Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Love and a Wrong Turn

More than a month ago, in the dead of night, somewhere in Business Capital, a few kilometers from where Ye and his group were temporarily staying—

The Sick Spider stared at the person in front of her with a gaze as sharp as a knife, its sharpest silver lines covering the space, but its slightly trembling hands betrayed the fear in its heart.

"Why are you so nervous, Sick Spider?"

The source of her fear was sitting right in front of her, fiddling with an elegant coffee cup.

They are currently in a 24-hour coffee shop.

The Sick Spider was completely bewildered; everything had happened too fast. At first, she had only come out for some fresh air after Ye and the others had fallen asleep. By the time she realized what was happening, she was already sitting here facing Yu He, with a cup of coffee on the table in front of her.

"Yu... He..."

"Yes, it's me. It's been a long time since we had a proper face-to-face conversation, hasn't it?"

Yu He's expression was relaxed, and his tone was gentle, a stark contrast to the extremely tense and Sick Spider.

"..."

The Sick Spider desperately tried to calm her chaotic mind, forcing herself to think rationally. A series of events and thoughts raced through her mind; there were too many questions, too many terrifying things.

Yu He know her true identity? He knew from the very beginning? Why did he use some means to secretly "get" her out after Ye and the others had fallen asleep? Why did he want to meet with her alone? Had she already been added to the list of defectors? Had everything been completely exposed? What was he really up to?

The most crucial question is—will I die?

"Stop overthinking. Right now, the only person in the entire organization who knows that you are actually the Sick Spider' who has been declared dead is me, and I haven't reported this."

"... How can I trust you?"

"Sitting face-to-face with the organization's top brass, yet not exploding to death—isn't that enough to explain the problem?"

"..."

That's right, there's no more direct evidence than this.

At least for now, Yu He has absolutely no intention of killing her.

"You're hiding many secrets, you Sick Spider."

"..."

"Well... but I don't need to know and don't want to know anyway, since it's all related to Ye, right? Actually, I hope we can become friends. I've been thinking that since we brushed past each other in the organization."

"I don't understand what you mean..."

"It means exactly what it says. As a Special Class Combatant, you have the strength and the character. You're not as reckless as most strong individuals, nor are you overly righteous like Stone Strike. You're the kind of person most suitable for 'cooperation'."

"You..."

The overly obvious flattery, while downplaying the tension, subtly steers the conversation toward "cooperation." Such blatant subversion is obvious to anyone with a brain.

But it was precisely because it was so obvious that she was speechless.

"... Ha, stop with the politeness. What cooperation? It's just blatant coercion! What good would it do me? If I refuse, you'll kill me. If I agree, what are the chances of success? Even if Ye or Xiao Wu spares my life, Haoyue will never let me go!"

The Sick Spider blurted out everything she wanted to say in one breath. To calm herself down, she picked up her coffee cup and gulped it down, though her mind was still racing. In fact, she regretted it as soon as she finished speaking. Why had she been so impulsive as to blurt things out?

The other party was a high-ranking official, one of the strongest people on this planet besides the Leader. Eliminating him would be incredibly easy for them, yet Yu He had still humbled himself and spoken to him politely—this showed that Yu He was already giving him considerable face. If he were to reject them outright, it would be utterly ungrateful and only bring harm. Why be so impulsive? He clearly had the option of feigning agreement to appease Yu He while he slowly devised a countermeasure, or some other delaying tactic...

"So you're saying you refused?"

It's here!

Yu He's voice sounded unhappy. The Sick Spider lowered its head, its small hands gripping the edge of the stool tightly. Clearly, he was angry. How would he attack? What methods would he use? How could it defend itself? Even if it survived the first round, could it escape by running at full speed? What was going on?

"That's a real shame. Oh well, we'll be enemies next time we meet... Waiter, the bill please."

"... ah?"

The Sick Spider, bewildered, looked up and saw that Yu He's coffee was empty. He was handing several crisp banknotes to the seemingly drowsy waiter, who took the money and left without a word. Yu He muttered to himself, "Not even a goodbye? Service industry workers should be more mindful of their attitude," as he put on his business casual jacket and stood up from his chair.

"Etc!"

"What's wrong, Miss Sick Spider?"

"You, uh, um... you just... you just left like that?"

"What else can I do?" Yu He his eyebrows. "I'm here to have a proper talk with you and to cooperate with you, not to threaten you. If you accept, that would be best. If you refuse so decisively from the start, I'll have no choice but to leave. Is there a problem?"

"No... how should I put it... I... thought you were going to kill me..."

"Kill you? That wouldn't be very good. If we resort to violence like wild beasts to solve everything, then human civilization would have no reason to exist. You don't need to have any doubts. Or perhaps—"

He tilted his head and looked directly into the eyes of the Sick Spider.

"--Actually, you're interested in collaborating with me?"

"..."

Seemingly sensing something from the Sick Spider's silence, Yu He smiled slightly, sat back down, and refilled his coffee.

Can I say that you're willing to listen to me properly now?

"... Enough with the nonsense, this is what you really wanted, isn't it!"

"Very good."

Yu He clapped his hands softly.

"First of all, I can assure you that I am here with sincerity. I will not force you to make a choice, but I hope you can at least give me a chance, a chance for you to realize the situation."

"What's going on...?"

"It's your situation... Hmm, there's a bit too much sugar in this coffee."

"Coffee or anything like that is fine!!"

"Ah, I'm sorry. Go on... what are your thoughts on Miss Ye?"

"..."

Yu He's first question hit the nail on the head.

This is precisely the problem that the Sick Spider has always avoided thinking about.

What exactly does she think of Ye? Or rather, why should I side with her?

"I can probably guess that you've been living under the protection of your mortal enemy for so long, and it must have been quite a struggle for you. But what if I told you that with my introduction, you could smoothly rejoin the organization, without having to worry about any defector lists, and could live comfortably...?"

"Tsk..."

Yu He's proposal was indeed very attractive to the Sick Spider.

At the Central United Academy, the two engaged in a bloody and brutal battle, and it wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them mortal enemies. However, by chance, he lost his physical body and was on the verge of death, but he regained his body because of her. At that time, Ye didn't intend to save her, not to mention that Ye's first reaction after his rebirth was to eliminate him. If it weren't for that butterfly pleading for him, he would have been reduced to pieces long ago.

Maintaining this awkward and unspoken relationship, the Sick Spider unwittingly joined Ye's group, because she had nowhere else to go. To the organization, she was already dead; with nowhere else to go, she could only rely on her dangerous relationship with Ye to fight alongside them. It wasn't out of friendship or anything like that; she knew that after Little Butterfly was kidnapped, without her own daughter's intervention, Ye had no reason to keep her alive, and it wouldn't be surprising if he killed her at any time.

That's why she has to constantly assist them in their battles.

In order to prove his worth to Ye, his mortal enemy.

To survive.

This was an immense humiliation for the proud and arrogant Sick Spider, and it goes without saying how much resentment she had harbored all along.

But,

However, even so...

Was all the time spent with Ye truly humiliating?

Is there really not even a single good memory left?

If you were to ask her if she hates Ye, the answer would be yes; but if you were to ask her if she hates Ye to the extreme, to the point of wanting to fight her to the death, the answer... would be no.

Moreover, Ye is the last thread connecting the past, the last connection to that person.

The longer she spent time with him, the more she could see that person's shadow in Ye.

Is it really a good idea to betray Ye and side with Yu He like this?

"Yu He..."

After an unknown period of silence, the Sick Spider finally spoke slowly, her mouth feeling incredibly dry.

"I... I don't know... what to do... but... but... cooperating with you... I'm afraid..."

"Not even for her sake?"

"--!"

The scene suddenly changed, the abrupt shift leaving the Sick Spider momentarily dizzy. When she finally could see her surroundings clearly—

"... Eh?"

What now lies between her and Yu He is no longer a coffee table, but a crystal coffin.

Inside lay a stunningly beautiful woman.

Her appearance, figure, every detail, were exactly the same as the one in my memory.

"This, this is-- Kasser!!!???"

Shock and confusion caused the Sick Spider to stagger back several steps. It took it a while to regain its breath before it slowly stepped forward, looking down at the Blood Fiend in the coffin. After a long while, it finally looked up at Yu He.

"This... is she... not dead? Or are you...?"

"It was me. To revive Blood Fiend, I extracted her blood sample and a small amount of her body remains, investing an unimaginable amount of money and effort to perfectly recreate her body. I can guarantee that, both in appearance and inner strength, it is exactly the same as Blood Fiend in life."

"But..."

"However, as you can see, this is just an empty shell. It has no personality, no consciousness, no soul. Of course, it cannot be called 'resurrected'. In order for Blood Fiend to truly reappear in this world, I still need one last thing, the most crucial thing."

"You mean... Ye?"

"That's right. As long as you hand Ye over to me, I can bring your beloved back to life... not a cheap substitute, not a pointless psychological comfort, but a true resurrection... Of course, my ultimate success or failure depends entirely on your choice."

Then, Yu He explained everything to her, completely and without reservation.

The series of shocks had numbed the Sick Spider.

"Alright, Miss Sick Spider, you now know everything about my purpose, the process, and the handling of any remaining issues. Let me reiterate: I'm here to cooperate with you, not to coerce you. I've explained everything to you; that's my sincerity. Now it's your turn to choose—"

Reject me, relay everything I told you to Ye, and then lose her forever.

Or promise me you'll become my true trump card, lurking beside Ye, and then I'll win her back.

"Make a choice, Sick Spider, make a choice, Lilia Stephenson."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I suddenly remembered a line from the movie "Rokka: Heroes of Rikka":

Love is truly a very, very incredible thing.

We lost to the Six Flowers Heroes twice before, both times because they were supported by the power of love. But this third encounter will not be the same.

The third generation of Rikka Heroes, this time you will be defeated by love.

(Laugh)