Chapter 60: System Boot-Up
At night in Zone 1—no, not exactly night, because Zone 1 was a land where darkness did not exist.
However, ever since the new master of Zone 1 took over, shadows began to cover the sky, leaving only a brief span of daylight.
Sylus returned from a high-level conference, his face expressionless, sleeves and cheeks still stained with fresh blood. A scar ran straight down the middle of his face—ugly, without refinement—only making him look more terrifying than ever.
The old geezers on the board of directors were displeased with the new law about to be enacted, their endless shouting grating daily. Of course, the quickest way to deal with them was to kill them outright.
After caring for Aboli and her father, Sylus's strength completely crushed everything—no opponents left.
The room was so vast it barely resembled a bedroom. Sylus lay directly on the bed, holding a phone in his hand—an object that seemed almost unfitting for his current status.
[Hey]
[Hey]
[What are you doing? Why haven't you replied to my messages lately?]
[It's not like I did anything wrong, right? I'm still doing what I should, aren't I?]
[Why aren't you saying anything? I haven't even settled the score with you for tricking me yet, you bastard!]
The phone screen cast a pale blue glow across Sylus's face. The other person's dialogue box in the chat window remained shrouded in darkness, as if it would never light up again.
Sylus fell silent, his fingers no longer tapping on the screen.
He covered his face with one hand, his voice so soft only he could hear: "That's right… you're already dead…"
In the darkness, everything grew even more still.
Until Sylus suddenly felt something. His eyes snapped open, narrowing dangerously.
At the same time, in Zone 6—the headquarters.
The man sitting in the chair suddenly turned, his obsidian-like eyes under the moonlight void of even the faintest glimmer.
If not for the stark difference in his features compared to Sylus, Louis might have mistaken the two of them for the same person.
He stood still at the door, saying nothing.
The high-ranking official from Zone 1 only smiled faintly and spoke in a light tone: "An uninvited guest. I could tell you had your eyes on me back at the banquet. Is there something I can help you with?"
His manner, his composure—there was no way he could be Sylus. That narcissistic, arrogant madman could never possess such calmness.
Louis looked at him and said in a low voice: "I only want to ask a little about the situation in Zone 1."
Hearing that, the man chuckled: "And you think I would tell you? Many people have asked me the same, but I've said nothing. Who are you to assume I'd reveal Zone 1's affairs to you?"
"Because I'm letting you keep your life." Louis's voice sharpened as, in an instant, he closed the distance. Tendrils unfurled from his back, morphing into countless sharp blades, each one aimed at the man's vital arteries.
The man raised his hands in mock surrender, but simultaneously, both arms shifted into serrated saw blades. He smiled at Louis and said, "Want to see which of us is faster?"
Louis's lips curled. "Unfortunately, I have to inform you—you can't kill me. I will not die."
The man went silent momentarily, then suddenly said: "Don't smile."
Louis frowned slightly at the odd comment, but the man continued: "You're too ugly. When you smile, you look even worse."
The blade tips pressed a little deeper into his flesh, and fresh blood immediately welled out.
"I was only telling the truth!"
Though he still wore a gentle smile, it was the sort of expression that made him utterly insufferable.
So what if his face was ugly?!
Suddenly, a flicker flashed in the man's eyes—so brief that an ordinary person would have never noticed. But Louis did.
He narrowed his gaze at the man. Yet the man's demeanor remained unchanged; he even started speaking again: "Zone 1 has changed masters. A new law is about to be enacted. Many high-ranking elders oppose it, but the new master is strong, authoritarian, and absolute—he allows no one to interfere with his decisions."
"And Aboli?"
Louis didn't know Aboli's true identity either. The original novel only said she had some position in Zone 1—nothing clear beyond that, only that it wasn't simple.
Aboli's official role was captain of a notorious crime syndicate; that was how the gears of fate were supposed to turn.
But the following words from the man immediately stunned Louis: "A princess? She's been confirmed dead, along with her father. The current leader of Zone 1 is another Angel."
Another Angel?
He must have heard wrong. In the original novel, only one Angel was capable of defying fate—and that was Aboli! Moreover, is Aboli dead? What a joke! She's the protagonist! The main character! And the protagonist never dies! Especially in stories like that—if the protagonist falls, the world collapses!
Something was definitely being hidden.
Still, it couldn't be denied that everything… everything was slipping out of control.
"So who is the new master of Zone 1?"
Louis stared at the man, trying to steady his mind; the drumbeat of his heart nearly drowned out every other sound. Things had already come this far—could anything be worse…
The man narrowed his eyes at Louis and, slowly, spat out a name.
Louis didn't even know how he had dealt with that man, nor how he had left.
Outwardly, his expression looked unnaturally calm, as if nothing could pierce it. But inside thunder rolled and winds raged—his soul trembled.
Why—why could the plot change so drastically?! Even the peaceful sky now seemed to smolder, as if heralding a coming storm, a storm that would reshape this entire age. No—perhaps "destroy" was the better word.
Louis had read countless tales; when the protagonist falls, there's only one ending—the whole world is buried with them.
Maybe this new law about to be announced was nothing more than part of a plot…
"Bingo! Congratulations, you just guessed part of Sylus's plan!"
What the—!?
A voice suddenly rang out so close to Louis, who was trying to keep his composure, that he couldn't help flinching; his body froze, and he muttered under his breath.
He held back a curse and silently continued walking through the dark.
"Why? Aren't you surprised I appeared? Aren't you curious why something suddenly speaks inside your head? Aren't you afraid? Tell me your thoughts, because from today on we will be one—two yet one—sharing a will, sharing a goal!"