Artifact Report

Chapter 443 Mai Minghe: The Truth She Discovered and Unwavering Good Fortune

Mai Minghe almost thought time had frozen.

If they were truly frozen in place, that would be good; but she knew that the few people in the open space had simply fallen into a strange, blank moment of silence for some unknown reason.

Damian stared blankly at his father, then suddenly let out a short laugh. When he tried to speak, he couldn't utter a single word.

Caronan put the pistol back into his waistband without saying a word—as if he had just played a card and was patiently waiting for his opponent's response.

What brand? Mak Ming-ho really couldn't figure it out.

Was his pistol a particularly powerful decoy? Was he warning Damian not to act recklessly?

But he is Kaironan, the founder of one of the most famous schools in Blackmore City. Of course he should know that the illusion is useless to the residents.

She wasn't the only one who was confused.

Even from a distance, Mai Minghe could see Chai Si's confusion: he turned to look at his godfather, hesitated, and then glanced at Damian—endless doubts were forced down his throat, making him look like a helpless child.

There was another woman in the open space. I don't know who she was. She didn't run away or say anything. She just sat on the ground against the wall, her hands tightly covering her mouth, as if she was crying silently.

Mai Minghe glanced at her through the machine gun scope a few times. Although he knew nothing of the background or the consequences, he felt a pang of sadness in his heart.

Is she Caronan's wife?

She was about the same age as Cironan, and had carefully styled her gray hair into a highlighted fringe; her clothes, hair, and grooming all suggested she was from the upper class. If she were Damian's mother, she certainly wouldn't have left—but why was she crying? Was she crying because her son had become a resident?

“Keronan, you think you can control me? I’m going to tell you everything now—”

Damian's sudden remark immediately drew Mai Minghe's attention.

Strangely, he stopped halfway through his sentence.

Looking through the scope, Damian's expression was extremely strange: he seemed to have just discovered a huge secret, and his black eyes glowed with a ghostly light; however, Damian stared fixedly at a point in the void, his mouth half open, as if two wills were tearing each other apart and vying for the upper hand.

Kaironan shook his head, his voice slow and deliberate: "What did you say?"

Mai Minghe also wanted to know what Damian was going to say, but she always felt that Kaironan didn't seem to mean that.

Caronan seemed to know what Damian was going to say.

It seems... it seems like his words were more like asking, "What can you say?"

He took control of the situation.

Is she overthinking it?

Despite being a complete outsider, Mai Minghe, by sheer coincidence, is perhaps the person in all of Blackmore City who knows the most about the Kai family's past—she may even know more about the inside story than Kaironan's wife.

"The ??? in my hand is the most powerful illusion."

Damian, who was at a disadvantage for some reason, seemed to be unconsciously imitating his former father.

He was panting, and managed to lower his voice, even adjusting his posture slightly to resemble Kaironan's slightly hunched back as he aged. It was as if this would allow him to regain the upper hand.

He certainly didn't realize it at all.

"With ???, even the most incredible things become possible. Do you think I would give something like that to anyone?"

Wait—what?
Mai Minghe had thought that... ? ? ? could only blur the boundaries of the real world. But what did Damian mean by that? That even the most unbelievable things could be accomplished?

So... can it push back the end date of "in vitro telomere" again?
Mai Minghe didn't ask for much; she just wanted a few months to separate her nest from the world again—no, no, she should be honest with herself; she also hoped that after the world was at peace, she could have another year or two to travel around and experience different lives, which would be even better.

No, a year or two is too short; it's just a blink of an eye in a long life.

She knew that what she was feeling at that moment was greed.

But Mai Minghe was powerless against it; she gripped the machine gun tightly, her whole body trembling slightly.

She absolutely must get it? A fake image.

Regardless of whether it can extend the lifespan of "in vitro telomeres," she at least wants to give it a try.

All these thoughts were just a fleeting wave surging through his mind; Damian paused for a moment in the open space, then suddenly let out a cold laugh.

“Caronan, Caronan…”

He shook his head repeatedly, as if he were about to cry, or perhaps he was laughing. "You never treated me like a son? In your whole life, who have you ever considered family?" Kaironan said slowly, "Don't get it wrong. You are a resident who became Damian after he died. One of my sons is Damian, so naturally I wouldn't treat you like one."

Despite his confusion, Chai Si seemed to breathe a long, grateful sigh of relief—a sigh that Mai Minghe, however, could not.

She is different from Chai Si.

No matter how quick-witted Chai Si is, he is still young; moreover, he has been like a hunting dog all his life, only seeing the target and not seeing anything beyond it. From a certain perspective, he can be described as naive—inevitably lacking a deeper understanding of the world.

Perhaps it is because she has seen too many people and too many human hearts in the past eighty-six years that she has developed an almost spiritual intuition about people.

On this open space, something silent and enormous is brewing.

Once this thing reveals its true form, what impact will it have on her struggle for it? Mai Minghe really couldn't imagine.

If you want to steal the illusion, shouldn't you first know what's actually happening in the open space?
Calm down and think about it carefully...

First of all, Damian, the host, went to great lengths to bring the Lair into the world using Brianna, all for the purpose of revenge against Chess—and perhaps also for revenge against his parents. That's obvious.

Secondly, if Damian's "revenge" was meant to kill Chais, then Chais would have died long ago.

No matter how powerful Chai Si is, he can't resist a resident as powerful as the host; but he's still standing alive, why?
Revenge does not always mean the death of the enemy.

Damian's goal seems to be to make his enemy live and experience the greatest pain—what is the most painful thing for Chase in the world?
Mai Minghe looked up at the nest.

The fact that Chai Si's mother died at the hands of the inhabitants who entered the human world was undoubtedly the most painful thing for him; but now that the nest has entered the human world along with the inhabitants, it may not cause him much pain—in fact, it has given him a goal.

Mak Ming-ho understood this feeling very well, because it was her feeling.

If she had enough time, she would definitely gather all seven target illusions, banish the lair from the world, and restore peace to everything—"The bad guy did bad things, I will stop him." Once a person has this mindset, how can they have time to suffer?

Besides that, the thing that caused Chai Si the most pain was—

Mai Minghe nearly gasped and quickly covered his mouth.

She stared blankly at the empty space, her mind churning with countless thoughts.

That's right... there's only one possibility.

Once you figure this out, everything becomes clear: what Cironan is doing right now, what his cryptic remarks mean, and why he keeps saying Damian is "thinking too shallowly."

Damian must have understood, which is why he didn't dare finish his sentence just now.

If we exclude Caronan's wife, the only person still in the dark tonight is Chess Monroe.

Want to seize it??? If it's just a facade, letting the situation continue as it is now might be more advantageous for her...

But that's too cruel—

“Keronan, you’re dreaming,”

Damian suddenly raised his voice, startling Mai Minghe.

He seemed to have abandoned his "human" side, completely immersing himself in the life of a resident. His voice, like countless blades, swirled and tore through the night: "You're dreaming! You're dreaming! You're dreaming! I'm the resident! I'm the one in control! You want to climb over me? You're dreaming! You think I wouldn't dare? You think I wouldn't kill him? Let me tell you, you can't control me! I can't control you!"

Mai Minghe was startled.

In that instant, Damian suddenly swung his hand, slapping Keronan across the chest and sending him flying far away, before charging toward Chais.

No matter how fast Chais reacted, he couldn't outrun the residents who suddenly attacked; Damian's raised arm seemed to weigh down the entire night sky as it slammed down on him.

Mak Ming-ho pulled the trigger.

Several heavy, angry gunshots shattered the night, as if the nest above them were shaking and trembling.

Bullets struck Damian's forehead one after another, the impact bending his head and neck backward at a ninety-degree angle.

Caronan's wife's screams were almost drowned out by the aftershocks of the gunshots.

Mai Minghe's ears were ringing from the shockwave. Before the others on the open ground could react, she immediately crouched down and lay on the ground—bullets couldn't kill the residents, but if Damian found her and came straight here, she would be in big trouble.

In the brief moment of chaos, before even Chai Si could ask "Who is it?", a hoarse yet urgent voice suddenly rang out from the open space.

“Chai Si,” Caronan shouted, fighting back a cough, “He’s going to kill you… Run!”

(End of this chapter)