https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-875-Melanie-and-the-City-of-Regret/13058586/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-877-The-So-Called-Regret-Part-2-/13058590/
Chapter 876: The So-called Regret (Part I)
Chapter 876: The So-called Regret (Part I)
Knock, knock, knock...
As Emma clenched her teeth and gripped the long-handled rapier in her hand, the footsteps below the deck gradually faded away. The once-dense sounds of varying intensity quieted down, leaving only a soft and faint shuffling.
Hearing the gentle sound of fabric slippers scuffing against the floor, the bearded man who had just knelt and begged Emma to kill him shivered uncontrollably. Instinctively, he took half a step towards the entrance of the deck but then quickly retreated as if bitten by a snake.
"Creak."
Accompanied by a faint sound of wood rubbing, the hatch on the deck of the King Ship moved slightly, as if someone below wanted to push it open from underneath.
However, this hatch leading to the lower cabin had long been sealed shut by the purifiers using various methods. Despite their efforts, those below couldn't budge it, and they had to resort to lifting their small fists and knocking on the bottom of the slightly ajar hatch.
"Daddy?"
When a crisp child's voice echoed from below, the bearded man's legs suddenly went weak, and he fell to his knees on the deck. The child below, hearing the noise above, happily leaned against the hatch and called out:
"Are you out there? Daddy! Open the door!"
Knock, knock, knock.
"Open the door! Why aren't you answering me?"
"Daddy?"
"Pavlo, are you okay?"
After glancing at the bearded man who was half-lying on the deck, wanting to move towards the hatch but unable to take even a step, the female purifier at the front hesitated and then suggested:
"Should I just send the child..."
"No! Don't!"
The bearded man hastily stopped the female purifier and propped himself up on the deck, trying to move towards the hatch. However, his legs were shaking uncontrollably, and after a long while, he had only managed to move less than a meter, still far from the hatch.
After waiting for a while with no one coming to open the door, the child's voice below grew anxious. With difficulty, he knocked on the hatch, his voice filled with fear:
"Daddy! Please come and open the door! There's a terrible smell of smoke at home... It's so hot!"
"Please let me out! Fire! It's on fire! It's coming towards me!"
"Daddy! Please open the door. I'll be good from now on, I promise. Don't lock me in the house!"
The child's voice from below gradually turned into sobs. Soon after, a large amount of choking gray smoke began to seep through the gap between the hatch and the deck, rising relentlessly. It seemed that a dangerous fire had indeed broken out below.
When the child's voice turned into genuine crying, and he begged for the third time for someone to come and open the door, the bearded man could no longer hold back. He pounced forward, pushing aside the half-broken mast that was pressing down on the hatch, and desperately tried to pry open the hatch with his fingers.
Unfortunately, to prolong its endurance, the hatch had been thoroughly sealed by the anomaly, and no matter how hard the bearded man tried, even to the point of lifting the nails and scratching off the wood, the hatch, now covered in blood-red fingerprints, remained stubbornly shut, showing no signs of opening.
"Open the door!"
Seemingly coming to his senses, the bearded man, driven by his emotions, turned around and looked at the female purifier who had just spoken. Kneeling on the deck, his eyes bloodshot, he pleaded:
"Please! Please open the door!"
"I... Alright..."
The female purifier bit her lip, as if wanting to say something, but in the end, she closed her eyes and extended her hand, tearing slightly towards the direction of the hatch.
"Clack!"
A clear mechanical sound echoed from below as the female purifier tore at the hatch, which had been welded shut. It sprang open, and the dark light of the Netherworld Sun shone down, illuminating the tear-stained face of a little girl below.
"Daddy!"
The little girl, wearing white bunny slippers, was carried out of the smoke-filled cabin by a burly man with a bushy beard, his arms shaking. She immediately reached out her chubby arms and tightly hugged the man's neck, her eyes red and tearful as she choked out, "I called for you, but you didn't come to open the door... I thought you didn't want me anymore because I was naughty..."
"No, never!"
Trembling, the bearded man hugged the little girl, feeling the small heartbeat he hadn't felt in over a decade. Tears and mucus streamed down his face as he knelt on the dirty deck, promising desperately, "I won't leave you, I won't! I... Daddy was just angry and locked you in the house! But no matter what, if you call for Daddy, I'll always come! As long as you call, as long as you call for me!"
"Okay!"
Hearing this, the little girl couldn't help but smile through her tears, nodding repeatedly, "I'll call for you! I... Daddy? My throat is so sore... I can't seem to... yell..."
Please... support... the... novel...
As the little girl's voice grew hoarse, the choking smoke that had been confined to the cabin below began to quietly seep out from her mouth and nose.
Amidst the purifiers' fearful expressions, a large amount of ash with red specks spewed from her mouth, landing on the bearded man's arms and chest. It scorched his already restless soul, burning countless tiny black-red holes, and then continued to sear deeper.
The little girl in the bearded man's arms quickly withered and cracked in the scorching smoke, transforming from a once adorable child into a charred corpse, licked by flames.
Daddy!
After exhaling a puff of ash, the rapidly drying little girl looked at the bearded man, whose eyes were wide with shock. She opened her mouth, full of questions.
I did call for you... Why didn't you come to save me?
"No! No!"
Seeing the tiny body rapidly drying and crumbling in his arms, and her questioning gaze, the bearded man tore at his own clothes, frantically pointing to his burn scars. Kneeling before the little girl, he explained with despair in his eyes, "I'm not lying! Daddy really went! After discovering the fire, I rushed in immediately! I searched the entire house! But I... I..."
As the small body gradually disintegrated, the bearded man's vision, clouded by smoke, seemed to recall the burning cabinet that had fallen, and beneath it, his daughter, watching him pass by, unable to call out, silently burning to death.
"I didn't hear! I didn't hear you!"
Amidst the bearded man's desperate wails, the holes burned into his body by the smoke grew larger, nearly severing him in half at the chest. Yet, he seemed oblivious to the pain, repeatedly banging his head against the deck... until a slender sword pierced his chest!
(End of Chapter)
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