Girls' Frontline: My Apocalypse with Dolls

Page 275

"What's your name?"

"Jia En, 16 years old."

"Hmm, it seems I'm not much older than you. If you'd like, you can call me Luo Fan, or sir."

It's only a five-year age gap, but he doesn't really want Jia'en to call him "brother"...

Jia En didn't dare to make any more moves, and just obediently huddled under the covers, passively accepting Luo Fan's caresses.

Given her current condition, Luo Fan wouldn't dare send her to an orphanage. Based on her knowledge of the code, her injuries, and the mention of medication, tubes, and soaking in water in her words, she's probably not entirely safe either...

"Can you tell me? What have you been through? Why did you become like this? And why did you find this place?"

Even though it might stir up her trauma, it's still necessary for me to know what she went through so I can take preventative measures.

As soon as she finished speaking, Jia En trembled: "I, I only remember being sold by my parents to a group of people dressed in black, and then there were two loud noises... I don't know how much time passed, but I ended up in a white room with... a red umbrella on the floor. A few days ago, when I went out, I was thrown out by a woman and wandered around for a while... and then a woman in a red dress brought me here."

Her speech wasn't very fluent, and still shaken, Jia En finally raised her small hand and placed it on the large hand on her head.

"That woman smiled and told me to find you in that bar with the small lights on, that you could help me, and that she... would be there soon..."

In an instant, Luo Fan shuddered, his drowsiness lessened somewhat, and his headache intensified...

"Jia'en, can you wait here for me? I'll be right back."

Luo Fan stood up, his gentleness vanishing in an instant.

"Where...are you going? Are you abandoning me?"

"No, I'm going to see the sister you mentioned..."

He sensed it...

Just like that time at the mall, it was that feeling that should have been unfamiliar, yet inexplicably felt incredibly familiar.

He walked quickly to the window. In the pouring rain, the man's face was reflected on the windowpane, distorted by the rain, but this was not the focus of his gaze.

As the light and shadows dimmed and the rain poured down, a young girl stood gracefully in the rain, holding a black umbrella.

However, it was not as beautiful as described in poems, paintings, songs and dances. Even with the rain blurring his vision, Luo Fan could still see the cold, chilling laugh under the black umbrella.

It wasn't a hallucination; she was right there, waiting for him...

After a brief eye contact, the girl lowered the edge of her umbrella and walked towards the bar. Luo Fan knew this too, so he quickly walked to the stairs, not even having time to change his clothes.

"Jia'en, wait for me here, I'll be back in a bit."

"......Understood."

......

For some reason, the dim lights in the bar no longer made Luo Fan feel warm. Looking up, she could vaguely see a figure standing in the rain, like a ghost from a horror story, but Luo Fan knew very well who she was...

"click"

"Mr. Luo, you don't look to be in very good condition."

Rosalia's smile was much friendlier than when she was standing across the street.

Luo Fan could only suppress his headache and greet the other person: "I just stayed up all night. If I could, I'm going to rest now."

He was only wearing a shirt, but it was soaked with sweat. From a certain moment on, the cold sweat never stopped.

He himself was well aware that his condition was extremely poor...

"Don't you want me to come in and sit down?"

"Get this done quickly, I need to rest."

That being said, when Rosalia walked in on her own, Lovan still gave up his seat and followed her into the bar.

Do you like the gift I brought you?

The other person chuckled inexplicably as they folded their umbrella.

"...So it really was you who brought her here."

Luo Fan forcefully wiped the sweat from his brow, his feigned ease now replaced by seriousness.

"You call her a gift? She's just... covered in injuries, and her mental state is unstable. What are you trying to tell me through her?"

"Literally, a gift. I'm helping you gather all the power you'll need, and that child is one of it. She will be a great help to you in the future."

Rosalia smiled and subtly raised an eyebrow at Luo Fan.

Luo Fan's expression turned even colder: "Did she agree?"

"She had no choice."

Why is there no choice?

"If things continue as they are, she will die no matter what."

...Lovan remained skeptical of this.

He continued, "Where did she come from?"

"Umbrella, the red umbrella, she told you, why ask me?"

“Of course I know it’s Umbrella. She wants more information, and isn’t that what you like to tell me? Besides, how can you be so sure she’ll help me and stay with me?”

"Because it is true, she would die without you, and she can indeed help you in the future. I just told her that, gave her a choice, and then brought her here."

Rosalia's smile remained unchanged, but Lovan's headache worsened, and cold sweat poured down his face like rain.

But he didn't give up: "You coerced her?"

Rosalia shook her head: "It wasn't me, it was fate that forced her, but you can give her a new life, and she will bring you success and loyalty in return."

In the dim light, she raised her hand and gently wiped the sweat from his face, treating him as if he were her most cherished person.

“A drowning person on the verge of death will grab onto anything they can. I threw out a rope called ‘you,’ and the child grabbed it tightly. The rest is up to the rope to see if it will break… Either we’ll get back to shore together, or we’ll fall into the abyss together.”

"Is it going to be me dying again?"

What is the abyss she speaks of...?

"Do not."

She denied it again.

"A single-plank bridge is all about how you cross it; what I'm doing is making the bridge as wide as possible."

Just as he was about to continue speaking, he felt dizzy and, after a severe migraine, his legs gave way and he sat down on the sofa.

Damn it, it's acting up again now...

The pain was even worse than last time.

"gentlemen!"

In a daze, I seemed to hear Jia En's voice...

Forced to open her eyes, the ragged girl, also enduring the pain in her body, ran to Luo Fan's side, her face full of worry.

"Jia'en, go back and rest, you'll catch a cold. I'll be there in a bit..."

"No, sir, they say someone like you is going to die, you can't... Jia'en, Jia'en hasn't even spoken more than a few words to you yet!"

In the girl's hoarse voice, Luo Fan sensed her panic and grief, but there was nothing he could do now...

"Shh, keep your voice down, Jia En. Mr. Luo is just tired and needs to rest."

Rosalia gently carried Jia En to the sofa next to Luo Fan, then took out a test tube from her pocket and slowly poured it into Luo Fan's mouth.

"Just like the last time, I knew you'd have a relapse, so I brought it along. But this time you'll wake up a little faster. Don't worry, everything will be alright..."

Everything was about to plunge into boundless darkness, and even the cries of the girl beside him could not be heard.

The girl in the red dress rested her chin on her hand, looking at her with a serious yet gentle gaze that she had never seen before.

Even though he was going deaf, he could still seem to hear her voice...

"Everything will be alright, you will get everything that is rightfully yours, and change everything that is right now..."

"This factor has connected us. Although I don't know where you obtained it from, I should now call you by another name."

Asmodeus

"But it's not time yet. I will stay by your side and make sure you get everything that belongs to you..."

397 Heading Towards

"How is it? Did it arrive?"

"It's delivered. The rest is up to him. Let's go, we should head back. We haven't watched our show tonight yet..."

Back in the rain, Rosalia returned to the spot on the street where she had faced off against Lovan.

However, this time, she was facing away from the location of the bar.

In the shadows, someone else was waiting for her...

That was indeed in the literal shadow...

It was another elegant woman in a long brown dress, holding an umbrella in the dark alley, looking at Rosalia on the street with a strange smile.

"So this is the new 'king' that Miss Rosalia hopes 'we' will support?"

"Yes, so what? I suggest you keep your opinions about him to yourself..."

Lofan had never seen Rosalia in this state before; her frivolity vanished like smoke, leaving only a silent rage burning in the rain.

It really does resemble the name "Golachab".

Like Rosalia, the other person was someone who often smiled, except that her smile was more approachable than Rosalia's.

"No, of course not, but Miss Rosalia must always be clear about why you invited us here."

Rosalia did not answer, but her deliberate restraint did not mean she had no right to be dissatisfied.

In the shadows, besides the woman, many other eyes were watching this place, right behind her.

The graffiti and profanities on the walls tell people that this is a city with a strong sense of local life, where countless street cultures are widely spread and talked about.

In an instant, the wall was covered by shadows, and countless eyes and mouths appeared in the shadows, some mocking, some spitting, and some dissatisfied.

"If he's hungry, he can go back and eat. It's not the right time yet; eating him now will only kill him."

Finally, Rosalia waved and walked towards the other end of the block.

"Of course we're hungry. After all this time, the concentration of the reverse Kabbalah factor is still low, and all related research has been halted by the White Eagles..."

"So you put your henchmen on Umbrella."

"Why force ourselves to choose when we can have both?"

The shadow was spreading behind the woman, but Rosalia paid no attention to it.

"I'm just asking you to act as an insurance agent. Things can always get out of control, and so can you, Ethel Maitna. Umbrella's research is starting to show promise, so be careful to manage things."

In an instant, all the shadows vanished, the neighborhood returned to normal, and the woman's smile suddenly became exceptionally bright.

"Ah, of course! We should definitely be careful to control them, lest they see too many things they shouldn't see in a short time..."

Ethel finally emerged from the alleyway and came to Rosalia's side, holding an umbrella.

"Miss Rosalia, remember to call us at the right time. If Mr. Luo's condition isn't under control, perhaps..."

"Of course I know, not everyone is like you who only thinks about eating all day long."

"Don't you also like to lie on the sofa all day watching dramas? Forgive me for speaking frankly, but these things are far less meaningful than the knowledge of a scholar."

Rosalia laughed for no apparent reason, then reached out and grabbed Ethel's sleeve.

"What's this... Ouch, it's so hot!"

"I've told you not to compare the stuff you eat with my hobbies. If you're really that smart, how come Gagsherav still only has this one fragment of you?"

A purple flame suddenly appeared on Aitherth's sleeve, but it was quickly extinguished in the darkness.

Ethel's expression suddenly turned troubled: "Well... that's why we accepted Miss Rosalia's suggestion. Gagsherav's recovery is a long way off, so why don't I join forces with you to support a new 'king'? That way, I can eat my fill, the CSE concentration can be maintained within a suitable range, and your goal can be achieved. It's beneficial for everyone."

"Of course, humans are an exception, but that's another kind of trade-off, but there's nothing we can do about it."

Aither spread her hands, her distress seemingly growing stronger.