Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 465

I am building something within myself.

A flawless yet incredibly simple work of art

(Climax Cycle)

I have suffered repeated defeats, and I am struggling to move forward.

My plans have been repeatedly thwarted.

But I don't want to give up here.

I know the price.

But I believe I haven't lost everything.

There will definitely be other opportunities waiting for me to seize...

(Climax Cycle)

763 Disagreements

“Mr. Wayne, this is the fourth premeditated murder that has occurred since four days ago. The methods are the same and the means are extremely cruel. The higher-ups are putting pressure on us. The public opinion pressure in New York can’t withstand any more trouble.”

His colleague placed a file on the desk. Judging from his tone, even without opening it, Comette Wayne could guess what was written inside, but he still frowned and opened it.

Among those documents, only one thing caught his attention, and it was the only piece of information that could potentially provide a useful clue for them to solve this serial murder case.

"BACK, back......"

Wayne spelled out the contents of the photo. He said that seeing the photos of the scene in the past made him feel nauseous, but he has gotten used to it now.

"Dylan, give me the photos from the previous ones."

“Here you are, sir.”

The assistant handed over photos of the previous crime scenes, which Wayne pieced together according to the time of the incident, resulting in a complete sentence.

"WE ALWAYS COME BACK."

How are these words composed?

"The murderer dug out the victim's intestines and nailed them or hung them on the wall, a total of four times, each time as a single word, until the whole sentence was formed."

It's no wonder Wayne reacted so strongly when he first saw these photos. To ensure no detail was lost, the photos were preserved in color and processed, resulting in a very strong visual impact.

The question is, what exactly does this sentence mean?

Who came back? What was the killer's purpose in saying that? It seems like revenge, but there is no strong connection between the victims.

Apart from......

"Dylan, the victim's identity."

The assistant nodded and said, "The task force investigated the identities of each victim's family, and we only found one thing in common: all the victims had a family member who was an active-duty soldier."

Active duty military personnel...

Wayne's brow furrowed so deeply it could trap a fly; this was one of the most difficult and bizarre cases he had handled since taking office at the FBI.

There were no eyewitnesses, no suspicious persons, and even everyone who might have had a motive had a perfect alibi.

So who exactly killed them, what was their purpose in doing so, and what was the point of piecing together a sentence in such a cruel way?

......

......

"..."

"..."

The bar's lobby was once again packed with people, just a few regulars.

Perhaps it wasn't just my imagination, but the bar's customers had been appearing more and more frequently in the lobby lately, gathering together as if discussing something about Boss Luo's plans. Because there were so many people, it would take four or five tables to accommodate them all.

Chris, on the other hand, had to work with Carmen to take good care of them. There were quite a few members in the band who enjoyed fine wine, and with Morse being a female alcoholic, it was safe to say that the workload was enough to make Chris lose all her fighting spirit for the entire day.

"How can you drink so much?"

"Hiccup, I'm in a bad mood today, human..." Morse said with a stern face, the scars making her already unfriendly appearance even more terrifying: "Just dump it, and if there's any more furniture damage, put it on my tab."

"...As if you have a lot of money."

Despite being dependent on others, Chris spoke of her with such extravagance, yet she still poured a whole can of beer into her glass.

However, she seemed to be in a really bad mood. I could hear their voices getting louder and louder from the beginning. Could it be that they had a disagreement?

Chris glanced at Nekitia, who was sitting expressionlessly on the sofa, and at Sena, who was cheering for her, and leaned close to Morse to ask in a low voice...

"What are you talking about?"

"..."

Morse stared silently at the colonel with the face of a young girl before her. Even though he was a decorated and knowledgeable man, Chris still shuddered.

"Alright, come along. We might need you later."

"Need me?"

Chris was a little confused when she was suddenly called, but she was also quite interested in it. After all, it was quite rare to see these big devils arguing, and she had to join in the fun.

Carmen, a bartender, chimed in, "Shall I join you?"

"I'm already a member of the band, do you think I can stop you from joining...?"

Regardless, the two of them each brought a glass of juice and joined in the less-than-pleasant conversation.

Needless to say, the orchestra members were all on the conductor's side. Rosalia's stance was unclear for the time being, but Morse was clearly on the opposite side of Nekitia, after all, they had been enemies for a long time.

“I reiterate, conductor, I cannot condone this approach. Even mechanical creations cannot change the fact that they serve under the King. To move them is tantamount to acting recklessly under the King’s watchful eye.”

The beer mug had a thick base, and when it was slammed onto the table with such force, the beer inside spilled out uncontrollably onto the surface, much like Morse's barely concealed disgust and annoyance.

“Calm down, Bishop,” Nekitia said slowly, speaking as the opposing side. “They are Dr. Pascal’s creations, not the King’s personal guards, and have little connection with the King. Moreover, in coordination with Gagsherav and… that lady named Morido, this little fellow was originally a backdoor we left to interfere with the present world.”

What mechanical creation? What Gagsherav? What little guy? What backdoor?

Chris thought they had invited her in because she was capable of offering some constructive advice, but now she couldn't even understand what they were talking about.

"Oh, Sergeant, it seems you have some doubts about what we're talking about."

Despite being blind, Nekitia noticed Chris's predicament, probably because of what she called "hearing." Chris wasn't surprised and asked without hesitation, "Yes, what are you talking about?"

A band member standing next to Chris offered an explanation on behalf of Nekitia...

"The conductor plans to use a component inside a mechanical construct to achieve the effect of interfering with the present world."

"Interfering in the present world? Are you getting restless again?"

Having grown accustomed to working with the orchestra, the colonel's language style has become more casual. In the past, she would have carefully considered her word choice, after all, the other party could kill hundreds or thousands of people in a short time with the flick of a finger.

764 Collusion and deception

Nekitia would have ruthlessly tormented anyone who dared to speak to her in that manner, but she didn't dwell on it. Instead, she smiled faintly and reached for the wine glass on the table.

“Mr. Luo will be making many big moves in the coming months, and we need to work closely together to do so in the style of the Alicia Band.”

"Then I must say that, to this day, I still cannot approve of your style, conductor. I thought you would have toned it down a bit when you were alongside Gagsherav and Asmentis."

Morse protested strongly again, but Rosalia didn't seem to be as she claimed...

“Acrecia, I don’t care about your past conflicts, nor do I care what methods you use. I have only one request: do everything in your power to help the King create a new era and restore our own strength, while also refraining from any actions detrimental to the King. Therefore…”

"...Tsk."

Although the name she hadn’t heard in so long made Morse’s lips twitch uncomfortably, Rosalia’s attitude annoyed her even more.

Seeing Morse's discomfiture, Sena quickly added fuel to the fire: "Acrecia, a name that feels both familiar and incredibly distant. I had almost forgotten her, Bishop, don't you miss her?"

"If it were before, what would the bishop have done..." The speaker was a tall, slender woman with gloomy eyes, holding a bass guitar: "Sergeant, I think you can't imagine, but the bishop of the past was a capable person who could single-handedly control the entire Alicia Orchestra."

Chris was somewhat surprised: "Really? Morse is that strong... And who are you?"

The woman nodded slightly and placed the bass tube beside her: "Freiga, chief bass tube player."

Chris knew absolutely nothing about these instruments and music theory, but she could now see that the situation had reached a point where Morse was completely at a disadvantage. No one supported her ideas, and the members of the orchestra were probably only ignoring her ideas out of respect for her in the past.

She couldn't help but feel curious again: "Morse, who were you in the past, and what does the name Execcia mean?"

......

After a long silence, Shina, who had intended to explain on behalf of the other party, was stopped by Negitia. It seemed she preferred Morse to answer the question himself, after all...

Mentioning someone's glorious past and contrasting it with their present is also a highly effective way to humiliate them, isn't it?

Rosalia seemed to already know the answer, but chose to remain silent with a "let's watch the show" mentality, since there was no one else on the scene stronger than her.

......

“Execcia, this is who I was in the past, the name I used before I became a sinner, and I also had a more widely known name…”

Great Silence

Freya said in a deep voice, "Just from the name, you can probably guess how much power a bishop wields."

"Magnificent silence...does that mean the orchestra is completely under your control alone?"

Morse did not answer, which seemed to be his tacit agreement.

Now she no longer has the power to control the entire orchestra. She alone cannot change anyone's will, and the bishop is just a thing of the past.

She failed miserably...

Nekitia finally found the wine glass, took a small sip, and slowly smiled, "So, Sergeant, the next invitation will have to be made by you."

"Me? Invite? Invite whom?" Chris asked, puzzled.

“Those young girls who used to come here to drink and have fun,” Shina said with her arms crossed, “remember them? A group of sisters and their little followers, the younger sister liked to wear skirts, and the others liked to wear black suits.”

Upon hearing this, Chris immediately remembered: "Oh, them? You mean Natalia and Rhine-Enshe, right? Wait..."

Suddenly sensing something was wrong, and considering their earlier conversation, it was clear this plan wasn't going well, and might even be... "You're planning to kill them?"

"Hey, why put it so harshly? It's just about using Gagsherav... oh, I should call her Ether, some little thing that was left on them beforehand."

Carmen put her arm around Chris's shoulder affectionately: "And you don't know, do you? They're all robots."

"Robots?! Uh... Spending time with you guys has indeed shown me many things I've never heard of before, but... robots that are exactly like humans, how is that possible?"

However, when she said this, she wasn't really sure herself. After all, she had seen and experienced enough bizarre things in her life, so perhaps some more intelligent robots wouldn't be so strange.

Just as she was pondering this, her smartphone was handed to her ear without her noticing, showing that they had been prepared.

"Come on, I've already made the call for you. Just invite them over as usual."

"..."

......

"Hello? Chris?"

"Uh...is it Rhine?"

"Yes, what's wrong?"

"We just got some new stuff at the bar...would you do me the honor of coming over?"

"Of course, we're on our way now. Morido said the bar needs our help. Has something happened?"

"Uh... ah, yes, a little. Come on over here, we'll talk more later..."

"Okay, we'll be there in a few minutes."

......

After hanging up the phone, aside from the slight fear of lying, I was filled with more questions.

"Morido? I remember she was one of the company's leaders. She said she needed their help with something at the bar?"

Is this a coincidence? They clearly didn't notify this person named Morido, but this guy deliberately sent Rhine and the others here?

“It seems these little ones are quite cooperative,” Rosalia nodded slowly. “She actually called them when I told her to.”

"You...had already colluded with Boss Luo's men?"

"Otherwise what? Why do you think they were able to develop such a highly intelligent, autonomous humanoid in such a short time using existing equipment? They were just doing each other a favor."

Rosalia finished the rest of the wine and then lay down against the thigh of the principal organist, Sifney.