Lucky One

"Let me ask you a question, the first time you killed someone, were you scared?"

Lin Wei turned around and asked softly. His expression was calm, as if he had expected this, his tone carrying undisguised pity amidst curiosity, without a trace of surprise or anger.

"!"

The girl didn't expect Lin Wei to turn around at this moment, even less that he had already seen through her. She was taken aback, and then without hesitation, she pulled out the sharp blade hidden behind her back, fiercely lunging straight at Lin Wei.

Being exposed doesn't matter, the distance is already close enough!

Even though he discovered me, he actually dared to let that Valkyrie separate from him?!

Fool, do you think you can scare me like this now?

The girl roared inwardly, her eyes fixed on the man standing in front of her, before he could react, she viciously stabbed straight at his throat!

Die!

In an instant, the blade pierced flesh, making a "puchi" sound.

That's it… it worked?

The girl was stunned, so easy?

She looked at her hands in disbelief, once again soaked in blood, just like before, even splattering half her face red, looking incredibly ferocious.

It really worked!

The girl chuckled, then it turned into a relieved laugh,

"Hehehe… Hahahahahaha!"

Arrogant and conceited fool, pay the price for your stupidity!

The girl used unrestrained, crazy laughter to curse, no one knew what exactly she was cursing.

…

The girl stood motionless, her eyes empty and dull, letting Lin Wei walk to her side, very casually taking away the weapon in her hand.

With Anna temporarily gone, he could slightly loosen the restrictions on using the power of the Divine Key.

"Sakura, see anything interesting?"

Lin Wei held it in his hand, turning it over and over to admire it – it was just a pair of scissors that looked very ordinary, only sharpened to an extremely sharp point, the metallic texture soaked with an unwashable bloody smell.

"It's the power of a Stigmata…"

Yae Sakura said in an inexplicable tone. Having become a Stigmata herself, she was naturally extremely sensitive to this,

"But it's incomplete, and not complete at all, I'm afraid it doesn't contain much power, but it's enough for her to run wild in front of ordinary people."

The vast majority of people in this world only possess some fragmented and incomplete recessive Stigmata genes, only a very small number of people have relatively complete gene fragments;

Even among this extremely small number, there is still a third layer of "extremely small number" of people who have the opportunity to activate this recessive gene and obtain an incomplete Stigmata.

As for a complete Stigmata, that's yet another layer of "extremely small number."

"…That's quite a coincidence."

Lin Wei was somewhat speechless, this was really too coincidental.

"Lin Wei-kun, aren't you going to say something else? I thought you would be very disappointed…"

Yae Sakura was still bothered by what had just happened. Lin Wei had gone through so much effort and strength to get here, about to take her away, but what awaited him was a stab in the back!

This was really hard to accept.

But Lin Wei's attitude was too calm, which made her feel even more suffocated.

"Being able to quickly accept reality, that's one of my few advantages."

Lin Wei smiled, having seen too much, he had become indifferent,

"And have you forgotten, how did her father find me back then? At least in this aspect, they father and daughter are really alike…"

"..."

Yae Sakura remembered, back then that desperate man wanted to drag Lin Wei down with him to die, in exchange for a chance of survival for his daughter.

"So you ask me if I'm disappointed? Not really… in fact, in my opinion, they are actually quite desperate."

Lin Wei said, gently moving his feet to return to his original position, then a black feather floated down from the void.

"Hahahaha…"

The girl, who was originally laughing uncontrollably, felt a blur before her eyes, the man who should have fallen to the ground reappeared in front of her, standing in the same position, with the same hateful smile, also looking down at her condescendingly, as if everything she had just experienced was just an illusion…

No. The girl raised her fair and clean hands to take a look, it was an illusion!

Although that illusion was extremely real, she just knew it must be an illusion, because her weapon was now in that man's hand.

"What did you do?!"

What had just happened was already beyond her comprehension.

But it didn't matter, recently too many things had exceeded her comprehension. The girl had long been used to it.

"As expected… you are also a monster! A monster in human skin!"

The girl's expression was no longer as timid and docile as she had pretended to be. While chuckling coldly, she attacked again, this time, the weapon she used was her hair clip – a hair clip that she had also sharpened to be as sharp as a knife.

There was no escape here, she could only try again, go all out!

"Die, monster!"

The chaotic assault was easily dodged by Lin Wei, gently reaching out and pinching her slender wrist, a pinch, a twist, a pull, a turn, and the deadly "blade" was already against her own throat.

"Now can you answer me? When you killed someone for the first time, were you afraid?"

Both of their expressions were extremely calm at this moment, Lin Wei's expression was calm with a world-weary gentleness; while the girl's eyes were an indescribable emptiness, even a calmness like relief.

"Because when your father killed someone for the first time, he threw up terribly…"

Lin Wei added in a gentle tone,

"He killed someone to save you."

Hearing this, the girl's gaze flickered, and then her slender neck actually took the initiative to rub against the blade, appearing to be seeking death, Lin Wei loosened his hand that was restraining her, slightly twisting it to deviate the angle.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the girl exerted force on her wrist, the razor-sharp hair clip she had been holding tightly slashed fiercely towards Lin Wei's wrist, at the same time her body actively pressed close to Lin Wei, raising her knee to violently collide towards Lin Wei's crotch.

If these two strikes succeeded, then the next target of the blade would be his neck!

This was the girl's plan at this moment, and her last struggle.

Kill him! Kill him! Kill him!

Only this thought remained in the girl's mind, for this purpose, she was willing to risk everything,

And then, before that Valkyrie returned, quickly escape from here!

I want to leave this hellish place, I want to survive! I don't want to die here!

Dad is still waiting for me!

The girl screamed frantically in her heart, desperately unleashing her last attack.

As expected… it failed.

"Not bad willpower."

Lin Wei praised, not feeling panicked at all.

Having sparred with Fu Hua all day long, he was very adept at dealing with attacks of this level. His wrist exerted force again, the girl's fingers couldn't help but loosen, the blade falling to the ground; his left leg gently lifted to block the knee strike, while his calf flicked out, kicking her other leg, thus losing balance and collapsing softly to the ground.

Failed…

The girl slumped to the ground, her heart returning to calmness again.

"I guess, you are still looking for opportunities, still haven't given up on the idea of killing me. Otherwise, you wouldn't have made those little moves just now."

Lin Wei saw that the moment she slumped to the ground, she had secretly picked up the blade hair clip again, hiding it back in her hand,

"Do you hate me that much, that you have to kill me?"

"Hehehehehe… because only by killing you, can I have a chance to survive…"

The girl suddenly laughed nervously, completely losing the weak, pitiful air from before, that was just her disguise after all.

She was still too weak. Even if she didn't hesitate to destroy herself completely, she still couldn't escape this hell.

"This sir, don't you think this is a bit too coincidental? My father and I, thanks to you, escaped a disaster, and now we have both fallen into your hands again, about to reunite again because of you… what a perfect story! Tell me, shouldn't I thank you properly?"

The girl used all her strength to mock Lin Wei, even deliberately using honorifics at the beginning of her words,

"Now, your purpose has been achieved. Next, what are you planning to do to me? Is it like those people, to become a walking corpse, and then be stuffed into that terrible furnace to be burned as firewood; or like some others, to be dismantled into pieces, mixed with those cold machines, and become a monster who has lost themselves?"

Her tone suddenly became gritted teeth,

"Or is there something even more terrible waiting for us?"

"Yes, it really is a coincidence…"

Lin Wei indicated that he was also helpless, this kind of plot was as coincidental as in movies and novels,

Was it really a coincidence?

Lin Wei didn't know, after all, there was no evidence to prove that this wasn't a coincidence.

Speaking to this point, the girl suddenly laughed wantonly,

"Ah, right, you are also a monster, a monster in human skin! I clearly killed you once just now, but you reappeared in front of me unscathed! Hehehe… monsters, you are all monsters!"

The girl's laughter was extremely vicious, extremely unrestrained, and then became weaker and weaker, turning into a self-deprecating bitter laugh,

"I myself, have also become a monster… a monster just like you…"

The slight tremor from above her head continued, the thick and hard rock layer was still buying time for everything here.

"The first time you killed someone, what did it feel like?"

Lin Wei stared fixedly at her, repeating this question again,

"This is the third time I've asked you this question, no more than three times, little sister."

"…What feeling is there? Just killed them, anyway everyone is going to die sooner or later, dying in their hands, or dying in my hands, what's the difference?"

The girl's smile began to become calm, a calmness as if resigning to fate,

"You see, like now, I've fallen into your hands, and will soon die in your hands, losing everything… this is my fate…"

"Fate?"

Lin Wei raised an eyebrow, looking at her with interest.

"Hehehe, otherwise? What else can I do?"

The girl's smile suddenly became bright, and then she began to tidy up her clothes that had become messy due to the fight. Originally wanting to put the hair clip back on her head, but at the moment of contact, she disgustedly threw it aside, and then showed a bright smile again,

"You see, we puny humans, are like pigs raised by you, waiting to be selected and slaughtered at any time; and then arranged into the shapes you like according to the preferences of you big shots… you see, we puny guys, don't even have the qualification to resist…"

Lin Wei looked at her face, without saying a word.

"An entire city, millions of people… hehehehe, what a huge number, I can't even imagine them standing together, how huge a square would be needed to accommodate them… just vanished into thin air… all of this is like a nightmare that can't be woken up from, forever… forever… forever… always going on… sometimes I also wonder, if I hadn't left Nagazora City back then, and died with them, would I be more at peace?"

"And then?"

Lin Wei asked, not urging, just indicating that he was listening.

"And then? Then I also learned to kill people!"

The girl suddenly chuckled, then suddenly felt a sense of loss, her expression confused, and suddenly laughed again with a puchi sound,

"Then, I suddenly realized, that taking someone else's life, is such a simple thing… hehehehe, really, as casual as slaughtering a pig or sheep, isn't it?"

"…Where did you learn about Valkyries from?"

Lin Wei felt that this girl's nerves were already a bit abnormal, and changed the subject.

"Valkyries, I heard some other people mention them, they said, they were saved by people who called themselves Valkyries, saying she was covered in wings of light, descending from the sky, striking down demons rampant in the world like a goddess…"

…This is probably Durandal she's talking about? Lin Wei thought.

"Then, I also asked those so-called 'managers' of this ghostly place, and they told me some more detailed information…"

"The humanoid machine would tell you these things?"

Lin Wei click tongue in wonder.

"Humanoid machine? Machine that looks like a human? Hahahahaha, what an apt name…"

The girl seemed to know that her death was approaching, so she simply let go, laughing wantonly as she spoke,

"Originally it wouldn't, but later it would."

"Oh?"

"You know what? Those humanoid machines are so stupid! In the instructions they execute, there's actually one that says 'protect important assets'… what are important assets? At first I didn't understand, but later I figured it out, it's talking about us 'lucky ones' who can reach the bottommost level and not turn into monsters."

The girl told Lin Wei, her eyes shining, like a child seeking praise,

"So, I found an opportunity and killed all the others! …Heeheehee, let them bully me, saying I'm not a survivor who came out of the disaster like them, but a deserter… and saying I would turn into a monster…"

"And then?"

Lin Wei didn't want to explain to her that there was only one humanoid machine here.

"And then? Then I just did as they wished! Heehee… this way, the 'important assets' here are only me left, so they would answer any question I asked~ …Hmm… actually I didn't ask out much…"

"…And then?"

Lin Wei sighed.

"And then? What 'and then'?"

The girl looked blank, as if racking her brains to think,

"And then… then isn't it just living one day at a time?"

"So, you did think of a way to escape?"

Lin Wei patiently reminded her.

"Escape? How is that possible! Otherwise, how could I have fallen into your hands?"

The girl scoffed, suddenly seeming to remember something,

"Oh, I did find a way to try, but before I had time to prepare, a humanoid machine came to tell me that there might be a problem with the power furnace, and told me to protect myself. Before I could react, it left, and never came back."

"..."

Lin Wei thought, maybe the elite Dead Soldier he eliminated was it.

"Before I could react, I heard sparse footsteps coming from the direction of the power room… Heh, where would there still be living people in this place?"

Lin Wei looked at her proud look, and then turned into dejection,

"Hey, I just hid for a while, and you guys came… if you had been a few days later, I might have really escaped."

Lin Wei looked at her, looking like she was about to fall asleep, shook his head, put away the feather he used to induce speech,

"You wanted to kill me, what does that have to do with Anna the Valkyrie? Don't think I don't know, you were planning to seal her inside."

The girl suddenly raised her head and glared at Lin Wei, realizing that she had inexplicably said a lot of things she shouldn't have said, she simply went all in,

"Heh, I've already killed so many people anyway, one more doesn't matter! And… only when everyone here is dead, will no one know that I escaped alive!"

"So you found a way to escape, right?"

Lin Wei cruelly asked the question she had been avoiding,

"I really want to know, how did you learn to kill people in such a short time, and also be able to peel off other people's skin piece by piece, and then sew them together stitch by stitch, to make a skin sac that can be filled with air… how did you think of it, how did you do it?"

Lin Wei's expression was extremely emotional,

"You know, when your father killed someone for the first time, he threw up until he was dizzy… but how could you, a little girl, be so calm?"

The girl was stunned?

Yes, how did I do it?

Thinking about her experiences during this period, her earth-shattering changes in the past few days…

The girl suddenly hiccuped, then puchi laughed; laughing and laughing, it turned into crying; the crying and laughing grew louder and louder, tears falling like rain.

Lin Wei looked at her appearance, sighing.

"Sakura, do you think this kind of person is hateful? Or pitiful? Or tragic?"

Yae Sakura's reply was quite sarcastic, roughly meaning, are you and I, a killing demon, discussing another killer, isn't that a bit too much.

Lin Wei backed down.

Yae Sakura hesitated for a while, and said,

"Lin Wei-kun, things in this world are often beyond one's control. You and I are mere mortals, just drifting with the current, just unwilling to be easily washed away by the waves, so we are desperately struggling, unwilling to give up…"

Lin Wei sighed, how could he not understand this principle?

Sometimes thinking about it, his journey all the way here, he really counts as a lucky one, already surpassing the vast majority of ordinary people.

If you don't believe it, look at the girl in front of you,

Actually, she had already gone mad, just that she didn't know it herself…