Chapter 43: They Are All Accomplices

Emily's POV

After Joshua finished speaking, he pulled out a rope he'd prepared who knows when and started tying himself up with it.

"Tying people up is really a skill. If you're not good at it, you can't do it right. Um, hey... miss, come help me out. I can't tie it tight enough by myself. Pull it tighter, it's okay."

"Hey miss, do you think we should add a gag? Would that be more professional? I brought one too, it's in my bag. Help me tie this up."

If the situation wasn't so unusual, I really wanted to ask him: Are you out of your mind?

How could he be as messed up as Christopher?

I glanced over and saw that somehow he'd already gotten himself into the passenger seat, still running his mouth.

Even though my mind was a mess, my body reacted quickly. I got in the driver's seat and drove off into the distance.

The urgent thing now was to dispose of the body first. We weren't too far from the coast, so I planned to dump the body in the ocean.

On the road, I finally couldn't help but ask.

"You're the president's son. Christopher told me to protect you. Now you want me to use you to trade for Elizabeth?"

"Are you sure this is right?"

Joshua was making muffled sounds. I glanced over at him - he'd already put the gag on himself.

I could only pull the gag off wordlessly, getting a handful of saliva in the process. But now wasn't the time to worry about these little things.

"That's so suffocating. How do those actresses in porn films stand it?"

"As for what you said, I think it's wrong. All lives are equal. Nobody's life is more valuable than another's. So what if I'm the president's son? I still can't take a bullet, can I?"

"Besides, if I put myself in your shoes, I'd do the same thing without hesitation - trade me for my mother."

I couldn't help but feel a sense of respect.

I hadn't expected his thinking to be so noble.

"Do you know what kind of impact it would have on your country if you were kidnapped by Douglas, even if you don't die?"

Joshua chuckled, "Of course I know. But I don't regret it. Come on, miss, I'm not even saying anything, so why are you the one getting all wishy-washy?"

Why am I being wishy-washy? Don't you get it?

You're someone who doesn't think or act according to normal logic, which forces me to think this way.

Normally, shouldn't it be that he runs and I chase him, and he can't escape my trap, then I say some stuff about making it up to him in the next life, and then tie him up and deliver him to the Shadowmoon Council?

After disposing of the body, I sent a message to Douglas.

He quickly sent me the exchange location.

I looked at Joshua. "I already contacted Douglas. Are you sure you want to trade yourself for Elizabeth? If you want to back out now..."

"Of course. Hurry up, hurry up. The rope's making my hands go a bit numb. Should've known not to tie it so tight."

I clenched my fists secretly. No, no matter what happens, I have to protect Joshua.

Even if it costs me my life.

Once Elizabeth is handed over, I'll have her leave first.

It's time for the former number one assassin of The Zenith Class rankings to reappear.

This damn Joshua, just as annoying as Christopher. I've only known him for a little while, and he's already made me decide to sacrifice my own life.

So annoying.

"By the way, miss, aren't you curious about the real reason I came to Silverlight City?"

I responded, "What? Your last words before you die?"

After saying that, I fell silent. How could I say something like that?

It's all his fault for acting so relaxed, not at all like someone about to face life and death, making me almost think we were just out having fun.

Joshua shrugged. "I guess so. Actually, the main reason I came to Silverlight City was for the deep-sea glow symbiont mass production code. But not entirely. I'm not sure if Christopher told you, but my country is also researching a corresponding project called the Targeted Therapy System."

"The full name is Large-Scale Cultivation of Deep-Sea Luminescent Bacteria and Integration with Targeted Therapy."

"The project I was conducting was stolen by one of my subordinates. Not only that, they stole the samples too. They also destroyed all our saved data."

"I'm researching this mainly to save my mother. She has an extremely rare case of ALS, and even Eldoria's top doctors are helpless."

"I'm doing all this not just to save my mother, but to end humanity's suffering from being forced to face death due to illness, to prevent such tragedies from happening again."

"That's why I came to Silverlight City."

At this point, he sighed. "Looks like I won't live to see the day my mother gets better."

I fell even more silent.

Yes, I should have thought of this earlier.

Christopher told me: the Deep-Sea Glow Symbiont Mass Production Code and Eldoria's research project are highly compatible. If the two could be combined, once the experiment succeeds, it could completely cure 99% of human diseases, not just delay death.

He'd already told me this, and Joshua came to Silverlight City. If I'd thought a bit deeper.

I could have figured it out.

I shook my head. No, what's the point of thinking about this now?

The car fell silent.

After about an hour, we stopped at a hillside in the suburbs.

According to the address, Elizabeth was in a small cabin not far ahead.

I looked at Joshua, unable to feel happy at all. "Are you really sure?"

Joshua nodded, his eyes very determined.

"You won't regret it?"

"Let's go."

He walked toward the cabin ahead of me.

I followed behind, reaching out to pat his back as a form of comfort.

The distance wasn't far, but it felt extraordinarily long to me.

It was guilt.

I was using Joshua - someone with a sincere heart who'd worked so hard to research something that would benefit all humanity - to trade for Elizabeth.

The deeper his dedication ran, the more clearly I felt that selfish part of myself that I couldn't hide.

Inside the cabin, four men in special ops gear stood up immediately when they saw Joshua and me.

One of the men answered a phone call, then turned to me.

"Lily, congratulations on saving Elizabeth's life. But we can't give her to you just yet."

My expression changed, not just because of what he said, but because I couldn't see Elizabeth anywhere.

"Douglas wants to back out?"

The man shook his head and handed me a tablet showing footage of Elizabeth.

"No, Lily. We know what you're capable of. And given your relationship with Douglas, he'll keep his word. We're just worried about your methods, so we won't return Elizabeth to you until we've left with Joshua."

"But Douglas asked me to tell you that he can guarantee Elizabeth will be safely returned to you."

"So before that, please let us leave. Oh, and if possible, we'd appreciate it if you could drive the car toward the city in a bit. Thanks."