Chapter 1023: Eve of Despair

Eve of Despair

The Silver King's snap echoed, and a moment later, a figure walked into the room.

That person was draped in Black Alchemical Robes, with mysterious alchemical Markings engraved on the palms of his hands. He lowered his head, a faint respectful light in his eyes.

"He is..." Looking at this person, Lou Yu felt he looked extremely familiar.

"Former member of the Witchcraft Association, current leader of the Rat Party, once praised as the most genius alchemist... Durand." The Silver King spoke leisurely. "My subordinates dealt with him before and left a mark on him. But he was too good at running away, and it took several days to capture him alive...

I have already replaced his memories. Now he is completely under our control. With him around, gathering the final two Philosopher's Stones shouldn't be difficult."

Lou Yu cast a few glances at Durand, then returned to sit on the bench.

"Is it about to start?"

"There are still a few hours..." The Silver King propped his chin with one hand, looking at the deep night sky outside the window. His other hand slowly raised, as if he wanted to pinch the entire world through the window.

...

"It's almost dawn..."

"Hasn't Wu Duo returned yet?"

Fang Liangye stood by the window, looking at the smog under the deep night sky, and couldn't help but ask.

"... Not yet." Another Rat Party member also felt somewhat hesitant. "Logically speaking, she should have been back in the afternoon... She's several hours later than expected."

An ominous premonition enveloped Fang Liangye's heart.

At the same time,

A commotion came from outside the Warehouse.

"You made us work our lives away for three days!! Now our targets are almost complete! Why can't we rest?!! Do you know how many people have died in the factory these past few days?! Do you really not have a single shred of Human Nature at all!!!"

A worker roared angrily at the entrance of the Factory District.

The Torchlight burning in the hands of the Fire-Stealers dispelled the night, illuminating his face full of ferocious fury and the many bloodless faces of the workers behind him.

Outside the Factory District, white sheets were messily draped over things. Beneath every sheet was a worker who had died in the factory. In just a few short days, the number of workers had rapidly shrunk, and almost all the remaining workers were sick. They no longer had the strength to speak, only the endless resentful souls weeping in the wind.

The Fire-Stealers spoke expressionlessly:

"The King ordered you to hurry up and produce for these three days. It's almost the third day... The targets are still not completed, no one is allowed to rest."

"Open your eyes and look at them! They are all already sick! They're dying!! We need a Doctor! We need rest!!"

"The Wuji Domain doesn't have that many Doctors... And you don't have time to rest either."

The Fire-Stealer raised the muzzle of his gun, aimed it at the angrily roaring man, and continued, "Seeing that you still have quite a bit of strength, I won't kill you. Go back and continue producing... Otherwise..."

After two days of torment, the number of workers was rapidly decreasing. There weren't many remaining workers who could still produce... At this time, even the Fire-Stealers didn't dare to kill people casually. After all, the more people died, the fewer people could produce.

At this juncture, everyone was incredibly crucial.

Looking at the red-rimmed eyes of the crowd before him, revealing unwillingness and anger, the leading Fire-Stealer narrowed his eyes slightly and spoke once more:

"There is one more thing... I know that there are still Rat Party members hiding among you. But don't count on them saving you... Right now, they are no different from the real rats in the sewers."

The Fire-Stealer gave his companions behind him a look, and a woman covered in injuries was escorted forward and kicked to the ground in a sorry state.

The instant they saw that person, the pupils of everyone in the Warehouse contracted abruptly!

"Wu Duo?!!"

The one currently covered in injuries was none other than Wu Duo, who was supposed to go find Mr. Fu. Her entire person was tied up, seemingly having gone through a battle... She fell to the ground, her gaze inadvertently glancing at the direction of the Warehouse, and then she immediately looked away, as if deliberately controlling herself not to pay attention to that spot.

"Where are your other companions?" That Fire-Stealer squatted down and pointed his finger at the crowd in the Factory District. "Are they among them?"

Wu Duo pursed her lips tightly and didn't utter a word.

"Do you still think someone can save you? Do you know that just yesterday, even your leader was captured by the Judgment Proxies... You group of rats in the sewers simply have no way out to speak of. Confess now, and we might still consider sparing your life."

Wu Duo stared fixedly at him, showing absolutely no intention of speaking. Just as that Fire-Stealer was about to say something, a Poisonous Insect coming from nowhere suddenly bit the webbing of his thumb.

The Fire-Stealer screamed miserably, crushed the Poisonous Insect to death in one grab, and then looked at Wu Duo with furious rage:

"Drag her away! Drag her to the Clock Tower and shoot her!!"

"Then hang her corpse on the Clock Tower and let that group of rats in the sewers see what happens when they oppose us!!"

Several Fire-Stealers immediately dragged Wu Duo and walked toward the end of the abyss-like street.

The eyes of the Rat Party members in the Warehouse instantly turned red. They immediately wanted to charge out and kill those Fire-Stealers, but they were held back by their companions:

"We can't go out now. Going out now is equivalent to telling the Fire-Stealers that the workers hid us... It will implicate those innocent workers!"

As soon as this sentence came out, everyone instantly froze in place. "Then what do we do?! Watch helplessly as Wu Duo is taken away and shot? She didn't betray us even facing death!"

"We can't take action here, then we'll go straight to the Clock Tower to snatch her back!! There's still some time before dawn, it's not like we don't have a chance."

"The leader and Wu Duo have both been captured, we don't have a way out either... Fuck them!"

"..."

The final few Rat Party members seemed to have thrown caution to the wind. They waited until the Fire-Stealers left, then charged out together.

Fang Liangye was about to follow behind them, but was pushed back with one hand:

"Mr. Fang, you shouldn't go... Protect yourself."

In the end, Fang Liangye was just an Ordinary Person. If they really fought, he would only drag everyone down... Of course, from the very beginning, the Rat Party members didn't think they would be able to return alive this time.

Just as the Fire-Stealers said, Durand and Wu Duo had both been captured, and the Rat Party was completely finished...

They cast a deep look at Fang Liangye, then disappeared into the street without looking back.

Fang Liangye blankly watched this scene. In a trance, the figure of that boy running into the rainy night seemed to overlap with everything before his eyes... A familiar sense of powerlessness surged into his heart once again.

"Damn it... It's like this again... It's like this again!!"

Fang Liangye's eyes were red. He recalled the faces of Xiao Yu and Wu Duo, and recalled the touch and warmth of hugging to sleep last night. An unprecedented anger surged into his heart... He was not only angry at the Fire-Stealers who took Wu Duo away, but also at his weak and powerless self.

Right at this moment, his fingertips seemed to touch something. From his clothes pocket, he slowly pulled out a Playing Card...

[Six of Hearts].