Chapter 163: (^.^)

Thorns: (^.^)

‘Oh no, why is the bad news always so abstract?’

You tried your hardest to maintain a facade of absolute, chilling seriousness, but this kind of revelation really made your mind wander.

If a traitor had genuinely appeared among the twelve core combat Operators, your long-cherished ‘Doctor Emperor Theory’was going to have to be violently downgraded to the’Doctor Jesus Theory’.

What? Were there no traitors among the Emperor of Mankind’s Primarchs?

Just kidding. The Emperor’s rebellious sons were practically a dime a dozen!

As for the issue of the split…

“Isn’t Duq’arael currently on Rhodes Island? Have him funnel me a sample of that fragmented Ananna; I’ll see if I can isolate the catalyst for the split.” You sighed softly, your tone implying you believed him, but only to a certain extent.

Theresis had no logical reason to lie about something you could easily verify the moment you returned to the landship. But considering the average education level of Kazdel’s Sarkaz population… sigh. You figured it was best to keep a close eye on the situation yourself.

Theresis nodded slowly. “That is acceptable. But regarding Duq’arael… as expected, you saw right through his disguise.”

You: “?”

“As expected of the Doctor,” the Regent praised in a low voice.

You: “!”

You swallowed hard, forcing the words out with immense difficulty. “Theresis… do you actually know what Duq’arael is disguised as right now?”

“I do not. The Royal Court maintains its own pride and dignity, and Duq’arael is a Sanguinarch who has lived for a millennium. He is only required to report the results of his infiltration to me; the specific processes and methods are entirely at his discretion.”

“…Maybe you should start making those decisions for him.” You helplessly massaged your temples, fighting the urge to grimace. At least you managed to suppress a laugh.

Originally, Theresis’s statement should have painted him as a decisive, magnanimous Regent who knew how to properly delegate power to his elite subordinates. But knowing what Duq’arael was actually doing on the ship, Theresis just sounded like a clueless cartoon boss calling his lone, miserable lumberjack every single day just to ask, ‘Did you chop down the trees yet?’

Theresis nodded, clearly not quite grasping the sheer absurdity of the situation. “If you insist, Doctor… I will discuss the matter with Duq’arael. However, I have one final question to ask you this time—”

The Regent took a deep, shuddering breath, his jaw tightening. “My sister—she isn’t dead, is she?”

Should one say they were indeed twins? Even without a fundamental understanding of Originium, and despite being deliberately kept in the dark by Theresa for years, Theresis had still managed to dig up a secret buried beneath layers of history based on pure intuition alone.

In the shadows of the band’s private backstage passage, Nietzlei had been so terrified of the oppressive atmosphere that he had been inching backward, looking ready to bolt out the exit. But the moment that question hung in the air, the ancient Sarkaz began inching forward again, bit by agonizing bit.

Although he knew the Doctor could pummel him into paste like pounding mochi, pounding mochi still took time. Theresis and Theresa were his proudest students. If there was even a sliver of hope in this question, or if Theresis’s inquiry completely enraged the Doctor, Nietzlei was fully prepared to rush forward, mutate into a giant, sticky mass of Originium Arts, and block his final student’s retreat, sealing off the entire staff passage with his own life!

Nietzlei looked like a desperate, weathered old farmer who had spent his entire life tilling the soil, now gripping a rusty hoe and preparing to charge into a deathmatch.

‘Ah, my mysterious internal metaphors are acting up again!’ you noted dryly.

Fortunately, to Nietzlei’s deep relief, you had zero intention of turning hostile. You simply parted your lips and casually dropped a truth bomb that, if leaked, would turn the entirety of Kazdel upside down.

“She’s not dead. In fact, she never died.”

“Do I look like the kind of person who would murder a companion?” Seemingly genuinely pleased that someone had finally asked this specific question, a faint, almost gentle smile graced your lips. “Unless it is an absolutely necessary sacrifice, I don’t want anyone to die.”

‘Theresis must be thrilled to know his sister isn’t dead, right?’you thought with immense satisfaction.’Praise my past self once again! This is the true value of a blind, no-guide, 100% completion, one-life speedrun!’

Meanwhile, Theresis was breaking out in a cold sweat.

A sister who might be resurrected was a Happy Ending. A sister who absolutely could not be resurrected was a True Ending. A sister who not only couldn’t be resurrected but whose corpse was dragged out by the Confessors to be puppeted around was a Bad Ending.

But now, he had just discovered a secret fourth route: his sister had never died at all. Not only was she not dead, but she had been doing Terra-knows-what in a place he couldn’t even fathom. This unlocked a terrifying new route—the Ghost Ending. It was straight out of a psychological horror film.

It wasn’t that his sister shouldn’t be alive. It was that she shouldn’t be this alive!

“Then… what is her current state?” Theresis asked, his voice strained.

“I don’t know. I only gained full Originium authority a few days ago, but she has been living inside it in a memetic, conceptual form for years.”

Theresis suddenly felt like they weren’t engaging in a high-level exchange of classified intelligence, but rather hosting a miserable ‘Bad News Throwing Contest’. When the two masterminds finally compared their respective ledgers, they realized their grand plans were like a Columbian mobster’s getaway car—riddled with holes and leaking everywhere.

“So, the problem of rooting out the traitor is still entirely up to you.”

“And how to handle Theresa is still entirely up to you.”

“Can I just… not research where Theresa is?” Theresis muttered, looking slightly ill. “The mere thought that I might be monitored by her at all times makes my hair stand on end.”

“Can I just… not do this agonizing one-out-of-twelve multiple-choice question?” you countered smoothly. “The thought of someone harboring independent, treasonous thoughts right behind my back makes my skin crawl.”

Theresis stared at you. He truly hadn’t expected that while the Ghost of Babel had lost his memories, his terrifying desire for absolute control remained completely intact. He could actually say such shamelessly tyrannical words with perfect, natural ease!

The two exhausted, failing men finally concluded their heavy summit after finalizing the terms of their temporary cooperation.

And just like that, the heroic, fearless Regent Theresis was successfully hoodwinked by you into going head-to-head with Priestess!

“Let’s go, Thorns.” You hooked a finger in the air.

Thorns, who had listened in absolute silence the entire time, stepped forward. Beside him was Aya, who looked utterly desperate to shrink into a microscopic ball and vanish. They fell into step, trailing exactly half a pace behind you on either side.

“After hearing all that, any thoughts?” you asked casually.

Thorns pondered for a moment, his golden eyes unreadable. “Is that Theresa… a bad person who killed many people?”

He didn’t ask a single question about Originium. The Doctor had explicitly stated it shouldn’t be researched, so Thorns discarded the topic entirely.

“She isn’t. I am.” You tilted your head, observing his stoic expression. “If I told you that great change inevitably requires sacrifice, would you agree?”

Thorns thought about it, his tone deadpan but entirely serious. “Before… I wouldn’t have agreed. But as long as they aren’t meaningless sacrifices, my philosophy can be adjusted.”

He met your gaze. “I will do my absolute best to keep up with your footsteps.”

“Mm-hmm~” You were incredibly easy to coax. Your mood brightened in an instant, and a genuine smile finally returned to your face. “Sea Urchin, I’m so moved… I’ve decided! When we get back, I’m going to provoke Kal’tsit into hanging Elysium off the side of the bridge!”

Thorns: (^.^)

“Doctor, that might not be optimal.”

“Oh? Are you unwilling to see him suffer?”

“No. I mean… we have to let Elysium see that we’ve successfully tied up his favorite band first. If we just hang him, what if we don’t scare him enough?”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the continent, the absolute peak battle of Terra’s Yuri was about to erupt.

“What?! Uncle, this is a massive crisis concerning the entirety of Siesta!”

“If you refuse to believe me, then I’ll just do it myself! I’ll tell everyone the truth!”

Ceylon angrily brandished her elegant parasol, whirling around and making a move to storm out of the City Hall in a self-righteous rage.

“Wait, get back!” Skyfire barked, gripping her Originium staff tightly. She was the first to sense the shift in the air.

Without a single sound, fully armed guards had already flooded the perimeter, ambushing the various exits and blind spots of the City Hall.

They were completely surrounded.

[Rhodes’s Note:

Enjoying the operation so far, Doctor?

(This daily grind literally pays the landship’s rent!