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“Haven’t I given you a mission already?” Even though I couldn’t see my own face, I knew how fake my expression must have looked right now. “You’re irreplaceable to me. There’s no one more important than you, so there’s no need to second guess…”

“I’m important? Are you sure about that? Important for your plans, more like it. I’m just a tool to you. The disposable kind you toss away once you’re done with it.” His face grew even darker. “And even though I’ve joined this Bureau, Goddess, you haven’t even given me an official appointment. Not only that, you’ve been constantly testing me. If I hadn’t been so obedient to your demands, I bet you would have already tried to get rid of me.”

“…”

This time, I couldn’t find an excuse for myself. Even though the situation wasn’t as sinister as Yamabe thought it was, it was a fact that I did not trust him. From the very start, I did not trust him.

After all, he was a boy who murdered his own parents in a fit of rage, how could I trust someone like that…

“What do you want?”

Our trust had completely broken down at this point, but I still wanted to make this work out somehow.

Yet without trust, could there ever be cooperation? There was a saying that a person’s heart had a wall around it known as the skin, a wall that wasn’t so easily pierced.

“I want you to be my girlfriend!”

“Impossible.”

“Then you leave me no choice.” Yamabe eyed the group of survivors who had unknowingly parked behind us. “Goddess, I know you care a lot about these survivors. If you do not say yes, I will kill them.”

“Are you threatening me?”

That scumbag! He turned on me faster than he turned a page in a book!

“This isn’t a threat, I’m merely stating a fact.” He lowered his head lightly and flashed me a sinister smile. “As a show of my sincerity, how about I kill one of them now?”

“Ouyang! Protect them!”

I whipped my head around as I yelled to the man. Unfortunately, I was immediately greeted by the sight of those 14 female survivors all lined up neatly atop a tall stack of trunks. Putting aside the matter of how they even managed to climb that high in the first place, I could tell from their empty gazes that they had already been hypnotised.

As for Ouyang Huiren and the soldiers, they were just as lifeless…

I understand now, from the very beginning I was already in his clutches… he’s not the idiot here… the true idiot is… me… and it always has been…

“What did you do to Chiyo Hanataba?”

“Chiyo is my pawn, I had her approach you on purpose.” Victory close at hand, Yamabe couldn’t help but smile triumphantly as he continued to explain, “Don’t worry, I didn’t hypnotise her, but I did implant a subconscious desire within her to approach you as soon as possible. Honestly, I wanted to see how she, a third person in all this, would retell my story. Her version would be completely neutral and fair… But who would have thought that you would actually refrain from asking me about this, it must have been hard to keep such a secret for so long.”

“So when you knocked on the restroom door, you were checking if Chiyo was actually performing her role?”

“No, no.” He continued smiling. “I just wanted to make sure you haven’t forgotten about me, that’s all. After all, by that time, you had already been talking to her for ten minutes. Spending too much time away from the Goddess makes me uneasy.”

“… And what next?”

“Upon learning that I killed those survivors and my parents, you didn’t confront me right away. From that alone, I can tell you are willing to overlook my crime . But why? Exactly what is it I have that would make my Goddess act like that?” He then tilted his head back slightly.

“This isn’t just me bragging but, if it was me, taking over the whole of Southern Plains is only a matter of time.”

If his head tilted any further back, it would probably reach the floor.

“It’s precisely because I’m so useful that you would bear with my presence. I know very well how selfish humans can be. All that talk about innocence and morals… didn’t they lock me up for their own sake anyway?!” Yamabe was practically yelling now.

“Well look at me now! Those who locked me up are dead, and I’m still alive! Me! I’m the one who’s laughing at the end! I’m the true main character of this story. Whatever I say, goes. The main character never dies!”

“And what about Ouyang Huiren and the others?”

“They have always been under my control, even though they did not realise it. I had already implanted that subliminal suggestion when I woke them up. The moment I decide to flip the table, they will automatically be hypnotised.”

“Like now.”

“Yes, they are already my dogs. Whatever I tell them to do, they will obey without question.”

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. “One last question.” I slowly said.

Yamabe Takuma had clearly planned this all out from the start. If I agreed to his request, all this wouldn’t have happened. Chiyo and Ouyang would have spent their entire lives not knowing that they had been controlled.

Unfortunately, there was no way I would ever be another person’s girlfriend. Because I was… am a man! Just because my little brother couldn’t stand up, did not mean that I did not have rights! Men with sausage dysfunction were still men!

“You want to know how to remove the hypnosis?” He smiled knowingly. “Honestly, there’s no need to even ask such a question. The easiest solution is always to kill off the source.”

“I take it you won’t change course then.”

“Change? Do you think I still can?” He sneered at me. “If I do, will you be my girlfriend?”

“Impossible.”

“And that’s my answer too!”

At the end of the day, we are settling this by force; there’s no law left to govern this city, after all. So be it, I’m not afraid of you!

But before that, I have to ensure those survivors are okay.

Shameless Self-promotion

Announcement: I’ve re-opened my Patreon in case anyone wants to sponsor more chapters. Every end of the month, those chapters in early access will be released for free for all to read. If you sponsored a chapter, you will gain permanent early access to these chapters. Essentially, everyone gets more chapters to read, but those who donated get to read earlier. More chapters will then be translated at the start of the month. Explanation on the Patreon itself.

LINK HERE