The Marionette

Perhaps the side effects of being paranoid have intensified after I advanced to the third stage of the Insightful Realm?

When making these arrangements, Xiao Xiao himself didn't even have a clear purpose.

He couldn't understand it either:

If this city is a fabrication, then all the actions of the native inhabitants, even those with some degree of autonomy, generally follow a certain direction. So, what kind of emotional impact does this city intend to bring to its "father" with such a mysterious behavioral logic? Or, what purpose does it have that it needs to use him to accomplish something?

But let's find it first!

Before he finished speaking and hung up the phone, Yang Jia just drove silently.

Only after the call ended did he casually ask, "Who was it?"

"Our boss."

Xiao Xiao hurriedly explained, "You know I'm the boss of the Pink Maiden Gang, and I'm involved in the underworld now too."

"I've heard about it."

Yang Jia smiled and said, "Sounds like you're quite close?"

"Something feels off?"

Xiao Xiao thought to himself for a moment, then quickly smiled and said, "We're not that close, it's just her personality..."

"You don't need to explain to me."

Yang Jia smiled and said softly, "Where am I taking you?"

Xiao Xiao sighed helplessly. After a while, he smiled and said, "Let's go to the hospital. I haven't visited my mother yet today."

Having grown accustomed to Xiao Xiao's close, family-like relationship despite being a stranger in this city, Yang Jia didn't say anything, simply smiling before turning the car around. One of the Ten Edicts of the Outsider left behind by the Old Chairman was to teach them to enjoy the real world in this artificial city, something Yang Jia had always done, but Xiao Xiao seemed even closer to her.

However, this time she did not go upstairs with Xiao Xiao, but simply left him at the hospital entrance.

"A lot has happened in the past few days."

She said softly, "But in any case, Black Gate City is no longer in the chaotic state it used to be. We have also learned some things about the Old Chairman. So, no matter what happens, just remember that we still have our kind in this city."

"Just like the Old Chairman's plan to build a large ship to take everyone away, it requires everyone's efforts, doesn't it?"

"Get some rest, and remember to contact me if you need anything."

"..."

She said these words with a smile on her face.

Xiao Xiao could sense that she was implying something, but he remained completely honest in his heart.

Thinking of what she had been concerned about, Xiao Xiao paused only slightly before smiling:

"I will."

"..."

He watched Yang Jia's car drive away before turning around and walking into the hospital.

It was past the time for visiting patients, but Xiao Xiao didn't care too much. He slowly walked towards the hospital, his Eye of the Seer slightly overlapping, taking in the surrounding scenery, the location of the security guards, doctors, and nurses. He gently pushed open the door of the inpatient building and went inside before the security guard who was smoking on the side could turn around. He then made his way to the ward.

"Why are you here so late?"

Mom was still awake and chatting happily with the nurse.

When Xiao Xiao came in, the nurse was slightly surprised, then suddenly turned her head and left angrily.

"..."

Xiao Xiao's expression suddenly Mingming strange. He hadn't done anything wrong, so why did he feel a little guilty?

"I just finished some work and came to see you."

Xiao Xiao sat down on the edge of the bed, picked up an apple, and began to slowly peel it. He was in the most chaotic moment of his life, which was why he subconsciously came to the hospital to see his mother, but he didn't know what to say. It was as if just sitting here was enough.

Seeing him like this, his mother couldn't help but ask, "Have you been quite busy with work lately?"

"Right."

Xiao Xiao nodded and said, "I was just promoted, but the situation is chaotic, and I'm a bit at a loss."

"He actually got promoted?"

Upon hearing this, Mom was overjoyed. She affectionately patted Xiao Xiao's head and said, "I knew it. When it comes to business, you're no less capable than your father. No, you should say you're much better than him. Don't let his impressive appearance fool you; back then, he was just a small-time hustler. If it weren't for inheriting what your grandfather left behind, he wouldn't have such a successful business later on..."

Xiao Xiao slowed down his apple-peeling motion, a hint of curiosity in his voice. "Wasn't Dad quite successful in business back then?"

"Success?"

Mom curled her lip dismissively and said, "Success what?"

"Have you forgotten how badly you lost money in real estate back when you were in high school?"

"If it weren't for the fact that we somehow got in touch with a big company like Black Forest later, we would have turned things around much sooner..."

"..."

"The Black Forest?"

Xiao Xiao paused slightly while peeling the apple, then continued, though his lips pursed slightly.

It turns out that my father had already crossed paths with the people of the Black Forest back when he was in high school!

After slowly peeling the apple, Xiao Xiao chatted with his mother for a while, intentionally or unintentionally, before leaving the hospital.

When he returned to the dark alley where his home was located, he was still thinking about the events of the day.

Deep down, he felt a faint sense of gratitude towards Yang Jia for not being too eager or forcing himself because of the things in the Old Chairman's safe or the so-called Noah Project. Although he had been trying to process these suppressed emotions along the way, he felt an inexplicable irritation, as if his every move was being designed and manipulated.

He disliked the feeling of being treated like a puppet.

In fact, I find it extremely distasteful.

Having become accustomed to seeing these indigenous people manipulated from the inside out, this sense of disgust is even stronger.

Even on an instinctive level, he began to feel anxious.

However, as he tried to process these emotions, he also told himself not to rush or get nervous.

The more this happens, the calmer we need to be, and the clearer we can see things.

Anyway...

As he thought about it, his steps slowed down. Just as his figure was about to disappear completely into the darkness of the alley, he suddenly stopped, then expressionlessly pulled out the Silver Revolver from behind him, aimed it at the night sky, and pulled the trigger hard.

"Bang bang bang bang..."

He fired several shots, venting his anger fiercely.

Even the corners of his mouth were slightly clenched, giving his expression a vaguely cruel look.

"Even if I'm an honest person, I can't let you manipulate me like this..."

"I endured four years of pain and torment before returning to the outside world, not so you could bully me..."

"..."

"..."

Just as Xiao Xiao had made up his mind and returned home, Yang Jia, driving through the night, also received a phone call.

"A new guild master has appeared in Black Gate City, so shouldn't that forbidden item have been found by now?"

The voice on the phone was that of a man, calm and authoritative. "It's getting later than we expected. I hope you can bring that thing back as soon as possible. Dante needs it for new research."

"Should I be on leave right now?"

Yang Jia listened, frowned slightly, and then said softly, "In addition, I think there may have been some unexpected things. We did elect a new lord of Black Gate City, and we did see the Old Chairman's legacy, but the safe was empty. Perhaps the Old Chairman did find that item, but obviously, unlike what we guessed, he did not put it in the safe."

"How is that possible?"

The voice on the phone sounded somewhat surprised, then asked in a deep voice, "Did you see it with your own eyes?"

Yang Jia remained silent for a while before saying, "No."

"Since I didn't become the president, I naturally won't be the first person to see the Old Chairman's legacy."

"..."

"You actually believed such a clumsy lie?"

The voice on the phone immediately hardened, turning cold as it said, "Tell those people not to be too greedy. They can't keep something like that. Just like in Black Gate City before, finding something like that only brought trouble..."

Yang Jia frowned. "I told you, I didn't come back for this."

What you think is your business.

The voice on the phone was blunt. "But you should understand the danger of leaving this thing outside."

"We also know how important it is to us!"

"..."

"..."

Similarly, outside the city, amidst the twisted flesh and blood and the thick, dark red mist, a massive skeletal ship, like a silent ghost, slowly moved through the writhing tentacles. Deathly silence reigned everywhere, except when the skeletal ship passed by, suddenly bursts of loud music and occasional bursts of excited laughter would erupt from it.

"The Silver Bullet Family was wiped out?"

"So what's the situation in Black Gate City now? Has a new guild leader emerged?"

"..."

On the deck, a group of people huddled together playing cards, their faces covered in slips of paper. When asked by the others, a guy in white slammed a four on the small table and said, "Who would know?"

"They even pulled out your eyeliner, so what are you asking?"

"..."

"Holy crap..."

Someone nearby shouted, "We're the infamous Hell Organization! Shouldn't we have a backup plan after a backup plan? They wiped out one group, but there's another one? You didn't really only leave the Silver Bullet Family as spies, did you?"

"With Silver Bullet dead, are we completely in the dark?"

"..."

"Fuck it..."

The man in white threw out another four opponents with a vengeance, laughing, "Our Hell Organization doesn't operate like some old swindler..."

"If you want to know what it's like there, why don't you just go and see for yourself?"

"Haha, another four, that's it..."