Witch, Fireball and Steam Evil God

Chapter 355 Did You Betray Me?
Once again, Merlin didn't answer the question directly, but responded with a meaningful look, which made Zhuang Xiao want to pick up the mineral water bottle on the table and smash it on Merlin's extremely deceptive face.

First, he used her to advance his own plans, and then he used her here as a riddle teller.

Zhuang Xiao was thoroughly fed up with the Riddler, especially since she had to stay in the shelter every day and was constantly enveloped in a depressing atmosphere.

She concluded that Merlin was an unreliable person, whose only talent was spouting empty platitudes and making grand promises.

She was already planning to kick Merlin aside and hear what Chen Qi had to say.

Thinking of this, Zhuang Xiao suddenly felt that his future was bleak. Chen Qi's gloating look was still vivid in his mind. Forcing him to choose between him and Merlin was like picking the less smelly one from two dissertations, but... they were both piles of shit either way.

She felt much more clear-headed and no longer wanted to believe in the "bright future" Merlin described.

However, Merlin was right about one thing: the future must be created by oneself. From now on, she can only trust herself. She must find out the truth of the matter in order to make a wise judgment. Whether she stays in the shelter and sinks into despair with those gloomy people, or returns to her dream, the choice is hers.

"If you're not going to answer me, I'm leaving."

Zhuang Xiao's face turned cold, and her tone became more aggressive.

"Colonel Zhuang Xiao, I've said before that you're a perceptive person, but that person's situation is somewhat different from ours."

"Heh, a confidentiality agreement? What level is it this time?"

"Highest level".

Merlin said, "I dare say that no more than five people in the shelter know about her, and unfortunately, that doesn't include me... I can understand how you feel right now, Goddess, Winter, but even now, you still don't know her real name, do you?"

The conversation finally moved forward.

Zhuang Xiao temporarily abandoned her idea of ​​storming off.

She has also been thinking a lot about Winter lately. It is clear that she entered that world much earlier than them. When the Vault selected them and gave them the mission of "pioneering", Winter had already become a goddess. Judging from her authority alone, she is not like one of them at all.

It holds a status equal to that of the "Old Gods," and even subtly surpasses them.

Before she returned to reality as "Crimson," the "Old Gods" were one of the few areas of ignorance for the guild. The reason she was able to bind Argos was because of the spell left by the goddess. Their own strength alone was simply not enough to contend with the Old Gods.

They are ancient and mysterious beings, whose true forms are forever located in a dimension that the company cannot detect.

"What do you know?"

"I do not know anything."

Merlin said, “But that’s exactly the problem, isn’t it? She was crucial to the whole plan, perhaps even the key to everything, but she left no trace in the Vault—we don’t know which district she was born in, there’s no information about her past. This can only mean one thing: the Vault’s higher-ups covered up all information related to her.”

"Where is the 'ward'?"

Zhuang Xiao immediately asked.

"Ward" is their general term for the area where the cryo-chambers are located. It has the highest level of security in the vault, and of course, a very high level of secrecy. Most of the vault residents are unaware of the existence of the "ward." Although the Vault News often reveals the progress of the "other world" to the residents, they actually have no idea how the "exploration team" got in.

Zhuang Xiao felt that if Lin Dong was in the same situation as them, then she must have been properly placed somewhere in the "ward".

"We checked, and there were no relevant records, unless there is another 'ward' in the shelter that we don't know about."

Merlin took out a list from the drawer. “It’s worth mentioning that two hours after you woke up, Chen Qi sent two more people over there. As usual, their original identities are unknown. The chip records a pair of star-crossed lovers who were persecuted by the ‘company.’ I guess they have already arrived in the Empire.”

This was the third "pioneer team," and Merlin had no idea what mission the two had been given.

All he could say was that the shelter was becoming increasingly adept at dispatching personnel. They knew the methods used there, and no matter how the two were interrogated with magic or how many truth serums they drank, they would not reveal any information related to the shelter, because under the influence of the chip, they had completely integrated into their new "life".

"Think carefully, what was the task assigned to us by the chips back then?"

"...Found the goddess."

Zhuang Xiao fell into deep thought.

Without any further instructions, their mission of pioneering was completed the moment they found the "goddess". Looking back now, their going their separate ways after establishing the guild was also inextricably linked to the task assigned to them by the chip.

At that time, they were unaware of the existence of the shelter, nor did they know that they might be burdened with the fate of a world to be destroyed.

“It’s weird, isn’t it?”

Merlin knew what Zhuang Xiao was thinking at that moment, because he had gone through the same phase when he woke up.

Measured in terms of time, they all wasted thousands of years there. They clearly had more time to engage with Ethan and even establish a more harmonious and stable relationship, which would have been more conducive to implanting their ideas into Ethan's mind. But the opposite is true.

Later, the goddess disappeared.

They could only glimpse the future from the vague concept of "fate," and Merlin always suspected that the prophecies that appeared from time to time were more like a warning mechanism implanted in their brains, reminding them that it was time to get down to business.

Exploring more planes, becoming a ruler, or embarking on adventures at will are all unrelated to their "main quest".

Sometimes Merlin really admires the mindset of the Vault's leadership.

Watching these people, on whom so much hope was placed, wasting their time on the other side, while the shelter was constantly facing crises from above, a hot-tempered person would probably have already pulled the life support devices out of their cryo-chambers.

"But this is not our responsibility; the problem is that we have an inactive leader."

Merlin carefully analyzed the logic of the whole affair. In fact, there was nothing wrong with the instructions in their chip. "Finding the Goddess" meant sending more people to the project manager on the other side. The handover at the shelter would be completed the moment they met the Goddess.

They didn't seem to intend to interfere too much with the goddess's work, leaving all matters on the other side to her command.

"You mean..."

Zhuang Xiao shuddered, suddenly feeling a chill run down her spine.

She understood Merlin's deeper meaning and realized why he had been avoiding the topic.

In the shelter, this is an absolutely taboo topic, as it would be tantamount to a complete denial of the past decisions made by the higher-ups, and even more terrifyingly, it would utterly destroy everyone's hope.

but……

But the truth was right in front of them from the very beginning.

In reality, the goddess didn't organize them to complete the work at all; after symbolically granting them power, she simply left the guild to its own devices.

"If you want to implant ideas into Ethan's mind, who's more effective than the person next to you in bed?"

Merlin brought all of Zhuang Xiao's doubts to the forefront.

A power that surpasses all guild founders. In fact, they still don't know how much authority the goddess possesses, because in the story of the chip implantation, she is the source of the entire world's birth. Theoretically, her authority has no limit. And now it seems that she has done a pretty good job in the canopy, and she has also implanted this "idea" into Ethan's mind.

No wonder the shelter's leadership was so excited when she woke up.

Regardless of the true nature of Ethan's relationship with the goddess, the ideas she evokes will influence his judgment. Until Ethan realizes the truth, he will mistakenly believe that the "goddess's" power far surpasses his own.

Zhuang Xiao clenched her fists.

From a work perspective, as a junior member of the "Otherworld Project Team," she has already exceeded expectations, essentially feeding the leader. As long as the leader continues along this line of thinking, victory is just around the corner.

However, after that, Winter did nothing.

Even viewed with malice, Ethan's trip to Darkhearth was shrouded in suspicion.

Merlin's question was like opening Pandora's box, forcing Zhuang Xiao to confront all of her doubts up to this point.

Ivy's teacher sent a letter from Darkhearth, which led to an unusual ghoul attack, but in the end, it all turned out to be aimed at Ethan.

An unknown contaminated area, and a "shadow element" that they still can't explain.

They couldn't monitor what was happening in the "contaminated zone" and had no idea what had happened to Ethan after he ventured deeper into the mist. However, it was clear from the way he interacted with the shadow elementals that they had known each other for a long time. The appearance of "Little Dark" even gave Ethan the idea of ​​searching for his lost memories.

This has completely deviated from the original course of the plan.

In Zhuang Xiao's view, those "lost memories" are the shelter's trump card and the final step in the entire operation.

According to Merlin, when Ethan “regains” those memories, he will identify as one of them and help them save the destroyed world.

The appearance of "Little Dark" has become the biggest uncertainty factor.

And indeed, on the very night "Little Dark" returned to the capital, Ethan began to dream.

Merlin's plan further fueled these changes, forcing Chen Qi's faction to make extremely passive contact with Ethan in the absence of intelligence.

If they slip up during the negotiations, it could very well ruin all their past efforts.

Zhuang Xiao felt that if she were in Winter's position, she would do everything she could to prevent Ethan from meeting with the Shadow Element. However, the reality was quite the opposite. Winter even stayed in the capital and, unusually, did not travel with Ethan. This was a result of her indulging... or even encouraging it.

All of this made her feel extremely uneasy when she thought about it.

Winter...

Could they have already betrayed them?

They disregarded their mission and the fate of the world.

She became lost in power and authority, lost in the "other world".

If her suspicions come true...

Zhuang Xiao almost dared not continue thinking about it, because it meant that no matter how many people they sent in the future, or what efforts they made, it would all be in vain. They would have no chance of pulling the goddess who had already gained all power down from her altar.

The shelter was created with everyone's hard work to create an existence that transcends the Old Gods, but now she has broken free from everyone's control.

"No, this is not right."

Zhuang Xiao's palms were sweaty. "If she is the key to the plan, can you imagine how much the higher-ups value her? The chip implanted in her brain will definitely be more special than ours, and the people in the research department will do everything they can to control her behavior."

At least for the second batch of pioneering teams, the shelter was not afraid of their betrayal.

Chips are the first line of defense.

The second layer is their bodies in the cryogenic chamber of the "ward". Once their life support is cut off, their muscles will quickly atrophy and die.

but……

Merlin was quite certain that he had not seen Winter on the list of those in the “ward”.

Faced with Zhuang Xiao's self-comforting questioning, Merlin simply responded with a smile. He did not intend to argue about these issues, because they were all castles in the air. They knew far too little about Winter, not even her real name.

"For me, even if the worst happens, I still have one wish."

He tidied up the disorganized project proposal on the table. "I want to know why."

The shelter's leadership kept too many secrets from them.

It concerns the harsh winter, the "Great Cataclysm," and the dangers that still exist on the surface.

Merlin disliked being kept in the dark.

"Even if I die, I want to die knowing the truth. Colonel Zhuang Xiao, that's my life motto."

He put the thick stack of documents into the drawer. "Would you be willing to help me?"

..............................

On the other side, the imperial capital.

The aroma of broth wafted into the room. When Ethan opened his eyes, the white and black cats on the bed were nowhere to be seen. Immediately afterward, an indescribable sense of exhaustion washed over him. Despite having slept soundly all night, it seemed to have the opposite effect. In this bright and sunny morning, all he wanted to do was become a paralyzed person and continue to be one with the soft bed.

A short while later, the bedroom door was pushed open.

Winter entered.

She pushed a food cart with a bowl of stew and Ethan's favorite hard bread. The black cat was quietly curled up on the second shelf of the cart. The meal she had prepared for Ethan was shepherd's pie.

On a warm and peaceful morning, Ethan sensed a conspiracy.

Winter is acting strangely today, mainly because of her outfit.

Her skirt was very short today, showing off her long, slender legs. She was wearing a pair of opaque white pantyhose and crystal high heels.

Ethan had no idea what was happening; the scene was as if a video he had stored on his tablet had been exposed.

But that must have been a dream, right?
In reality, Winter and Darkness didn't actually appear in his dream; he just saw them while he was sleeping and then imagined them in his dream as well...

"Incorrect."

The mind-reading Xiao An raised her head. She jumped off the food cart and landed lightly on the ground. With a "thump," a girl with a black ponytail appeared in Ethan's sight.

The skirts were the same length, but the difference was that her stockings were black.

"We've agreed on three rules: you're not allowed to collect any more random or shady things."

(End of this chapter)