The Secret Code of Monsters.

Chapter 457: The Loser

"Maybe I'm not."

Rose held the emerald in her palm, which was stained with body temperature, and the edges hurt her.

"Oh, of course. I think we had an agreement before - an agreement that we both knew about." Old Shelley winked playfully and urged her to put it on for him to see.

He didn't want to waste time on this topic. When a certain strange object was found, everything would be revealed.

Words are weak.

James Shelley was past the age of verbal disputes.

"I…"

Rose hesitated.

She knew this was a good opportunity to tell the truth - if she did, she would no longer have to suffer this 'tenderness'.

But if you want to free yourself, tell the truth.

Roland is going to be in trouble.

To know who was the originator of the lie, Shelley gave up his son because he believed it - Rose did not hesitate to speculate the worst outcome:

The Shelley family definitely has the power to teach Roland a lesson, and at the same time, it will also tear the Inquisition, the Royal Party, and the Shelleys apart.

She has learned a lot recently, and has gradually begun to speculate on the further impact of an event.

she…

What should I do?
Smelly cat.

Rose's clumsy hesitation made her miss the best opportunity.

Old Shelley stood up, walked around the back of the chair and came behind her.

He took the necklace and gently pushed aside her curly hair.

Rose could feel the roughness on her neck and the warmth beneath it - it was different from Roland's touch.

Roland is her cat, the annoying king with a razor blade in his mouth, the fool who never flirts with flowers but is always chased by them (which makes people even more angry)——

But not James Shelley's hands.

She knew in her heart that it was a kind of tenderness she had never experienced before - the same tenderness as the "father" in novels and biographies.

A feeling without lust, like a stone pillar that propped up a collapsed part of her heart:
She couldn't explain it clearly, because she was not a pretentious writer or a crazy poet.

But she likes this feeling.

Rose lowered her head slightly so that the old man behind her could do it more easily without having to bend his brittle waist and use his eyes, which should have rested long ago, to distinguish the hair and the buckles on the inside of the collar.

then.

She put it on.

"Happy birthday, Lillian."

The old man's gentle voice was as steady as the candlelight in the room, slowly and evenly warming a piece of frozen soil in Rose's heart that had never melted.

“…Thank you, sir.”

She muttered.

"I'm afraid our executive officer hasn't considered this," Old Shelley rubbed his hands and teased, "Don't blame her, Lillian. Young people are always like this. When I was young, there was nothing in my head except those vulgar and obscene things."

Roland...

That bad thing.

"He's not as good as you say."

Rose was quite surprised.

She had always believed that James Shelley had a bad opinion of Rowland.

He rarely mentioned him.

"Of course he didn't." The old man raised his eyebrows, sat down again, and subconsciously reached for his pipe, but retreated at Rose's gaze, "Well... Actually, this is good for your health."

"How can it be!"

"Of course it's possible," Shelley argued with Rose like a child, with a serious face: "Smoking a pipe helps with thinking, increasing breathing control and patience. Dear, why do you think the Shelley family has come this far?"

"Because of the pipe?"

Old Shelley nodded and said he swore on his life that he was telling the truth.

"Are all men slick?"

"No, only a very few who are outstanding and excellent are." The old man thought for a moment: "... like your handsome executive."

"gentlemen!"

The old man laughed.

A warm atmosphere rarely seen in the Shelley family finally couldn't hold back, the amniotic fluid broke, and the baby began to stretch its tender but powerful limbs in the room.

Something has changed. "... Let's talk business, Lillian. I know you feel sorry and perhaps ashamed about the events in Inns Town. In fact, you have done well enough - later, I will send someone to the Street family to discuss with their new head of the family."

Speaking of Innstown, Rose found it somewhat difficult to face James Shelley.

She almost messed it up for her own 'happiness'.

"Oh, by the way, do you want to know the secret of the white mine?"

"Can I?"

"Of course. Don't keep your little executive waiting too long." He hinted that Rose was not just curious, but wanted to get the answer and tell Roland.

"gentlemen!"

"If you could call me James, or..."

The old man paused and swallowed the word "father" at the end.

Too early...

It's too early.

"Honestly, the Shelley mine would make the same decision - if you really knew what white ore meant."

He told Rose.

"It is a new material that can produce more 'power'. Compared with coal, it is cleaner, more convenient and has higher energy. At the same time, some 'craftsmen' found that some of their previous 'unrealistic' fantasies have been realized with it."

Rose shook her head.

"I don't understand. It's the 'higher quality' coal?"

"Some of my friends recently did a little experiment." Shelley didn't respond and talked about something else: "He has always wondered if he could push metal into the air if there was enough force."

"How can this be?"

"Of course it's possible, Lillian." The old man didn't quite understand the details, but his background and experience determined that he never underestimated these technologies that could push humanity forward - to some extent, these technologies also meant wealth.

Who doesn't love them.

"You can imagine. If he succeeds..."

Rose rolled her eyes, "Like a carriage?"

"Yes."

Old Shelley said with regret: "Conquer the sky...if there really comes such a day...Lillian, a new era is coming..."

This change gave old Shelley a surge of emotion, as if his flesh had tightened and he had regained his youth;
But at the same time, this sudden burst of flames also allowed him to see his wrinkled, loose and mottled skin in the firelight.

He is old.

The word "old" is scary for both men and women.

The brave are not afraid of the end of their life and even dare to face death.

But aging is so frightening.

It was a long, safe, steady torture.

When he was young, he did not understand how the "rotten ones" of the Holy Cross could endure sleeping day after day and facing their deteriorating bodies every time they woke up.

Now he understood.

It's a gamble, a gamble that you can be faster than death and doom.

"In short, the white mine represents the new era. Lillian, none of us can refuse it."

Rose was not very knowledgeable, and she did not think that if humans could really fly into the air one day, it would change anything that really needed to be changed - for example, her past experiences could not be solved by a flying carriage.

"Roland said his friend died in the white mine."

"Ah, I know that." Since Shelley had investigated Rose and Roland, he certainly knew the story about Sarah and Taylor.

"I have to tell you, Lillian."

He said.

"Unfortunately, white minerals can indeed be transmitted to mortals - whether it is contact between people or between materials and people. His judgment is correct."

"Our guys have tried this hundreds of times."

Rose was a little confused: "But, but, if it can be transmitted to humans..."

"It won't infect the ritualists." Old Shelley interrupted Rose.

Faced with the girl's confusion, he had a more mature view - it should be said that his maturity lies in the fact that he knows very well that this matter is difficult to change, and will not change because of his or anyone else's views or actions.

White ore represents a new era.

Whoever stands in the way of the new era will be crushed to pieces.

"Life is war, child. And those who are born in humble circumstances and live in the mire are born losers."

The defeated have no right to make demands.

(End of this chapter)