Chapter 121

The magnificent Golden Theater is now within reach.

187 Oh no, it's an illusion.

Nero Claudius, the last emperor of the First Dynasty of the Roman Empire, was a capricious dictator and a tyrannical ruler known for his extravagant behavior. He was later dubbed a bloodthirsty tyrant.

This is Nero in official history. In Lostbelt, however, she is no longer a queen, but her tyranny far surpasses that of Lord.

As a direct descendant of the Philosopher King and a representative of the common people, Nero never experienced the life of wandering among the commoners that is recorded in official history. Wealth and glory are like amber wine, inexhaustible.

In this context, she became even more extreme than in official history, enthusiastically challenging all kinds of anti-human entertainment activities.

For example, right now, she is changing the form of the music. Sometimes she blesses the remnants of the Northern army, sometimes she deliberately shatters their internal organs, sometimes she modifies the terrain, and sometimes she adds various obstacles.

Nero was delighted; these stubborn insects inspired her.

She suddenly broke free from the constraints of musical form and began to improvise. "Um! Um! How joyful, how free everything is—I feel joyful, so very joyful..."

The organ roared.

The towering metal pipes swayed and fell down, pointing their dark "cannon muzzles" at the battlefield.

Nero's face was covered in sweat of excitement. She felt her vision merge with the clouds, her hearing with the gale, and her sense of smell and touch intertwine in the roar of the melody. The sense of omnipotence that came with it was hundreds or thousands of times stronger than any low-level physical sensory stimulation.

Hahahaha!

Nero laughed wildly and waved his hand down without caring at all.

She didn't care at all about the knights she had included in her attack range.

Nero's hands fell heavily, but her fingers touched nothing but emptiness, not the piano keys.

The surrounding scenery suddenly collapsed, and the magnificent, towering pipe organ was nowhere to be found.

Nero's senses, which had been wandering outside, were stimulated like clouds. She screamed and fell to the ground in the mud. Around her, onlookers stood indistinctly, pointing and whispering about her.

"How pitiful, is this person mentally ill?"

Onlookers pointed a square-shaped machine at her, making clicking sounds from time to time.

"I think so too. It looked like she was biting a stray dog just now..."

Onlookers unanimously agreed, "Post it on Douyin quickly, I can't even imagine how much attention it will get!"

Nero stared blankly, her eyelids twitching. The inexplicable clicking sounds made her feel disoriented and filled her with an indescribable fear... Why didn't these people have faces?

Two men jumped down from the metal coffin and grabbed Nero's arms, one on each side. "What are you doing here? Come back with us!"

Nero struggled fiercely, but here she was just an ordinary woman. In no time, she was bound with sedatives and put into the red coffin with a white cross.

"Where is this? Who are you?! Let me go!" Nero screamed hoarsely. "I am a nobleman of Atlantis, the chief of the Three Grand Harmonizers of Ys, and a descendant of King Remus!"

Those draped in blue and white robes remained unmoved, seemingly completely unaware of what the words meant.

The four of them worked together to press Nero onto the stretcher and transport him to a small ward.

The ward was bare, with only a plain little bed on the four walls.

"Release me! You lowly creatures... Soon the army of Atlantis will arrive and slaughter you all!"

Nero glared at them with wide eyes. "You will regret being born, I guarantee it."

Unfortunately, the caregivers who were going in and out of the room didn't find Nero's threats to be of any use.

The latter shouted at the top of her lungs for a while, but no one paid any attention to her.

"What kind of hellhole is this!" Nero grew increasingly agitated. "I am the Grand Harmonizer! How can I endure such humiliation!"

Anxiety surged within Nero, but beyond that, he felt even more fear and confusion.

In the eyes of musicians, everything has its own melody, and by playing these melodies, one can change the nature of things.

But now Nero finds himself having lost the power to control all things, and it seems that everything about Atlantis has vanished as the surrounding landscape changes drastically.

"No, no, that's not right, it can't be... This is an illusion! This is an illusion!"

As Nero struggled desperately on her sickbed, the surrounding environment collapsed again, and a surge of joy welled up within her.

"As expected... my judgment was correct!" Nero muttered to himself, "This was indeed an illusion."

The intense darkness that had enveloped everything around him slowly faded, and Nero proudly raised his head, ready to welcome yet another victory that belonged to him.

To Nero's dismay and disbelief, when the dark markings faded, he was still surrounded by a small and cramped room!

"Could it be that this isn't an illusion, but rather that I was transported here out of thin air...?"

Nero was truly confused now.

But she soon discovered that there was another uninvited guest in the small ward.

The newcomer wore a strange mask, a pure white coat similar to those of the previous people, a hat that looked neither like gauze nor silk, and strange gloves of unknown material.

Aside from these things, the only thing worth mentioning about the newcomer was his pair of green eyes.

"Who are you?" Nero, breathing rapidly.

"I am your attending physician," the visitor replied.

"Release me," Nero said calmly. "This is undoubtedly the work of the Tuners. You teleported me here, or you put me into an illusion... but you can't touch me, nor can you harm me."

What is Tuners?

"How ridiculous!" Nero shouted, his golden hair dripping wetly across his forehead. "Don't you know musicians? Haven't you heard of the magnificent Atlantis?!"

The man who claimed to be a doctor was writing something rapidly on the board with a pen.

Nero's inquiry was like a stone thrown into water, receiving no response.

It felt like she'd punched a cotton ball; the feeling was so unpleasant it made her want to vomit blood.

After the doctor finished writing, he placed the paper and pen on his lap and said seriously, "You believe that you were 'teleported' here, right?"

"It's also possible that he's hallucinating," Nero sneered.

The doctor shook his head, once again refusing to answer Nero's question, and turned to leave the ward.

Nero gritted her teeth in anger. When had she ever been treated like this?!

"Come back! I order you to come back!"

But the doctor left quickly, and by the time she called out, the room was already empty.

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

Nero wriggled angrily on his sickbed, like a maggot unable to crawl.

She was exhausted after an unknown amount of time, and the surrounding scenery darkened again.

Half-asleep, Nero's hands touched the cold piano keys again. She suddenly opened her eyes and realized that she had somehow broken free of her restraints.

My fingers are pressing against the cold bed railing.

Nero was overjoyed and jumped off the bed—but before she could even reach the door, several burly caregivers came in. Seeing her freed from her restraints, they immediately rushed forward and pinned her down.

"Aaaaaah!"

Nero's face was half pressed to the ground, and he let out painful and unwilling cries.

188 Skadi

This happened many times, and by the time the doctor arrived, Nero's eyes had lost all their light.

As the doctor pried open Nero's eyelids, he made numerous notes in his notebook.

"How have you been feeling lately?" the doctor asked calmly. "Do you still believe you came from Atlantis?"

"If I didn't come from Atlantis, where else could I have come from?" Nero's voice was filled with deep weariness and an extreme fear that she herself was unaware of.

The doctor blinked his green eyes, revealing undisguised disappointment and regret.

For some reason, when Nero saw the look in those eyes, her heart trembled violently for a moment, and a feeling of guilt welled up from the bottom of her heart.

"Have you thought about your mother?" the doctor said earnestly. "Have you thought about your family?"

"My mother, my family?"

Nero froze, her thoughts beginning to churn uncontrollably, unleashing a terrifying torrent.

The doctor's face flickered between light and shadow, the chandelier on the ceiling began to sway, and Nero's eyes were unfocused; she couldn't distinguish her past.

On the one hand, she thought of herself as Grand Harmonizer from Atlantis; on the other hand, she felt that she should be a fallen noblewoman.

She felt that her mother was a vicious woman who would kill her for the sake of so-called power; but then the poisoned wine that was meant to kill her turned into steaming hot tofu pudding, and her mother's resentful face melted away in an instant in her tears. Her mother was blowing on the tofu pudding to cool it down with a spoon and putting it into her mouth.

"My dear, my dear... your brother is gone, and your father is gone too." The old woman's face, its light flickering, held a hollow that opened and closed. "You're all I have left... From now on, let's live well, let's live well!"

Nero's confusion deepened. She opened her mouth and mechanically swallowed the steaming hot tofu pudding.

Suddenly, a fierce but cowardly glint flashed in her eyes. "Get out of my way! I am a noble citizen of Atlantis, born with the undying Youthful Dew flowing through my veins... How could I possibly have a mother as physically weak as you?!"

Just as she was about to unleash even more vicious words, she realized that she was still lying in bed, and the person sitting next to her was not the old woman, but the doctor wearing a white coat.

"Where did you take my mother... that old woman?!" Nero roared. "What did you feed me?!"

The doctor was taking notes in her notebook, but she stopped writing when she heard Nero's voice.

The doctor turned around, his green eyes filled with pity.

She sighed and said calmly, "Don't you understand?"

"Ming, what do you understand?"

The doctor shook his head. "There is no old woman at all. I've been sitting here the whole time. I haven't given you any medicine either. According to regulations, patients cannot use over-the-counter drugs during delirium."

Nero's chest heaved more violently, her voice hoarse. "Liar, you're lying..."

"Why would I lie to you?" the doctor sighed. "I just feel sorry that you were fighting with stray cats and dogs on the street, surrounded by so many people. Fortunately, someone called the police and notified our hospital to take you away... But how heartbroken your mother must have been."

"This is the best hospital in Shanghai. Every day, it costs you more than you can dream of. Do you think it's so easy to stay here?"

"Hou Qing." After a brief silence, the doctor wrote a few strokes in the medical record. "Don't worry, I will definitely save you."

"What... what did you call me?" Nero hesitated before speaking. "Hou Qing, is that my name?"

The doctor glanced at her. "You've even forgotten your own name?"

The patient was distraught, then frantically shook his head, shouting, "I'm not Hou Qing, I'm not Hou Qing, I'm... I'm..."

The girl looked at the doctor in despair and let out a near-hysterical scream, "Who am I! Who am I?!"

The doctor turned his head away, unable to bear it.

The patient collapsed weakly onto the bed, her dry lips unable to close, emitting a chill.

After a long while, she turned her head and looked at the doctor sideways.

"Who I am?"

"You are Hou Qing," the doctor said. "You are more seriously ill than I thought."

"And who are you?"

"I am your attending physician."

"I asked you your name! Your name!" the girl stared, her eyes bloodshot.

"My surname is Ni." The doctor moved her arm away, revealing two bold Chinese characters neatly written on her name tag.

The girl didn't recognize these square characters. The characters carried an indescribable eerie aura, as if they concealed some ancient and dark, terrifying meaning.

She tilted her head back, but the two words moved, like snakes slithering into her eyes without any refusal!

She understood immediately.

—Ni, Lu.

These two words were written on the name tag.

"Your name is Nero... you are Nero?" The girl looked at the doctor suspiciously.

The doctor didn't find it offensive; she nodded and said, "Yes, you can call me Doctor Ni from now on... How are you feeling now, calm down?"

"Call."

Hou Qing exhaled a breath, feeling much lighter, as if something had been lifted off her shoulders.