Four Split Personalities

Motan instinctively glanced back at the cell shrouded in the black fog and then frowned, "What accident?"

"Another prisoner, held on this floor, the ogre Duoduo Ma, who brutally murdered nine innocent people, used a considerable amount of flesh and blood to perform some sort of witchcraft that activated his potential. He forcefully increased his strength by one level in a short time, then broke through the defense restrictions and burst out of his detention room. He also damaged the Divine Arts restrictions of the opposite cell from the outside, and finally..."

His voice suddenly trailed off, his face turning very pale.

Kordo, who hated when people left things unsaid, pressed, "And what happened in the end?"

"He killed the female assassin and ate part of the body."

Mo lowered his head, speaking dryly, "Actually, I didn’t want to bring this up to you all, especially Her Highness the Saintess."

Yu Chen’s small face was somewhat pale, but she still whispered softly, "It’s okay..."

"What happened to that ogre in the end? It seems like there are no other prisoners on this level now."

Motan’s face wasn’t looking great either, and after a long silence, he finally managed to squeeze out these words.

Mo rubbed his wine-reddened nose and said solemnly, "After replenishing his flesh and blood, that villain immediately rushed to the upper level, trying to escape. It just so happened that I was on duty at the time. Realizing it was impossible to subdue him quickly, I killed him on the spot. I’ve already reported the incident, whether for killing a prisoner without orders or for negligent supervision, Old Mo is willing to accept any punishment."

"Sorry for asking about something unnecessary."

Motan nodded slightly and spoke softly, "I have no further questions."

"Alright, I’ll go ahead and take care of the paperwork for Mr. Cordova."

Mo forced a smile, trying to lift his spirits, then quickly left the third underground level.

"This is... truly terrible..."

Yu Chen leaned weakly against the cold stone wall and murmured softly to herself, uttering a few lines of Healing Prayer from the Holy Scripture over the remains that had yet to be cleaned up.

Suddenly, Motan felt an impulse to take her into his arms but killed the thought immediately in his mind. He then turned to Cordova and asked, "Speaking of which, why did you suddenly suggest standing guard here for a day? Isn’t it boring?"

"It’s bound to be boring."

Cordova sat cross-legged in front of the cell, listlessly resting his chin in his hand, "Well, how should I put it... I found something interesting anyway. I’ll tell you about it later."

Motan raised an eyebrow at him, "Can’t you tell us now?"

"It’s not that I can’t, it’s just that I don’t think it’s very reliable, and I feel embarrassed if I get it wrong."

Cordova held his large staff and chuckled awkwardly.

"Then do as you please."

Motan didn’t pry further, just gave a more earnest reminder, "If something happens, don’t forget to contact us right away."

Yu Chen, having finished her prayers, added, peeking out with her small head, "If Motan isn’t around, then find me."

Because Tero was nearby, they described the act of ’sending a message’ in a more obscure way.

"Don’t worry, I’ve got it all figured out."

Cordova nodded heartily.

The three of them chatted briefly more (Tero standing as quiet as a statue behind Yu Chen) when Brother Mo hurried back, accompanied by a tall, attractive half-dragon female knight.

"Mr. Cordova, here is your temporary credential, and also..."

Mo handed a neatly written piece of parchment to Cordova, then whispered to Yu Chen, stepping aside, "Forget Language, this knight seeks an audience with you."

"Yizou?"

Yu Chen was slightly shocked for a moment, before exclaiming in surprise, "Why have you come?"

"Your Highness, sir,"

Yizou gave a proper bow to Yu Chen and Motan, and then spoke seriously to the former, "Your Highness, Xia Lian has requested that you return to the Great Cathedral as soon as possible and specifically sent me to fetch you."

"The Saintess is calling for me?"

Yu Chen blinked in surprise, then vigorously nodded her small head, "Alright, I understand, then..."

For some reason, she instinctively glanced at Motan.

"Hurry off, if they’ve sent someone to find you, it must be important. I was also planning to leave."

Motan smiled and, with proper etiquette, returned a bow to Yizou.

Then, the four of them (Motan/Yu Chen/Yizou/Tero) simply greeted Brother Moore and left the small tribunal without looking back, leaving the lonely student Cordova alone, staring at the black fog in a daze.

...

Half an hour later

Game Time AM08:35

City of Light, Central District, Dawn Avenue, in front of the Alchemist Association

Having just returned from the vegetable market and, for once, not getting lost, Motan walked into the Association’s gate holding a basket of apples. He quickly found a young man dressed as an apprentice, spoke briefly with him, and was then led to a room on the third floor of the Association.

"Does he have some sort of emergency?"

Watching the quickly departing figure, Motan, who hadn’t even had the chance to say thank you, scratched his head in confusion and then lightly knocked twice on the room’s door in front of him.

And then...

The door exploded.

Yes, you read that correctly. The seemingly solid wooden door exploded with a bang before Motan could even knock a third time.

Five minutes later, having barely come out of his unconscious state, Motan found himself lying on a chair. In front of him stood a girl with a hazy gaze, floating hair, a petite figure, and a face covered in dust – it was Luna Lynch.

"You’re awake?"

Luna greeted Motan, who had just ’regained consciousness,’ in a leisurely manner. She then pointed to the remains of... some kind of contraption in the corner of the room and said in a drifting tone, "Sorry, there was a little mishap with the experiment just now, but your body should be fine. I’ve checked it... And I picked up these apples and washed them; most of them are still okay. Here, for you."

[Now I understand why that guy ran off so fast just now...]

Motan roared in his mind, then pushed the majority of the basket back to the girl with a bitter smile, "No need to give them to me; they were bought to give to you."

"For me?"

Luna, who seemed like she hadn’t woken up properly, rubbed her eyes and asked in confusion, "Why?"

"As a return gift."

Motan cast a [Holy Healing Technique] on himself, followed by a [Healing Prayer], and smiled, "That Navigator you gave me before was really useful. I always felt I should give you something in return. But I’m not great at picking gifts and didn’t know what you might need, so I just bought some apples."

That’s right, just apples, the kind of common fruit that grows on trees with widespread circulation. Even though The Realm of Innocence boasts many inexplicable and strange flora and fauna quite different from the Real World, it also has apples – a universally known commodity that shines in all sorts of multiverses, parallel spaces, and different worlds – tasting just the same as apples outside the game.

Not only that, but their effects and nutritional value are eerily similar: they’re low in calories, high in nutrients, reduce blood sugar, cool the body, aid digestion, moisturize the skin, and promote sleep, among other benefits...

"Actually, I just didn’t know what else to give you."

Motan lowered his head in embarrassment; he suddenly felt like someone visiting the sick, and a rather half-hearted visitor at that.

"Thank you, apples are great."

Luna, however, didn’t notice Motan’s awkward expression at all. Upon hearing that the gift was for her, she carried the basket to a corner of the room. Then, opening the large notebook she never left behind, she sat on the bed with the book, her mind elsewhere, and asked, "Anything else?"

"Uh, no..."

"Hmm, fancy some tea?"

"Sure."

"But the tea set got smashed."

"Do you need help cleaning up?"

"No need, I’ll slowly clean up later."

"..."

"Huh?"

Luna, who had been keeping an eye on Motan’s movements, slowly put down her notebook and noticed that he had dozed off in the chair in just a few seconds.

"What a strange fellow..."

Chapter 517: The End