RNP Page 161
Page 161
The entire living room was so quiet you could hear a pin drop.
The girls stood there, their anger long gone, replaced by a more complex emotion—shame and a chilling realization.
It turns out that the most absurd humiliation is the most profound education.
Nami watched Zhou Ye's retreating figure, her lips moved, but in the end, she couldn't utter a single word.
Just as the living room fell into dead silence, a tearing, buzzing sound suddenly filled the air.
【Om—】
Another spatial rift opened in another corner of the living room, its edges shimmering with an unstable silvery-white light.
Three figures slowly emerged from inside.
The first was Elsa. She was wearing a tight-fitting women's tracksuit, the once pristine white fabric now soaked through with sweat and dust, turning a dull gray. Her long, golden hair clung messily to her face, and several obvious abrasions marred her forehead. Her legs trembled, each step seeming as if she were enduring immense pain, yet her emerald eyes shone with an unprecedented determination.
Then came Lina and Kara.
If Elsa was merely exhausted, then these two fallen angels were utterly destroyed.
Lina's once fiery and sexy body was now hunched over, her long purple hair disheveled like withered grass, her eyes staring blankly at the ceiling, her pupils unfocused. Her lips parted slightly, uttering broken, delirious murmurs: I'm sorry... I'm sorry... I didn't mean to... Please... don't...
Kara's condition was even worse. She was curled up in a ball, her hands covering her head, her body trembling uncontrollably. There were no tears in her eyes, yet they were more unsettling than crying—a utter emptiness, a vessel hollowed out of its soul.
Elsa!
Yotsuya Miko was the first to react, rushing forward to support the swaying blonde nun.
What are they doing...?
Rias gasped in horror at the sight of the two fallen angels, even though she harbored no affection for them.
Zhou Ye closed the book in his hand and slowly turned around. His expression remained calm, as if he were looking at a few tools that had just been maintained, not three women covered in wounds.
Aisha's training regimen was simple. Her voice was devoid of emotion as she completed a 10,000-meter run, 1,000 push-ups, and 1,000 sit-ups under conditions of ten times gravity. Each time she collapsed, the count restarted. Very basic physical training.
His gaze shifted to the two mentally broken fallen angels.
As for the two of them...
Lina suddenly let out a piercing scream, covered her ears with her hands, and curled up into a ball:
No...please stop...I've already apologized...Maria...Little Tom...I really didn't mean to...
Kara also began to convulse, uttering incoherent words: blood...so much blood...she's only seven...she's crying...Mommy...Mommy, save me...
The girls in the living room turned deathly pale instantly.
What... are they saying?
Nami's voice trembled. 323
They spent three hundred days in the confessional. Zhou Ye explained calmly.
There, every innocent person they directly or indirectly killed will appear before them. Their spirits will question them: why did you take their lives? Why did you make their families suffer the pain of losing a loved one?
He walked toward Lina, who, upon seeing him approach, immediately shrank back like a frightened animal.
Lina, tell them, how many souls did you see in the confessional?
One hundred...one hundred and thirty-seven...Lina's voice choked with sobs. There were elderly people...children...pregnant mothers...they came to me every day...asking me why...why I did this...
She suddenly crawled towards Zhou Ye, grabbed his trouser leg, and pleaded desperately, her voice filled with fervent hope: "Master...please...make them stop...I've already apologized...I swear I'll never hurt innocent people again...please..."
Cang Na pushed up his glasses, a complex emotion flashing in his blue eyes behind the lenses: This kind of mental torture... is more cruel than any punishment.
Cruel? Zhou Ye looked down at Lina, who was clinging to his trouser leg. Do you think the 137 innocent people who died at your hands experienced less fear and pain before their deaths than you are now?
He gently kicked Lina's hand away.
This is only a small part of what they have to endure. The real hell is that they can never make up for those lives lost.
Lina collapsed to the ground, letting out suppressed sobs.
Kara suddenly spoke, her voice hollow and mechanical: "Master... I... I remember... The first person I killed... was a little girl... She was feeding pigeons in the park... I just wanted to test my newly acquired power... When she died... she was calling for her mother..."
She raised her head, and in those eyes that were once filled with arrogance, there was now only endless regret: I...I'm a monster...am I?
A suffocating silence fell over the living room.
Even Rias, who disliked fallen angels, couldn't utter a single word of accusation at this moment.
Because what they saw was no longer an enemy, but two souls utterly destroyed by their own sins.
Zhou Ye sat back down on the sofa and picked up the book "Space Physics".
This is true education. It's not about making you stronger, but about helping you understand yourself.
He turned the pages of the book and stopped looking at anyone.
To be continued tomorrow.
Chapter 129 Resolving Conflicts
I had no dreams all night, or rather, the whole night was filled with endless nightmares and a pure white void.
When Rias woke up in the soft bed, every muscle in her body ached in protest. It wasn't the fatigue from exercise, but a memory of being repeatedly torn apart, crushed, and forcibly glued back together. She threw back the covers, looking at her flawless skin, but the horrifying image of being pierced through by a mechanical arm involuntarily surfaced in her mind.
She stepped out of the room and encountered Himejima Akeno and Kasumigaoka Utaha, both with equally pale faces, in the hallway. They looked at each other, and without a word, they saw the same lingering fear in each other's pupils.
Inside the restaurant, warm lighting dispelled some of the chill. On the long table, exquisitely prepared dishes were already laid out: golden-brown, crispy bread, pasta topped with rich meat sauce, a fruit platter cut into adorable shapes, and a variety of fragrant drinks.
Zhou Ye was already seated in the main seat. He didn't even look up, and simply said:
"Awake. Eat something, then start another day of training."
The women all paused in unison, their hands, which had just picked up knives and forks, frozen in mid-air.
“I have a new plan for you,”
Zhou Ye turned a page of the book.
"Whether it's demons like Rias, or newcomers like Miko, Utaha, Aisha, Gil, Rika, and Shizuka."
Elsa, whose name was called, shuddered. Confused, she pointed to her nose.
"Mr. Zhou, it's me?"
Zhou Ye nodded affirmatively.
"Yes, you. You can call me Zhou Ye, or Boss, Ye is fine too. Now that you're with us, you've already been labeled as being on my side by the outside world."
A bitter smile appeared on Aisha's face. Her life had long since veered off course from the path she knew.
From being expelled from the Vatican to being hunted by fallen angels in Kooh Town, if it weren't for the man before her, she might have already returned to heaven, along with her divine artifact, the "Smile of the Virgin Mary," stripped away and used as a tool of war.
She had no choice. She wanted to live.
“Um… Zhou… no, boss,” Aisha mustered all her courage and asked the question that had been lingering in her mind all night.
"If I become an ally of the devil, can I still... pray to the Lord?"
This problem is like a bomb thrown into a stagnant pool.
The restaurant fell silent instantly. Nami, poking at the fried egg on her plate with her fork, froze, her face contorted with shock.
A look that says, "Are you crazy?"
Kasumigaoka Utaha raised an eyebrow; her cunning nature made her find the matter amusing.
A nun labeled as close to the devil actually thinks about praying to God? Is she tired of living and wants to experience the feeling of her soul being torn apart by holy light and magic in advance?
"can."
Zhou Ye's answer was crisp and decisive, surprising everyone.
"Praying won't give me a headache. But if you choose to join Rias or Sona's familiars, then it depends on whether their demon king brother will tolerate his sister having a heretic under his command."
He closed the book, his gaze falling on Elsa.
"With your divine artifact, you are qualified to become a [Bishop] on any demon chessboard."
Before she could finish speaking, Rias seized the opportunity. She stood up, her long crimson hair shimmering under the light, a sincere and fervent smile on her face.
"Aisha! Come and become my servant! I assure you, you can pray however you like here! I won't mind at all!"
These words were incredibly tempting, like a godsend to Aisha who was desperate. Her emerald eyes welled up with tears, and she was about to nod in agreement.
"Minister, you are truly magnanimous."
A gentle, yet icy voice, devoid of any warmth, broke into the cozy atmosphere.
Himejima Akeno slowly set down her teacup, the bottom of which clinked against the saucer with a soft, crisp sound. Her usual smile remained, but the smile didn't reach her eyes. In her purple eyes, a darkness, a mixture of disgust and murderous intent, surged within them, a darkness no one had ever seen before.
"I'm just a little curious."
Akeno's gaze wasn't on Rias, but rather like two cold, sharp awls piercing straight at Aisha.
"After witnessing her companions being trained by the power of demons and deciding that she herself must also join the demons, to whom is her so-called prayer offered?"
Aisha's body trembled violently, and all the color drained from her face instantly.
"Akeno!"
Rias's expression changed.
"what are you saying!"
“I’m stating the facts, Minister.”
Akeno finally turned to Rias, her gentle mask completely shattered, revealing the bloody scars beneath. "My mother was a woman from the prestigious Himejima family, a family of Japanese Onmyoji. She was killed on the spot because she met and fell in love with my father, and was accused of being a defiled witch who had slept with a fallen angel!"
Her voice suddenly rose, filled with barely suppressed hatred.
"Now, you want to take a woman who also constantly talks about the Lord, a believer who might stab us in the back at any moment because of our demonic nature, as your companion?"
"I...I won't!"
Elsa hurriedly tried to explain, tears welling up in her eyes, "I..."
"you will not?"
Zhu Nai let out a sneer, a laugh filled with sorrow and mockery.
"Too much has happened in reality. My mother is a tragedy, and I am one of the tragedies. With such a bloody reality before my eyes, I don't want Rias to follow in my footsteps."