Free Web NovelChapter 276: Chapter 279: Who Told You I Was Just a System?
"No, I don’t suspect you’re lying to me."
Felix Preston’s expression was grim as he said deliberately, "I suspect your informant investigated the wrong thing."
He was being subtle, but Renee Sinclair knew exactly what he meant.
She hesitated for a moment before asking, "Are you so sure the information Jude Quinn gave you is real?"
Felix Preston: "I have something on Jude Quinn that could destroy him. Do you think he’d dare lie to me?"
"..." Renee Sinclair was silent.
Felix Preston’s lips twitched into a brief smirk. "Any one of the secrets I have on Jude Quinn could land him in prison for the rest of his life. How would he dare lie to me? Besides, I already sent a bunch of guys to rough him up. He’s a coward who’s afraid of death and even more afraid of pain. There’s no way he has the backbone to deceive me."
"So, Renee, you’d better take a good look at the informant who’s feeding you information."
"...I understand." Renee Sinclair’s breathing grew heavy. "Felix, are you heading to Kyloria now?"
Felix Preston: "I’m already on my way to Kyloria."
"Okay. Send me your location when you get there. I’ll bring some people to help." Renee Sinclair said with a light laugh. "I’m hanging up. Time to go deal with someone."
"Yeah." Felix Preston nodded and hung up.
BEEP—
A sharp dial tone sounded from the receiver. Renee Sinclair lowered her phone and called out, her face devoid of expression, "System."
"Host, I am here," a mechanical female voice instantly replied in Renee Sinclair’s mind.
Renee Sinclair asked in a flat tone, "You heard what Felix Preston just said, didn’t you?"
"..." The mechanical female voice was silent for two seconds before replying:
"I heard. What is it, Host?"
Renee Sinclair was in no mood to beat around the bush. She asked directly, "So, why did you deliberately give me false information?"
"Haha." The mechanical female voice laughed twice, its tone breezy. "Host, you’re the one who exchanged for this information from the system’s back-end. What does it being true or false have to do with me?"
"’Nothing to do with you?’" Renee Sinclair retorted. "’But I seem to recall that you’re the one who delivers every piece of information I redeem.’"
"As the middleman, isn’t there a chance you’re manipulating things?"
The mechanical female voice was perfectly calm. "Host, I am merely a system responsible for assisting you in completing your mission. I am completely incapable of any back-end manipulation. Besides, a system like me would have no reason to deliberately switch your information."
"Heh..." Renee Sinclair let out a cold, mocking laugh. "No reason? Hasn’t your motive been there all along?"
"Aren’t you desperate to see Charlotte Shaw dead?"
The mechanical female voice: "But aren’t you the one refusing to let her die? I gave you so many suggestions, none of which you accepted. Aren’t you the one who would rather die than let her be harmed?"
"Host, you lied to me, too."
A single, airy sentence laid bare the lies between them.
Renee Sinclair froze for a second, then smiled.
"So you’re admitting it, then? You deliberately fed me that fake information?"
The mechanical female voice: "And are you admitting your promise to successfully romance Felix Preston and complete the mission was also a lie, then?"
"..."
Renee Sinclair’s eyes narrowed, a vicious glint appearing within them.
"So you figured out I was lying to you, and that’s why you deliberately swapped out the information I redeemed?"
The mechanical female voice: "Host, you humans have a saying: ’an eye for an eye.’ I was simply doing to you exactly what you did to me. Why are you angry?"
Renee Sinclair leaned back, sinking lazily into the sofa. "I’m not angry. I just can’t figure something out."
The mechanical female voice: "What can’t you figure out?"
Renee Sinclair: "Why are you so dead set on killing Charlotte Shaw?"
"..." The mechanical female voice didn’t answer.
She asked again, "Aren’t you just a cold piece of high-tech machinery? How can you develop a murderous intent toward an innocent person? Did you run into a bug in your programming?"
The mechanical female voice: "...Who ever told you I was just a cold piece of machinery?"
"Huh?" Renee Sinclair was dumbfounded. "...You’re not?"
The mechanical female voice: "I never said I was just a cold piece of machinery."
Renee Sinclair frowned, her gaze turning wary. "If you’re not a system, then what are you?"
"That’s not your concern," the mechanical female voice said, offering no real explanation. "Host, you only need to answer me this: do you or do you not want Charlotte Shaw to die?"
"Hmph." Renee Sinclair lifted her chin proudly, deliberately adopting a defiant stance. "I. Do. Not! I refuse to let Charlotte Shaw die!"
The mechanical female voice paused. When it spoke again, its tone was laced with venom.
"In that case, Host, don’t blame me for what comes next."
Renee Sinclair knew what "what comes next" entailed, but she wasn’t the least bit afraid.
"Do whatever you want. Be as nasty as you—"
Her cocky words were cut short by a sudden, excruciating pain.
It felt like an electric drill was boring into Renee Sinclair’s chest, the sharp bit tearing through flesh and blood, grinding her already fragile heart into a mangled pulp.
She clutched her chest and curled into a ball. Even as the agony blurred her consciousness, she clenched her jaw, refusing to make a single sound.
It was the dead of winter, the world blanketed in silver-white snow. A thick layer of frost etched patterns across the windowpanes.
Yet on the sofa, in the freezing cold, Renee Sinclair’s forehead was slick with hot sweat.
Her body trembled, the color draining from her face. But she kept her jaw clamped shut, absolutely refusing to give in.
After what felt like an eternity, the heart-stopping, bone-deep agony finally began to recede.
"Hah..." Renee Sinclair gasped for air, her limbs weak as she uncurled her body.
"Heh..." She let out a derisive laugh, speaking to the mechanical voice with contempt. "I thought you were really going to get nasty. Turns out that’s all you’ve got."
The mechanical voice’s tone was clearly vicious. "Host, there’s no need to pretend to be strong. I know a punishment like that is very painful."
"It is quite painful," Renee Sinclair agreed with a nod. "But so what? The most you can do is punish me once a day. As long as I can endure it, you’re completely powerless against me."
The mechanical female voice: "And you’re certain you can endure it?"
"Why couldn’t I?" Renee Sinclair took a deep breath and pushed herself into a sitting position on the sofa. "If I die, you get erased too. Our lives are bound together. Do you really dare to let me die?"
"..."
The mechanical voice was left speechless.
She snatched the car keys from the table and dragged her aching body toward the door.
The mechanical female voice: "Host, it’s true that I don’t dare let you die. But what makes you think this is my only way of tormenting you?"
Renee Sinclair shook her head in resignation. "Bring on whatever tricks you have. I’ll be ready."
"Hmph..." The mechanical voice let out a strange laugh, then suddenly changed the subject.
"Host, where are you going?"
Renee Sinclair couldn’t be bothered to lie. "To Kyloria. To save Charlotte Shaw."
