Chapter 211

“I seem to understand why you touched my hand…”

Jerry Senior tried pulling three times, and after his right hand was pulled three times by an inexplicable force, he recalled the precognitive dream of “young Joshua” and suddenly realized, saying, “Just like how the Nightmare King makes both Joshuas have nightmares, in the judgment of [Theft of Fate], these two Joshuas should be considered one person with two different destinies. That’s why there appeared two ‘items’ that had the greatest impact on him.”

“And if I’m not mistaken, the shadow on the left should be the thing that had the biggest influence on middle-aged Joshua. As for my right hand, it’s probably the thing that most affects young Joshua’s fate, so it also showed up in the options.”

“…”

Such reasoning勉强makes sense? After hearing Leon’s guess, Jerry first nodded slightly in agreement, then asked somewhat perplexedly, “Leon, what’s wrong with your hand? Why does it have such a big impact on Prince Joshua’s destiny?”

“Uh… It’s nothing much, just slapped him a couple of times…”

After briefly recounting the dukedom ceremony where he got into a big fight, and the beating he gave the real little brother-in-law when investigating with Emma Senior, under the gaze of the short man who looked as if he’d seen a ghost, Leon explained with righteous indignation:

“I didn’t use any anomalous items. I just used my bare hands. The agreement between the General Bureau and the royal families only says not to use anomalous items to influence or harm members of the royal family. It doesn’t say anything about not hitting them directly, right?”

“…”

The agreement indeed doesn’t have that clause, but for a normal person, the probability of assassinating a prince is higher than slapping his face, isn’t it?

You truly… I thought stealing from the royal family was already pretty outrageous, but I never expected someone like you to exist. No wonder you’re capable enough to join our Virgo Subdivision. You’re really not someone who plays fair! After giving Leon a thumbs-up with a speechless expression, the short man reset the target of [Theft of Fate] and reached toward the trembling unknown object on the left.

Although they couldn’t confirm which one was [The Door to Elsewhere] before, now that they’ve confirmed the right side is Leon’s hand, the real Door to Elsewhere must be the one on the left. Next, all they need to do is steal it out… huh?

Another anomaly occurs.

With a soft pop sound, the unclear shadow on the left exploded the moment Jerry grabbed it. Then, like a ferocious beast sensing fresh flesh, or a demon finding a trace to escape hell, it climbed up Jerry’s right hand wildly!

？！！！ Upon seeing this bizarre scene, the two immediately realized something was wrong. Jerry didn’t immediately pull back his right hand but instead extended his left hand toward the office window glass and let out an urgent bark.

“Woof!”

In response, a golden retriever’s head flashed past the window glass, and a dull-edged short dagger suddenly appeared in Jerry’s left hand.

Holding the strange-patterned short dagger, while forcefully pulling back his captured right hand, he pressed the blade tightly against the skin on the back of his right hand and sharply shaved off a small piece. Meanwhile, Leon yanked off the red hair tied around his neck and threw it toward Joshua’s chest.

“Ma Bu Wu!”

Accompanied by a bizarre roar half-anger and half-despair, the arm of Jerry that was caught by the shadow suddenly turned into the small piece of skin he had cut off himself.

And following his motion of pulling his hand back, the part chasing out from Joshua’s chest was instantly sliced into countless pieces of meat covered in black mist by the slightly bloody red hair from the director, splattering all over a large area of the carpet.

What about the Door to Elsewhere? What the hell is this thing?! …

While Leon and the others were still startled, the shadow, seemingly recognizing their race, suddenly started speaking human language.

“Take me out! Take me out!”

Following the undissipated fluctuations of [Theft of Fate], it chased all the way to Joshua’s chest. On the inside, it kept smashing outward furiously, creating ripples on Joshua’s chest, while screaming madly: “Wealth! Power! Youth! Even eternal life! As long as you can save me, I’ll give you anything!”

“Go to hell!”

To get rid of this unidentified thing, Jerry was forced to cut off a large piece of his own skin with a blunt knife, gritting his teeth in pain and couldn’t help but curse loudly, preparing to stop [Theft of Fate] and let this clearly dangerous thing go far away.

But just as he was about to stop, Leon stopped him with a gesture.

“Wait, let me ask it a few questions!”

After stopping Jerry through soul communication, Leon first took out a bandage to wrap Jerry Senior’s hand to heal his wound. Then, he stared intently at the clearer shadow and quickly asked, “What exactly are you? And what’s your relationship with the Aquarius Director from the Clearing Bureau?”

“Aquarius!!!”

Upon hearing the term Aquarius Director, the strange thing suddenly became agitated and screamed, “It was him who imprisoned me!

He filed my bones! He cut my flesh! He squeezed my blood! Damn Aquarius! If I ever get out of here, I’ll make him personally experience the torture I’ve endured for over two thousand years!”

Two thousand years?

Upon hearing the scream of the unidentified thing, Leon and the others couldn’t help but look at each other in shock. Then Leon continued asking,

“You mean… the current Aquarius Director has been alive for over two thousand years?”

“Live for two thousand years? He doesn’t deserve it!”

After cursing the Aquarius Director fiercely for a while, it seemed to regain some sanity. Knowing that these two humans could not possibly save it, they likely just wanted to gather information, the thing simply sneered and mocked, “You pitiful short-lived creatures, no matter how powerful you become, you cannot transcend the limitations of your bodies. Without changing your body, one hundred fifty years is the limit for humans! The Aquarius who imprisoned me wasn’t the current waste, but the Aquarius Director fifteen generations ago! These damn bastards treated me as their inheritance, passed down for fifteen freaking generations!”

Thinking about the endless torment he had suffered over the past two thousand years, the unidentified thing went berserk again, cursing in a mix of comprehensible human language and some ancient tongue incomprehensible to them, its voice grating like nails on a chalkboard, causing Leon and the others’ ears to hurt.

After venting thoroughly, seeing the two humans outside who, despite looking uncomfortable, did not leave, the unidentified thing nodded satisfactorily and sneered, “Enough nonsense. I can see that no matter what benefits I promise, you two bastards won’t take me out.

However, you’re obviously not on Aquarius’ side. Maybe you found me to catch his slip-ups… So hurry up! Ask whatever questions you have before Aquarius realizes someone has contacted me!”

(End of Chapter)