Miss Wang Weina, even your cousin won't do!

Loken Williams said, as if incredulous.

"That's true, you're here to kill me, you need a reason. But I'm quite curious, why?"

He looked through the prison window at Fiona, who was only a blurry outline in the darkness in the distance, and asked:

"You barely escaped from the Loken Water Tank, yet you came back specifically to kill me? You even chose to reveal yourself to achieve this goal. Do you know the consequences of doing so, Number 001?"

Columbia may seem to have no control over the frontier areas, but in reality, as a region classified as part of the country's internal affairs rather than a desolate wilderness, how could the frontier areas not have Columbia's eyes and ears? Leaving aside the idiot Fiona casually killed—who somehow became a brigadier general—the political establishment that sent him to Mansfield Prison couldn't possibly have trusted two unrelated individuals to handle this escort mission; there must have been political informants around.

If Number 001 appeared without permission, she might indeed be able to kill herself, but she would have no chance of escaping unscathed.

Within an hour, intelligence about the appearance of a steel dragon in the wilderness would be presented to the interim federal government of western Colombia, the military government of eastern Colombia, and the workers in the central region who had begun to organize and form a united labor union, emulating the Victorian workers. Immediately afterward, these three forces would turn their attention to this place, and the true identity of Number 001 would inevitably be exposed.

At that time, both soldiers and capitalists will be driven to madness. In the current situation where the two sides are evenly matched and the United Guild can only protect itself, whoever obtains 001 and the devastating Originium Arts she has developed to this point will gain the power to break the balance and tilt the scales of war in their own direction.

He's still just a child, revealing himself so easily. He barely escaped his own clutches, only to plunge himself into another abyss for the sake of revenge. The capitalists and the military government are a hundred times more ruthless than he is.

For some reason, at this point, Loken Williams felt no fear. He was neither worried about his life nor his safety, and even felt that this was probably a relief.

He had experienced too much in his life. From the growth of a privileged child to the pride of being admitted to the Royal Victorian Academy of Technology, from the joy of being taught by Professor Kal'tsit and opening up a new world to the arrogance of returning home in glory. Until the very end, he abandoned his original aspirations and ideals, stubbornly embarking on a wrong path. On this path, he had no friends, only loneliness.

In the end, he became the very thing he once hated most.

Having committed so many evil deeds, to be devoured by his own creation and ultimately die a miserable death in the wilderness—perhaps this isn't such a bad thing after all; it might be the most fitting end for his current state.

However, at this point, he began to worry about the future of Number 001.

"Number 001. If you're going to make a move, you'd better do it quickly. Then leave immediately."

Loken Williams withdrew his gaze from the cell window, leaned against the cold iron wall, and said:

"You've survived this year without being exposed to my spies who collected prototypes in the slums, which means someone helped you. Compared to those experimental prototypes who died in the explosion, you're lucky. Don't waste your luck, and don't let down those who took care of you. Kill me, complete your revenge, then put away your Originium Arts and leave immediately. Perhaps you still have a chance to escape."

"How could you say such a thing? Who do you think you are, the one who has led us to this predicament? How could you have the audacity to say something that sounds like you care about us at a time like this?!"

As if provoked by something, the brothers angrily cursed:

“You should lie on the ground, weeping and begging for mercy in front of us, saying some horrible things about wanting to live, and then watch us kill you bit by bit.”

"I'm sorry, I can't do that."

Loken Williams ruthlessly interrupted his brothers.

Kneeling on the ground, weeping bitterly, begging to live?

If it were me sitting in my office a day earlier, I might have actually done something despicable in the face of what seemed like an "opportunity".

But now, it's impossible for him to do that.

These are the reactions of cowards when faced with death, and as that federal court clerk said—is he even human?

He's not even human anymore, so how could he do something like this?

He experienced a life that ordinary people could never experience in their entire lives, learned knowledge that ordinary people could never master in their entire lives, and at the end of his life, he witnessed magic that ordinary people could never see in their entire lives. And the person who released this magic was his "creation." He was already incredibly satisfied. What he wanted now was a perfect death that ordinary people could never experience in their entire lives.

This is the ending that matches the extraordinary genius, Loken Williams.

“If you don’t want to die, I suggest you act quickly, otherwise the military and the officials of the Federal Council will realize what’s going on soon. Number 001, your magic is incredibly powerful, but one person’s strength can never be compared to that of a group. In front of a real army, you have no chance of escaping unscathed.”

"We didn't plan to go back alive."

Loken Williams, who thought he was no longer surprised by anything, finally widened his eyes slightly and showed a look of astonishment when he heard this.

"To be honest, your performance is very boring to us."

The brothers let out a long sigh.

Their year-long plan, the flames of revenge that burned from the moment it was implanted into Fiona's brain, were doused with cold water when they actually saw Loken Williams. The brothers had expected a fierce battle, imagining Loken Williams kneeling on the ground, screaming in agony. But they never imagined that the villain before them would be... a guy who didn't care about life at all.

They struggled their entire lives for their own lives, for survival, for punishing those who took their lives, and for their lives to shine brighter than any mere "qualified product" in the end.

But in the end, he suddenly realized that nobody cared about any of this. Colombians only think about themselves, and when a Colombian stops caring about himself, they become virtually invincible.

"How boring."

The brothers pursed their lips, raised their hands, and swung them down heavily.

The steel dragon's head slammed heavily onto the prison van.

Chapter 80 Wayne: Just Go Die

has it ended?

Loken Williams asked himself this question. The prison van, crushed by the head of the steel dragon, reeked of a pungent, bloody stench that made it almost impossible to open one's eyes. Yet, miraculously, his consciousness remained intact.

He's not dead?

His leaning against the corner of the cell saved his life. The crushed prison cart smashed his right thigh to pieces, but it didn't injure his upper body. And because the massive external force directly crushed the cell, it didn't cause the Originium conduction unit to explode, nor did any metal fragments pierce his chest.

Loken Williams struggled to lift his head, his blood-stained eyes even catching a glimpse of the bright moonlight.

His cell was smashed, yet he escaped. Subject 001 had vanished without a trace. Perhaps, as she said, her desire for revenge against Loken Williams had sustained her until now, but after revenge finally became "boring," she even lost interest in staying at the scene to check if Loken Williams was truly dead.

"Ahem, what's this? A blessing in disguise?"

Loken Williams mumbled self-deprecatingly. Suddenly, he heard another familiar voice beside him:

“Living is hardly a blessing for you, Loken Williams.”

Loken Williams turned his head, his cloudy pupils widening suddenly, and he clearly saw the two familiar figures reflected in his eyes.

“Teacher Kal'tsit... and Senior Master Wayne..."

Kal'tsit couldn't help but stumble slightly; she had completely forgotten about that.

Fortunately, the old lynx reacted exceptionally quickly. She used her staggering movements to pretend to hop a couple of steps, leaping over the wreckage of the vehicle in front of her, cleverly easing the awkwardness with impeccable poise.

Kal'tsit stopped in front of Loken Williams, silently gazing at the disheveled student before her, her eyes filled with indescribable sorrow and anger—pity for his misfortune and anger at his lack of self-respect.

Finally, everything culminated in a long sigh. Kal'tsit closed her eyes and said:

"Loken Williams, you have disappointed me."

Upon hearing this, Loken Williams seemed to have been struck by a heavy hammer. He hurriedly turned his head away from Kal'tsit, then lowered it heavily. The questions that were on the tip of his tongue, such as "Why are you here?", remained unasked.

Loken Williams, you've disappointed me.

He had heard Kal'tsit say something similar before.

That night, in the Biological Sciences Laboratory of the Royal Victorian Academy of Technology, the professor was away on a business trip, and his assistant professor, Kal'tsit, was in charge of reviewing his paper. He had poured all his energy into writing what he believed to be a flawless paper, offering a revolutionary concept of the connection between Terran humans, Originium, Originium Arts, and the spirit and soul. He was confident that this paper would win the top prize in the Royal Victorian Academy of Technology's year-end paper competition, and he was also confident that it would impress the stern-faced female assistant before him, making her, who had been constantly sarcastic and demanding during the professor's absence, admire him wholeheartedly.

But when he arrogantly dragged Kal'tsit into the biological science lab and read the paper to her in an overbearing tone, he only received a blank look and a helpless comment from Kal'tsit:

“Loken Williams, you have disappointed me.”

"If you insisted on calling me here just to listen to such a vaguely worded and weakly argued paper, then you are undoubtedly wasting both of our time. You should be deepening your academic level instead of being eager to show off after making a few insignificant advances. Or rather, what you need now is not to be holding your paper and those scientific books, but to properly study the Yan classic 'The Tragedy of Zhongyong'. You and your paper make me laugh."

He found it hard to accept at the time, so he chose to refute Kal'tsit's point of view.

"What gives you the right to say that? You're just a mere assistant coach who hasn't played much better than me, what gives you the right to say that?"

After that, Kelsey looked into Loken Williams' eyes and saw in them an undisguised, pure thirst for knowledge, a desire for scholarship, and an exploration of the mysteries of the world. And so she made a rare choice.

She opened a corner of her treasure trove of knowledge, revealing a completely new and authentic world of science to Loken Williams.

Time has passed, and Kal'tsit is no longer a teaching assistant at the Royal Victoria Institute of Technology, while Loken Williams is no longer a student. One of them has become a notorious friend of the Demon King, fighting for the justice of the land, while the other has become a world-renowned academic master, abandoning his humanity for fame and fortune.

So now, when Kal'tsit looked Loken Williams in the eye for the second time and said, "I'm disappointed in you," Loken Williams no longer had the courage to refute her. Unlike before, he now knew that he was wrong.

"I'm sorry, Kal'tsit-sensei, I've disappointed you."

His head was bowed, and his hoarse throat had a metallic taste, so much so that the sound he made was like that of a broken phonograph.

Kal'tsit opened her mouth, but said nothing. Without glancing at Loken Williams again, she turned to Wayne and said:

"He's in your hands now. I'm going after Fiona."

Wayne nodded: "I'll get it done quickly."

Watching Kal'tsit's figure disappear into the night, Wayne then looked at Loken Williams, who was slumped on the ground, and a sarcastic smile appeared on his lips.

Do you know why we're here?

Wayne asked himself and answered,

"We're here to kill you."

Loken Williams turned his head in confusion, looking at Wayne. In his memory, he shouldn't have offended Wayne. Why would he want to kill him?

However, before he could even ask, he saw Wayne quietly pull out a pen and a small notebook from his pocket, while also hanging a press pass with a photo of a "?" on his chest.

He suddenly realized something, excitedly raised his hand, his eyes wide with anger, his teeth chattering, and stared intently at the smiling blond boy in front of him.

"Yes, you guessed right. It seems your brain wasn't damaged by the sheet metal after all."

Wayne abruptly stopped smiling, picked up his pen, and said coldly:

"Let me introduce myself, Mr. Loken Williams. I am your gravedigger, Joseph Pulitzer."

“I took everything from you: money, wealth, status. The only oversight I made was that Colombia doesn’t have the death penalty, so I had to come out in person to take away your last possession.”

Wayne paused, like an executioner before raising his blade, or Death before wielding his scythe, giving Loken Williams' brain, nearly shut down due to injury and information overload, ample time to process what was happening. He then declared calmly and unequivocally:

"As the first lucky one to see my true face, Mr. Loken Williams, please die with pain, hatred, and the highest respect for me!"

I'm so sleepy after getting vaccinated, I'll add more tomorrow.

I got my third vaccine shot at noon, and the side effects have kept me asleep until now, with no relief whatsoever. I still feel very sleepy.

I just couldn't help it. My mind was as foggy as a lead ball. I don't know if it's related to the gastroenteritis I had a few days ago. I heard that getting vaccinated can make you feel lethargic, but I didn't expect it to be this extreme.

I'll add an extra chapter tomorrow to make up for it. I'm going to sleep now, I can't take it anymore, brothers.

Chapter 81: I Cannot Tolerate This Land (3k5)

What things make people angry?

Humans don't feel anger towards natural disasters. Loken Williams calmly accepted his role as a pawn, viewing his death as an undeserved tragedy. He didn't believe the political narrative that he had leaked information, causing the collapse, because he was confident that his security measures were thorough enough to prevent such a situation from occurring.

He believes this is just an excuse for politicians to shift blame onto him. Compared to his own weakness, although the political world has suffered a calamity and its strength is far less than before, it is still far superior to him. Therefore, this is a tragedy with a completely unbalanced power structure, a "natural disaster."

But now, Wayne's appearance has shown him another possibility.