EnCoffin Me Chapter 84
Translated by Q the Panda (ko-fi)
Chapter 84
Alexio began to get busy. Carnival was approaching, and as someone who had experienced the festival firsthand, he needed to keep pace with the official preparations, using his memories to verify their accuracy. The lunatic was just as busy, if not more so. Alexio had seen the light in the lunatic's room burning late into the night several times.
But neither of them minded the busy schedule. For both professional and personal, Alexio hoped the Carnival could be revived after ten thousand years and gain popularity.
After a morning of busyness, during which he even roped in Helgodon who had no other tasks, Alexio looked at the plaza, which was beginning to take shape, with satisfaction.
The plaza was newly built at great expense by the conservation center, right in front of the main entrance. Considering the capacity limitations of the venue, a lottery system will be used to distribute tickets, inviting registered visitors to attend the event. The vetting process was extremely strict to ensure no ill-intentioned people could sneak in.
The strict control was necessary because the dark creatures capable of independent living would be mingling with the crowd, just as they did during the Carnival ten thousand years ago — the glowing eyes of otherworldly beings in the dark, humans and demons dancing together at night, a scene truly worthy of the name ‘Carnival.’
Alexio nodded again as he confirmed a pattern. He estimated the progress on-site and felt that, with the current manpower, it would be very difficult to finish on time.
“Aren't they going to send more people or machines? It looks like every staff member from the conservation center who isn't busy is already here.”
It seemed unlikely they could spare extra hands, which was a bit troublesome.
The staff member reporting the overall progress to him smiled.
“No worries, other branches are gradually converging on the main center. Although the original plan was to escort the dark creatures from those branches to participate in the Carnival, it's not a problem if they do some work before leaving.”
Oh nice, that sounded pretty devious, but Alexio liked it.
“Will many people come from the other branches as well?”
“Yes, both the southeast and northwest branches said they would send people and bring a lot of supplies and equipment to support the Carnival.”
That means it would be a period with a relatively chaotic influx of personnel and supplies. Security within the conservation center had to be tight. Cravenson had been closely monitoring public opinion, fearing a sudden attack from the Holy Temple. Now it seemed external changes also needed attention. The main center had already been thoroughly cleared by him, but with people flooding in from other branches, there was no guarantee the Holy Temple hadn't planted spies among them.
The Holy Temple was always the best at planting spies.
Maybe… he should ask the lunatic? He even exposed Zhu Heng, who had hidden so thoroughly. He trusted the lunatic's ability to detect things like this.
There was no need to ask others. The lunatic had his button, so Alexio could sense where he was. After clocking out, he planned to find the lunatic, who was always working late. Since it was already late, it seemed inhumane to make him cook dinner, so Alexio considered treating him to a meal out.
The lunatic was on the second underground floor, where large promotional posters were painted. He had heard that the supervisor treasured the professionally trained lunatic, as if he were a rare gem.
Alexio's arrival caused a small stir. He casually greeted those nearby, then went straight to the lunatic. Tilting his head, he looked at what the lunatic was painting. Looking from left to right, his expression grew somewhat blank.
It looked like… him?
The image was somewhat different from his usual appearance. The cartoon version had a star clipped to one side of his bangs and was holding a huge star in his arms. Many Carnival elements decorated his cloak, making the overall style very… lively and cute.
“It's the winning entry from the Sparrow Nestling in Thorns, called ‘Starry Night Xi.’” The saint, who had been focused on work, couldn't help but glance at him. “Are you familiar with Sparrow Nestling in Thorns, the one who draws cat stickers?”
Alexio almost said, ‘quite familiar,’ but he reacted quickly and immediately realized that Sparrow Nestling in Thorns was usually active on the Epic Pair website. If he were quite familiar with Sparrow Nestling in Thorns, then…
He definitely wasn't!
“I've heard of her,” Alexio answered calmly. “After all, I use those stickers too. Her collaboration with the center should be stable. Otherwise, she wouldn't have been given the rights to create them.”
Alexio had always assumed the chirpy Sparrow Nestling in Thorns was a girl, so his words reflected that. The saint paused briefly but continued painting as if nothing had happened.
“Are you… close to Sparrow Nestling in Thorns?”
Alexio was startled, but his psychological fortitude was excellent, so he merely took it as a casual question from the lunatic.
“No, why do you ask? Is she someone you know?”
Excellent! He smoothly countered with a question! When facing a risky question in a dangerous conversation, the best answer was to be vague and then return the question.
The saint paused. Alexio's mental resilience was somewhat unexpected, but…
“Yes, we're acquaintances.” He straightforwardly admitted to being his own acquaintance, then quickly fired another direct question that struck at Alexio's tightly wound nerves!
“Have you ever followed… our CP? She ships us. It's called the Epic Pair.”
Alexio… Alexio was completely stunned.
The CP he secretly shipped was suddenly brought up to his face, and by the other party involved no less. Alexio felt completely overwhelmed. His brain frantically whirred for a moment before letting out a ‘thud’ sound, like a crashed computer.
Lucius' eyes showed a faint smile. He had predicted Alexio's reaction. Sometimes a direct approach yielded unexpected results. As long as Alexio's sanity wasn't stimulated to the point of disconnection, he was sure to see a very cute, shy expression next. Perhaps he could even take the opportunity to…
But Alexio had completely calmed down. In fact, he had entered a stage of reckless abandon.
“Haven't you tried shipping us?” he asked sincerely, his tone earnest. “The Epic Pair is really good.”
“???”
Promoting his own CP to others was a bit much. Lucius had pushed too hard, provoking Alexio to the point of losing his composure.
“Why aren't you saying anything?” Alexio asked kindly. “I suggest you try shipping us.”
“……”
In the end, the lunatic couldn't win against him and finally shut up, but Alexio wasn't very happy about it. He shed a tear in his heart. Now that the ‘shipper’ label was stuck on him, it probably wouldn't come off.
On the way to that lobster restaurant, Alexio suddenly remembered the real reason for his visit.
“Actually, I wanted to ask you…”
“I thought about it, and I think it's a pretty good ship.”
“That's not what I'm going to ask!”
For now, Alexio didn't want to talk about CPs anymore. He really wanted to shut down.
“Whether there would be Holy Temple spies…” Lucius pondered, “According to the Holy Temple's basic rules for planting moles, it's very likely. But we can't conduct a sweeping search just because of suspicion. Branch personnel have already undergone basic checks and must stay to watch their dark creatures. They can't leave anytime soon.”
Alexio nodded. That was exactly what had been troubling him.
“I'll pay more attention to this. It's best if we can identify one of them, which will also facilitate subsequent investigations.”
Alexio felt reassured leaving it in the lunatic's hands. Today he was treating him to a meal. The lunatic seemed a bit surprised. Alexio swiped his card and glanced over at him.
“You seem to be in a better mood,” he said. “Since this morning, you didn't seem very happy.”
Lucius smiled.
With a gentle push on his back, he guided Alexio forward, walking all the way out the door. He felt the subtle heartbeat and blood flow simulated beneath his hand, which lingered on the area where bat wings could sprout.
“…Maybe I've just been too tired lately.”
The spy had been successfully planted. Although the main conservation center had suddenly added an element detection measure, which caught the Holy Temple off guard, he had anticipated this and changed his control method in advance.
Theo looked at the intelligence reports coming in, his fingertips lightly tapping on the table. All personnel were restricted to the perimeter, making everything difficult. The original Theo had been too foolish. After ten years of planning, he still hadn't managed to take down the main conservation center. If it were him, he wouldn't have done something so incompetent.
However, the Holy Temple left behind by that Theo was excellent. After gaining full control, it became incredibly disciplined. The goal of that ultimate paradise also intrigued Theo greatly.
Someone gently knocked on the door and delivered a report from the northern front.
Theo skimmed past the casualties. He didn't care about others' lives. Dwelling on them only made him unhappy. He flipped the report to the latter half and fixed his gaze on the name ‘Behemoth.’ A flash of insight circled in his mind. He stood up, paced slowly around the room, and then went to the window to look out at the blooming roses shining under the sunlight.
He had a persistent feeling… that everything now was vaguely connected to what happened ten thousand years ago.
He had always been arrogant, caring little even about the Holy Temple, which now proved to be a fatal flaw. So he changed his approach and started thinking about things related to Alexio. He had to admit, this kid had appeared in many major events before the great firestorm and played a far more important role than he had.
This thought stirred jealousy in him, but he kept pondering.
Following Alexio's trail, he thought of dragons, werewolves, and liches. These scattered clues pieced together in his mind until suddenly he was struck with an idea. He picked up the Holy Temple's prayer book from his desk, which was merely for show.
Feeding on darkness…
Paradise…
Wasn't this world full of light the paradise the Holy Temple desired? Yet they probably hadn't expected that after the balance collapsed, light would become a deadly poison while darkness gained favor.
The werewolves of the past… the werewolves of the present… Behemoth...
Theo was no fool. Gradually, he unraveled a vague truth from the events of ten thousand years ago and today.
…So that was how it was.
He chuckled softly. So, his child was now undertaking the revival? While doing so, he was also continuously expanding the influence of dark creatures. That couldn't be allowed. It conflicted with what he and the Holy Temple he now belonged to wanted to achieve.
This was unacceptable.
He paused to think, then began rifling through the documents on his desk. For the first time, he carefully searched for information on the three children led by Alexio, then on the main conservation center. Finally, he swept aside the useless files, leaving only two thin sheets displayed on the desk.
One showed a lich, the other a photo of the conservation center, with gentle waves on the Emerald Inner Sea.
He smiled again.
Whether his suspicions were right or not, he had to try.
The southeast branch was already fully under his control, and this time they had sent some people whose bodies contained parasite eggs perfectly suited to serve as contaminants. When the disaster worms began to breed in the Emerald Inner Sea, and might even parasitize key figures, he was curious to see how his child would continue to revive the pillars of darkness.
A southeast branch personnel walking through the conservation center smiled and greeted passersby as he hurried along. A distant command began to echo in his mind. His expression remained unchanged, but he suddenly stopped in front of the floor-to-ceiling window.
From here, he could see the Emerald Inner Sea outside, with the setting sun and twilight glow pressing heavily upon its surface. The collosal body of a sea serpent appeared like a silhouette, arching once before sinking beneath the waves. The entire Emerald Inner Sea was filled with such vibrant life.
He withdrew his gaze and continued walking. He smiled and greeted someone again, then brushed past them.
“Mr. Zhen.”
“Hello.”
Zhen responded with a warm smile and kept walking toward the other end of the corridor. Suddenly, his eyelashes fluttered. After turning the corner, he hesitated and stopped, looking back toward the direction where the person had disappeared.
It was clearly just one person who had passed by, so why did he sense…
Two lives?