thefictionvixens Page 329
Page 329
Seeing the other side coming to her aid only fueled her anger: "What about the conductor? She's right here! Do you expect me to give up?! I want her to feel fear. What's the point if this ends like this, all anticlimactic?!"
"...You're the one who said I stood by and did nothing about these innocent lives."
"What, what did you say?"
"This time, I won't be a step behind..."
......
......
"Real reporting, accurate information, Glonia border news."
"On the eve of National Day, the government expressed regret and sorrow over the series of collapses in Nadabelin."
"The Security Bureau stated that the incident was unrelated to the rebels, and the black armor claimed by some witnesses was believed to be a collective hallucination."
"Next news: Thanks to the heroic resistance of our army, clashes with the rebels have decreased by 75%..."
......
"Uh......"
After an unknown amount of time, Montagni awoke to find herself deep inside a dilapidated house. Aside from her belated subordinates, Morse was there, having collected the weapons and coffin.
“Are you awake, Montani? You are very weak. This is medicine I brought from my place; it will help you recover.”
......
Montagne stared at the bowl of clear medicine, her eyes expressionless, but Morse could sense the burning resentment and an inextinguishable, nameless fire within her. She had seen too many eyes like that before...
"Isn't the target the conductor? Shouldn't we cut off her head as soon as she reveals her true colors?"
Morse did not answer. Their eyes were separated by a mask, so Montagni could not see Morse's expression at that moment.
"I called you here... not to be a caregiver."
“I don’t have the talent to be a caregiver; the people who are with you will take care of you.”
Morse glanced sideways at the door and heard occasional bursts of noisy shouts, as if they were quite happy.
"What...?" Montani was incredulous, not expecting them to actually arrive here.
“They said that without you, no one could give them medicine and help them get through this, and I might even cut them in two, though I won’t.”
......
“Sigh.” Montagne sighed. “Morse, I’m not in the mood to play this game of fatherly love and filial piety with you. Do you think I’ll feel sorry for you if I do this?”
But Morse shook his head: "I had no intention of teasing you at all."
Seeing that the other person hadn't taken the medicine, she took the bowl, placed it on the bedside table, and then looked at the indifferent "girl" in front of her again.
"I'll wait here for you to come to your senses, but I feel that we need to make things clear before we go our separate ways."
"What do you mean, parting ways?" Montani was momentarily flustered. "Are you always this fickle?"
......
The red light on the visor dimmed slightly; it's unclear whether this had any other meaning.
Morse's voice grew increasingly hoarse at a low decibel level. "They were willing to be used by you because they wanted revenge, while the person executed earlier was guilty of spreading the plague."
"But... I cannot accept your harm to those unarmed people."
......
Montagne laughed: "Looks like you figured it out? But in the end, they're in cahoots with the conductor! What's wrong with executing accomplices?!"
She thought she was perfectly justified, but Morse's next question made her pause again.
"Are you willing to stake your life on what you just said?"
"I......"
"What you just said is neither in line with the spirit of a soldier nor with the mindset of a warrior; it's just a murderer trying to justify himself."
"Weapons may have no eyes, but their owners still possess the ability to distinguish right from wrong."
......
See if it's clear enough.
16 Interrogation
"You're not seeking revenge on the conductor, so why bother with these insignificant casualties? Don't you, a shadow, understand the principle that those who achieve great things don't concern themselves with trifles?"
Montagnier is still trying to refute the arguments, but she's not entirely sure if she truly approves of the path she's chosen...
Or perhaps, she doesn't need others to understand her; it's enough that she understands herself.
Therefore, she continued, "It's precisely because of this naive thinking that you're in such a sorry state now!"
......
"You're right, all I'm left with is failure and regret..."
Surprisingly, Morse did not refute it.
The helmet sprayed gas in all directions again, and after a commotion, its owner removed the helmet, revealing its true nature.
Her flowing white hair and the few scars that time has long since healed still evoke a sense of wonder, prompting one to wonder what this woman must have experienced in her early years...
Her gaze was more resolute than anyone else's, yet that loneliness was as indelible as ink stains on rice paper. Just as the river of time cannot erase all those wounds, leaving only scars created by failure and regret.
Perhaps she wasn't used to this image, because her speech sounded a little stiff.
"But if it weren't for that, I would have long since degenerated into a beast driven only by delusion."
This is precisely her mindset as a warrior, as a bishop...
......
"So, what are you planning to do after you leave?"
Montagne knew she could no longer persuade this stubborn old man, so she could only tentatively ask him what his next goal was.
“The conductor has been arrested for treason,” Morse glanced out the window at the capital, his eyes unfocused in the bright sunlight. “I need to find her. I haven’t yet confirmed with my own eyes whether she, as you and those two fragments said, possesses humanity…”
After saying that, she put her helmet back on, picked up her battle axe, and left. Her heavy footsteps were terrifying, and no one dared to stop her.
Only after the commotion completely subsided did the person in the living room rush in in a panic.
"Big...Big sister, are we just going to let her leave like this?"
......
“Is there any way…” Montani looked at the medicine on the bedside table, no longer as tough as before: “Although it is a great loss for us, we can’t reason with her.”
"Let's do it our way."
But the fire ignited by hatred never dies out, and this chain binds everyone to this wretched land...
"We're going to turn this city into a sea of fire..."
......
......
Gronia Security Bureau Underground Interrogation Room
Undead, under investigation for treason
XX hours after the investigation began
......
"Ahem...!"
A bucket of cold water was splashed on Leia's face, jolting her awake.
She knew she had been in this interrogation room for an unknown amount of time, and she didn't know if Angela and the others were safe. But what angered her even more was that the man was still standing in front of her.
"How could you fall asleep while they're talking, you ghost?"
Her direct superior, who used to be her colleague, now treats her coldly, arresting her on trumped-up charges and imprisoning her here.
"Hehe... It's all thanks to the minister. I haven't closed my eyes at all since I came here."
She smiled fiercely, but posed no threat to the person in front of her.
The minister slowly began, "Are you feeling a bit more awake after washing your face?"
He picked up the documents beside him and began reading them while talking to Rhea.
"I've known you for so long, I never imagined I'd be interrogating you like this."
Snapped!
"I'll ask you one more time! What was your reason for shooting Zak in Borema that day?!"
"How many times do I have to say it?!" Rhea retorted loudly, "He's my scapegoat! The sniper's original target was me!"
"If you don't believe me, go ask the sniper yourself. Anyway, you're in the capital right now, and she's a dangerous person who can use the rebels. Who knows what she might do if we leave her alone."
......
"Is that so?" The minister's cold laugh was revealed to Rhea for the first time: "Isn't she the hardliner you used to silence the witnesses?"
"If that's the case, then why did she chase me all the way to the capital to kill me?"
The minister picked up the second document and focused his attention once again on the black and white text.
"I have received reports of the brawl in the city center, but I now have serious doubts as to whether you orchestrated it yourself."
"...Then how can you believe it?"
"I'm sorry, but I'm the only one who can lie to others; no one can lie to me, even though you've already lied to me once."
With a slight frown, the document fell back onto the table, and in the dim light, the leather shoes made a sound on the cement floor.
"This is Zach's autopsy report. His son, who wasn't there that day, came to clean up after Zach. According to the autopsy report, considering the trajectory and caliber of the sniper rifle, the gunshot wounds on Zach's body could not have been caused by a sniper, but they perfectly match the pocket gun you hid in your sleeve."
"..." Rhea did not reply, her eyes growing colder.
"You shot Zach the moment you spotted the sniper because you intended to use the sniper's gunfire as cover."
"Because the punishment for Zach dying in an accident would be lighter than if you shot her directly."
......
"That's why I colluded with hardline rebels to assassinate Zach?"
Rhea's lips curled into a slight smile, which had an eerie beauty about it.
"You have such a vivid imagination. Why don't you try writing novels after you retire?"
After saying that, she stomped her foot on the floor: "The Borema incident was an unfortunate accident, and I have nothing else to say."
"Undead!" The minister slammed the documents on the table. "Are you still going to deceive your superiors like this now?!"
"Minister, you're the strange one..."
Rhea's eyelashes drooped, whether from exhaustion or disappointment, she couldn't tell: "I know a little about our country's laws. Even if your assumption is correct, it doesn't warrant arresting me on charges of treason. Is the reason for kidnapping Zack this time different from usual?"
"Now I'm asking you questions, and you just need to answer them!"
The minister's arrogance remained undiminished, but compared to Rhea's fury, it was as powerless as embers in the darkness.
"No! In that case, I must ask even more clearly!"
"Who is Joseph Klim? Why does the government attach so much importance to National Day? What exactly do the higher-ups plan to do on National Day?!"
......
"Didn't you say before that the rebels are still ruling the occupied territories as kings?"
Leia was also surprised that the minister would respond to this...
17 Concerns
“Zach was a veteran figure who joined anti-government groups after the gold rush.”
......
"Wait, could it be..." Rhea seemed to have thought of something, but she was not sure. Or rather, subconsciously she could not be sure of or accept this situation.