Chapter 191

"What should I call you? Doctor Number Two? Or perhaps—"

"Wraith."

He turned his head and looked at the woman behind him who looked almost exactly like the Doctor.

However, the latter still had shoulder-length silver hair, and his face seemed to lack the carefree demeanor that Doctor should have, becoming more indifferent and taciturn.

"Okay, Lady Wraith, so, did you do this? Leave me here."

"What they can't perceive is that the 'computing power' provided by Originium is enough to stretch time over there by tens of millions of times. The hundreds of years you've spent here are just a few seconds disappearing for them."

Why do this?

"... Zuo Jian, I will stop you from resurrecting Theresa."

It seemed like she was having a very long dream.

In her dream, she was just a clumsy tailor's apprentice, and her brother was just a young and unskilled swordsman.

In her dream, she seemed to have returned to the time when the two of them went on an "adventure" as children, and her brother carried her back home through the dense jungle.

"Theresa... Theresa..."

In a daze, it seemed as if someone was calling out to me.

The young Sarkaz swordsman was carrying his sister on his back as he walked through a thicket of thorns, calling out her name as he went.

"... elder brother?"

Theresa opened her eyes and looked at the young swordsman's face in front of her. The boy's face was so youthful, yet it also carried a hint of stubbornness.

"I thought you were asleep, Theresa."

Theresis turned her head and looked at her still somewhat dazed sister behind her.

We're almost home.

"Home..."

(Damn it, every time I write about Teacher Da Te, I can't help but think of the Bilibili video about Theresis selling hooks. It's really weird.)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Afterimage? Or Reality?

"Why would you do this, Doctor... no, Wraith?"

Zuo Jian, looking at the woman in front of him with a questioning gaze, who had lowered her eyes and refused to look him in the eye.

However, the latter did not seem to have any intention of arguing with her on this point. She simply stepped forward silently and then slowly placed her hand about ten centimeters away from her Zuo Jian chest.

Immediately afterwards, with a slight tremor in her fingers, a bright red heart suddenly appeared on the former's chest, while a corresponding hole appeared on the Zuo Jian of Zuo Jian's chest.

"Is this the 'hint' you use to suppress your own consciousness and prevent it from causing damage to this space?"

"More or less. I realize that if I don't suppress my own consciousness, it might affect not only the Collective Souls, but also that Ms. Theresa."

"Put it back in." The Doctor's voice seemed to tremble slightly.

At the same time, she grasped the heart on Zuo Jian's chest and tried to press it into his chest.

But just as she exerted force, her slender wrist was stopped by another large, strong hand.

Zuo Jian gripped the Doctor's wrist, looking at him with a serious expression, and slowly began to speak.

"Wraith, do you know what you're doing?"

"I'll help you break free from my little tricks. Without the suppression of your consciousness, you'll have absolute control over this space. Once I do this, you'll be able to control this entire area in a matter of moments, and the constraints I imposed on you using Originium as a medium will vanish."

"What about Theresa?"

.

"He will rest in peace."

In other words...

She looked up, her expression shifting for a fleeting moment between coldness and self-reproach.

"Zuo Jian, go back. Going back to Laurentina's side will be easy for you. All you need to do is... all you need to do is let Theresa rest in peace..."

"What if I refuse to do so, Wraith?" Zuo Jian grabbed the other's hand, but then took two steps back, creating a small distance between them. He waved his hand, watching his heart, which had been floating in his chest, vanish into thin air.

"Around four hundred years..."

The Wraith looked at Zuo Jian and slowly spoke.

"This world, based on Theresa's memories, will advance for about three hundred years, until Theresa experiences 'death' again here, and then it will end."

"In other words, during those few minutes when reality is passing, your consciousness will exist here for over three hundred years, but that still won't change anything. Theresa will still die. So, you're just torturing yourself..."

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

"Why?"

"If you stayed here for three hundred years, do you think you would still be the same person you were at the beginning? Do you know what would happen to Laurentina? For her, in the blink of an eye, people she knew would become complete strangers, and you yourself probably wouldn't even be able to remember her!"

"Even if you do that, it might not save Theresa..."

"If I remember correctly, as long as we complete the Shining Spell, we'll have a chance, right?"

"Do you know what you're saying? It means... you're going to traverse hundreds of years, a true century for you..."

"Why? Zuo Jian... why did you do this...?"

The Wraith stood before him, as if making a final stand.

"Why... if I had to say, it's probably because I'm a greedy person... If I could, I would want to help or save everyone."

"And, when I saw this wilderness, I suddenly remembered the Terra Guide that the Doctor and I both had before, which briefly and vaguely mentioned a Sarkaz demon lord."

"The two authors, one named Kal'tsit and the other an unknown woman, both mentioned that unknown demon lord in their books... Although the details are vague, it's still clear that the unknown demon lord seems to harbor incredibly lofty ideals."

"However, when I later arrived in Victoria and casually looked up information about that Demon King, I only found vague information that he had sacrificed himself in the civil war in Kazdel."

"What a pity... Wraith."

Zuo Jian stepped forward and stood shoulder to shoulder with the other person. She paused for a moment, and finally spoke.

"Ideals are a beautiful poison, a cruel flame. The light and heat they emit turn those who believe in ideals into moths drawn to the flame... In the end, nothing is left but embers that have burned away their warmth."

"Zuo Jian, the world I know, whether in the past or the future, has never left a place for these idealists."

"So they deserved to die, Wraith?"

"..."

"I can't do it, Wraith, I can't watch someone like this die like this."

As he spoke, he stepped past the Wraith, preparing to walk in the opposite direction from her.

"And what about Laurentina!? When you reappear before her... when you forget her..."

"I won't forget."

The Wraith turned its head, looked at the man's waving back, and slowly spoke.

"How could I possibly forget... my family?"

"Besides, I can't just stay here obediently for that long! At worst... I'll find a way to find those Collective Souls ahead of time!"

"No matter what, I believe there's always a way to solve it."

She watched the other person's retreating figure and unconsciously spoke.

"Are you really planning to... just leave like this? I'm... the one who caused this whole situation—"

The other person's figure receded into the distance, and it seemed they could no longer hear their own voice.

The Wraith stood still, sensing the desolation around it.

Is it happening again...? Why...?

Why, neither Theresa nor Zuo Jian, why? Why, even though they themselves did such outrageous things... did neither of you want to...?

Are you going to lay a hand on me?

Clearly... clearly all I wanted was...

'Doctor, I believe in you.'

No... Zuo Jian... I...

The Wraith gasped for breath, feeling a suffocating pressure in its chest, as if something was tightly bound inside.

That's not how it works...

Did they deserve to die?

That's not true!!!!

She knelt on the ground, watching Zuo Jian disappear from sight.

That's clearly not what I thought...

She reached out, straining towards the back of the person who was about to disappear.

The shadow stretches out, as if trying to reach some distant shore.

"No... that's not how it is..."

It felt like something was stuck in my throat, and every word I uttered seemed to require immense effort.

"Zuo Jian... Theresa... I'm not..."

The Wraith spoke, and she was about to speak, to him, to Zuo Jian, her true thoughts...

"I'm so happy, Doctor, did you come to see me?"

However, the next moment, a cold touch suddenly enveloped her neck, followed by a somewhat chilling hug. She was pulled into an embrace from behind, accompanied by a familiar whisper, and her words froze in mid-air.

"I've imagined countless scenarios for our reunion, but I never expected you to come to my side so willingly, Doctor... I'm so happy--"

"Puri..."

"Hmm? Lady Wraith?" Zuo Jian turned his Zuo Jian; just now, he seemed to have heard the Doctor's voice.

But when he turned around, he saw that the wasteland behind him, where the Wraith had once stood, was now completely empty.

"Are they gone?" He shook his head, then turned and continued walking in the same direction.

First of all, since this space was constructed based on Theresa's memories, it means that it can't be very large. If nothing unexpected happens, it might be limited to the entire territory of Kazdel.

Therefore, his current goal is to find the "Collective Souls" he needs to get close to within this limited space.

However, even if the scope is only the entire Kazdel, finding the scattered Collective Souls is still no easy task.

"No, let's be Zuo Jian. This place isn't that big. Even if we search the whole place, it probably won't take three hundred years, right? Thinking about it carefully, it makes sense!"

He patted his face, trying to stop himself from thinking about negative things.

However... Zuo Jian looked up, gazing at the city that was faintly visible in the distance.

Kazdel... or perhaps we should go check it out first.

With this thought in mind, Zuo Jian jumped into a jungle below a cliff in the wasteland. Crossing this jungle directly would save a lot of time, and...

Dust rose from the forest as a dark-haired man slowly emerged.

The body I constructed in this space also possesses such absurd physical strength... although I can't manipulate flesh and blood as freely as the original parasite.

However, experiencing what it's like to be human, which is something I haven't had in a long time, isn't bad at all.