Chapter 774: You Will Like Me and Care for Me

Lynn shuddered violently.

Staring at those three lines of bloody handwriting before him, his mind was a complete blank, and he had no idea what he was supposed to say.

But just as he was about to ask, the quill floated up, and without any hesitation, swiftly erased the three lines written on the paper, then rapidly scribbled out a new passage.

[The quill quickly forgot her prying into the Big Black Cat's domain of fate. She left no traces behind. She remained as obedient and harmless as before, and from now on would never again harbor that intense curiosity toward him. She decided to quietly be a good little quill, forgetting all the secrets she had discovered today, but her fondness for cats remained exactly as it had always been.]

Under Lynn's stunned gaze.

She finished writing that passage in a flash, folded the paper, and without any wind to carry it, slipped it into a book on the bookshelf, then drifted lightly back.

"..."

After a brief, eerie silence.

As if the written words had taken effect.

The quill paused for a moment, then wrote a hesitant line in front of Lynn.

[Why is there so much blood here?]

Lynn (꒪Д꒪)ノ!

So what in the hell did you pry into?!

You just had to leave me those three sentences, without even a single explanation, and then you so swiftly and efficiently wrote yourself into amnesia. At least tell me what you found before you forget! I'm full of question marks right now, you could at least give me a tiny bit of explanation!

What the hell is looking for me, and what the hell is protecting me?!

And what exactly is that power? At least let me live with some clarity!

You can't just be a Riddler!

Lynn was absolutely fuming. He swiped the quill over with his cat paw, fur bristling as he yelled:

"You're the one who did this! You asked me to help you complete the chapter in your story, then you dipped yourself in that stuff and wrote a few big characters, everything went dark around you, and you started screaming. You tell me what you found! And what's this business about writing yourself into amnesia?!"

The quill wriggled free from his grip.

Then, as if hesitating, she floated over to the bottle of blood-like ink that had lost its potency, then hovered above the bloodstains and debris scattered across the floor.

After a brief moment of contemplation.

The quill finally wrote in front of him:

[Are you saying that I made myself forget what I just did?]

Anger veins popped across Lynn's head, and he pointed at the bookshelf where she had hidden the sticky note, saying:

"That's right! Isn't that what you just wrote? You hid it in the corner!"

The quill paused, its tip touching the pages on the table, hesitating, then wrote a passage in front of him.

[The quill must have discovered something she shouldn't have touched, and swiftly escaped before the backlash hit her, erasing all traces of her prying. I must have found something that scared me.]

Its tip paused.

Then it continued writing.

[My decisions are always correct. Since I've forgotten, that means I had to forget, or else something terrible would happen. So don't try to remind me of what happened just now. I won't let myself know.]

Lynn clenched his fist, grinding his teeth with his eyes closed: "Fine, I won't remind you. But you gave me those three sentences earlier, you said..."

Slap—

The quill smacked Lynn right across the head, and everything he was about to say was instantly smacked right out of his mind and consciousness.

[I already told you not to. That means I shouldn't know a single word of it, and you're still trying to remind me.]

Lynn sucked in a sharp breath of cold air, utterly exasperated.

But he knew.

No matter what she had prying into just now, that could be set aside for the moment. But the matter of the Fallen Angel had to be dealt with now, or it might already be too late.

Without any hesitation.

Lynn stepped forward and said seriously:

"You haven't forgotten what you promised me, have you? You said that as long as I helped you complete your story, you would agree to a few of my conditions. You should still remember that, right?"

The quill paused.

Then wrote.

[Did I?]

"..."

A brief, eerie silence.

Of course.

This wretched quill, after making herself forget everything, was now trying to weasel out of it too.

But Lynn wasn't worried in the slightest, because he had come prepared. With his dead-fish eyes, he extended a claw, unhurriedly popped out his own right eye, placed it on the table in front of him, and then tapped the eyeball with his claw.

Click—

A faint mechanical sound.

Quill: "???!"

The eyeball slowly deformed, extending four tiny retractor-like legs, and its pupil immediately projected a first-person view from minutes ago onto the wall.

It clearly recorded the words she had written demanding a "trade," as well as the entire process of him completing her story. Crystal-clear 4K footage, not a single detail missing.

Good thing he had dismantled so many warships and kept this handy little gadget for himself.

The quill instantly stiffened.

Lynn closed his eyes and said: "Remember now?"

"..."

Another brief silence.

Finally.

The quill wrote stiffly:

[You should be human, right? Why would you install something like that in your eye?]

Lynn shoved the eyeball back into its socket with a pop, eyes closed, and said: "None of your business whether I install it or not. It's just a personal hobby. Now you can't deny it anymore, can you? Can you still fulfill what you promised me?"

The quill paused.

As if trying hard to recall.

Then finally wrote:

[If it's a trade, then of course I'll honor it. So what do you want me to do? Or rather, what conditions did I agree to back then?]

Seeing that she had finally stopped trying to wriggle out of it.

Lynn breathed a sigh of relief and opened his mouth to ask her to help deal with the shadow inside the Matriarch's body. But just as the words were about to leave his lips, his mind spun at an almost unimaginable speed.

He paused, then closed his eyes and held up two cat fingers.

"First, I want you to help resolve the Calamity currently facing Nightfall City. You agreed to that."

The quill scribbled it down on the paper.

[And a second?]

She paused hesitantly, then wrote.

Lynn nodded: "Of course there's a second. Since I completed two chapters for you, one condition per chapter is perfectly reasonable. So do you want to take a look at the rest of the recording? If you want, I can play it for you right now..."

With that, he reached for his eyeball again.

But the quill immediately interrupted his action, scribbling rapidly.

[No need. I said I wouldn't touch the things I've forgotten, and you shouldn't try to make me see them either. Just tell me. I'll trust you.]

Lynn nodded, giving a thumbs up in strong approval and affirmation.

No problem at all.

Then he closed his eyes, cleared his throat, adjusted his monocle, and said:

"Second."

"You agreed to be my girlfriend, and you said you would like me and care for me as always..."