At this mont, they stood at the center of the world stage.
The elegantly dressed audience sat upright, reduced to a silent backdrop. The brilliant golden light poured down, and in an instant, under countless gazes, it transford into flying cards, swirling along the edge of the stage, shredding the silent storm and breaking through the curtain of rain as they soared into the sky!
Each card was gilt-edged, depicting a woman dressed in luxurious and noble attire. Her lips were red as blood, and a dark red rose blood from her eyes—it was the endless Queen of Hearts!
All sounds were suppressed,
at this mont,
silence was a colossal roar.
Tang Xin raised her eyes and t those clear eyes. The syllables trembled in her throat, and she wanted to softly call out the girl’s na but worried it was just her delusion. Until the girl’s voice penetrated the silent storm, resonating above the theater as "Storm Song" reached its climax.
"It’s ."
Xu Xiaoyou’s voice was like gentle streams at night, clearly echoing in her ears. Tang Xin’s gaze was crystal clear for a mont, yet quickly blurred, and she could only faintly see the golden hair floating in the silent storm.
Their eyes were each other’s eighth ocean; at this mont, the silent understanding surpassed all words, and they found all the answers and anings to their questions in each other’s eyes.
Before everyone could recover from the shock, a sudden change occurred!
From the judges’ seats, Zel, seated at the Withered Flower’s position, suddenly began to convulse violently. His decent suit elongated infinitely like a distorted image, transforming into an elegant tailcoat.
The man clutched his face in pain, black smoke emanated from him, forming a devil’s shadow behind him. Hard keratin grew from the corners of his eyes, quickly spreading densely over half of his face. The smiling Silence mask reflected a bizarre light.
The turbulent storm swept through the world once again, all sounds vanished into silence, and the grand performance’s conclusion needed only serenity, not ostentation.
"’Artist’!?"
On the stands, soone scread its na in terror, and in the next mont, their head was smashed by an invisible hand hovering over the theater, blood and pale bone debris, creamy brain matter flew, filling the entire seat.
"Shhh..."
"Artist" gestured for silence, sitting motionless in place.
Even with panic surging inside, no one dared to make the slightest sound, fearing that they would be the next to die.
At this mont, in the Tuning Hall on Shell Street, Katina slamd the desk and stood up in her office. The shock in her pupils vividly revealed her inner astonishnt.
"Damn, it’s the ’Artist’, how could it resurrect at this ti!"
This resurrection’s intensity approached that of its initial birth, with all of the city’s monitoring devices frantically alerting.
Even the super AI Mourner at the Cleaner Association headquarters’ Aurora Tower, millions of kiloters away, initiated the highest level five alarm, with many of the association’s top executives holding urgent etings beneath their bright red hair.
At this point, soone pushed open the Tuning Hall Chief’s office door, and Black Dog stord in with people from outside, slapping the desk: "Chief, quickly take people, there are still many students and tourists from around the world in Starry Arts Academy!"
Katina silently held her head, weighed her options, and suddenly made a decision: "Notify the whole hall, without my permission, no one is allowed to take people to Mount Olympus’ peak for rescue."
Black Dog couldn’t believe what he heard, wide-eyed: "Chief, what are you saying? Tens of thousands are trapped in that Opera House, are we just going to watch them get killed?"
"A large-scale operation requires an execution order signed by a Starry Gallery elder." Katina said, slowly sitting down, casually lifting the bitter coffee from the desk to drink.
"Are you kidding , Chief? All five elders including Belvedere are inside the theater, who can sign..." Black Dog realized what she intended mid-sentence, going silent.
Even if usually reckless, he could understand the situation before him: "What about the innocent people?"
No doubt, if all five elders including Belvedere died in this ’accident’, the entire upper power structure of the Star of Art would undergo a major reshuffle.
Perhaps this will beco the turning point for this city to reignite from the ashes, welcoming a rebirth.
Katina chuckled: "Who knows, maybe by doing this, everything will be different?"
"Perhaps more people will be saved, only sacrificing a small part."
For so reason, she recalled the blonde girl she t in the underground ruins not long ago. Before leaving, the "Dark Gold Rose" had whispered to her in a barely audible voice.
—"Would you sacrifice a few to save many?"
She hadn’t replied at the ti,
but now, she seed to understand what was in the other’s mind when they said those words.
As for the Life Daylight human rights organization and the association’s accountability, she already had an explanation, and even if she wanted to save them, what could she do?
Two Prism Tier Cleaners had barely killed the resurrected "Artist" before, at the cost of over a third of the King’s District turning to ruins, and she was prepared for the repercussions of reduced duties and fines.
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