Long-term salvation

As he was thinking this, Rhodes heard Bai Zi's voice:

"Sensei, the things have been found: books, records, and some linen."

"very good."

Rhodes nodded slightly and walked slowly towards the evil ghost, with a flaming sword in his hand. Everything around him immediately fell into a sea of ​​fire, covering the furniture that was activated by the energy of the other world with flames, causing them to emit strange howls that were definitely not made by intelligent creatures.

Similarly, the moment the long sword appeared, the evil spirit's curses stopped abruptly. It instinctively felt fear from the weapon, the flames that were enough to evaporate the smallest trace of the tides of the other world - even if it was tiny, it was not a force it could resist.

"I'm a little curious now, will you really be 'burned to death'? I don't know if I can see you the next time I cast that spell, but we can take it slowly, over and over again... Don't worry, I'm as cruel as you are, and I'll make sure you enjoy it, trash."

【Attention, about the extra chapter! 】

I'm currently thinking of a side story about Toyokawa Shoko. In the 90s, the bubble economy burst, Shoko's father was kicked out of the house, and in order to pay back 160 billion yen, Shoko was recruited into the GOC as an armed shrine maiden to deal with events in the other world. I'll write about it in the [Side Story Volume], and [it won't appear in the main text, it'll be mentioned occasionally as an Easter egg]. What do you think?

Chapter 235 Only Ashes Remain

In the sea of ​​blazing fire, the burning body of the evil spirit tried to escape and resist, but soon it could not even scream, and could only meet its end in the gradually fading muffled curses - it resisted longer than those religious demons, but that was all.

When Rhodes retracted his sword, the flames were still spreading on the wall, stirring up a vortex of sparks, but they no longer had extraordinary power over the creatures in the inner world and turned into products of reality.

The hot wind blew the flames, which spread like mercury, onto the carpets and furniture, making them prostrate themselves in the torment and become accomplices wrapped in thick smoke.

When the evil spirits summoned by the fragments of the Necronomicon were burned by the flames, the system's task was successfully completed. However, what to do with the remaining family was a difficult matter.

No matter what his motivation was for picking up the torn pages and playing the vinyl record, Danny, the boy, will probably be in pain and guilt for the rest of his life, and his two sisters witnessed their mother being possessed and eventually turned into ashes.

Amid the clamor of fire trucks roaring in the distance, Rhodes used a memory eraser to get the gathered neighbors to focus on putting out the fire, and then took the crying family to the underground parking lot - where members of the Army Without Borders had already arrived, busy recovering the items in the underground vault and clearing away any traces that might arouse suspicion.

Standing behind an ambulance with its back door open, Rhode looked at the three children in the car and Beth, who had been treated for her wounds and was now receiving an IV drip, and said seriously:

"That's exactly what happened. You don't have to blame the boy too much... Maybe someone else on the floor picked him up, or the evil spirit escaped on its own. Or maybe you weren't in the parking lot during the earthquake. All of this could change fate."

"We...what will happen to us?" Beth said with difficulty. Every time she spoke, her face would hurt. But as the only adult in the family and a mother-to-be—she chose to go to her sister after she became pregnant—she had to ask:

“Are we going to be locked up?”

"Obviously not, but it's best for you to stay away from here... I will erase your memories, but with the passage of time, or perhaps with the awakening of your clairvoyance, you may all recall what happened today."

As Rod spoke, he pulled the silver amnesiac from his pocket and tapped it against his palm, making a clear sound. His eyes swept over the stunned little girl and her sister, over the boy with his head down and a deathly pale face, and finally landed on Beth's confused and sad face.

After a few seconds of silence, Rhodes said:

"You will each receive compensation, but if Ms. Beth is unwilling to take on the responsibility of raising the children—of course, this is not your obligation, and I won't blame you—then the three children will be placed in an orphanage owned by Atlas Corporation, which will ensure that they grow up smoothly and complete their education."

"No, I do! I'm willing to raise them!"

Beth said, stretching out her hands and holding the children in her arms with difficulty. She exhaled slowly and said to Rhodes sadly:

"Erase our memories, sir. They don't have to endure this."

"That's fine, and I'll find you a job, ma'am."

"Wait a moment, sir."

The boy Danny suddenly spoke, raising his head, his eyes filled with inextricable pain and self-blame, a fire that brought neither warmth nor light burning deep within his pupils. Rhodes could fully imagine that if he were given a knife and a few monsters placed in front of him, he would fight them until the last drop of blood was drained.

After a few seconds of silence, the boy stopped his aunt's persuasion. His gaze lingered on Rhodes' face for a few seconds before falling on the staff further away, scanning the professional equipment.

"What will happen if I don't erase my memory...or what can I do?"

Hearing this, Rhodes frowned slightly and said softly:

"If you choose to join only for the sake of self-destruction, you will only be rejected. Your will is now shattered, and you are not even as good as those who come here specifically for the money. At least they know how to help others for the sake of money—"

"Can you remain calm before a demon takes on the form of your mother? Can you shoot her yourself? Or, for a simpler example, if someone told you right now that your mother could be resurrected, the price being a few lambs or shooting your teammates, would you do it?"

"..."

"You are different from the other boy. He has something in his heart that he would sacrifice his life for, but you don't. You are not qualified to pledge allegiance to me right now," Rhodes took out a business card from his pocket, "but I am willing to give you a chance."

"I won't erase your memory. You can choose to fall into self-blame and perish, or stand before me in a few years and sign that sacred contract. The choice is yours."

Rhode said as he handed over the black business card. The boy looked at it, his chest heaving for a few seconds, then reached out to take it and whispered:

"I'll keep quiet. I know the rules."

"Very good, get out of the car now, and everyone else look at me, look at this thing..."

There was a sound like a camera and a flash of white light. Soon, Danny, the boy who had gotten off the bus and was standing not far away, saw Rod walking towards him. Rod patted his shoulder and whispered,

"Now, go take care of your family."

"...Yes, sir."

Looking at the boy's receding back, Rhodes reached into his pocket and took out the cigarette box. He shook it a few times, took out the last cigarette and put it in his mouth.

"It's finally over. I should go relax. I've been running around all this time and haven't even had a proper meal."

Rhodes was searching for a lighter, but the lovely wolf girl appeared out of nowhere, took out a windproof lighter and lit a cigarette for him with ease.

This made Rhode raise his eyebrows slightly, but as if to answer his doubts, Bai Zi said calmly:

"I'll light fires and create chaos while I'm hunting."

"...I think you could change the words next time, like 'acting justice on behalf of heaven' or something like that, but forget it, let's get out of here now—how about a luxury hotel and a top French restaurant in Los Angeles? I've already booked them before we even go to that room you rented."

"can."

The wolf girl nodded slightly.

She followed Rhodes in small steps and sat with him in the luxury sports car provided by Atlas - this was a benefit given to Rhodes by Ains, which was just right for testing the performance of the new engine so that it could be successfully put on the market in the future.

But when the sports car just drove out of the parking lot and passed two blocks, the girl saw two sports cars, one red and one yellow, parked on the side of the road. The two drivers were counting the bullet holes on the roof of the car with heartache, and at the same time cursing loudly the culprit who caused all this.

Seeing this, Bai Zi tugged at Rhodes' sleeve and whispered:

"Those two people were involved in this accident because of me."

"Um...so what do you want me to do?"

"Not Sensei," the wolf girl shook her head. She exchanged places with Rhodes. "I'll give them a chance to challenge me... Sensei will be my racing girl."

"In fact, in this situation, the man sitting in the passenger seat is called a 'gigolo' or 'lover'."

"Then Sensei is my lover."

Rhodes: "...as long as you like it."

The wolf girl nodded slightly, seeming very satisfied with the title.

She put on her hood, rolled down the window, stepped on the accelerator a few times, and said to the two underground drivers who were looking over:

"Want to have a competition?"

"I just...wait, I remember that mask—it's you!!! The one who robbed the gangster of their money!"

"If you win, the stolen money and the car are yours, but if you lose, you know the rules."

The two drivers looked at each other, recalled the damage to their vehicles, and then hit it off.

"The stolen money will be split equally, and whoever gets the sports car first gets it... Fine! We can accept that!"

About half an hour later.

Two naked men, with tears in their eyes, appeared on the Beltway in Los Angeles. They squatted in the grass, avoiding the police cars that were rushing in after receiving the call.

"Why did you even take off my clothes???"

Chapter 236: Birds and Lost Children

【System startup】

Start connecting

[Consciousness sinks]

【…Welcome to login, Administrator of Asuka Jingmuji】

In the mist woven by nightmares, in the colorful darkness, the outlines of all things in the world tremble due to the unconscious reaction of the brain, and are distorted and deformed by the escaping emotional power. They gather and pile up into huge monsters, and then break and shatter into a grain of sand in the Ganges.

The black-haired girl walks here alone, in this ever-changing dream world.

She was wearing an 18th-century hunting suit, with a slender long sword hanging from her waist. A pure white feather, almost as big as the hat, was inserted into her wide, long tricorn hat, and an almost oval earring was adorned on her left ear.

"Ms. Asuka," a slightly distorted voice came from the earrings, "A new round of testing has begun, and the data is being recorded. You may continue."

"Just call me 'Muji' as before, Atsuko," the girl said with a gentle smile, but it quickly faded into the mist. "Please take care of me now and in the future."

“…You’re so polite.”

"So what do you need me to do today?"

Asukai Muji asked as she walked on a gravel path that was like a single-plank bridge. On both sides were abysses blocked by fog. Chaotic sounds rose from inside and turned into an annoying and obscene demonic sound.

"The system built based on the dream world has been put into trial operation. Now we need to test whether it can coordinate with the frequency of your mental fluctuations, so as to achieve orbital military satellite-style monitoring of activities in the inner world, just like two superpowers detecting each other's ballistic missiles."

The voice in the earring paused for a few seconds, as if the signal connection was not smooth, and then continued:

"Aside from the STEM prototype, I certainly didn't expect you to become the 'core'. Did that person find you because of this?"

"In fact, we knew each other earlier than that, much earlier than anyone else in Hill House."

"...I shouldn't discuss this with a young woman in love—let's get back to the experiment itself, Muji. Can you try to find traces of activity in the other world? But you don't have to go too deep. You know the risks."

"I see."

Asukai Muji nodded slightly, she took a deep breath, and then started running and jumping!

The girl transformed into an agile falcon in mid-air, flying through the mist made of countless dream fragments. The tips of her wings left two milky white mist trails, but these trails turned into millions of twinkling stars at the end, reflecting the drowsy sleep of the owner of the dream fragments.

Move between meteor showers, pass through slowly crumbling giant statues, and hide under cliffs to avoid those malicious eyes.

Finally, when the falcon flew over a building that looked like a sarcophagus, she sensed a faint light - it was a lonely and painful soul, imprisoned in the dark deep water, desperately calling for help.

"It's like a trap."

The earring said so, and of course, it has now become a feather on the falcon's wing.

"That's possible, but my feeling is also very real, a kind of intuition." Asuka Ikiji pondered for a few seconds, and the falcon's body trembled a few times, shaking off the small ball of dream mist stuck to its wings. "Then please prepare the adrenaline injection, Miss Atsuko, and contact Abigail and Nyako, and have them prepare to pull me out."

"...One time of mischief is enough, Muji. Your health isn't any better."

"I understand," the falcon flew to the side of the building and then transformed into the appearance of a young girl. "It is precisely because I understand that I must be prepared, and I cannot ignore it."

But then again, if Rhode were here, he certainly wouldn't allow him to go, right? Yes, he would do it himself.

"After all...that's just the kind of person he is."

The girl whispered, placing her hand on the coffin-like structure and then immersing herself in it, causing only slight ripples.

A destructive scene unfolded before the girl. It was a crack spinning like a whirlpool, with a faint light shining out from it. Dark clouds spread out from the crack, and cold steel pipes ran across it, like the wrinkled inner wall of a flesh sac, which was disgusting.

"That light...sunlight? Lights from the real world?"

Asukai Muji frowned, and a bad premonition arose in her heart, which prompted her to take a few more steps forward. Then she saw a little girl with shaved head sitting on the ground crying, her hands wrapped around her legs, curled up in her arms.

Several black, poisonous smoke columns were surrounding her, and from them came faint whispers, ordering her to make the crack bigger... bigger... big enough for the "thing" to get out.

The little girl cried, but soon found that the voices disappeared without a trace, or were temporarily dispelled.

"Can you stand up?"

A gentle voice came, and the voice seemed to have some kind of magic, forcing the little girl to look up - she saw a woman with long black hair standing in front of her, and the shining rapier cut through the smoke, making it scream away.

"You look like... a strong psychic, a very strong one."

Asuka Iki said this, but she didn't introduce herself. Instead, she looked at the little girl carefully before continuing:

"You shouldn't be here."

"They... let me in... wearing that thing..." the little girl sobbed, looking terrifiedly behind Asukai Muji—without turning around, Muji knew that something was coming from behind him. This could even be seen from the little girl who was tied by invisible chains and slowly moving towards the crack. "Now... I can, I can go back..."

Pursing her lips, Asuka Jingmuji reached out and gently stroked the girl's face, leaving a fleeting trace. Then, she whispered in the girl's ear:

"Go to the small town of Arkham, Massachusetts. I, we will protect you. Before we meet, can you tell me your name?"

"I...I don't have a name, only a code name."

"So what's your code name?"

"Eleven (11)." Note ①