Ch. 811..820
A Cue for Love Chapter 811
Mouth Feeding
“What?” Disbelief was written on Steven’s face.
However, it didn’t seem like Luna was joking.
“Mr. Samuel’s condition is special. Therefore, extreme caution needs to be applied when administering his medicine.” She furrowed her eyebrows. “Unnecessary kindness like that will only cause him to suffer even greater pain.”
He asked, “What now, then?”
“I’m going to re-prescribe his medicine.” Her finger moved away from Samuel’s wrist.
After thinking for a while, she prepared his medicine.
“Mr. Samuel needs to be served his medicine immediately.” She stared at Steven and insisted, “I need to find all the necessary herbs as soon as possible.”
“I have an idea.” He grabbed her hand, but she gently pushed it away. “You…”
Luna lowered her head slightly and said, “You walk in front, Mr. Steven. I’ll follow behind.”
He withdrew his hand and awkwardly rubbed his nose before leading her to Natalie’s special room. It was a room meant only to store herbs.
“There are herbs here. See if the ones you need are in here. If not, I’ll think of something else.”
She could smell a lot of different herbs in the room after she walked in.
Each of the herb’s smells was unique. That guided her to the correct drawers and to find the herbs she needed. In just a short moment, she had gathered all the herbs she needed to prepare medicine for Samuel.
After she left the room, she took a few more glances at it. I heard Samuel used to learn medicine from Malcolm. Is that why he specifically prepared a room filled to the brim with rare herbs?
Luna was particular about the preparation of the medicine. She brewed the herbs inside the kitchen for an hour before pouring the extract into a small bowl.
Just as she picked up a spoon and looked as though she was going to take a sip, Steven stopped her. “What are you doing?”
“Can’t you tell? I’m feeding Mr. Samuel his medicine.” There wasn’t any shyness in her eyes. “He’s in a coma right now, and so he can’t drink the medicine himself. I need to feed it to him by mouth.”
Steven furrowed his eyebrows and exclaimed, “This… You can’t do this. How can you use your mouth to feed my brother his medicine?”
“What exactly are you thinking, Mr. Steven?” She stared at him coldly. “I’m a doctor, and he’s a patient. I’m doing this to save him.”
It wasn’t that he didn’t understand what she was saying. However, he couldn’t watch the woman feed medicine to his brother by mouth.
At that time, he didn’t understand something about himself. He thought he was protecting his brother on behalf of his sister-in-law. However, in reality, he just didn’t want to see her act so intimately with another man.
Steven declared coldly, “I said no.”
“Then what do you plan to do?”
“I’ll feed him.” He grabbed the bowl from Luna’s hand. “I’m his brother, so if anyone’s gonna feed him by mouth, it’s me, not you!”
When she heard that, she stood up and turned around. “I’ll leave it to you then, Mr. Steven.”
He stared at his unconscious older brother and at the medicinal extract in the bowl before taking a spoonful of it into his mouth. Then, with an unflinching look, he lowered his head, opened his brother’s mouth, and fed the medicine to his brother.
After it was done, he felt really complicated as he used the back of his hand to wipe his mouth.
“It’s done.”
“Okay.”
Only then did she turn back and check Samuel’s pulse again.
Moments later, she informed, “The two types of poison in his body have calmed down for now. However, the poison that’s rapidly aging his body needs to be treated as soon as possible. Based on his body’s condition, he’ll only survive for four more days even with the Garcia family’s medical skills.”
When Steven heard that, he was shocked. I really hope Natalie and Justin made good progress.
Chapter 812 Wake Up
Natalie was sleeping soundly inside the guest room of the Nichols residence.
Her fever gradually went down after the cold towel on her forehead was changed again and again.
In her hazy consciousness, she thought she smelled the aroma of food and saw Samuel’s large back. Is that Samuel? Only he will silently take care of me and spoil me every time I’m at my weakest.
“Samuel…” she softly uttered his name.
She thought he would turn back to look at her as he always did and stare at her with a loving look.
However, he didn’t turn back after she called him. Instead, he walked faster and faster, as though he didn’t want her to catch up.
In the end, she tripped and fell to the ground. Her knee was covered in blood, yet he coldly walked away from her and never turned back to look at her even once.
At that moment, Natalie woke up from her dream. The cold towel on her forehead fell down.
She grabbed her shirt and panted heavily. Ah, so it was just a dream. I know he’ll never abandon me no matter what, seeing how he’s so madly in love with me.
After she calmed down, she pulled the blanket away and left the bed. When she walked out of the guest room, she could smell a stronger aroma of food.
Upon descending the stairs and following the smell into the kitchen, she saw a man busy preparing food at the kitchen counter.
She knew he definitely wasn’t Samuel, but the man’s back resembled his. Tears began to well in her eyes out of her control and blurred her vision. If only he’s Samuel!
When Benjamin turned his head around, despite being busy, he saw Natalie staring at him with a face full of tears.
“What’s wrong with you?” He raised his eyebrow.
“It’s nothing.” She quickly wiped her tears away subconsciously when he saw her.
“It’s good that you’re awake. Food is almost ready.”
“No need.” Apathy returned to her eyes. “I’ve wasted a couple of hours by sleeping. I can’t waste any more time.”
He turned off the stove, walked toward her, and held her wrist. “You didn’t sleep or eat for days. Before you go looking for another clue, you’d better eat something!”
She glanced at the hand on her wrist and asked in a deep voice, “We’re at most just acquaintances, Mr. Millers, we’re not even friends. You don’t have any right to tell me what to do.”
He studied her sharp eyes and said, “I don’t, but I also don’t want to bring along a liability into Blaze’s base later, only to have you faint on me! Finding the base at Dellmoor is just the beginning! There will be a lot of traps there waiting for us. Going in is not as easy as you think! If you can’t see the problem you’ll cause by acting like this and get all upset at me, then I suggest you give up finding the antidote now!”
The only thing that was holding her together and driving her forward was her desire to find the cure.
She thought as long as she did her best, she would achieve her goal.
It wasn’t until Benjamin pointed that out that she realized relying just on her resolve wouldn’t be enough to find the cure. It would only bring forth her failure.
After a while, she opened her mouth. “Okay. I’ll eat.”
Both of them sat across each other in the dining room.
Sitting in front of them was a bowl of pasta.
Her eyes were blurred by the steam rising from the hot pasta. She ate her breakfast as though she was chewing wax.
It wasn’t that Benjamin’s cooking was terrible. It was just that she thought Samuel could do it better.
The main issue was that she wasn’t in the mood to enjoy the food. She just wanted to finish it as soon as possible to replenish her energy and continue to find any leads on the base.
Chapter 813 Disappointment
Benjamin stared at the depressed Natalie and pursed his lips silently.
After breakfast was over, both of them sat across each other in the study.
He crossed his arms and asked, “Did you search everything relating to the moon logo?”
“Mhm.” She nodded somberly. “I looked through everything related to the moon and other similar shapes and found nothing. No new leads on the secret compartment could be found.”
“Maybe we’re looking at the wrong direction?”
“No,” she replied resolutely. “Yara was shot because she betrayed Blaze. She also had a very good reason for telling the truth. The chances of her lying are next to nothing. The reason we can’t find anything is that we’re approaching this in the wrong way. We need to look deeper and further.”
Staring at the cold and headstrong woman in front of him, a glint of light flashed across his eyes. “All right. I’ll keep searching with you.”
Before she began her search, she went to the bathroom to freshen up.
After calming herself down, she returned to Yara’s bedroom.
It was most likely that Yara would hide some clues in the place she stayed the most often.
Benjamin searched through the room with Natalie.
Fearing that she would miss out on any important details, Natalie got down on the floor and searched under the bed.
She took a good look at it and found nothing. Just as she was standing up, she failed to realize he was right behind her, causing her forehead to knock into his chin.
“Ouch!” That caused both of them to fall to the ground.
Both of them stared into each other’s eyes. He could clearly see the face that was very close in front of him.
Her eyes were as clear as water, and her skin was silky smooth.
Embarrassment flashed across her eyes for a brief moment before disappearing. Her small hands propped her body up on both sides of his body, allowing her to lift herself away from him.
When her fragrant hair brushed his cheek, for some reason, he felt his heartstring being tugged along by her.
“I’m sorry…” He spoke in a deep voice.
Instead of saying anything, she stared in his direction with her full attention.
She pursed her lips silently and crawled toward him.
Benjamin glanced at her with confusion. What is she doing?
His gaze was fixed on Natalie as she crawled closer and closer to him. Because of the postures they were in, he could see her delicate body under her clothes in full view.
As she got closer to him, he felt his heart thumping louder and louder. “Natalie?”
When Natalie arrived at his side, she said seriously, “Don’t move.”
He was confused as he could feel her getting really close to him. The fragrance coming off her body was dancing in front of his nose.
His eyes slowly closed as he waited for her to get even closer. However, all he heard was a clicking sound coming from behind him.
In the next second, when he opened his eyes, he noticed she was already quite far away from him.
Still, he could feel his heart thumping like crazy at the left side of his chest, as though it just had a line of cocaine.
“Natalie, you—”
“Stop lying there and turn off the lights. I saw something.” She didn’t realize he was blushing so hard that blood almost dripped out of his ears.
That was because she was staring intently at the spots projected from the ceiling.
It was then he realized he had mistaken her intentions. The reason she approached him was that she wanted to flick the switch of the projector behind him.
It was just a misunderstanding, and yet, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed when he thought about what had happened.
Chapter 814 Decipher The Passcode
Benjamin stood up and turned off the light.
Suddenly, they could clearly see the light coming out of the projector covering the entire room.
The galaxy and its sea of stars were displayed for them to see. Natalie bit her red lips as her gaze swept across the brilliant stars littered across the projection. Her line of sight eventually arrived at the moon.
“Moon…”
“You?”
Instead of answering his question, she walked toward the position of the moon.
When she knocked on the surface, she could hear a crisp sound. That reinforced her suspicion that there was something hiding behind the wall. Could it be… Is this the secret compartment Yara mentioned?
An idea popped into her mind, prompting her to pay attention to the area surrounding the moon. There, she saw a statue of an angel blowing its nose.
When she paid close attention to it, she could see there was dust on the statue. However, it was obvious that the head had far more dust than the body and neck.
Logically, Yara wasn’t the type of person who would play with such a thing. Since there was a varying amount of dust on different parts of the statue, it must mean that the owner often touched the parts with less dust.
While Natalie’s train of thought ended there, she placed her hand on the statue’s neck. Just as she was about to lift it up, she realized the statue was glued to the surface of the table.
Since she couldn’t move it, she decided to turn it. The moment that she did, the sound of gears turning was heard from the cabinet next to the statue.
“It moved!” Joy flashed across her eyes.
Benjamin was shocked. He didn’t expect that she really did manage to find a clue about Blaze’s base based on the words “moon” and “secret compartment” alone.
The cabinet made a half revolution, revealing a brand new cabinet that was hidden behind the wall.
It looked new. It was most likely constructed not too long ago.
Natalie opened the drawers one by one and found only a map and a hard drive.
“I wonder if the computer here is monitored.” She picked up the two items and turned to Benjamin. “I suggest we leave this place and find a new computer to check out what’s inside the hard drive.”
He nodded.
Since they already found what they were looking for, they left the Nichols residence.
She brought him to the apartment she lived in when she just returned to the country. Once they were inside, she eagerly took out her laptop and connected the hard drive to it.
A box showed up on the screen asking for a password.
He furrowed his eyebrows when he saw that. “What is this, a riddle? Why are there so many hoops we need to jump through?”
“She’s someone who’s suspicious of everything, even toward her own blood relatives. The only person she could truly trust was probably herself.” Staring coldly at the flashing input symbol, Natalie continued, “And it’s exactly because of that she made a backup of things. The moment the mastermind planned to kill her, these clues will transform into her blade of revenge.”
Her blood relation to Yara was the tightest bond the heavens granted the both of them.
However, for her, she could only figure out Yara’s intention but never understand it.
She didn’t want to understand it either. Even though Yara knew she was dealing with the devil, she still chose to plunge into this mess. Winning and losing are both temporary. If one does not move on after obtaining one or the other, then they are doomed to live inside a crevice where they’ll never get the fulfillment of their desire.
Benjamin stared at her. “You seem to understand Yara a lot.”
“Not really.” She chuckled. “I’m just her elder twin sister.”
He was shocked at the revelation as his investigation did not reach there yet.
Before he could digest that information, her slim fingers swiftly danced on the keyboards. A string of green symbols began to appear on the computer screen.
Chapter 815 Horrible Experiments
Benjamin stared straight at Natalie’s face from the side.
While she had a really pretty face, there was definitely more to her than her looks.
When Blaze was hunting him down, he thought he was never going to open his eyes after closing them because he was losing too much blood. Yet, the woman in front of him miraculously appeared and saved him.
What she did at that moment she exceeded his expectation again.
Not only was she medically skilled, but she also knew how to crack computer codes.
After the green symbols stopped moving and the computer screen showed the password had been overridden, her furrowed eyebrows relaxed. Whew. Thank goodness I read my son’s hacker book when I was bored before.
She was so immersed in her joy of cracking the password that she didn’t realize the man in front of her was staring at her unmovingly.
When she accessed the hard drive, she saw two folders. One was named “video” while the other was “words”.
She subconsciously clicked on the latter and saw about thirty entries, all of them being Yara’s diary.
After clicking on the earliest entry, she began to read the content.
When she saw it was about Blaze, she confirmed the faction backing up Yara and Thomas was Blaze.
Aside from Blaze, there was another unfamiliar name, King.
“King? Who’s King?” she asked as she stared at the name.
Benjamin answered, “King is Blaze’s leader.”
Natalie furrowed her eyebrows. What kind of person is egotistic enough to call himself King? Whatever, be it Blaze or King, both of them are far more mysterious than I imagined.
She moved the mouse toward the “video” folder, clicked on it, and saw a dozen videos recorded by a phone.
After she randomly picked one to play, a video with low resolution popped up on the screen.
Because the camera kept moving while it was filming, the images were distorted.
As they watched the video, both of their eyebrows began to furrow intensely.
Even though they already knew what depravity Blaze was capable of, they were still shaken by the organization’s evil deeds when they watched it with their own eyes.
Countless amount of vagrants had their limbs in chains like they were animals as they were pushed into the medicinal vats.
More and more liquid poured into the vats until they were drowned alive.
Natalie was bewildered as she watched such a cruel scene unfold. What kind of sick experiment is this? Even if this kind of research yields invaluable data, it is cruel and inhumane.
It was then realization dawned on her. Is this why Granddad suddenly died in an accident? If he knew Blaze was building a biochemical laboratory like this in Dellmoor, then he definitely wouldn’t sit idly by. Is that why Blaze killed him? And yet, Thomas became a pawn of Blaze and took the Bayer family’s century-old business for himself so he could use another way to continue supporting Blaze’s evil deeds! I hated him for so long, yet I never knew he was at most just an accomplice. Blaze and its leader, King, are the real culprit.
Benjamin spoke somberly as he stared at the screen. “This is too dangerous. You need to hand me the information. I’ll go alone based on the leads.”
“No.” The look in her eyes turned cold as she retorted stubbornly, “We’ll go together. I have to get the antidote myself or I won’t feel at ease. There’s not much time left. We shall leave tomorrow.”
Chapter 816 Danger
Benjamin was surprised by Natalie’s decision and said, “Blaze’s destructive capabilities are beyond your imagination. I suggest you better think things through!”
“There’s nothing to think about. I’ve already made my decision,” she replied plainly as she stared at him unwaveringly. “Right now, I need to go through the rest of the diary entries and videos.”
He furrowed his eyebrows. I have no idea what this woman is thinking. She watched the video Yara took earlier, yet she still insisted on going. I don’t know if she’s brave or stupid.
Since he couldn’t stop worrying about her and also wanted to pay a visit to Blaze’s evil den at Dellmoor, he accompanied her as she studied the map and the diary.
Natalie flipped through the diary.
Aside from reading about information regarding Blaze, she also saw just how much Yara hated her.
She knew Yara despised her, but at that moment, she found hints pointing to the reason why.
One of the entries read: “So Thomas made a promise with that devil a long time ago. The vagrants in the city streets are the base’s perfect lab rats! That woman probably knew about it when she left for the countryside. Yet, she abandoned me here! If that woman had brought me with her instead of Natalie, I probably wouldn’t have been this unlucky! In that scenario, Natalie will be the one to inherit that hellish base instead of me! I’ve already sold my soul to Satan. My future has already been determined for me. I hope that one day when this diary is found by someone, it’ll lessen my sin.”
Natalie once hated Yara for everything the latter did, but after reading the diary, she learned the reason behind those heinous acts. I didn’t know she had to endure so much pain. I guess even the most despicable person has their own sad stories to tell.
That night, she slept late because she was making detailed preparation.
The next day, before she left, she gave Steven a call.
“What’s your brother’s condition right now, Steven?” She couldn’t stop worrying about Samuel.
Steven stood at the side of the window and glanced at Samuel on the bed, who had aged significantly. “He’s still aging rapidly. He now looks like a sixty-year-old man.”
“Sixty years old…” she repeated as she felt suffocated.
Knowing that might hurt Natalie emotionally, he quickly continued, “My grandfather had invited a doctor from the Garcia family. She had served him medicine that will buy more time for you to look for the antidote.”
“Mhm.”
“Justin just called and said he didn’t find any leads for now…” He really wanted to ask about her progress, but after hesitating for a long while, he didn’t.
She noticed his desire to speak and said, “There’s not much progress on my side for now. I’ll do my best.”
After hanging up the phone, she turned around and saw Benjamin staring at her.
Her eyebrows furrowed. “What are you looking at me like that for?”
“Are you really a woman? Do you even know what the word ‘danger’ means?” He had already shaved his beard, which made him look much more refreshing and handsome. However, there was a somber look in his eyes.
“Gender has nothing to do with danger.” She retorted, “Everything has its own risk. The important point is if that risk is worth it. As long as I can get that antidote, I don’t care if I die or not!”
“I can’t get through you, can I?” He slowly moved his line of sight away from her.
“Then don’t.” Natalie stared intensely as she replied somberly. “I’m satisfied as long as I can hit a bullseye on my goal.”
In the past, Samuel used his life to protect and take care of her.
It was her turn to do the same.
When she thought about that, she clenched her finger tightly and swore in her mind. Please wait for me, Samuel. I promise I’ll save you.
Chapter 817 Resolve
Natalie gave Ross a call before she moved out.
Ross had already prepared everything she asked for and sent it to her.
It was then she realized she was still lacking something.
However, it was something that not even Ross or Yandel could get their hands on.
It was something that only the Bowers family could get for her.
She called Billy in the car. “Billy, it’s me.”
“What is your order, Ms. Nichols?” His voice sounded tired.
That was because he had been making sure Centurion Corporation was running smoothly while Justin and Steven were busy going around finding the antidote for Samuel’s poison. Doing that for days had completely drained his energy.
“I want you to prepare…”
“Isn’t this too dangerous?” He took a deep breath when he heard the amount of the thing she asked him to prepare.
“Mhm.” She didn’t deny its danger and continued, “However, I’m not your superior, Billy. If you don’t want to do it, it’s fine. I’ll find another way.”
“That is not what I meant,” he hastily replied. “I’m just worried the things you want will hurt you.”
Natalie lowered her eyes as a cold look flashed across them. “Don’t worry, I have a plan. I won’t hurt myself with it.”
“Okay. I understand. I’ll ask Weston to prepare it.”
“I’ll send you the address later. Remember, you need to make sure no one finds out about this and do it fast. It must be done by sunset.”
“Understood.”
After the call ended, Benjamin, who was sitting in the driver’s seat, shot a glance at her silently. This woman does things so thoroughly that it’s flawless. Even though she knows she’s jumping into a lion’s den, there isn’t any fear in her eyes. On the contrary, she’s so meticulous that it’s ridiculous.
It was rare that he was ever that impressed by a woman. His dark eyes were fixed on her small, stunning face. The edge of his lips was curving upward unknowingly.
After Natalie hung up the phone, she realized the jeep wasn’t moving. Is he daydreaming or chickening out?
She turned toward him with a tinge of displeasure in her eyes.
It was then he realized he had been staring at her for way too long. He promptly stepped on the gas pedal.
“Why aren’t you telling your people where you’re going?” he couldn’t help but ask.
“Didn’t you say it’s dangerous?” She lowered her head. “Besides, if the main force dies in the first wave, there won’t be enough people for the second wave.”
The car suddenly slowed down, which caused her to glare at him. “What are you doing, Benjamin?”
“Are you really not afraid of death?”
“Of course I’m afraid!” she exclaimed loudly. “Please stop using your male-centric perspective to judge me! In this world, both men and women are equally human. Both have things they want to protect with their life! Instead of keep questioning my resolve, I suggest you spend some time thinking about how to hide from the people on the base and dodge the traps. “
Benjamin did want to use that kind of relentless questioning to dissuade Natalie, but he realized her resolve was already steeled.
Seeing her like that, he could do nothing but continue to drive toward Coldbridge.
Both of them stayed silent for the rest of their journey.
They were the same kind of people. After they learned how dangerous Blaze’s base was, they unanimously chose to go in alone.
The jeep stopped at the side of the road before they hopped onto a bus and headed to the biggest theme park in the city.
When they arrived at the entrance, both of them exchanged a look.
Darkness and light existed on both sides of the same coin. Who could’ve thought that such a happy theme park was a spot for dark, inhuman dealings?
Chapter 818 Contraption Games 1
After they bought a ticket, they went into the theme park.
According to the diary’s description, there were two entries to Blaze’s den.
They picked the more covert one, which was located at the theme park’s northern district theater. There was a passageway under the theater that was connected to the base.
Both of them had no interest in playing at the theme park. They were simply waiting for the theater to open its doors.
The doors were opened at ten sharp in the morning.
Both of them walked in.
A clown caked in make-up suddenly jumped in front of Natalie to give her a surprise. “Surprise!”
She merely nodded coldly.
Seeing how the clown couldn’t give the balloon in his hand away, he rubbed his nose awkwardly on the spot.
“Your girlfriend’s really cool-headed, huh?” The clown grumbled in Benjamin’s direction.
He glanced at her while she answered coldly, “I’m not his girlfriend!”
The clown was speechless.
She walked in with furrowed eyebrows. Benjamin swiftly followed behind her.
After she went in, she realized she might have acted too rudely at the clown. However, when she imagined Samuel being a frail old man, worry rushed into her mind.
“You may look calm, but you’re actually pretty anxious right now.” He pointed it out coldly.
“You don’t need to care about me.” Natalie slowly turned back to him and answered, “I know you’re doing this for my own good, but you’re not me. You don’t know how I feel. I must obtain the antidote. It doesn’t matter if I’m calm or anxious, dead or alive, as long as I can get the cure.”
In the past, she didn’t know how to love someone.
Samuel melted the armor around her heart away bit by bit and taught her what it felt like to be loved.
She knew Benjamin was questioning her again and again because he was worried. He wanted to let her know that she could quit if it was too much for her to handle. After all, the clues that Yara left behind did highlight the danger lurking in every corner of the base.
However, at that moment, there was no doubt she was going to reject his kindness.
Natalie turned away from Benjamin’s gaze and walked into the theater with the crowd.
Both of them headed straight for the side passageway at the side of the theater.
There was a sign saying “authorized personnel only” and a surveillance camera was sitting at the top of the passageway.
Both of them were prepared for that. Benjamin pulled out the electromagnetic jammer before sticking it to the wall with bubblegum. That way, the surveillance cameras would get stuck in the previous image.
They swiftly headed inside and entered a room with mirrors and a giant doll.
She recalled Yara mentioned in her diary that the room had no surveillance cameras. However, they would need to complete a challenge. The diary didn’t say anything about what the challenge was or how to complete it.
The giant doll was wearing Chanaean clothing and a hat. It was well-dressed.
It had big eyes, thick eyelashes, and a tall nose. She couldn’t help but be slightly frightened by the doll that was twice her size and had big eyes made of glass.
“Hahaha! Play with me.” The doll’s sudden laughter filled the room.
It sent a chill down both of their spines.
Perhaps the doll wasn’t just for decoration and had something to do with the mechanism that unlocked the secret passageway.
Natalie approached the doll and observed it carefully. While the doll looked real, it was fake.
Suddenly, the mirrors began projecting images of different dolls as the giant doll continued to talk in a sweet but creepy voice. “Find a friend! Find a good friend, give a bow, and hold its hand! You are my best friend! One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight. Where’s the ninth friend?”
Chapter 819 Contraption Games 2
Even though it was a familiar children’s lullaby, the doll managed to make it sound creepy.
Natalie stared into the giant doll’s empty eyes and gritted her teeth. “What is this ludicrous contraption? Why is there an authentication method like this? I don’t understand why it’s so convoluted!”
Benjamin explained, “It’s not weird that King designs a contraption like this. Blaze rarely ever does anything in a predictable way. King claimed himself as the creator and that nothing escapes his grasp. The reason he put such a contraption in the theme park’s theater is to mess with anyone who barges in here. He intentionally uses this kind of method to torture people’s minds. If we can’t give him the answer he wants, not only will we fail to enter the base, but we may also die here! He’s an arrogant, egotistical, and absurd man!”
The longer Natalie stared at the creepy doll, the more she felt King was a pervert through and through.
“Pay attention to the lyrics,” Benjamin reminded in a low voice. “We need to find the ninth friend to pass through here.”
She was complaining about how crazy the game was in her mind. However, she had no choice but to listen carefully to the voice.
“Where’s the ninth friend? If you can find the ninth friend, we can go and play in the next area! You can help me, right? If you can’t find my friend, you’ll have to stay here and accompany me!” The doll’s sweet voice was so sweet that it gave them goosebumps.
Benjamin shot her a glance and walked toward the door to open it. However, the door was already locked.
“It’s locked,” he informed. “If we can’t pass this stage, then we’ll be trapped here. We got two possible outcomes. Either we die of hunger here or we get killed by other contraptions in the room.”
Natalie tightened her fist. Now I know why Yara didn’t leave any clues about this room. There are two entries to the base. She must’ve usually gone through the other one. There is tight security there while this one is well-hidden. She only knows about the existence of this passageway and nothing else about it because she has never come here before. In any case, we’re already here. Whether we wanted it or not, there’s no turning back for us.
“All right, Benjamin. Let’s find that ninth friend.” She stared at the giant doll. “Only then will we be able to enter the secret passageway.”
Benjamin was getting less and less surprised by her behavior. This woman cannot be judged by conventional standards. She’s braver and more intelligent than most men.
“Mhm,” he replied.
The whole room was about thirty square meters. The giant doll took up a third of the room while the rest was occupied by the mirrors.
All projections of the dolls in the mirrors had different appearances.
“One, two, three, four… There’s nine.” She pursed her lips. “One of the nine dolls here is the ninth friend the giant doll is looking for. We got a one-in-nine chance to pick the right one, but I bet the contraption only allows us to pick once. The entrance to the secret passageway must be hiding behind one of these mirrors. If we push open the wrong one, we die.”
Benjamin nodded in agreement and approached the first one.
The projection in front of the first mirror was a male doll in a red checkered outfit. It blinked and informed, “The friend you’re looking for is the fourth one to my right.”
Natalie approached the second mirror next to him. The projection was showing a female doll wearing a pink princess dress. It cried, “The friend you’re looking for is me!”
The third was a male doll in an overall. It said, “Hehe! It’s not me! It’s the second one to my left!”
They went through the dolls one by one until they reached the final one.
Everything the dolls said didn’t seem to have any connection with each other on the surface.
Chapter 820 Contraption Games 3
Benjamin knitted his brows, not knowing what those dolls were implying.
He had no idea who told the truth and who lied. There were altogether nine dolls, but it was difficult to determine who was the friend that the giant doll was looking for.
After falling into deep thought for a moment, Benjamin looked at the dolls in the mirror. The way they gaped and shut their mouths repeatedly was about to drive him mad.
Upon noticing his reaction, Natalie said in an icy voice, “Cover one of your ears.”
Benjamin gave her a confused look.
“They’re disrupting your mind with the beta waves.” A sharp glint flashed across Natalie’s eyes. “The music and the children’s voices contain beta waves that would cause you to hallucinate. The beta waves will continuously convince you that you’ve become an integral part of the fairytale and will not be able to escape from it.”
Benjamin instantly covered one of his ears and asked her, “How did you know all this?”
“I’ve studied this before.” Natalie looked into the man’s eyes and said, “The structure of my ears is different from that of ordinary humans, and I’m able to distinguish the different types of waves. They can’t affect me because I’m used to being exposed to them.”
What? That’s crazy!
Once again, Benjamin’s jaw dropped upon hearing what Natalie uttered.
On the other hand, Natalie kept mum, but there were countless thoughts running through her mind.
She had finally learned how twisted King was.
Judging from the tricks he played, she could tell that King was a meticulous person.
Sh*t!
It’s like we’re insects trapped in a jar—the subject of his experiment. He’ll lock us in as long as he can so that he can torture us.
Benjamin heeded Natalie’s advice and covered one of his ears.
Sure enough, he felt much better after that, and he could tell that the dolls were mere projected images.
“Is it possible that some of the dolls might be telling the truth?” Benjamin asked a hypothetical question. “What if one of them told the truth and the remaining eight uttered nonsense? We might be able to work out the logic and find the doll that told the truth?”
“I agree,” Natalie replied casually, “but I don’t think that’s what we should focus on.”
“What?” Benjamin frowned.
“I have the answer.”
“What did you say?” Benjamin could not believe his ears.
Before Benjamin could react, Natalie walked to the fifth mirror and shoved the flat reflecting surface aside.
All of a sudden, the entire room started shaking.
One might find it hard to believe that this kind of room would exist in a theater.
Meanwhile, the circus troupe in the theater continued performing, with fireworks and confetti showering the stage. Both children and their parents were thrilled to watch the extravagant performance.
None of them noticed the dramatic changes in the room beside the stage.
As the room continued trembling, Natalie began to wobble.
When Natalie thought she was about to fall, Benjamin, who stood beside her, caught her in the nick of time.
Natalie had no choice but to rely on the man to steady herself.
Benjamin could feel the woman fall onto his chest involuntarily.
Such intimacy instantly evoked a strange yet familiar feeling, but it was not the right time for him to reminisce about the long-lost affection.
A few seconds later, a walkway surfaced at the fifth mirror’s initial location.
Once Natalie was able to stand on her own feet, she immediately pulled herself away. “Thanks!”
Her reaction caused the already conflicted Benjamin to be even more overwhelmed by mixed feelings.
“Why the fifth mirror, though?” Benjamin wondered.
“The things that the dolls said are not important,” Natalie explained. “There are nine of them, so if the doll wants to befriend others, it can only make eight friends.”
She explained further, “Be it right or wrong, the so-called ninth friend would be the doll itself. In other words, we only need to find that particular doll. The fifth doll is the answer because it has a mole on the bottom of its left eye like the other giant dolls.”