Joey had never expected his earlier plan to come to fruition this way.
Then something seemed to occur to him, and horror spread across his face.
"Annie, you're not planning to blow up the shipyard, are you?"
Judging by the expressions on their faces, that was exactly what they intended.
Chris waved a hand with a smile and led the way. "Come with me!"
While Joey was still hesitating over whether to follow, the two had already gone a short distance. After a moment's thought, he gritted his teeth and went after them.
Once inside, Joey discovered that everyone in the factory was elderly.
Just as yesterday, he followed Annie and repeated the steps they had taken beneath the hospital.
He said nothing throughout the process. Only after everything was finished and they were ready to leave did he speak.
"Annie, Chris." He stopped them, his expression grave and his eyes filled with resolve. "Now that I'm already in this with you, you don't need to keep everything from me, do you?"
Being constantly led around by the nose felt awful.
Especially now that he knew Annie's actions might involve the Church.
Something like this could easily implicate a great many people.
Most importantly, he had seen the same expression on Chris's face that Margaret had worn: the reluctance to leave life behind, mingled with acceptance of approaching death.
What could possibly make them willing to give up their lives?
And according to Azrael's projections, Chris had died over a decade ago.
Yet Joey had detected no unusual traces of a Transcendent aura on Chris.
Annie said nothing. Instead, Chris stepped forward, gently patted his shoulder, and said:
"Joey, some things aren't worth digging into. The truth is often cruel. We're doing this for your own good."
As he spoke,