“Xing Chen, I’m sorry, I was a bit anxious, especially when I heard I could return to my people.”
Theresa’s voice came from beside him, but Xing Chen no longer held the same favor for her. He genuinely liked the character of Theresa, but that didn’t mean he could accept all her actions.
The most typical example was deleting the Seer’s memories. While the spinal grey nails would hijack his will, what about the continuation of Pre-civilization? What about the Seer’s first half of life?
Seeing Xing Chen unmoved, Theresa began to panic a little. She didn't know how she had offended Xing Chen.
“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have forced you onto the bed, but I had to…”
“Stop, you don’t need to say anything,” Xing Chen interrupted Theresa. In truth, he deeply understood the responsibilities and emotions she carried.
Was there a way to achieve a win-win situation, a happy ending for everyone?
“I’m not blaming you,” he said, placing his hand on Theresa’s shoulder and comforting her softly, “Don’t worry, I understand what you’ve been through, and I’m willing to help you.”
Hearing Xing Chen say this, Theresa slightly relaxed, “If you want to touch my horns, it’s not out of the question…”
Theresa’s horns were indeed beautiful, but that wasn’t the point.
“Then have you heard the story of the Presages family of three?”
…Xing Chen didn’t tell all the stories about Pre-civilization. One reason was his concern that Theresa couldn’t handle such a large amount of information, and the other was that a riddle-teller couldn't conclude a story without telling it clearly.
But just hearing the story of the Presages family made Theresa realize that her approach had been too hasty.
“The Seer could have played a much larger role, but you…” Xing Chen hadn’t finished his sentence when Theresa suddenly covered his mouth. After a brief one-second pause, she immediately released six specks of dust, with herself as the center. If one looked closely, each speck of dust had an almost invisible thread attached to it.
Theresa unleashed her Originium Arts, but there was no third person in the small tin shack he rented. Clearly, someone was eavesdropping outside.
Fortunately, Xing Chen had anticipated this and was using an Earth language.
The sound of swords clashing with hard objects came from outside the tin shack. Only when the sandstorm covered the sounds of struggle did the two step out of the door.
“Camel! Why haven’t you left Kazdel yet?”
“Your Highness, you’re not dead,” the Sarkaz male called Camel immediately dropped his twin blades in shock upon seeing Theresa. “But that day, we all heard the echo of your return to the collective souls.”
“I did go to a… very distant place, and then I persuaded one of the collective souls to bring me back to the present world,” Theresa stepped aside, allowing Xing Chen to show his face.
It sounded absurd, but since it was Theresa speaking, the man named Camel believed it without question.
“Are you going to see General Theresis now?” A demon king resurrected from the dead, an unprecedented existence even in the tens of thousands of years of Sarkaz history. “Just give the order, and my blade will…”
“No, Camel, just as you fought your way out of the allied forces’ ambush two hundred years ago and ran all the way back to Kazdel to bring news of the enemy invasion to the Demon King, I will not willingly throw myself into Victoria’s pocket—that would make us lose more strategic autonomy,” Theresa placed her hands on Camel’s shoulders. “I lost, that’s a fact, which means Theresis is more suitable to lead the Sarkaz than I am right now.”
“He is the Regent chosen by most of the Sarkaz, but I want to ask you, are there really that many people willing to pay for his plan?”
Facing Theresa’s question, before the assassination attempt, Camel would have confidently said “Of course.” However, after the assassination, he fled here and joined a caravan. This not-so-long period of interaction allowed him to see more.
The foreign races did not severely discriminate against the Sarkaz, and the Sarkaz did not excessively hate the gods and ancient peoples.
“Alright, Theresa, let him go first,” Xing Chen said. Theresa then deactivated her Originium Arts, allowing him to pull Camel up from the ground. “Your name is Camel, right?”
“Yes, Ancestor,” Camel didn’t know if the man in front of him was Sarkaz, but he still bowed to Xing Chen.
“Do you know where Rhodes Island is?”
“I’m sorry, Ancestor, I don’t know that,” the Assassin was not a professional intelligence department, and after the civil war, Theresis needed to concentrate most of his resources on Londinium. It was for this reason that the Babel elders of Rhodes Island were able to remain safe and sound. “If you and Her Highness need anything, I can investigate.”
“No…” Theresa hadn’t even finished her first word when Xing Chen nudged her. Although she didn't understand what he meant, she knew she needed to change her words. “You have other things to do. I’ll find someone else to handle the intelligence. You should go back for now.”
“Yes, Your Highness!” Camel suddenly stood at attention, bowed to the two, and left.
Back inside the house, Theresa also nudged Xing Chen, but unfortunately, he couldn’t feel pain in his dream.
“What did you mean by that just now?” Theresa asked, sitting beside Xing Chen.
“Didn’t you see? After these Assassins complete their missions, they basically lose the motivation to live, they’re just waiting to die,” after Xing Chen’s hint, Theresa realized that Camel’s state indeed didn’t match his identity as an elite Sarkaz. “But now you’re back, and you can give him something to do. What will he do then?”
“Oh, I understand, you want to help him,” Theresa suddenly understood, her eyes filled with admiration for Xing Chen.
“At least not die like trash,” Xing Chen’s feelings for the Assassins were complex. He didn’t particularly respect them, but at least they deserved a suitable ending, not to disappear silently into the darkness of the royal tombs like the Steam Knights, abandoned by the upper echelons.
Theresa nodded, but Xing Chen had a question: why didn’t she let Camel gather intelligence on Rhodes Island?
“That ship has its own voice, and so does the Doctor,” Theresa slowly leaned her head on Xing Chen’s shoulder, carefully avoiding pricking him with her horns. “My own matters, I’ll handle them myself, and you’ll help me, right?”
“Yes, I’ll help you. We’ll find a path that satisfies everyone,” Xing Chen said, gradually taking Theresa’s hand.