Ronald Cohen has finished reading his last words.
The cramped cabin became very quiet; everyone could hear their own heartbeats, the breathing of those around them, and the crackling of the flames.
Qingmu had a terrible headache. His head would throb whenever a memory flashed through his mind.
Usually at this time, his laziness kicks in, he stops thinking about anything, and his headaches naturally get better.
But this time, he seemed unable to stop. His consciousness suddenly felt out of control, as if an invisible hand was wielding a hoe, tilling the wasteland of his memories, trying to dig gold out of the soil. And that wasn't all; he felt another hand, another hoe, in his mind, burying the soil he had just dug back down. The two hoes alternated like this, digging nothing out. Yet with each strike, his brains would explode, turning into a sticky mess like a beaten rice cake, and his head would throb with excruciating pain.
The last time something like this happened was when I heard Mrs. Larry chanting Itza People prayers and when I saw her writing high-dimensional characters on the ground, but neither was this serious.
He slapped his forehead hard, the sound echoing loudly in the cabin and startling everyone else.
"What's wrong?" Su Huilan asked with concern.
"It's nothing, just an old ailment." Qingmu endured the pain, shook his messy hair, and almost shook off the Crow above his head.
"Caw, be careful! You'll fall and kill a crow!" the Crow cawed, then, after regaining its balance, said, " Guagua, caw, is it serious? Could it have a stroke?"
Qingmu looked at Situ: "What do you think?"
Situ frowned deeply, not answering Qingmu's question, but instead posing the same question to Su Huilan, "What do you think?"
Su Huilan looked at Situ, then at Qingmu, hesitated for a moment, and said, "I'm not sure. Logically speaking, a dying person's words are good, but there are too many doubts about Ronald Cohen's words. Many of our past questions seem to be explained by his words, yet they also seem not to be explained at all."
Alice asked curiously, "What did he explain? And what couldn't he explain?"
Su Huilan shook her head and said, "For example, what he said about the origins of the Awakeners' Alliance. My father was a member of this organization, so I've been searching for any clues about the Alliance. Although Cohen's account of the Alliance's origins differs from my own understanding, I can't find any loopholes. Also, I can confirm that Alliance Alliance disbanded during World War II, but he was vague about the reason for its disbandment, which is what I most want to know. And then there's the Dream Society —this mysterious organization. Ronald Cohen is Dream Society leader, which we've known for a long time, but we've always linked him to Parasitic Consciousness..."
She looked at Qingmu as she spoke.
Qingmu continued, "That's right. Several cases we've encountered involved individuals who were invited by Ronald Cohen to visit his art exhibitions or purchase his paintings before being invaded. Therefore, we consider the Dream Society be an organization of Parasites. I've met someone who was successfully parasitized, and he can attest that Ronald Cohen was one of their top leaders."
"Who?" Anderson asked. "Who are these people you're talking about?"
Su Huilan gave him a strange look. "Does it matter who it is? We can't get them to come out and confront us here."
Anderson said, "Oh, that's not what I meant. I meant, Mr. Qingmu should have been more specific, so we could better assess the situation and determine whether Mr. Cohen was lying or not."
"Whether this guy is telling the truth or not, what does it matter to us?" Boris shouted, pointing at the mummified corpse. His voice boomed from the cabin into the corridor, echoing in the distant darkness. Ever since Anderson pointed a gun at Situ, he had disliked this lame man.
"Of course it's related," Anderson retorted. "If what Mr. Cohen says is true, then we need to find a way to activate the five altars as he says, allowing humanity to connect with Gaia's consciousness. Then, Ramla will become a space station, just as Mr. Stone and Mr. Qingmu said, and we can board the bus back to Earth. Right, gentlemen?"
He looked at Situ and Qingmu.
Situ and Qingmu nodded simultaneously. "That's right."
"Then what else can't be said? In this godforsaken place where you can't even fish!" Anderson seemed a bit agitated, quite unlike his usual calm and unassuming self.
"Don't get excited, Anderson!" Alice reminded him.
"Oh, yes, I'm so excited! Do you know why, darling?"
"Why?"
"Because I'm an ordinary person, you're an ordinary person, and so is your wife. The three of us came here from a research vessel, originally unrelated to this bullshit, but we've been dragged into it. Fine, since that's the case, let's work together! But look around us—"
Anderson pointed at the others and said, "They all have superpowers! Oh, you mean the Awakened Cohen talked about, right? They're not with us at all, and they've never taken us seriously. They know a lot of things, but they always squeeze them out little by little, like toothpaste!"
We don't even know if we'll ever have a chance to return to Earth, yet they're still suspicious of each other! They can't tell us this, they can't let us know that! There are only nine of us here, what can't they say? What are they hiding from us?
If we're talking about suspicious people, isn't Mr. Stone the most suspicious one? Mr. Qingmu personally saw Mr. Stone's wife and Captain Halsey from the command center on this ship. The ship is right here, Halsey is here too, but where is your wife?
Of course, we might be seeing ghosts! This isn't that ship, and the Halsey on board isn't that Halsey! Mrs. Stone and Halsey are both still alive and well on Earth. These are ghosts, Ghost! Anyway, what can't happen here?!
Qingmu didn't see anything wrong with Anderson's emotions. It was already quite remarkable that an ordinary person wouldn't go insane after being trapped in such a desperate situation and experiencing all sorts of strange things in Ramla. From this perspective, it was normal for Anderson to have emotions; it would be abnormal if he didn't.
As he said, there were nine people here. Apart from Anderson, Alice, and Mrs. Larry, the others were not ordinary people, and they all had direct and intricate connections to this matter, or even came with certain ulterior motives.
Alice pinched Anderson's arm and said, "Stop talking, I'm a little scared!"
Anderson vented for a while, then finally calmed down, took Alice's hand and comforted her, "It's alright, Alice!" Then he said to everyone, "I'm sorry, I got a little emotional. But I've been wondering how these two gentlemen managed to make the Itza People outside obey their orders. Could you please explain it to us now? Otherwise, it'll seem like you're related to these Itza People! Of course, if you can prove that Ronald Cohen's last words were completely unreliable, then just pretend I didn't say anything."
Alice retorted, " Anderson, we shouldn't doubt Mr. Stone and Mr. Qingmu like that. Have you forgotten that it was Mr. Qingmu who saved our lives? If they were Itza People, why would they keep us alive? With their abilities, they could have easily killed us all silently!"
Anderson sighed and said, "That's precisely why I brought this up. I wouldn't have been foolish enough to say it if I didn't trust Mr. Qingmu."
"Ultimately, we still need to prove whether Cohen's last words were true," Alice said.
Petru, who had been silent all along, suddenly said, "Perhaps... I can prove something."