In a beautiful room with a soft light source, Jando Skolewalker smiled slowly, and then he took the pocket watch in his arms.

Just now, twelve hours had passed.

He turned his head, a look of pity on his face. This emotion came from the scene directly in front of the couch where he was sitting.

His sister, Irene Skolewalk, was standing there, her hands covered in blood.

As for the blood...... They come from a man who was hanged, a member of a gang that once belonged to the Scarlet Finale.

Or rather, the last gang member who belongs to the Scarlet Finale.

His blood slowly dripped from the wound in his body, leaving an indelible crimson mark on the carpet that was still spreading.

Blood-smeared......

Jando took a deep breath of the blood-soaked air, then stood up and spoke aloud in a graceful voice.

"I don't think you can get anything useful by torturing such a madman, my esteemed sister."

Hearing this, Irene Skolewalker glanced back at him.

"I also don't think you'll end up with me if you choose to stay with me with a dead face." Irena replied coldly.

"Oh, don't do that, sister. You and I both know that only the Glory Overseers are now in the Lair. Could it be that I really want to run out and ask for help from other gangs? I'm not as stupid as Lena. ”

"She's not stupid." Irena said. "It's you who is stupid, Jendor."

“...... This is really a sad evaluation for me, my esteemed sister. ”

Jando covered his face with feigned sadness, but the dark eyes that appeared between his fingers were full of malice.

"I have always had an admiration for you, but why do you despise me so much?"

"There are many reasons, Jandor."

Irena looked at him and replied calmly.

"Pretentious, pretending to be profound, pretentious...... Although these shortcomings are quite normal for the son of a nobleman. But there's only one thing about you that I can't stand it. ”

"Hmm...... Because I love some good ingredients from the lower nest? Jendo asked tentatively.

"No, because you're so stupid."

Irene Skolewalker replied coldly. "You're stupid enough to think I planned this attack."

Jando raised an eyebrow slowly, he lowered his hand, and the smile returned. At this moment, you can't tell the same fear on his face as he did twelve hours ago.

At some point, fear is time-sensitive.

"But, my sister...... You can't deny that it's all such a coincidence. ”

"Coincidence?"

"Yes, sister, not to mention how that man bypassed the Glory Overseer's outpost undetected. Let's just talk about that suggestion you made......"

"If we really do as you say, scatter in the lower nest and run away. There is no doubt that you are definitely the one who will survive to the end, my sister. ”

"As for Lena...... I'm pessimistic, I think she's probably dead now. ”

Zhan Duo smiled gracefully, not feeling sad about the death of his imaginary blood relative, but with a kind of pleasure spreading across his face.

He had already changed his clothes and even had taken a shower. The embarrassed appearance of twelve hours ago had completely disappeared from his body.

At this moment, in this room decorated to the point of being indistinguishable from the court of the upper nest, Jando Skolewalker behaved as usual again.

He walked naturally and gently to Irena's side.

"My esteemed sister, I know what you're capable of, I've always known it...... My father's tolerance for me stems from the resemblance between me and him, but his trust in you is beyond my reach. And you took advantage of his trust just right, didn't you? It's excellent. ”

"Don't blame me for your incompetence, Jondo. And don't put on me what I haven't done. ”

Irena gazed at him calmly. "It's up to you to waste your time learning and practicing on tasting flesh and blood. If you have misbehaved yourself, don't say anything more. ”

"Perhaps...... Maybe it is, but, my sister. ”

Jando Skolewalker sneered and opened his arms. "I may be inferior to you in every way, but you can't be better than me when it comes to exploring the art of flesh and blood."

He stretched out his right hand and asked for the tormenting blade from Irena, "Allow me to show you a thing or two, my esteemed sister. ”

"I don't have time for you to waste that on that kind of thing, Jendor."

Irena said coldly. "Torture is only a means, not an end, and you are on the wrong track."

"And the mind of this slave from the Crimson Finale was shattered long before the Glory Overseers found him. Do you think you can dig out the spirit of others from flesh with just the blade? ”

Jando shrugged his shoulders and acted very calmly.

"Maybe I can, sister. You know, I've learned a few tricks from some ancient books. ”

“...... You idiot. ”

After saying this, a palpable emotion finally appeared on Irena's face - she glared at Jando angrily and spoke coldly.

"You're sitting back and relaxing, let me guess, because you think we can get more support from the family, right? Then you can go back and tell your father the truth you've imagined. ”

"Isn't it?" Jando asked rhetorically. "It's impossible for the family to give up on us, sister......"

He smiled again, and a self-righteous superiority creeping over his face was creeping in. He winked triumphantly and pulled the last word very long.

Irene took a deep breath.

She spoke in a deep voice.

"No, Jandor. This is not my conspiracy. ”

"My father sent us here to deal with the death of the coroner. This incident has affected the face of the Skolewalker family. And this thing has nothing to do with me, and I will never do it. ”

"The family's reputation is more important than anything else, Jendo. Father gave us Iron Pride and forty private soldiers, and gave us the help of the Glory Overseers, a gathering of loyal servants with twenty-five spires and thousands of members. ”

"What more do you think we can expect from our father? We're not as valuable as you think. Yes, my father spent twenty years nurturing us, but he still has another twenty years to spend. ”

The smile on Jando's face slowly dissipated, and he tilted his head slightly, forcing his composure.

And Irena continued, as if she wanted to reveal all her dislike for him all these years, and she had rarely lost her usual calm.

Her face was flushed and her features were distorted. It looks both angry and terrifying.

Unlike Jando, she always remembered the encounter twelve hours ago, and the fear in her heart had swelled to the point where it almost devoured reason.

And Zhando's behavior ignited this fear just right.

"You bathed, you changed your clothes, and then you sat in a false palace built by the slaves, thinking that everything was my conspiracy?"

"But don't forget, twelve hours ago you were a slumped and frightened piece of waste! Jondo! You're just a piece of shit! ”

Irena sneered loudly, her voice echoing through the room. Zhan Duo's face was blue and white for a while, and he was a little speechless.

I don't know if it's a coincidence, but at the moment when her laughter erupted, behind her, the survivor from the Scarlet Finale, who was tortured to death, also opened his eyes at the same time.

There was nothing in the dark eyes, no sense, no reason, no desire for life, no resistance to death.

There was only an eerie calm, and then, a cold blue light flashed and vanished.

He looked up at the bloodline of the Skolewalker family. Then he opened the mouth with his lips cut off and many of his teeth pulled out, and began to sing softly in a hoarse voice.

Low, long, with a palpable gloom. The tune is soft, but it is like a knife blade rubbing against the delicate skin of the neck.

Irene Skolewalker shuddered, and her laughter stopped abruptly.

She turned her head in disbelief, the anger on her face gradually being replaced by fear. Jando's face changed suddenly, but in a short moment, the memories of twelve hours ago came flooding back again.

The slaughter in the rainstorm, the corpses everywhere, the cold, the gaze of monsters......

In a trance, it seemed that whisper came to his ears again.

"Run."

"No...... No. ”

Jando Skolewalker muttered to himself and stumbled forward.

Fear returns.

He snatched the blade from Irena's hand, trembling to the survivors, and raised the blade aloft.

"Stop!" Jando yelled. "Stop singing!"

The survivor was indifferent, his head swaying slightly. He was covered in bruises and blood, but he was chanting softly.

Jando swung the blade in his hand with pinpoint stab the survivor's chest and abdomen, bringing a handful of blood flowers.

Then, he twisted the blade violently, and shattered flesh poured out of the gaps created by the sinister barbs.

Jando's eyes twitched, staring at it all, desperate to hear the screams. He used this little trick a lot in the past and achieved good results every time.

But, this time, no.

The survivors were indifferent.

The song continued, pouring out of the broken face as flesh and life.

Jando let go of his hand with a shudder, and then backed—and kept back, until he hit the wall. He tilted his head and leaned his head against the wall, his face flushing abruptly after that.

He turned his head and asked with a low growl.

"What the hell are you crazy about, Irene Skolewalker?! Stop him! I knew you did all this, you brainwashed him and instilled this song into it, right?! ”

His sister did not answer.

His sister just had a look on her face that Jendo had never seen in her previous life. From Jandor's point of view, he could only see the side of Irena's face. However, this is more than enough.

He saw a weeping eye.

"You ......"

Suddenly, Zhan Duo was cold.

He had thought it was nothing more than a conspiracy between Irena Skolewalker and the Glory Overseers, and the likes were not uncommon, and in the history of the nobility, killing siblings was as simple as eating and drinking......

But......

When faced with a situation that he has single-handedly created, the initiator cannot be so afraid.

"It's coming......" Irena Skolewalker muttered to herself. Here it comes. ”

"Impossible! Just follow the story you made up! The thing says twelve hours, but twelve hours have passed! ”

With a roar, Jando pulled the watch out of his bosom and threw the valuable treasure in front of Irena.

"Look, look! You see! Twelve hours have passed! ”

He hissed and screamed. "Stop this farce, sister! I'm not going to fight you for the black stripes anymore! I was wrong! ”

Under Jandor's pleading gaze, Irene Skolewalker slowly picked up the pocket watch, and then she closed it.

She turned her head, and on her distorted countenance, a smile shattered by fear was blooming.

"What do you think......" she said, sobbing. What can I do? ”

Jandor's sanity was shattered completely, and he roared and lunged towards the source of the song, drawing the blade from his body.

-----------------

"On the left!"

"No, no, it's on the right!"

The ghost jumped, dodging the bullets.

If it was a laser gun, he might not dodge. However, live weapons will always shoot the corners of his clothes into his flesh as well, and if he does not remove them in time, there is a risk of infection.

This is quite annoying, after all, the removal of bullets can only be done after the war. At that time, his wounds had long since healed, and the only way to remove the bullet was to cut open the flesh again.

Wraiths aren't afraid of pain, but they don't like it either.

The voices of the targets of the hunt were so clear to his ears that he could even simulate where they were at the moment by the direction of the sound alone. Carlil once said that it was a valuable talent that the Ghost didn't quite understand.

Can't anyone else do that?

With this in mind, the ghost leaped high and jumped to the ceiling.

The sharp fingernails and his superhuman strength allowed him to easily cling to everyone's heads, and then, with a quick adjustment of his stance, he leaped out in the next second.

Like a monster falling from the sky, the wraith spread its hands and smashed the gang's defenses as it lunged forward. The wails rang out, and the gunfire suddenly became weaker. Then, the ghost heard, someone screaming.

"Back! Behind! The man screamed frantically. There's one more in the back! O God! ”

Ah, it's Carlil.

The ghost tilted its head in delight, then jumped up again. He concentrated on looking behind him, time seemed to slow down for a moment, allowing him to see Carlil's figure clearly.

Flashing left and right, as natural as gliding through a crowd. Carlil didn't dodge any bullets, but none of the roaring bullets seemed to dodge him, and none of them hit.

He lunged forward, swinging his blade continuously, each swing taking away a life, and the blue light of Senhan bloomed under the hood of his cloak. He moved so quickly that the brilliance almost became an elongated straight line.

Seeing this, the joy on the ghost's face disappeared for a moment.

...... Why do you have to use this power, Karil? He thought silently.

Five minutes later, the killing was over.

Shake your hands so that the flesh and blood in the cracks of your fingernails fall out. The ghost came up to Karil, who glanced at his hand and asked, "What about the knife you made?" ”

"Broken ......"

"Broken?"

"It's not very useful." Wraith said. "It's broken."

"It's okay, I'll make you a better ...... another day"

"Really?"

"I didn't lie to you."

"Good! Thank you, Karil! ”

Carlil smiled silently, not discouraged by the ghost for the time being. The word "change of heaven" has a kind of ambiguity in the human context that cannot be carefully described.

As for now......

He looked up at the ceiling, and the blue light in his eyes suddenly dimmed.

At this moment, his vision suddenly rose to a room on the top floor of the spire.

He could see a woman sobbing, as if she had accepted her fate, and a man who was waving a knife and muttering to himself, covered in blood and looking crazy.

Both targets collapsed......

It's not scary.

With a sneer, Carlil lowered his head and said to the ghost who was counting the corpses, "Our work for today is almost over, ghost, before that, I have a question for you. ”

“...... Yes? ”

"What do you think about fear?" Carlil asked softly.

The ghost blinked, and quickly gave its own answer. He didn't know why, why Carlil was asking the question, but ...... There was no reason why he shouldn't answer.

"A good weapon?" The Wraith said cautiously. "It works, it works for everyone...... And it always works quickly, and most people get scared when they see me. ”

"What else?"

"And...? Uh, it's... It – should it be used with care? The ghost said hesitantly. I'm sorry, Carlil, but I always feel ...... Fear and fear are different. ”

He glanced at Carlil stoekly, who waited patiently, without the slightest hint of impatience or disapproval on his expression.

Then the ghost was relieved: "That's it, Carlil, that's what I thought. ”

"Your understanding is good, Spirit, actually, very good."

Carlil smiled. "Fear is indeed a weapon that needs to be treated with care, and we need to be careful about who it should be used on and, of course, how it should be used......"

"How?"

"There are a lot of ways to create fear in people, like the twenty-three different rat cooking methods you know. There are many ways to do this, and we need to choose carefully and carefully. ”

"I don't really understand." Wraith honestly. "But I'll write it down, I'll understand later, right?"

"Of course."

"Really?"

"Of course it's true." Carlil said as he walked towards the exit of the bloody hall.

The spires of the Overseers of Glory have an intricate set of self-propelled elevators, which were destroyed by Carlil in the first place, so it is a bit funny to say that they have to take the stairs to reach the twenty-fifth floor.

The last layer.

The ghost followed closely, and after a brief silence, he spoke again.

"Carlil?"

"Huh? Don't talk too much, Spirit, we're at work. ”

"Oh...... But do you remember those twenty-three ways? Which one do you think is the best? ”

“......”

"I think braised should be good......"

"Alas......"

"Carlil?"

“...... Well? ”

"Why are you sighing?"

“...... Fry it, fry the rats. That's all, don't talk about it, Ghost. ”

"Oh, good!"

-----------------

The cold wind was blowing, and in the early morning of Nostramo, a group of workers were busy going to work.

They were thinly dressed and looked sluggish. No one has anger at life on their faces, and no one walks with their heads up. They are thin and slow moving, and many of them even need to stop and rest for a while after walking a certain distance.

Eighteen hours of labor was enough to destroy everything, not to mention the diseases that followed.

Although, yes - the factory will have a holiday every six days, but that's just to squeeze harder, don't expect the foremen to be very kind.

On holidays, it is necessary to deduct wages and rations of nutritional paste.

The cold wind destroyed their thin bodies and wills, and this group of numb people spontaneously gathered together, walking side by side, and reporting to the group to keep warm.

Their breaths were staggered with each other, foul and dazed, and the white mist they exhaled escaped in the air. Their eyes were dull and desperate, filled with a kind of indifference to life.

There were quite a few gang members on the streets, but no one had their eyes on them.

- Such a person, even if he does not even pass as a cargo.

Walking, walking, they also need to cross three blocks to reach the factory. They stepped over the filthy streets, guessed the dark red ground where sewage flowed, and passed a tall minaret amid the invective of the gangs.

Then one of the workers raised his head. His neck was sore and needed this way to relieve pressure on his bones. Then, just after this effort of raising his head, he stopped abruptly.

“...... What is that? He muttered to himself.

His companions indifferently continued onward, passing him. Not many people paid attention to him, only a few stood there like him.

They all rubbed their eyes after a brief stare, trying to make sure what was in front of them was real.

Their mouths opened wide in disbelief.

They saw two richly dressed men hanging from the ground entrance of the towering spire. The neon lights of the minaret and the nearby incandescent lights made it clear to them.

They also saw that there was a wide gap in the throats of the two men. Blood was pouring down the gap.

Around the two terrified corpses, there was a large line of bloody letters.

The workers were illiterate and they couldn't understand what it meant, but that didn't stop them from understanding the identities of the two men.

All nesters will learn this in their short lives and remember it firmly.

If you dress luxuriously, you are a nobleman.

The nobility, on the other hand, is no different from the gods.

At this moment, many questions appeared in their minds, their bodies began to tremble slightly, and a strange expression began to bloom on their lifeless faces.

However, they did not stay long and soon left again and set out on their way to the factory.

They need work, they need food. Among the few workers who witnessed the death of the gods, one remembered all the shapes of the characters.

He was illiterate, but he memorized them.

The wind was bitterly cold, but the morning in Nostramo was still the same as the night. No one knows what's going to happen every night, and no one knows what this will bring.

At the top of the minaret, two shadows quietly disappeared.