. The security there is extremely tight."
"If I kill Tree, will it affect the Scorpion on your back?"
"It will. I'm relying on the Scorpion to be able to walk again. If He dies completely, I will most likely die too. It can't be helped. If I could only lie in bed, I wouldn't be able to do anything. This current symbiotic state means that as long as He lives, I live. And as long as my mental state is good, He can also control people and stop them from mutating into monsters."
"I…"
"I've already learned about this method from Pie. Only citizens of Leviathan can use it. Even if the Scorpion were moved to you without alerting Tree, it would be useless. Besides, I'm doing this precisely because I want to crush Tree from within."
"A mental checkmate?"
"Tree can use the Trojan Horse to monitor most people. A purely physical attack might allow Him to escape. By using the Red Scorpion, I can control Him in reverse."
Lou gave Lin Sandie a deep look, suppressed her worry, and nodded. "Okay."
From now on, she would do more things to make Tree suffer, all to tip the scales of victory in Lin Sandie's favor.
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