The situation took a sudden turn for the worse, instantly putting Rene and Jacob on edge.
Their attention had been focused entirely on Alva, completely overlooking the possibility that the hostage was compromised.
Wait a minute... if the hostage is compromised, then where is the real hostage?!
Alva clearly realized this too, turning to Duke Jared to demand:
"Where's my Teacher?"
"Heh, he's dead."
"To prevent himself from being used as leverage against me, he took his own life when we weren't looking."
Duke Jared had intended to shatter Alva's mental defenses, but the young man remained far more composed than he had anticipated.
"To be honest, my opinion of you has risen considerably."
"So, how about working for me?"
"I'll spare no effort to meet all your needs, especially when it comes to research funding."
"With your current abilities, you're more than capable of standing on your own two feet. There's no need to waste your talents languishing in the Academy."
"Is that so?" Alva chuckled softly. "But I actually quite like this life. I have no desire to change it."
"Then it seems our negotiations have failed," Duke Jared remarked calmly, though he hadn't held much hope to begin with.
Without a hostage to restrain him, forcing Alva into service would carry immense risks.
Had Alva retained his former personality, Duke Jared might have found ways to bend him to his will. But that had all been a facade. The Alva before him now felt utterly inscrutable.
If I can't have him, Duke Jared thought, I certainly won't let Neuvillette benefit from him.
In Duke Jared's mind, Alva had already been sentenced to death.
However, they still needed Alva to pilot the ship, so he wouldn't act just yet.
Duke Jared signaled to the noble standing behind Alva, short sword in hand. The noble immediately understood with a glance.
"Boy, hand over the control button."
"You want this?" Alva waved the control button in his hand, a smile playing on his lips.
As the noble reached out to take it, Alva suddenly tossed the button into his mouth and swallowed it whole.
Holy shit, he swallowed it?!
The assembled crowd stared in disbelief, partly because they never expected Alva to do such a thing, and partly because they couldn't fathom how he had managed to swallow it whole.
"Damn it! Do you have a death wish?!"
"Spit it out now!"
The noble snapped back to his senses and immediately grabbed Alva by the collar, roaring furiously. The short sword in his hand had already pierced Alva's body slightly, blood seeping from the wound.
"Ha ha ha! If you want it, come and get it!" Alva taunted, his eyes glinting with defiance. "But remember, I'm the only one who knows the spatial jump coordinates. If I die, you'll never escape this dimension for the rest of your lives!"
Hearing these words, the noble reluctantly withdrew his sword, leaving Alva's clothes stained crimson.
Seeing this, Jacob instinctively took a step forward, but the Gardemeks guarding the nobles immediately moved to block his path. At the same moment, Duke Jared issued a stern warning.
"Monsieur Jacob."
"If you don't want him hurt, stay where you are and behave yourself!"
Despite his resentment, Jacob dared not make any rash moves.
With Gardemeks blocking his path, any plans he might have had were impossible to execute.
"Restrict their movements, just in case," Duke Jared ordered.
Previously, protected by his advanced Gardemeks, Duke Jared had completely disregarded Jacob. But the situation had changed. Now that the Gardemeks' command protocols were under his control and he could no longer issue them orders, they had become mere ornaments.
Fortunately, the opposing faction also couldn't control these Gardemeks; otherwise, things would have become much more complicated.
Soon, Rene, Jacob, and the other prisoners were confined to a completely transparent room. Empty and devoid of any furnishings, its purpose remained unclear.
The view was excellent, somewhat like a VIP seat for observing events. However, the nobles reasoned that their captors wouldn't waste resources on a dedicated viewing room—that would be absurd.
The noble shook his head, dismissing the mystery of the room's purpose. He returned to Alva's side and asked gravely, "What do you want?"
"Let the others go first. I'll come with you."
"Absolutely not!"
Duke Jared immediately rejected Alva's proposal.
"If you lose your mind like your Teacher, we'll all die with you!"
"Have the Gardemek bring the others here."
"If he doesn't confess, kill them in front of him."
Upon hearing Duke Jared's orders, the noble relayed the command. A Gardemek left the scene and soon returned with two captives.
Using Rene and Jacob might have been more effective, but Duke Jared wasn't sure if they could still be killed. After all, they were no longer human.
"These are your colleagues, right?"
"If you want them to live, obediently cough up the controller button and lead us out of this place."
"Don't give in to him!"
The two men, dangling in the Gardemek's grasp, stared fiercely at Alva.
"We've already made our choice!"
Alva simply nodded slightly.
In the next instant, blood erupted in a crimson spray.
The acrid stench of blood filled the air.
"Don't think I'm joking," Duke Jared said coldly. "We have plenty of hostages. Let's see how long you can hold out!"
"Find more!"
The sudden violence left Rene and Jacob trembling with rage, their fists clenched tightly.
They remembered those two: members of Barbara's fan club, their workstations covered in Barbara merchandise. Sometimes, they would even hug Barbara posters and rub against them, completely oblivious to their surroundings. Rene and Jacob had initially looked down on these two, but now they were amazed by their sudden sense of righteousness in this critical moment.
Two more people were brought forward by the Gardemeks, tightening Rene and Jacob's chests again.
They recognized these two as well. They slept soundly during work hours, and to make matters worse, they mumbled in their sleep, distracting everyone else.
Click-clack—two more strikes of the blade. Then another two were brought forward.
These two were the ones who spent work hours drooling over cookbooks, leaving their desks perpetually wet.
Click-clack—two more strikes.
Next came two who frequently went on field assignments, but one day, Rene and Jacob had stumbled upon them napping under a tree...
One by one, familiar and unfamiliar faces were brought to this killing zone and executed, their bodies piling up into a small mountain nearby.
Though Rene and Jacob harbored little affection for these individuals, the sight before them still pierced their hearts. These were all Fontaine's talents!
Though they might have slacked off a bit on occasion, it was through their collective efforts that Fontaine's scientific progress had advanced by centuries!
These damned bastards—do they really want to see Fontaine completely destroyed?!
Rene felt his heart bleeding. The attackers clearly had no idea how brilliant these researchers were.
He screamed at them to stop, but the room seemed to block out all sound.
Jacob furiously attacked the glass-like wall before him, but his blows left not even a scratch.
The craftsmanship of the Noah's Ark was truly extraordinary, with every detail perfected. Only someone approaching the power of an Archon could inflict any damage upon it.
Jacob had once possessed power approaching that of an Archon, but his previous exertion had drained him severely, leaving him far weaker now.
By the end, the air was so thick with the stench of blood that Duke Jared finally called a halt.
If we keep going, we might run out of men!
"How can you be so heartless? Watching so many colleagues and friends die before your eyes without a shred of emotion."
"What's wrong? Not continuing? There are still plenty of people left!"
Duke Jared was genuinely infuriated by Alva's words.
Clearly, they were the ones with the advantage, but the other party acted as if they were the ones being threatened.
Killing—Duke Jared truly didn't dare to kill anymore. If they kept killing, there would be no one left to pilot the spaceship.
But he seemed utterly powerless against them. Alva had chosen the route, and no one else knew it. If they stumbled into a dangerous area, they'd be doomed.
Agreeing to Alva's terms was even more unrealistic. No matter how he looked at him, Alva seemed utterly indifferent to life and death.
Just then, the Noah's Ark suddenly flashed red again.
[High-energy individual detected rapidly approaching the ship! Energy level: SSR!]
Hearing the alert, Duke Jared froze for a moment, then his face immediately turned ashen.
A high-energy entity that triggered the Noah's Ark's alarm—whether Neuvillette or Dark Furina—meant the situation was critical. He couldn't afford to waste any more time!
At the very least, he needed to regain control of all the Gardemeks on the Noah's Ark to prepare for the coming crisis.
With that thought, Duke Jared immediately addressed the noble:
"Cut open his stomach and retrieve the device."
"But Duke Jared..."
"We're out of time! If we don't leave now, we might never escape!"
Hearing Duke Jared's words, the noble gritted his teeth and plunged his short sword into Alva's body.
Alva let out a muffled groan before collapsing slowly to the ground.
The scene made Rene and Jacob's pupils dilate instantly. Though they had sensed this was coming, they were utterly unable to accept it when it actually happened.
Memories of their time with Alva flooded their minds. Though their time together had been brief, they had grown to deeply admire this young man, their team leader, who was so much younger than them.
"No—!" Rene roared. Why, just when I see hope for the world, do the people of Teyvat themselves destroy it with their own hands?!
Jacob hurled himself against the wall with all his might, but left not a single mark.
The control button had been found. Duke Jared emerged from the sealed compartment, his face grim. He glanced at Alva, who lay motionless on the floor, bleeding profusely, then quickly looked away.
No time for caution now, he thought. We need to get out of here first.
Even if danger awaited, the Gardemek would be more than capable of handling most threats.
Duke Jared ordered the Gardemek that had been on standby to bring the rest of the crew from the Noah's Ark one by one. Before long, nearly everyone from the ship had gathered in the area.
Yet no matter how Duke Jared threatened, bribed, or coerced them, he couldn't persuade anyone to pilot the Noah's Ark. Enraged, he executed several of them on the spot.
He'd assumed this would break their will, but each person merely watched his actions with cold indifference. There was no grief, no fear—only detached calm, just like Alva before.
Even the man sacrificed as an example didn't beg for mercy or hurl curses. He quietly accepted his fate.
This eerie scene sent a chill through the assembled nobles.
"A bunch of brain-damaged fools!"
Duke Jared cursed under his breath and then attempted to manually control the Noah's Ark.
He mentally retraced Alva's earlier steps, but the man's movements had been far too swift to recall.
Suddenly, the Ark shuddered violently.
Ship self-destruct sequence initiated. Five-minute countdown commenced.
Hearing the System's announcement, Duke Jared felt a suffocating dread grip him.
Self-destruct sequence?
Was whoever programmed this an idiot?!
The other nobles were also in a state of disarray, their eyes wide with confusion.
If the Ark self-destructed, wouldn't all their efforts have been for nothing?!
Duke Jared quickly regained his composure. He grabbed the nearest researcher, slammed him against the control panel, and pressed a dagger against his throat.
"Disable the self-destruct sequence immediately, or I'll kill you!"
"Do what you must."
Even faced with death, the researcher replied calmly, his eyes mocking Jared.
Duke Jared slit his throat without hesitation and grabbed another researcher. But the response remained virtually unchanged...
They were all stubborn to the bone. Duke Jared suddenly realized just how foolish he had been to provoke a group of madmen who didn't care about dying!
With the Noah's Ark on the verge of destruction, Duke Jared had no choice but to abandon his plan to disable the self-destruct sequence. He ordered the Gardemeks to locate the Escape Pod storage bay and led the other nobles to rush toward it.
Yet, just before leaving, Duke Jared grew increasingly furious. In such a short span, they had plummeted from paradise to hell.
Without the Noah's Ark, their dreams of becoming gods in the New World had been shattered.
"Kill them all!" he roared.
Even if most of them wouldn't survive anyway, this alone couldn't quench his hatred!
After leaving three Gardemeks to purge the remaining survivors, the nobles hastily boarded the Escape Pods and fled the Ark.
After eliminating the others, the Gardemeks turned their relentless assault on the transparent cell containing Rene and Jacob.
Yet their attacks, too, failed to leave even a scratch on the barrier.
By this point, Rene and Jacob barely cared. They slumped to the ground, their faces etched with sorrow.
They're all dead. Everyone is gone.
Those were the world's last hopes!
Now it's all gone. Everything is over.
The mere thought of those brilliant minds, each far surpassing his own, being slaughtered like piglets by those foolish noble lords sent waves of agony through Rene's heart.
How could things have come to this?
Though Rene and Jacob deeply admired the scientists' unwavering integrity, they desperately wished at least a few of them had clung to life out of fear. That way, the world might have retained a sliver of hope.
But now it was all over...
Rene and Jacob had completely abandoned their struggle, resigned to perishing alongside this Noah's Ark, the symbol of hope and the future.
Just then, the relentlessly attacking Gardemek outside suddenly collapsed to the ground, and the door to the room swung open.
Rene and Jacob froze for a moment, then glanced over in confusion. They saw a familiar figure, covered in blood, barely managing to stand.
"Monsieur Alva!"
Seeing Alva still alive, Rene and Jacob immediately rushed out of the room to help him.
But as they drew closer and saw his condition clearly, another wave of agony gripped their hearts.
It was too terrible.
Not only was blood gushing from his wounds, but they could even see his exposed internal organs!
"Monsieur Alva, we need to get you out of here quickly! You'll be alright!"
With only a minute remaining until the self-destruct system activated, Rene and Jacob weren't sure if they had enough time. They could only try to help each other toward the escape pod, but Alva refused their assistance.
"There's no time... cough cough!"
Alva braced himself against the control console and slid back to the floor, coughing uncontrollably.
Rene and Jacob knew that if they escaped now, they still had a chance to survive.
But when Jacob looked at Rene with a questioning gaze, Rene slowly shook his head. Jacob then stood quietly behind Rene.
"Monsieur Rene... cough cough cough, please give me your hand..."
Alva's voice was so faint it was almost inaudible. Seeing this, Rene immediately offered his small, round hand.
"Monsieur Alva, please don't strain yourself to speak. It will be easier if you rest..."
Alva shook his head in response. He pulled a bloodstained, uniquely shaped staff from his chest pocket and placed it in Rene's hand.
"This gift... cough cough cough, I had planned to give it to you later, but... but it seems I won't live long enough..."
Alva paused to catch his breath before continuing.
"Just hold this item, shout 'Transform!', cough, cough, cough, and Monsieur Rene will revert to his original form..."
"I've also imbued it with some power. For one attack mode, Monsieur Rene simply needs to cross his arms in front of his chest. Cough, cough, cough. The rest, I leave for him to discover on his own..."
Rene gripped the staff tightly, about to say something, when Alva suddenly straightened up as if experiencing a final surge of energy, whispering in his ear:
"Monsieur Rene, do you believe in the light?"
At that moment, Alva pressed the button in the staff's center. The spaceship's self-destruct sequence reached zero, and the three figures were engulfed in a blinding inferno...