Quadruple split.

Chapter 2868 Boy and Girl

Chapter 2868 Boy and Girl (Part 9)
"When I went to see you before..."

After a long silence, Lorna broke the silence again, staring blankly at the moon in the sky, and said softly, "I forgot to bring my body."

"That's amazing."

Cole nodded, then his eyes widened a second later as he abruptly turned to look at Lorna: "What did you just say?!"

"I said, I forgot to bring my own body."

Lorna tilted her head and lazily rested it on Cole's shoulder, casually explaining, "I only realized it after I greeted you several times. After all, I didn't upset you, so you shouldn't have any reason to ignore me. Then I thought about it for a long time before I remembered that I didn't open the door when I left the room and just walked right out. It's kind of funny."

"Fun?!"

Upon hearing this, Cole almost went numb. He quickly grabbed Lorna's cold little hand and asked anxiously, "How are you feeling now? Is there anything wrong with you?"

Lorna shook her head and said seriously, "I'm perfectly fine, both physically and mentally. Apart from being a little half-dead, everything is fine."

Cole was horrified: "He's practically dead, how can you still—"

"Because I've always been half-dead."

Lorna calmly interrupted Cole, reassuring him, "I feel no different physically than when you first woke me up, so I should be fine."

Cole managed to calm himself down, then asked rapidly, "So what exactly happened? Why did you... leave your body?"

"It's hard for me to describe that feeling."

Lorna lowered her eyes and thought for a while before saying, "Maybe it's like how we put on clothes every morning when we get up... no, that's different from putting on clothes, so... like how we open our eyes every morning when we wake up? If the premise of getting through a normal day is opening your eyes, then when I came to find you today, it seems like I accidentally forgot to open my eyes."

After thinking for a while, Cole said with some helplessness, "I'm sorry, I really can't imagine that feeling right now."

“I know, after all, you’ve never died.”

As Lorna shifted most of her weight onto Cole, she replied casually, "I just wanted you to know that it's no big deal, and it's actually quite fun."

Still not convinced that this was a good thing, Cole frowned and asked with a complicated expression, "What's interesting about it?"

"I've always been by your side."

Rona slowly closed her eyes and whispered, "I was in the same carriage as you and Ace of Spades, but you didn't notice me at all. Then I went into the [Coins and Dancers] with you, and no one noticed me either. I could feel that there were some people in there who made me tremble involuntarily, mostly Epic-rank people, but still none of them noticed me. Don't you find that interesting?"

Cole: "...As a mediocre thief, I should really envy you."

"Unfortunately, although I can move freely, I cannot touch or influence anything."

In a daze, Rona Moonshine, who seemed more like the vibrant young girl from back then than the puppet of the clown, slightly raised the corners of her mouth and asked, "Even so, I can still do a lot of things. Do you know what I saw?"

Cole, his brow furrowing, raised his right hand and gently touched Lorna's hair: "What?"

"I found a very interesting, hidden room between the seventh and eighth basement levels of [Coins and Dancers]."

Lorna snuggled against Cole's shoulder with a hint of smugness, and boasted sleepily, "I didn't notice anything wrong there at first, but apart from the bodyguard behind Mr. She who was chatting with you guys, almost all the epic-level powerhouses in the entire club were concentrated on the seventh and eighth basement floors. But when I went there, I found that those two floors were all lounges and entertainment rooms, nothing else."

Cole, whose expression was gradually turning grim, nodded slightly and asked, "And then?"

"Then I wandered around those two floors for a long time, but I didn't find anything. However, I accidentally fell into the mezzanine between the two floors and found a room that looked very impressive."

Lorna raised her eyes with some difficulty, looked at Cole whose face was a little pale, and continued, "Because at that time, I was only in consciousness... or soul or something, so I was often not controlled by the laws of physics. The reason I could pass through most walls and barriers without suddenly falling to the ground was just because my 'common sense' would make me think that the ground was impassable... Are you not happy?"

"me?"

Cole blinked, then forced a reassuring smile and shook his head. "No, I was probably just a little lost in thought. And then?"

"Then I found something incredible in that room."

As Lorna recalled what she had seen, she said slowly, "In that small room, there were three cubes that looked semi-transparent and had a bottom made of many engineering parts. The cubes on the left and right sides had things inside, while the one in the middle was empty."

"so……"

Cole clenched his fist slightly and asked, "What's in there?"

"Mr. She".

Lorna yawned wearily and repeated under Cole's bewildered gaze, "It's Mr. She."

The latter looked at Rona in disbelief and asked in astonishment, "You mean Mr. She? The one in charge of [Gold Coins and Dancers], the one who chaired today's meeting?"

"I didn't hear him claim to be the person in charge of that club."

Lorna shook her head, then nodded: "But I'm sure the two people I saw were the goblin who called himself Mr. She."

"Mr. She..."

Cole narrowed his eyes and said softly, "So, you found three containers in a dark room at the [Gold Coins and Dancers] club, two of which contained Mr. She, or someone who looked exactly like the Mr. She we were talking to on the top floor?"

Lorna nodded slightly: "Yes, that's right."

"If we follow conventional thinking, the person who should be in the empty container in the middle is very likely the Mr. She who presided over the meeting at the top of the [Gold Coins and Dancers] building."

Cole frowned and pondered, "So here's the question—"

Rona's gaze sharpened slightly: "When it comes to excavators, which company is the best!"

Cole: "...Just how many strange things have you learned from Mr. Cole?"

"?"

Lorna blinked curiously and said, "The master said this knowledge is very important. Did he lie to me?"

"That's obviously the case."

Cole sighed, then put aside the topic of the tired trope and continued, "Why are there two... or even three Mr. She at the same time? Who exactly is he that he is being guarded by the entire epic of 'Coins and Dancers'?"

After thinking for a moment, Lorna said honestly, "I don't know."

"Yes, I feel like this is something we can't handle anymore."

Cole sighed silently, his eyes flickering, his expression shifting between light and shadow.

Lorna thought for a moment and asked, "Shall we go talk to [Ace]? Even though the master isn't here, she should have a way, right?"

"No."

Cole clenched his fists tightly, his expression showing some struggle, and said, "...Don't say it."

"Oh."

Lorna nodded first, then turned to look at Cole curiously: "Why?"

"Because... Ms. Futaba is already very busy. I have been helping her with her work recently, and I know very well how much work it takes to coordinate the entire organization. Under these circumstances, unnecessary information will only add to her burden."

Cole took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts as he said seriously, "At least for a long time to come, [Gold Coins and Dancers] will be a behemoth that we can only try to cooperate with, but cannot explore in any form. So the secret you just 'saw' will not only not have a positive effect, but will even become a burden for us. So... it's better not to say it."

Lorna nodded: "I understand, but why do you say it would be a burden?"

"Because Ms. Futaba has a golden curiosity."

Cole's gaze sharpened, and he said earnestly, "She is a respectable and outstanding woman with an immense thirst for knowledge. If she knew, she would be constantly struggling between 'satisfying her own curiosity' and 'ensuring the organization's interests.' As the executives, what we need to do is share Ms. Futaba's burdens, not let her get caught up in this pointless internal strife and add unnecessary burdens to her." "I understand."

Lorna continued to agree, then asked, "But according to Mr. [referring to the author], Ms. Futaba is supposed to be a person of very bad character and a terrible personality, so is the kind of thing you're worried about... really going to happen?"

"..."

Cole hesitated for a moment, then said with a complicated expression, "If the two things I was worried about just now didn't happen, then Ms. Futaba might very well... no, never mind, anyway, don't tell her about today's discovery."

Lorna nodded slightly and asked, "Should we tell the master?"

"gentlemen……"

Cole's expression stiffened, and after a long while, he took a deep breath and shifted his gaze away with a flicker of his eyes: "The master is busy with very important matters. Although we can contact him through Boss Jun and Brother Huolan, it's best not to disturb him at this time."

Lorna yawned and said lazily, "Okay, I have no problem."

"And also—"

Cole turned to Rona and said seriously, "While I don't think you can hide the fact that you can make your soul leave your body, the fact that you can ignore the guards of epic-level powerhouses and easily explore extremely secret areas of places like [Gold Coins and Dancers] without being discovered... don't tell anyone."

Rona: "Huh?"

"If anyone asks, just say that although you can separate your consciousness from your body, you are subject to many limitations, such as limited time for activity, inability to be in a physical body, and often needing to attach yourself to something... like me, and you have to suppress your consciousness to almost nothing in order to ensure that you are not detected."

Cole looked steadily into Lorna's eyes and said in a deep voice, "Promise me, Lorna."

"..."

This time, under Cole's intense gaze, Lorna didn't continue asking questions with the same curiosity as before. Instead, she nodded and said, "Okay, I understand. I'll listen to you."

"Ah."

Cole breathed a sigh of relief, smiled with a smile, and said gently, "Go back and rest. This is the first time I've seen you so tired in a long time."

"It's a bit like that evening when I stayed up all night chatting with Xiao Ai, only to find out we had to get up early for class the next day."

Lorna laughed too, and said softly, "It's quite nostalgic."

"We're still young."

Cole shook his head, helping the unsteady-footed Rona walk back, and said with a smile, "You've only been sleeping in for more than half a year, it's not time to reminisce about the past yet."

"I think it's better to reminisce a bit."

"Ok?"

"After all, both you and Ai look nostalgic when you talk about the past. The gentleman also told me that the two of you are no longer the Cole and Ai I remember."

"Sir loves to lie."

"The same goes for Cole."

"Haha, how could that be?"

"Weren't you just telling me to hide things and lie?"

"Well, this is called a white lie, you know? It's a lie with good intentions that can be forgiven."

"So, who is the good intention behind these lies... directed at?"

"Watch your step, you're walking like a sleepwalker right now."

"It seems that independent action of the soul can be quite tiring. I haven't felt this sleepy in a long time."

"Then let's get a good night's sleep tonight."

"Ah."

"..."

"Cole."

"Ok?"

"Would you secretly go on a date with that housekeeper Eva while I'm sleeping?"

"……Clam?"

"I mean, will you secretly..."

"I heard you! I just don't understand why you would say such nonsense."

"Because I am immortal?"

"The point isn't 'ghost'!"

"Is it because she seems to like you a little? Or is it just my imagination?"

"...You were the one staring at me back then, weren't you?"

So, does she like you?

"...Because of Mr.'s plan, Ms. Eva did cause me some trouble a few months ago. The responsibility lies entirely with Mr. and me for the misunderstanding, and the effects of this misunderstanding may indeed still linger to this day."

"So she likes you?"

"Maybe, but I won't sneak off to meet her while you're asleep."

"Then when I'm awake..."

"No way!"

"okay."

Are you angry?

"I don't know, but she's probably a little angry, right?"

"……Why?"

"Because I really wanted to lock you out at the time and make you anxious."

"...I'm asking why you're angry."

"do not know."

"Ah."