Chapter 521 - 462: Chaisi: Far Beyond the Ticket Price

Chapter 521: Chapter 462: Chaisi: Far Beyond the Ticket Price

...Isn’t that enough?

The adoptive father who had raised him since he was a child. The adoptive father who, even after Chaisi killed his biological son, still drove to find him one day and bring him back home. The adoptive father he once believed saw him as a son, too...

Now, that same man had given up on him, placing his flesh and blood on the scales piece by piece.

Isn’t that enough?

Chaisi stared blankly at Kai Luonan, but the older man seemed to have forgotten him, waiting only for Damian’s answer.

Damian smiled at him.

In that instant, Chaisi almost saw a flicker of mournful pity on his brother’s face—the kind one feels for a fellow creature in distress.

"...See? Why did you have to kill me back then?"

Damian’s voice was soft, almost like a child’s whimper if you weren’t looking at his face.

"If you hadn’t killed me... neither of us would be in this position. You wouldn’t owe him so much—owe him to the point that you can’t even resist when you’re being traded like a bargaining chip. And I wouldn’t still have to bow my head now, handing over my own chips to a man who ruled over me for twelve years, who turned my suffering into his capital."

He opened his mouth, but his gaze was even emptier than the dark void within.

"Brother Chaisi... if only you hadn’t killed me then. Wouldn’t that have been wonderful?"

Chaisi lowered his head, forcing back a choked, trembling sob that rose in his throat.

"I had no choice..." he gasped. "I’m sorry. But I couldn’t let you..."

Damian said nothing.

He just stared at Chaisi, motionless. His gaze seemed capable of burning away Chaisi’s shell and melting his resistance, as if it could see the very core that had sustained Chaisi for thirty years.

’...Chaisi had no regrets.’

Even if he had to do it all over again, Chaisi would still kill Damian—only this time, he would make sure Haiper couldn’t sink Damian’s body into a Nest.

Perhaps one didn’t need to be a genius, or a resident, to see that Chaisi had no regrets.

"I understand, Dad," Damian said, turning to Kai Luonan. "You can have the item. Just don’t disappoint me."

He looked at Kai Luonan, his voice calm.

"I’ll be waiting for you to give me a show worth far more than the price of admission. If you disappoint me... you won’t be collecting all seven Illusions, Dad."

Kai Luonan gave a subtle nod.

Chaisi—the centerpiece of this transaction, and yet also the most clueless outsider—knew the item was about to be exchanged. What he couldn’t understand was how Kai Luonan could be so blatant about trading for it with Damian right in front of him.

’Does Kai Luonan think I’m powerless just because Damian, a resident, is here?’

’As long as I know how the item is exchanged, even if I can’t snatch it now, won’t there be other chances later?’

"Listen closely, Dad."

Damian enunciated the word "Dad" with heavy emphasis, as if indulging in a kind of masochistic pleasure—knowing there was a sharp point but pressing his fingertip against it anyway, adding more and more pressure. "It’s... 109.2."

’What?’

Chaisi was still stunned for a moment, only to see Kai Luonan suddenly turn and walk away. He subconsciously took a step to follow, calling out, "Kai—"

The next second, Chaisi stepped right into the Black Cube.

Subject, XY, Chaisi Monroe

WARNING, WARNING, COMMAND INPUT ERROR. SUBJECT INPUT COMMAND DETECTED.

THIS IS THE GENERAL COMMAND INPUT INTERFACE.

PLEASE CORRECT THE ERROR IMMEDIATELY. PLEASE CORRECT THE ERROR IMMEDIATELY.

’...What’s happening?’

Chaisi looked down and saw that his body was still intact, drifting languidly in a darkness his eyes couldn’t pierce. The ground beneath his feet had softened and dissolved, and all the sounds and air currents between heaven and earth had become a hazy fog, like a muddled consciousness.

He could still think, but every thought was like dough with too much water added—sticky, stringy, and impossible to pull apart.

’Uncle Kai opened the Black Cube on me?’

’Ah... when Kai Luonan turned to leave, he knew with certainty that I would follow.’

Kai Luonan was probably going to retrieve the item. To keep Chaisi from seeing, he hadn’t even turned his head, deploying the Black Cube behind him without any warning.

But because he had deployed it without even looking, he naturally couldn’t pinpoint the "Subject Command Input Interface" to send Chaisi into—the result was that Chaisi took one step and walked right into the wrong interface.

’...What’s going to happen to me?’

As Chaisi floated in the darkness, all his emotions seemed to dissolve into the chaos, not even a hint of worry or fear able to form.

’If I die in the Black Cube just like this... how ironic would that be. If George Green knew about this from beyond the grave, he’d probably laugh until he cried.’

’But if I die in the Black Cube just like this... sacrificing my life to give Uncle Kai the one thing he wants most... maybe it would be a worthy...’

’Worthy...’

’I...’

Chaisi’s thoughts billowed up like a morning mist, dispersing in his mind, hazy and fragmented, no longer able to form a clear shape.

"Chaisi Monroe" vanished.

Not until the night sky, the damp wind, and the sound of crashing river waves rushed back into his senses and his mind did Chaisi gasp sharply and open his eyes.

He was lying on the ground. Not far off, Damian was still sitting on the railing.

Chaisi quickly looked himself over—he seemed physically unharmed, his thoughts were clear, and everything was virtually identical to how it was before he stepped into the Black Cube. Even the Blank Document and Mouth Puppet were still on him.

Damian didn’t turn to look at him. Facing the night, he said softly, "Relax, you’re not dead."

Chaisi sprang up from the ground and stared at him.

"...You can’t die yet. If you die like this, wouldn’t my death become a joke?"

Damian’s voice was flat and emotionless. "I paid such a high price. I’m still waiting to see how that old man is going to torture you."

’Right, Uncle Kai—’

Chaisi spun around quickly, but couldn’t help but be startled—Kai Luonan was standing a few steps behind him, just within the gloom where the light of the streetlamp couldn’t reach.

The dark night draped over Kai Luonan’s shoulders like a fur cloak, falling all the way to his feet.

Kai Luonan was turning his head, gazing at the shimmering Haisen River as if admiring the scenery. Only when Chaisi turned around did he slowly shift his gaze back.

In the darkness, it seemed as if Kai Luonan was smiling, but the shifting shadows had already merged with the gloomy night, making his expression impossible to read.

"...You got it?" Chaisi said, his voice hoarse.

"Yes," Kai Luonan said in a deep voice. "It’s all thanks to you this time, Chaisi."

Even when Chaisi had completed missions beautifully in the past, Kai Luonan had rarely used such words.

Chaisi opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but first had to vigorously wipe his faintly trembling lips with the back of his hand.

"Uncle Kai," he said in a low voice, "what are you going to do now..."

"Win the game of domination, of course," Kai Luonan said calmly, just as he used to when the two of them discussed strategies for their Family Faction.

Chaisi knew he shouldn’t, but a faint hope still rose in his heart.

"Then, the human world..."

"The human world can’t remain as chaotic as it is tonight, of course," Kai Luonan said with a shake of his head.

To Chaisi’s surprise, the breath that had been caught tightly in his chest was instantly released. Only then did he feel his limbs go weak and a fine layer of cold sweat on the back of his neck. He still couldn’t believe it. He wanted to laugh, wanted to collapse right there on the ground.

"Uncle Kai, so you too... I should have known all along."

"Of course you should have. If the human world is in this much chaos, what’s the point of ruling it?" Kai Luonan shook his head again. "I’m ambitious, not stupid. The human world must be stable and developing for it to have any value in ruling it..."

’That’s great.’ Chaisi bent over, resting his hands on his knees, and for a moment almost lost control and burst out laughing.

As long as Kai Luonan didn’t let the Nests invade the human world, everything would be—

"That’s why, after I win, I must restrain the residents of the Nests. They can only serve as my weapons, my army... to help me subjugate this human world."

Chaisi was still bent over, motionless. He couldn’t move.

After two seconds, he slowly raised his head, never having felt so stupid in his entire life. "What?"

"If they withdraw completely from the human world, what will I use to rule it?"

Kai Luonan seemed to feel the same way, smiling as he said, "Chaisi, your feelings are clouding your judgment. How could you not think of such a simple principle? The residents and the Nests can’t leave the human world if they are to serve as my military force. But they also can’t be allowed to throw the world into chaos like they did tonight, or the world loses its value. Everything is about balance, about finding that perfect, precise point."

Behind them, Damian let out a soft laugh.

"Is the appetizer over?" his brother urged. "Hurry up and get to the main course."

Kai Luonan acted as if he hadn’t heard.

"You don’t have to look at me like that."

As Kai Luonan spoke, he brushed at his clothes, as if Chaisi’s gaze were dust soiling his jacket. "I raised you. I know you better than anyone. Your morals, if you have any, are at best a gloomy swamp... That’s what makes you so exceptional. The Kai Family has no need for self-righteous crusaders. But if you were to be judged by the laws of the human world, you’d likely deserve the death penalty ten times over."

"...I never thought I was a good person," Chaisi said. "And I never wanted to be one."

He just didn’t want to be a powerless person—like he was when he was five years old.

"That’s right." Kai Luonan seemed slightly regretful. "You’re blinded by your obsession, unable to see the bigger picture. At this critical moment of life and death, success and failure, you choose to stand against me..."

"You also lost a son," Damian added coldly.

Kai Luonan nodded. "Yes, and you killed Damian. Your shortsightedness and paranoia don’t come from any sense of morality, principles, or bottom lines. It’s certainly not because you cherish human life. It’s simply because of the way your mother died. If she had died some other way, would you still be trying to stop me tonight? Of course not."

Chaisi’s muscles tensed. "...So what if it is?"

Kai Luonan smiled.

He slowed his speech, his voice becoming almost gentle as he asked, "...Have you ever wondered why the resident that entered Damian’s bedroom back then had the face of your mother?"