Chapter 886: A Trade...?
"I think I know why you're such an old immortal."
...After the silver web was tumultuously thrown away, it suddenly flickered and disappeared into the darkness, just like its owner, leaving no trace. The moment Silvan's face was illuminated, he was so dazzling that even though it turned dark again, that glimpse of radiance seemed to linger in the field of view.
The silver paint splattered on his clothes, faintly outlining half of his profile. He looked like a son of the gods walking out of the dark forest, his eyes tainted with a deep emerald hue.
No matter how many times she had seen him, the impact of Silvan's appearance was still astonishing.
It wasn't until Puppeteer coldly spoke that Lin Sanjiu snapped back to her senses.
"You always make connections with everyone you meet, so the next time we meet, even if I can't defeat you, I won't die either."
He seemed to have immediately realized that the two of them knew each other.
Lin Sanjiu sniffed and, for some reason, no one in the church made a sound. It was as if they were all waiting to see how she would respond. She had no choice but to ignore it and softly called out to Bohemia, "Hey, it's alright now. Summon your fish to shed some light."
There was no response in the darkness.
"Bohemia?"
Still no reaction.
Could it be...
"I didn't harm her," Silvan's low and pleasant voice immediately sounded in the darkness, as if he had sensed her fleeting thought. "Because I saw you."
Puppeteer let out a low, disgusted snort.
Lin Sanjiu smiled awkwardly and took small steps towards Bohemia. Silvan said, "Let me handle it," and a lamp post about half the height of a person quickly lit up from the dimness, slowly floating in mid-air.
Soft light instantly spread throughout the dilapidated church. Bohemia stood stiffly in the corner, motionless. Every inch of exposed skin on her body turned bright red, as if she had suddenly transformed into a heated stone sculpture. Lin Sanjiu gently patted her, and she suddenly jumped up, as if waking from a deep sleep. "Wha-what are you doing?"
"I was going to ask you the same thing," Lin Sanjiu asked suspiciously, "What are you staring at?"
"Nothing," Bohemia didn't dare to look at Silvan, her eyes fixed in another direction without blinking, twisting her neck unnaturally. "I, I... Who is that person?"
"Silvan, the one I told you about."
As a faint scent of figs wafted from behind, Bohemia instinctively turned her head. Then, with her mouth half-opened and her face flushed, she suddenly froze in place—she glitched again.
"You mentioned me to her?" Silvan approached and asked softly. His voice became slightly hoarse, like an intimate sigh brushing past her ears.
Looking at Bohemia's expression, even if smoke started coming out of her ears and eyes due to brain overload in the next second, Lin Sanjiu probably wouldn't find it strange.
"Yes, there's something I might need your help with."
Just the thought that Bohemia had contemptuously referred to Silvan as a "pretty boy" not long ago made Lin Sanjiu want to laugh a little. She glanced back at Silvan, wanting to ask about him and the queen's situation in the underground, but hesitated momentarily due to Puppeteer on her head. It was precisely at this moment that a flash of insight struck her mind.
Puppeteer remained calm until now and didn't call in the many other puppets outside, which already indicated something.
Feeling a bit frustrated, she raised her head and shouted, "It was you who brought him here!"
In the dimness that was not illuminated by the light in the church's dome, after a few seconds, Puppeteer let out an indifferent snort.
"Then why did you lure me to attack him?" Lin Sanjiu became increasingly clear. If she hadn't been misled to ambush the incoming person, Silvan probably wouldn't have made a move against her either. If Bohemia's silver web hadn't illuminated the two of them in time, who knows how the battle would have turned out.
Puppeteer sighed with some disappointment.
"I can't do it myself, but I have to try. What if he could kill you? People need to cling to hope."
"You want to use me as a pawn, but it seems like it won't work. I noticed that she was a woman a long time ago," Silvan chuckled softly, seemingly fearless of Puppeteer. His posture was so relaxed, as if he was just casually chatting with an old friend. "So, I didn't originally have any intention to kill her."
Could it be that he hadn't exerted his full power earlier?
This thought lingered in Lin Sanjiu's mind for half a second but was quickly overshadowed by another. She extended her teaching cane and pointed a few times in mid-air, her tone becoming less gentle due to her frustration. "Come down, all of you. Let's have a proper discussion."
If she hadn't dodged quickly, the teaching cane in her hand would have almost been interrupted by a swift attack from above. Stepping back, she took a moment to rub her throbbing temples before turning her head and asking, "Have you known him for a long time?"
Silvan lazily murmured an "uh" from his throat, walked over to the bonfire, and settled into the chair Lin Sanjiu had just brought out. He stretched his body and straightened his long legs. Compared to their last encounter at the arsenal, he seemed somewhat weary. His deep blue uniform was disheveled, with the collar loosened. The interplay of light and shadow traced the contours of his Adam's apple and collarbone. It was as if wherever he went, he would attract and be followed by the light.
"What's going on here?" Lin Sanjiu asked while bringing Bohemia along. Under the dual impact of fear and unknown emotions, the latter seemed completely unable to process anything and obediently followed Lin Sanjiu with small steps.
Lin Sanjiu had seen many shy and affectionate reactions from women towards Silvan, but she had never seen a state where it seemed like their brain was burning to a thread. The blond man reached out and gently waved his hand in front of Bohemia's eyes, but she stubbornly turned her head and refused to look at him.
Suddenly, Puppeteer interjected, "This person is still useful."
It was clear that he couldn't be referring to Lin Sanjiu or Silvan. However, Bohemia's reaction to his praise was more like being stabbed with a knife, and her face quickly turned pale.
Silvan let out a sigh-like exhale, his vivid emerald eyes, seemingly capable of drawing in souls, locked directly onto Lin Sanjiu's eyes. He stared at her without blinking, several seconds passed, and then he suddenly smiled hoarsely and softly, his warm breath almost turning the skin hot and flushed, "I'm here to assassinate him now."
"Ah, I see."
Perhaps due to her severe cold, Lin Sanjiu could only respond with two words while staring blankly at him. The church fell silent for a few seconds before she suddenly reacted, "What?"
"To assassinate him."
"Wait... why? Wasn't he the one who called you here?"
Silvan glanced up at the air, as if a jade green kingfisher submerged in a white creek flashed by under the cover of darkness. "It's not so much that he called me here, but rather that we have a certain understanding because we worked together before. He knew I would come to assassinate him, and I knew that he knew."
"...Can you say that again? My brain isn't functioning well due to this cold."
"It's not just because of the cold. It was never functioning well to begin with."
Puppeteer couldn't bear it any longer and his voice turned as sharp and cold as an ice blade, "No one knows that we know each other, that's why the arsenal sent him. Did you sneeze and let your brain fly out through your nostrils?"
Silvan heard the words and suddenly glanced at Lin Sanjiu.
"What's wrong?" she asked, a bit wary.
"You two are familiar with each other?" It didn't sound like a question anymore.
"I'd be dead if I said I was familiar with him."
"...Do you think I can't move now?" Puppeteer's voice suddenly turned gentle yet dangerous. However, Lin Sanjiu waited patiently for a while and realized that he still hadn't come down. His injuries might be more severe than she had imagined.
"So, you're familiar," Silvan gathered up his blond hair and let it fall loosely again, the golden halo scattering and descending chaotically.
Who wants to keep encountering him?
Lin Sanjiu sighed, not knowing how to persuade Puppeteer. She raised her voice and shouted, "Why won't you go to my medical room to recuperate?"
"Get lost."
Before she could say anything else, Silvan suddenly sat up and, rare for him, showed some annoyance. "Puppeteer, let's get to the point."
"Both idiots have ears like rabbits. What's there to talk about?"
As if he hadn't heard, the blond man went straight to the point, "What do you want?"
The church fell silent. After a while, Puppeteer snorted coldly, "A consular officer."
"Done."
"Don't be so quick to agree," Puppeteer smiled ominously, "I want more."
"Usually, two is enough, right?" Silvan furrowed his brows slightly.
"Two used to be enough, but not necessarily now."
"What do you mean?"
"Haven't you noticed? The teleportation rules have failed," Puppeteer paused, seemingly forcefully suppressing another bout of panting. "...The visa system is also in chaos. One or two consular officers can't guarantee anything anymore. Now, they are all expendable."
"The teleportation rules have failed?" Silvan was shocked and glanced at Lin Sanjiu. After she explained in detail about the rumors of the "Great Deluge" and the gathering of pocket dimension medical stations, he was stunned for a moment before he let out a soft sigh.
"So that's how it is," he accepted the unbelievable news quite quickly. "That explains a series of recent situations within the Twelve Organizations..."
Who knows what Silvan thought of, but his voice grew lower and his eyes brighter, with a shine that was almost too dazzling to look at. Lin Sanjiu heard him softly say, "Perhaps this is just right," and wanted to ask, but didn't know if she should.
"What do you want?" Puppeteer asked calmly.
Clearly, this was a transaction where both sides needed to lay out their conditions and put their chips on the table.
Silvan didn't say anything, he just turned his head and looked at Lin Sanjiu. She had never seen this blond man with such an expression in his eyes before—as if he was watching the River of Time sweep away the corpses of everyone, while he alone stood on the bank outside of time, standing alone in the wind and sand.
She couldn't help but think of his words, "Twin flames."
She never really understood what that meant.
"What I want, you currently don't have the ability to give me," Silvan said softly. "Xiao Jiu, where is your medical room?"