“Where is he?!”
At the door of the interrogation room, the two alliance members who had been holding Kraken froze in place.
Staring at their suddenly empty hands, their expressions shifted from confusion to panic.
“He’s gone.”
“What happened?”
A commotion broke out in the corridor.
The leader's trusted subordinate, who had been following behind, rushed over and looked around, but saw nothing.
A minute later, the news reached the leader.
The child-like leader slammed his hand onto the table and stood up, his face flushed with fury.
“I knew Kraken was a problem.”
“He’s been off from the very beginning, and now he’s finally shown his true colors!”
The surrounding subordinates looked at each other, and one asked in a low voice, “Chief, what exactly was his problem?”
The leader took a deep breath. He hadn't originally intended to explain himself.
However, he suddenly noticed the expression of one alliance member turn sour, a flash of suspicion crossing their eyes.
Though the shift was brief, the leader caught it.
He immediately grew alert, realizing that some people present might suspect him of deliberately persecuting Kraken for personal gain.
Suppressing his anger, he spoke with forced patience. “You can know a man’s face, but not his heart. Kraken’s usual uprightness and kindness were nothing more than a facade.”
“Don’t you find it strange? No matter how dangerous the mission, he always manages to escape unscathed.”
“Take that time on Dusk Island. He faced all those cultists and monsters alone, yet he didn't have a single scratch on him.”
“And this time, in the Killing Competition, everyone else was trapped. Even Locke couldn't get out, yet Kraken did.”
“I can tell you clearly: this was no coincidence. He carries many secrets that even the Alliance hasn't been able to uncover.”
The subordinates forced smiles onto their faces. The reasoning was so flimsy that it would have been better if he hadn't explained at all.
Just because Kraken performed too well and didn't get injured, he was suspicious?
The leader perhaps sensed that what he just said was a bit absurd. For the sake of the Alliance's cohesion and his own authority, he felt compelled to reveal a few more details.
“Actually, as far back as when Kraken first joined the Alliance, those at the top had already noticed something abnormal about him.”
“There are gaps in his upbringing. You’ve been with him for so long—have you ever heard him mention his hometown? Has he ever spoken of his childhood or his youth?”
“Never!”
“The man appeared out of thin air. The Alliance can’t find any trace of his origins, and he himself has no memories of his past, yet he never seems to realize that this is a problem.”
“Furthermore, his bone age is wrong. He’s not even ten years old...”
“This involves classified information, so I can't go into too much detail. You all understand?”
“Kraken is no longer our comrade. In fact, he never was!”
The subordinates nodded one after another, indicating they understood.
The leader had driven away a steady, capable, and outstanding employee, yet he still wanted to keep his good reputation. Thus, he deliberately smeared the man to ensure he remained on the moral high ground.
Even if Kraken's abnormalities were real, so what?
Before those abnormalities ever harmed anyone, he was truly hardworking and willing to do anything without a single complaint.
Bad money drives out good. The Order Alliance was doomed.
In the crowd, two or three people couldn't help themselves, their expressions becoming subtle.
They remained silent, but they thought to themselves that Kraken had done so much for the Alliance, working conscientiously and always leading the charge.
And the result? He was thrown out as cannon fodder and nearly died.
When he finally managed to return alive, he wasn't met with comfort or celebration, but with a tribunal, only to be thrown into an interrogation room for solitary confinement and forced to write a self-criticism.
Who wouldn't run away in that situation?
Clearly, the leader's explanation just now felt more like a temporary fabrication; it lacked any credibility.
The leader knew this as well.
But it didn't matter.
Why would those in power care about what their subordinates actually thought?
He said those things simply to make the subordinates publicly pledge their loyalty. That was enough.
Loyalty performed in public could be treated as loyalty.
...
Kraken felt a blur before his eyes.
When his vision cleared, he had already left the Alliance base and was standing somewhere else.
It was Dusk Island.
He recognized the architectural style of the island.
There was a familiar scent in the air, one he couldn't quite name, but it made him feel inexplicably at ease.
The reconstruction of the island was largely complete. Perhaps because so many residents had died in the previous incident, the current Dusk Island was very quiet.
The spire of the church in the distance still stood tall, but it lacked its former bustle.
Kraken turned his head and looked at the girl beside him.
He noticed she had changed into a yellow-and-black cheongsam, and her folding fan had been replaced with one of the same colors.
“Why?” Kraken asked.
The girl blinked. “Why what?”
Kraken was confused. “Why help me like this? Why do I feel like you’re so familiar? We’ve only just met, and I have nothing that would make helping me worthwhile.”
The girl didn't answer. She simply covered her face with her folding fan and laughed softly.
Kraken stared at her, waiting for an answer.
He sometimes helped others, but that came from his own sense of goodwill.
The cheongsam girl didn't look like a great philanthropist. Providing this level of help must have a deeper reason.
But at this moment, the girl was clearly unwilling to say more.
Kraken was a successful case of an Old God reincarnating as a human, and he was already incredibly close to being a pure human.
The only thing was that he had skipped the embryonic and growth stages, having been born as an adult.
He had many Old Gods shielding and protecting him, which was one of the abnormalities he carried.
Kraken’s personality was upright. After coming into contact with human society, he had been attracted by the Order Alliance's slogans and joined them; all of that was normal.
However, a few years later, he had actually been sent back to Dusk Island by the Order Alliance to conduct an investigation, and that was where the problem lay.
It might have been a mere coincidence, or there might be an unfathomable existence within the Order Alliance who had figured out Kraken's origins.
That was why the girl only persuaded Kraken to leave the Alliance of his own accord and did not resort to violence.
The Deep Red Continent was home to all sorts of gods, immortals, and demons. Even the Old Gods had to be cautious.
Thinking of this, the girl tucked away her folding fan and tapped it gently against her palm.
“You don't need to know the reason. You only need to know that there are many people who don't want anything to happen to you.”
“As for why I feel familiar... perhaps we met in a past life?”
Kraken frowned. What kind of answer was that?
But he didn't press her further.
If the girl was unwilling to speak, he wouldn't be able to get anything out of her.
“What should I do now? The Order Alliance might be putting out a warrant for me,” Kraken said, changing the subject with a hint of aimlessness.
The girl suggested, “Why not just live on Dusk Island for a while? This place is safe, and no one will come to disturb you.”
“I suppose that works.”
In the distant sky, several strange lights flashed by like shooting stars.
“There’s some excitement to see. I’m going to go take a look.”
With that, the girl vanished.
Kraken stood in place, stunned for a moment.
“What’s the rush?”
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