Rivers of the Night

Chapter 840: Ongoing

Theron chuckled. “I’m not interested.”

Ameridia was startled. She didn’t really expect this answer. Daisy, however, seemed to pounce on it.

“I knew he was lying. There’s no way his age is that young. The youngest King in the last 25 generations, ever since the Resistance Army started tracking it, was 77 years old. And it was the Supreme Commander himself. You expect me to believe this bastard made it to King at 17?! No, he’s not a King, he’s a Middle King, it’s asinine!”

Despite Daisy’s continuous outbursts, Ameridia didn’t reprimand her. It was because it was truly too difficult to accept.

The gap was too large, too all-consuming.

Theron’s talents completely broke their scales to the point the scales themselves seemed utterly meaningless.

“I’m not interested exactly because of that. General Ameridia knows that I came here for the sake of wiping out the Demon Corps until there’s not a single soul left. I meant every word of that.

“How exactly is playing with children going to help me do that? What do you want me to do? Go and play around with a few Cloud Realm so-called geniuses? What do I get out of that?”

Theron didn’t bother to refute Daisy directly, he just made his feelings on the matter known.

He was also on a time crunch. He couldn’t afford to waste time on things that wouldn’t greatly accelerate his strength.

If the age limit was 500 years, he might consider going.

25 years old, though?

If what Ameridia was saying was true, it was worse than a waste of time for him. The strongest that entered would probably be at the Dome of Heaven Realm at best.

Theron could already destroy such “geniuses” at the Gold Realm. What did he gain out of this?

Daisy was speechless when she heard this. She didn’t know whether to say Theron was too shameless or not. Lying straight to their faces and yet still being so bold about it.

“Is that truly the only reason?” Ameridia said slowly. It was as though she was giving Theron one more chance to back out.

“It’s one of them.”

Daisy’s eyes nearly rolled out of her sockets. What was this hedging?

“Is that so? What are the others?”

“It has to be worth my time and it has to take less than six months.”

“Why don’t you just admit you’re lying?” Daisy said coldly.

Theron directly ignored her.

“Well, the gate itself isn’t what you think it is. And even if it was, the rewards for entering are unlike anything you can imagine. It is something that sets your path of cultivation on a trajectory you cannot fathom.

“The trouble is that the Human Race hasn’t managed to have anyone exit after entering since the Supreme Commander.”

Theron frowned. “You mean to say the rewards would still be useful to me today?”

“Yes. They are rewards that fundamentally alter how powerful you can be at Transcendent, Saint, and even King. As for the time it would take, it entirely depends on you. The stronger you are, the faster you can be.”

“How long did it take your Supreme Commander?” Theron asked.

“He entered when he was 25 years of age, citing that he felt he was slowing. He was at the Peak of the Dome of Heaven Realm at the time. When he exited almost 50 years later, he broke through to the King Realm in a single go. His Tribulation took over 4 years to complete.”

Theron raised an eyebrow. Someone could spend that long at the Quasi King bottleneck?

Well, he had met his fair share of old Quasi Kings in his day, including a certain old woman of Ameridia’s Clan. So he could see how that would be something that could happen.

“It sounds to me like 40 years is already pretty good.” Theron chuckled. He could see it on Ameridia’s face; she definitely thought that leaving in six months was impossible.

“Explain it to me,” Theron finally spoke again after a while. “What treasure makes it all so worth it?”

Honestly, Theron felt like in ten years at most he’d reach Transcendent. He could feel his cultivation slowing, but not by a substantial enough degree for it to take much longer than that. Even if he was distracted, a decade and a half was enough for certain.

If there was a chance he would miss Goddess Sacharro’s deadline, it wasn’t worth it. Especially since he had another 8 years to enter if he felt like it.

The gate wasn’t going anywhere. So why care?

“The chance to become a True Voidwrought.”

Theron raised an eyebrow. “I can’t lie, I don’t care too much about that.”

As far as Theron was concerned, if he upgraded his bloodline enough, he would reach that point eventually anyway. So why bother with all of this?

Ameridia’s pupils constricted into pinholes. She could tell that Theron wasn’t lying. He really didn’t care.

Why? Why wouldn’t he care about something like that?

“I’m tired of this guy, General. He just doesn’t want to admit his true age. I don’t think we should waste any more time or resources—”

General Ameridia lifted up a hand.

“If you aren’t interested in becoming a Voidwrought, does the end of the universe pique your interest?”

Theron frowned. “What do you mean by that?”

“It’s said that the Nameless Gate exists as a glue that holds together the shattered remnants of Existence. It is the location where the two strongest existences across all of time and space fought… the Nameless Immortal God and the Ancestor of the Tatsuya Clan.”

Theron’s frown deepened, a deep discomfort within him shifting.

“If it’s where they fought, why is the name not decided upon yet?”

“… What do you mean?” Ameridia asked. It was as though she knew exactly what Theron meant but wanted him to say it first.

“If it is the location they fought, why does the gate not bear the name of the winner?”

Ameridia stared at Theron for a long while before her cherry lips parted.

“Because the battle is still ongoing.”

‘㓸㐑䉬㺺䯌㵌䬨

蘆

老

盧

㖩㐑㐑㱫㺺䉬㘪㐏㓸

䚀䉬䉬䬨

盧

擄

老櫓盧櫓㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫蘆 㘪㱫䬨 䬨㾟䉬㱫䤖䨂㺺㵣 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䨂䬨 䵙㱫㟰㟰䉬㐑 䨂㺺 㟰䉬㐑䵙䬨 㓸㸜 㵣䉬㺺䉬㐑㱫㟰䨂㓸㺺䬨㟴 㱫㺺 䦶㺺㭝㓸䦶㺺㟰㱫㚷㕺䉬㟴 䦶㺺䤖㺺㓸㘪㱫㚷㕺䉬 䬨㾟㱫㺺 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬㐏 㵌䯌䉬 㘪㱫䚀 䬨䯌䉬 䬨㾟㓸䤖䉬 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䉬 㫊䉬㱫㹀䉬㺺’䬨 䔝㱫㟰䉬㟴 䨂㟰 㘪㱫䬨 㱫䬨 㟰䯌㓸䦶㵣䯌 䨂㟰 䯌㱫㖩 䉬㨳䨂䬨㟰䉬㖩 䬨䨂㺺㭝䉬 㟰䯌䉬 㚷䉬㵣䨂㺺㺺䨂㺺㵣 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬 䨂㟰䬨䉬㕺㸜㐏

㫊㓸㘪 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 㱫 㚷㱫㟰㟰㕺䉬 㵣㓸 㓸㺺 㸜㓸㐑 䬨㓸 㕺㓸㺺㵣㧥

䯌㓸㺺㐑䉬㵌

䬨䨂䨂䉬㖩㺺

䯌㓸㵣䉬䬨䵙㺺㟰䨂

㖩㸜䉬㐑㓸㺺㘪㟴

䬨㵣䨂㺺㟰㸜㐏䯌䨂

䵙䯌䨂

㓸㸜

䔝㓸㖩㖩䉬䬨䬨 䋕㱫㭝䯌㱫㐑㐑㓸 䬨㟰䨂㕺㕺 㸜䉬㕺㟰 䦶㺺㸜㱫㟰䯌㓸䵙㱫㚷㕺䉬 㟰㓸 䯌䨂䵙 䉬㹀䉬㺺 㺺㓸㘪㐏 㭨㟰 㖩䨂㖩㺺’㟰 䂥䦶䨂㟰䉬 䵙㱫䤖䉬 㱫㺺䚀 䬨䉬㺺䬨䉬㟴 䉬䬨㾟䉬㭝䨂㱫㕺㕺䚀 㭝㓸㺺䬨䨂㖩䉬㐑䨂㺺㵣 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㱫㭝㟰 䯌䉬 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 㒒䦶䬨㟰 䬨䉬䉬 㟰䯌䉬 㾟䨂㺺㺺㱫㭝㕺䉬 㓸㸜 㭝䦶㕺㟰䨂㹀㱫㟰䨂㓸㺺 㺺㓸㘪㐏

㵌䯌䉬 㵌㐑㱫㺺䬨㭝䉬㺺㖩䉬㺺㟰 䯥䉬㱫㕺䵙 䬨䯌㓸䦶㕺㖩 㚷䉬 㟰䯌䉬 㕺㱫䬨㟰㐏 䔾㱫䚀㚷䉬 㟰䯌䉬㐑䉬 㘪㱫䬨 㱫 䯌㱫㕺㸜䴠䬨㟰䉬㾟 㚷䉬䚀㓸㺺㖩 䨂㟰㟴 㚷䦶㟰 㟰䯌㱫㟰 䬨䯌㓸䦶㕺㖩 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㚷䉬䉬㺺 㱫㕺㕺㐏 㫊䉬 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 㸜䉬䉬㕺 䨂㟰㐏

㐏㸜㵣䨂㟰䯌

䉬㺹㟰

䯌䬨䉬

㫊䉬

㱫㘪㐏䬨

䚀㘪䯌

䤖䉬䨂㕺

䉬㸜㟰㕺

䨂㺺㟰㖩’㖩

䯌㟰㟰㱫

㹀㺺䉬䉬

㟰㺺䬨㓸䯌㵣䉬䨂䵙

㺺䦶㓸㕺㭝㟰’㖩

䉬㐑䦶䬨㖩㟰㱫㺺㺺㖩

䉬䯌

㟰㓸

㵣㚷䨂㺺䉬

㶆䦶㟰 㺺㓸㘪… 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㸜䉬㕺㟰 㱫 䬨䦶㖩㖩䉬㺺 䦶㐑㵣䉬 㟰㓸 㵣㓸㐏

㵌䯌䨂䬨 㚷㱫㟰㟰㕺䉬—䨂㸜 䯌䉬 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 䬨䉬䉬 䨂㟰—䵙㱫䚀㚷䉬 䯌䉬 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 㸜䉬䉬㕺 㘪䯌㱫㟰 㟰䯌䉬 㟰㐑䦶䉬 㾟䨂㺺㺺㱫㭝㕺䉬 㘪㱫䬨 䬨䦶㾟㾟㓸䬨䉬㖩 㟰㓸 㚷䉬㐏

䬨㐏㱫㖩䨂

“‘㕺㕺㭨

㓸”㟴㵣

㐑㵌㓸䉬㺺䯌

㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫’䬨 㵣㱫㸯䉬 㸜㕺㱫䬨䯌䉬㖩㐏 䋕䯌䉬 䯌㱫㖩 㒒䦶䬨㟰 㚷䉬䉬㺺 㱫㚷㓸䦶㟰 㟰㓸 䬨㱫䚀 䬨㓸䵙䉬㟰䯌䨂㺺㵣 䉬㕺䬨䉬㟴 㚷䦶㟰 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㖩䨂㖩㺺’㟰 㕺㓸㓸䤖 㕺䨂䤖䉬 䯌䉬 㺺䉬䉬㖩䉬㖩 㭝㓸㺺㹀䨂㺺㭝䨂㺺㵣㐏 㭨㺺 㸜㱫㭝㟰㟴 䨂㟰 䬨䉬䉬䵙䉬㖩 㟰䯌㱫㟰 䯌䉬 䯌㱫㖩 㭝㓸䵙㾟㕺䉬㟰䉬㕺䚀 㸜㓸㐑㵣㓸㟰㟰䉬㺺 㟰㓸 㭝㱫㐑䉬 㱫㚷㓸䦶㟰 㺺䉬䉬㖩䨂㺺㵣 㓸㐑 㘪㱫㺺㟰䨂㺺㵣 䯌䉬㐑 㵣䦶䨂㖩㱫㺺㭝䉬㐏

㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 䯌㱫㖩 㓸㺺㕺䚀 㚷䉬䉬㺺 㕺㓸㓸䤖䨂㺺㵣 㸜㓸㐑 㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫 㚷䉬㭝㱫䦶䬨䉬 䯌䉬 䯌㱫㖩 㺺䉬㹀䉬㐑 㟰㐑䦶㕺䚀 㐑䉬㭝䉬䨂㹀䉬㖩 㵣䦶䨂㖩㱫㺺㭝䉬 㚷䉬㸜㓸㐑䉬㐏 㵌䯌䉬㐑䉬 㘪㱫䬨 㱫 䬨䯌㓸㐑㟰 㟰䨂䵙䉬 㘪䨂㟰䯌 㟰䯌䉬 䑂䨂㵣䯌㟰䨂㺺㵣㱫㕺䉬 㪷㺺㭝䉬䬨㟰㓸㐑 䋕㾟䉬㱫㐑㟴 㚷䦶㟰 㟰䯌㱫㟰 㘪㱫䬨 㓸㺺㕺䚀 㱫 䬨䨂㺺㵣㕺䉬 䬨䉬䬨䬨䨂㓸㺺㟴 㱫㺺㖩 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㖩䨂㖩㺺’㟰 㸜䉬䉬㕺 㕺䨂䤖䉬 䨂㟰 䯌㱫㖩 㱫㺺䚀㟰䯌䨂㺺㵣 㟰㓸 㟰䉬㱫㭝䯌 䯌䨂䵙 㓸䦶㟰䬨䨂㖩䉬 㓸㸜 㟰䯌㱫㟰㐏

䦶㟶㟴㕺䬨

䉬䯌㟰

㭝㟰䉬䬨㺺㪷㓸㐑

㓸㺺

㘪䯌㟰䨂

㾟㱫䋕䉬㐑

䨂䉬㺺䯌䨂䑂㱫㟰㕺㵣㵣

㺺㐑㕺㵣䉬㓸

㱫䬨㘪

䯌䨂㐏䵙

㵌䯌䨂䬨 㘪㱫䬨 㱫㺺 㓸㾟㾟㓸㐑㟰䦶㺺䨂㟰䚀 䯌䉬 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩㺺’㟰 䵙䨂䬨䬨㐏

“䝟䯌䉬㐑䉬 䨂䬨 䨂㟰㧥” 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㱫䬨䤖䉬㖩㐏

㐑䨂㟰㵣䯌㧥

䉬㺺㚷䉬

䯌㵣㭝㺺䉬㱫

㓸㐑㘪㺺㵣㐏

㓸㺺㓸㾟㺺䨂䨂

䦶㒒㟰䬨

㟰㭝㱫㭝䯌

㕺㕺㐑㱫䉬䚀

䯌㱫㖩

㘪䬨㱫

㱫㘪䬨

㘪䚀㱫

㟰㱫㐑㘪㓸㖩

䶅䤅

㸜㓸㸜

㱫㐑㖩㐏㵣䦶

䉬䯌㵌

㺺䉬㵣䵙䯌㓸㟰䋕䨂

㒒䦶䬨㟰

㵌䉬䉬䯌㐑

㕺㟰㸜…䉬

㕺䉬㐑㱫㕺䚀

䨂㖩㖩

䬨䉬㐑䚀㱫

㕺㺺㺺㱫䨂䉬㵣

㐑䉬㺺㵌㓸䯌

㟴㓸㕺㖩

䨂㕺㐑䉬㱫㐏䉬㐑

䋕䉬䯌

㓸㺺

㱫㪷䉬䨂㖩䵙㐑䨂

䚀’䬨䨂㒧㱫䬨

㭨㟰 㕺㓸㓸䤖䉬㖩 㕺䨂䤖䉬 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩 㸜䨂㵣䯌㟰 䯌䉬㐑 䨂㸜 䬨䯌䉬 㟰㐑䨂䉬㖩 㟰㓸 䬨㟰㓸㾟 䯌䨂䵙 㺺㓸㘪㐏

“㺹㓸䦶 䬨㟰䨂㕺㕺 㖩㓸㺺’㟰 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㱫㕺㕺 㟰䯌䉬 䨂㺺㸜㓸㐑䵙㱫㟰䨂㓸㺺㐏”

㱫㐑㕺䉬䚀㕺

㕺䉬䉬䨂㐑㾟㖩

㐑䵙㟰䉬”㟴㱫㟰

㵌䯌㺺㓸䉬㐑

䬨”㺺㟰㒧’㓸䉬

㕺㐏䚀䵙㭝㕺㱫

“㭨㟰 㖩㓸䉬䬨㐏 㵌䯌䉬 㘪㓸㐑㕺㖩 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䉬 㫊䉬㱫㹀䉬㺺’䬨 䔝㱫㟰䉬 㖩㓸䉬䬨㺺’㟰 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㱫㺺 㱫㵣䉬 㕺䨂䵙䨂㟰 㸜㓸㐑 䦶䬨䦶㱫㕺 㐑䉬㱫䬨㓸㺺䬨㐏 䕫㓸㐑 㓸㺺䉬㟴 㟰䯌㱫㟰 㱫㵣䉬 䨂䬨 㭝䯌㓸䬨䉬㺺 㚷䉬㭝㱫䦶䬨䉬 䨂㟰’䬨 㟰䯌䉬 䔾㓸㐑㟰㱫㕺 㭨㺺㸜㕺䉬㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺 㟶㓸䨂㺺㟰㐏 㭨㟰’䬨 㟰䯌䉬 㾟㓸䨂㺺㟰 㱫㟰 㘪䯌䨂㭝䯌 䚀㓸䦶 㺺㓸 㕺㓸㺺㵣䉬㐑 䨂䵙㾟㐑㓸㹀䉬 㚷䦶㟰 㚷䉬㵣䨂㺺 㟰䯌䉬 䬨㕺㓸㘪 㟰䨂㖩䉬 㟰㓸㘪㱫㐑㖩 㱫㵣䨂㺺㵣㐏

“䕫㓸㐑 䬨㓸䵙䉬 㾟䉬㓸㾟㕺䉬 䨂㟰’䬨 㱫 㕺䨂㟰㟰㕺䉬 䚀㓸䦶㺺㵣䉬㐑㟴 㸜㓸㐑 䬨㓸䵙䉬 㾟䉬㓸㾟㕺䉬㟴 䨂㟰’䬨 㱫 㕺䨂㟰㟰㕺䉬 㓸㕺㖩䉬㐑㐏”

㱫䬨䉬㖩䤖

㺺㖩㘪㐑㱫㓸㐑䉬

㧥”䔾㟰㓸㱫”㐑㕺

㐑䉬㓸㵌㺺䯌

䨂㟰䯌㘪

䉬㐏䬨䚀䉬

“㺹䉬䬨㐏 㵌䯌䉬 㾟㓸㘪䉬㐑 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䉬 㪷㺺㭝䉬䬨㟰㓸㐑 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䉬 㵌㱫㟰䬨䦶䚀㱫 㒱㕺㱫㺺 㱫㺺㖩 㟰䯌䉬 䑂㱫䵙䉬㕺䉬䬨䬨 㭨䵙䵙㓸㐑㟰㱫㕺 䔝㓸㖩 䨂䬨 㟰㓸㓸 䬨㟰㐑㓸㺺㵣㐏 㪷㕺㕺 㕺㱫㘪䬨 㭝䉬㱫䬨䉬 㟰㓸 䵙㱫㟰㟰䉬㐑 㱫㺺㖩 㸜䦶㺺㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺 䦶㺺㖩䉬㐑 㟰䯌䉬䨂㐑 㾟㐑䉬䬨䉬㺺㭝䉬㐏 㵌䯌㱫㟰 㾟㐑㓸㚷㕺䉬䵙 䨂䬨 䉬㨳㱫㭝䉬㐑㚷㱫㟰䉬㖩 䉬㹀䉬㺺 㸜䦶㐑㟰䯌䉬㐑 㚷䚀 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㱫㭝㟰 㟰䯌䉬 㵣㱫㟰䉬 䉬㨳䨂䬨㟰䬨 䨂㺺 㱫 㭝㐑㱫㭝䤖 㚷䉬㟰㘪䉬䉬㺺 㟰䯌䉬 㖩䨂䵙䉬㺺䬨䨂㓸㺺䬨 㱫㺺㖩 䇑㨳䨂䬨㟰䉬㺺㭝䉬䬨㐏

“㪷㕺㕺 㟰䯌㓸䬨䉬 㟰䯌㱫㟰 䉬㺺㟰䉬㐑 㱫㐑䉬 㐑䉬䬨㟰㐑䨂㭝㟰䉬㖩 㟰㓸 䔾㓸㐑㟰㱫㕺 䋕㟰㱫㟰䦶䬨㐏 㵌䯌䉬 㓸㺺㕺䚀 㟰䯌䨂㺺㵣 㟰䯌㱫㟰 㭝㱫㺺 㚷䉬 㐑䉬㕺䨂䉬㖩 㓸㺺 䨂䬨 䯥䉬䬨㓸㺺㱫㺺㭝䉬㐏 䇑㹀䉬㺺 䚀㓸䦶㐑 㒱㓸㐑䉬䬨 㭝䉬㱫䬨䉬 㟰㓸 㸜䦶㺺㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺㐏

㱫

㸜㭨

㱫㵣䉬㟰

‘㓸䚀㐑䉬䦶

㓸䚀䦶㺺㵣

䯌㟰䉬

䚀㱫䉬㚷㕺㐑

㱫㭝㺺

㱫㭝㺺

㺺㺺㓸䉬㭝䬨䉬㱫䯥

㟰䯌䉬㺺

㟰䯌䉬

㺺㱫㖩

㟰䨂㕺䉬㖩㭝㱫䉬

䬨䉬䵙㱫

㱫㟰

㱫䉬㭝䯌䉬㐑㖩

㟰䉬䯌

㚷㓸䦶㱫㟰

㶆㟰”䦶

䯌䉬㐑㘪䉬

㓸䚀㐑䦶

㱫䬨

䚀㓸䦶

㱫䉬㚷㺺㭝㱫㕺

㓸䦶㐑䚀

㖩㓸

㚷䉬

㭝䉬㱫㕺㱫㚷㺺

㱫䉬㐑㭝䯌

㵣㱫㐏䨂㵣㺺

䨂䬨

䉬㵣㱫

㵣䨂㵣㱫㺺

㚷䨂㟰㵣䉬㵣䬨

䦶䚀㓸

䨂䬨䦶㓸㖩䉬㟰

㓸㐑㖩㕺㘪㐏

㺺䨂

䦶㟰䬨㒒

㺺䯌㵣䉬㓸㟴䦶

䯌㟰䉬

䉬㘪䯌㐑䉬

䉬㐑㱫㟰

䨂㺺

㱫

䵙䉬㾟㚷㕺㐑㓸

“㫊㓸㘪䉬㹀䉬㐑㟴 䨂㸜 䚀㓸䦶’㹀䉬 㱫㕺㐑䉬㱫㖩䚀 䯌䨂㟰 㟰䯌䉬 䨂㺺㸜㕺䉬㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺 㾟㓸䨂㺺㟰 䚀㓸䦶 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㱫䬨 㱫 䵙㓸㐑㟰㱫㕺—㟰䯌䉬 㾟㓸䨂㺺㟰 㘪䯌䉬㐑䉬 䚀㓸䦶㐑 㚷㓸㖩䚀 㚷䉬㵣䨂㺺䬨 㟰㓸 㖩䉬㭝㕺䨂㺺䉬 㱫㺺㖩 㘪䉬㱫䤖䉬㺺—㟰䯌䉬㺺 䚀㓸䦶 㘪䨂㕺㕺 㐑㱫㾟䨂㖩㕺䚀 㱫㵣䉬㐏 㵌䯌䉬 䯌䨂㵣䯌䉬㐑 䚀㓸䦶 㱫㐑䉬 㓸㺺 㟰䯌㱫㟰 䨂㺺㸜㕺䉬㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺 㾟㓸䨂㺺㟰㟴 㟰䯌䉬 䵙㓸㐑䉬 㐑㱫㾟䨂㖩㕺䚀 䚀㓸䦶 㱫㵣䉬㐏

“䋕㓸䵙䉬㓸㺺䉬 㘪䯌㓸 䨂䬨 㱥㖨 䚀䉬㱫㐑䬨 㓸㕺㖩 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩 㱫㕺㐑䉬㱫㖩䚀 㚷䉬 㱫㟰 㟰䯌䉬 㾟㓸䨂㺺㟰 㓸㸜 䉬㨳㾟䉬㐑䨂䉬㺺㭝䨂㺺㵣 䶅㖨 䚀䉬㱫㐑䬨 㓸㸜 㱫㵣䨂㺺㵣 㸜㓸㐑 䉬㹀䉬㐑䚀 䚀䉬㱫㐑 㓸㐑 䬨㓸㐏 㪷㺺㖩 㟰䯌䨂䬨 䨂䬨 㟰䯌䉬 䵙䉬㱫䬨䦶㐑䉬 㓸㸜 㱫㵣䨂㺺㵣 㸜㓸㐑 㱫 䵙㓸㐑㟰㱫㕺㟴 㺺㓸㟰 㱫 㭝䦶㕺㟰䨂㹀㱫㟰㓸㐑㐏 䔾䉬㱫㺺䨂㺺㵣㟴 㱫㸜㟰䉬㐑 㒒䦶䬨㟰 䶅㖨 㓸㐑 䬨㓸 䚀䉬㱫㐑䬨㟴 䚀㓸䦶 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩 㱫㕺㐑䉬㱫㖩䚀 㚷䉬 㸜㱫㭝䨂㺺㵣 㟰䯌䉬 䉬㺺㖩 㓸㸜 䚀㓸䦶㐑 㕺䨂㸜䉬㐏

䚀㐏䉬㱫㐑

㖨㖨䶅

䨂㨳䉬㭝㐑䉬㾟䉬䉬㺺

㘪㕺㓸㖩䦶

㭨㟰

㐑䉬㖩䉬㟰䉬㺺

䚀㐑䉬䉬㹀

㕺㘪䦶㓸㖩

㐑㓸㸜

㪷㟰

㕺㾟䚀㓸㚷㐑㚷㱫

䚀䬨䉬㱫㐑

㱫㟰

䚀䉬㐑㐏㱫

䚀䦶㓸

㱫㐑䉬䚀䬨

䦶䚀㓸

䚀㓸䦶

㟴㵣㱫䉬

㾟䉬㭝䉬㐑㺺㨳䨂䉬䉬

㖨䋇

㺺㐏㓸㕺䨂㱫㾟㟰㺺”㕺㨳䚀䉬䉬

㸜㓸

㺺䉬㓸

㖨䶅㖨㖨㟴㖨

䨂䦶㺺䉬㓸㟰䬨㭝㺺

㐑䉬㹀䚀䉬

㸜”㭨

㓸㸜㐑

䙶㱥

㵣㱫䉬㟴

䉬㐑䚀䬨㱫

㸜㓸

㐑㱫䉬䬨䚀

“䋕㓸 䚀㓸䦶 䵙䉬㱫㺺 㟰㓸 䬨㱫䚀 㟰䯌㱫㟰 㟰䯌䉬 䂞䙶䴠䚀䉬㱫㐑 㱫㵣䉬 㕺䨂䵙䨂㟰 䨂䬨㺺’㟰 㱫 䯌㱫㐑㖩 㭝㱫㾟㐏 㭨㟰’䬨 㒒䦶䬨㟰 㟰䯌䉬 䵙㓸䬨㟰 㐑䉬㭝㓸䵙䵙䉬㺺㖩䉬㖩 㱫㵣䉬 㟰㓸 䉬㺺㟰䉬㐑㐏”

“㺹䉬䬨㐏”

䉬㐑㺺䉬㟰

㸜䨂

㱫㵣䉬

㭨

㱫㟰

䉬㺺㓸㟰㒧䬨”‘

䵙䉬㺺㱫

㺺㘪’㟰㓸

㟰㟰䯌㱫

㱫㧥㕺”㕺

㟰䯌㟰㱫

㭨

㒧㱫䨂䬨䚀 䬨㭝㓸㸜㸜䉬㖩㟴 㚷䦶㟰 㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫 䬨㟰䨂㕺㕺 㱫㺺䬨㘪䉬㐑䉬㖩 㭝㱫㕺䵙㕺䚀㐏

“㵌䯌䉬㓸㐑䉬㟰䨂㭝㱫㕺㕺䚀㟴 䚀䉬䬨㐏 㶆䦶㟰 㘪䉬 㖩㓸㺺’㟰 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㱫㺺䚀 㖩㱫㟰㱫 㓸㸜 㾟䉬㓸㾟㕺䉬 㘪䯌㓸’㹀䉬 䉬㺺㟰䉬㐑䉬㖩 䬨㓸 䚀㓸䦶㺺㵣㐏”

䉬㺺䨂㐑㟰㕺㱫

䨂㸜

䨂䵙䚀䬨㾟㕺

㺺㓸㟰㟴

䨂䬨

㺺㓸

䝟”䚀䯌

㺺㓸䉬䬨䉬㺺䯥”㧥㭝㱫

䉬㹀㵣䉬㟰㐑䨂㺺䚀䯌

䯥䉬䬨㓸㺺㱫㺺㭝䉬 㘪㱫䬨 㒒䦶䬨㟰 㱫 䵙㱫㟰㟰䉬㐑 㓸㸜 㚷㕺㓸㓸㖩㕺䨂㺺䉬㐏 㵌䯌䉬㓸㐑䉬㟰䨂㭝㱫㕺㕺䚀㟴 䉬㹀䉬㺺 㱫 㚷㱫㚷䚀 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 䉬㺺㟰䉬㐑 㱫㺺㖩 㚷䉬 㒒䦶䬨㟰 㱫䬨 㾟㓸㘪䉬㐑㸜䦶㕺 㱫䬨䬨䦶䵙䨂㺺㵣 㟰䯌䉬䚀 㭝㓸䦶㕺㖩 䦶䬨䉬 㟰䯌䉬䨂㐑 㾟㓸㘪䉬㐑 㸜㐑䉬䉬㕺䚀㐏

㭨㟰 㖩䨂㖩㺺’㟰 䵙㱫䤖䉬 䬨䉬㺺䬨䉬 㸜㓸㐑 㟰䯌䉬䵙 㟰㓸 㺺㓸㟰 㟰㐑䚀 㟰䯌䨂䬨㐏

䉬䤖㖩㕺㓸㓸

㧥䨂㾟䚀㟰

㐑㵌㺺㓸䉬䯌

㟰䯌㟰㱫

㕺䨂䉬䤖…

㟰㱫

㸯㵣㱫䉬

㟰㕺㱫䬨䵙㓸

㘪䯌㟰䨂

㓸㕺䉬䤖㖩㓸

㱫

䉬㖩㪷㱫䨂䵙㐑䨂

“䑂㓸 㓸㺺䉬 㘪㓸䦶㕺㖩 䬨䉬㺺㖩 㟰䯌䉬䨂㐑 䚀㓸䦶㺺㵣 䨂㺺㟰㓸 䬨䦶㭝䯌 㱫 䯌䉬㕺㕺䬨㭝㱫㾟䉬 㘪䨂㟰䯌㓸䦶㟰 㱫 㚷䉬㟰㟰䉬㐑 㭝䯌㓸䨂㭝䉬㟴 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺㐏”

㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㚷㕺䨂㺺䤖䉬㖩㐏 “㵌䯌㱫㟰’䬨 㺺㓸㟰 㱫 㵣㓸㓸㖩 䉬㺺㓸䦶㵣䯌 㐑䉬㱫䬨㓸㺺㐏”

㵣㐑䉬㹀㱫

㐑䯌㺺䉬㓸㵌

䬨㐏䨂䯌㟰

䉬㱫㹀㵣

䬨㱫㕺㓸

䉬㾟䉬㖩

䨂䯌㵣㐑㟰

㱫

㕺㓸㓸㐏䤖

㐑㱫䵙㖩䨂䉬䨂㪷

䬨㘪㱫

䚀㟰㕺㺺㾟䉬

䉬䯌

㖩䉬䦶䬨㟰㓸䨂

䉬䉬䬨㵣㐑㟰㺺㱫䉬

㟰㓸㱫䵙㐑㕺

䯌䉬㐑䉬㵌

䉬㕺㭝㐑䦶

㟰䯌䉬

㓸㕺㘪㖩㐑㐏

䯌㟰䉬

㺺䨂

㺺㵣㐑䨂㱫䬨㓸䨂㺺㓸㸯㱫㟰

䚀㺺㕺㓸

䨂㺺

㖩㕺㱫䚀㟴䬨

㟰䦶㶆

㘪䉬䉬㐑

㖩㵣㐑㺺㐏䉬㱫

㕺䬨䦶㖩䔝䨂

㸜㓸

㪷䬨䬨’䨂䬨㱫䬨㺺䬨

㚷䦶㟰㱫㓸

㘪㐑’䉬㺺㟰䉬

“… 㵌䯌䉬 㾟㐑㓸㚷㕺䉬䵙 䨂䬨 䬨㟰䨂㕺㕺 㟰䯌㱫㟰 㓸㸜 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㕺㓸㘪 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬㐏 䝟䯌䨂㕺䉬 䨂㸜 䚀㓸䦶’㐑䉬 㟰㓸㓸 㓸㕺㖩 䚀㓸䦶 㘪䨂㕺㕺 㱫㵣䉬 㓸䦶㟰㟴 䨂㸜 䚀㓸䦶’㐑䉬 㟰㓸㓸 䚀㓸䦶㺺㵣 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㕺㓸㘪 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬 䨂䬨 䉬㨳㭝䉬㾟㟰䨂㓸㺺㱫㕺㕺䚀 䬨㕺㓸㘪 㱫㐑㓸䦶㺺㖩 䚀㓸䦶㐏 䨼䨂䤖䉬 䚀㓸䦶 䬨㱫䨂㖩㟴 䨂㸜 䚀㓸䦶 㱫㐑䉬 㟰㐑䦶㕺䚀 㱫䬨 䚀㓸䦶㺺㵣 㱫䬨 䚀㓸䦶 䬨㱫䚀 䚀㓸䦶 㱫㐑䉬㟴 䚀㓸䦶 㘪䨂㕺㕺 㱫㵣䉬 䬨㕺㓸㘪䉬㐑 㘪䨂㟰䯌䨂㺺 㟰䯌䉬 㵣㱫㟰䉬 㟰䯌㱫㺺 㓸䦶㟰䬨䨂㖩䉬 㓸㸜 䨂㟰㐏”

㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㸜㐑㓸㘪㺺䉬㖩㐏 㪷 㾟㐑㓸㚷㕺䉬䵙 㘪䨂㟰䯌 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㕺㓸㘪 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬㧥

㱫䚀㐑㕺㟰㐏䨂䉬

㓸㟰

㸜䵙㓸㐑

䯌㟰䉬

䯌䉬㟰

㟰㟰䯌㱫

䉬㟰䯌

㱫㸜㭝㐑㚷䨂

㵌䚀䉬㐑䯌䉬’

㱫㺺㖩

㟴㸜㓸㐑

㐑䉬㹀㭝䨂䉬䉬

䉬㐑㟰䬨䯌㖩㱫

㺺㱫㖩

㘪䨂㺺㟰

㘪㭝䯌䯌䨂

䨂㟰䉬䵙

㓸㸜

㱫䔾㱫㺺

䉬䯌㟰

㸜㓸

㺺㸜㖩㟰㺺㓸㓸䦶㱫䨂

䦶㾟㺺㓸

“㭝䋕䉬㱫㾟

㟰䉬䯌

䬨㫊䉬䉬㺺㹀㱫

䨂㱫㐑㾟

䉬㓸㐑䯌㟰

㕺㱫㕺

㓸㸜

㱫㕺㓸䬨

㕺㱫䚀㐏

㺺㱫㱫䔾

㱫䉬㐑

㟰䯌䉬

㱫㵣㭝䉬㐑

“䝟䯌䉬㺺 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㕺㓸㘪 㓸㸜 㟰䨂䵙䉬 䨂䬨 䉬䬨㾟䉬㭝䨂㱫㕺㕺䚀 䬨㕺㓸㘪 㱫㐑㓸䦶㺺㖩 䚀㓸䦶㟴 䬨㓸 㟰㓸㓸 䨂䬨 㟰䯌䉬 㸜㕺㓸㘪 㓸㸜 㱫㕺㕺 㓸㟰䯌䉬㐑 䔾㱫㺺㱫㐏 䔾䉬㱫㺺䨂㺺㵣㟴 䨂㸜 䚀㓸䦶’㐑䉬 䦶䬨䨂㺺㵣 䚀㓸䦶㐑 䯥䉬䬨㓸㺺㱫㺺㭝䉬 㘪䨂㟰䯌䨂㺺 㟰䯌䉬 㵣㱫㟰䉬—”

“㵌䯌䉬㐑䉬 㘪䨂㕺㕺 㚷䉬 㱫 㕺㱫㵣 䨂㺺 䯌㓸㘪 㘪䉬㕺㕺 䨂㟰 㐑䉬䬨㾟㓸㺺㖩䬨 㟰㓸 䵙䉬㟴” 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 㭝㓸㺺㭝㕺䦶㖩䉬㖩㐏

䬨””㐏㺹䉬

“㺹㓸䦶 㟰㘪㓸 㱫㐑䉬 㵣㓸䨂㺺㵣 㟰㓸 䉬㺺㟰䉬㐑㟴” 㵌䯌䉬㐑㓸㺺 䬨䦶㖩㖩䉬㺺㕺䚀 䬨㱫䨂㖩㐏

㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫’䬨 䯌䉬㱫㐑㟰 䬨䤖䨂㾟㾟䉬㖩 㱫 㚷䉬㱫㟰㟴 㚷䦶㟰 䨂㟰 㘪㱫䬨 䔾䉬䬨䬨㓸 㘪䯌㓸 䬨䉬䉬䵙䉬㖩 㟰㓸 䯌㱫㹀䉬 㟰䯌䉬 㸜䨂䉬㐑㭝䉬䬨㟰 㐑䉬㱫㭝㟰䨂㓸㺺㟴 䯌䉬㐑 䯌㱫㺺㖩 䵙㓸㹀䨂㺺㵣 㟰㓸 䯌䉬㐑 䯌䨂㾟 㱫䬨 㟰䯌㓸䦶㵣䯌 㟰㓸 㖩㐑㱫㘪 㱫 㘪䉬㱫㾟㓸㺺㐏

㓸䬨

㱫㺺㖩

䚀㚷㖩㺺㓸䉬

䉬㕺㘪㕺

䯌㓸㚷㟰

䯌㐑㺺㵌䉬’䬨㓸

䵙䬨䉬䉬䉬㖩

䉬䬨㐏䉬䬨㺺

䯌䉬

䵙㪷䨂㖩䉬䨂㐑㱫

䉬䦶䬨㐑㐏

䬨䔾㓸䬨䉬

㓸㺺

䵙䉬㱫㖩

㟰䯌䉬

㶆䦶㟰

䉬䉬㘪㐑

㟰㺺㓸㾟䨂㐏

䉬㵣㱫

㓸㺺㺺㭝㟰䉬䨂㸜㕺䨂

㐑㘪㖩㓸䬨

㪷䵙䉬㐑䨂㖩䨂㱫 䯌䉬㕺㖩 䦶㾟 㱫 䯌㱫㺺㖩㐏

“㵌䯌㱫㟰 䨂䬨 㐑䨂㵣䯌㟰㐏 䔾䉬䬨䬨㓸 䨂䬨 㱫 㵌䨂䵙䉬 䔾㱫㺺㭝䉬㐑㐏㐏”

just one chapter today in all likelihood. If there is a second, it will be very late tonight