Chapter 61: Elena Vane Is Actually Alive?!

Victor looked at Evelyn. Her usual smile had disappeared. Those words had clearly affected her more than she tried to show.

Perhaps that was why she could no longer hold back the question, even though the situation was hardly ideal.

"If I hadn’t given you Shadow Assault Step, if I hadn’t given you Night Raven, and if I hadn’t helped you grow stronger..." Victor asked, "What would have happened to you today?"

Evelyn thought about it for a moment, then replied, "When the first man appeared... I probably would have been captured immediately."

"Then do you still think the future he described matters?"

Evelyn seemed to want to argue, but she could not find the words.

"What he knew was the original you." Victor picked Night Raven up from the ground and handed it back to her. "Not the current you."

She accepted it and looked at him.

"So if anyone tells you when you’re going to die in the future, ask them one question first."

"What question?"

"Whether they can survive until that day themselves."

Evelyn was silent for two seconds before bursting into laughter. "That answer really does sound like you."

[Evelyn Moore’s Loyalty +4.]

[Current Loyalty: 86.]

[Favorability +6.]

Victor glanced at the notification without commenting, but Evelyn suddenly stepped closer, shortening the distance between them.

"One more thing."

"What?"

"Thank you."

"I saved someone I invested in," Victor said. "That’s perfectly normal."

Evelyn blinked. "So I’m only an investment?"

He looked at her. Questions from women... sometimes they were more troublesome than a fight. One wrong answer and you could easily land yourself in trouble.

"For now."

"For now?"

The corners of Evelyn’s lips slowly rose. "Fine. I’ll remember that."

She did not continue questioning him, but Victor somehow felt as if he had said something wrong.

Just then, the rumble of an approaching magic carriage finally came from the distance.

Cecilia had finally arrived.

Before the carriage door had fully opened, she jumped out. Her first glance fell on the four corpses, her second on the injured Evelyn, and her third on Victor. After confirming that both of them were alive, she visibly relaxed but soon regained her composure.

"You certainly ran fast."

"She’s mine," Victor replied.

Cecilia glanced at Evelyn, who happened to be looking at her as well. Their gazes briefly met, and for some reason, something subtle seemed to enter the atmosphere.

However, it only lasted an instant.

Cecilia quickly crouched to inspect the bodies. "Who are they?"

"We don’t know yet." Victor pointed toward the one armed man. "This one used Ron’s face, but the mind wasn’t his."

The princess’s expression turned serious. She took out a royal detection crystal and swept it across the corpse.

A moment later, an abnormal red light appeared inside the crystal.

[Physical life structure: Normal.]

[Residual soul presence: Extremely low.]

[Soul and body compatibility: Abnormal.]

Cecilia looked up, her brows furrowed. "He isn’t a replica."

"Then what is he?"

"The body is real." She studied the face. "If this truly is Ron’s body... then the one inside the dormitory might be the fake."

Victor’s eyes darkened.

Wonderful! Just wonderful!

The situation had become even more complicated. Ron’s real body was here, so what exactly was the thing inside the dormitory that continued to show a "normal life reading"?

Evelyn suddenly spoke. "What about the bodies on the vehicle?"

It was only then that Cecilia noticed the transport vehicle.

There were four corpses, and every one of them wore research institute uniforms.

She walked over and inspected them one by one. When she reached the fourth, Cecilia stopped.

"This person..."

She took out his identity card and rapidly searched through its information. Several seconds later, her expression changed.

"He was one of the researchers who entered the Seventh Trial Ground before dawn."

"Part of Herbert’s team?"

"Yes."

Victor quickly asked, "Time of death?"

Cecilia examined the residual mana around his chest. "At least three hours ago."

That meant at ten in the morning, the Seventh Trial Ground had still received a communication from "Herbert himself," yet this researcher might already have been dead at the time.

If all four corpses belonged to the eleven people who had entered the trial ground before dawn, then who exactly were the so called researchers currently inside?

Victor suddenly thought of something and then said, "We’re going back."

If the enemy had deliberately transported the corpses outside for disposal, it meant they were eliminating evidence, and the sudden activation of the contamination source most likely meant their plan had already entered its next stage.

They were about to leave when Cecilia’s identity card suddenly lit up red.

[Highest level academy emergency announcement.]

[The internal barrier of the Seventh Magical Beast Trial Ground has lost control.]

[Isolation failure detected in Zones Three through Six.]

[Unknown magical beast life reaction detected.]

[Provisional danger classification: Third Tier.]

Third Tier?

Victor abruptly stopped in his tracks.

Elias had previously mentioned a Level 27 Star Devouring Shadow Beast, a peak First Tier magical beast.

How had it received a provisional Third Tier danger classification?

Soon, the next emergency announcement appeared.

[Survivor discovered inside.]

[Confirming identity.]

[Survivor claims to be...]

[Elena Vane.]

Within the abandoned material processing zone, every sound seemed to vanish.

Evelyn instinctively looked toward Victor, while Cecilia was also staring at the line of text.

Victor said nothing because at that moment, the System had produced a notification completely different from the academy’s announcement.

[Major fate node activated.]

[Warning.]

[The authenticity of "Elena Vane’s" identity cannot be determined through conventional means.]

[Investment target Leah Vane has entered a state of severe emotional fluctuation.]

[Current location: Perimeter of the Seventh Magical Beast Trial Ground.]

’Leah?’ A trace of alarm flashed through Victor’s eyes. ’Isn’t she supposed to remain at the entrance and wait for Albert?’

The next System notification that appeared, however, made his expression grew worse.

[Target is approaching the trial ground’s entrance.]

[An unknown astral life form has begun actively calling to the target.]

He tightened his grip around the Crimson Flame Fang.

This was no longer preparation for an assessment. Someone had brought forward an event that was only supposed to erupt two days later, and they had even prepared bait that Leah could never easily refuse.

...A mother who had died three years ago. Not many people could resist that.

"Let’s go."

Victor turned around. This time, there was not the slightest trace of amusement in his voice.

"We’re returning to the Seventh Trial Ground."