Chapter 218: Captain, Take Off the Mask

Chapter 218 Captain, Take Off Your Mask

An establishment still open at this hour was bound to be less than respectable for a café.

By the same token,

Anyone looking to drink coffee at a café at this hour was bound to be less than respectable themselves.

Karen stood at the entrance of the café, gazing up at the neon sign hanging above:

[The Magical Fingers and Above the Beautiful Sky]

Translating and interpreting it in his mind, the name of the establishment should be understood as:

[Magic Finger Heaven]

A waiter at the door proactively came forward to greet them, and Neo spoke up to request a coffee room.

The waiter looked at Neo and Karen, slightly taken abroad, but still replied immediately:

"Understood, I will arrange it for you two right away."

The coffee room was at the corner of the second floor; upon stepping inside, though the space was not large, it possessed ample depth.

Near the door were two small sofas and a coffee table, further in was the washroom equipped with a bathtub, further still was a round bed, and continuing inward was a long sofa set against a French window.

On the floor in front of the long sofa, a cushion was thoughtfully placed.

The lighting in the room was a dim red tone, very secretive and mysterious, with quite a few photos of adult film stars hanging on the walls, their expressions enchanting and provocative.

Karen sat down on the sofa by the entrance, reached out to lift a coffee cup, and found that not only was the rim coated in old sugar stains, but the cup was also stuffed with cigarette butts.

The waiter handed Neo a roster, which contained the directory of personnel who delivered the coffee.

Holding the roster, Neo sat down on the sofa and said to Karen, "I treated you to drinks during the day, so you treat me to coffee tonight."

"Very well, Captain."

"Mm, then let it be this, the eight on this page, plus fruit platters and drinks; by the way, do they have coffee here?"

"Yes, we do."

"Add a pot of coffee."

"Understood, sir, are you certain you want eight?"

"Certain."

"Understood sir, please wait a moment."

The waiter went out to make the arrangements.

"By the way, did you bring any Reals?" Neo asked.

Karen shook his head.

"What a coincidence, I didn't bring any Reals either." Neo smiled faintly, "If we can't settle the bill when the time comes, I'll just have to leave you here as collateral."

The waiter pushed open the door, and eight heavily made-up beauties walked in, bowing to Karen and Neo who were sitting on the sofa.

"Good evening, gentlemen, it is a pleasure to serve you."

"Mm." Neo pointed around the room and said, "Clean and tidy up this place within a quarter of an hour, and that will count as your service completed."

The eight beauties froze in astonishment.

Just then, the front desk manager walked in and instructed, "Do as the guest commands."

The eight beauties began to clean the room.

Watching this scene play out, Karen found it somewhat amusing, but still reached out to summon the front desk manager over.

"Guest, what are your orders?"

"Give me paper and a pen."

"Very well."

Karen wrote down the phone number of the Pavaro Funeral Parlor on it and tossed it to the manager:

"Please call this number, tell him the young master is here, and have him come over with money."

"Understood, sir."

The manager guessed that this must be a young master from a wealthy family out for entertainment, and such young masters generally did not like carrying money on them.

After watching over the beauties until they finished cleaning the room, the manager led them and the waiter out; subsequently, the manager returned to the front desk, picked up the receiver, and dialed according to the number on the slip of paper.

It would probably be some grand estate or a high-ranking butler answering this call.

"Hello, Pavaro Funeral Parlor is pleased to be at your service."

"..." The manager.

...

Karen poured coffee for himself and Neo, adding two sugar cubes to each, then picked up a spoon and began to stir gently.

Neo took a sip of the coffee, and after setting down the cup, looked at Karen and asked:

"Are we starting now?"

"If you are ready, Captain, then we can begin right now."

Neo leaned his body back slightly against the sofa, placing both hands in his pockets.

Karen knew clearly that this was a defensive posture of alertness.

"Should I speak first?" Neo asked.

"I can be the one to ask."

"Fine, you ask."

"Captain, are you currently facing some troubles, a trouble that, for the time being, cannot be resolved through direct means?"

"I suppose this shouldn't count as a trouble, and, as things stand at present, I haven't found a reason why I need to resolve it."

"In other words, its existence is acceptable to you?"

"Yes, I am attempting to come into contact with it and understand it."

"Has it always been this way?"

"No, to be precise, it only began after Elysa died."

"Before Miss Elysa departed, did this issue also exist all along?"

"Yes."

"What was your attitude toward it at the time, was it rejection or deliberate oblivion and neglect?"

"Neglect."

Karen nodded and said, "Did Miss Elysa's departure take away the final line of defense in your heart? I mean, with respect to it, this trouble that has always existed."

Neo spread his hands, taking it as a matter of course, "I feel that after losing a piece inside my heart, I ought to find something to fill the void."

"Can it fill that void?"

"It is not yet clear; I am trying to verify and make contact."

"Then we can materialize it into a metaphor. What could it be compared to? A grand feast that takes a long time to consume? A mysterious and captivating woman? A very thick and heavy book?"

"A book."

"What kind of book? According to what I said, is it 'thick and heavy'?"

"Wide and thick?"

"It could also refer to the content."

"Neither, really. It is like a novel; it is not that captivating, nor does it make me forget to eat, drink, or sleep just to read it, but I can accept proactively reaching out to flip a few pages in my leisure time."

"So, you are looking at it from the perspective of an onlooker?"

"Mm, otherwise? For something that is not mine, could I still have a vast sense of immersion?"

Karen picked up his coffee, took a sip, and after putting it down, leaned his body slightly back into the sofa, looking at the captain sitting opposite him with a contemplative gaze.

Through their previous conversation, Karen had a feeling—that was, his original perception of the captain seemed to have produced a deviation right from the starting point, and the result of this initial deviation was that the further it radiated outward, the more absurdly wrong it became.

"What is it?" Neo asked, "Is the problem very serious?"

Karen frowned and said, "You are not losing yourself."

"Hm? Who said I was lost?"

"You are... playing."

Hearing these words, Neo's eyes instantly widened, staring dead at Karen.

At this moment, Neo's upper body visibly straightened, his hands hanging naturally, like a cobra standing upright.

Karen maintained his original posture; only in this way could he lower the other party's vigilance.

This was not to say the captain was guarded against him. In fact, it could be seen that the captain was truly making a proactive attempt to accept psychological counseling, but human nature shared commonalities in many places. Karen knew that his sentence just now had directly pierced into the captain's inner heart.

A person's desire to protect the deepest secrets of their heart far exceeded the protection clothes gave to their body.

Gradually, Neo began to relax his body, picking up a piece of sliced orange and bringing it to his mouth, speaking as he ate:

"I believe now that those psychiatrists are not all so-called swindlers."

"It is only because I have some understanding of you, Captain."

"You have been observing me?"

"Yes, I have."

"Why?"

"There are not many people around me whom I can interact with, and interesting people are actually even fewer."

"Oh, so that is how it is."

Neo pointed at the fruit platter and said, "The fruit is very fresh."

"Alright." Karen also took a piece of orange and placed it in front of himself. He did not eat it, but instead pulled out a tissue to wipe the two fingertips that had previously held the orange.

"You are right, I might indeed be playing. Just like you said you are observing me, actually, I am also observing it."

When saying this sentence, Neo reached out and pointed a finger at his own chest.

Karen noticed that the captain did not point to his own face.

"Right now, there are probably two possibilities."

"Mm, go ahead and tell me."

Karen poured the remaining half cup of coffee in front of him into the beer mug beside it, and the two different colors of liquid began to merge.

Neo asked:

"Do you mean that after pouring coffee into beer, whether this cup tastes like coffee or beer in the end?"

Karen shook his head.

"Then what does it mean?"

Karen picked up this mug of beer mixed with coffee and placed it in front of Neo:

"You can take a sip and see. It mainly depends on yourself, whether you like this flavor."

The two people sat facing each other, both staring at that slightly graying mug of beer.

"I don't know," Neo said, "Because this cannot be anticipated, I cannot answer either."

"But that is precisely the key, Captain. It is highly likely that the result of continuing down this path is not something you can grasp and perceive."

Neo smiled slightly and asked:

"Then, can the results of life be foretold?"

Karen fell silent.

"The Order of Samsara loves to preach that this life is predestined, that everything, absolutely everything, is only preparation for the next life after reincarnation, but is such a life truly interesting?"

Neo picked up the wine cup,

and continued:

"Many people like stability, many people hate change; but I, you, and actually everyone in our squad, are not that kind of person. In the depths of our souls, there are always ineradicable restlessness and agitation. They will reject our choice of an eternally unchanging life."

Neo raised the cup and took a large gulp.

"Ah..."

Neo looked at the cup in his hand mixed with coffee, sighing with emotion:

"It really tastes terrible."

Karen nodded and said, "Actually, Captain, you do not have any psychological problems. You are very sober."

"Oh?" Neo smiled, "I thought this sentence should be said by me at the very end, so as not to pay the therapy fee."

"You are walking very soberly into the depths of a volcano filled with lava, but this is your personal choice, and outsiders cannot offer judgment.

Mediocrely and numbly holding onto the circular railing to walk safely time and again, versus soberly appreciating the scenery along the way to step by step enter the depths of the flames, even if the final conclusion is to completely consume oneself...

These two paths of life actually cannot be divided into good or bad."

"Then what about you?" Neo asked, "What is your choice?"

"I am just looking at the scenery," Karen said.

"Then what about your future? What about the end of this road you are walking on?"

"I don't know."

"Heh, don't you think that the unknown is actually the most terrifying thing?"

Karen looked at Neo, shrugged his shoulders, and said, "Captain, if we continue this Q&A any further, shouldn't it be my turn to pull out the therapy fee for you?"

Neo spread open his palm and said, "Light—Illumination."

A soft halo of light appeared in Neo's palm.

Neo looked toward Karen and spoke, "I feel that if we keep chatting further, we are about to touch upon each other's true secrets."

Cullen nodded and said, "Yes."

"I promised you that I would not pry into your secrets of my own accord, and all this time, that is exactly what I have done. I can guarantee that."

"I can feel it, thank you, Captain."

"But that does not include us choosing to speak our secrets aloud. Perhaps we can try to exchange them. What do you think?"

Exchange... secrets.

Cullen looked at Neo. Because of that orb of light, each other's appearance had become somewhat blurred between them.

"If you are willing, take this orb of light."

Cullen did not move his hand, but asked instead, "Captain, I am curious, why do this?"

"Because you have shown me through your performance that you are worthy of exchanging secrets with me. This is a trade of equal value. Most importantly, don't you think it would be agonizing if the two of us continued to play this guessing game?"

"It is very agonizing."

"Rather than continuing to guess and analyze back and forth, why don't we just lay our secrets bare?"

Cullen bit his lip.

"You are hesitating so heavily, ha ha ha." A smile appeared on Neo's face. "Just how great is your secret? Are you worried that you will get the short end of the stick?"

"It is just that before tonight, I hadn't made the psychological preparations."

"How about this then? We do it in steps. We can layer our secrets, divide them into stages, and slice them up. We can treat them as chips and place them on the gambling table piece by piece. Only if the stakes are equal do we continue to reveal the cards. What do you think?"

"Alright, I agree."

Cullen reached out his hand and took the orb of light, which still bloomed with radiance.

Seeing this, Neo asked, "Then who should begin first?"

"I have always called you Captain."

"Fine." Neo rubbed his face. "Then we must go somewhere first. Has that servant of yours come to deliver the money?"

"He shouldn't have arrived yet."

"Then let's leave first. He's coming to pay the bill anyway, so it's not as if we're skipping out."

"Mhm, alright."

Neo stood up and walked to the deepest part of the room. Cullen followed him, standing before the French windows.

Then,

The two of them turned into black fog together and drifted out.

...

It was still that same VIP carriage, and it was still the Captain driving.

Sitting in the passenger seat, Cullen cast his gaze out the carriage window. Certain parts of this city were quite bustling, but overall, it was still fast asleep.

"It is not too late for you to regret this now," Neo said. "Once I start placing my bets, you will have no choice but to follow."

"The very meaning of a secret's existence is to be spread."

Neo nodded. "Indeed. Spreading is the only true attribute of a secret. In truth, revealing our cards to each other also saves us time and energy. When we both used the Light in front of each other, it meant we had to take this step."

"I know, I understand. I also prefer not to let secrets sleep overnight."

"Oh, right. There is still a person in the photo studio basement right now. She is an emissary of the Church of Light, named Bertha."

"Bertha?"

"You know her?"

"I do."

"Rest assured, she does not know it's you. But the next time we execute a mission, you will need to get used to wearing a mask, because those who can see might not just be the mission targets."

"Yes, Captain, I will keep that in mind."

"I didn't kill her. I am having her investigate some things for me right now."

At this moment, Cullen realized the street the carriage was traveling down gave him a sense of familiarity. He came here often—the city center of York City, King's Avenue.

Then, the carriage stopped.

"I think you should be very interested in this matter," Neo said as he turned off the engine, pointing out the window.

Cullen turned his head and looked at the sign of the shop: Lemar's Pottery Gallery.

So, the last time the Captain deliberately got off near here and said he was going home, he was actively hinting at this place to him?

That night, in the collection room inside Mr. Lemar's workshop, he had seen Neo's portrait, placed right next to Mr. Pavaro's portrait.

Cullen followed Neo out of the carriage. The shop door was already locked, but this kind of lock could only deter ordinary thieves.

Neo lightly hooked his finger, and the inner lock fell away directly. But when he pushed open the door, a red light suddenly gleamed from the eyes of the pottery dolls on both sides. Neo waved his hand, and the red light in the dolls' eyes was instantly enveloped by a layer of thick mist.

"I can call them to open the door."

"It is best if you don't let them see you with me. Put on your mask."

"Alright."

Cullen touched the ring on his fingertip, and a silver mask covered his face. Along with it, his temperament altered as well.

Just then, Cullen saw Mr. Lemar walking out with an axe. Selena was nowhere to be seen; Lemar must have arranged for her to stay in the bedroom and forbidden her from coming out.

Cullen noticed that Mr. Lemar was trembling all over as he looked at the unmasked Neo.

"It... it's you?"

Neo spoke, "I want to take my friend to visit your collection room."

"I thought you had died long ago. I didn't expect you to still be living with this face. Heh, but do you think my workshop is a place you can enter just because you want to?"

"I don't mind abducting your sister one more time. She should be grown up by now—and I mean her soul."

"You..."

Lemar took out a key and tossed it onto the table.

Neo picked up the key and said, "You can go upstairs to continue your rest. Come back down after we leave. I won't steal your things; you should be able to trust me on that."

Lemar glared at Neo fiercely, then carried his axe upstairs.

Neo then led Cullen to the basement. After opening the door with the key, the two of them walked in. It was evident that Neo had been here before and was very familiar with the layout.

Mr. Lemar harbored both hatred and trust toward Neo. To use Selena's metaphor, it was like a girlfriend pounding your chest with her fists while shouting, "I hate you to death."

Finally, the two men stood before the wall covered with portraits.

"Do you believe in fate, Cullen?"

"Depending on the situation."

"I admired Pavaro's persistence and integrity. And then, he recommended you, though not by way of a recommendation letter.

And then, the shop you chose to make a mask out of Pavaro's skin turned out to be the exact same one I once chose."

"Truly, quite a coincidence."

Nio took a ring from his pocket and slipped it onto his fingertip—this ring was not made of plastic.

"Have you not always been curious about the sort of face that lies beneath this mask of mine?"

"I have."

"Very well, then this shall be my stake for the opening round."

The ring Nio had just donned cast a faint, shimmering glow, enveloping his entire form; Karen understood that the mask was being undone.

Karen's gaze fixed instantly upon Nio's face, and at that very moment, Nio turned fully toward him, laying his countenance bare.

"How... can this be..."

Karen took two steps back.

"Are you so surprised?" Nio "smiled," saying, "It seems you are quite satisfied with my wager for this round."

Before Karen's eyes, Nio's face was a horrific visage of congealed, bloody rawness, a sight that instantly brought flashing back to Karen's mind that night when Mr. Pavarotti had willingly clawed off his own skin.

"The mask you had Lemar fashion, the material used for the skin was..."

Nio nodded,

and said,

"Indeed, it was my own face."

———

More to come tonight, please vote!