SCP Corporation: Contain Bonfire

The celebration banquet was held inside the church.

Halfway there, Liu Dun drew near Colin, as if he had finally made a decision, and with a bitter face, he spoke in a voice only the two of them could hear:

"If, if Sister Elisa... really makes that choice, I will respect her wishes, I guess, I hope she can be happy, and if it's you, Colin, you can surely bring her happiness..."

"Shh, what kind of nonsense are you pushing onto me? I think you're still watching too many cartoons with that look of yours."

Colin's face darkened, and in the end, he resisted voicing these thoughts. Rather, to guard against a sudden jab in the ribs, he patted the other's shoulder, interrupting him, "Rather than women, I'm more about bringing beauty and goodness to this land, so go ahead and chase after her with peace of mind."

To tell the truth, although these people often say things that make his scalp tingle, in some ways, their minds are incredibly simple.

Simply good, and simply bad.

On the whole, their understanding is normal.

Liu Dun was taken aback, but then his face showed a touch of emotion.

Sister Elisa, a few meters ahead, seemed to have heard their quiet conversation. She turned her head to glance at Colin, a sweet smile spreading across her face before she turned away again.

Purposely, right?

The atmosphere around them stiffened slightly with that smile, hostility grew thicker, and the faces of the "buddies" nearby darkened as well...

"If it wasn't for me not picking up on the scent of the mastermind behind this plot, unable to follow the trail, I would've unleashed a massacre right now."

Colin couldn't help but rant internally.

However, he couldn't stop thinking about something else; did the mastermind make a move during the banquet because not eating gave them away, or was it for some other reason beforehand?

With this thought, the group passed through the crowd of ordinary citizens who were celebrating for them and returned to the church, which had been transformed into a dining hall.

A long table had been placed in the center of the main hall at some point, covered with all sorts of delicious-looking foods that Colin had never seen before.

The roasted meat, carefully prepared and sprinkled with various spices, sizzled and dripped with juices along the grain, emitting an enticing aroma that stimulated the appetite.

Especially after a bout of intense activity, the hunger in one's belly made the craving for meat and protein even stronger than usual.

Of course, under real sight, these items were just raw meat still twitching.

Colin sat down at the assigned seat with full vigilance.

He felt that the one who would stab him later would probably be Liu Dun, who currently had the best relationship with him on the surface, and indeed, he was sitting to Colin's right.

Was it a coincidence that Colin was sitting in the central position, with four people to his left and four to his right, facing a feast of food? The scene felt eerily familiar.

Colin muttered to himself inwardly; if nothing unexpected happened, the backstabbing would occur during the banquet.

According to the premonition...

These fellows must have already targeted him.

Colin braced himself, ready to respond to any sudden mishap beside him and quietly took out "Time Stasis" from the "Storage Room."

At the slightest hint of trouble, he would immediately activate the Time Stop.

However...

The attack never happened by the time the banquet concluded.

"Esteemed heroes, you must be tired from your actions today. Please allow me to take you to a place to rest..."

The Red-robed elder finished speaking and, along with Sister Talisa, led everyone to the living quarters on the second floor of the church.

"What's going on?"

Colin followed the crowd towards the staircase, outwardly joining the others in exclaiming how delicious the food had tasted but inwardly shocked—could it be that the timeline had changed again?

That shouldn't be the case...

This time he hadn't heard the sound of dice, he hadn't triggered the "Dice of Probability." And because he didn't have enough money this time, he had only one...

Even if he wanted to trigger it, he couldn't.

Is the "Book of Fate: Fragment" reliable or not?

Tsk, could it be that my acting was so good this time that the other party didn't realize I was the mole?

Colin felt that this possibility was not nonexistent.

However, although there was an unexpected turn of events, he knew that as long as he prevented a backstabbing, the problem wouldn't be too big.

His biggest trump card was that his actual strength was stronger than the other party's.

If he could escape even after being stabbed, what was there to fear when he hadn't been stabbed at all?

"Damn it, speaking of which, what the hell did the guy who stabbed me in the 'Book of Fate' use? I still feel some inexplicable discomfort..."

Colin couldn't help but grumble inwardly.

If only I had another 'Book of Fate: Fragment', that thing is really useful. It's a pity that there is only one; if I had another, I could...

Huh?

Colin's footsteps halted as he ascended the stairs; it seemed like he suddenly understood something—if this monster really was related to the death of his former colleague, then could it be that the monster also had a 'Book of Fate: Fragment'?

And could the reason for this situation be because the other party had foreseen his foresight, which led them to change their course of action?

No, Colin dismissed the thought.

Because logically speaking, his prediction should have taken place before the other party's, which meant that even if the other party used Life Paper, he should have been aware of it...

Unless the other party realized something was off later on and used another sheet.

Or maybe the other party used the Life Paper earlier than he did.

"Damn, why does there have to be something as disgusting as the 'Book of Fate'? I don't have time for this kind of brain-teasing crap right now!"

Colin felt the situation was very bad and he was being very passive.

When he had used it himself before, he hadn't felt anything, but now that someone else was using it against him, it was truly disgusting.

Fellow countrymen, oh fellow countrymen, you have really screwed me over!

At this time, under Miss Talisa's guidance, they arrived at the place where they would stay.

"These are the rooms prepared for each of you."

Although there was one more person than initially expected, they had still managed to prepare a suitable room for the additional "Hero."

Colin did not refuse. So long as there was no backstabbing, what he feared most was the other party's physical body not taking action.

To separate everyone now...

Could very likely mean that guy was going to make a move!

"If that guy really used the 'Book of Fate' before I did, then it's quite possible it knows all my methods. Taking action in this situation indicates it's confident it can kill me, so I need to be careful."

After Colin entered the room, he glanced around casually.

The room was roughly 50 to 60 square meters, filled with lit candles, an excessively ornate writing desk, a plush king-sized bed, a ceiling with mysterious patterns carved into it, a red fur carpet...

After closing the door, he did not walk in or recklessly touch anything. Instead, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a monocular lens. Holding the edges of the lens, he raised it to his left eye socket and looked around the room.

[Within the bright light from the candles, the foreign-styled decor stands out, but alas, everything is just a relic of the past. Beyond that, there are no threats present.]

Lines of text appeared on the monocular lens, which was polished out of clear crystal.

"No danger, huh..."

Colin nodded slightly, put away the "Analytical Lens," and thought, could it be that his opponent wanted to drag this out?

But he didn't have much time for his mission...

Just over two hours remained.

The only certainty now was that the opponent was underground, but because Colin had not actually smelled the other party, he was unable to track them down based on scent alone.

Thump, thump!

Just then, Colin suddenly heard a knocking from behind him on the door.