When evil gods hold a meeting in my head

Upon hearing this, Richard suddenly began to doubt himself.

He thought to himself, "Was everything I did after arriving at the port just an illusion? I believed Puta died a long time ago... I think I asked him that while hypnotizing Dansha. From that moment on, all my actions and judgments have been based on the premise that 'Puta is dead'?"

If this is all fake, then what have I been doing all this time? He asked Anna, "Are you saying that everything I've experienced before was just a hallucination created for me by someone else?"

Anna scoffed at this.

"Silly child..." She picked up her coffee, took a sip, and said with a hint of mockery in her eyes, "It's not that scary."

Richard paused for a moment, then let out a long sigh of relief. The sweat on his back was still damp, but the heavy weight on his heart finally lifted a little. If it was really as terrible as he thought, then had he been made a fool of the whole way?

Anna put down her coffee cup, her fingers gently tracing the rim, and said slowly, "I came to see you simply to correct a misconception of yours."

Richard looked at her, waiting for her to continue.

"Puta is not actually dead."

Anna spoke softly, but every word reached Richard's ears clearly.

Richard frowned: "But he... Dansha said he saw it with his own eyes..."

"What Dansha saw was what he wanted you to see," Anna interrupted him. "Or rather, what Puta wanted Dansha to see."

Richard fell silent.

Anna stood up, jumped off the bar stool, and walked to the window. Outside, the street scene on West Street was still the same, bright and sunny, with pedestrians coming and going. Her back was to Richard, and his voice came from the other side.

"You have to go to the abyss."

Richard paused for a moment: "The Abyss? Luke's?"

“Yes.” Anna turned to look at him. “There are many things hidden in Luke’s labyrinth, including Puta’s habits. You have to go in and find out where he might be hiding from the fragments of his memories.”

Richard thought for a moment and asked, "Can't I just go directly to Dansha's father? Didn't he work with Putta before?"

Anna shook her head: "Dansha's father? You won't see him."

Why?

"Because he's trapped too," Anna said, her tone tinged with helplessness. "Like Pudda, stuck somewhere and can't get out. Why do you think Dansha rushed over to help? His father did send a message, but that message was written two weeks ago."

Richard frowned.

Two weeks ago? Dansha said she only received it recently...

"Don't blame Dansha," Anna said, as if she could read his mind. "He was telling the truth, but it's been altered. Puta is very good at this; he can rearrange the timeline and change the cause-and-effect relationships without altering your memories. You still remember everything, but the order and reasons for those events are different now."

Richard felt a chill run down his spine.

This is more terrifying than directly altering memories. You think you remember everything, but actually, everything you remember is wrong.

Anna walked back to him and looked up at him. Her eyes were bright, but there was no light in them, only a deep calm.

"I have a suggestion for you," she said. "Take Juliet with you."

Richard was taken aback for a moment.

"Juliet? Why?"

"Because she's connected to Luke," Anna said. "Or rather, she's the only person Luke feels close to in this world. If you take her into the Abyss, it might reduce the chances of Luke going berserk. That labyrinth is his territory; if he goes crazy, you won't even make it past the first level."

Richard recalled Juliet praying to the ritual symbols in her room, and the dim look in her eyes when she said, "I used to know one."

"Does she know about Luke?" he asked.

Anna shook her head: "I don't know. She thought Luke was dead. You can tell her the truth when you go back this time."

Richard was silent for a few seconds, then asked a question he had always wanted to ask.

"When did you find me? And when did you pull me into this illusion?"

Anna looked at him, then suddenly shushed him and put her index finger to her lips.

"secret."

Richard sighed helplessly.

Anna smiled, turned, and walked back behind the bar. She picked up the coffee cup, then put it down, as if hesitating about something. Then she looked up at him, her eyes showing a more serious expression.

"Oh, right, there's one more thing."

Richard waited for her to speak.

Anna said, "It's unreasonable that Naansanho and the others didn't give much attention to such an important matter as your visit to the port. And you didn't even notice."

Richard was stunned.

Naansanho… indeed. Since setting out, she's only had Nolan deliver two items, and then she hasn't appeared again. Aside from Nolan occasionally showing up, the rest of the team seems to have vanished.

He thought it was because they were busy at the time and didn't think much of it. But now that he thinks about it...

“You’ve been influenced,” Anna said. “Puta’s illusions don’t directly show you fake things; they make you ignore the illogical parts. You think it’s normal for Naan Sangh to not appear, you think Dansha’s words are true, you think that Xiao Nian is pitiful and innocent… All these ‘you think’s’ have been manipulated.”

She paused, then said, "Perhaps you should be more careful in the future. At least... don't disappoint people again."

Richard stood there, so embarrassed he wanted to disappear...

Then Anna waved her hand, and everything around her began to blur. The café melted away, the piano music faded, the sunlight dimmed, and everything turned back into flowing specks of light.

"Remember, take Juliet with you to the Abyss." Her voice came from afar. "Find Puta and bring him out. You owe me."

Richard wanted to say something more, but the scene before him had completely vanished.

When he opened his eyes again, he was instantly back in the tavern, with the unfinished cocktail in his hand.

But Anna had already vanished...

Logan stood not far away, looking at him with a blank expression.

"Sir? What were you spacing out about just now?"

Richard did not answer.

He looked down at his right hand, where the purple mist on the ring was still slowly swirling, while Xiao Nian's snoring gradually drifted over.

"I never imagined that I would overlook all those unbearable details from before. It turns out that everything I experienced was real. However, every choice I made before was based on the ideas imposed on me by Puta..." Richard said with some regret.

But he can't be entirely blamed...

After all, the extraordinary abilities that Puta possesses may be far more dangerous and mysterious than imagined!