Floor the Gas!

"That's impossible!" Luna stared in disbelief at the headless corpse beside her. When the others turned their gazes toward the headless corpse, shock and confusion showed on their faces at first, followed by expressions of agony. Several even clutched their heads and crouched on the ground in pain. Clearly, some force was stopping them from thinking and perceiving in that direction. In fact, this "lie" was not particularly clever, relying entirely on external force to forcibly distort their minds. Otherwise, they should have realized long ago who the missing person was. Pain also appeared on Luna's face, but just as Karen had observed earlier, her tolerance was considerably higher than the others'—or rather, she had likely received some kind of special treatment. A simpler conjecture was that she was Torisa's wife, and it was easy to understand why Torisa would treat his own wife better than the other team members. A more conspiratorial conjecture: could Luna have known all along? Had she been cooperating with her husband the entire time, deceiving these subordinates? However, what puzzled Karen now was: what was Torisa's goal in doing this? Why did he disappear, and why create an illusion of his "presence" while vanishing? Many speculations made when first descending into the hole had to be overturned now. There was no third party, no such thing as an "evil spirit of the sand"—or if there was, the evil spirit of the sand was not the real cause behind the annihilation of this squad. It might have appeared, but it should have already been dealt with. "He isn't... my husband? I always thought he was. I talked to him, poured my heart out to him..." Luna murmured to herself, subconsciously pressing a hand to her forehead. Karen watched her calmly. Was she acting? But at this point, there was hardly any need for an act, was there? Karen looked at the sand platform supporting Luna and the headless corpse. The image of the ten people outside endlessly circling this place resurfaced in his mind. There had to be a purpose, a definite reason—whether for Captain Torisa's "hiding" or for their prior mechanical behavior. Karen bent down and reached out to touch the side of the platform. It was made of sand, but extremely hard, firmer than concrete. Yet when it had emerged earlier, it had clearly formed by absorbing and condensing the surrounding sand, rather than having existed as a solid platform hidden below that had just risen up. Did this mean there was something inside that needed to be protected, defended, and... hidden the moment it appeared? In any case, no matter what, Torisa wouldn't be bored enough that, despite not being here in person, he just enjoyed watching his squad members circle around his wife and a stand-in body, would he? Karen straightened up, took a few steps back, and said, "I want to break this platform. I think there's something inside." "No, you can't!" Luna suddenly shrieked. "No... you can't..." "No... you can't..." Everyone who had been bent over or crouching cried out warnings of prohibition at once, as if Karen's words had struck the sore point in their minds yet again. This only reinforced Karen's judgment. Torisa had imposed many "untouchable" taboos upon his subordinates' minds. In other words, he could verify that secret in reverse simply by "stepping on their toes." Karen was in no rush to swing his greatsword at the platform. Instead, he asked: "You should all know that doing this is right. I don't think you want to go on living in a lie like this, do you? What's more, you've been deceived for nearly three hundred years. Don't you want to know what the truth is? "Right now, I only want to ask you one thing: can you still control yourselves?" Karen didn't want to start smashing the platform only to be mobbed by everyone here the next second. Luna's facial expression contorted. Faint traces of tears could be seen, but they were quickly whisked away by the blowing sand. Gritting her teeth, she spoke: "I can control myself... Smash it!" As she said this, Luna's hands began to tremble, as though Karen were about to strike not the platform, but her heart. The others were also engaged in an internal struggle. They knew what was right, but a voice in their heads continually subverted their reason. Karen waited quietly. He understood the feeling; back then, to cope with a similar situation, Neo had deliberately sliced off his own facial skin to craft a mask. Kuzan the swordsman was the first to speak: "Smash it..." Then Grey Wolf: "Smash it..." Followed by Angel: "Smash it..." All of them were struggling mentally, a struggle charged with immense resentment, because they now understood they had been deceived for so many years. For three hundred years, they might have lived inside a scam. Most importantly, they were elite. That was why Karen was willing to wait and believed waiting would yield the result he wanted. Elite members of the Whip of Order tended to possess immense personal willpower. As the current captain of a future elite squad, Karen firmly believed this. "Smash it..." "Smash it..." When the last person gave their confirmation, Karen let out a long breath. Since they had called out "Smash it," it proved they had prepared themselves to suppress their compulsions. Karen swung the greatsword in his hands and smashed it into the side of the platform. *Bang!* Sand sprayed. *Bang!* *Bang!* Under continuous strikes, large fissures spread. It was hard, true, but far from indestructible. Finally, accompanied by Karen's final channeled strike, a crisp crashing sound rang out as large sections of the platform's wall peeled away, and the true interior was finally revealed. Inside was a massive, semi-transparent yellow cocoon, and lying within the cocoon was a man clad in Order robes. The man's features were stern. Even "sleeping" with his eyes shut, he still exuded an unmistakable pressure. Resting across the man's chest was a black sword, its blade etched with distinct blood-red patterns symbolizing slaughter and judgment. Luna cried, "Torisa..." "Cap... tain..." "It really is... Captain..." Judging from the reactions of those around him, the man inside was indeed Torisa. And that sword had to be the Sword of Diamance belonging to her husband, just as Luna had mentioned. *A fine treasure...* After seeing this sword, Karen felt the one currently in his hand suddenly wasn't nearly as appealing anymore. In any case, Torisa's wife had already promised to give him the sword earlier, provided he could find it. Karen shook his head. What in the world was he thinking right now? It had to be the intense mental strain from questioning them one by one earlier that made it hard to concentrate; otherwise, how could he have become like Neo, his mind filled with such base tastes? "Why...?" "Why is... Captain... inside?" "Cap... tain?" Karen composed himself and raised the sword in his hand, preparing to pierce the cocoon. Just then, Torisa lying inside snapped his eyes open. Instantly, a terrifying wave of psychic force surged toward Karen like a tidal wave. Karen's body trembled slightly, but he swiftly re-anchored himself amidst the horrifying psychic assault. He knew his own uniqueness: his soul far exceeded his actual strength and realm, so normal standards didn't apply to him. But for others, they almost certainly held true. So, how powerful was the true strength of someone possessing such immense spiritual energy? Compared to Dolph, Torisa felt far stronger to Karen right now! Yet just as Karen felt alarmed, he suddenly noticed the psychic offensive unleashed against him had abruptly receded. It retreated so swiftly, as if Torisa had accidentally stepped on someone's foot and instantly pulled back, ready to apologize upon noticing. What's more, from the man's expression and gaze, Karen saw deep wariness! *He's... wary of me?* Torisa parted his lips as if chanting an incantation. In an instant, centered on Karen's position, a cage of yellow sand sprang into existence. Karen naturally wouldn't just stand there waiting to be bound, but the moment the cage manifested, the entire sand pool shuddered. Karen felt as if a mountain of sand had landed on his back. His body couldn't move at all, leaving him to helplessly watch as he was trapped inside this cage condensed from yellow sand! The cage was not particularly sturdy—in fact, it felt somewhat soft—yet it was integrated with the entire sand pool. Breaking it with brute force would require Karen to exhaust all the power contained in the sand pool. However, the cage did not seem soundproof. Soon, he heard an unfamiliar voice, which undoubtedly belonged to Torisa. "Everyone, long time no see." "Cap... Captain..." "Torisa..." "Captain..." "Be quiet, all of you." The noisy clamor ceased. Before Torisa, his former squad members were like toys he could manipulate at will. Next came the conversation between a man and a woman. Clearly, Torisa had granted an exception to his wife once again. "My darling, I've missed you so much. In truth, I've been with you the entire time." "Why is it like this...? Why did it turn out like this...?" "Because you died. During that mission, that bastard from the Desert Cult ambushed and killed you! "Though I personally tortured him to death, though I turned him into a puppet and set him there just to humiliate him, none of that could change the fact that you had left me, left me forever. "I couldn't accept it. Even if I paid any price to forcefully Awaken you, you wouldn't have had much time left. So I chose an extreme method." "An extreme... method?" "That evil spirit of the sand tried to ambush us, but I caught it and took care of it. Sometimes I find it laughable: where do those bastards from the Desert Cult get the courage to challenge our Church of Order? "But after that evil spirit of the sand died, it formed a special zone here. You can think of it as having polluted this area, creating a unique barrier. "By utilizing the terrain here, I could accomplish things that would never be possible outside—such as keeping your bodies and souls fresh. "Then, in Compasini's cranial bones, I found its origin core. Using it, I could keep your consciousnesses in a perpetual state of revival. "Darling, just as you can see, I've preserved you for three hundred years this way. There was no other method in this world that could let my deceased wife accompany me for so long. "Everything I did was for you, Luna, my most beloved wife." Karen thought: *Woman, he's lying to you.* "Torisa." "Yes?" "You're lying to me." "Darling..." "If your only goal was to preserve me, what about them? What about the companions who braved danger with us? Why did you keep them here too? "Don't tell me they all died back then and you deliberately arranged this place just to keep everyone—I won't believe it. There are no fatal wounds on them at all." "Because I couldn't let this place be exposed. Not even the Church could know, because once the Church found out, there was no way I'd retain usage rights here. "This cocoon, Compasini's origin core, everything here—the Church would seize it all, and it would no longer belong to me. "So, I had no choice but to..." "Enough!" Luna rebuked. "Torisa, why are you still lying to me, even now?" "Sigh." Torisa sighed. "Because you are my wife." "Just what filthy purpose did you have that made you bury the team you painstakingly built with your own hands, bury these companions who believed in you and followed you without wavering? You..." Luna's voice stopped abruptly. "Tsk, you talk too much. You should be like before: always believe what I say, and rejoice in our reunion." Torisa's tone carried a hint of resignation. Then Karen heard footsteps. Torisa had arrived before him; between them stood only a wall of sand. "Lord Karen, you should be able to hear my voice right now. I imagine you saw through my purpose long ago, didn't you?" *Wait, what is with this form of address?* And second, what was his real purpose? Confining his entire squad around himself—what on earth was it for? "You're likely younger than me, My Lord, but your current position is definitely much higher than mine was back then. Heh, I don't believe for a moment that My Lord is merely an Operations Battalion Captain of the York City Region." *Is being an Operations Battalion Captain embarrassing or something?* "It doesn't matter if you won't answer, My Lord. Your identity and affairs—your slave has already told me everything." *My... slave?* "And unfortunately, I must inform you that your slave is already preparing to betray you. While I keep you trapped, that slave of yours will set up a formation to break the curse here. "He wants to gain freedom. That is the ultimate dream of every slave, isn't it?" *What the hell... are you talking about?* "Of course, besides freedom, I also promised him that once I emerge, I will follow him into the Light remnant organization, and I will help him attain a higher position within their loose, fractured ranks. "He truly displayed immense greed toward power—a man thoroughly steeped in the vortex of greed. "The reason My Lord chose him as your slave must be that he's easy to control, right?" It was Neo! Setting aside the Light remnant part for now, what confirmed the "slave's" identity for Karen was "greed." Karen finally understood. Neo had said something to him, leading to such a deep misunderstanding about Karen. His slave... Director Neo? Neo had actually claimed it voluntarily. Since it was Neo, it made sense that Torisa would view and imagine Karen this way. Neo possessed this exact knack for improvising, steering the normal course of events into some bizarre, incomprehensible direction. "You must feel quite helpless right now, My Lord, but please rest assured: as a devout believer of Order, how could I ever be willing to mingle with Light remnants? "I want to return to the Church. I want to go home. I want to return to the embrace of the God of Order. "I don't know how long this confinement can hold you. Probably not very long, I imagine. And I wouldn't dare actually cross blades with you—in my current state, I am certainly no match for you." *So I'm that powerful now?* "Therefore, My Lord, I bear not the slightest offense toward you. "I tell you this because I want to become your puppet. I desire your protection. Please be my 'Warden.' Please believe me: I will make a far more capable slave for you than that Light remnant!" *Be my slave?* "Please sign a Sand Sea Contract with me." A Sand Sea Contract? Karen knew of this contract. Back when Purr proposed signing a symbiosis contract with him, he had specifically consulted relevant records; the Sand Sea Contract was essentially a variation of the symbiosis contract. The contracting parties swore an oath before the God of the Desert. If one party died, the other's soul would be buried by the sand sea. This was the exact bond Karen shared with Purr now. That was why on Fire Island, when Karen stayed behind to cover their retreat against that hunchbacked youth, Purr hadn't evacuated with the others. Once Karen died, Purr would die too, making evacuation completely pointless. "My Lord, you still have some time to consider, but please hurry. Between you and that slave of yours, I can only choose one. If you refuse to sign the contract with me, you won't get what you desire, either." *You should at least tell me what it is I desire in the first place, shouldn't you?* ... Neo returned to the platform. Alfred immediately asked, "Director, should I begin setting up a blocking formation now to try and halt the sand pool's operation?" Neo shook his head and ordered, "No. Set up a boosting formation to reinforce the sand pool's rotation. Make the amplification effect as huge as you can get it." Alfred was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "An amplification formation? Are you sure?" The glorious slave-director preparing to betray his master, Neo, nodded. "Rip off the brake pedal, and then floor the gas for him."