kvmb Interlude to Chapter 47: "The Beginning of Utter Evil"
Interlude to Chapter 47: "The Beginning of Utter Evil"
At 9:20 a.m. UK time, the first rays of dawn appeared.
Not long ago, Ming returned home from the hospital, quickly changed into a suit, and then went out for a walk with Chestnut, who was fast asleep in his room.
"Sorry, Instructor Linde left in a hurry and forgot to mention, could you please help me ask for leave from today's training? ...Oh, is that alright? Thank you very much."
After the call ended, Ming slowly put the flip phone back into the pocket next to his collar, then held the chestnut on his other shoulder firmly in his arms and continued walking on the bustling streets of London.
As Ming walked, he felt unusually energetic today. Just now, when he was changing clothes at home and looked in the mirror, he felt that even his naturally pale and sickly face looked much more radiant.
"Speaking of which, I didn't have any nightmares today, which is unusual... That's strange, it shouldn't be like this..."
Just as Ming was still wondering, his right hand, which he usually wore gloves and was holding chestnuts, suddenly ignited a spark from his fingertip, which slowly grew larger and transformed into a sheep's head surrounded by flames.
Upon witnessing this sudden turn of events, Ming's eyes widened in shock and alarm. He only breathed a sigh of relief when the surrounding passersby seemed oblivious to the unusual flaming ram's head.
"Asmodeus! Why are you here? No, you weren't only supposed to appear in my consciousness and dreams." Ming looked at the suddenly appearing figure, his expression serious, and asked in a voice that wouldn't disturb the passersby.
Asmodeus let out a cheerful laugh: "Hehe, dear accomplice, I've made a rare appearance this time to tell you something good that will benefit you. Don't be so reserved~, I am now a projection of your consciousness, and no one else here will be able to see me except you~" It shook its head made of flames.
Ming frowned, his expression a half-smile, and said to Asmodeus as he walked:
"Oh? Then I'll trouble you to tell me."
Asmodeus approached Ming, his expression becoming excited, and said:
"Well, it all started last night when you were fighting that rather interesting magician. To be honest, with your original magical talent being almost zero, there was absolutely no way you could have adapted to this enormous power after merging with me. You would have just been gradually devoured. But... hehehe~"
At this point, Asmodeus paused slightly before continuing:
"You originally merged with me only because of your slightly stronger soul and powerful negative emotions. But... after that woman transformed your body into one capable of using magic and even spells normally, your body began to slowly evolve into that of a legendary pure-blooded mage. And now your body is like a closely related entity to the spirit crystal and the spirit power itself..."
"When you use magic to prevent negative emotions from eroding your consciousness, compressing this power into an instant and releasing it, two energies originating from 'mysticism' merge and enter your soul, bringing your spiritual adaptability to the level of a pure-blooded magician. Ultimately, through battle, you integrate the element of 'cruelty' more perfectly into your spirit, undergoing a transformation in an instant, while those negative emotions become the temporary energy needed for your transformation, nothing more."
Ming nodded in understanding after listening, and then asked Asmodeus again:
"So what's the benefit? As you said, I've evolved, but negative emotions are just used as energy for transformation, so they'll probably still be generated, right?"
After hearing this, Asmodeus's expression became even more amused. He smiled, looked at Ming, and slowly said:
"Now, I want you to try to mobilize every cell in your body that was created by spiritual energy. Imagine that your body is in a boundless and unrestrained realm, where it can transform into various shapes and forms at will."
Ming nodded slightly, took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and began to concentrate.
He tried to sense the surging spiritual energy within his body and guided it to every cell. Gradually, he felt as if those tiny cells could be mobilized individually, and he could feel the spiritual energy flowing within his body.
"That's it! That's it!" Asmodeus shouted excitedly upon seeing this. Ming, as if sensing something amiss, suddenly opened his eyes and looked at Asmodeus dancing before him, asking:
“Power always comes at a price, and impermanence is just wishful thinking. Speak, Asmodeus, what is your purpose? I don’t think someone who gets pleasure from the suffering of others would be so kind as to jump out and tell me such a thing.”
Asmodeus stopped dancing, still smiling, but to Ming, that smile seemed eerie.
"My purpose? To say it's to harm would be too serious. Actually, this is more interesting~ You see, if before, after we merged, only the inner layer of my consciousness was the original 'spirit,' now we are both the original 'spirits'~ Do you know what this means?"
"Haha, that means you'll lose something along the way too."
"Why?" Ming asked, not at all surprised.
All I can say is that I've dealt with these 'crazy people' so many times that I've become used to it.
"Oh dear, seeing how calm you are, I suddenly don't want to say anything anymore. Never mind, I won't say anything more, haha~" Asmodeus laughed, his figure beginning to disappear slightly.
Before he completely disappeared, he whispered a final murmur to Ming:
"Don't worry, you and 'Mother' were the starting point of my feelings, so I won't be interested in your body. It's just... precisely because you were the starting point, that's why I'm jealous... so jealous that I actually want to see you both completely destroyed... But, like I said, don't worry. My promise to help you one last time is still valid~ Ahahahaha!"
Ming gazed in the direction Asmodeus had disappeared, a complex look flashing in his eyes.
He knew this guy's words weren't baseless; there must be a huge conspiracy behind them. However, given his personality, he wouldn't meddle in his affairs. So, he decided to leave it for now and go find Möbius at the coffee shop.
Ming stroked Chestnut, who was still in his arms, and continued walking forward.
A little while later, we arrived at the entrance of Möbius's café.
Ming took a deep breath and pushed open the door. The shop was filled with the rich aroma of coffee, and soft music echoed in the air. Several British people who looked quite wealthy were sitting at the table, savoring their coffee.
After Ming stepped through that door, he walked straight and skillfully toward the backstage basement.
At this moment, he was filled with curiosity and questions about Möbius, who had acted strangely that morning, and he couldn't wait to ask the old woman about what had happened that day.
However, just as he was about to reach his destination, he was suddenly stopped by a smiling lady.
Ming felt a wave of doubt wash over him. He frowned and looked at the receptionist who had stopped him with a puzzled expression.
"Receptionist, you must be..."
Before Ming could finish explaining, the receptionist gracefully extended her hand and handed him two items—two small USB drives and a brand-new laptop.
"This is what Manager Mobius asked me to give to you, sir," the receptionist said respectfully. After Ming hurriedly took the USB drive and computer, she bowed slightly in a gentlemanly manner.
Ming looked at the item in his hand, full of doubt. Just as he was about to ask something, the receptionist turned and left.
Helpless, Ming found an empty seat, casually raised his hand to reveal a transparent, soundproof casual area, placed Chestnut on his lap, and then opened his laptop.
Ming plugged in one of the USB drives, and the computer screen instantly lit up, displaying an encrypted file dialog box that required a password to unlock. Ming frowned and tried entering several passwords commonly used by Möbius, but all of them returned an error.
Just as he was about to brute-force his way through, he suddenly noticed a string of inconspicuous numbers engraved on the back of the computer. He entered them in on a whim and surprisingly, he was able to open the computer successfully.
The video started playing, and Möbius's expression in the video was somewhat serious.
“Klein, if you see this video, it means…” Möbius’s expression fell silent, then he suddenly burst into laughter. “Haha, just kidding~ Simply put, Master, I have to go on a date today~ and I don’t have time to take care of you right now, so I recorded this video while you were lying in the hospital. You’re welcome.”
"Master, I have to have a good business talk with Miss Jolena today, so I had to ask the board of directors for two days off."
"In order to allow her, who is not a pure-blooded magician but has an off-the-charts magical power, to lie on my operating table and develop a world that allows ordinary people without magical aptitude to possess extremely high magical power, Doctor, I still have a lot of work to do, so I won't chat any longer~ What you want is probably on another USB drive, open it yourself, don't bother me!"
Lu Ming couldn't help but roll his eyes, thinking to himself, "Heh... I knew it, you old woman. But since the first USB drive was just a joke, the second one must contain important information."
Ming unplugged the first USB drive and plugged in the second. This time, no password was needed, and the files were displayed directly.
What came into view were densely packed data tables, including DEM pairs, a register of all the people in the UK, and investigation records of people who had worked with Sallesto, including information on some key figures he had been tracking down.
Ming's eyes sharpened, and he began to examine the documents closely. The most prominent image at the top of the document was a photo of someone named Perdorola Skach, a member of the DEM Board of Directors. Ming then continued searching.
It is a list of people and kidnappings of missing children. In the end, in addition to children from orphanages, there are more than forty other missing persons cases.
Ming looked on, a nameless anger flaring up in his eyes again. He continued to scroll down, trying to find someone, but to no avail.
"Strange, where is Princess Anslila? Does DEM not have any separate records belonging to the British Royal Family?"
Ming shook his head, thinking this, and had no choice but to look away from the list and open the information of the Second Princess separately. After a quick glance, he discovered...
“This…this…” Ming’s expression turned to utter astonishment when he saw the information, but he calmed down after a while.
He turned off his computer, lowered his head, and pondered in his mind. When he looked up again, he muttered to himself, "So that's how it is." Then he stood up, returned the computer to the front desk, and walked out of the coffee shop.