Chapter 275: Why?

Gary Lester walked out of the building openly and honestly.

Of course, he could not have walked out of the "Paddock" on his own, nor could he have bypassed the Midnight Building's security system; half an hour after Constantine brought him here, Midnight had already listed him as the highest-priority surveillance target within the building—or rather, once one entered the Paddock, one was already under the highest-level surveillance of the Midnight Building.

In fact, during the first half of the night, he had been shivering inside the Paddock's iron bars like a puddle of soft, rotting mud, thinking only of Midnight giving him two injections to free him from this agonizing and tormenting withdrawal. Beyond that, he did not want to think about anything—because if his brain so much as started to work, he would recall the words Constantine had spoken to him, and realize that when the sun rose, he would have to be used as bait to face that terrifying Hungry Spirit again.

How could I possibly survive at the hands of such a monster? His subconscious kept asking him: How could Constantine and Midnight defeat it? What if I accidentally get killed? What if it escapes from the bottle again?

He could not explain these questions, so they gnawed at his brain, tormenting him so much that he could not sleep at all.

In fact, if it were not for his relationship with Constantine, if it were not for his willingness to entrust his life to his good friend, if it were not for his belief that Constantine would do everything possible to save him, then with his cowardly personality, he would absolutely never have agreed to this dangerous plan.

And just as his mind was in turmoil and he was lost in wild thoughts, footsteps suddenly sounded in the corridor.

Was it Constantine? Or Midnight?

He looked toward the door with anxious expectation—if they came to find him at this moment, perhaps it meant the plan would change, and perhaps he would no longer have to act as bait to face that Namos?

However, what appeared before his eyes was that unfamiliar Chinese man, Ma Ma Zhaodi.

Lester, who had been somewhat excited, suddenly felt utterly dejected; he sat back down, lost and dispirited. He did not know why the other party had come to find him, but he could not alter the plan formulated by Constantine and Midnight—in fact, Lester even suspected whether the other party knew the specific details of the plan, after all, when Constantine and Midnight came to find him, they had not even brought the other party along.

"I know you might be a bit disappointed, but don't be disappointed yet." Ma Ma Zhaodi calmly took out a lockpick: "Constantine, stop lighting that cigarette over there and come help check if there are any surveillance spells on the door lock."

"You are questioning a master of magical deception." A familiar voice answered from behind Ma Ma Zhaodi: "I confirmed the situation here during my first visit; now, any surveillance spell here will have no effect. As long as you are quick with your hands and feet, we will have no flaws—but are you sure there are no problems on your end? Midnight is not a fool; he might notice that we have been hacking the cameras for so long."

"I will forge an image that loops for a while; in the surveillance view, the scene here will not change at all. We can take him back directly to disguise him, change his clothes, and then send him out of the building." Ma Ma Zhaodi shrugged: "Midnight might be a first-rate mage, but he won't have time to learn these technical tricks."

"What?" Lester, overjoyed, ran to the bars and, seeing Constantine walking out with a cigarette in his mouth, asked excitedly: "I don't have to act as bait to attract that Namos anymore?"

The expression on Constantine's face was not particularly happy; he forced a smile and patted Lester's shoulder: "We... slightly modified the plan. You go wait for us outside the Midnight Building—remember not to wander off, or if Namos notices, none of us will be able to help you."

Mentioning that name, Lester could not help but shiver; he asked Constantine: "Then, if the plan doesn't need me anymore, how will you attract that Namos?"

Constantine still did not answer, simply taking another drag of his cigarette, but Ma Ma Zhaodi said: "I will do it."

Click! The locked door was opened by Ma Ma Zhaodi; he nodded in satisfaction. The effect of the Intermediate Lockpicking skill was quite good; it could deal with the Paddock's locks—of course, this might also be because Midnight thought that the place where zombie laborers were kept was already safe enough and did not require specially customized, overly complex locks.

"I will disguise myself as you to go in, and you must disguise yourself as me to go out." Ma Ma Zhaodi said: "No need to worry; my Tolerant Technique is very powerful; I can absolutely fool the security guards at the gate."

Facing the open door, Lester hesitated: "You... you are going to replace me? But Namos is very dangerous..."

"It can't handle me." Ma Ma Zhaodi smiled: "I just gave it a sword strike; no need to worry—my self-preservation ability is stronger than yours."

Completely baffled and half-skeptical, Lester looked at Constantine; seeing him say nothing, he tacitly accepted this explanation, so he had no choice but to follow the two of them back to the room.

The disguise did not take long; Ma Ma Zhaodi's technique was extremely fast. After Ma Ma Zhaodi and he exchanged clothes, only five minutes had barely passed, and his appearance already looked eight or nine-tenths like Ma Ma Zhaodi.

Just before leaving, Lester glanced up at Constantine, who had remained silent the whole time, then looked at Ma Ma Zhaodi and said: "I don't know why you are willing to help me like this... but thank you, Ma Ma Zhaodi. I owe you a huge favor."

"That is not just a favor—but this is both to help him and to help him." Ma Ma Zhaodi replied: "Go, wait for us outside. After the sun rises, the matter will be resolved; by this time tomorrow, we will already be on a plane."

Lester left the room. Ma Ma Zhaodi watched from the room window as he walked out of the building. After confirming the plan was proceeding smoothly, he took out a bottle of potion and put a strand of hair into it.

"Compound potion." He introduced it to Constantine: "A potion made by a very great mage; it can help a person completely transform into the appearance of another person."

Constantine did not look at the potion in his hand; instead, he asked: "Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why help a bastard like Lester? I mean, yes, he is one of my best friends, but I also know clearly that he is indeed a bastard—the whole thing was caused by him; since that is the case, isn't it very fitting for him to take responsibility?"

"I said, it is not only to help him, but also to help you."

"I am also a bastard." Constantine replied: "I know this very clearly."

He crushed the cigarette butt in the ashtray, took a deep breath, looked at Ma Ma Zhaodi, and his eyes held a certain deep anger.

"Why go to such lengths for such a person?"

(End of this chapter)