Chapter 186: The Witch of the Coffee Shop
The night has grown late.
In the coffee shop, Bai Yan and Merete Chambers sat facing each other, staring at each other in silence for a while without speaking.
Samoyed quietly made the next cup of coffee, feeling like the two were in a standoff.
She paid the price of losing her sight due to her use of dark magic, but gained the ability of "Hex Sight" because of it. Although she cannot see anything, she can perceive a vast amount of information that is scattered in the environment and beyond the imagination of ordinary people.
Perhaps they are allies; even if they are not partners, they should not have such a hostile feeling towards each other. Samoyed finds it hard to understand.
"It seems that when my master said he would send me away back then, he was just joking..." She was still thinking about this in her mind and breathed a sigh of relief.
Merete Chambers watched Bai Yan for a while with a smile on her face, and took the initiative to speak, "I think, at this point, it's better for us to have an open and honest conversation."
In fact, Bai Yan was very curious about what the other party wanted to talk to him about, and this strong curiosity drove him to come here.
"What do you want to say?"
Merete Chambers continued, "My goal is actually to become a member of the Babel Tower, and you, Bai Yan, are Profligate of the Babel Tower, right?"
Bai Yan didn't answer directly, neither confirming nor denying. He just said, "Oh? Do you want to enter the Babel Tower?"
Merete Chambers was slightly stunned, narrowed her eyes, and said, "I see. So you actually knew my true purpose very early, possibly even earlier than I thought."
"What a leap in thought! How did she analyze that from my previous statement?" Bai Yan wondered to himself, but he tried his best not to show it on his face.
Merete Chambers slightly lowered her head and analyzed seriously:
"Well, no wonder you always subconsciously show superiority towards me. I can understand now. It seems that your position in the Babel Tower is higher than others. I watched a video clip of you and others leaving together, and those people clearly had admiration and trust in you, while you had a subconscious sense of superiority," said Merete Chambers as she analyzed.
Bai Yan didn't deny what she said, he just looked at her calmly, but what the witch said next surprised him.
Merete Chambers was finally a little surprised and continued to say:
"No, your position is even higher than that. That's why. Perhaps there is a fundamental difference between you and other Babel Tower members. Are you a member of the 'management team'? I don't know the specific internal situation of the Babel Tower, but it's interesting to know this," she said, realizing.
"I do have fundamental differences with them. It's surprising that she can even see this. Does she have an intelligence source or is she really that good at guessing?" he thought, considering the situation.
Upon hearing this, Bai Yan finally couldn't help but say, "Miss Witch, do you know a widely spread saying that too clever girls are not popular?"
Merete Chambers nodded and calmly said, "I know, but you are different. You like interesting things and people, so even if I tell you all my inferences directly, you will not be repulsed. Instead, you will unconsciously want to get closer to me."
"You long to see me guess wrong."
She squinted her eyes and her tone became more and more tempting.
"Dear Mr. Profligate, I helped you once before by providing important false testimony, and I have helped you again this time."
"Although you have been trying to avoid it, your subconscious liking for me should have increased a lot by now. So at this point, the probability of success in negotiating with you should be very high... Although you seem to be crazy and cruel, you still have basic humanity."
The Dark Light incident, as well as this incident, would indeed have been very difficult without the witch's help. He was very aware of that.
Bai Yan shook his head and deliberately spoke in a cold tone, "But I know that all your help is intentional. If we were on the villainous side, you would probably start killing innocent people indiscriminately. Do you think I would still be grateful to you?"
Merete Chambers' smile didn't fade in the slightest.
"In a sense, you are a gentle person, both in your heart and in your actions."
"So you actually don't like owing a debt of gratitude, just like you don't like being controlled by others' plans, which would keep you up at night... Hmm, the fact that you came here to communicate with me is evidence of that."
"Well, let me think again. What do you want most right now... Bai Yan, what do you want the most?"
Her question was very straightforward. After asking it, she immediately looked into Bai Yan's eyes without saying another word.
As for Bai Yan, who was being questioned, he only gazed into her eyes and didn't say a word.
Samoyed brought over two cups of coffee, handed one to each of them, then left Bai Yan with a bit of fear.
Bai Yan calmly took a sip of coffee from his cup and shook his head gently.
It really doesn't taste good. I don't like coffee myself, but this is so bitter. Why would anyone want to drink this?
Just as he finished savoring the bitterness, he suddenly noticed that Merete Chambers's expression had become somewhat terrifying. She squinted her eyes, and her delightfully demonic grin was almost ready to overflow, as if her sinister plot was about to succeed.
She seemed to feel as if she had already won.
"I see. So that's how it is. What you want most right now is to see me begging for mercy with a look of shock and despair, isn't it? But when you think about it the other way around, as long as I don't show that expression, you won't lose interest in me."
Bai Yan didn't know what to say anymore. Although there were many "spectacular performances" of the "Moon Witch" in the first playthrough of the game, he couldn't resist them when they happened to him.
The witch then asked, "What were you just reminiscing about? It seemed to be about me? But we haven't known each other for that long, strange. You really have a lot of secrets on you."
"I know a lot of things that you can't imagine, and that you couldn't guess even if you tried." Faced with this terrifying verbal assault, Bai Yan gently shook his head and responded by throwing a riddle.
This fellow was only a witch and not a deity. He didn't have to be afraid of her or think too much about it. Perhaps, this was the last thing the witch hoped to see.
Merete Chambers narrowed her eyes, and her smile grew more and more intense.
"If you were a man with a low moral bottom line, you probably would want to rape me and prove your superiority by conquering my body. But you are not that kind of person, so you would contemplate how you could make me uncomfortable... Actually, you don't have to do that, because I and Babel Tower are not enemies."
She immediately continued, "You already said last time that you would promise to tell me how to enter Babel Tower. You won't go back on your word now, will you?"
Speaking up to this point, it was Bai Yan's turn. Now, he had to either produce something that would satisfy the witch or turn around and refuse to fulfill the promise.
But he clearly wouldn't be so "unscrupulous" towards a woman who risked her life to help him multiple times.
Merete Chambers did guess this correctly.
"You want to join Babel Tower, you came to me, and made every effort to please me, all in order to become a true member of Babel Tower."
Bai Yan's tone was calm and he continued, "You're creating an atmosphere that makes you seem superior. From the moment I walked in until now, you've been using verbal attacks to gain a psychological 'upper hand'... But as long as something fundamental between us doesn't change, you'll never truly defeat me."
"In fact, you have no advantage at all and can only constantly ask me to fulfill your own wishes."
The witch tilted her head slightly and said with a smile, "As expected, simple verbal attacks won't shake you. I'll just honestly play my 'sun tzu' strategy."
"Well, it looks like you really do have a way to get me into Babel Tower. At this moment, I can finally be sure that others were forced into Babel Tower, but maybe only you were there voluntarily."
Merete Chambers stretched and straightened up, happily saying, "I'm actually quite satisfied with what we talked about tonight. Now, let's go do some things that are necessary for a man and a woman to do."
"I don't want to be involved in your affairs." Bai Yan stood up to leave, feeling that it was the right thing to do.
However, Miss Witch smiled and clapped her hands, calling for Samoyed.
"Samoyed, please tell us about the results of your research during this period. Thank you."
"Yes, master."
Samoyed walked over and spoke calmly, "I have found out about Adelaide and Black Vulture. They successfully rescued thirty-seven people trapped in the subway during a demon incident many years ago. Afterwards, they were retaliated against by the black wizard, who cursed them with a demon lord he summoned before he died."
"The demon lord's name is 'Sburnak' and I have found its summoning and countermeasures. If we summon it again, we can try to break the illusions curse and the sleeping curse that were cast on the Alliance."
Merete Chambers stood up and nodded gently. "Captain Adelaide and Black Vulture are undoubtedly great Night Watchers, just like the people of Babel Tower, they are heroes fighting for ordinary people. Unfortunately, the two of them have been cursed and tormented... perhaps for a long time, even forever."
She turned to Bai Yan, her gaze sincere.
"I plan to go and lift the curse of the demon lord. Do you want to come with me?"
So this is what they call a strategy. Bai Yan nodded lightly, without any reason to refuse.
"Alright, it seems like I do have to take a trip with you."
Before leaving, Miss Witch suddenly hugged Samoyed with both hands, and whispered something in her little head.
Terrified, the blind girl "looked" at Bai Yan with a pale face, shivering, but still nodded in pain.
"Alright, I'll, I'll go take a shower first..."
Then, Bai Yan and Merete Chambers left the cafe together.
"What did you say to her?"
Bai Yan could probably guess, but still asked anyway.
The next moment, he saw a genuine smile appear on Miss Witch's face, which looked more realistic than any smile he had seen before. It seemed that at this moment, she really wanted to burst out laughing.
"It's nothing, I just said some words to tease her... the rest, it's all up to her own imagination."
