The faint breathing of the unconscious Octocephalus became the only undercurrent in the silent city.
After Zhong Qing finished speaking, Lin Sanjiu held her breath for a moment. Even though she knew that the man was wearing a mask, she still fixed her gaze on him. She realized that she didn't dare to open her mouth to ask. If she asked later, she would find out who the man was later, right?
It was Beardy who suddenly let out a gurgling sound from his throat that broke the heavy silence. "I-I didn't …"
"I know," Zhong Qing interrupted him as if he knew what he was going to say. He turned to Lin Sanjiu and said, "Put him down first. I think we need to talk in private."
Lin Sanjiu hesitated for a moment. "That won't do." She shot a glance at Beardy. Even though the man had been stripped clean by Dreadlocks, he still looked like a normal person. "None of the people who caused this can leave."
"Then, tie him up and hand him over to Dreadlocks." Zhong Qing didn't object to Lin Sanjiu's request. He just sighed as if he was at his wit's end. This feeling was all too familiar. It seemed like she had forced someone to a corner before. But who was it?
Just as Lin Sanjiu put Beardy down, she glanced at the man from the corner of her eyes. Suddenly, something clicked in her mind. Beardy still looked like a normal person, which meant that he must have something on him. There was only one place on Dreadlocks that Lin Sanjiu hadn't searched...
Lin Sanjiu reached out and swiped her hand across Beardy's face. Her [Planar Space] immediately stored a card into her mind. When she raised her head again, Beardy's face was no longer covered with a beard. His face was naked, and there was a look of surprise and doubt on his face. It seemed like he didn't expect that his trick would be discovered at the last moment.
"Alright," Zhong Qing said with a "are you satisfied now?" look on his face as he waved at Dreadlocks as if he was his subordinate. "Pick up the things on the ground and wait for us next to Ba Tou."
Indeed, Dreadlocks acted like his subordinate and obediently did as he was told. As a posthuman who had lived for so long in the Twelve Worlds, it was impossible for him not to have a good eye. Lin Sanjiu watched as they sat on an overturned box not far away from Ba Tou. Then, she watched as Zhong Qing walked toward her. He tossed the little blue thing on the ground and stomped on it, causing it to sink into the black soil between the cracks of the bricks.
Once again, the alternate dimension enveloped Lin Sanjiu and Zhong Qing. The two people outside could neither see nor hear them now.
"Don't worry, we can still get out," Zhong Qing explained. "One of its functions is to create a temporary private space that won't trap people."
"You …" She stared at Zhong Qing, but couldn't find the words to say.
"I really didn't expect that after so many years, we would actually meet under such circumstances." Zhong Qing said slowly as she placed her hand on her forehead.
"Back then, I had a feeling that the dimensional rift wouldn't be able to do anything to you. It seems like I was right."
As the "skin" that was so thin that it was almost invisible left his face, Zhong Qing slowly disappeared. Before Lin Sanjiu's unblinking eyes, she saw a few strands of smooth, silky bangs slid down from his face and rested at the corner of his eyes. After so many years, he hadn't changed at all. Not only did his facial features remain elegant, but he even maintained the same hairstyle.
She heard herself say in a hoarse voice, "Cyrus."
"Long time no see." Cyrus flashed her a smile. For a moment, it was as if the years between the two of them had melted away. If Lin Sanjiu turned around and found herself back in Meat Elysium, she wouldn't be surprised to find herself starving, sweating, and running around, looking for a chance to fight or cooperate with Cyrus again, she wouldn't be surprised.
"You've grown so much. You've changed so much … When Ba Tou brought you to me, I was shocked."
In front of Cyrus, she seemed to have become a younger version of herself. At that time, she was just like a child.
Who said that time couldn't be turned back? A song, a smell, and an old friend brought her back to the time when she had left. Back then, the journey to the end of the world had just begun. It was full of ignorance, full of recklessness. At that time, she had yet to experience the rest of her life.
Cyrus leaned against the wall with his hands in his pockets. His shoulders were loose, and his hair was soft. It was as if he would laugh and scold her at any moment.
'I must be getting old.'
While Lin Sanjiu was still in a daze, she suddenly blurted out, "If I was at this level when we first met, you wouldn't have gone against me, right?"
In the next instant, Cyrus smiled as expected.
"Even if you are at the same level as before, I don't want to go against you."
Lin Sanjiu thought for a moment and was a little stunned. "Didn't I spoil your plan? Aren't you … unhappy with me? "
"Of course not," Cyrus shrugged as if Lin Sanjiu was talking nonsense, "I didn't even know you would appear in this place. As for spoiling my plan … To be honest, it's not the first time. I was already mentally prepared when I saw you. "
Even Lin Sanjiu couldn't hold back her laughter. "Why do you make me sound like a flood?"
"Besides," Cyrus looked at her as if he was answering a question that she had yet to ask, "This isn't 'my' plan … I'm just the one who was chosen to carry it out."
When Lin Sanjiu heard this, she finally let out the breath that had been trapped in her chest all this time.
Fortunately, the Heavens were still kind to her. After so many years, she finally didn't have to face Si Lu on the battlefield when they reunited. Even though Cyrus had always been indifferent to others and they had only known each other for a short period of time, Lin Sanjiu had almost regarded him as a friend. She didn't know if she was more willing to turn against her former friend or to see her former friend deteriorate.
"That's great …" Lin Sanjiu explained softly, "Even though you have always been decisive and never soft-hearted, it's still hard for me to imagine why you would do such a thing."
Cyrus shook his head and smiled, "You haven't changed much."
"Who chose you to carry out the plan?" Lin Sanjiu took a deep breath. A series of questions immediately surfaced in her mind, "Is it your organization? What's the plan? Why did they do it? "
After she asked all the questions, she added, "Can you tell me?"
"I'm not allowed to reveal the answer to any of my questions," Cyrus shrugged.
"So that's how it is."
"But, that doesn't mean I won't tell you." His next sentence shocked Lin Sanjiu. When she raised her head, she saw Cyrus's eyes staring straight at her. Even in the dark city, she could still see the moist gleam in his eyes.
"Why?"
Cyrus wasn't the kind of person who would say things he shouldn't just because he was friends with Lin Sanjiu.
He straightened his body and walked toward the item that he used to set up the alternate dimension. He looked at the people outside and said slowly, "Do you still remember that I asked you a question when Hades and the others were talking tonight? I told you that you should ask about the motive of the person behind this. What good would it do to mutate an ordinary person? "
Lin Sanjiu nodded. "So, you asked the question you already knew the answer to."
Cyrus shot a glance at her. "No, this is a question that has been bothering me for a long time."
"You … You mean, you don't know the motive?"
"Yes, I don't know." Cyrus furrowed his brows slightly and said, "I'm no longer the little examiner I was when I first met you … With my current position in the organization, it's rare for me to have a large-scale project that requires my supervision, and I don't even know the reason behind it."
Just as Lin Sanjiu had expected, this plan was initiated by the organization behind him.
"No wonder …" Lin Sanjiu glanced at the bearded man outside. She shouldn't call him that anymore. "After I caught that person, he admitted that he was related to the mutation, but he refused to admit that he was related to you."
"He wouldn't dare to," Cyrus said calmly. "It's a good choice to be your enemy or the organization that I represent."
"What is your organization?" It was funny. Lin Sanjiu had met Cyrus twice, and both times, she was under the shadow of the organization. She didn't even know its name. "Back then, you and Hydra refused to tell anyone …"
Lin Sanjiu paused. When the word "Hydra" came out of her mouth, the expression on Cyrus's face suddenly grabbed Lin Sanjiu's throat. "Hydra … Where's Hydra? Is he okay? "
At the very least, after going through the dimensional rift, Hydra should still be alive.
"He's missing."
Cyrus lowered his head as if he wanted to take something out of his pocket. However, when he pulled his hand out, it was empty. "It has nothing to do with you … He's been climbing very slowly, probably because he's not that smart. Two years ago, he was sent on a mission by his department and never came back. It's very normal in this apocalyptic world. "
Lin Sanjiu scrutinized his expression for a while. "But you think … his disappearance isn't that simple?"
"You're quite sharp." Cyrus smiled without a hint of a smile on his face. "Don't be fooled by his slow mind. He's a very reliable friend. If you tell him not to tell anyone, he won't. If you ask him to do something, he will do it for you even if he gets injured. "
Lin Sanjiu waited for him to continue in silence.
"I think … I'm the one who should be blamed for his disappearance." Cyrus looked at the people in front of him. He seemed to be thinking about something as he said in a low voice, "For the past few years, I've been tormented by a baseless suspicion … Hydra is the only person I've told about my suspicions. When he went missing, I asked him to do something for me. "
Lin Sanjiu could still vividly remember the pair of yellow snake eyes of the thorny python. She opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say. In the end, she could only ask, "What is your suspicion?"
Cyrus kept looking at the people in front of him. To be more precise, he was looking at Beardy, who had lost his beard. He seemed to have made up his mind, though Lin Sanjiu didn't know what it was. He bent down and put away the little blue thing. Then, he took a step forward.
Dreadlocks and the bearded man looked at him in surprise. Judging from their expressions, the bearded man had probably never seen Cyrus' real face before.
"I've always suspected," Cyrus said to Lin Sanjiu without turning his head, "My organization has been taken over by someone without me noticing."
Perhaps it was because of Cyrus's face or his words, Beardy widened his eyes at Cyrus's approaching footsteps. In the next second, blood spurted from his neck.
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