Embers Ad Infinitum

Entering the study was a butler who had served Phocas for many years.

His name is Reiner, he is nearly sixty years old, which is considered a long life among the lower class people.

Reiner's hair has been obviously graying for a long time, and the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, lips, and forehead are quite obvious, but his body is strong and his spirit is good. His blue eyes only have the stability accumulated over the years, without the vicissitudes of exhaustion.

"General, the bath water is ready." Reiner saluted.

Phocas' yellow eyes swept across the butler's face, nodded and said:

"good."

He stood up slowly, led several guards guarding the door, and went up to the second floor while touching the statue on the handrail.

The guards remained at the door of the bedroom, and only two maids followed inside, helping Phocas take off his general uniform and enter the bathroom.

The general's habit was to go to bed after taking a bath at night, and no one was allowed to disturb him until he woke up on his own.

As usual, Phocas drank a glass of red wine and took a comfortable bath. After the maids simply cleaned up the bathroom, he immediately got into the large bed and covered himself with a velvet quilt.

As an elderly man, the mattress of this bed has been replaced by a firmer type to help relieve the pain in his waist.

Whenever he feels the strong support of the mattress, Phocas always misses those earlier years.

At that time, his bed was so soft that his whole body seemed to sink into it.

At that time, his wife was still alive.

As the curtains closed and the bedside lamp was turned off, the entire room was flooded with darkness.

Phocas' breathing gradually became longer.

A quarter of an hour later, the bedroom door quietly opened.

The guards who were supposed to prevent anyone from disturbing the general's sleep either disappeared or turned a blind eye.

The man who entered the bedroom was of medium height and was wearing black formal clothes.

He walked in the dim environment and came step by step to Phocas' bedside.

Then, he took out a syringe from his pocket.

After pushing out a little liquid, the man hiding in the dark leaned down and aimed the needle at a certain vein in Phocas's veins.

Snapped!

The bedside table lamp suddenly turned on, and the originally warm yellowish light was quite dazzling to humans who were accustomed to dim environments.

The man who was trying to inject Phocas couldn't help but close his eyes, straighten up in fear, and back away.

After adapting to the light, he opened his eyes again and saw that Phocas had sat up, his yellow eyes looking at him coldly, his whole person full of momentum and unusual majesty.

The person who sneaked into the room subconsciously held his breath, just like every time he encountered similar gazes in so many years.

He has gray hair and obvious wrinkles, and he is actually Phocas' most trusted butler, Reiner.

"Why?" Phocas asked in a deep voice.

He was not at all alarmed by the attack.

Reiner overcame his inner fear, raised the corners of his mouth, and showed a strange smile:

"Because I am 'Pastor' Bouillon."

"You?" Phocas sneered, but didn't say anything more. He asked calmly, "Why did you choose such an opportunity that is not an opportunity at all to attack me? Have you also lost your IQ?"

Reiner laughed:

"The fact that you raised such a question shows that my guess is not wrong.

"If I want to deal with you, a senior awakener of the 'Soul Corridor' level and a general who can command the entire city defense force, recklessness will not solve the problem. We must patiently observe the details, carefully collect intelligence, find out your weaknesses, and then Waiting for an opportunity like tonight where the city defense troops are strictly guarding everywhere but are lax here.

"Fortunately, you can deceive everyone for a period of time, and you can deceive some people forever, but you cannot deceive everyone all the time. This sentence is not said by me, it is a famous saying from the old world, and it just applies to you. suitable.

"I spent so long sneaking into your mansion, not to look for opportunities to influence you, but to look through the memories of the people around you bit by bit, looking for clues." (Note 1: Lincoln's famous quote)

Phocas smiled instead of being angry:

"what have you found?"

Reiner shrugged:

"I found that you have a habit that has not changed for many years. Whether you are commanding the army outside or facing the turmoil in the First City, you must go to bed before ten o'clock in the evening, and it will never exceed this time.

"Moreover, no one can disturb you when you are sleeping. Once, an urgent military situation was reported to you by phone, but you didn't answer it.

“It was at 11 o’clock at night and you didn’t call back until two in the morning.

“In addition, I have tracked many awakened people in the ‘Dawn’ realm, looked at their memories when I had the opportunity, and summarized some common costs, including ‘a deep coma for a certain period of time’.

"Based on this information, I judge that you will be in a deep coma between 10:30 pm and 1:30 am."

As a soldier who has been through life and death many times, Phocas' abilities and characteristics have never been a big secret, and anyone who is interested can easily investigate them.

As far as "Pastor" Bouillon knows, the two most clear distinctions are:

"Create coma" and "awaken physical potential".

As for the third one, it is a relatively hidden type and not many people know about it.

"Shepherd" Bouillon, who is also a senior awakener at the "Soul Corridor" level, knows very well that after Phocas's two abilities enter the "Soul Corridor", the corresponding boundaries will definitely be expanded, and you must not look at it with old eyes. treat.

——After being promoted to the "Soul Corridor", the number of Phocas's attacks has been significantly reduced, and most of the time, the two types of attacks shown are "creating coma" and "awakening physical potential".

Phocas did not speak, but still looked at the housekeeper Liner in front of him coldly.

Reiner smiled and said:

"Your inquiry just now confirmed to me that your price is a 'deep coma for a certain period of time', but I made a certain misjudgment at the specific time point.

"The reason why I'm telling you so much is to wait for the time when you will actually fall into coma.

"I'm surprised that you didn't panic at all and were willing to talk to me. Do you want to show calmness and scare me to interrupt subsequent attacks?

"Don't worry, every quarter of an hour, a group of people will come here in your mansion and try to kill you. Except for your two children, I think there will always be someone who hits you when you are unconscious.

"No need to struggle. Even if you make everyone in this house unconscious now, killers will come from the surrounding area one after another. Your only way is to call the consul or the Senate for help immediately, and when you arrive, Sometimes, among the people who come to protect you, there may also be my puppets."

Phocas listened quietly and sighed:

“You are really patient, unlike most people in the ‘anti-intellectual religion’.

"I did play some tricks on the timing. The few times I didn't answer the phone when there was an emergency military situation, it was actually my intention. It was just like the rule that I must go to bed before ten o'clock every night. Together, it constituted a secret observer like you. misleading.

"As a general, you must know how to leave a margin. In the early days of the old world, there was already a concept of a reserve force. How could I not make corresponding arrangements now?"

Speaking of this, Phocas laughed:

“Ten o’clock at night to two o’clock in the morning are not my coma time.

"Also, you may not have heard a sentence. This is what the emperor once said: Awakened people must protect the secret of the price they paid just like they protect their own eyes."

The smile on Phocas’s face became more and more obvious:

"Actually, my price is not 'a deep coma for a certain period of time' at all. Ever since I gained a certain level of strength, I have been working hard to create an illusion. That illusion is 'my price is a certain period of deep coma' to cover up my The real price to pay.

"There is a saying among the Gray Earth people that cunning and deceitful strategies cannot be ruled out in fighting with soldiers. This is also applicable in the battle between the awakened ones.

"Otherwise, do you think I would be able to talk to you so calmly?"

The expression on Reiner's face gradually solidified.

Phocas slowly rolled out of bed and said casually:

"Have you noticed that your insomnia has gotten worse during this time?"

Reiner didn't answer, but his brows were furrowed.

"Ever since the team of Xue Shiyue and Zhang Qubing left here and were followed by the fake 'priest', I have been wondering if 'Pastor' Bouillon is already lurking nearby, planning some conspiracy against me." Fuqua Si touched the top of his head, which had little remaining space, and said with a smile, "From that time on, I have been targeting everyone in this neighborhood indiscriminately, except for my two children."

Reiner was silent for a while and said:

"Your third ability is to make people suffer from insomnia to varying degrees?"

"Yes." Phocas smiled, "In addition to making you more and more insomnia, I also awakened your physical potential, so that you can maintain a good state while suffering from insomnia and not affect your daily life. So, you We can continue to review the memories of people on a large scale and bit by bit.

"I have been taking things step by step on this matter, so you shouldn't have noticed anything. After all, when you look through the memories, the focus must be on the various details related to me, not on the living conditions of the person being looked over."

Reiner was silent again, and then asked after a while:

"What's the point?"

"Of course it makes sense." Phocas walked slowly and glanced at him, "The intelligence system of the 'First City' is still very strong. Part of the price of your 'Last Man' domain has long been grasped, and I discovered that among them Many of them are physical and physiological costs, such as sleep disorders, high blood pressure, decreased physical fitness, etc., etc.

"I don't know if your price is in this part. It's just an attempt. Anyway, you won't lose anything if you fail. And if you succeed, hey..."

Phocas laughed:

"After a long period of overdrafting your body to fight insomnia, what do you think will happen once no one awakens your physical potential?

"A minor illness can lead to a serious illness, and a serious illness may lead to sudden death."

Reiner's face darkened.

He looked around and said:

"There must be many people in poor health in the surrounding area. Aren't you afraid of affecting them?"

"There is a saying among the Graylanders that soft-hearted people are not suitable to be generals." Phocas raised his chin, revealing his majestic posture, "I don't search the surrounding area to look for suspicious people, so as not to scare people." Let’s go and I’ll give you a chance to teach you a lesson.”

Having said this, Phocas glanced at Reiner and laughed at himself:

"Why am I telling you so much? You are just a puppet..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Reiner fell down and fell to the carpet.

The guards outside the door and other people in the mansion were also in a coma.

Phocas changed into casual clothes, went to his two adult children, took one in each hand, hurried to the garage, and got into a bulletproof SUV.

Immediately afterwards, he drove the vehicle towards the green olive area to the north.

During this process, he did not call the Senate or the Government Affairs Department, nor did he contact his subordinates in the city defense army.