"Human aging often begins with a major illness."
"Physical deterioration and spiritual surrender—facing a sickness that cannot heal as it once did, humanity begins its first stage of senescence."
The Chairman tossed a coin onto the table.
"Hua hua hua…"
The coin spun on the smooth tabletop like a tiny sphere.
"Do you think this coin will land heads or tails?" The Chairman, wearing gloves, tapped the tabletop with his finger. The smile concealed in the darkness held a certain mystery. "This is something I often do in my leisure time. The most interesting part, I think, is that you can't know whether it will be heads or tails until the moment the coin truly falls."
"Don't you find it interesting? Unlike the predetermined decline and death of a person, a coin always has a chance to land heads."
"Pa da."
The door was pushed open from the outside, and a sliver of orange-yellow light widened into a broad, long strip, illuminating the Chairman sitting by the conference table.
Most of his face was shrouded in darkness; the pupil of the illuminated half turned towards the person at the door.
"Chairman, why did you summon me?"
The Chairman enthusiastically stood up and gestured to the seat across from him, indicating, "Please sit."
The Council system adopted by Fire MOTH ensured that everyone's power was equal, but equality of power did not mean equality of voice. Seniority and contribution could determine far more than most people imagined.
And the person before him had a remarkably high degree of say within the upper echelons—the so-called… Authority.
The elderly man, past the age of sixty but still vigorous, glanced at the polite Chairman, unsure of his intentions, but nevertheless came and sat down across from him.
Only after the old man was seated did the Chairman return to his own chair, straighten his tie, and say with a slight smile, "I invited you here this time to discuss the issue of power centralization that was brought up last time…"
"Hmph, I knew you weren't up to any good." The old man interrupted the Chairman directly, and this act of cutting him off made the Chairman's brow twitch.
"Do you think I don't know what little schemes you've been running in private? Do you want power that badly?" the old man said coldly.
"I believe you must have misunderstood." The Chairman sighed, pulled out a white napkin, spread it across his chest, and spoke unhurriedly, "As for who the power is centralized upon, I actually feel it doesn't matter. I merely believe that power centralization is better suited for the implementation of various projects. And you are the member with the most seniority, so I believe you are the most qualified person to implement the change in the system."
"Then you needn't waste your breath. The system of Fire MOTH was established from its inception and is not something you can change with a few words."
"…Not something that can be changed with a few words…" The Chairman narrowed his eyes.
Seeing his expression, the old man couldn't help but sneer, "What? Do you intend to do something? Your private forces were wiped out, and even if there are remnants, they can't enter headquarters. Do you think that after the assassination attempt last time, we would still allow you to bring people from outside the headquarters in?"
"…I am deeply regretful. I truly am regretful." The Chairman stood up, his face full of sorrow, and extended his hand to the old man. "I feel profound regret that we couldn't reach an agreement."
The old man glanced at the gloved hand and snorted coldly, "Hmph, spare me."
Ignoring the Chairman's hand, he turned around arrogantly and walked away.
"Huh…"
"Ugh—"
The old man, whose mouth was covered from behind, watched in horror as the man with the cold expression in front of him picked up the coin from the table, looked at its tails-up side, and then put the coin into his jacket pocket.
"I indeed cannot bring people into the headquarters under the eyes of the public." The Chairman stood with his hands behind his back, taking a step back. "But have you forgotten that the headquarters also has elite personnel from the combat units?"
"Whuss!"
In the final moments of the old man's life, he saw a monstrous, deformed weapon tear open his chest, lift him like a ragdoll, and smash him onto the conference table.
"Thump!"
The Chairman respectfully removed the blood-stained napkin from his chest.
The first ray of morning sunlight spilled onto Pardofelis's forehead. Her eyelids trembled a few times, and she climbed off the mat, stretching lazily.
"Miao~"
Pardofelis's ultimate life goal was to find a place to sleep peacefully and bask in the sun. She felt she had completed half of it so far; the remaining half was confirming whether this house could be lived in long-term.
"Oh, right…" Pardofelis shook her head, recalling yesterday's events, and jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. "Where is that guy?"
Lin's ruthless actions were still fresh in her memory, arguably the most profound memory since birth.
Those were not some flashy, acrobatic stunts, but practical techniques where every move could cripple a person. If he hadn't intentionally held back, those people yesterday probably wouldn't have just been injured or disabled—it was possible they would have gone straight to the cemetery.
A bucket of cold water was poured from head to tail. Pardofelis cautiously surveyed the surroundings but didn't see Lin's shadow. She circled the room but still couldn't find him.
"Huh? Where did he go?" Pardofelis scratched her head. Usually, Lin would be wandering around the house, so why wasn't he visible today?
Coming to the window, Pardofelis saw his back, seated in a wheelchair, motionless in the snow.
"Oh no! He hasn't been frozen to death, has he!"
Pardofelis hastily pulled open the door and rushed to Lin's side in a couple of steps.
"…"
Pardofelis's anxious face appeared in Lin's hollow black eyes. Only when she saw his usual, unchanged appearance did Pardofelis finally sigh in relief.
Come to think of it, the temperature had already risen; he shouldn't be easily frostbitten outside.
"No matter who you are, I would feel terribly guilty if you died…" Pardofelis said to Lin in a somewhat reproachful tone. "You can hear me, right? And the way you were yesterday, you should be able to return to normal sometimes."
"Could it be that the reason you can't speak and have hallucinations is because of those illnesses on your body?"
Pardofelis racked her brains trying to say something that could stimulate Lin's recovery, but she was also afraid that he might just stand up and beat her until she was barely alive, like yesterday, so she finally gave up.
"Right, I remember that nursing home also has people similar to you. Can they cure your illness?"
Pardofelis felt proud of her keen observational skills and extraordinary memory, but the next moment, she worried about how to get Lin there.
Would they take Lin in for free? Based on what she saw last time, that nursing home was almost full of patients.
"I'll go take a look again today… Sigh, if you recover, you must, must remember how good I was to you."
A flicker of light briefly flashed in Lin's scattered eyes.