"Su Jue, hold on." Kiana muttered to herself as she breathed in the cold air. She looked ahead, unable to discern the direction in the pitch-black snow. Instead, the footprints behind her could very well provide a target for the pursuers.
She turned her head to look at Su Jue who was leaning on her shoulder, and after confirming that the other party still showed no signs of waking up, a golden light shone faintly in Kiana's eyes.
The vision in front of her instantly became clear. Kiana confirmed the direction of the safe town and walked into the snowy night with Su Jue. Behind her, the snow seemed to be neatly cut by some mysterious force, burying all traces.
Carrying the blood-stained Su Jue on her back, Qiyana walked nearly 10 kilometers through the snow and came to another part of Berlin. It was obviously much quieter here, and no one noticed the gunshots more than 10 kilometers away.
Exhausted, Kiana took Su Jue to the door of one of the households and knocked on it to seek help. However, the owner of the house suddenly changed his expression when he saw the blood on Su Jue's face, and he closed the door and refused to come out.
Su Jue is now in urgent need of treatment. The aftereffects of the battle are destroying his body, especially the heat lost by blood, which is particularly deadly in this cold winter.
However, no matter which door Kiana knocked on, no one was willing to welcome them in. The normal ones just stayed indoors, while the more nasty ones directly cursed at them, and some even drove them away with weapons.
The night was getting darker and the temperature was dropping. Kiana had no choice but to temporarily hide in a dirty culvert with Su Jue to avoid the wind and snow.
Before entering this illusion, Kiana and Walter Joyce had a brief exchange, but because the Herrscher Core was suppressed by Su Jue, the other party did not know much information and could only tell Kiana the content related to the illusion.
This world is just Su Jue's dream. In the dream, Su Jue is just an ordinary person. At the same time, due to the targeting of the core consciousness, Su Jue will be attacked continuously.
However, Kiana did not expect the attack to come so suddenly, destroying the brief warmth that she and Su Jue had established.
The only thing to be thankful for is that the Domination Theater left in Kiana's consciousness space was connected to the illusion for unknown reasons, allowing her to enter the illusion with some of her strength.
The power is not complete, but it is extremely precious at this moment.
With the help of night vision, Kiana carefully tore off her clothes and wiped the blood off Su Jue's body. She then used a cloth dipped in her saliva to treat his wounds. Although Kiana's liberal arts grades were not very good, she knew that saliva could help disinfect in an emergency.
Carefully taking off Su Jue's clothes that were stained with blood and snow, Kiana unbuttoned her thick coat and wrapped him and herself tightly together.
The Herrscher's ability maintained Kiana's body temperature, making her body warm, like a small stove in a snowstorm, warming Su Jue's cold limbs and heart covered with ice.
Kiana did not notice that Su Jue, who should have been unconscious, had his eyelashes trembled briefly, but soon regained his composure.
The cold wind outside the culvert was howling, which was particularly noisy in the quiet night. The snowflakes were falling one by one, connecting the sky and the earth closely. Qiyana hugged Su Jue, and the two of them were touching each other's skin.
She suddenly remembered that when she was in Changkong City, she used this method to keep Su Jue warm, but at that time she was just thinking about not letting Su Jue die like this. At that time, she didn't know that Su Jue was lying to her, and at that time she didn't have time to stop.
But it’s different now. The time in the illusion is different from that in the outside world. There is no need to worry about the collapse, no need to worry about destiny and the world snake. They still have twenty days, and when the time is up, it will just be the end of a concert.
The pace of time slowed down, slow enough for them to get to know each other more thoroughly.
For Su Jue, the cabin is the anchor that allows him to feel the reality of the illusion, and the same is true for Kiana.
Before entering the illusion, she had never thought that she would be able to live a peaceful life with Su Jue one day, live in the same house, and eat at the same dining table together.
If Su Jue was just wavering in his heart, Kiana was actually completely immersed in this peaceful daily life. If possible, she even wanted to spend a few years with Su Jue in this fantasy world.
But she couldn't. She knew in her heart that Su Jue could accept her so calmly because he regarded her as an illusion. Once Kiana revealed her true thoughts, Su Jue would definitely notice something was wrong and find loopholes in the theater illusion.
If the loophole is erased, all the dreams will be shattered, and she will never be able to spend such time with Su Jue again. Even if she returns to reality, it will be difficult for them to meet again.
She couldn't let Su Jue see her flaws, so she could only suppress her emotions and face him with a calmer attitude.
"Let me accompany you until the end of time, okay?" Kiana put away her thoughts and rubbed Su Jue's cheek with her nose. Her warm breath turned into white mist, like a dream.
Su Jue didn't react at all and just fell asleep.
"If you don't say anything, I'll take that as your consent." The girl laughed.
In this long night, two homeless figures snuggled together tightly.
"Thank you. Good night."
Chapter 276 Working
Perhaps because the wind and snow last night were too cold, the sun was particularly bright in the early morning of the second day.
The streets were already bustling with people doing activities. They were chatting and joking with each other, enjoying this rare warm sunshine together.
No one noticed that just below their feet, in the cold and damp culvert, Su Jue was leaning against the wall, sleeping quietly.
As time went by, the sounds of people talking, car horns, and shop hawking flooded into Su Jue's ears like a wave. His eyelashes trembled slightly, and he slowly opened his eyes.
"Qi..." When Su Jue woke up, he looked around him first, but there was nothing else around him except the cold air.
His expression froze, and the scene before he fell unconscious quickly flashed through his mind, finally stopping at the figure he saw last before he fell.
"Did she save me?" Su Jue murmured to himself, rubbing his brows to quickly dispel the dizziness in his mind, and then observed the surrounding environment.
It was pitch black all around, but from the vibration sound coming from above his head he could vaguely guess that he was in the culvert of a bridge. He looked towards the exit and saw that the light was very bright, so he guessed that the time should be around ten o'clock.
It seems that the current situation is still very safe, and Su Jue feels a little more relieved.
Human figures, gunshots, flames.
The memories of last night quickly flooded into Su Jue's mind. He recalled the brief exchange with Yis and frowned.
Yesterday's attack was definitely not accidental. After entering this world, he had not interacted with anyone else. The only person he had come into contact with was this guy. However, at the beginning, Su Jue did not notice the hostility from the other party. Judging from Yis's performance last night, he did not seem to be such a cunning person.
Apart from the possibility that the other person has a split personality, he must be affected by some existence.
This illusion is constructed based on the core of reason and law. Perhaps only these 300,000 consciousnesses can influence these NPCs. Su Jue is not clear about what role he plays in this world. Now it seems that he was probably deliberately given a dangerous identity.
Only in this way can the core reasonably target Su Jue.
As for his specific identity, Su Jue speculated from Yi Si's two sentences that he was most likely a survivor of a family struggle or an abandoned scapegoat. In any case, he was certain to be hunted down.
If it weren't for Kiana, I would have probably frozen to death in the snow and ended this illusion trial hastily.
Su Jue let out a long breath, his expression a little complicated.
The coat he was wearing was very warm. Su Jue stroked the thick fabric, but it was insignificant compared to what he felt when he was unconscious.
He still remembered that after he fell, someone seemed to carry him for a very long way. He couldn't remember exactly how long it had been, but in the biting cold wind, his blood almost froze, and just when his consciousness was about to leave the illusion, it seemed that a warm flame approached him.
In the warmth of the flame, Su Jue instinctively moved closer to it until the ice in his heart slowly melted and his lost soul found peace.
Was it a campfire? Su Jue looked at the culvert and found no trace of a campfire.
He subconsciously raised his nose, and the faint fragrance of the girl flowed into his nostrils from his clothes. His breathing stagnated and his pupils dilated unconsciously.
"..."
This is just an illusion, why would I let myself have such a real dream? The breath gradually dissipated in the cold wind, and Su Jue felt a sense of loss for some unknown reason.
After spending a few minutes to adjust his emotions, Su Jue finally came back to his senses. He rubbed his numb limbs and slowly got up from the ground.
The wounds on his body seemed to have been carefully treated, and some of the abrasions had no traces left. Was there any special medicine used?
Thanks to a full night's rest, he was able to move without any problems. Su Jue walked out of the cold and damp culvert. The dazzling light made him squint subconsciously. After gradually adapting to the light, he found himself in an unfamiliar urban area.
Perhaps because it is closer to the city center, this area is obviously much more prosperous. There are cars on the streets, bicycles passing by, pedestrians coming and going in an endless stream, and full-time housewives chatting everywhere beside the vendors and markets.
However, this was not a good thing for Su Jue. More people meant a higher risk of being exposed. If the other party wanted to target him, they would definitely deploy a large number of spies.
While Su Jue was thinking, he keenly felt that a gaze seemed to fall on him. He turned his head to look, but only saw a dense crowd.
Thinking that something was not good, Su Jue did not stop. He pulled up the collar of his coat to cover most of his face, pretended to walk back to the culvert, but actually merged into the crowd on the street along the edge of the bridge.
Sure enough, not long after, several men in black robes arrived here. Su Jue, hiding in the dark, squinted his eyes and watched quietly as the other party found his bloody clothes from the culvert.
It seems that things are more complicated than he thought, Su Jue frowned.
Kiana was not by his side now. If he left, she would be ambushed if she came back. He had to find a way to find Kiana before being discovered.
Realizing this, Su Jue withdrew his gaze, took out a handkerchief from a lady's pocket, covered his face, and left this uneasy place.
After temporarily escaping from danger, Su Jue began to look for Kiana's whereabouts in the vast crowd. However, a city population of 300,000 is not a small number, and looking for someone is like looking for a needle in a haystack.
Fortunately, Su Jue is very familiar with Kiana. Given her personality, she would definitely not do anything sneaky. She would most likely go find a temporary job to earn some money.
He looked at the bulletin board on the roadside, where many job openings were posted and many young people looking for jobs were discussing.
Su Jue moved closer to the crowd, quickly browsed the work information above, and guessed where Kiana might go.
After eliminating some technical jobs, Su Jue quickly found the most suitable workers. Su Jue went upstream against the current of the vast crowd and finally stopped at a bakery, where he found the same job posting.
However, with Kiana's cooking skills, it was obviously not suitable to be a pastry chef, so he turned the corner of the alley and successfully saw the familiar white-haired girl in the back kitchen of the store.
The other person was carrying three bags of flour in both hands and piling them into the warehouse with great effort. A lot of powder was accidentally smeared on her face, making her look a little dirty.
But she didn't care at all. Under the surprised eyes of other porters, she carried the flour piled higher than her head back and forth.
Chapter 277 Escape
You idiot, even if you are strong you can't work like this.
Sure enough, within a few minutes, Kiana had almost moved all the flour in the truck. The work that was supposed to take at least an hour or two ended early, and the others could only look at the shop owner helplessly.
"The work is done, it's time to settle the wages." Kiana wiped the sweat from her forehead and looked at the boss.
The boss's face darkened, and he could only go back to the store to get the bill and wallet, and said reluctantly: "Today's working time is only half an hour, this is your reward."
Kiana took the wages, counted them carefully, and showed confusion on her face. Although she didn't recognize the currency called Mark, she could still distinguish the numbers 1 and 10. According to the previous agreement with her boss that each bag was 1 Mark, she should have received 134 marks for moving half a truck, but she only had 50 in her hand.
She looked at the other workers and found that everyone got very little. Someone looked dissatisfied and immediately questioned, "Boss, we got 20 every day before, why is it so little today?"
The fat boss glared at the man fiercely and said unhappily, "Usually you guys have to carry at least 20 bags each time. Don't you see how much you have moved today? Don't you understand the principle of getting paid according to the work you do?"
After these words were spoken, the workers had no choice but to look at Kiana with dissatisfaction as her income had dropped sharply.
The girl had never experienced anything like this before. She held the money in her hand, feeling a little nervous. But the income was indeed not right, so she asked, "According to the agreed compensation, my salary should not be just this much."
The boss was obviously more at ease when facing a girl like Kiana. "Ask other workers, they are paid 20 for working one or two hours. You have worked for less than half an hour. I have given you more than twice as much as others. What else are you not satisfied with?"
If more work is done, it is paid by the hour; if less work is done, it is paid by the piece. This method is often used by bosses and has long been used to death by various small workshops in Europe, where capitalism originated.
Kiana felt a suffocation in her heart and subconsciously clenched her fists, but her good Valkyrie education taught her not to attack ordinary people. In addition, Su Jue could not reveal his identity now, so she could only hold her breath with a gloomy expression.
Seeing Kiana like this, the boss was obviously somewhat pleased. He had already figured out the girl's psychology and was sure that she wouldn't dare to do anything to him, which was why he dared to be so blatantly hypocritical.
He waved his hand and urged, "Since everyone has received their wages, let's go. I will make an announcement next time if there is work."
Glancing at Kiana who was standing there, the boss turned around and was about to go back to the store, but as soon as he turned around, he felt a chill on his neck.
He froze in place, clearly feeling that the weapon at his neck must be a blade or something sharp, and he dared not move.
"What can I do for you?" The boss pretended to be calm as he looked at the gray-haired boy in front of him. "I'm telling you, robbery is illegal. If I shout, the guards will arrest you immediately."
Su Jue ignored him and looked at Qiana beside him and asked calmly, "How much salary did he promise you?"
Qiyana was still in a daze because of Su Jue's sudden appearance. When she heard his question, she quickly answered, "134."
After she finished her subconscious reply, she finally realized, "Wait, Su Jue, your injury hasn't healed yet, and it's okay, 50 is already a lot, enough to buy you medicine..."
"..." Su Jue's breathing stagnated, and the look he gave his boss became even colder.
The dark emotions from the Herrscher of the Thousand were like a poisonous snake, coldly coiling around the fat boss' neck, scaring him so much that his face turned pale.
"I was wrong. I'll give you the money, all of it." He took out all the banknotes in his wallet in one go. It seemed like a lot of money, but it was obvious that the little compensation he paid to the workers was a drop in the bucket compared to the profit.
Looking at the banknotes that the other party handed to him tremblingly, Su Jue frowned, took out the remaining 84 and stuffed them into Kiana's hand, then moved the weapon away from the boss' neck.
The timid boss felt relieved. He wiped the cold sweat from his forehead and quickly distanced himself from Su Jue. However, when he saw the weapon in Su Jue's hand, the fat boss almost couldn't breathe. What was on his neck was not a dagger at all, but a broken piece of porcelain plate.
"Damn it, he actually threatened me with this kind of thing." Anger emerged on his face, but the fat boss was smart. He didn't take action directly. Instead, he stumbled into the store, calling loudly for his help.
Su Jue ignored him and looked towards the corner as if he was aware of something. Then his face suddenly changed. He saw several men in black robes crossing the alley and raising their guns towards him.
The next second, a gunshot rang out. Su Jue's pupils contracted and he felt a flash before his eyes. He was knocked down by Kiana, who reacted faster.
The boss who was shouting loudly hadn't even called out the whole name when a ball of blood suddenly spurted out from behind him. The man fell to the ground powerlessly with his eyes wide open.
The attacker would not stop there and immediately pulled the trigger at Su Jue who was lying on the ground.
Holding Kiana and rolling over to avoid the attack, Su Jue used the porcelain piece in his hand to cut open the bag of flour, grabbed a handful and sprinkled it out.
"Let's go." With the help of the cover of smoke, Su Jue took Kiana's hand and walked across the piled flour bags.
The bullets hit the flour bags with a dull sound, and the smoke from the flour became more and more, covering most of the street in smoke.
The citizens frightened by the gunshots screamed and the scene was chaotic for a while.
However, these people obviously didn't care about the lives of ordinary people, and bullets kept whizzing past Su Jue's ears. There were not many obstacles in the narrow alley, and Su Jue could only rely on the corners to evade. However, as the number of people on the opposite side increased, the routes available became fewer and fewer.
Just when they were about to shake off the pursuers, there appeared a high wall at the end of the road.
He stepped on the debris on both sides of the alley, ready to use inertia to climb onto the roofs on both sides. Unfortunately, he could only climb three meters high at most. It was really difficult for him to climb up the four or five meter high wall.
Su Jue had no choice but to find another way. He searched through the debris for a weapon that could fight the enemy. "Qiana, use this when they catch up with you."
He handed the only sickle that looked like a weapon to Kiana, and he himself held a barrel lid. Anyway, his current combat power was definitely not as good as Kiana's, so it would be better for him to attract firepower while Kiana broke through, maybe there would be a chance of survival.
"No, this is too dangerous." Kiana shook her head.
