Love, death, and false man

Chapter 53. Compassion
10/8—11:55
Binhai No. 6 Middle School issued an emergency notice at the end of the last class in the morning, announcing that there would be no classes in the afternoon and that evening self-study would be canceled. Unlike the last time when classes were only suspended for one day, this time the school announced a three-day suspension.

The rooftop of the teaching building at Binhai No. 10 Middle School.

The piles of abandoned desks, their rusted surfaces exuding a sense of desolation, offer an excellent view from the rooftop overlooking the coastal northern district. On a clear day, one can even see the majestic mountain ranges with their snow-capped peaks on the horizon.

During his lunch break, Luo Di was playing cards and gambling on the rooftop with two colleagues from the internal screening team. They were all senior high school students from No. 10 Middle School, wearing black and white tracksuits.

"Kyoto fever or Ippondo, which is more authoritative?"

One of the students started chatting like an adult.

"Mix them all together and make a hot, stupid book! Four with two."

Another student said.

"How can you not have any awareness? We must support domestic products and learn from the barbarians to control them."

Roddy told him to go ahead, but then a text message arrived on his phone.

Another person has died at Binhai No. 6 Middle School, two of them on campus. The deceased are believed to be members of the Vatican's ascetic order, likely killed by members of the Legion.

Luo Di stood up, looking at the screen in disbelief. Was No. 6 Middle School really going to go this far?
His authority was not only to purge dissidents, but also to maintain stability and prevent safety accidents from occurring.

Generally, people are disposed of in secluded locations off-campus, disguised as transferring schools or disappearing—this is the perfect way to eliminate them.

The deaths occurring on campus constitute safety accidents, and Luo Di is responsible for them. Regardless of who died, the deaths have caused social unrest and negative repercussions, which does not align with the historical narrative of the Soul-Draining Lord.

The handling of a suspicious person from No. 6 Middle School had already caused a safety incident, and then his capable lieutenant Lu Cheng was also implicated at No. 6 Middle School. Now two more have been implicated? All of them happened on campus, so there must be something fishy about this place.

“Nie Shan, you’re a junior in high school, right? It’s unusual for you to transfer schools in your senior year. Why don’t you transfer to No. 6 High School? No. 6 High School… it’s getting a bit too much to handle.”

Roddy was a little confused. Was there some crazy guy who liked to play around on campus? Breaking the rules.

The consensus among the three parties is to resolve the issue externally; it's an unspoken rule that emerged after a long and arduous struggle, even without direct contact.

Whoever it is, the Sixth Middle School must be brought under control. Whoever is causing all this trouble must be found out.

……

……

……

10/8—12:10
At the entrance of Binhai No. 6 Middle School, various food stalls were still open despite the sunny weather.

Holding an umbrella cover and carrying a shoulder bag, Fang Yan was at a loss for what to do. This seemed to have caused quite a stir, as the school had announced a three-day holiday.

Fang Yan served as a Salvation Army member for a month and realized that he had done something wrong. Four people had died in half a month, three of whom he had killed. The remaining hidden enemies or accomplices did not kill people on campus, so there must be a reason, but Fang Yan had not figured out why yet.

It might be best to avoid killing someone on campus, otherwise, if the incident gains attention, it could put the school in the eye of the storm and be easily exposed.

Ideally, the incident should be resolved in a secluded location, and the body should be thoroughly cleaned up to reduce the server's workload. It should be disguised as a transfer or disappearance. This is the best approach. If a series of deaths occur on campus, the increased public attention will make it harder to circumvent the algorithm.

But it wasn't all bad. At least from a security perspective, all the charlatans and swindlers in the Sixth Middle School didn't dare to act recklessly. Knowing that there was someone who liked to confront people head-on created psychological pressure, allowing them to live a peaceful life for a while.

Fang Yan bought a box of twelve takoyaki (octopus balls), stood by the roadside, and picked them up one by one with a toothpick and ate them, his eyes glazed over, seemingly lost in thought.

None of that matters.

Own……

It seems like I made a terrible decision.

One of the Salvation Army's rules is to unconditionally purge the false people.

Fang Yan didn't know if he had violated the rules, and in the end he couldn't bring himself to kill Xiao Long. Was he too weak?

[Merit Points: 3400/10000]

Fang Yan was puzzled that a man and a woman who clearly possessed the Soul Fire characteristic were only counted as ordinary pseudo-humans. In this case, would killing Xiao Long earn merit points?

Xiao Long could not escape the grasp of the Ascetic Cult, an organization that did not appear to be benevolent.

Perhaps their doctrine does not advocate torturing and punishing newcomers. No interest group would do such a thing, because Xiao Long's inability to pass this test and his subsequent loss of mind were indeed due to the lack of loyal subordinates.

Then he would be nothing but bait, and his fate would be miserable. Killing him in advance would actually be a good thing.

But the truth was not as Xiao Long said. He was not a strong person and could not bring himself to send him off on his final journey.

"Emmanuel Monastery..."

Fang Yan now has two choices: go to the monastery and sleep with the man named Andy, just to avoid any unforeseen complications.

According to Xiao Long, this person was not from 2030, but rather underwent an ascension ritual and came from the future. Fang Yan didn't understand what this ritual entailed, but it sounded quite perverse.

This choice was a suicide attack. Andy was clearly a ruthless character, and several of his followers had simply walked right into his trap.

Of course, there is also the simplest solution.

Right now, kill the man in front of you.

"Why have you been following me?"

A violent anxiety swirled in Fang Yan's mind. Reason told him that he should shoot Xiao Long dead right now, but... he couldn't find any compelling reason other than to kill him to silence him.

Even if he might betray himself, that's still uncertain.

Fang Yan felt that if he fired this shot, there would be no turning back. A kind of true mind control would be completely formed, and all the people on the three sides would be under a roundabout coercive rule. Before understanding the truth of the historical timeline, no one knew what kind of struggle it was.

He made up his mind. This time, he would break the rules. This was not desertion. If he killed Xiao Long, he would be a damn hypocrite.

There was still a bullet lodged in his thigh. Fang Yan was going to the private clinic recommended by Xia Bing for treatment later. It was located in the eastern district of Binhai City, inside a hidden door of a shop.

On the surface, it is disguised as a luxury goods pawn shop and watch repair shop, but in reality, it is a place that provides medical care for criminal gang members.

However, Fang Yan could still tell from the presence of some special drugs and overly specialized equipment that this was a place that provided medical support for Salvation Army members. He had learned about it from Xia Bing, but everyone kept it a secret.

"You killed them...you actually did it..."

Xiao Long had developed a certain tolerance for physical pain, and he simply bandaged his gunshot wounds himself. He felt a deep admiration for Fang Yan. The man and woman who had participated in the execution at the monastery yesterday were killed like dogs by this man with a scar on his lip.

"You still don't understand your situation. Get out of here before I change my mind."

After finishing the takoyaki, I put the box in the trash can, stood next to it, lit a Hongtashan cigarette, and started smoking.

Fang Yan also made plans that he wouldn't be able to go home for the next few days and would have to stay in a hotel.

“They will find me… I don’t want to go back. Didn’t you say… you would take down their stronghold?”

Xiao Long realized that this man was his only hope for escape.

Fang Yan raised an eyebrow. Was he pushing his luck? But even so, there was still not enough reason to kill him, even though he was a two-faced guy who would seek help from hostile forces.

“You’re a coward, Xiao Long. You only know how to rely on others. Just because I’m not killing you now doesn’t mean I won’t kill you later. Now… get out of here. You’ll definitely betray me. Go back to Emmanuel Monastery and let those so-called charlatans come at me. I’ll kill them all one by one.”

Fang Yan's impulsive high school mentality was stirred up, and he just wanted this annoying anime character to disappear from his sight as soon as possible.

He didn't want to kill a pitiful person to survive; he had experienced and witnessed too many ugly faces on the Cheng Yun.

He was used as a pledge of allegiance, and another illegal hired kidnapper wanted to use him to get his hands dirty. After all, once a high school student was killed, there was no turning back; they were all in the same boat.

There's an instinctive aversion to this kind of thing.

Fang Yan's disdain.

Like an ice blade with barbs, Xiao Long was stunned for a moment after hearing this, but he didn't say anything more.

"Thank you, you've already done so much. I'm sorry for causing you trouble."

Xiao Long walked away from Fang Yan with his head down.

Fang Yan just took a deep drag of his cigarette. "Damn it, they're making me look like the bad guy."

Can I recommend someone to join the Salvation Army?

【…】

# # #
Seeing that the liaison officer was not paying attention to him, Fang Yan re-entered the question in the troubleshooting section.

Your permissions are insufficient to answer more questions.

"Fuck your mother..."

Fang Yan stubbed out his cigarette. The lieutenant kept calling him a legend, sounding very affectionate. In reality, he and Xia Bing were just ordinary soldiers who were sent to their deaths by the so-called desertion law.

The temporary servers of the three parties need to be connected to the world, making them vulnerable to attacks that could overwrite data. Nobody really cares about the information security and lives of the agents.

Next, I need to go to the clinic to remove the bullet from my leg and carefully consider how to deal with the situation ahead. I can't get over the hurdle of silencing someone who has no malicious intent. Xiao Long is already completely under the control of the Ascetic Monk Association, and I can't bring myself to imprison him.

Bring it on, you fucking stupid religion, I'm the living Christ.

(End of this chapter)