Author: 唇亡齿寒 / Lips Gone, Teeth Cold
Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/
Chapter 145
Dr. Frank Shelley stared in disbelief at the communication terminal in his hand. The light indicating the life status of the cyborg Leslie Faraday—his creation, his beloved—had permanently gone out. This only meant one thing: Leslie was dead, his brain destroyed, and he could never be restored.
The doctor momentarily forgot to breathe. “This… This is impossible…” He shook his head violently. “How could Leslie be defeated? How could a mere handful of humans possibly kill him!”
“Then he probably wasn’t killed by humans.” The doctor’s assistant, Epolyne, walked up behind him, looking at the doctor with pity, knowing he was on the verge of despair and madness. “You’ve probably guessed it by now, haven’t you? If there’s anything in this world that could kill Leslie, it would only be…” She deliberately left out the name “Yasha”.
“No!” the doctor roared. “How could Leslie lose! How could he possibly lose to the Yasha! It must be some malfunction! Yes, that’s it. The transmitter must have malfunctioned! My Leslie is perfect… He is the strongest…” By the end, the doctor’s voice was choked with emotion.
Epolyne sighed softly, almost imperceptibly. “Face reality, Doctor. Success always comes with failure. Now that we can no longer complete the task of eliminating the Yasha, it’s better for us to leave Old Earth as soon as possible and return to the Federation…”
“No!” the doctor screamed, his voice hoarse. “What’s the point of going back? What good will it do!” He took a deep breath, his body swaying as if he might collapse at any moment. “My masterpiece… The culmination of my life’s research… my Leslie…”
Epolyne, worried that the doctor might not recover from this devastating blow, tried to comfort him. “Doctor, you’re still young, and you have a long life ahead of you. You can create something even better…”
She trailed off because she heard the doctor laughing. He was actually laughing! At first, the laughter was low, almost inaudible, but gradually, the doctor’s shoulders began to shake, and his laughter grew louder and louder. He laughed so hard that he was almost doubled over, as if he had gone mad.
No. Epolyne thought. He was always a madman.
“Hahahahahahahaha, is that it. So that’s how it is…” The doctor’s eyes were vacant, but his face was filled with an inexplicable joy. “I’ve tried so hard, yet I still can’t surpass him… So that’s how it is… How ridiculous! Hahahahaha, how utterly ridiculous I am…”
Epolyne took a step back, staying alert, unsure of what the doctor might do in his madness. Although he had always been eccentric, this was the first time his behavior had become so erratic.
The laughter abruptly stopped. The doctor looked at his assistant with a haunting gaze. “If even I can’t destroy the Yasha, who else in the world could?”
Epolyne swallowed hard and went along with him. “You’re right. No one else but you can destroy it.”
“But even I have failed, Epolyne.” The doctor lifted his head. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t… I can’t…” He suddenly shuddered. “Then I might as well release the Yasha! Don’t you think so, Epolyne? After all, humanity is doomed to die sooner or later. So why not let the destruction come sooner! If I can’t save humanity, then I’ll destroy it myself! I’ll release the Yasha, let it annihilate humanity, destroy this universe, and then move on to other dimensions and destroy them as well…” The doctor grinned, as delighted as a child with a new toy. “That’s it! Let’s do it, Epolyne. We can do it together…”
“Allow me to refuse, Doctor,” Epolyne said coldly.
The doctor’s smile vanished. “What do you mean?” he demanded sharply.
“If you want to die, you can go die by yourself. I still want to live a few more days.”
“You dare defy me!” The doctor lunged forward, grabbing Epolyne by the collar, his expression one of murderous intent. But Epolyne knew the doctor couldn’t kill her. Despite his intellect, he had spent too much time in the lab, lacking physical strength, and could no longer strangle even a woman. Epolyne pushed him away, causing him to stagger and nearly fall.
“Epolyne, do you also think I’m useless?” he asked, smiling sadly. “Then go ahead, take the ship back to the Federation and cling to life. But it won’t be long. Maybe by tomorrow, you’ll be on the path to death!” He turned and walked toward the control room door, clearly intending to destroy the field generator and release the Yasha.
“Doctor!” Epolyne called out. The doctor didn’t turn back.
“Doctor, I never thought you were useless.” Epolyne said. The doctor paused in his steps.
“I never thought you were of any use.”
A gunshot rang out, and a streak of red bloomed on the doctor’s back. He stumbled forward, took a few shaky steps, and then collapsed to the ground.
Epolyne, holding the gun, walked over to the doctor.
“Traitor…” the doctor said, his eyes wide in the pool of blood.
“Sorry, Doctor, but I never was loyal to you.” Epolyne shrugged. She had thought this secret would be kept until the very end, but it was revealed sooner than expected, and by her own hand no less. “I was sent by the Military Council from the beginning to monitor you. In fact, you never had the full trust of the Council, nor did the High Council ever fully believe in you. My mission was to watch your every move, and at the slightest sign of you betraying the Federation, I was to eliminate you. I didn’t expect you to not only intend to betray the Federation but also attempt to destroy all of humanity…”
The doctor’s blood-stained lips twisted into a malicious smile. “…Proud of yourself?” he rasped. “You won’t be for long… You… You never knew… the Federation’s… dark side…”
“Of course, I know,” Epolyne said dismissively.
“You don’t know…” In his final moments, the doctor’s eyes shone with a brilliant light. “You’re just… a pawn…”
“I never aspired to be a player.”
“You don’t… know…” The doctor’s breath weakened. “You are so… close to… death…”
“Doctor, you yourself said it—humans all die in the end. We’re all close to death.”
Epolyne thought the doctor had lost his mind, but he was still laughing, a laugh that sent chills down her spine. She quickly raised her gun. “Farewell, Doctor. May you and your beloved pet reunite in the afterlife.”
The doctor opened his mouth as if to say something, but Epolyne pulled the trigger first, hitting him squarely in the forehead, ending the young life of Dr. Frank Shelley. Even in death, he was still smiling, as if mocking Epolyne, mocking the entire world with his death.
“What a pity, Doctor. You could have achieved great things, but you chose a path of no return.” Epolyne holstered her gun. Though she didn’t feel any sympathy for the doctor, she had worked with him for so long that there was at least some camaraderie. She closed the dead man’s eyes, whispered a short prayer for him, then stood up and walked toward the control room door.
Her mission was complete. Whoever else was still on Earth, whatever they intended to do, it was no longer her concern. She didn’t want to care, and she couldn’t care even if she wanted to. Breaking free from the madness and arrogance of Dr. Frank Shelley felt like shedding a heavy shackle, making Epolyne feel light on her feet, so much so that she even wanted to hum a cheerful tune. She would leave this ancient research facility, find her ship, return to the Federation, and report everything she had seen and heard on Old Earth to the Military Council. The Council might then send a report to the Council of Nine (though, as far as Epolyne knew, there were only eight left now), but she didn’t care about that. It wasn’t her concern. She didn’t want to care, and she couldn’t care even if she did. She just felt she had never been so free in her entire life.
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