The Long Dead

Yes, child!

Pietro frowned. Seeing Zhang Ye's signal, he finally noticed something was wrong.

This Orphanage was far too quiet.

Ever since entering the New Generation Church Orphanage, Pietro had been in an extremely tense state. Unlike Zhang Ye, who had not grown up in this world, Pietro knew far better how broken the mutants known as his "kind" truly were.

Although no one had seen Emma use her mutant ability for a long time, rumors claimed that she had abandoned her powers and devoted herself entirely to the church. But Zhang Ye did not believe it, and neither did Pietro.

To them, mutant abilities could not be called a "gift" at all. They were more like a "curse."

A curse was not something one could simply discard.

With his brain running at high speed, Pietro had sensed a peculiar magnetic field—or an exceptionally strange psychic link—the moment his foot crossed into the Orphanage.

Ordinary people could not perceive this psychic connection. Only mutants with innate telepathy, such as the White Queen or President X, or Pietro when his brain was reacting intensely during high-speed movement, could notice it.

A silver figure flashed past, and Pietro appeared in the Orphanage cafeteria in the blink of an eye.

"Not here—"

Before he could finish speaking, Pietro vanished again, leaving only his slightly hoarse voice to fade away.

As he raced through the Orphanage, Pietro's expression grew increasingly twisted. The psychic feedback was becoming more severe. At first, it had merely surfaced by his ears from time to time, but as he ran at high speed, the energy seemed to have come "alive" and gradually fixed its attention on him.

"Not in the dormitories either. Damn it."

With instinctive revulsion, Pietro resisted those indescribable psychic sensations. He tried to focus entirely on searching for the children, leaving himself no time to be affected by that energy, but he soon realized that he was already inside those bizarre energies.

In the world of high-speed movement, everything appeared almost motionless. Whenever Pietro ran in the past, the only thing he heard was the roaring, chaotic wind. But now, he discovered in horror that everything around him was changing.

A substance continuously surged from the white mist, like mud floating in midair, like asphalt boiling under intense heat. It was everywhere, growing in number, yet whenever Pietro tried to look at it, he found that it did not exist.

It was something that endlessly emerged and disappeared, like Schrödinger's cat.

Pietro had not wanted to pay attention to it—or rather, he had deliberately tried to ignore its existence. But soon, that "energy" spread wantonly, locked onto Pietro, and rapidly wrapped around him.

It felt as though he had been touched by slime or some other soft-bodied creature. Pietro shuddered all over. The sensation was utterly hair-raising, and he could hardly imagine how the other party had caught him while he was running at such speed.

The next moment, a murmur slowly arose, like someone muttering in their sleep, drifting endlessly around Pietro's ears. It held no logic or useful information whatsoever, yet Pietro felt negative emotions such as irritation and unease welling up inside him.

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

Honestly, if Zhang Ye had not brought him hope, Pietro would have wanted nothing more than to run all the way to the summit of the Himalayas and get as far from this place as possible.

Ever since President X had captured him and sent him to Mutant Prison, Pietro had not encountered this sort of Psychic Energy again. But Pietro swore that while the energy before him might not be as powerful as President X's, it was far stranger.

Clearly, this was something more distorted and chaotic. It brought fear, delusions, claustrophobia, and all sorts of negative emotions that sought to drive people insane.

Although ordinary people could not detect it, over time, its influence would eventually strip away the most basic sense of order from the eyes of anyone who entered the Orphanage's grounds, leaving them consumed by distortion and chaos.

"Maybe I should try another approach." Pietro gave up on stopping again. After searching nearly every room in the Orphanage, he found no trace that any children had ever been in the empty building.

The only clue was—

Closing his eyes, Pietro forced down his nausea and began actively reaching out to that psychic connection.

"Come on. Tell me, where are you all?"

Elsewhere, Zhang Ye's conversation with Emma was becoming increasingly pleasant.

No matter the world, speaking with a seductive, intelligent woman was something that delighted both body and mind.

Yet Zhang Ye did not relax in the slightest. He remained on guard the entire time. The moment he felt even the slightest sign of telepathic intrusion, he would immediately pull the gun hidden in his sleeve and give the beautiful woman before him a brutal surprise.

"Where were we? Oh, right, this incomparable Monastery. Emma, I remember that you spent your entire fortune to build this place. It really is... I mean, you are truly admirable. That line you said in the newspaper before, 'Everything we do is for the next generation,' was wonderful. I still remember it clearly.

Before coming here, I could barely sleep. Your existence filled me with boundless admiration. I even read every report about you. Being able to interview you is truly an 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 try our Orphanage's lunch?"

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

An honest, simple smile appeared on Zhang Ye's face. At that moment, he was like a fan meeting his idol, wanting to get closer but not daring to approach too much.

Suddenly, Zhang Ye raised his head and looked curiously at the smiling Emma. "Emma, where are the children from the Orphanage?"

"What?" Emma froze for a moment, unable to react to Zhang Ye's sudden change of subject.

"Isn't this an Orphanage? Where are the children?" Zhang Ye blinked, then added, "I wanted to interview them too. After all, my editor gave me a large section this time."

"The children... right, they should be having their morning lessons at this hour. Sister Lisa leads the children in morning lessons every day." Emma's smile did not fade.

As if to confirm it, faint recitation drifted from a distant classroom.

Zhang Ye turned and looked toward the classroom.

"Would you like to take a look? The children will like you very much." Emma tilted her head and warmly invited him.

But upon hearing Emma's words, Zhang Ye, whose back was to her, slowly lost the smile on his face. It was replaced by a stern, cold expression.

"No need."

As he spoke, Zhang Ye raised his left hand. In an instant, a Particle Beam gathered in his palm.

Pong!

Crack—

The Repulsor Ray struck "Emma" squarely in the body. A sound like shattering glass then exploded beside Zhang Ye's ear.

The sound of something hitting the ground followed closely behind. Zhang Ye turned around, hiding the Iron Suit's arm in his sleeve as he looked at the "Emma" lying on the floor.

"You deceived my feelings, Emma."

It was a dried corpse that had long been dead. A palm-sized hole had been blasted through its chest by the Repulsor Ray. Judging by its appearance, it had been dead for quite some time. Even its clothes had rotted away, giving off a faint, decaying stench.

"I'm guessing you're Sister Lisa."

After staring at the corpse for a while, Zhang Ye slowly took out a photograph he had taken earlier from his camera. In the photograph were two shriveled corpses with lifeless eyes.