Secret: I can play two paths

Chapter 330 Development: Empathy

Just when Triss thought she could walk out of the manor, a figure in a dark black robe appeared in front of her.

That's Katherina, the "Witch of Pain"!
She stretched out her graceful figure and yawned quietly:
"Where do you want to go?"

There was a faint smile on the corner of his mouth, which made Triss feel frightened from the bottom of her heart.

Since she had only come here and had not tried to leave a few times, Triss did not have enough information.

The appearance of this unexpected witch was even more beyond Triss's expectations.

"Why does this 'Witch of Pain' exist?"

"Didn't we agree that the only guards in the manor are from the royal family?"

However, as a "witch" with only Sequence 7:
There are many things that are beyond her reach.

I felt like I was being sent here by the Witch Cult again, and this time was even different from the last time:
They will all be destroyed together in the disaster planned by the witch sect and the royal conspiracy.

When Triss thought of this, she felt pessimistic.
"Should I have stayed in that cage from the very beginning and not come out?"

"At least this way I can die with dignity..."

At this point, she touched the ring in her hand.

That is an important seal of the Witch Cult.

It is also the source of Triss's own uneasiness.

After all, everyone knew that there was no way a Sequence 7 "witch" could be used as a bargaining chip in exchange between the royal family and the witch sect.

Triss is not stupid.

Really, she is not stupid.

The royal family used Prince Edessak to evade the crime.

A very important figure, being the son of George III.

At the same time, it also has certain support from MI9.

Perfection can be the best reason to cover up.

At the same time, they can also be used as hostages and bargaining chips for both sides.

What about her?
As a "witch" with only sequence 7.

Triss is still very self-aware.

She herself was far from being an important figure in the Witch Cult.

Then, the sudden appearance of these rings in the Witch Sect is very suspicious.

Triss once had an idea flash through her mind:
As an extraordinary item, this ring must have corresponding side effects.

Could it be that it is the behavior that causes itself to be controlled?
Those involuntary acts of intercourse with Prince Edessak, like a real woman?

Does it also hide important side effects?

Or, as an important extraordinary item, it cannot even be regarded as a magical item and can only be called a sealed object.

Why can the Witch Cult use it as a bargaining chip?
Do you want to change your name to "Triss Chick"?
Perhaps it was because he had not been restrained for too long, and he just lost his mind for a while in the manipulation of "0-07".

Triss noticed this important point by "coincidence" and derived an important conclusion:

That is, the "Witch Sect" asked them to change their names to this name for a special reason.

And is this related to my behavior that is becoming increasingly abnormal and less and less like myself?
Could it be that some high-ranking members of the Witch Cult were trying to "resurrect" in his body?
Although Triss didn't guess the correct answer directly, she was almost there.

It's just that the reasoning process is a little wrong...

Without having to do anything, Triss knew from the bottom of her heart:
The other side should never be underestimated.

It is very likely that he came here for the ring in his hand.

A wave of despair surged in her heart, and Triss couldn't help but feel pain from the inside out.

As if isolated from her own body, she didn't feel the slightest possibility of survival.

Until then, a flash of lightning suddenly sounded in her ears.

A voice that concealed anger, irritability and other emotions was heard.

"I heard there are traces of the Witch Cult here?"

Suddenly, another silver-white lightning in the shape of a tree branch appeared.

It did not strike down, but penetrated through the air, illuminating the area around where Triss had just stood as bright as day, with every detail clearly visible.

This is Ace Snake, the "Singer of God" of the Storm Church in the parish.

"There are traces of 'audiences' inside Prince Edsak's manor."

"There is evidence of a conspiracy by the Twilight Hermits and their alliance with the royal family."

So here he is.

Fortunately, this “Singer of God” was not late this time.

……

On a street deep in the East District.

Old Kohler hurried back to his rented apartment, holding the ham in a paper bag.

He looked around vigilantly, afraid that those hungry guys with wolf-like eyes would pounce on him and snatch his "New Year's gift".

He had seen wolves when he was still in the countryside, but he didn't expect to experience that familiar feeling in Backlund.

At the same time, he noticed some of the markings on the ham paper bag:

"This product is artificial meat, please consume with caution."

This puzzled old Kohler for a moment. Could it be that there could be fake "meat" in "ham"?
However, because of this strange logo, this may also be the reason why it is cheap enough?
Therefore, after knowing the shockingly low price, old Kohler temporarily gave up the idea of ​​sharing a ham with others and instead bought the food himself.

It is worth mentioning that among the people passing by, he seemed to be the only one who saw this shop.

Especially in the store, there are people muttering:

“These are not mushrooms.”

“These are not mushrooms.”

It's really a strange thing.

But Old Kohler soon forgot about it and turned his attention to the ham in his hand. "Saw it into several pieces... This is enough for me to eat during the New Year holiday. I can have two, three, no, at least five slices of ham for every meal. I can also cut some off and stew it with potatoes. I don't even need to add salt..."

Thinking of this, Old Kohler looked at the ham in his arms. Seeing the red meat mixed with a lot of white meat, his throat couldn't help but move and he swallowed.

As he walked, he felt the fog around him become much thicker. The church bell tower that was still clear in the distance was gradually swallowed up by a mixture of light yellow and iron black. Even the pedestrians around him were only vague shadows if they were more than ten steps away.

Old Kohler suddenly felt like he was forgotten by the world and covered his mouth and nose with his hands.

"Why does the fog smell so bad today?" he muttered, quickening his pace.

One step, two steps, three steps, old Kohler felt his face getting hot and his forehead seemed to be burning.

His chest felt tight, his throat felt uncomfortable, and he soon had difficulty breathing.

"Are you sick? Damn it, I still want to have a happy New Year, but now I can only send my savings to the clinic and the hospital... No, maybe I'll be fine after a good sleep, just cover myself with my quilt and have a good sleep!" Old Kohler muttered to himself silently, his head getting hotter and hotter, and more and more confused.

Ho, ho, ho, he heard his own labored breathing. His hands went limp and the paper bag of ham fell heavily to the ground.

"Is this the final meal?"

Old Kohler subconsciously squatted down to pick it up, but fell there.

He held down the bag of ham and tried to put it into his arms, but he didn't know when he had the urge to swallow it whole.

At this moment, even though thick phlegm was surging up and blocking his throat, Old Kohler still took a bite of the bag of ham.

Swallow together with the outer paper bag.

Plop! Old Kohler’s vision began to blur as he saw someone else fall down a few steps away, gasping for breath. He was about the same age as him, also in his fifties, with gray hair at the temples.

Suddenly, he had an epiphany and knew he was about to die.

This reminded him of his wife and children, who had also suddenly contracted the plague and soon died.

This reminded him of the time when he was hospitalized for illness. The patient in the same room was still laughing and chatting that night, but was sent to the morgue in the early morning.

This reminded him of the friends he met when he was a homeless person. As a winter passed, many of them disappeared and were eventually found stiff in bridge holes or street corners sheltered from the wind. A small number of them died from the sudden availability of food.

This reminded him of the time when he was still a good worker, when his neighbors on the block would also die suddenly. Some of them died of headaches and convulsions, some accidentally fell into the molten steel just out of the furnace, some died with pain in their bones and swelling, and some even collapsed silently in the factory, batch after batch.

This reminded him of what a drunkard said in a bar when he was trying to get information. He said:

"People like us are like straw in the field. When the wind blows, we will fall down. Even if there is no wind, we may fall down by ourselves."

The wind is coming...this thought flashed through old Kohler's mind.

However, an epiphany that came from nowhere continued to linger in his instincts.

So old Kohler held the paper bag of ham tightly and swallowed them all bite by bite.

One bite, two bites...

Yes, swallow it.

Eat them all and swallow them into your stomach.

As if instinctively grasping a glimmer of hope in despair, Old Kohler put all thoughts aside and just finished eating the hams first.

As for trying something else?
"It doesn't matter, it's all the same."

That was all Old Kohler could say, and he eventually finished eating the ham.

Then he saw the haze in front of him was no longer a mixture of light yellow and iron black.

“Has the smog stopped?”

This was his sudden realization.

But why did his condition, which had been accumulated for many years, also improve?

……

Inside an apartment building on the edge of the East Side.

Liv hung up the last of the laundry to dry.

She looked at the sky outside and was a little confused about the time because of the fog that had become thicker at some point.

"Anyway, it's still early, and our laundry work has been completed..." Liv's expression gradually became heavy.

Finishing work too early is not a good thing. It does not mean you can rest. It only means that you have not worked enough and your income is insufficient.

Liv took a breath, turned around and said to her eldest daughter Freya, who was wiping her hands and looking at the vocabulary book in the next room:

"It's almost New Year's Day, and most of our employers have left Backlund and are going on vacation elsewhere. We can't go on like this, we have to find new jobs."

She said as she walked towards the door:
"During festivals like this, the rich will hold banquets one after another. They may not have enough servants, so they may hire temporary kitchen cleaning ladies. I plan to ask them. Freya, you stay home and pick up Daisy when the time comes. We need income, and those thieves, robbers, and human traffickers who are raised by bitches also need income to welcome the New Year."

In the East, every woman who does not work in a factory must have either skills or courage to survive. Freya replied briskly:

"Ok."

Her mind had already drifted to the small table and vocabulary book next door.

Liv had just opened the door when she suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground.

Cough, cough, cough! She coughed violently, her face flushed red, and every joint in her body ached unbearably.

Freya ran over in panic and squatted down:
"Mom, what's wrong with you? Mom, what's wrong with you?"

"No, cough, I'm fine." Liv's breathing became increasingly difficult.

"No, you are sick, sick! I will take you to the hospital right away!" Freya tried hard to help her mother up.

"It's too expensive, too, expensive, well, go to, Charity Hospital, Charity Hospital, I can wait, no, no big problem." Liv replied breathlessly.

Freya burst into tears and her vision quickly blurred.

Just then, she felt her lungs burning, her body suddenly went limp, and Liv fell to the ground with her.

"Freya, what's wrong with you? Ahem, you're sick too?" Liv shouted anxiously, "The money is in, ahem, in the hole in the wall, blocked by the cabinet. Hurry, hurry to the hospital! Find a good, good doctor!"

Freya wanted to say something but no sound came out. She looked up and saw the door of the next room.

That was their bedroom, with their bunk beds, her favorite small table and vocabulary book.

At this moment, she felt an inexplicable impulse, and a force surged from somewhere, and she took her mother over there.

Then their coughing stopped.

(End of this chapter)