Luther looked at Evergreen. He couldn't understand why he wasn't able to express anger, or even feel anxious. When Alon tried to forcibly capture Mismagius, he could clearly feel a fire burning inside him.
When Bocci pressed aggressively, Luther would feel a burning heat all over his body, just wanting to shut him up with his fists.
Evergreen was clearly even more repulsive than those two, yet Luther couldn't find that same passionate rage. Evergreen was also confused. He had never seen someone so calm.
When he introduced himself after meeting Luther, Luther didn't even seem surprised, just kept his head down, playing on his phone.
Even though Evergreen clearly led the rhythm of their conversation, Luther didn't show any urgency. On the contrary, it really felt like two long-lost friends awkwardly catching up after years apart, searching for conversation topics and casually chatting.
But when Evergreen made his threat, his confusion turned to deep bewilderment.
Luther showed no expression at all, and it was like Mai, Cynthia, or even those innocent bystanders, who might be caught in the crossfire, meant nothing to him.
He was sure his information was accurate. Luther had known Mai for a long time. The fact that they had traveled together in a team made it obvious.
In this world, traveling together was a sign of deep mutual trust. After all, exploring the world carried real risks, and choosing to team up meant that both people were committed to not abandoning one another in dangerous times.
In such a context, anyone would be tormented when faced with a moral dilemma between saving someone close versus a group of strangers. But Luther's indifference made Evergreen very uncomfortable. It gave him a sense of powerlessness, a frustrating inability to see through Luther.
He decided to stoke the fire a little more.
"Luther, you know, someone in our organization once said that not many people would actually die immediately when the glass bridge collapses."
"They'd fall with the shattered structure, the broken glass cascading from the sky. In midair, they'd still have time to think. Of course, I don't know what they'd think in those final seconds, if it were possible, I'd really love to know. From our perspective though, we'd see flowers blooming on the ground where they hit. I imagine it would be quite beautiful."
Luther froze for a second. A shiver passed through his body for no apparent reason.
He felt a strange sensation swimming up from the depths of his soul, the emotion he had thought gone.
They were anxiousness, rage, helplessness all entangled together.
A surge of powerful emotion, triggered by that single statement, burst through the barriers deep inside Luther's heart, like a flood exceeding its threshold, smashing through the dam, roaring forth.
It flowed through an emotional channel Luther had never used before, manifesting as a sticky, unpleasant kind of cold detachment.
Evergreen was about to say something more when Luther's low voice cut in.
"What's it like to fall to your death? You could ask me."
Evergreen froze, unable to process the words for a moment. He stared blankly at Luther.
"You stand at the edge of a rooftop, looking down. The world feels much smaller. When you spread your arms and leap, it's like you could embrace the whole world. As you fall, everything in your vision quickly pulls away. The weightlessness makes your head feel heavy, like it can't keep up."
"Then you start to remember things, only, you don't have time to recall much. Soon, you'll hear a loud, resounding crash."
Evergreen swallowed hard, gripping his lemon water tighter.
"After the crash, there's not much left to say. But even then, you're not completely dead yet. You can still think for a while, but you can't hear anything, can't see anything. There's just an annoying buzzing in your ears, and your eyes are so bloodshot from the impact that they might as well be blind; hell, they might actually be broken. You can't feel any pain either, because your pain receptors can't keep up with how fast you're losing control of your body."
"Your brain sends out one last desperate wave of signals to your limbs, hoping to get them working again, and then, silence. A vast, endless darkness."
"Your life… ends just like that." Luther finished and smiled.
Looking at that smile, Evergreen suddenly felt a chill wash over him, like cold hands brushing down his spine. He shuddered.
Their eyes met, and Evergreen felt parched for no reason. Hands trembling, he took a sip of lemon water, only to find it unbearably sour.
"Haha… haha, what a vivid description. But neither of us has died before, so it's all just speculation, right?" Evergreen's laugh was dry and forced.
"It's fine. I've got experience in this." Luther grinned brightly.
Luther took Evergreen's lemon water, tossed the straw aside, and took a light sip.
"I really like that sour taste too. Looks like we've got similar tastes."
Evergreen froze. The moment Luther reached out, the communicator was right next to them. He had wanted to stop Luther's hand, but for some reason, he just couldn't move.
"Evergreen, I think my current situation is really interesting."
Interesting?
Evergreen was losing his composure. He noticed that Luther actually looked excited, like a child seeing a brand-new toy.
"In what way is it interesting?"
"Let's change the scenario a bit," Luther said with a smile, locking eyes with Evergreen.
"There's a high-speed train. On Track A, one person is tied up. On Track B, there are five people. If you pull the lever, the train will switch tracks and save the five, but the one on Track A will definitely die."
Luther leaned in on his elbow, bringing his face closer to Evergreen's.
"Here are a few choices for you."
"A: Pull the lever, save five people, sacrifice one."
"B: Don't pull the lever, let the train follow its course and kill the five."
"C: Jump onto the tracks yourself, sacrifice yourself to stop the train and save everyone."
Evergreen had never heard a question like this before. For a moment, he completely forgot that he'd lost control of the conversation to Luther, and began seriously thinking.
He quickly realized that Luther's scenario was basically a metaphor for their current situation.
"Their lives have nothing to do with me. Why should I make a choice?" Evergreen said.
"Then do you know what I would choose?" Luther asked.
"What would you choose?"
Evergreen realized that this answer might reflect Luther's own stance toward the real situation they were in.
"I choose D."
Evergreen was stunned. D? Where did D come from?
"D: Pull the lever and make the train do a super cool 360-degree spin before running them over."
"E: Pull the lever, get up close for a selfie with the screaming passengers, and try to high-five them."
"F: Tie up the boring philosophy professor who made up this dilemma, put him on the tracks, and hand him the lever."
"G…"
Evergreen stared in horror as Luther continued rattling off more and more choices. He seemed increasingly ecstatic, more and more manic, his eyes gleaming with a chilling, sinister light.
Luther, after speaking nonstop, was exuding a terrifyingly unfamiliar aura, something Evergreen had never sensed from the files or during their brief encounters.
The way Luther was looking at him… it was like he was looking at someone tied to the tracks.
"Evergreen, although I'm sure you've hurt Pokémon before, I still want to ask… have you ever killed anyone?"
"Oleander."
"That doesn't count. She didn't even die. Seems like aside from that, you've never actually killed someone. And your methods are so crude. You enjoy tormenting people, don't you? I think it's time you upgraded your techniques."
Upgrade his methods?
This conversation had already gone far beyond what Evergreen considered normal. His mouth was dry, and he started to wonder if the person he was speaking to was even Luther anymore… or if he was even human.
"Luckily, I've read a few books. I know a tiny bit about this sort of thing."
"There was a woman named Lü Zhi. She didn't like this other woman named Consort Qi. So she had her limbs cut off, treated the wounds to keep her alive, and threw her into a latrine to keep her there."
"Or you could make a cylindrical iron container lined with spikes on the inside. After putting someone inside, gently seal the lid. Of course, if you're feeling creative, you could heat the container until it glows red. That might enhance the effect."
"What's with that look? Not satisfied? No worries, I've got more. How about a circular collar lined with spikes on the inside? You put it around someone's neck, and every time they move even a little… mm-hmm."
Evergreen instinctively reached for his neck. Luther showed no sign of stopping. One after another, these torture devices and killing methods, things Evergreen had never even heard of, relentlessly assaulted his mind.
The scariest thing to a person is something beyond their understanding. These things shattered Evergreen's concept of normal and brought forth an indescribable fear.
The history of the Pokémon world was too shallow, its wars, power struggles… all felt small-scale and childish. Humans barely even played a central role here; Pokémon did most of the heavy lifting.
It felt like a demon cloaked in black fog had pinned Evergreen down. He wanted to say something, to act, but his body wouldn't obey. He could only sit and wait helplessly until Luther, parched from talking so much, took another sip of lemon water. Only then did Evergreen, trembling, snap back to reality.
"You've wasted almost seven or eight minutes. Don't you care whether Mai lives or dies?"
Luther smiled faintly, watching Evergreen with interest. "I thought after everything I just said, you'd get what I meant. Looks like… you're not very smart."
Luther braced himself against the table and leaned in close to Evergreen's ear, whispering:
"Wait until I'm near the glass bridge before you blow it up, okay? I want to hear their screams when they fall. Last time, I only heard the wind. Itt was bit of a letdown."
Evergreen's hands, resting on his knees, began to tremble.
"When Mai dies, I'll be heartbroken. My grief will get Diantha's and Cynthia's attention. They'll probably be overcome with guilt… You've got experience in this sort of thing, right? Me taking advantage of the situation like that, it has a high chance of working, don't you think? Wouldn't you say I'm getting a pretty good deal?"
When Luther sat back down, Evergreen suddenly noticed, the communicator on the table was gone.
Luther was holding it in his hand, pressing the button, and murmured into it:
"When Mai passes the glass bridge, do it."
"You're insane!" Evergreen shouted in horror.
People in the café began to turn and stare. But Luther simply stood up with a smile, walked over to Evergreen, and said to the curious onlookers: "Sorry, my friend's going through a rough patch lately. Lost control of his emotions. Hope you'll forgive him."
Feeling Luther's hands on his shoulders, Evergreen couldn't help but recall that spiked collar Luther had described.
He was waiting, he didn't believe Luther would really go through with it. This had to be a mind game.
There was no way Luther truly didn't care whether Mai lived or died.
(End of Chapter)
You can read ahead up to 30 chapters on my Patreon, and I've also activated a (date-to-date) subscription model on my Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/darkshadow6395