Enforcer Manual
Chapter 40: Shadows of the Past_1

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Shadows of the Past_1

At a place in District 17.

The boy was sprinting forwards without looking back, down a path leading out of District 17 and into "the outside world".

The older brother who gave him the phone was right. This seemingly insignificant object actually contained unimaginable knowledge, including navigation to the "outside world".

He couldn’t remember how long he’d been running or where he was. The only consolation was that under the warning of a city-wide alarm, people in District 17 all stayed home, leaving the streets empty.

"Naughty boy, running away from home like that."

The voice from ahead caused the boy’s heart to skip a beat. The previously empty telephone booth’s door was opened, and a short-haired woman carrying a black suitcase emerged without warning.

"I’ve taken the trouble to come to such a place just to find you."

The same fanatical yet sweet smile was still on Phine’s face. She extended her other empty hand, making an invitation gesture, "So, what will it be? Go back with me or let me break your leg first and then take you back?"

Without hesitation, the boy turned to run in the opposite direction.

However, before he could take his second step, he collided hard with an object coming toward him.

The door of the convenience store was pushed open, and Phine, who had been tens of meters away, walked out. After colliding with the boy, she glanced at the black suitcase she was carrying and said, "See, he’s also waiting for you to go home."

"I, I understand."

Seeing there was no more room to evade, the boy gritted his teeth and reluctantly spoke.

"Good boy, that’s more like it."

Phine treated the boy as if he were a younger brother who’d run away from home, gently taking his hand.

But as she turned, things suddenly shifted. The boy’s eyes flashed with a cold glint, and the dagger hidden in his sleeve stabbed directly towards Phine’s back.

Of all the tricks, deceit was the one at play!

The phone informed him that this was one of the most vulnerable parts of the human body. A successful attack here could immediately paralyze the opponent.

And secure a hit he did!

The boy was ecstatic.

"Are you... going through your rebel phase?"

The expected cry of anguish never came. In disbelief, he pulled out the dagger—he had clearly seen the blade lodged into Phine’s flesh. Then the boy was horrified to discover that the sharp blade had unknowingly been crushed. His faith-devoted attack had ended up barely brushing her apathetically with the knife handle.

"Or perhaps you’ve been brainwashed by the rescuer."

The gleam in Phine Arnhem’s eyes turned cold, and her murderous intent made the boy feel as if he were plunged into a cold cellar. He uncontrollably stepped back and ended up falling on the ground, "That’s right, he did risk his life to help you escape... Such a clever ploy, hiding you in the storage locker, fighting to the death, and making me think you fled in a different direction."

Her words sparked the boy’s fractured memory.

In that pitch-dark basement, hiding in the closed storage locker, he peered through the cracks to see the demon in front of him slowly approaching the badly injured rescuer.

The devil’s back blocked his vision, leaving nothing but the sounds of crushing and breaking.

"Why, why won’t you let me go?"

In the wake of his failed attack, all the boy could do was question his adversary and glare hatefully at Phine.

"Hm? Didn’t he teach you some common sense? For example, it’s only when you experience unimaginable pain and profound despair that the gifts this world bestows upon you can bloom."

Phine was unimpressed by the boy’s hatred. She bent down, her lips almost brushing against the boy’s earlobe, whispering words only the two of them could hear, "Have you considered the fact that I discovered you hiding in the storage locker long ago? Everything I did was to make sure you’d witness that scene."

The boy’s pupils contracted.

Those memories began to shift rapidly. At this moment, guided by her words, the obscured parts started to come back, and what he’d believed quietly morphed.

He seemed to return to that cramped storage locker. Through the narrow gap, he observed Phine, who’d crushed the rescuer into a bloody pulp, not heading in another direction but turning around. She beamed maliciously and fanatically at the storage locker, watched him through a smile as she approached step by step until her face was right before the gap.

Seconds later, he heard rhythmic knocking.

A familiar yet eerie children’s rhyme echoed from outside.

"Little bunny, open up..."

Memories and reality merged together in the next moment, and all the children’s rhymes turned into whispers close at his ear, "You, on the other hand, never escaped from there."

The boy glanced sharply at the unusually tall black suitcase. He thought he now knew what it contained.

"They say you can’t truly experience despair without hope."

Phine straightened up, raising her tone, her escalating emotions as if she were trampling the whole world beneath her feet, "For you, I’ve waited a full three years! How could I let you slip away right in front of me? Since you asked earnestly, I’ll let you in on a secret—It’s because, as long as I can harness your ability, I will be invincible!"

She’d disappeared for three years, staying in that pitch-black laboratory for so long, all for the payoff of this moment.

"You know the answer, it’s time to go home."

Phine nudged her head towards the black suitcase, "A soulless shell is still just a tool, go fulfill this final part."

...

...

...

Time passed slowly, and Phine’s fanaticism gradually turned into impatience.

After a long while, she gazed at the boy who remained clearly in her sight and finally realized, "I see, no wonder you escaped from that place. I didn’t expect there to be someone there that you care about."

"I told you I would go back with you!"

The boy struggled to his feet, "Let’s go now."

"It’s too late."

Phine shook her head, "Hope is an impurity; it must be purged. But don’t worry, let me help you."

"I hate to interrupt your moment."

A male voice interrupted their "sibling" chat.

Phine frowned and looked around.

In her sight was a man wearing a black trench coat and a hat, his entire face hidden behind a mask.

As he spoke, the man was parking a blue-grey bicycle by the roadside.

"A city-wide ban has been imposed, so why are you two still lingering on the street?"

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