Chapter 191: Interlude: Hope
When the first rays of sun rise over Tatsumi City.
Adelaide woke up.
She remained as sad and hopeless as ever.
Suddenly, Adelaide saw many illusions of things in her room.
They were illusions of things she had never seen before, things she had never possessed... but were they really?
Perhaps she had owned them at some point in the past, only to forget about them now.
Adelaide stood up from the bed with a dazed expression, as the golden sunlight outside the room shone in and illuminated her cheeks.
First comes memories about parents.
She embraced the illusions of two "strangers" in their middle age, and then remembered their longing, love, and reminiscence for her.
Next are the memories about friends, Adelaide hugged those illusions one by one, the more she remembered, the more her body trembled.
Lastly come the memories about the lover.
It turned out that she had also deeply loved someone before, and she too had once lived as a person who dared to love.
Adelaide remained silent, feeling the return of all the memories bit by bit.
Those painful, heavy, and melancholic memories that one would rather not recall… Those joyful, wonderful, and delightful memories that absolutely, absolutely, absolutely must not be forgotten.
Every bit of them is incredibly precious.
They all burst like bubbles, but left in a simple and uncomplicated way.
But now, they have all returned to her heart.
Tears streamed endlessly from her eyes, unable to be stopped.
Adelaide didn't know why "the Curse of Disillusionment" on her had disappeared. At this moment, she was kneeling in the warm sunlight, enjoying the brightness...
There is still hope.
--
Black Vulture, in white pajamas, woke up from the bed in the family villa, her expression becoming somewhat incredulous.
In fact, Black Vulture hasn't seen the morning sun for a long time.
"Why did I wake up so early today?"
She muttered to herself.
Could it be that the curse of the demon on her body has disappeared?
After waking up, Black Vulture looked out the window and gazed at the sunlight for a while.
Then, she immediately summoned the family's servants and contacted her adoptive mother, who was a core member of one of the five major families of Tatsumi City.
Black Vulture's family situation is very unique. Her biological parents were poor and for various reasons gave her away.
Having possessed a terrifying network talent since childhood, Black Vulture could easily manipulate various networks within Tatsumi City. She was adopted by one of the major families and arranged to work within the Demon Hunt Agency.
Afterward, she never saw her biological parents again, and the only thing she could retain was her original name.
This is the only indulgence permitted by the family.
In fact, the five major families still have a strong foundation in Tatsumi City.
Not only do they have people in various high-level positions in the visible world, but members of the five major families are also present in every department of the Demon Hunt Agency. Even among the twelve captains, four come from the five major families.
Of course, they would never have thought that.... a terrifying man was contemplating whether to fully merge the power of the five major families.
Perhaps, for a more grand and noble objective, the master of this city can only be the Babel Tower.
Black Vulture soon met her foster mother.
The middle-aged noblewoman with golden curly hair remained as usual, serious and dignified, without any smiles.
"Black Vulture... Have there been changes to your body?"
Black Vulture sat up straight, and without any personal emotions, said, "My lady mother."
"The curse on my body seems to have been lifted... Although I don't know the reason, I can be sure of this."
Her foster mother looked at her, nodded slightly and said, "This is good news, Black Vulture. So from tomorrow, you will leave that unlucky team and officially join the first team of the Demon Hunt Agency."
"This way, you can also better contribute to the family."
Black Vulture was stunned.
Leave?
Yeah, the team I'm currently leading is just a notorious and worthless problematic team.
I am no longer the unwanted 'waste' that nobody wants, but a genius with super hacker skills who is popular wherever I go.
So, should I leave?
She was silent for a long time, with images of Adelaide, the big guy, Holly, and Bai Yan flashing through her mind.
Black Vulture finally begged, "I have never made any requests or had any expectations for the past ten years... But only now, at this moment, I hope to beg you, mother, I don't want to leave the 12th team. Please allow me to continue to work with my current teammates."
After a moment of silence, the foster mother continued to speak:
"Alright then, since that's the case, I have another request that you cannot refuse, which is that you must marry Mr. Charlie, the confidant of the 'King'."
"I understand."
Black Vulture didn't object any further. Although she was very clear that Mr. Charlie was older than her foster mother, she also knew that this was already her best option for the future.
The foster mother's expression suddenly became a bit strange and she said, "Recently, that hypocritical knight's family seems to have become a bit strange... Black Vulture, use your skills to investigate their current situation."
--
Regarding the integration of the living forces of Tatsumi City, Bai Yan actually thought about it all night.
In fact, the current Babel Tower is still somewhat passive and can only secretly complete tasks and do things in the dark... but in reality, this is not necessary at all.
The key lies in the appearance of "Non-core Operators". Bai Yan has the initiative to invite various forces and strong individuals to join Babel Tower... Before this, he had never even considered "ruling" Tatsumi City.
Now, he can easily tie the five major families and the Demon Hunt Agency to the chariot of Babel Tower and in the future, if he draws the "Queen of the Scarlet Moon," the entire Tatsumi City will be in his hands.
In this situation, Bai Yan would have more power than the "king" who legally owns this city.
By then, Tatsumi City will be his "experimental field" and "strategic base".
Bai Yan thought he could even try various ways to exploit bugs and get rewards for completing Babel Tower missions.
However, this ambitious idea is actually declaring war on the Air Alliance, which means seizing power and transforming from a fake illegal organization to a real illegal organization...
But Bai Yan felt he still had to give it a try and a smile appeared on his face.
This is something that can't be achieved in the first playthrough, there is no way to try it out!
Maybe I can take a shortcut and make it easier for myself to complete the game "Babel Tower"!
Why not give it a try?
"However, before that, there is one very important thing."
That is because after the last event, Bai Yan acquired five Awakening Souls.
Next, he was going to upgrade his adorable Core Operators.
And then...
In a few days, the Crown Ceremony of "Nightsaber" will be completed.
Bai Yan had already made up his mind that when "Nightsaber" was officially crowned, it would be the day he would conquer Tatsumi City.
