VIP Chapter 546: The Ransom Note (3k)
“This… This here… What is this…” Iaar gasped, taking in a sharp breath.
Her mental fortitude wasn’t poor, but even so, seeing the thing placed inside the box made her jump.
An eyeball.
A living “eyeball.”
It didn’t look “dead.” Its pupils weren’t dilated, and she could even feel its “gaze,” the highlight within its iris. It simply lay in the box as if it were staring back at her.
“Did the Death Hall send this?”
Treya appeared more composed. She had seen too many “nightmares” on the demon’s side; a moving eyeball wasn’t that remarkable. However, even so… she still shifted her gaze away from the eyeball.
“Mmm…” Iaar hadn’t expected that receiving a “package” for Will, a package sent through the Adventurer’s Guild’s internal channels, would be something like this. She held the “lid” of the opened box, and clearly written on it in red were the four large characters for “Death Hall,” with no attempt at concealment.
“It’s… it’s moving? What kind of sickest hobby does that guy have?!” Liya found it difficult to accept. After standing on her tiptoes to glimpse inside the box, she sat back down. The black eyeball wasn’t “fake” nor was it “dead.” Within the box, it seemed to rotate with the slightest disturbance from the outside, as if observing this world from within the box. However, the bloodshot veins on the eyeball and the black pupils that seemed to reflect everyone’s shocked expressions were unmistakably “alive.”
“So, Daisianwei, why… why did she send an eye?” Lucifer couldn’t bring herself to look directly. She didn’t even peek like Liya did; she sat obediently on her chair, only listening to the others discuss.
“Hmm… Because, this is…” Will brushed past the group and reached directly into the box.
“That… Dear, are you… are you sure you want to…” Iaar couldn’t stop him. He directly reached in and grabbed the living eyeball from the box.
“Shuna’s eye.” Not only was he calm, but he seemed rather interested as he raised it, looking at the eyeball. He seemed to have just realized that eyeballs had no “temperature.” Holding it in his hand, he felt a faint coolness. But as it rotated, it felt like a murky glass sphere, with an odd, slippery sensation. In his palm, the black eye stopped spinning the moment it saw him. It was as if it had raised its head to meet his gaze, fixating on Will. Observing Will from every angle.
Likewise, Will’s deep blue eyes were observing every detail of this eyeball. He met its gaze without any reluctance, looking at its obsidian-like color and the “determined” gaze that was uniquely Shuna’s, visible even after being removed from her head. Just a glance was enough for him to know these were the eyes of Shuna Kinkaku-ji, even if she were dead.
“Wait… How, how could it be Shuna-sister’s… Ah! Right… Those… those black eyes… they are indeed… hers… Ugh…” Among everyone present, Lucifer reacted the most strongly. Just seeing the black eyes, she understood whose they were and why they were “alive.” She even felt waves of nausea rising from her stomach.
“Lucifer, you should probably keep your distance for now. But… hmm, observing it up close like this, it is indeed her eye.” Regarding Will’s casual handling of the “eye” of the girl he clearly liked, Lucifer didn’t know which aspect frightened her more. Was it… the Empress of the Death Hall who sent this item? Or Will himself, who was so nonchalant upon receiving it?
“Wait a moment, can someone tell me? Who is Shuna?”
“Oh. Senior seems to have had no contact with her… I haven’t mentioned her either. Simply put, she’s the lover I fought alongside in the past? She’s currently undercover in the Death Hall.”
“Another one you’ve acquired… Hmm…” Iaar sized up everyone present, hesitating for a few seconds before uttering the next word, “Lover?” Then, Iaar realized that the casual tone with which Will said it didn’t quite sit right.
“Undercover… So Miss Shuna went to do that, no wonder she hasn’t appeared for so long… Wh-wh-what?! Wait, undercover?!” Iaar herself realized what the sent eyeball meant halfway through her sentence. “Since this eyeball was sent here, doesn’t that mean her undercover identity has been exposed?”
Liya held her forehead. “Yes. Sending a part of our ‘undercover’ operative’s body to us is a blatant threat.”
Treya’s tone held a hint of anger as she looked at the eyeball again. “There’s no accident. Rather… Shuna should have been prepared to be discovered when she went undercover there. After all, Daisianwei isn’t stupid—and the fact that I’m alive caused too much of a stir.”
Will turned the eyeball in his hand for a while longer. Then, he slowly placed it back in the box.
“…”
After this entire process, the atmosphere in the room became exceptionally “heavy.” Will remained silent, gazing at the eyeball as if deep in thought. Iaar, Liya, and Treya instantly looked at each other. Iaar instinctively looked at Treya, Liya instinctively looked at Iaar, and Treya instinctively looked at Liya. Then… realizing they were all looking at each other, they shifted their gaze to the center of the table between the three of them. Though unspoken, all three knew one thing… that the woman they were least familiar with, and perhaps could even be called the most “disliked,” was now in “danger.”
Of course, given Shuna’s undercover role, they were unaware of the specifics. They were also unfamiliar with the Death Hall, so more than Shuna, they wanted to understand… Will. The Will who cared the most. His current overly “calm” demeanor was a stark contrast to how they had seen him act when they themselves were in danger, especially life-threatening situations. He would be anxious, he would immediately try to find a solution, and he would rush to save them. But his current excessive “calmness,” even with a faint smile at the corner of his lips, under his golden spectacles, behind those clear lenses, Will’s deep blue eyes remained fixed on the eyeball placed in the box. It was too unnatural! It was precisely this unnaturalness that made the three of them even more worried.
— With Dear’s current mental state, he shouldn’t be “breaking down” so easily.
— What’s wrong with him? He wasn’t like this before. The more he’s “calm” like before, the more worrying it is, idiot.
— Will… He’s too strong, suppressing his emotions this way?
“What method did Daisianwei use to send this eyeball to us ‘alive’?” More than Shuna, whom she didn’t know, Iaar seemed more concerned with Daisianwei’s methods.
“The Death Hall, it’s too easy for them to tamper with death. Let alone this eyeball, she’s definitely still ‘alive’.”
“The person is alive, and she sent an alive eyeball. I can only assume that empress has an extreme taste for the macabre.”
“Handing it to me probably means she intends to hold Shuna ‘hostage’.” Will analyzed, then picked up the box lid and slowly closed it. “This eyeball is essentially a ‘ransom note.’ It signifies that Shuna is in Daisianwei’s hands, and she wants to use this method to control us—whether it’s for her to preemptively clear Zeroth Heaven, or to make us slow down our progress in dealing with her.”
His deductions were as smooth as ever. And finally, when he stopped reasoning—
“Daisianwei wants to tie our hands?! We definitely can’t let her succeed!”
“If that’s the reason, it does sound like something that empress would do. She mainly wants to… hmm… slow down our progress, and clear Treya’s dungeon faster, right?”
“It doesn’t matter. Precisely because of this, we must go to her and rescue Shuna.”
Though it was just a silent agreement, the three had reached a “consensus.” At this moment, they needed to say something that better expressed their firm resolve. Especially words that expressed their desire to save Shuna… After all, Will’s state seemed a bit off?
“Hmm…” Then, only at this point, as if suddenly remembering something, did a hint of “heaviness” finally appear on Will’s face. “Now that you mention it, this eyeball reaching my hands is quite strange. It’s Shuna, she wouldn’t easily allow herself to become a hostage. Unless…”
As Will murmured to himself, he unconsciously picked up his Adventurer’s Guild President’s badge from the table.
“I might have to go to the Guild. It’s okay. I should be back shortly.” Without further explanation, he turned and left the room.
“…?!”
*Slam.*
The door closed heavily, leaving the others inside the room.
“…”
Iaar and Lucifer were fine. They merely felt that Will’s current demeanor was slightly unusual. Lucifer, in particular, thought this might just be because he cared more about Shuna, and didn’t worry or find it strange. However… the other three felt differently—
“What’s going on? Dear actually… actually left so decisively? There must be something wrong, right?”
“Not ‘must be,’ there is definitely something wrong!”
“Although his initiative has always been high, but today… to be so indifferent to such a major event initially, and then leave without a word…”
“…” After Treya finished speaking, the three fell silent again. Although they didn’t know Shuna well, and hadn’t spent much time with her, they knew very clearly that Shuna was undoubtedly an “important” person to Will. Of course… no one would concede in “importance,” so to them, this “importance” was closer to… If they were the ones in danger, no matter how strange or worried Will acted, they would absolutely accept it. In the empty room, at least at this moment, the three had already considered Shuna as one of their own.
“Sorry. I also have something to take care of. If I can’t return in time, tonight’s play, Lucifer, I’m counting on you!”
“I have something too. Senior Iaar, I’ll leave the research to you later.”
“I just remembered, the Adventurer’s Guild needs me to check on something.”
Almost simultaneously, the three stood up and headed for the door.
“Eh…? Wh-What play is this now?” And on the other side, Lucifer tilted her head, watching the four people who were just having a meeting, leave so abruptly.
“Perhaps that’s just youth.”
“Hey, I’m not that old am I!?”
