Deep in the Living -
Chapter 151 - 145: Taking a Ride
Chapter 151: Chapter 145: Taking a Ride
[The Next Day]
Afternoon 14:30
Mingwang City Long-Distance Bus Terminal
As a coastal city and also the city that accepts the most immigrants and a considerable number of tourists, the bus terminal here is quite developed, with buses to different cities departing every hour.
There are also reserve buses equipped for the times when the flow of passengers is particularly large, switching to a departure every half hour.
The bus that Luo Di and his companion are going to take is one of these temporarily added reserve buses.
In their hands were the most expensive tickets, for the longest journey from Mingwang City to Haiwang City.
*Haiwang City is located at the other end of the country and is also a port city, originally known as Chong*.
Since the total journey time will exceed 12 hours, considering the comfort of passengers, this deluxe coach is also equipped with sleeper compartments, priced at four times the normal fare.
Money is not an issue for the duo.
The class leader has already won a fortune at the Fighting Hall, not to mention Luo Di’s share of the profits from the Fighting Hall and the full subsidies from the Investigation Bureau.
The two reserved the last row of sleeper compartments for themselves.
They closed the door and locked it, then piled up with sunflower seeds, peanuts, and drinks.
"Now you can tell me, what do I need to watch out for at the gathering?"
Shh!
The class leader put her finger to her lips, indicating that there were still things to be done.
She stretched out her hand and touched the door, an invisible substance quickly covered the entire compartment, seemingly disguising the space itself.
Only then did she slowly sit back on the bed, crossed her legs, and began to explain:
"Your attendance at the gathering as a ’Preparatory Partner’ is crucial because there will be a special evaluation targeting you during the assembly. Once you pass, the ’Preparatory’ title will be removed, and you will be fully accepted by the Sisterhood.
This evaluation doesn’t require you to fight,
nor will any sister contact you or anything;
instead, you will need to spend some time alone with the Grandmother. Only if the Grandmother acknowledges you will the Sisterhood accept your existence. It sounds simple, but it’s the most dangerous and the most likely to expose you."
"The Grandmother? The monster from the Corner Depths, the founder of the Sisterhood?"
"Correct."
"The monster from the Corner Depths isn’t allowed in reality, right? How do you commune then?"
"Her physical form can’t come, but nobody said her consciousness can’t.
Just like your consciousness can project to the distant True Hell, the Grandmother’s consciousness can also project onto a special vessel at the gathering, realizing the descent of her Avatar.
The first item of the gathering is the descent ritual, in which all sisters will participate.
Based on past experiences,
a Preparatory Partner brought by a sister for the first time will spend some time alone with the Grandmother at the descent scene.
There are generally three different outcomes:
1. Be acknowledged by the Grandmother and become an official partner, staying by a sister’s side until she completes interstice screening and departs for the Corner.
2. If the Grandmother finds something wrong, execution on the spot.
3. Not be acknowledged by Grandmother and fail to become an official partner, then undergo special transformation and become a servant of the Sisterhood."
"Class leader, how confident are you that I won’t be found out?"
"The original plan was for us to be together every day, maintaining close or even intimate contact 24 hours a day. This would allow my Disguise to gradually penetrate your entire being, camouflaging your entire thought process.
The Grandmother will come in the form of an Avatar, and her strength won’t exceed the limits of reality, so the likelihood of being seen through is very low.
But who would have thought you would choose to spend most of the last week in the Fifth Hospital, meaning my Disguise transformation on you isn’t perfect yet.
In this case, there is a certain risk, and it will depend on the state of the Grandmother at the time and how you perform."
Luo Di doesn’t seem to care about this so-called "danger"; he thinks that someone as meticulous as the class leader, having already led him this far, must have sufficient confidence.
He’s more concerned about the class leader’s situation.
"Does your Disguise still need ’day and night interaction’ to gradually transfer?"
"The human brain is the most complex thing, even the Corner can form within it, manifesting different concretizations based on different people’s thoughts, capable of inducing continuous growth and evolution in the body towards a certain direction.
Even if my ’Disguise’ is perfect, it’s mostly external.
To achieve a perfect internal Disguise, I still have a long way to go, and I need to venture into the depths of the Corner to find that most perfect Disguise. Now I can’t even achieve perfect Disguise for myself, let alone help the people around me to Disguise.
Given the limits of my strength, this is all I can do."
"Class leader, have you already decided to primarily rise through the Corner?"
"What else can I do? I’m not a genius like you who can connect consciousness to a world with access. Even if I were to get involved with True Hell through your influence, that would just be an incidental gift.
Even if I really could follow you to True Hell, my current body is far from sufficient; I’d probably be turned into a meat servant by the creatures of Hell as soon as I got there.
I too need to become stronger... don’t I?"
"When do you plan to go through interstice screening again? And since you’re considered a failure in interstice screening, can you undergo the screening again?"
When Luo Di threw out this question, the squad leader immediately twisted open a bottle of high-strength craft beer and chugged it down.
Pop!
The large can of beer slammed heavily on the table, a flush spread across his face, and the squad leader’s sitting posture became less decorous.
"Corner Depths is quite generous. That I could survive again after failure is very rare, even a loophole you might say.
Not only does Corner Depths allow me to participate again, it even gives me more attention.
As for when... it won’t be too long."
Luo Di suddenly leaned forward, asking the question he cared about most: "Is it related to the gathering?"
The squad leader had a helpless look, "Why do you always grasp the key point! Even when you were studying in the past, your grades in cultural and logic analysis classes were only above average."
Luo Di’s face remained calm, as if he had anticipated this.
"Since it’s related, I will cooperate with you fully. Continue telling me about the gathering — if I get Grandma’s approval, is there anything else I should be wary of afterwards?"
"As long as you get Grandma’s approval, no one will doubt you. Just don’t give yourself away too much, and get through the gathering normally."
At this point,
the squad leader’s right foot, which had been under the table, suddenly slipped out of its shoe and stepped onto Luo Di’s body.
The flushed face, redolent of alcohol, also leaned in close,
"Of course, since you are my partner.
During the gathering, we will be arranged to stay in the same room, and even... cough! Grandma might require us to do ’that thing’, and she might even watch and give her feedback, which could be considered a ’non-essential assessment’, I guess.
I’ve mentioned before, Grandma values the balance of yin and yang a lot.
If you don’t perform well in that aspect, it will significantly affect your score, and Grandma will try her best to enhance your ability in that area.
But Luo Di, you shouldn’t have any problems."
"Oh."
"Ah! You don’t even react a little!"
"As long as it is a requirement of the gathering, then we will follow the requirements. To ensure your plan is foolproof, to ensure that in the next interstice screening, you will emerge victorious."
Luo Di’s expression was deadly serious, as if surviving was the most important thing in his mind.
"You... are you worried about me dying again?"
"Since an accident like Teacher Guo could happen, other accidents could also occur. If your sisters can arrange a competition without mishaps for you, that would naturally be the best scenario."
Pfft~
The squad leader couldn’t help but laugh out loud, which slowly turned into a smile, becoming the most memorable smiling expression in Luo Di’s memory.
"Thank you~ I will take it seriously this time and won’t die so easily."
But Luo Di changed the subject, "Why were you so adamant about breaking away from the Sisters’ Society in the first place?"
"Hey! I was just moved a bit, why throw another serious topic at me! What if I really don’t want to answer?"
"Then don’t answer."
Glug glug glug! Another big gulp of beer down the hatch,
"Ah~ really can’t deal with you!
I’m very good at interacting with others, whether they’re human or Pseudo-Person.
I was quite happy when I first joined the Sisters’ Society; everyone at least helped each other out on the surface and took me to lots of funny, unfettered places like Eden.
But as time went on, that feeling came back!
The feeling of being dominated, controlled, treated like a puppet on strings."
The squad leader’s eyes also changed as he spoke, becoming indifferent and filled with Killing Intent.
"Grandma is somebody with a strong desire for control. Not only does she require us to rendezvous with her after heading to Corner Depths, but she also dictates the developmental path for each one of us.
Every sister will drink the blood from Grandma’s own body.
This blood is indeed beneficial and will greatly strengthen our pituitary glands. This is why the sisters are stronger than Pseudo-Persons of the same level and tougher to deal with.
And because of ’Grandma’s fresh blood’, she can somewhat dominate us.
This feeling might not matter to other sisters, they might endure it, or even some born slaves might like this feeling of being dominated.
But I cannot accept it.
I barely escaped from under my father’s control, only to fall into an even more terrifying domination.
So, it took me more than two years to disguise as if my abilities were lacking, my Potential exhausted, even occasionally making mistakes, finally resulting in me being replaced as a ’core sister’.
As a mere member, I took the excuse to return home to develop independently, only then could I barely break away and return to high school to study in peace... Even so, I still belong to the Sisters’ Society and what I gained is just temporary freedom.
Once I go to Corner Depths, I will still be subject to Grandma’s call.
So, originally I chose death as a way to break free.
But this time it’s different, because of your involvement, Luo Di, I might really have the chance to break free from the Sisters’ Society’s control while still alive, and gain the true freedom I desire.
The specifics still need to wait for us to arrive at the opportunity, to wait for Grandma to provide detailed arrangements about ’promotion’. Let’s talk about something lighter, don’t be too tense."
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