Weird Stories: Gothic Lolita Begins

"Launch the emergency plan and clean up the relevant memories on a large scale." Anthony replied, "This is the last resort... After all, this operation will more or less cause damage to the human brain."

Lenari thought: "The last department store collapse incident was handled in the same way?"

"Yes." Anthony said helplessly, "The fear and obsession of the human heart will foster the power of ghost stories. As long as the threat of ghost stories remains, everything in this world that belongs to the mysterious side cannot be made public."

Lenari nodded, showing his understanding, and then continued to read the information that Anthony and Elizabeth had worked so hard to move.

In silence, Lucia, who was squatting on the coffee table and reading the documents, suddenly came to her senses, looked up at Anthony who was browsing her phone, and asked: "You haven't told me yet, why is it okay to stay in the Seventh Team Base?"

"Well, the Seventh Team Base has a defense device to prevent instant death. I don't know what it is specifically. With my authority, I am not qualified to access such secrets." Anthony said without raising his head, "I only know that it is very precious. There is only one here in the entire Inisel City."

"I see..." Lucia nodded, and then used her little claws to turn the pages of the document.

...

With Lenari's reading speed, it didn't take long to read all the two stacks of documents, but at Lucia's strong request, she still agreed to live in the Seventh District for the next few days and not go anywhere.

There are many empty houses on the ground in the Seventh District, some of which are specially designed as short-term and long-term hotels, which are convenient for internal and external related personnel to stay temporarily.

Anthony looked very busy, and the cool middle-aged aunt Elizabeth accompanied Lenari and others to check in.

Although Lenari said he would only stay for a few days, under Elizabeth's enthusiastic offensive and Miles's instigation, he finally reluctantly moved into a family-style long-term hotel.

This family-style suite has a good environment, with four rooms and a large living room and kitchen. There is just one room left for one person (cat).

The furniture is ready-made, and some cat supplies were urgently ordered. Lenari took Lucia and Miles to Canteen No. 2 for lunch.

…

Beside the Reed River, under the cover of lush reeds, Lenari's clone stood in the dark field with a small opening, silently looking at the "God of Death" through the opening.

"That God of Death" is called "Death", and it is unknown when it was born. The most glorious time was more than two hundred years ago. At that time, the "God of Death" almost slaughtered half of the city by himself.

Later, as the information processing methods of Team 7 became more mature and diverse, the "Death God" with many preconditions gradually failed to make any waves. Unexpectedly, today, it has silently undergone a "great evolution".

After staring at each other for a few seconds, Lenari's clone spoke first, saying in a very low voice, almost like a whisper: "You have self-awareness."

The Death God looked at her silently, without speaking, but a hoarse, mechanical "voice" sounded from Lenari's clone's mind: "Yes, I do."

"When did it happen?" Lenari's clone asked.

"I don't know." Death said, "When I realized it, it had been a long time."

Lenari's clone looked at it...or rather, the black boat under "his" feet, and said firmly: "You ate the 'Boatman Death God'."

"Yes." Death replied calmly.

"Why did you think of eating it?" Lenari's clone asked.

"The 'story' has changed." Death said, "I gained my own self because of it, and also gained the opportunity to evolve."

Lenari's clone narrowed his eyes: "By whom?"

"I don't know." Death's slow and flat tone was the same as always, "When the change of the story was reflected in me, the new story had been circulating for a long time."

Lenari's clone thought of "Lost Gothic Lolita" and helplessly held his forehead: "It is indeed like this..."

With a sigh, Lenari's clone gave up the idea of ​​looking for clues from Death, raised his hand and simulated Anthony's appearance in his palm: "Do you remember this person?"

"Yes, he escaped death." Death said calmly.

"Can you let him go?" Lenari's clone asked.

"No." Death said, "He has met all the conditions. I can't go against my own rules."

The Lenari clone thought for a moment and asked, "What about the man and the cat who came to the neighborhood with me this morning? Can we let them go?"

"Yes." Death said, "As long as I don't 'see' them, the last condition will never be met."

"Thank you." Lenari clone thanked sincerely.

Death said, "As long as you don't get in my way."

"Of course." Lenari clone said without hesitationSaid, then hesitated slightly, "Well, my staff may increase at any time..."

Death said: "I allow you the number of humans in this city."

Lenari's clone looked surprised: "... Thank you, although my staff will not increase to this scale."

Death was very calm: "Before I break free from the 'story', the 'story' needs someone to spread it."

"... So that's it, I understand." Lenari's clone nodded, "Goodbye."

Death: "Goodbye."

Watching the tiny shadow cracks hidden between the lush leaves of the reeds close and disappear, the death covered in a black robe slowly turned around and looked into the distance.

There, a group of humans who knew him were gathering.

...

At dinner time, Miles brought the follow-up of Master Barlow's hallucination.

"That Woodrow's wife did it?!" Lucia was so shocked that she forgot the dried fish in her mouth and let it fall back into the exclusive cat claw-shaped dinner plate with a light "snap".

"Yes." Miles shrugged. "Woodrow's career is not going well. According to Master Barlow, it is because he is too utilitarian, which hinders the improvement of his craft..."

"In short, he probably complained about something after returning home, causing his wife to misunderstand that the relationship between Woodrow and Master Barlow was very bad. As a result, she came up with the idea of ​​simply killing the master and letting Woodrow, as the eldest disciple, inherit the puppet workshop..."

"Woodrow didn't know about this. He has a very bad personality and is very utilitarian, but he respects Master Barlow very much... Fortunately, you discovered it early." Miles sighed.

"... In the end, it's still the fault of Woodrow's wife, right?" Lucia said, "Even if the relationship between Woodrow and Master Barlow is really bad, the idea of ​​'killing people' is wrong."

"You are right." Miles nodded in agreement.

Compared to the grudges between Master Barlow and his eldest disciple's family, Lenari was more interested in the power that puzzled both her and Campos: "What method did Woodrow's wife use? I checked it out at the beginning, and I could clearly feel an abnormal aura, but I didn't know what it was and where the source was."