🔍
......
You're not going to draw the curtains?
The glass has already been broken. Doing that would just be lying to myself.
The glass doesn't matter. Whether Ch'en is safe... does matter.
She's skilled. Not like her father, or her mother.
Yes, nothing like her.
......
Beneath my feet is already another river of lights. Lungmen has already returned to normal, but they still don't know what will happen next.
Alone, Ch'en Hui-chieh cannot stop this disaster.
Rhodes Island is with her. They will find her.
*Sigh*...
Witte can no longer hold back the conservatives. For so many years, he has tried to suppress the great lords, but he has not been able to completely defeat them. Only weaken them.
After the Great Rebellion, a harsh blow was dealt to the generals of the various armies and the old nobles behind them. Their status and wealth will be absorbed by the State Council, one by one.
But I'm afraid that...
Afraid of what?
What if Witte is lying? What if this whole situation was plotted by Witte and the Emperor? What if the young emperor planned all of this?
Our enemies have always lurked in the shadows. But we've always had to stand before the brightest spotlight.
You are already deeper into the shadows than most others.
...It's not enough. Just like back then. If Kashchey... if he was in this situation, he'd burrow deeper.
But you are not Kashchey. Kashchey would not have been able to make Lungmen what it is today.
It's just that... if Tal... If Tal really was taught by Kashchey...
......
That doctor from Rhodes Island, do you think she's lying?
I'm not sure. There aren't many people like that who don't lie. Rhodes Island is good at hiding itself. They feign weakness before us and will not reveal any secrets.
But, I would rather believe that Kashchey shaped the current Talulah. We can't afford the terrible consequences of underestimating the enemy.
...Tal...
Because of that, I can't let Ch'en Hui-chieh do this alone.
Kashchey... has all the cards in his hand. Even if he is dead, his vision may yet come to pass through his heir.
None of this could be what he wanted.
The scout team reported that some of the Infected who left Lungmen were moving in the direction of the core city.
The core city must stop for a period of time, during which they receive these Infected refugees.
Even if Talulah bared her vicious fangs at Ursus, she would not betray Reunion in front of everyone. This is the best opportunity.
I will bring the Shadow Guard.
You?!
They've already done too much for me.
I promised that I'd never ask them to dirty their hands, only to break that promise again and again.
And now, I would ask them to die for Lungmen?
...If so, I will be with them.
I won't allow it.
You doing that would play right into Kashchey's hands. That would not be a win at all.
...Is it not a stretch to say that everything we've done since regaining Lungmen has played into Kashchey's hands?
......
We've won before.
It was our victory at first. Even though it was painful, you and I, Edward, and Kojui... Without us, he would've wiped out this city.
I never once regarded this incident as an unfortunate beginning.
...I won't treat Edward's death as if it was by Kashchey's hands.
Would you rather treat it as a nightmare?

