Thud—
A figure dressed in a stage costume emerged from the red paper monster, its upper body hanging in mid-air.
Sensing that Evan Stone was about to return, the red paper monster struggled violently. Its body began to turn increasingly transparent, like paper soaked in rain, becoming thinner and thinner.
Evan Stone, hanging by it, flew just above the ground, swaying uncontrollably and feeling dizzy.
The torn paper edges continued to squirm, as if trying to swallow Evan Stone back in, but Evan Stone braced himself, desperately holding his upper body steady and fighting the dizziness!
At that moment, a drenched young boy ran across the desolate earth, heading directly toward them!
"Brother!!"
A hand reached out, grabbing Evan Stone's arm and pulling it down forcefully!
Evan Stone felt a surge of strength, and his lower body detached from the paper, his entire form flying through the gap between the theater and reality, crashing heavily to the ground!
As Evan Stone detached, the paper monster dissolved completely, vanishing as if it had never existed.
Dressed in his bright red stage costume, Evan Stone lay on the muddy ground, breathing heavily.
The sky was overcast, and scattered raindrops slid down his hair.
Dizzy, Evan Stone saw a familiar face appear before him, anxiously shaking his body.
"Brother! Brother!! Are you okay?"
As the feeling of dizziness slowly faded, Evan Stone focused and blinked, slightly stunned.
"Maxe? What are you doing here?"
The boy before him was none other than his younger brother, Maxe Stone.
In the original owner's memories, Evan Stone had only two things he was truly proud of in his life.
The first was getting into the authorities on his own merit; the second was having Maxe Stone as his younger brother.
It wasn't because Maxe Stone was particularly intelligent or talented—on the contrary, Maxe was not smart, and he was always at the bottom of the class. He stuttered when speaking, making him one of the easiest targets for bullying.
But since Maxe Stone was still in diapers, he followed Evan Stone everywhere, doing whatever Evan Stone asked him to, even when Evan, in his childhood mischief, almost buried Maxe in the sand, nearly suffocating him. When Maxe was rescued, his first reaction wasn't to cry, but to grin at him.
After that, Evan Stone took Maxe everywhere, and no matter what Evan did, Maxe trusted him unconditionally.
Evan Stone was ordinary, but through Maxe Stone's eyes, he saw a different version of himself... one that was admired.
"I... I..." The drenched boy spoke incoherently,
"When I woke up from my surgery, I stayed in the hospital waiting for you to come get me... Then, I heard outside that an 'apocalyptic' level disaster had invaded, and I got so worried about you.
I snuck out of the hospital when no one was looking, planning to come home and find you, and then I saw you hanging on a monster..."
"But District 2 and 3 were supposed to be locked down? How did you get here?"
"It seems like the authorities didn't have enough manpower. They only locked down the area outside Districts 2 and 3, but there weren't many people stationed between the two districts, so I snuck over."
Evan Stone shook his head, finally managing to sit up. He looked at Maxe's worried face, his feelings were incredibly complex.
Grace Stone and Richard Stone had set up a plot to murder him, just to give his heart to Maxe Stone... to save his life.
In a way, Maxe Stone had caused Evan Stone's death.
But when he thought about it, Maxe Stone didn't know any of this. He was just a fifteen-year-old boy. All he knew was that his parents said they had found a way to cure him, so he obediently lay on the operating table...
Even if he was cured, he would never know that the heart beating in his chest came from his brother.
At this thought, a faint sadness flashed in Evan Stone's eyes as he looked at his brother.
"Brother... did you kill him?"
Maxe Stone's gaze shifted to Victor Hale's bloodied body, his young face as pale as paper.
"I didn't kill him." Evan Stone instinctively replied, "That wasn't me, it was..."
But before he could finish, he froze.
He didn't know how to explain everything to Maxe Stone.
Maxe Stone had witnessed him emerge from the red paper monster's body, and now Evan Stone had a gruesome wound on his neck, blood covering his body, looking nothing like a normal human. Should he tell Maxe about the "audience" in his head? Should he tell him that he was just possessed?
Evan Stone's mind was in chaos. He had inherited the original owner's memories and his feelings for his brother, and deep down, he was even a little afraid... He was afraid that Maxe Stone, like his parents, would see him as a monster.
But Maxe Stone just quietly looked at him, with no trace of fear in his chestnut-colored eyes.
After thinking seriously for a moment, he walked over to Victor Hale, using all his strength to lift him up, then staggered into the deeper wilderness.
"What are you doing?" Evan Stone froze.
The thin, frail boy, carrying almost double his own weight in Victor Hale, left deep impressions in the wet wilderness with every step.
Even so, Maxe Stone grit his teeth and stumbled forward.
"Brother, he's a law enforcement officer."
"I know."
"Killing a law enforcement officer is a serious crime. If they find out, no matter who killed him... they'll come after you."
"...I know, I..."
"Brother." Maxe Stone spoke softly,
"I'll bury him for you."
Seeing Maxe Stone's determined and serious expression, Evan Stone's heart trembled slightly.
He stood there for a moment, then finally spoke the rest of his sentence:
"No... Maxe, what I mean is... he's not dead!"
Maxe Stone: ?
The confused Maxe Stone turned around, just in time to see Victor Hale's eyelids twitch, letting out a soft groan, as if he was about to wake up.
He gasped and lost his balance, causing both himself and the unconscious Victor Hale to tumble to the ground.
Half-conscious, Victor Hale's eyes gradually opened a crack...
A red figure suddenly rushed to his side, raised a fist high, and slammed it into the back of his head!
Boom—!
Just as Victor Hale was about to regain consciousness, the pain at the back of his head caused him to flip his eyes and pass out once more.
Evan Stone shook his sore hand, breathing a sigh of relief.
That was close, he almost let that guy kill him!
Earlier, Evan Stone had witnessed the entire battle between Victor Hale and the red paper monster through the stage curtain. Though he didn't know what special ability the man was using, without the red paper monster, Evan Stone knew he was no match for Victor Hale.
"Let's go."
After knocking out Victor Hale, Evan Stone looked at the increasingly heavy rain and immediately pulled Maxe Stone away from the spot.
District 3 wasn't just home to Victor Hale; there were other law enforcement officers too. Victor Hale appeared here probably just because he was the fastest... If they waited any longer, once the other law enforcement officers arrived, they wouldn't be able to escape.
Victor Hale lay motionless in the pit, and the two boys gradually walked further away.
The rain washed away the scars of the wilderness, the mud flowing and erasing all traces of their footsteps. A few minutes later, a group of figures in black and red uniforms hurried to the scene...