Artifact Report

Chapter 446 Chai Si: Same Goal, Different People
From a certain perspective, the illusion in the hunter's hand is not fundamentally different from the twig in the hand of the primitive man—they are both tools of man.

The effectiveness and function of the same tool sometimes depend entirely on who wields it.

Artifacts are no exception.

Since adulthood, Chase has been dealing with hunters and illusions.

When faced with a young boy who had just come of age, had no access to the village, and couldn't even go to his nest, many hunters felt that this was a mistake by the Kai family, and a good opportunity to sell something for a much higher price. When squeezing out the exaggeration, verifying the value of the illusion, and figuring out their uses and patterns, force was naturally useless.

All he can rely on is his own vision and intellect.

"...Are you leaving?"

In a daze, he heard Mai Minghe ask with some concern, "Can you keep your current state a secret from them?"

Chai Si had never had grandparents. He thought that all elderly people in the world must be like her, always worried that people are cold or tired, and always thinking about covering them with a blanket.

“Yes,” he said.

Going back now, the greatest danger is that Damian will see his face; Chais is not a person who easily shows his emotions, but Damian seems to be able to "read faces" - no matter how well he hides his emotions, he will be able to read them.

He wasn't stupid. Once he discovered that Chai Si's body contained only a sharp, broken piece of rubble, he would know everything.

Chai Si Ning would rather die than let him succeed.

Chais wasn't 100% sure he could stop Damian from "reading faces," but he felt his guess was pretty close to the truth.

As he left the streetlights and stepped into the shadows, he took out the "blank ID" he had received from Fu Tailan from his pocket.

To his hand, the blank document was small enough to be easily enveloped and swallowed by his palm.

Don't think about Damian, don't think about the second Uncle Kai who just appeared in theaters... Chais cuts himself off from tonight and recalls that Christmas a few years ago.

Over the years, Aunt Hai had never allowed him to visit during holidays. Uncle Kai would always send someone to deliver a gift to Chai Si, which was considered a celebration—but that year, for some reason, after Christmas dinner, Uncle Kai actually came to see him in person.

"Are you going out for drinks with the family hunters later?" Uncle Kai waved his hand, deflecting Chai Si's question. "Don't worry about me. You young people should relax. I just came to see you and gave you this."

That year's Christmas present was an old cardboard box.

When he opened it with doubt, he couldn't utter a single word for a full half minute.

On the top shelf was a photograph.

Dege Munro is smiling at the camera, holding a baby with wide, serious eyes. The old photo is blurry and faded, and she looks like someone the same age as Chaisi today. The following photos are all taken by Dege Munro back then, some with Chaisi, some with her friends, and even a high school graduation photo, in which she smiles with her braces on.

There were only five or six photos, scattered on an old scarf. A pair of silver earrings, a few handwritten recipes, each simpler and lazier than the last, just a few lines of text on scraps of paper—because Dewi Munro didn't like to cook. There was also a letter, devoid of any emotional meaning, simply a bill from the power company demanding payment of $174.35 from Dewi Munro. The date indicated it was after the incident.

Unconsciously, Chai Si gently stroked the recipient's name on the envelope. The address below was his home, which he hadn't remembered for a long time.

"How come..." He started to ask the question, but then had to clear his throat.

“I left Los Angeles very quickly back then and never knew what happened to your apartment building. I regret it. In the past few years, I’ve sent people out to inquire from your aunt’s relatives, your mother’s classmates, and the apartment manager, but I’ve only managed to gather this little bit of information.”

That year—he was about twenty-six?—Chai Si repolished his mother's silver earrings, got his own ears pierced, and never took them off again.

Chess reached out to his own mind and soul, grasped it tightly, and pinned it down on that Christmas.

He wouldn't allow himself to recall any emotions other than gratitude, loyalty, guilt, etc.

With this feeling in mind, he hid the card in his palm, and as if to brush his hair, quickly pointed it at his face, then paused.

As he put his hand down, he glanced at the card out of the corner of his eye and sure enough, there was a photo on it.

In the photo, Chess Munroe is looking back at him through the blurry light; his identity, name, and address are all displayed on the card, naturally all of which are Chess's information.

Sure enough, if you can take someone else's identity, you can also take your own.

If you give this card to a second person, that person will become Chess Munro; but what if you put it back on yourself?

Taking away one's identity and then putting it back on oneself... Most people would just think that the card's effect was not utilized, right?

Chais put it away again.

If he had a way through, he would definitely become the best hunter—Chai Si never doubted this.

A skilled hunter can transform an ordinary illusion into something unexpected, even turning a fixed purpose into an unimaginable outcome. Take, for example, the blank ID card, Fu Tai Lan. It deceives others into believing the cardholder is the person depicted on the card because it "extracts" a person's identity, creating a layer of "illusion" that overlays the cardholder's persona.

If appearance, age, and temperament can all be part of an illusion, then can't "emotions" and "state" also be part of it?
Chess didn't expect Damian to always believe he was deeply grateful and loyal, but he just needed to conceal his true feelings—of course, this was all just Chess's analysis.

He might have misjudged the situation, so as Chess walked toward Kaironan and Damian, he kept recalling the various experiences he had had with the Kaironan hunters over the years.

He could use his willpower to block Kim Seol-ri's recording, so he could naturally use the same method to block his own emotions.

Damian stared at him from afar, motionless for several seconds.

His face remained expressionless, yet it always gave one the feeling that something was constantly sniffing at their skin, searching for a crack to slip through... Is this the ability of the residents?

Following his gaze, Kaironan turned around and looked at Chess.

“Uncle Kai,” Chais said in a low voice, “I’ve already instructed the gunman to ensure your safety no matter what. We have plenty of ammunition, and she’s a good shot. Holding Damian off for a few minutes shouldn’t be a problem. If necessary, don’t worry about me; you go first.”

Keronan nodded to him, his expression grave, and said, "I won't leave."

That's the truth.

Haven't they reached an agreement with Damian yet?
Kaironan's price was too high; Chase was even surprised that his life was worth so much—no, he couldn't even imagine it.

He thought of the bouquet of flowers he had placed on the bench beneath Damian's tomb.

He was thinking about college, where Morando sighed and said he didn't know which course to choose.

He thought about how many five-year-old children in the world still had mothers until tonight.

Damian finally slowly closed his face.

...Residents are something that is too difficult to understand with common sense.

He was still several steps away from Chai Si, and hadn't moved an inch, yet Chai Si could almost hear the soft "snap" sound as his face closed again.

Damian stared at Kaironan with a dark expression, but spoke to Chess: "Don't worry, I won't kill him, and I won't kill you either."

...successfully.

Chai Si's emotions and will had been forged into a solid block of steel, showing no sign of fluctuation or joy.

From this moment forward, he would do everything in his power to cooperate with Kaironan and help him get everything he wanted from Damian.

This was not the last time Chai Si would repay a debt of gratitude.

Just minutes before, Maming had subtly asked him why he was staying to help Keronan—both were afraid the residents might have the ability to hear things from afar, so they spoke vaguely and ambiguously; whatever the listener's preconceived notions were enough to determine the outcome.

“Of course I’ll help Uncle Kai drive the lair out of the human world,” Chai Si said, gradually emphasizing the last part of his sentence. “Especially now.”

She understood—no wonder he's lived for eighty-six years.

“I understand,” Mak Ming-ho said in a low voice. “There’s one more thing I haven’t told you. The illusion of my youth will expire at midnight on December 6th… Once it’s gone, I’ll be gone too.”

The 6th? Tomorrow?

Chai Si suddenly remembered his dream. Was it a dream?

In the dream, Dr. Nate, who had almost no connection with people anymore, repeatedly said, "Maming River will get the Time Artifact on December 6th... You must take it... You must seize the opportunity. Otherwise, it will be too late if she gets it."

“The only hope right now is right in front of me,” Mak Ming-ho continued. “It’s so close, yet so far away, but I still have to try.”

What is she saying? — She is placing her hopes on something that seems omnipotent?

“My goal is the same as yours…” Mak Ming-ho said in a low voice. “I need to get ???, and first I need to survive. Then I need to collect all the target illusions, whether you help me or not. I must become the victor; only then can I heal all the wounds.”

Chai Si stared blankly at her.

“I cannot let you win, or let anyone else gain power.” Maming paused, then said, “Power is a terrible thing, and when it comes to who owns it, I only trust myself. I know myself, and I know I would never use it for evil, but that’s only the first reason.”

She sighed.

"No one can live forever. The Nest has never granted anyone immortality, has it? I am already eighty-six years old. Let this absolute power, which should not exist, wander the world with me for a few years, and then die with me."

(End of this chapter)