419. Strange Ceiling
The scene shifted, Trist thought the dream was over, but when he opened his eyes, it seemed that was not the case.
He saw that he was lying on the bed, his clothes were intact, and he was covered with a thin blanket. At the table next to him sat a handsome young man.
The man appeared to be processing documents, looking very busy with official business.
Trist quickly recognized the man as Stone.
After a little thought, he came to the conclusion that this was Liz's perspective.
It's likely that the monster fused with Liz, absorbed Liz consciousness, and then saw her memories.
"You're awake?"
Stone glanced at Trist, his tone relaxed and gentle, lacking the restraint and calculation he usually displayed.
"This liquor is really strong. You passed out after only half a glass, and you almost threw up all over me."
Stone said, pointing to the wine glass beside him.
Trist could sense that the body's owner was somewhat shy. He heard a female voice apologizing and asking if he still needed to work.
After all, it seems he got drunk before he even started serving the guests.
"No need. I just want to chat with someone. Tell me something interesting, and I'll listen."
Stone put down his pen and looked over.
The body's owner began to stammer and stammer, clumsy and timid, but as the conversation deepened, she gradually opened up and felt a heartfelt joy.
She could also sense that the man seemed to be under tremendous pressure, and only this brief rest could relieve him of some of his burden.
"You don't need to continue your current job. I need a cleaning servant, and I think you'd be perfect for the job."
Stone said that it surprised and excited the body's owner.
The subsequent dreams were somewhat fragmented, consisting of snippets of the two of them together. Stone rambled on about various things, mentioning his journey to the Ruined City, his first experience of killing someone, his complicated family relationships, his godfather, and his dreams.
"The society in the Ruined City is now completely fixed. The poor will always be poor, and their descendants will always be poor. People like us can only become the dogs of the upper class. I want to change this, so that people like you will no longer have to sell your bodies. I want to eradicate those bastards who sell illegal drugs. Even if we are a gang, we need to be a gang with principles."
Trist knew very well that for this to happen, Stone needed to become the godfather of the Catania Family, needed the family to unify the underworld of the Ruined City, and needed to wage war against the upper echelons of the Ruined City.
This is precisely what led to the deaths of Liz and Ai Ou, and the birth of the monster.
In his attempt to save people like Liz, Stone's actions led to Liz's death.
Moreover, he couldn't do anything; his dreams, his career, everything was completely destroyed.
Trist even saw Stone's eyes filled with a mixture of shock, regret, restraint, and sadness when he jokingly imagined Liz's embarrassed and annoyed expression as she had a maid outfit chosen that fit her, and when he heard from his subordinates about the shootout at the House of Happiness Apartments.
What he pursued, that dazzling, shimmering Glass Flower, was actually nothing more than the foul sludge of the sewers.
He was naive, believing that gangs were a form of resistance against the existing order and a representation of the spirit of rebellion, but he didn't realize that once he got involved in the underworld, he could never go back to Oldest One.
Trist felt that his physique had undergone certain changes.
He seemed to have become that mud as well, his mind containing many consciousnesses.
In a daze, he uttered the other person's name.
"Ai Ou".
"She should be Liz's twin sister or younger sister. She was frail and suffered from a serious illness since childhood."
"After becoming the host of the Mud Monster, her life became even more fragile."
"In her final moments, she became a monster, killing the gangsters and devouring everyone, merging everyone's consciousness together."
"Stone and Liz already knew each other. Stone wanted to help Liz, but before that, the incident had already occurred."
"Ai Ou used all his consciousness to suppress the monster's madness, Liz's consciousness controlled the mud and found Stone."
"She wanted to help Stone realize his dream, to make a dazzling Glass Flower bloom on this barren and desolate land."
Trist's nostrils were gushing blood. He felt as if his brain was being roasted over a fire, and the system's cold, indifferent words kept popping up in his field of vision.
You have been corrupted.
[Rationality -1]
You have been corrupted.
[Rationality -1]
Finally, his sanity came to a halt with only twenty points remaining. Trist felt his vision distort and he fainted.
When Trist woke up again, he saw an unfamiliar ceiling.
"You're awake? The surgery was a success, you're a girl now."
Lu Ban said in a congratulatory tone while peeling an apple.
"???"
Trist immediately checked his pants.
"Don't talk nonsense!"
He called out.
Lu Ban finished peeling the apple and put down the knife.
Would you like an apple?
"Want."
Then Trist saw Lu Ban take a bite of the apple and eat it with great relish.
"."
Trist begins searching for his revolver.
"You're awake? That's great, just in time for dinner."
At that moment, Xiya pushed open the door and came in, holding a plate filled with a small mountain of food.
Are you getting food for me or for yourself?
Trist thought he might as well lie back down.
"The food here is quite good, just a bit bland, but that's good, patients should eat this kind of food."
As she spoke, Xiya ate a large mouthful of rice, finishing more than half of the mountain of food on her plate.
How long did I sleep?
"Trist asked."
"One day is a very fast recovery rate for the erosion caused by pollution."
Xiya replied, and finished a chicken leg in three seconds.
"The mission is complete?"
He checked his system interface and confirmed that the mission was indeed completed and was ready to be settled at any time—a state in which Lu Ban and Xiya Ya could return at any time.
"Congratulations! You are now a renowned detective in the Ruined City. You single-handedly solved the Glass Flower case, while the godfather of the Catania Family was murdered by his adopted son. You defeated the monster, but failed to capture the adopted son."
Lu Ban handed the newspaper to Trist.
"I don't want to do it again."
Trist felt that his body was indeed undergoing some changes, but he didn't know whether they were for the better or the worse.
"Since you're alright, we should leave now."
Xiya licked the last crumbs off the plate and put it down.
"You can ask the nurse to get you food later, or you can go get it yourself."
"You can keep this."
Lu Ban placed something on the table of Trist's bedside table, then stood up.
The two companions then vanished as if they had never been there.
Trist picked up what Lu Ban had given him and examined it carefully in his palm.
It was a pendant with an unidentified flower design. The pendant was made of glass, and there seemed to be a bit of gray silt in the middle.
He stared at the pendant, unaware that someone was already standing outside the door.
The person knocked on the door.
"Please come in."
Trist looked over.
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