Aponia sat kneeling in this serene darkness. She seemed to merge into that invisible world, her senses extending outward, passing through the deep blue oceans toward a distant place.
If someone were to go into the monitoring room of the Deep End, they would find everyone there unconscious on the floor. These contaminated individuals wanted to release the prisoners, but the moment they opened the cells, Aponia knocked them out.
And these prisoners, after the cells were opened, didn't dare take a single step. They suppressed their breathing, fearing the blindfolded nun in the deepest part. It seemed that compared to this overwhelming consciousness pollution disaster, the gentle and beautiful nun was far more terrifying.
"Are you... calling... me..."
Cold, clear moonlight shone directly in front of the nun. Half of her gentle face appeared even paler under the moon's light. She quietly opened her eyes, the blood-red veins within them snapping. She extended a slender hand, her fingers distinct under the lonely light.
She looked at the only moonlight in the darkness, a hint of tenderness appearing in her eyes.
"I will not... participate in combat..."
The branch was silent. Messy corridors and rooms were littered with screen fragments, yet the familiar piercing alarm did not sound. A few figures passed through the hallways sparsely, as if weightless, making no sound as they silently entered the main control room. Their faces were dull, devoid of emotion, their synchronized movements like they were carved from the same mold.
Pardo stood in front of the central control console. She operated it for a while, but it had no effect; several error messages appeared consecutively, causing her to hesitate for a few seconds. Pardo herself had no experience in operation, so even while contaminated, she couldn't use the console.
She stepped back, and another person with operational experience stepped forward. He tapped quickly on the panel and soon pulled up the media screens for the most populated areas of Nagazora City. Then he uploaded the polluting recording. He only needed to press it, and half the city's population would instantly suffer consciousness pollution.
Only Fire Moth possessed such authority, and now, the privilege exercised to protect humanity had become an accomplice to disaster.
Bang!
A bullet accurately struck the control console. The resulting sparks caused the screen to extinguish instantly. Everyone turned their heads simultaneously with a synchronized, eerie motion, looking at the person standing in the doorway, clutching his chest and panting. His clothes were soaked through with blood; he looked like a piece of straw about to fall.
Erwin felt all his warmth draining through the wound in his chest. Everything before him swayed as if about to collapse. Although that bullet hadn't hit a vital spot due to Pardo's poor shooting skills, it had truly sapped most of his strength.
Can't... let them... broadcast it...
Erwin knew these people would want to use the recording to pollute the consciousness of the masses, and using Fire Moth's authority was the most convenient way.
Huff... puff...
Erwin knelt powerlessly on the floor. He could feel those heartless gazes; every stare felt like a mockery of his incompetence. A weak, useless waste who could do nothing.
If only it were Lin here instead of him. Lin would have sensed the crisis early and stopped them easily. He would have already discovered the mastermind and nipped the crisis in the bud.
If it were him...
He lacked the strength and lay on the floor, coughing, weakened, looking unwillingly at those "people" who ignored him. No different... from usual.
No one would look at him. After all, he was just a private who got lucky and survived a few large-scale eruptions. Compared to him, his peers Kosma and Griseo were far more brilliant. Erwin didn't even have the qualification to chase after their shadows.
He hated it... people like him always just watched others sacrifice themselves and then felt lucky they survived... Every time... every time... those heroic deeds were so respectable and praiseworthy, yet he would always feel it was lucky it wasn't him who died...
He was rotten... compared to Lin... compared to any of them... Erwin felt he was rotten to the core.
Beep—
A soft sound reached Erwin's ears as he closed his eyes, like a thunderclap! He snapped his eyes open, struggling to lift his head, and saw that person operating another backup control panel.
His mind went blank. At this moment, Erwin thought of nothing. He didn't think of his cowardice, the sacrifice of his comrades, or the seniors he admired.
Purely by instinct, without a single extra thought, he propped up his body and launched himself forward like a cannonball.
Boom!
Bang!
A bullet struck his right shoulder, but he was oblivious. His facial muscles contorted, and he grimly grabbed the person operating the panel and shoved them aside. Then he slammed a fist onto the control console. The sound of his palm fracturing and the console shattering erupted simultaneously!
Finally, Erwin's face was burning red. He smashed open the safety cover of an emergency button and used his last bit of strength to slam his head against it.
Bang!
The branch's emergency containment doors dropped instantly, sealing the branch into an airtight cage! This emergency button could seal the base for seventy-two hours; during this time, no one could leave, and no one could enter.
Hot blood flowing from his forehead ran into Erwin's eyes. He slid limply from the console, falling to the floor, his bloodshot eyes staring deathly at those contaminated people who had ceased their movements.
Staring at them, the whole time—
Smack.
"Tch, useless fellow."
Kalpas looked dissatisfied at Immer, whom he had sent flying against the wall, unconscious. He was as fragile as a piece of paper.
He was very angry now. But not because Immer attacked him.
"Which bastard is playing such a boring trick!" Fuming with rage, Kalpas grabbed Immer by the back of his collar, tossed him casually into a nearby room, closed the door, and walked through the already ruined corridor. These people acting like lunatics without regard for their lives were clearly being controlled. What frustrated Kalpas most was that Immer was also controlled.
Tap, tap, tap, tap...
Hurried footsteps approached rapidly from afar. Kalpas glared furiously, only to lock eyes with the newcomer.
"You?!"
"...Why are you here?"
Sakura narrowed her eyes, looking with a frown at Kalpas standing amidst the wreckage. She hadn't expected to meet him here.
"I wanted to ask you! What exactly is going on! Which bastard—"
Tap.
An extremely light footstep sounded. Sakura gaze sharpened. Her right hand moved like a lightning strike, drawing her blade for a horizontal slash through the adjacent wall!
Zhing!
Under the flash of light, the wall delayed for two seconds before slowly sliding down at an angle, the cut as smooth as a brand-new surface. The two looked with heavy gazes at the scene revealed after the wall fell.
A person stood behind the wall, looking up. A pair of blood-red eyes burned silently in the dust.