Chapter 34 Part 2

He repeated, “Give me proof. To trust you.”

No lamps burned outside the banquet hall. The only sources of light were the solitary moon hanging in the sky and the glowing red ember of his cigar.

Eva’s jaw clenched in anger. She nearly laughed at the audacity of Ode using a weapon she’d made to threaten her—Elder Zhong’s lessons must have gone straight to the dogs. But as her mocking gaze swept toward him, she met those eyes rimmed with red at the corners. Through them, she could almost glimpse Ode’s shattered soul.

Suddenly, she understood.

She suddenly understood just how unreasonable, inhuman, and cruel the demands Faust and the instructors had always placed on Ode.

How could anyone expect a porcelain vase, already shattered into fragments, to mend itself perfectly?

It was already unrecognizable after all those wasted years.

Was the “himself” they wanted him to reclaim truly the real him now?

Or was the Ode forged through countless brushes with life and death—the one cloaked in a cracked facade, ready to spill forth volcanic rage through the fissures at the slightest shake—perhaps the true version?

Suddenly, she couldn’t voice those cold words. She even hurriedly averted her eyes from Ode’s. “…I can let Faust inscribe an Alchemy Array over my heart. If I betray you, he can end my life at any time.”

“…!” Even Faust couldn’t hide his shock. He’d never imagined that this walking iceberg named Eva would make such a massive concession. “Uh, Ode, calm down first. When I said ‘something’s off about Eva,’ I didn’t mean she might be colluding with the monsters—”

“Do it!” Eva sharply cut off Faust’s explanation. “Wasn’t the suspicion yours in the first place?”

Faust flinched at Eva’s sharp tone, feeling a bit wronged. “Why are you yelling at me? You know that’s not what I—”

“Hurry up.” Eva interrupted again, directly unfastening her collar and leaving Faust no room to refuse.

Faust: “…………”

What rotten luck in this life—to run into a prickly type like Eva. And even worse, now there were two of them.

What could he, as team leader, do? He couldn’t exactly start a brawl with his teammates in the middle of a mission! Besides, he knew full well that these two were as stubborn as rocks; no amount of knocking would change their nature. It turned him—a guy with plenty of personality himself—into a nagging old mother hen the moment he took charge…

Faust grumbled inwardly as he clamped the cigar between his teeth. While sketching the Alchemy Array onto Eva’s collarbone, he tried to reason with them earnestly. Truly, he felt this was karma; whatever beatings he’d deserved in the past, his team members paid back double during missions.

“I’m just saying, you know. Like before, when she’d run off to the outpost and drain 2000cc of your blood. When it comes to research, she sometimes can’t control herself—”

“You remember that little girl I mentioned earlier? The one who ran straight through Behemoth’s mist? I was just eavesdropping at the door to search for her inside the room.”

“I can confirm she’s no normal human. Look—she evaded Behemoth’s detection. And Eva managed to dodge Behemoth’s search on her own, without my help. So my theory is: maybe the little girl helped Eva; or perhaps right from boarding the ship, the little girl somehow connected with Eva, who didn’t refuse due to her thirst for experimental materials.”

“Or could it be that the little girl tampered with the surveillance to cover her tracks? Maybe she didn’t show up in the banquet hall because she’s hiding somewhere, avoiding someone?”

Eva shot back, “You know full well I couldn’t betray GORCC. At worst, before any betrayal, I’d take my lover with me. Just because of this suspicion, you had to stir trouble at a critical moment and trigger Ode’s outburst—is partnering with me so comfortable that you’ve forgotten how to lead?”

“Forgot— you…!” Faust nearly laughed in exasperation. “Isn’t it precisely because I know you so well that I’m this certain? Haven’t you done similar things plenty of times?!”

“Otherwise, tell me: back at the Sahara outpost, how did you obtain that tentacle of Cthulhu’s that Pharaoh used to attack Ode? Explain it to Ode—why did your face change drastically at the sight of Behemoth’s mist? Why did it go pale when you realized we were standing over R’lyeh’s palace? Isn’t it because you violated the team’s ban, sneaked a piece of Him while Cthulhu wasn’t fully awake, and now fear He’ll settle the score?!”

“…” Before Faust finished the Alchemy Array, Ode—having shaken free from those past memories—stood there woodenly, listening to the two bicker.

But he still didn’t lower the gun. He even prodded Eva again, forcing her to swallow her retort. “If you’re aboveboard, why did you just dodge my gaze? And you still haven’t explained how you evaded Behemoth’s search.”

“…” Eva fell silent for a moment. Then, surprisingly, she curved her lips into a mocking smile as she looked at Ode. “I made your gun, your vehicle, even the suit on your body is my handiwork. Do you think I couldn’t create a device to evade Behemoth?”

“I want to see it.” Ode showed no sign of yielding.

“…” Eva took a deep breath and pulled an unremarkable-looking phone from her pocket. “This is it. I haven’t figured out mass production yet, so it’s only on my personal device. —What’s with that look? Otherwise, why issue every agent their own phone alongside earpieces? Just for your gaming convenience?”

“…” Faust watched from the side, raising his hand several times as if to dissuade Ode from antagonizing the logistics expert—no good would come of offending support staff… Of course, as an old-timer, he was a different story.

But everyone in the team had their own ideas. He could only clear his throat and steer the conversation, offering everyone a way out. “Anyway, I think that little girl is likely the key to breaking this situation. My instincts have never failed. Or… do you two have other ideas?”

Faust glanced around. Eva was the first to take the out he offered. “I think we need to investigate why this ship was dragged to Cthulhu’s territory. Doesn’t it strike you as odd? The Black Brotherhood doesn’t worship Cthulhu. Why pull a huge crowd into a god’s domain that has nothing to do with them? Out of charity?”

“Besides, why did Chorazin and Behemoth attack this ship? Note—they didn’t wait until we reached above R’lyeh. We were still in the Phantasmal Dream Realm when Behemoth’s mist hit; otherwise, Faust wouldn’t have missed the chance to redirect the ship back.”

“That’s a bit strange…” Faust stuck the cigar back in his mouth and leaned against the door thoughtfully, signaling the end of the standoff—at least temporarily. “Normally, I’d suggest interrogating those Black Brotherhood members who attacked. But this time, I don’t think questioning those six spies will help.”

“Think about it! The Black Brotherhood aren’t idiots. Threatening an international conference and pissing off that many nations at once? Impossible. That’s why they sent disposable materials who aren’t even full members.”

“And that means they won’t know many insider details.” Eva picked up seamlessly, as if extending an olive branch.

Silence fell before the door again. Moments later, both seniors covertly turned their gazes to the silent Ode. It was like parents quarreling in front of their child, realizing they’d made the kid cry and now awkwardly making up, cooing apologies.

Of course, Ode’s thoughts were far weightier than a child’s. He stared deeply at his seniors, who hadn’t truly resolved things but were willing to set them aside for now. Finally, he dropped his bombshell. “I think I can answer at least half of your questions.”

“!”

Amid the sharp gazes suddenly turned his way from Faust and Eva, Ode said gravely, “I tried prying words from Chorazin. He and Behemoth seem to be searching for Khirra. —You remember the survey report from Dreamcatcher Town mentioned another Great Old One hidden in the sea trench where I killed Dagon, right? I believe that’s Khirra. Chorazin confirmed it himself.”

Khirra was Cthulhu’s daughter, extraordinary due to her unique power: after devouring Cthulhu, she could resurrect Him at full strength.

Dagon and Hydra—the Father God and Great Mother God of the Deep Ones—usually stayed by Khirra’s side to protect her, lest anything disrupt Cthulhu’s revival.

Of course. That was the usual case.

No one had anticipated Ode appearing out of nowhere, with his absurdly high Charm Value. It turned Dagon—a married man duty-bound to protect the little princess—into a public groom-thief. Not only did he lose the princess, but he lost his life too.

“Wait… so in other words, Khirra is on this ship right now?” Faust straightened up. “Otherwise, why would They attack it?”

“Wait—” Faust raised his voice another notch. “That little girl I saw earlier… she couldn’t be Khirra, could she? But—why evade Behemoth’s detection? With her situation, returning to her father’s side is clearly safer than staying out here.”

Eva shrugged. “Maybe They just don’t want to lose Their freedom.”

“You’re joking, right?” Faust looked at her in disbelief. “Ask any of those monsters: given freedom versus survival, which would They choose? If even one picks freedom over living, I’ll take your name.”

The three fell silent simultaneously.

Ode stared off into space for a moment before suddenly saying, “—Then They must sense that discovery means death, hence the evasion. Does Cthulhu’s revival demand Their life as cost?”

“I don’t think so… otherwise, They’d have fled long ago, not waited till now.” Faust pondered, pinching his cigar and lightly scraping his jaw with his thumb.

“…” Ode sank back into thought.

At one point, he suddenly recalled the inexplicable pleasure Chorazin had shown when they discussed Dagon’s death. “—Do you think it’s possible for a god’s true body to want a certain being alive, while Its avatar wishes that being dead?”

Eva arched her eyebrows, clearly intrigued by this unusual hypothesis. “Normally speaking… it’s impossible. Unless this avatar developed its own independent consciousness—I mean, not the kind that can think on its own, but the sort of ‘independent consciousness’ that ‘wishes to separate itself from the main body.'”

“…”

Ode pondered calmly for a moment before suddenly turning to Faust, who sat nearby lost in thought while puffing on his cigarette. “Do you really think that tail swipe of mine earlier came off as sexually suggestive?”

Faust was utterly unprepared for the abrupt change in topic. “Ah… huh?”

He quickly caught on. “You’re not planning to seduce Chorazin, are you?”