Chapter Twenty-Eight: A Perfect Murder
The moon sank, the stars faded.
The entire street was in ruins, littered with shattered stones, splintered wood, and the gruesome remains of pustule monsters.
The number of monsters in the core area was overwhelming. Luo Ling’s wrists ached from the constant fighting, yet the seemingly endless horde kept coming.
Several Distorted Beasts were mixed among them, thankfully none at the high-order Awakened One level. Otherwise, the three of them wouldn’t have lasted this long.
After this grueling battle, only Luo Ling remained uninjured… mainly because she wasn’t the Distorted Beasts’ primary target, having only dealt with the pustule monsters.
“Cough…”
Linna coughed violently, spitting out fragments of internal organs.
She wiped the blood from her face, turned to Luo Ling, and whispered,
“Thank you, Miss Bai.”
“You’re welcome.”
Luo Ling nodded.
In the recent battle, Linna had pushed herself to the limit, defeating the corrupted Helen and Lucia.
But Helen and Lucia had been eighth-order Awakened Ones. After their transformation, they had surpassed human limitations, their raw power exceeding even that of a ninth-order Awakened One.
Fortunately, they had lost most of their sanity, only capable of basic cooperation, giving Linna and the others a fighting chance.
And Luo Ling had secretly assisted them, using “Complete Domination” to avert several critical moments.
Even so, Linna had lost both legs and an arm in the battle, tainted by the corrupted flesh. If she hadn’t decisively amputated her infected limbs, she would have become like Helen and Lucia.
Of course, another reason for her decisiveness was the presence of Miss Bai, who could regenerate flesh.
After being healed, Linna was completely exhausted, leaning against a wall to rest.
She watched the dissolving bodies of Helen and Lucia, closing her eyes in pain and sighing deeply.
“It’s all my fault for being an incompetent captain…”
“It’s not your fault, Miss Linna.” Luo Ling said softly.
“Miss Bai, there’s no need to comfort me.” Linna looked at Luo Ling, forcing a weak smile. “By the way, Frick is also injured. Could you help him too?”
Frick lay slumped against a pile of rubble, seemingly on the verge of death, his once-gleaming armor stained with corrupted flesh and blood, a gruesome sight.
Luo Ling nodded, walking over to Frick and crouching down beside him.
“Do you need help getting up, sir?” Luo Ling asked softly. “Or have you abandoned your plan? The ‘Hunt’ team is down to one member.”
Linna looked at them in surprise, while Frick, his eyes closed, opened them with a sigh.
“Little girl, when did you realize?”
“I don’t know,” Luo Ling replied. “But I know you’re not just a member of the Fate Society.”
“Wouldn’t it be better to let this battle end in failure?” Frick looked at Luo Ling calmly. “The ‘Hunt’ team fought valiantly, yet ultimately failed, perishing within Purgatory’s Incubation Barrier… At least that outcome would be easier for the Captain and her mother to accept.”
“Frick, what are you saying?!” Linna’s eyes widened, staring at Frick intently. “What do you mean?”
Frick ignored Linna, his gaze fixed on Luo Ling.
“See, little girl, you’ve made this situation quite messy.”
He stood up, brushing off his armor, showing no signs of injury.
Not even a trace of corruption—Frick’s armor was a Sacred Tool specifically designed to counter Purgatory, completely negating its influence.
This meant that Frick had known this was Purgatory’s Incubation Barrier from the very beginning.
During the battle, Luo Ling had confirmed this through her spores, along with her other suspicion.
There was a traitor among them.
And that traitor was Frick.
As Linna had said, the deaths of her teammates were too suspicious. With their strength, they shouldn’t have perished so easily.
Something wasn’t right. Unlike Linna’s unwavering trust in her teammates, Luo Ling had been suspicious of Frick from the moment he appeared.
Even after her spores confirmed Frick’s human identity, completely untainted by Grotesquery influence, she hadn’t fully trusted him, remembering the leader’s words.
Later, she discovered that her other two tokens were resonating, and after a brief confirmation, she realized that the source of the resonance was Frick. He wasn’t just a member of the Fate Society.
He must have hidden the other tokens, so they hadn’t noticed.
Therefore, to avoid detection, Luo Ling had also hidden her tokens.
Most importantly, during the battle, Frick clearly hadn’t fought with his full strength. He was stronger than an eighth-order Awakened One, and with his prepared Sacred Tool, he had easily handled the battle, barely injured, yet feigning exhaustion.
Frick was a good actor, but his actions hadn’t escaped her spores’ notice.
Including… the several times Frick had deliberately put Linna in danger, trying to get her killed. This confirmed his betrayal.
And the mastermind behind all this…
“So, did the Fate Society offer too little, or did the Company offer too much… or did the Torchbearers make an offer you couldn’t refuse?”
Luo Ling stood up, her calm gaze meeting Frick’s. “I want to know what made you betray your teammates, offering Wilson, Helen, Lucia, and that… Old Victor, to Purgatory as nourishment.”
Just like in the earlier battle, Frick didn’t need to act directly. He simply needed to exploit his teammates’ trust, making small, deliberate mistakes.
The “Hunt” team had a strong bond and trusted each other implicitly, but this trust became a weapon in Frick’s hands.
“What?”
Linna’s expression flickered as she stared at Frick in disbelief, searching for any denial in his expression.
Could it be… that Frick was truly the culprit behind this disaster?
“You even know who I work for? You’re quite impressive, little girl.” Frick sighed, adjusting his clothes. “But I’m sorry, I don’t work for any of them. I’m with the Harbingers of Calamity.”
He glanced at Linna, who was struggling to raise her firearm, and shook his head.
“Captain, save your strength. I really don’t want to fight you.”
“Frick, what are you trying to hide? You’re not with the Harbingers.” Luo Ling said slowly. “If you were, I would have noticed the moment we met.”
The Harbingers had a distinct characteristic. They treated Grotesqueries as tools, almost always using them to enhance their own power.
Before Luo Ling, who possessed the Puppet Ballad, even the slightest trace of Grotesquery influence couldn’t escape her notice.
Frick was, without a doubt, a pure human Awakened One.
“…Perhaps I should have insisted on sending you away.” Frick’s gaze turned dangerous, then softened. “But I don’t want to kill unnecessarily. Little girl, let’s make a deal. Don’t say anything after you leave, and we can negotiate any terms.”
Luo Ling was stunned. Even now, Frick claimed he didn’t want to kill unnecessarily…
He wasn’t even planning to kill her?
“Frick, you’re with the Torchbearers, aren’t you?” Linna said softly.
After being healed by Luo Ling, she was completely exhausted, leaning against the wall, unable to even lift her firearm.
“You’re right, Captain.” Frick nodded, stroking his chin. “However, this commission was from the Company…”
The Company had “freelancers” and “regular employees.” Freelancers weren’t limited to other factions, essentially mercenaries.
Luo Ling was a freelancer, and so was Frick.
“No wonder…”
Linna closed her eyes slowly.
Hearing Frick’s answer, she accepted her defeat, and the Fate Society’s.
The Fate Society and the Torchbearers were constantly at odds, practically mortal enemies.
Losing five eighth-order Awakened Ones without any gain was a devastating blow to the Fate Society.
Anger couldn’t change the outcome.
But Luo Ling still had questions. The Torchbearers alone couldn’t have orchestrated this. If it were the Harbingers, it wouldn’t be Frick, but Artist, who was still alive in this timeline.
Eliminating all other possibilities, only one improbable possibility remained.
Perhaps… this Incubation Barrier was the Company’s doing.
This disaster was orchestrated by the Company.
“So, what does the Company gain from a Boundary collapse?” Luo Ling whispered.
She immediately sensed a flicker of killing intent.
Looking up, Frick masked the glint in his eyes.
“You even know that the purpose of this operation is a Boundary collapse. Miss Bai, you’re truly remarkable.”
But he quickly smiled again.
“But it doesn’t matter. Once this operation is complete, everything will be buried in the past, discarded and forgotten.
“This is an incident that won’t be recorded. The only thing that will remain in the files is the final result, ‘Boundary collapse’… I might as well tell you, this Incubation Barrier is just one of them. The Company has sixteen such locations.”
That was why Frick didn’t kill Luo Ling. Even if she survived, after the Boundary collapse, she wouldn’t remember much.
“So, why?”
Luo Ling repeated, staring intently at Frick.
“Because they suffered an unbearable loss and need to erase it.” Frick sneered. “The Company’s power isn’t without reason. They only remain in the most powerful era.”
“…”
Luo Ling remained silent, lost in thought.
Victoria’s seventy-fourth Boundary collapse wasn’t caused by a Grotesquery, nor the Harbingers, nor the Godchosen.
It was a plan orchestrated by the Company, the guardians of order in Victoria.
The other Order-side factions had tacitly approved of the Company’s actions, even taking advantage of the Boundary collapse plan for their own gain.
Like eliminating the “Hunt” team.
All traces would be erased by the Boundary collapse, a perfect murder, leaving no evidence.
Only the five Awakened Ones buried within the Incubation Barrier, dying silently in an unknown place, their true cause of death unknown.
They hadn’t died fighting Grotesqueries, nor protecting human civilization, but at the hands of their fellow humans.
“Captain, cherish your final moments.” Frick snapped his fingers, then looked at Luo Ling reproachfully. “See what you’ve done? The Captain could have died peacefully, but now, she knows the truth before her death.”
Frick adjusted his armor and walked towards the depths of the Incubation Barrier.
“Captain, don’t die too quickly. Wait for me. The Company’s dirty work is really…”
From the earlier battle, Frick had a rough estimate of Luo Ling’s strength. Although she had exceeded his expectations, he wasn’t worried. The difference in their power was too vast.
Luo Ling didn’t stop him. She turned to Linna.
Linna, covered in blood, leaned against the wall, her eyes closed, filled with despair.
“He said you…”
Luo Ling frowned, using her spores to examine Linna’s body.
Her injuries were healed, her life force slightly diminished, but still strong. Why would Frick say…
“Yes, I’m dying.” Linna whispered, then chuckled self-deprecatingly. “To be mocked by my enemy before my death, it’s truly… frustrating…”
“Linna, can I heal you?”
Luo Ling crouched down beside her.
She took Linna’s hand, noticing that her own hand was trembling slightly.
…Why was she trembling?
“If you can heal my mind,” Linna pointed to her head, then let her hand fall limply. “I’ve overexerted myself… heh…”
Her secret technique wasn’t without cost, especially using it twice in such a short time. That was why Frick had feigned injury, not attacking directly.
Because he knew Linna was already dying.
“I’m sorry, Linna, I… I can’t save you.”
The mind was the one area the Puppet Ballad couldn’t reach.
Luo Ling lowered her head. Whether this was reality or illusion, one thing was certain…
This friend, with whom she had shared a brief but intense camaraderie, was dying before her eyes, and she was helpless.
“Don’t apologize. At least you allowed me to die as a human, not a corrupted monster…”
Linna reached out, cupping Luo Ling’s face, her fading eyes trying to focus on the girl before her.
“Miss Bai, I just realized, you’re truly beautiful… so beautiful you don’t seem human…”
She regretted realizing it only now, not having enough time to admire her.
Luo Ling held Linna’s hand, unsure what to do.
“Miss Bai, will you grant me one last request?”
“…Tell me.”
Luo Ling lowered her head, a mix of emotions welling up within her.
“Please use ‘Complete Domination’ on me,” Linna said calmly. “My body… should be quite useful.”
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