Volume 9 Endless Days, The End NO.1: Desire (1/2)

Volume 9 Endless Days, The End NO.1: Desire

Translated by TaffyGirl13 (proofread by Xuan & Trespasserby; C/E edited by lucathia)

“How is Dark Sun’s condition?”

Receiving inquiry. Source of voice: group of doctors from laboratory. Speaker is Lv.3 in command. Determined to be no danger.

“His condition is good. It’s truly unfathomable. I hadn’t thought that implanting the chip would actually succeed. Now, Dark Sun’s level will definitely triple and the previous speed restriction will finally be resolved!”

Starting self-inspection.

“An order just came from above: it must immediately be confirmed that Dark Sun no longer has any emotional responses. Sigh, a surgery as major as implanting a chip is already an unprecedented success, but in the end, the first thing we need to verify is instead this?”

Chip operations normal. Head injury not yet recovered. Restoration status normal. Pain index: 5.

“Lower your voice! In any case, we just do whatever the higher-ups say.”

Current situation determined to be in a surgery recovery period. No major orders on short-term. Automatically entering stand-by mode.

“But, how exactly do we confirm that Dark Sun no longer has emotional responses? He’s usually very indifferent and has already been untalkative these past few years. Even when we ask him questions, he simply nods or shakes his head in response. He didn’t have many emotional reactions in the first place.

“We could use detectors for brain waves and heart rate. Have An Te Qi speak with Dark Sun—only he can make Dark Sun respond.”

“That’s true. But speaking of An Te Qi, where is he? It’s really weird. Didn’t he like Dark Sun a lot before? Whenever Dark Sun finished undergoing any surgeries in the past, he would always wait by Dark Sun’s side for days, yet he didn’t come at all this time.”

“It’s not strange. He was the one most against this surgery. He probably didn’t want to come and see how Dark Sun is now.”

“Look guys, is Dark Sun sleeping?”

“That’s his standby mode.”

“Oh, right, I nearly forgot about that setting…”

I quietly stood motionless. In front of me was a fairly tidy, small room that was completely vacant, without even a table or a chair. All four walls were as white as snow. It was simply an empty, bright room; the only darkness was my own shadow beneath me.

They were always very skilled at making others recognize their own dark side.

Despite having stood for a long while, I did not feel anxious. I even hoped that no one would walk in at all, and just leave a vampire like me to stand alone here until I decomposed into dust.

“Charles Endelis.”

Yet even decomposing was an extravagant hope. I could only raise my head to face the person that had arrived. The man in front of me was not quite a stranger; while his face was only slightly familiar, his outfit was one I knew extremely well. The attire for the Sin Elimination Committee had never changed significantly since ancient times. Even vampires were unwillingly forced to change with the world by wearing suits and ties, yet the Sin Elimination Committee dressed the same, unchanging since time immemorial.

As I scrutinized him, he also focused a steadfast gaze on me.

It was then that I understood why I thought this stranger seemed familiar. His fairly rough features were similar to Father Alex’s, but with a taller and sturdier figure. Moreover, his expression was ice-cold, unlike Father Alex’s warm temperament. However, if they were to appear together, they would in no doubt look like a pair of brothers.

He was undoubtedly a Sin, a leader figure in the Sin Elimination Committee dedicated to hunt X.

“It has been over a century.” Sin said, “There was a period of time when I once thought that a trail like you was not worth the effort since you were tightly blocked off by the Elysees’ meddlesome troublemaking.”

You do not appear to be over a hundred years old. I did not voice this statement. Alex had previously mentioned that every Sin must read all the previous Sins’ memories and regard themselves as the same person. They were all “Sin,” who has lived over a thousand years like X.

A thousand years, countless Sins dedicating their entire lives, all for the sake of capturing X. If I did not know X, I might admire their perseverance.

“Yet time will solve anything. Aside from the unchanging path to eradicate evil, everything else will change, including the shelter of the Elysees family.” His icy expression finally shifted, the lips of his mouth curving into a sneer as he asked, “Is that not so?”

“There is something else that will not change with time,” I emotionlessly stated. “Which would be that I will not tell you anything of X’s whereabouts. There is no longer anything you can use to threaten me into speaking.”

I had not imagined that losing everything would actually have this advantage. There was no longer any person or object that could make me spill X’s matters.

“No need.” Sin coldly chuckled. “We just need to send out the news of you being in our hands. Do you think E.X. will come?”

I remained silent.

He would not only come, he would come extremely quickly as well.

X was in this very city.

Sin did not require my answer. His face clearly indicated that even if I claimed X would not arrive, they would not believe me. Furthermore, I had to admit that he was right—X would come. There was no suspense in the slightest, and I was entirely helpless in this situation.

They had evidently known this, as after capturing me, they had not even removed my gear before confining me in this room. Afterwards, Sin walked in without any apprehensions.

I did not quite hold any expectations on being able to defeat Sin. Even if I could, I would not be able to use Sin as a hostage. If Sin were to be defeated by a barely mature vampire like myself, his will to live would vanish along with the defeat, let alone allow himself to become a hostage.

“Your only usefulness comes with staying here.” Sin mocked, “This lifestyle is quite easy. Don’t even think of fleeing. Even if E.X. was the one shut here, it would be similarly impossible for him to escape!”

Perhaps because I did not respond, he did not seem to have any interest in continuing to converse and turned to leave.

“Why must you stay so attached to X in this way?”

I could not help but ask, “What exactly did he do? Since ancient times, has he not committed less crimes than humans? A single atomic bomb could kill millions of people, while X could not possibly get close to that number even if he ceaselessly killed for a hundred years. Could he truly have committed an even heavier crime?”

Sin sharply whirled around, his gaze like a torch that burned with blazing hatred and fury. Yet I still could not fathom how X could have possible done something that could incur such resentment considering what I knew of his character.

“E.X. is the source of sin and must be completely eradicated!”

Source? I did not understand. What do these words mean?

In the past, I had studied multiple church texts and had never come across a single work that mentioned X, let alone pointing at him as the source of sin. Perhaps this was an extreme way of thinking that only the Sin Elimination Committee had?

After all, the Church could not pay attention to the matter of hunting X in every single period. If he truly was the source of sin, the Church would not have held this “capture or not” attitude.

After reaching this understanding, I no longer clung onto wondering what X had done. Sin had pursued him for thousands of years; this dispute would never be resolved easily, and was not something I could put my hands into here.

I calmly asked, “What condition did you use to make a deal with the Sun Emperor?”

Sin glanced at me, appearing not to be too interested in replying. However, he did not directly stride off to leave, which gave me the opportunity to continue speaking.

“The Sun Emperor is a person who would not wake up early if there were no potential for profit. At the same time, he is also a figure whose thoughts are far too complex to grasp. Are you certain that working together with him will allow you to obtain the benefits that were only agreed to on the surface?”

Despite Sin’s constant frigid attitude, I was certain I saw a slight furrow of his brows. However, he immediately stated in an even colder tone, “For the sake of thoroughly eliminating sin, we are willing to pay a price heavier than you could ever imagine, vampire!”

With this statement, he turned to walk away without fighting any further. This time, aside from lunging forward to attack him, I no longer had any means of keeping him here.

I took a step forward, but an energy beam suddenly shot out before me. Then they continued to increase in number, crossing to form a web. I stared at the energy net in front of me silently for a while before retreating, and the web vanished beam by beam.

If I had activated x-speed the instant the web had materialized, I undoubtedly could have reached Sin. Yet even in the best-case scenario of having defeated Sin and captured him as a hostage, I would likely only obtain a corpse, which would provide no help to the current situation.

Sin paused in his tracks but did not look back, simply letting out a cold chuckle as he walked to the wall. Before the door opened, the energy net reappeared around me, so densely packed together that I could not pass even a palm through. If I attempted to forcibly break through, either my blood ability would vaporize, or I would be sliced into countless pieces.

Once the net completely assembled, the door opened, and Sin exited.

Compared to Sin’s safety, not letting me flee seemed to be what was truly important.

Once the door shut, the web disappeared once more, and the room returned to its empty state.

The vacant room also had time. This room would turn off the lights at set four-hour intervals to submerge completely into darkness to suit a vampire’s required conditions for rest. While I no longer needed to rest, I would still lay down on time to avoid this secret from being exposed.

Twenty-four hours without needing to sleep while having nothing to do.

All that remained were my thoughts.

The previous chain of events had arrived in great number rapidly and messily, giving me no time to stop and ponder over them. I had only been able to bear with them one after another.

The Sun Emperor’s advancement step by step, Curtis’s betrayal and intervention, Father Yue and Alex’s interference, Luo Ye and Lieder’s appearance… The suspicions in my heart continued to pile up high as the situation worsened further.

Only after I had been seized and taken in the car had I discovered that the Luo Ye that the young master had been protecting this entire time was the criminal he had painstakingly searched for. Moreover, I had become a prisoner. Despite how disastrous the matter was, it actually calmed my anger and sense of defeat.

The bright room also allowed my mood to stabilize, although light ought to make vampires feel anxious. Brightness had always been an environment suited for humans, while darkness was what vampires loved the most. However, this did not apply to a vampire like myself who had been born and raised among humans.

I had adapted so much to sunlight that whenever I pulled open the curtains in the morning, I would frequently forget about the light shining on my face until the pain pricked through my eyes to remind me that I was not a race of the sunlight.

My emotions surged slightly once again. I quietly stood motionless as I dispelled all emotions and mulled over everything again and again, yet I only grew more and more confused.

What does the Sun Emperor truly want to do?

He said he did not care about Luo Ye. Could it be that this whole matter from beginning to end was merely a test? To test our loyalty toward the young master?

Melody and the others qualified, while the Sun Emperor used X’s whereabouts to threaten me and command me to deceive Luo Ye. I hesitated and was unwilling to do so, so I did not qualify?

No, the Sun Emperor had personally stated that I had no intentions of handing Luo Ye over to him. If I never betrayed the young master, why did I not qualify?

Could it be because I did not firmly reject the Sun Emperor’s command? However, every person has someone they care about. If the Sun Emperor had seized Briar away, Mr. Bramble would likely have become the first to disqualify.

Furthermore, if it were merely to test us, there would be no need at all to involve the Elysees family and the Church. This instead makes the situation more complicated, even presenting Lieder an advantageous opportunity to take Luo Ye and me away.

Aside from killing Luo Ye, aside from testing us, is there something else I am not aware of? And does the young master know of it?

No, he undoubtedly does not know. In this time, the young master and the Sun Emperor’s relationship had only gotten stiffer. If it were not for the young master’s instinct to protect his older brother, I am afraid that he would have long since blown up from anger and turned away to leave—Wait a moment.

Recent events suddenly flashed past in succession—the Sun Emperor had been unwilling to meet the young master to converse while hunting Luo Ye. The Sun Emperor had also used X and Curtis to anger me, forcing me to raise a hand against him, which the young master just happened to return in time to see, driven to have a falling out with me. He even attacked as forced to take my life.

During this period, he also tested Melody and Mr. Bramble’s group, using DSII to act as well. Practically all those by the young master’s side were involved with no exceptions.

It was as if the Sun Emperor was announcing to the young master that his everything was given by the Sun Emperor. When the Sun Emperor wants to disrupt the waters, the young master cannot resist in the slightest and will just find himself… abandoned and betrayed by all.

No one would be happy to be tightly controlled by someone, with the other party able to destroy their world with a single shift of their fingers, no matter how deep their relationship is.

The Sun Emperor should understand this fact, yet he intentionally made this type of declaration. Would the unrestrained king of the business world truly be foolish enough to do something with this result?

It would only make the young master feel unhappy with the Sun Emperor…Wait, what if this was what the Sun Emperor desired? Did he purposely provoke the young master?

But why would that be? I could not comprehend it. There must be something I am unaware of that is the Sun Emperor’s true objective.

It is undoubtedly related to the young master.

As I was unaware of other clues due to my lack of knowledge and failure to understand the whole situation, I could only let it go for the time being and raise another messier and more difficult issue.

Curtis, or perhaps, the attitude of the Elysees family.

When I thought of this, my heart fell. Although I had long since not considered myself the family head and had mentioned countless times to Curtis “not to pay any mind to me,” now that I was truly forsaken, I could not calmly face it. My former words were truly pretentious. In reality, I had still hoped the family would forever stand behind me.

If I had lost the Elysees family when Sadina had left, I would likely not have felt a loss as great as this. After all, Curtis had not actually been obligated to do anything for my sake.