Filthy Dreadbeard jumped up and knocked over the box he was sitting on. The sound echoed in the city. He leaned his back against the wall. Just like Lin Sanjiu, he watched the bearded man's body roll on the ground. His head bounced twice on the ground. Finally, after he exhaled his last breath, he gradually stopped moving.
Blood flowed out from his neck. It flowed silently into the night.
"Why did you kill him?" Lin Sanjiu asked. "If I didn't let him know that we knew each other, I would just send him away …"
Cyrus wiped his fingers and turned around to look at her from the dim street.
"The longer people I've met survive the apocalypse, the more numb they become." He smiled. "But you are the opposite. You seem to be more sensitive than before. You can't bear it anymore … Looks like fate has been good to you all these years."
Lin Sanjiu was stunned.
Indeed, if she thought about it carefully, when she had just left the human society and was thrown into the apocalypse, she had killed people more often than she did now. At that time, she had to fight for her life on the narrow road of survival. Now that she no longer had to live in a life-threatening situation, she seemed to have a deeper understanding of other people's pain and suffering.
"That's not bad," Cyrus continued, "Compared to a person who has to suffer in pain, I prefer a person who is more content. I don't have to worry about my own back."
Lin Sanjiu looked at the dead body on the ground again.
"His death is useful to me." Cyrus lifted his chin and said to Dreadbeard, "Push his body down the hill. You didn't see anything today."
Indeed, Dreadhair Guy had no idea what was going on, but at least he understood one thing from what Lin Sanjiu said. His life was not in danger for the time being. He looked at Lin Sanjiu hesitantly. When he saw that she had nodded her head, he bent down and picked up the bearded man's corpse.
"When you are done, come to me for your reward," Cyrus said as he patted Dreadbeard's shoulder. As Cyrus spoke, he patted him on the shoulder as if Dreadlocks had already joined his organization. "You have a paper crane, right?"
Dreadbeard was still holding the body, but his eyes lit up. He nodded.
After he carried the corpse away, Cyrus straightened the overturned box and sat down with a sigh. "Look, it's so easy to kill him with one slash. He bribed me and gave me instructions. It makes me a little worried."
Cyrus had always been a cold, rational, and decisive person. Lin Sanjiu knew that Cyrus was being considerate of her. She shook her head and asked, "Tell me everything from the beginning. What happened?"
Cyrus furrowed his brows slightly as if he was considering where to start. She didn't waste any time and walked over to feel the Eight Headed Druid's pulse. The latter's injuries were very serious. Lin Sanjiu didn't have the confidence to save him with just the first aid medicine she had in her card bank and her lousy skills. When she took out the first aid bandage, Cyrus took it from her.
His movements were smooth and practiced, and it seemed that he had suffered many injuries.
"The organization I'm a part of is called the 'Shadow Palace'. It operates in the shadows, so not many people have heard of it." Cyrus said as he cleaned his wound, "The Shadow Palace has a few branches. For example, the Personnel Training Department. Irezumi and I started there. There is also the Consular Department, the Executive Department, and so on. These are just organizations in charge of daily operations. They are not much different from other organizations. The real reason why they got the name 'Shadow Palace' is that they are actually the shadow controllers of other organizations. "
"Shadow controllers?"
Cyrus flashed a bitter smile that contained a hint of mockery. "You are also a person from before the apocalypse. You should have heard of the malicious takeover in the commercial war, right?"
Lin Sanjiu searched her memory for a while before she vaguely remembered the term that seemed to be from her previous life.
"What the Shadow Palace does is a little like a malicious takeover," Cyrus said thoughtfully. "The most common thing in the Twelve Worlds is that there are countless small organizations. Ambitious people, smart people, family and friends who band together to protect themselves. As long as these people are around, there will be new small organizations. The Shadow Palace will use all kinds of methods to control the small organizations that have the ability and potential. They will direct them from behind the scenes. It's good if the target is willing to be 'acquired', but if not, they don't have any other choice. "
"If the target is unwilling, what kind of methods will the Shadow Palace use?" Lin Sanjiu asked.
"Do you want to know if there is blood or if there is no blood?"
"Can there be no blood?"
Cyrus nodded. He cut the gauze in his hand and said, "Of course. There are many ways to divide the target, bribe them, exile them. Sometimes, they are even crueler. There are cases where they erase the target's ability completely. In the end, the small organization will just change the manager. In reality, the manager will always be the representative of the Shadow Palace. "
Lin Sanjiu was shocked. "Why would they do that?"
"Why would a large organization want to acquire a small one?" Cyrus asked as he glanced at her. "Of course, it's because of its technology, customers, market, and prospects. You see, they just need to replace one or a few people in charge of the organization, and they will have the entire organization and its power in their hands. This is also the reason why the Shadow Palace is so careful and secretive when they recruit new members. Every person who is recruited has a high chance of becoming the leader of another organization in the future. The person must be capable, loyal, and under control. On the surface, the person must have no relationship with the Shadow Palace. "
She remembered that when Irezumi introduced her as a candidate, he said, "The candidates are competing for the position of the leader of the organization." At that time, both she and Qing Jiuliu thought that the "leader of the organization" referred to the organization that recruited the candidate. Now, it seemed that either the introduction was to create a misunderstanding, or Irezumi himself was too muddle-headed to understand the situation back then.
No matter how she thought about it, the latter was more likely.
"I understand," Lin Sanjiu nodded and said, "For example, I can control Dirty-Braid and make him the leader of Gui He. Then, Fanjia City will be my territory."
"Exactly. Besides, if Fanjia City becomes a negative asset, you can just get rid of Dirty-Braid. No one will know that you have any relationship with Fanjia City. " Cyrus added, "Sometimes, the newly recruited members don't even know the name of the Shadow Palace."
Lin Sanjiu couldn't believe that there was such an organization operating in the dark in the Twelve Worlds Centrum … Lin Sanjiu couldn't help thinking of Number 42, whom she had met at Harry's Farm.
He was a cautious and ruthless man. Apart from his bad luck, he was a candidate with great potential. However, when Cyrus realized that he might have leaked the secret of the Shadow Palace, he did not hesitate and beheaded him without hesitation.
"So, the Slaves Training Camp that I destroyed in Red Nautilus was one of the organizations controlled by the Shadow Palace," Lin Sanjiu recalled. Lin Sanjiu recalled countless memories. She said in a low voice, "At that time, I only vaguely knew that the leader of the Slaves Training Camp was a person called the dean. When I met Irezumi, I was very confused. I couldn't figure out the relationship between this dean and the organization he belonged to. Now, it seems like the Dean is an agent. "
"Actually, I don't know what happened after that incident," Cyrus said. Cyrus quickly treated the Eight-Headed Druid's wounds. However, his actions were not gentle or merciful. He tossed the Eight-Headed Druid to the ground and said, "After I escaped from the dimensional rift, I was involved in a series of missions. One time, I almost lost my life. However, one thing is for sure. The agent caused such a huge loss to the organization. He won't have a good ending. "
For the "Shadow Palace", the matter was solved perfectly. The woman who destroyed the Slaves Training Camp was dead, and the derelict director was punished. However, for Lin Sanjiu, the words "Slaves Training Camp" were forever shrouded in a layer of mystery.
Cyrus looked around the city and sighed, "When I first learned that the 'Fan Jia City Plan' required my supervision, I thought it would be the same as before, that the organization or territory here caught my eye. Maybe it's worth a lot, so I'm needed to take care of it. Who knew that when I came to take a look, I realized that Fan Jia City had no value at all, let alone where I was needed. "
From what she heard from the residents of Fanjia City, the local governing organization, Noble Harmony, wasn't very capable, but it had a big appetite. As for Fanjia City itself, Lin Sanjiu nodded in agreement after she looked around the city.
On the other hand, the heavily injured and unconscious Eight-Headed Druid did not forget to protest when he heard Cyrus' words. He groaned indistinctly. The two of them looked at him and Cyrus said, "It looks like he will regain consciousness tonight."
"That's good. I still have a lot of questions for him," Lin Sanjiu said as she crossed her arms.
Speaking of questions, Lin Sanjiu had given Cyrus a lot. "What did you guys do after you arrived?"
"We didn't arrive together. It's funny, I don't even know when the plan started … "Cyrus pointed at the blood stains on the floor and said," When I was sent to Fan Jia City, he and another member of the organization had already been here for a month or two. They disguised themselves as commoners and snuck into Fanjia City. When nobody was looking, they took away a lot of commoners. "
"Ah!" Lin Sanjiu gasped, "Those missing people!"
"Yes. My arrival triggered the next step of the plan … "Cyrus suddenly paused. Lin Sanjiu shifted her gaze away from him and slowly looked into the depths of the city. They could hear a pair of heavy footsteps, which could not be described as swift or forceful, heading towards them from the depths of the city.
"It seems to be a commoner," Lin Sanjiu said softly. Cyrus nodded in agreement.
Both of them did not say anything. They waited for the footsteps to get closer and closer. Then, a pale, gloomy face appeared from the darkness. The face peered out from the corner of the walkway. When the posthumans saw her clearly, she could not see the people in the distance. She asked softly, "Are you posthumans?"
Lin Sanjiu jumped up.
The middle-aged woman whose limbs had exploded faintly sighed. "I didn't expect Fanjia City to become what it is today. I'm sorry. Don't blame me. If you want to blame someone, blame yourselves. "
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