The Long Dead

Chapter 8 The Long Dead

Yes, child!

Pietro's brow furrowed. Seeing the hint Zhang Ye had given him, he finally realized what was wrong.

This orphanage was far too quiet.

Since entering the New Generation Church Orphanage, Pietro had been in a state of high tension. Unlike Zhang Ye, he had grown up in this world and knew far better than Zhang Ye just how broken the mutants—those he called his "own kind"—truly were.

Although no one had seen Emma use her mutant abilities in a long time, and rumors claimed she had forsaken her powers to devote herself entirely to the church, Zhang Ye didn't believe it, and neither did Pietro.

For them, mutant abilities were never a "gift"; they were a "curse."

A curse was not something one could simply discard at will.

With his brain operating at high speed, the moment his feet touched the orphanage grounds, Pietro sensed a peculiar magnetic field, or perhaps an extremely unique form of telepathy.

This telepathy was something ordinary people could not perceive; it could only be detected by mutants born with telepathic abilities, like the White Queen or President X, or by Pietro himself when his brain was in a state of intense reaction while running at high speeds.

A silver blur flashed by, and in the blink of an eye, Pietro appeared in the orphanage cafeteria.

"Not here."

Before the words had even finished leaving his lips, Pietro's figure vanished again, leaving only his slightly raspy voice to dissipate into the air.

As he darted through the orphanage, Pietro's expression grew grim. The telepathic feedback was becoming increasingly severe. If it had only flickered at the edge of his hearing at first, then as he ran at high speeds, this energy seemed to "come alive" and gradually set its sights on him.

"Not in the dorms either, damn it."

Pietro instinctively recoiled from the indescribable telepathic sensations. He tried to focus entirely on searching for the children, hoping to leave no room for that energy to influence him, but he soon realized he was already submerged within those eerie currents.

In his high-speed state, everything in the world appeared almost frozen. Usually, when Pietro ran, the only thing he heard was the whistling roar of the wind, but now, he realized with a jolt of terror that everything around him was changing.

It was a substance churning out from within a white mist, like sludge floating in mid-air, rolling like asphalt under intense heat. It was everywhere, and it was growing, yet whenever Pietro tried to look directly at it, he found it didn't exist.

It was something that constantly emerged and vanished, much like Schrödinger's cat.

Pietro hadn't wanted to pay attention to it—or rather, he had wanted to actively ignore its existence—but soon, those "energies" spread wantonly, locked onto him, and rapidly enveloped him.

It felt like being touched by a slime or some other soft-bodied creature. Pietro shivered; it was a hair-raising sensation. He found it hard to imagine how the entity could have caught him while he was moving at such high speeds.

The next moment, a whisper, like someone murmuring in their sleep, slowly arose and began to drift around Pietro's ears. It was a sound devoid of any logic or useful information, and Pietro felt nothing but irritation, anxiety, and other negative emotions welling up within him.

"Not in the chapel either! Damn it, isn't today Sunday? Why is the Choir classroom empty too?"

Truth be told, if not for the hope Zhang Ye had given him, Pietro would have wanted to run all the way to the peak of the Himalayas, as far away from this place as possible.

Ever since he had been captured by President X and sent to the Mutant Prison, Pietro hadn't encountered such telepathic energy. But he swore that the energy he was facing now, while perhaps not as powerful as President X's, was far more sinister.

Clearly, this was something more twisted and chaotic. It brought with it fear, delusions, claustrophobia, and all sorts of negative energies that sought to drive a person insane.

Although ordinary people couldn't perceive it, the long-term influence meant that one day, when people stepped into the domain of the orphanage, the most basic order would be stripped from their eyes, eventually to be replaced by distortion and chaos.

"Perhaps I should change my approach." Pietro abandoned the idea of stopping again. After searching almost every room in the orphanage, he found that there were no traces of any children having ever existed in this empty building.

The only clue was...

Closing his eyes, Pietro endured the feeling of nausea and began to actively reach out to that telepathic presence.

"Come on, tell me, where are you all?"

On the other side, the conversation between Zhang Ye and Emma was becoming increasingly cheerful.

In any world, conversing with a charming and intellectual woman was a pleasant experience for the body and mind.

However, Zhang Ye felt no slack in his vigilance. He remained on high alert; the moment he felt the slightest sensation of telepathic intrusion, he would immediately draw the gun from his sleeve and give this beautiful woman a taste of something harsh.

"Where were we? Oh right, this unparalleled monastery. Emma, I remember you spent your entire fortune to build this place. It is simply... I mean, you are truly admirable. That quote of yours in the newspaper, 'Everything we do is for the next generation,' was wonderful. I still remember it vividly."

"I couldn't sleep before coming here. Your existence fills me with infinite admiration. I've even read every report about you. Being able to interview you is truly my honor."

"Everyone is special, Zhang. To me, you are also a very interesting reporter. After the interview is over, would you be willing to stay and taste our orphanage lunch?"

"Lunch? Oh, yes, yes, of course! I would be more than happy to have lunch with you. I would do anything for you!"

A simple, honest smile appeared on Zhang Ye's face. He looked like a fan meeting his idol—wanting to get close but not daring to get too near.

Suddenly, Zhang Ye looked up at the smiling Emma and asked curiously, "Emma, where are the children of the orphanage?"

"What?" Emma paused, not having reacted to Zhang Ye's sudden change of topic.

"Isn't this an orphanage? Where are the children?" Zhang Ye blinked and added, "I wanted to interview them while I was at it. After all, the editor gave me a large spread this time."

"Children... Yes, they should be in morning class at this time. Sister Lisa takes the children for morning class every day." The smile on Emma's face did not fade.

As if to confirm this, a faint, rhythmic chanting drifted over from a distant classroom.

Zhang Ye turned his head and looked toward the direction of the classroom.

"Would you like to go see them? The children would love you." Emma tilted her head and offered a kind invitation.

But as he listened to Emma's words, with his back turned to her, the smile on Zhang Ye's face slowly faded, replaced by a cold, serious expression.

"No need."

As he spoke, Zhang Ye raised his left hand, and instantly, a particle beam gathered in his palm.

Pong!

Click.

The Repulsor Ray struck 'Emma' directly in the body, and immediately after, a sound akin to a shattering mirror exploded in Zhang Ye's ears.

The sound of an object hitting the ground followed closely behind. Zhang Ye turned around, hiding the arm of his Iron Suit inside his sleeve, his gaze fixed on the 'Emma' lying on the floor.

"You deceived my feelings, Emma."

It was a long-dead mummified corpse. Her chest had been blown open by the blast of the Repulsor Ray, leaving a hole the size of a palm. Judging by her appearance, she had been dead for a long time; even the clothes on her body were rotting and tattered, emitting a faint, putrid stench of decay.

"I guess you must be that Sister Lisa."

Staring at the corpse for a moment, Zhang Ye slowly took out the photograph he had taken earlier from his camera. On the photo, however, appeared two dried-up corpses with vacant, lifeless eyes.