Today he seemed to have no appetite, and the second personality, curled up inside his body, refused to come out.
Perhaps something in the midday meal was not fresh, causing his stomach to feel a little uneasy.
Mercury emerged from the restroom, washing his hands under the automatic cleaner, lost in thought.
He had a strange feeling about the pork platter this morning. The texture was excellent, but it simply made him lose his appetite. After a few bites, his stomach started to churn, yet when he went to the toilet, he couldn't throw up anything, nor did he feel the urge to use the restroom. He shouldn't have food poisoning.
Shaking his dizzy head, Mercury felt a surge of annoyance. The automatic cleaner had stopped. The sensation of the automatic cotton swab applying cleaning agent and rubbing was quite pleasant; it was a stress-relief method some people enjoyed.
With his hands clean, Mercury felt a little better. Just as he was about to run his fingers through his hair, a figure in the mirror made him stiffen slightly.
"Ah, long time no see, Erbis. Are you here to balance the beam?" After a brief moment of rigidity, Mercury broke into a natural smile, even appearing somewhat happy.
"Yes, long time no see, Gemini. You seem to be in a good mood." Bai Cha released her clasped arms and drew the katana she was holding. Un-dried blood dripped down the blade, drop by drop. She leaned against the wall, a bit lazily. "How was today's extra meal? I doubt anyone's knife skills are more exceptional than mine."
Mercury's expression changed. As if struck by a sudden realization, he rushed into a stall and began retching violently. Yet, despite his pale and greenish complexion, he couldn't vomit anything.
"Don't be so startled. The meal I prepared for you personally used the freshest and best beast meat. Doing this will only be disappointing to me," Bai Cha shook her head and gave a light flick of her wrist. The blood on the katana was flung off, landing precisely in front of Gemini.
"You demon, you're insane! You're defying humanity!" Mercury clutched his stomach, feeling utterly weak. "You're truly insane!"
"Defying humanity? No, no, no, you've misunderstood me. This is genuinely top-grade sashimi, sliced from the freshest and most lucid state. This is my genuine effort." Bai Cha spread her hands and slowly, step by step, approached, her smile eerie in the cold light. "After all, criminals are given a most delicious final meal before their execution. Of course, I would prepare it with great care."
"You, don't come any closer, you can't kill me!"
What familiar dialogue. Bai Cha touched her chin, finding it somewhat amusing.
"I didn't do anything, you can't..." Mercury tried to retort, but seeing Bai Cha's increasingly dangerous aura, he fearfully fell silent.
"I advise you to speak carefully. I've been the leader of the shadows for so long; I'm more familiar with criminal investigation than you are." Bai Cha could only repeat what she had said to Leo, a hint of annoyance in her voice. "You're only wearing down my patience like this."
"It's all her fault, it's her fault! She was already in the top ten, what's wrong with her giving us one spot!" In his extreme fear, Mercury blurted out his anger, "You promised you'd make way for Freya, so she only needed to challenge you. So why couldn't she lose to me."
"Because I said I would fight for a good ranking for her. So you wanted her to forfeit, to give up a spot in the top ten. After all, last year's balance beam had four spots in the top ten, but this year, it's likely only Asteria will remain." Bai Cha continued, "Furthermore, with the balance beam declining and resources becoming scarce, you wanted Freya to forfeit for better benefits. But Freya disagreed, and thus you harbored murderous intent."
Bai Cha: "Because if she forfeited, you would be in the top ten, and the veterans who were knocked out of the top ten would lose face. Little did you know Freya wouldn't budge."
"That's only natural! We are a whole, so shouldn't she sacrifice some benefits for us!" Mercury roared. "You're willing to sacrifice for her in the World Championship last year, so why isn't she willing to sacrifice for us!"
"...Because I disagree." Bai Cha's expression turned cold. With a flip of her wrist, she severed Mercury's limbs, scoffing dismissively. "Your resistance before death is so unoriginal. You all need me to act to make you behave."
"You... what do you mean!" Mercury's face contorted in pain, his cheeks twitching. He glared fiercely at Bai Cha. "She's from the balance beam!"
"I'm also from the balance beam. Why didn't you come to me?" Bai Cha chuckled. "You simply saw Freya as easy to bully. Who knew this soft persimmon would be so tough? So you killed her."
"Never mind. Scum doesn't need to understand too clearly. You just need to be responsible for disappearing from this world." Bai Cha raised her katana, its cold glint flashing.
"I, I'm not the mastermind, I don't deserve to die!" Mercury shouted. "I was merely an observer."
"An observer...? Indeed. You were only responsible for the drugging." Seeing Mercury's shrinking gaze, Bai Cha laughed. "You might not have noticed, but when you touch a teacup, your ring finger subconsciously touches the rim and other points, forming a subtle pattern. That's a habit from your combat."
No one was more perceptive than Bai Cha. The more pain she was in, the calmer Bai Cha became. And at this moment, Bai Cha's calmness had reached its peak.
"Oh, of course, you don't have the brains for this. You were only responsible for providing a body, and this process was completed by your second personality, wasn't it?" Bai Cha sneered. "Gemini Mercury, the male personality handles combat, and the female personality handles scheming. It's a shame that due to your psychological and personality distortions, you'll never reach the pinnacle in this lifetime."
"Wait, don't kill me, you can't kill me! Freya wouldn't want you to do this if she were alive! You have to let me go!" Seeing Bai Cha's seriousness, Mercury was truly terrified. He roared at the top of his lungs, trying to attract attention and rescue. "Freya is so kind, she wouldn't want you to go mad for revenge, would she! And she didn't resist, you must have discovered it!"
"...I really think you can change your lines." Bai Cha's smile was strange. "I think you're overcomplicating things. I'm simply unhappy because you killed her."
"..." Mercury.
"Yes, that's right. Why should I obey her will? I'm just here for revenge. Why should I let you go just because she doesn't want me to?" Bai Cha sighed helplessly. "She was mine. You killed her without my permission, and that made me very unhappy. I'm just here to vent my anger."
"...Molly! Didn't you say you could help me get acquitted!" Mercury's face was distorted.
"Shut up, you idiot. If you hadn't insisted on joining forces with those idiots, would I have been implicated by you!" Mercury's voice became high-pitched again, sounding like a female voice.
"You didn't object either, you tacitly agreed!" Mercury switched back to his male voice, appearing as if the two personalities within him were arguing.
Suddenly, the world fell silent.
The second personality was merely a soul. Ordinary objects couldn't touch it. Yet, the moment the sharp katana pierced Mercury's heart, Mercury felt a lightness in his chest, as if something was missing.
Looking up, his second personality was impaled on the tip of the sword, with specks of light oozing from the pierced area.
"Let's not argue for now. I think you still need to make me happy."
"Perfect, two personalities. That means double the happiness."
The World Championship was drawing to a close.
During this period, there was a palpable sense of unease. Everyone could sense the subtle shift in atmosphere.
First, Bai Cha exuded an almost unbearable aura of aggression, a dark and bloody aura that made ordinary people uncomfortable when they approached.
Second, Freya from the balance beam had disappeared. Or rather, when people wanted to find Freya to rein in Bai Cha's increasingly erratic behavior, they couldn't find her. Xiang Nan, with his keen eyes, was the first to notice a gray crystal flower on the blood-red crystal of Bai Cha's necklace.
Finally, there was the balance beam. Their ranking continued to drop, not because they were weak, but because some people inexplicably withdrew from the competition. If they didn't show up for an hour, they were automatically forfeited. In this way, the balance beam slid down the rankings, and anyone could see that something was amiss.
In fact, the balance beam was in disarray. The consecutive disappearances of their members made everyone on the balance beam feel a sense of impending doom. However, whether they were vigilant individually or in groups, the members of the balance beam continued to dwindle. Only by judging from the somber statues could it be inferred that those people had likely met with misfortune.
"Asteria, what exactly do you want to do! Aren't you an adversary of Bai Cha? Aren't you going to stop her!" in the corridor, Freya and Asteria faced each other, the atmosphere tense and adversarial.
Freya was as noble and elegant as ever. She looked exactly like Freya, wearing the same style of clothing. As Freya's older sister, Freya's attire was pink, while hers was entirely gold.
Asteria remained silent. He was on his way to the competition venue.
Today was the final overtime match. Last time, he had burned himself to a draw with Athena. Now, an additional match was required. The after-effects of burning his life meant he could only unleash his final restrictions and give it his all.
In his world, there was no such thing as admitting defeat without a fight.
With only half an hour until the match, Freya was blocking his path, making him irritable.
"Asteria, no, should I call you Bai Shu? Are you still thinking about your niece?" Freya became even more indignant as Asteria ignored her. She extended her hand, blocking Asteria's path. "I'm telling you, your silence makes you an accomplice, and you deserve to die!"
"Mm, I understand. Anything else you'd like to say."
Asteria pushed Freya's hand aside. His cold and calm expression was remarkably similar to Bai Cha's. In a trance, Freya thought the person in front of her was Bai Cha.
Damn it, why is he acting like this!
Furious, Freya returned to her room and slammed the door shut, grabbing the doorframe and violently swinging it shut to vent her anger.
As soon as the door closed with a loud bang, Freya's face, which had been flushed with anger, suddenly turned deathly pale.
A young girl leaned against the wall behind the door. Her long black hair was beautifully silken, making the few strands of white hair interspersed within it all the more striking. Despite this, dressed entirely in black and holding a katana, the girl was so indifferent, like a god of death.
"Don't be so nervous, Miss Freya. I thought you were mentally prepared. After all, there's an old saying in China that I'm sure you've heard."
"It is, 'Retribution may be delayed, but it will never be denied.'"
"Or, in other words, everything has its order, doesn't it?"