About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

She had given trust to others, but almost all of those people wanted to kill her with the dagger called "trust" in the end.

Until the end, Black Snake learned how to avoid this - to use this weapon first when giving trust to others.

"But how should I put it? I can understand you a little bit."

Returning to the conversation, Orson ruffled his hair, his tone a little awkward. He probably never thought he would actually say such words to Black Snake.

"understand?"

Black Snake looked at Orson, his eyes still full of disdain and ridicule, but there was also some hesitation in them.

"I understand you" is something I've heard many times as the host of the Black Snake, but without exception, it was all carefully wrapped lies and flattery.

And after knowing the existence of the 'Black Snake', someone who could still say such words... Black Snake had never been seen in a thousand years of travel.

"Tallulah, Kel'tsit, and even these former knight families of Casimir—their original intention must have been to use their own power to try to change this land, to protect people from fighting and natural disasters."

"But it was so difficult to maintain my integrity during this process. If Tallulah had killed those northerners without any preparation, if Kal'tsit hadn't realized that she had done a good job and didn't need to bear everything on her own—these decisions, which seem insignificant now, might have changed their future direction forever."

Orson thought about the important people around him. If Tallulah hadn't had himself and Alina by her side to restrain her, she might not have needed the "Curse of the Black Snake". Then, this fearless yet extremely naive girl would definitely suffer greater damage than ordinary people when her own beliefs were challenged.

As for Kal'tsit, she had witnessed Terra's century-long history, but just because of that, she had become somewhat paranoid and closed-minded. She would hardly tell others about her inner feelings, and she walked forward with her tense body on the verge of breaking, like a chronic suicide.

Orson knew very well the beliefs of Tallulah and Kal'tsit, and because of this, he understood even more the critical moment when they were on the verge of collapse.

"Anyone can maintain a belief for a day. Maintaining it for a month might eliminate many people. But what about maintaining it for a year, a hundred years, or a thousand years? I'm not immortal, but even so, I know that it's almost impossible to achieve."

Orson spoke calmly while checking the surrounding road conditions.

"You possess an obsession we cannot match. This obsession itself may not be recognized by us, but I can understand it. Because you have wandered alone for a thousand years, you must have experienced countless despair and collapse, the collapse of faith and betrayal, until in the end, even your original goal was completely lost."

Orson looked at Black Snake, without sympathy, mockery, or even a hint of false emotion. He simply silently expressed his thoughts on Black Snake's millennia-long life.

"..."

The black snake remained silent.

70. Hahaha, cross-dressing pervert, what do you mean, me too?!

"Of course, I will continue to research how to completely expel you from Tallulah's soul, Miss Black Snake. Your existence has brought suffering and torture to countless people, and this is also an unchangeable fact."

"Haha, that doesn't sound like something you'd say when you're 'getting along'—but you're right, my past sins cannot be washed away, and I'm joyfully looking forward to the moment when you can finally kill me. I sincerely look forward to it."

Black Snake smiled at Orson, without any concealment, a smile of utmost purity.

"—"

The mission location was about to be reached, and Black Snake got off the car first.

After Orson confirmed that the other party had left, he parked the car he had borrowed from Aunt Zofia in the corner, got out and went to the trunk.

"Wow..."

After opening the trunk, Orson first caught a glimpse of the "maid uniform" placed in the corner of the trunk.

The last time he worked for Platinum, Orson couldn't find a chance to escape after beating up his left hand in the second half, so he had to wait until the end of the banquet before he had the chance to leave the scene. In the end, he didn't have time to return the clothes to Platinum, so he had to stuff them in the trunk and wait for an opportunity to dispose of them.

"Dark history..."

He was even laughing at Black Snake for wearing women's clothes, but it turned out that the other party was actually a girl, and he was the "Dream Maid Miss" instead.

Black Snake must not be allowed to know about this, absolutely.

Orson silently stuffed the maid outfit deeper into the trunk, then put on his black action suit, put on a skull mask, attached rests to his limbs, and sneaked into the textile factory with an extremely strange speed and posture.

"I've already infiltrated, [Hidden One], how's the situation on your end?"

Orson sneaked into the textile factory and hid in a blind spot while talking to Alina, codenamed "Hidden".

"With the disguise, you can enter the underground area through the door in Area C, [Tuner]."

While talking to Orson, Alina threw the security guard in front of her, who was knocked down and stripped without even turning his head, into the storage box next to her.

After confirming that the bodyguard's suit fit her well, Alina headed towards the control area of the underground arena.

This was a very classic stealth mission. Alina used her Originium skills to sneak in, causing some minor damage at key nodes to cause a commotion, and passed through the surveillance area while attracting people's attention through the commotion.

When all the cages were released, more than half of the guards were still playing cards and bragging in the textile shop upstairs that was used as a disguise.

“The cage was suddenly opened…!?”

The imprisoned infected people and guards shouted out at the same time, and the claw beasts, infected large dogs, and Originium worms trapped in the cages also rushed out.

"Stay beside me and don't run around."

Just when the young infected people were panicking and at a loss, a dark shadow suddenly appeared beside them.

Although the other party was wearing a skull mask, for some reason, the infected people instinctively realized that this person who suddenly appeared beside them could help them escape from this hell.

"Aho-ho--poof!"

A hound roared and pounced on the infected, but before the beast could even show its claws and fangs, a bullet pierced its head.

"follow me."

Orson repeatedly pulled the trigger of the revolver in his hand, accurately killing the first batch of attacking monsters, and then organized these underage or recently adult infected people to escape from the underground facility.

Because he couldn't reveal any connection between "Infected Knight Orson" and this raid, Orson chose a weapon completely different from his usual one, the Ratlan Rifle (Orson specifically asked Scout for one that was easy to use and had no fancy skins).

"The target is safe, can we evacuate?"

Orson used a dagger to cut off the surrounding Originium creatures while asking Black Snake and Alina.

"You can evacuate. I've just checked all the blind spots around here. But I've run into some problems here: I'm being targeted by four or five people. Probably retired knights."

"—!"

The voice coming from Black Snake stunned Alina and Orson at the same time.

"Can you handle this?"

"How do you think I've survived these past thousand years? Of course I can't handle it."

"You useless black snake..."

Orson was so angry that he simply stopped saying the code name.

"Has the operation been exposed?"

Alina asked as she left the scene amidst the chaotic security team.

"No, it's simply the identity of 'Tallulah' that's being targeted—the other party is clearly a killer hired by the Sangster family."

Black Snake communicated using the walkie-talkie while pretending not to notice the danger behind him and continued walking.

Of course, Black Snake is not unable to compete with these killers. Even if we take a step back, she is fully capable of protecting herself.

The Undead Black Snake's 'Possession' is able to use the Originium techniques that the host is familiar with.

But that’s also the problem.

Tallulah's Originium skills were certainly powerful, but the problem was that their range was too large.

This was a busy pedestrian area. If Black Snake used his Originium skills to fight the enemy here, the next day's headlines would probably be dominated by headlines like "Integration Movement Leader Indiscriminately Massacres Casimir Residents."

As for other methods...

[Dragon-Strike Spear] (a surprise attack triggered by gathering flames in the barrel) can kill one person, but what happens after that?

Black Snake is confident in his cold weapon combat ability, but that is only limited to one-on-one situations. If it is one-on-two, he probably won't be able to win.

"This is a dire situation, my daughter. Do you wish to reclaim command of this body? No?"

"Because you believe in Orson... Hehe, you weren't such a naive girl before."

After briefly questioning Tallulah, Black Snake smiled and then slightly closed his eyes.

"So, what are you going to do, Orson? You're going to kill me once and for all, right? These killers probably can't do that."

Even through the intercom, Orson could see Black Snake's cocky and provocative smile.

"—Damn it, wait, I'll be there soon! Alina, I'll leave the guidance of these children to you. The local infected organization will help hide them. You know this better than I do, so I won't say more."

"I know, go ahead."

After entrusting these infected people to Alina, Orson immediately rushed out of the underground arena.

But Orson, who was about to go to the area where the black snake was to help, suddenly froze.

There is a problem that I must solve now.

——The question now is what identity should I use to help? As suspects of the attack on the underground arena, the Hidden Ones and the Tuners must not be associated with the Reunion Movement.

—Pretending to be a passing Kamen Rider? This was a bad idea. There was no reason or motivation for him to come here, and he still couldn't get rid of the connection between 'Orson' and the Reunion Movement.

——Ask others? No, there is no one around who can come to help at this stage. Even if I look for national institutions, it is probably meaningless. After all, the instigator of this attack is "this country."

——Damn it, there’s no identity that can legitimately help out…ah

A solution suddenly occurred to Orson, but his expression became even worse than before.

------

On the other side, on the bustling street, Black Snake gently placed his hand on the big sword at his waist.

"Keng!!"

The knight's spear suddenly stabbed down from mid-air, but was blocked by the greatsword in the black snake's hand.

"Is this an invitation to a duel?"

Black Snake asked the expressionless killer in front of him with a smile. At the same time, several retired knights with weapons in their hands slowly gathered around.

"What's that? A movie?" "Isn't that the boss of the Reunion Movement over there? An advertisement?"

After hearing the sound of metal collision, the crowd not only did not leave, but instead came over with the spirit of enjoying the show and not minding the trouble.

Just as the killers were about to rush forward——

"Stop it right there! You're bullying such a cute girl in broad daylight! Do you think I'll allow that?"

A 'maid' with long golden hair, wearing a white silk dress, long gloves and stockings appeared in front of everyone.

"Are you all right, young lady?"

The 'maid' - that is, Orson turned around and asked the black snake behind him.

This guy shouldn't notice, right? She definitely won't notice! Even Kel'tsit, who's so smart, couldn't see through this disguise, which shows that the concealment of this suit is flawless!

Orson's heart rate had soared to 200 at this time. You have to know that when he had his first time with Tallulah, his first time with Snow Rabbit, and when he was stared at by the Patriot after his first time with Snow Rabbit, Orson's heart rate was only over 200.

"--Oh?"

Black Snake was stunned for a moment, her eyes widening, but then she narrowed her pupils slightly and revealed a meaningful smile.

——She recognized it! This black snake definitely recognized it!

Now Orson just wants to find a Mariana Trench to dive into and live a life of indifference to the world, but those killers will not give Orson this opportunity.

"Please save me, my lovely maid?"

"I, I know..."

Orson, with a dejected heart and a flushed face, clung to the rest with his arms, and the pure white silk gloves served as a cover.

Ka!

Orson slapped the knight's sword aside with his bare hands, then dodged the second killer's attack by leaning sideways, then leaned over slightly, aimed at the chin of one of the killers, and delivered a direct uppercut.

"It's all because of you... It's all because of you... No one of you can escape today!!"

The cute voice of the virtual vocal cord structure echoed throughout the street, mixed with the sound of Black Snake suppressing laughter.

I made so much money today that I was almost numb.

Today is a very important day for Orson, Black Snake, and Alina Tallulah.

For Alina, today the Reunion Movement successfully rescued the infected from an underground arena.

As for Tallulah, today, in her own way, she came into contact with and understood a side of her 'father' that she had never revealed to herself.

For Black Snake, today was the first time in her life that she was "understood" by others.