A torrential downpour raged, the halos of neon signs bleeding through the rain-slicked streets of Tokyo. Yet only a singular flash of lightning from the heavens graced this abandoned building hidden in a remote corner.
At this very mont, within the darkness-shrouded floor.
From a distance, Ghost Bell stared motionlessly at Black Cocoon.
Black Cocoon, anwhile, hung upside down from the ceiling. He shifted his gaze away from his book, slowly turning his head to look at the uninvited guest who had suddenly appeared on the floor.
After giving the man a re glance, he lowered his eyes and resud flipping through the copy of "How to Get Rid of Negative Influences from Your Original Family" grasped in his hands.
A mont later, he spoke at a leisurely pace:
"Mr. Gu Zhuo'an, oh, wait... I should call you 'Mr. Ghost Bell' now... You certainly are punctual. I thought you would have already gone ho to beat your children. To think you still rembered a re outsider like . It is truly touching, so touching I could almost burst into tears."
Amidst the rumbling thunder, a fleeting flash of lightning once again illuminated the imposing figure standing in the center of the floor—wearing a tal helt emblazoned with a Z pattern, draped in a pitch-black cape, he slightly narrowed his crimson pupils, the corners of his eyes trailing a violent glint in the darkness.
Ghost Bell walked slowly toward Black Cocoon. Amidst the steady tap-tap of his footsteps, a heavy, magnetic tallic voice echoed from behind his mask:
"Tell , how do you know about those things?"
"What are you referring to?"
"Do not play dumb..." Ghost Bell's voice darkened.
Black Cocoon flipped a page with a soft rustle, suddenly struck by a realization. "Oh, I get it. You an: why do I know that you are having an affair with the Yakuza Boss Lady."
He scratched his chin. "But rather than that, I actually wanted to remind you: our pitiful little widow, Mr. Ghost Bell, has been grieving for five years. Finding a new girlfriend is not illegal, and your wife certainly will not climb out of her grave to kick your ass."
"Be a little bolder. Bravely embrace your new life, Mr. Ghost Bell."
As Black Cocoon's final words fell, Ghost Bell abruptly stopped in his tracks.
In that instant, it sounded as if a freight train ca roaring across the sky as thunder violently clapped. Lightning slashed through the dismal firmant, bringing a fleeting mont of daylight that briefly illuminated the motionless figure in the middle of the room.
By the ti the lightning faded, Ghost Bell had vanished from his spot.
The very next second, Ghost Bell's face was reflected in Black Cocoon's pupils, those violent, blood-red eyes re inches away.
He forcefully ripped Black Cocoon down from the ceiling, the movent as natural as grabbing a toy box off a convenience store shelf.
With a sharp snap, the restraining bands burst apart.
Imdiately after, Ghost Bell raised a hand, seizing Black Cocoon by the throat and slamming him against the wall. In a battle with such a massive disparity in level, there was no need to even use an ability; sheer strength and speed alone were enough to achieve the most pure, primal crushing of combat power.
"Why do you know so much about ... and the people around ?" Ghost Bell asked hoarsely, pronouncing each word with deliberate force.
Despite being choked by the neck with his legs dangling in midair, Black Cocoon's expression remained perfectly serene.
He looked at Ghost Bell with amusent and asked, "What are you so angry about, and why are you so unsettled, Mr. Ghost Bell?"
Ghost Bell remained silent, rely narrowing his eyes and staring at him unblinkingly.
"I understand... You are angry at your own incompetence. You are also angry about why Gu Qiye beca a Transgressor without discussing it with you first... But after abandoning your children for two years and returning now with hypocritical remorse, acting like you are willing to take any punishnt, do you really think that in his eyes, everything from the past two years can simply be wiped clean?"
Pausing here, Black Cocoon slowly averted his gaze, a trace of regret creeping into his tone:
"Unfortunately, it is already too late. Gu Qiye has been treated as a pawn by the United Nations. Do you really think it is possible they did not thoroughly investigate his background? No... They are using Gu Qiye's obsession with Rainbow Wing, treating him as a re tool."
"And when the day cos that your son finally enters Rainbow Wing, he will think he can uncover the truth about his mother, entirely unaware that he has stepped straight into hell."
Ghost Bell tightened his grip on the boy's neck, his low roar echoing through the building like thunder:
"Shut up!"
Black Cocoon coughed twice, letting out a raspy laugh from his throat, as if mocking the man.
He said, "To the United Nations, your dear son is nothing more than a piece of scrap paper to be discarded once used. After squeezing him dry of all his value, they will hold a symbolic morial service for Mr. Blue Arc, just like... five years ago, when they dismissed your dead wife with a paltry payout of a few hundred thousand."
"And the one who caused this situation to happen... is precisely you, the father who remained entirely indifferent to his own children."
Black Cocoon's voice was as calm as if he were stating historical facts, before he cast a look of pity upon the man:
"Making the sa mistake all over again, are we not, Mr. Ghost Bell."
As those words fell, a heavy silence enveloped the two. Ghost Bell froze in place, recalling the scene from five years ago when he watched his wife die right before his eyes.
Using his restraining bands, Black Cocoon picked up the copy of "How to Get Rid of Negative Influences from Your Original Family" from the floor, speaking slowly:
"You could have noticed this much earlier—if you had been willing to co back during these two years, even just once... But you did not. You entrusted both children entirely to Gu Qiye."
"While taking care of two children on your behalf, he also had to brave life-and-death situations every single day under imnse pressure, cleaning up the sses for the very authorities you despise so deeply. He worked so desperately just to prove a truth to his powerless, self-destructive father..."
At this, Black Cocoon looked up to et Ghost Bell's trembling gaze, his tone dripping with sarcasm:
"And what did this father do in return? Shall I list out your sins for you? Taking a knife to carve scar after scar into the child who loves you deeply—did that make you happy?"
He lowered his eyes, looking at his five fingers wrapped in restraining bands. "On a physical level, you used your wrist blade to slit his throat. On a psychological level... not only were you completely indifferent toward him, but when you finally returned after two years, you treated him with cold disdain, asking him: 'Have you already forgotten your own mother?'"
Ghost Bell stood rooted to the spot.
He lowered his head slightly to stare at the ground, the crimson glow in his pupils wavering like a flickering candle in the dark.
Yes, he really had said that to Gu Qiye... No wonder Gu Qiye had been so furious back then, so hysterical, like a maddened little lion.
"Those words of yours were very interesting, incredibly destructive, just like a child pouring boiling water into an anthill," Black Cocoon praised. "I am afraid that in Gu Qiye's eyes, it felt as though his own father had completely negated his entire existence... You so cruelly and effortlessly wiped the slate clean on all his silent sacrifices for his family, reducing him to a heartless, ungrateful piece of trash."
"No, that was not what I ant!" Ghost Bell roared, his magnetic tallic voice shaking the entire floor.
He suddenly erupted, grabbing Black Cocoon's body and smashing it violently against the wall!
The whole floor rumbled and trembled as crater after crater splintered across the wall's surface.
"How truly incompetent. You are the sa as ever... unable to accept reality. You only know how to numb yourself with violent, extre thods, throwing yourself headlong into that bloodthirsty, maddening world like a stupid bear hiding away in a tree hollow to escape from life."
Black Cocoon spoke with a wide grin, even as his body had been torn to pieces. From the ruptures in his form, dead snake-like restraining bands subtly spilled out, resembling a ripped pillow leaking piles of cotton stuffing.
Yet Ghost Bell continued to relentlessly bash his body against the wall, driving Black Cocoon deeper and deeper into the concrete.
Thud, thud, thud! Furious, deafening thuds echoed continuously across the floor, drowning out the clamor of the torrential rain. But no matter how much abuse he inflicted, Black Cocoon's voice continued to drift calmly through the room, piercing his ears like a demonic whisper:
"Your son is acting exactly like a moth flying into a fla, Mr. Ghost Bell. Ever since he was cursed with a father like you, the mont he successfully joins Rainbow Wing, his life will culminate in an irreparable tragedy."
"The higher-ups of the United Nations will never trust a Transgressor whose father is a criminal. Before long, when the truth that you are 'Ghost Bell' is exposed, your son's situation will beco even more amusing. Take a guess—how will the United Nations treat him then?
"And Gu Qiye, how will he view this father who rendered all his hard work completely useless?"
"Shut up!!!"
Ghost Bell howled, his fist, clad in a tal glove, smashing into the deep crater, punching straight through Black Cocoon's abdon.
Yet he saw no sign of blood, only a mass of restraining bands drooping to the floor. Panting like a wild beast, he pulled his fist out of Black Cocoon's body and stared at his bloodless fingertips. It felt as though he had just punched a wad of cotton.
Right at that mont, Black Cocoon's leisurely voice drifted over, clinging to him like maggots on bone, ethereal as a phantom:
"By the way: in a few days, the White Raven Brigade will be paying a visit to Tokyo, Japan. Their target is the underground auction."
"...The auction?"
Ghost Bell muttered hoarsely to himself, narrowing his crimson eyes.
"Exactly. The very sa auction that your beloved Yakuza Boss Lady told you about. What a pity, I actually thought you were going to accept her proposal."
Black Cocoon paused, lowering his voice as he asked, "And why did your son choose to co to Tokyo at this exact mont? Even with your addled, old-man brain, you should not be entirely incapable of guessing, right?"
Ghost Bell froze for a mont before abruptly snapping his head up, eting those haunting eyes within the crater:
"He... is going to attend the auction?"
"Half right. To be precise: Gu Qiye will be serving as a bodyguard for the auction, directly confronting that atrocious brigade of villains." As he spoke, Black Cocoon squeezed his head out of the depression in the wall.
He swatted Ghost Bell's hand away. "You should have heard about what happened. A few days ago at Lijing Plaza, the heavily wounded Mr. Blue Arc—injured by you—had no choice but to accept Green Wing's proposal." He chuckled. "At the ti, he actually intended to put on the handcuffs Green Wing handed him... You and I both know what would happen once he put those handcuffs on. Perhaps they would suddenly explode, blowing both of your son's arms clean off."
At this point, Black Cocoon slowly lifted his head, staring directly into Ghost Bell's eyes:
"But the question is... why was Gu Qiye stupid enough to put those handcuffs on? What made him turn into what he is today?"
Ghost Bell narrowed his eyes and asked dismissively,
"Why?"
"Because long before putting on those handcuffs, a fourteen-year-old boy had already locked shackles around his own heart... From start to finish, he has never been able to move past his mother's death. That is why he cannot tolerate watching any ordinary person die at the hands of a Superhuman."
Black Cocoon paused. "Otherwise, he would feel as if he were betraying himself, betraying the powerless boy from five years ago... the boy who watched his mother die right in front of him."
Ghost Bell stared blankly for a second, murmuring Gu Qiye's na: "Qiye..."
"So, do you understand now? In your family, the person least able to move on from his mother's death is not you, but your dear child—'Gu Qiye'."
Black Cocoon spoke slowly, his voice seemingly carrying the rumble of the thunder from outside the window.
The rain poured even harder. Ghost Bell lowered his head, panting heavily like a maddened water buffalo, as the hand gripping Black Cocoon's head gradually loosened. He muttered to himself:
"I can talk to him... convince him to stop."
Black Cocoon shook his head. "No, it is far too late for that. Where were you before? If you had only been willing to offer this pitiful child a shred of care, instead of abandoning him to leave on your own, he would never have turned into the self-righteous fool he is today, blinded by his obsession—an utter tragic figure."
"No... there is still ti."
"Face reality, he is already beyond saving. And you, as his father, can only watch as he marches step by step into the flas toward his inevitable end," Black Cocoon said slowly. "You, the main culprit behind all this, are the absolute least qualified person to try and persuade him... Mr. Ghost Bell."
"What do you know?!" Ghost Bell roared. "I will fix everything!"
Hearing this, Black Cocoon closed the book in his hands with a satisfied air, speaking in a faint, eerie tone:
"You do indeed have a chance to salvage things, but only one chance. And this singular, unparalleled opportunity is standing right in front of you..."
"What are you trying to say?"
"Cooperate with . That is your final chance."
"Cooperate... with you?" Ghost Bell let out a laugh of sheer fury.
"That is right, work with ." Black Cocoon flashed a grin. "I will help you pull your child back from hell; and... I can also help you find the Rainbow Wing mber who killed your wife, providing you with an opportunity—a chance to get your revenge on him."
"You think I will believe you?" Ghost Bell paused, his voice dripping with icy sarcasm. "Believe a... lunatic?"
"Actually, compared to , I think you act much more like a lunatic." Black Cocoon retorted mockingly. "Take a good look in the mirror at your own reflection. Since when did you beco so completely unrecognizable?"
"No, I will not cooperate with you. Do not even think about it."
Ghost Bell spat out the words one by one, the pupils beneath his mask flashing with a crazed light.
"Is that so? But I believe that if you were to see what is underneath my mask, you might just find yourself wanting to work with ." Black Cocoon shrugged. "Mr. Ghost Bell, are you not curious... just what kind of face lies hidden beneath my mask?"
Ghost Bell turned his head to look at him, letting out a cold, dismissive scoff, as if mocking this completely oblivious lunatic.
But just as he was about to voice his mockery, his pupils abruptly contracted—he saw that right at this mont, the strips of restraining bands wrapping Black Cocoon's face had already begun retracting into the skin of his visage.
Imdiately after, a delicate, elegant face was exposed to the damp air of the rainstorm.
A sudden flash of lightning from outside the window abruptly illuminated this face.
Allowing it to slowly reflect in Ghost Bell's eyes.
Gu Zhuo'an stared intently at the face beneath Black Cocoon's mask, murmuring hoarsely to himself:
"Little... Mai?"
Shockingly, it was the face of Su Zimai.
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