Li looked like an old man with one foot in the grave, standing at five feet four inches tall. His eyes barely opened and his skin was cracked, his bald head only sparse with white hair. He was pushed out by a mob in a wheelchair and taken to the truck. He showed no resistance, just looking around with a kind, old-man smile, seemingly disinterested.
-You seem very calm, old man.- Eva, who was supervising the inmate's entrance, observed the old man Ringo had asked her to treat with respect.
Li gave a light chuckle and spoke in a hoarse, aged voice. -Oh, miss, at my age there aren't many things that can surprise me, hehe.
Eva snorted and said. - Don't call me miss, my name is Eva.
-Yes, yes, forgive me, miss, hehe.- The old man laughed lightly, teasing her.
A vein popped on Eva's forehead, but remembering Ringo's warning, she ignored the old man, turned to Mob and said. -This one doesn't need to be arrested.
Mob nodded and the old man didn't care as he boarded the truck, glancing at the bodies around him along the way. He noticed they were all asleep, not dead, so he was curious about who had caught him this time.
As for escaping? Well, he's about to die, there's no point in going out and messing around. In fact, he's been treating this place like a rest home for a long time, he's just curious about recent events.
Several other prisoners were taken away, but aside from the old man, only a woman with thinning green hair walked calmly, not needing to be taken by force. She was still chained, but she just followed along, unconcerned.
Eva looked at her and frowned. Ringo had told her not to make things difficult for this woman before, but until now, Eva hadn't understood why. But the more she looked, the more she felt like she knew her from somewhere.
It was only when the woman looked at her that Eva's eyes widened. -Holy shit!- She couldn't help but curse, and then she lifted her Walk Talk.
-Lena, it's Emma.- She said quickly, even forgetting to say "Over".
-Emma? What's wrong with her? Over?- Lena asked, confused. Ringo, who had another Walk Talk, didn't comment, just continued to stare at the stars.
He was thinking about how to get to space quickly, he no longer had time to play sandcastle king now that he knew his soul was in trouble.
-Emma, she's here! She was trapped here!- Eva said, still shocked, staring at Emma without blinking.
Emma also heard it and looked at Eva curiously, but decided to ignore it and was taken to the truck. Behind her, only the cabin with Black Spider was dragged.
Lena was silent for a moment before saying. -I understand, Over.
Eva wanted to complain about the lack of reaction, but for a moment, even Eva didn't know what to say.
Meanwhile, Ringo, looking up at the sky, thought of something and frowned deeply.
Taking out his satellite phone, he dialed the number and called.
It didn't take long for a soft voice to answer. -Ringo?
-You knew, didn't you? You knew she was trapped on the Bell of Death Island.- Ringo said softly.
The phone on the other end went silent for a while. Ringo wasn't in a hurry, just stood there silently and waited.
A deep sigh finally rang out before he spoke again. -How did you find her?
Ringo didn't answer, instead he spoke. -Did you know she drugged me?
The voice fell silent again before finally saying. -Yes, I ran some blood tests after noticing your overreaction and her escape. Plus, she's a top pharmacist, so it was an option.
-Why didn't you ever tell me?- Ringo asked calmly.
-I told you, but you didn't believe me, so it didn't make any difference to tell you. The specialists said it became an obsession, they could treat it if you cooperated. You didn't want to cooperate.- The voice rang out again.
-I went to therapy?- Ringo asked, a little surprised.
-For about three years, but we stopped when there was no result. You were also very angry about it all, so I just gave up.
Ringo was silent for a long moment and finally asked again. -You knew she was trapped here, but you still didn't tell me. Why?
Melissa, on the other side, sat in the office, staring at the files with heavy eyes, a thin tear streaking down her face. But she didn't lose her hard gaze. She didn't have the luxury of being weak.
-It wouldn't make any difference. I couldn't get her out of there, I didn't even want to. Besides, telling you everything would do nothing but make you sad.- she finally answered. - Would probably make you run to your death invading the death bell island.
Ringo's voice took a moment to resonate before he said. -Yet you let me go look for her.
Melissa clenched her fists tightly and spoke. -I thought if you looked for a while you'd eventually give up, but I didn't expect what happened next.- Ringo was silent this time. He understood Melissa. This woman probably blamed herself for a lot, besides, she always kept it all bottled up inside.
For a moment, the anger Ringo felt for her gave way to pity. How much had this woman endured alone?
If he saw it only from Ringo's perspective, he would think this was betrayal. Even the obsession inside him was screaming that right now. But he wasn't. He could see the bigger picture. He could see the pain of a mother caused by the selfish act of a criminal she herself brought into the house.
-Do you want to kill her?- Ringo asked simply.
Melissa didn't answer for a moment, before her hardened voice rang out again. -With every ounce of my being, I've only wanted to tear her apart every day for ten years!
Ringo could hear the protest inside him, but he laughed. He remembered his previous life, where he was cared for like a sick child, which he really was. Now he felt that way again. This feeling is so awful. You want to be angry at someone for controlling your life, but you know everything they do is for you.
Finally, Ringo sighed softly, looked back up at the starry sky, and spoke. - Mom, I forgive you for lying to me. I hope you can forgive me too. I know everything you did was out of love, all these years... I caused you a lot of trouble, even if I don't remember it, I'm sorry.
Melissa was silent for a long moment. Neither of them spoke, until finally, Melissa's slightly hoarse voice rang out. -Thank you, son.
She hung up right after saying this.
Ringo laughed lightly. He knew she was crying, but Melissa never cried in front of him, not even once.
He also felt a desire to meet this woman. Before, he had kept a safe distance from her, but now he felt she was very much like his mother from his past life.
They weren't really alike, far from it. His previous mother was completely loving and could be described as a doting mother. Yet, at that moment, he felt like he could see his mother in Melissa. This feeling weighed him down for a moment.
She was a wall that kept the dangers of the world away from him. Even the obsession within him calmed, instead, he felt a deep sadness coming from her.
Ringo rolled his eyes, but didn't comment on these confusing feelings. Ever since Emma appeared, his subpersonality seemed to awaken. It was very irritating, as if a part of him was constantly pulling his emotions in a different direction.
If he wasn't a nightmare, he wouldn't even know how to differentiate whether what he was feeling now came from him or from the obsession.
He felt very pleased that he had chosen this race, if it had been a purely physical race he might be going through a lot of mental confusion right now.
Finally, Ringo heard Eva's call. Everyone was already in the trucks. Lena informed him immediately that all prison information had been deleted.
Ringo sighed, watched the trucks leave the prison, looked around and teleported into one of them.
Emitting purple smoke, he appeared right in front of Emma. He looked at her, she stared back in surprise.
The train car was full of gagged inmates making noise. Eva was driving, and Lena was in the other truck.
He stared at Emma continuously, unsure how to deal with her.
Emma stared back at him. There was no longer pure indifference there, he could sense emotions, then he could feel Emma's regret. There was guilt, pain and even self loathing. He could see that she really wasn't a bad woman, but he couldn't accept what she'd done.
What the hell kind of crazy woman uses pheromones on a child?!
His internal struggle began again as the pair stared at each other with complicated emotions.
Beside him, Li, who had been quiet, watched all this with interest. If it weren't for fear of ruining the atmosphere, he would have wanted to gossip about what had happened between them.
Instead, this awkward situation persisted for a long time.