Artifact Report

Chapter 303 Brianna's Death Triangle

The closer you get to the finish line, the more dangerous it becomes.

Vesile was determined to stop at the fourth artifact and pause the game of domination—the "Artifact Report," which would lead him to the fifth artifact, was, in his view, no different from a death sentence.

"There are conditions for continuing this process."

Vesilé held up two fingers. A round bump appeared on her cheek, then disappeared.

"First, as you suggested, bring the vulture into the world and make it a second me."

This idea was inspired by Brianna's work, The Falsehoods.

If vultures can enter the human world and replace the mayor, then why not bring in another one to "replace" Vesile?
Let "Vulture Vessilai" take his place, moving about in the world, shielding him from bullets, accidents, and assassinations; the real Vessilai can stay in the safe room and never leave—after all, the safe room has everything he needs.

“…Mr. Wei,”

Brianna, fighting off a thousand churning, venomous snakes in her chest, said, "'The rumor' is with you. Since you spread the vulture rumor, it hasn't come true yet, and we don't know how much longer we have to wait. What if the vulture doesn't enter the world for another year…"

During this period, new players will definitely join.

Vesile raised a second finger. "This brings us to the second point. Find a way for you and me to share the danger. I think that's fair, isn't it?"

Brianna stared at him blankly.

At that moment, she thought of her mother, whom she hadn't thought of in a long time.

The mother stood by the sofa, looking slightly uneasy, and said to her husband, who was gradually rising in the world, "These things are dangerous. Just don't get Brianna involved."

I'm sorry, mom.

The body I'm wearing is no longer the one you nurtured and cared for. Even your one hope has been dashed.

Brianna knew there were two bodyguards present, but her mouth seemed to have a mind of its own and was out of control. "But... Daddy."

Vesile seemed to be burned, turned to the two bodyguards and said, "You two go to the suite and wait for me. Don't go far, and keep an eye on my movements."

Dylan seemed not to have heard anything, his expression unchanged, and he and another bodyguard went into the side room of the study suite and closed the door.

Vesil slowly turned his face, almost segment by segment—Brianna was such a repulsive thing that he had to strain his face and mouth to keep from spitting at her.

The two things were clearly unrelated, but she suddenly remembered the time she ran into Morandall and the involuntary jolt he had involuntarily felt.

The shadows and the light in life are so close together.

“…I did tell you,” Vesilé said in a low voice. “I warned you.”

Brianna remained silent.

"You're unhappy? But think about it, the danger you encountered has nothing to do with you; it only happened to this man's body. But if something were to happen to me, it would be a different story. Do you agree with that?"

He stopped and waited for Brianna's response.

She didn't respond, so he remained silent; in the increasingly heavy silence of the room, Brianna finally lowered her head and nodded.

"Okay. I've made myself clear, don't make me repeat myself."

Despite his short stature, Vesille kept his eyes fixed on the top of Brianna's head and said, "The collection operation is suspended until any one of the conditions is met."

He sat back down, called out to the bodyguard in the suite, and then waved to Brianna.

"You go."

Brianna did not leave.

...The collection operation has been suspended?
No, not possible.

Vesilé raised her eyelids at her.

"I know why." Before those words even left her mouth, she didn't even realize she had that thought. "I know why all the danger is concentrated on you."

"why?"

"Because you have all four illusions."

If Brianna were still Brianna, perhaps my heart would be pounding?
"Whoever holds the target decoy is the real contestant; teammates are just teammates—that logic is natural, right?"

Vesilé considered it for a moment.

“I know that not all four artifacts are actually on you,” Brianna added, “but only you know the location of the other three, right? Essentially, they are only in your hands.”

After what felt like an eternity, Vesil finally nodded slowly.

"...I see. That is indeed a possibility."

Brianna kept her mouth tightly shut, waiting for the next word.

"You think... if you knew their location, you'd also bear half the risk?" Vesille tapped the table thoughtfully. "But if the danger I face remains the same, only you've increased your risk of death..."

Unexpectedly, before Brianna could speak, he slammed his hand on the table and made up his mind.

"Worth a try."

So readily? She was somewhat surprised—was Vesillet a decisive person when he wasn't in fear? "Come with me," Vesillet stood up from behind the table, gesturing for his bodyguard to follow. "I'll take you to see the other three illusions."

...Isn't he afraid she'll steal it? Or does he think that Brianna can't accomplish anything without his financial resources?

The manor consists of several interconnected buildings, stretching across nearly 3,000 square meters. When viewed from above, it forms an elongated, wavy L-shape. The safe room is located at the intersection of the "L" and is hidden deep underground.

The safe room consists of only three rooms, a common room, and a bathroom, which is rather meager by the standards of the Wyman Estate. But it lives up to its name—whether it's a nuclear war, a viral outbreak, or a nest invasion, it is probably one of the safest places in the world.

Brianna knew little about the materials and technology used in it; she only vaguely knew the cost of the safe room—a figure that shocked even her.

In such a secure room, Vesilé opened the door with just a fingerprint.

He walked down the stairs, waved to Brianna and her bodyguards on the ground, and called them to come in.

"...May I go in?"

“Okay,” Vesil said, almost gleefully.

Brianna had been turning away and looking at the wall to avoid suspicion; but when she reached the top of the stairs and glanced down, she immediately understood.

The door that was opened was only the first door leading into the safe room.

“The safe room is equipped with a zero-trust system. Opening its door requires many verifications. But in an emergency, it’s impossible to stand outside and verify each step one by one… That’s why we’re allowed to enter a relatively safe place as quickly as possible,” Vesilé explained unhurriedly. “What you see right now is just a lobby.”

If the lobby were also equipped with disinfection facilities, infrared scanning, cameras... and an "elevator car".

Inside the "elevator car" is where Vesilé conducted the verification.

In addition to fingerprints, there are also iris, voiceprint, and palm vein recognition. Beyond biometrics, Weisi still needs to enter a 36-digit random password. The way he enters the password, the pressure he applies to the keyboard, the speed at which his fingers move, and other implicit personal markers have long been recorded by the system and become part of the unlocking process.

However, all of this is still not the ultimate insurance measure.

Suddenly, Vessilai grabbed Brianna's wrist.

A chill ran down her spine. She was both surprised and suspicious, and a ridiculous thought even flashed through her mind: Did her father want to hold her hand?

As Brianna followed him into the safe room lobby, she suddenly stopped in her tracks—in that instant, she used every ounce of willpower she could muster to force herself not to scream or turn and run away.

"You remember this, right?"

With his back to her, Vesilé spoke in a light tone. He had just personally verified the impenetrable wall he had erected, and his mood had improved considerably. "When you were little, I took you to the dock warehouse to test it out... Who would have thought that it would happen to become one of the target illusions?"

Brianna dared not speak. She involuntarily took two steps back, almost touching Dylan's arm; she glanced at him, then quickly lowered her head, her back and armpits drenched in cold sweat.

A completely enraged, burgeoning black cube, like a hell unrestrained, stood in the hall, even the light shining on it seemed to drown out death.

Dylan glanced at Brianna, seemingly suppressing his doubts.

The bodyguards couldn't see the open black square because they hadn't made any physical contact with Vesile.

“It’s a pity that the instructions from that person didn’t work back then.” Vesilai shook his head and said, “Otherwise, you wouldn’t have ended up like this today.”

Brianna didn't speak, because she was afraid that if she opened her mouth, she would spit it out.

She hadn't thought about that night in the Black Square for many years; she could have almost pretended that she had never been inside.

Years later, she was once again led by her father, who held her wrist, to stand before the black-clad figures. But this time, Vessil's intentions were completely opposite.

"The other two target artifacts are inside."

Vesile said almost gleefully.

Brianna paused, taken aback.

...Are they all in the black box? Is that what he meant?

"Let's say someone enters the safe room, like you right now, and I brought you in. But if you don't go into the black cube, you can't get anything. Once you enter the black cube, you will naturally be broken down into clusters of constituent elements and never be able to get out again."

Vesilai's fingers were dry and hard, like the claws of a hawk that had been preserved as a specimen.

“Of course, if I die, the black cube will become ineffective and return to its original state, and the items will fall out.” He smiled and said, “But if I die, then no one can get into this safe room.”

Vesilé's success today is not entirely due to luck or pretense—a word that arose in Brianna's mind was also uttered by Vesilé.

"Vultures might be able to. But for a vulture to become me, I first need to be in close contact with vultures for a period of time, right? So the creation of 'Vulture Vesilai' cannot be hidden from me. In the presence of vultures, I will enter the safe room."

"When I'm inside the secure room, the system goes into a locked state, preventing any further external verification. So, did you figure it out?"

Vesile finally released Brianna's wrist.

"This is a dead triangle. A dead triangle that only I am allowed to enter and exit."

He turned to look at Brianna and said, "If anyone wants to take my avatar, their only chance is to kill me now. But unfortunately... with Dylan and the others around, they can't do it."

It turned out to be the case.

No wonder Vesilé agreed to tell her the location of the artifact.

This was a demonstration—it was telling her that she couldn't do anything without Vesilé.

(End of this chapter)