Novel Bin Chapter 222 The Fool’s Choice
("Time of poisoning... six to twelve hours... before the onset of poisoning... no symptoms...")
Having perused the description of the "Parasitic Blood Serpent," Tyler finally understood the cause of his impending demise.
The cause of death was poisoning, possibly as a result of Heloise\'s attempt to kill him that backfired, or perhaps due to Heloise being completely infected by the blood serpent.
Regardless of the method of intoxication, given that there would be no symptoms post-poisoning, Tyler would remain oblivious until the onset of the venom.
Moreover, the "future self destined to die" was unaware of the impending doom, leaving him utterly defenseless.
Now that the cause of the unknown death had been discerned, the only task left was to devise a strategy to circumvent the poisoning.
·
Avoiding a future poisoned fate, given his understanding of the underlying principles, was not a difficult task for Tyler.
However, after unraveling the mystery, his mood did not lighten, but rather, turned gloomier.
Observing Heloise, who was still embarrassed about her nudity, engendered a maelstrom of sentiments within Tyler.
(No wonder they sent someone weaker than Splurt...)
(So, from the beginning, the Shadow Serpent Society never intended for Heloise to return alive...)
Tyler removed his crimson dragon cloak and draped it over the young girl, then turned to depart.
"Heloise, it appears the enemy headed in that direction. I\'ll give chase."
·
Once distanced from Heloise, Tyler\'s mood gradually regained its tranquility.
To Tyler, Heloise was merely an assassin with whom he had less than a day\'s acquaintance, an assassin whose task was to kill him.
However, due to Heloise\'s extreme naivety and lack of the cold demeanor typical of assassins, he occasionally forgot that she was there to kill him.
Despite the lack of evidence, based on his current understanding of Heloise, Tyler could roughly guess that she was being used by the Shadow Serpent Society, which made it hard for him to harbor hatred towards her, let alone murderous intent.
Now, after learning about the "Parasitic Blood Serpent", Tyler\'s feelings towards Heloise became even more complex.
Such an innocent child (excluding the part of being overly chunibyo), Heloise somewhat resembled Tyler himself in his younger days.
Should he save her? Or should he ignore her?
It was unimaginable to Tyler that there would come a day when he would contemplate rescuing the very assassin sent to kill him.
(Silly Nissen: "Cough, Tyler, stop agonizing over it. From what I see, you\'re just lusting after her body!")
Idiot loli\'s teasing held some truth to it.
Heloise\'s soft, dewy skin and fair, long legs... all were captivating. However, Tyler was not such a shallow man.
What Tyler was contemplating now was the "usefulness" of Heloise as an individual.
In his view, if handled properly, perhaps he could use Heloise to reverse his current predicament in the Prison Star world, turning the tables on the "Singular Demon God".
·
Since being transported to the Prison Star world, Tyler had been constantly on the defensive, relying on his wit and precognitive death ability to counter the "Singular Demon God"\'s assassination attempts and the Earthly Ghost\'s surveillance and plots.
This time, if Tyler ignored Heloise and allowed her to be discarded and die, indeed, he could avoid the "death in the future". However, this would only avoid it this time.
After Heloise\'s failure, there would be another Heloise, and the Shadow Serpent Society\'s assassination attempts would not cease because of one failure.
What\'s more dangerous is that the Shadow Serpent Society\'s surveillance and tracking would only become more precise.
Even if the next and the next-next assassination attempts by the Shadow Serpent Society fail, by the time of the next-next-next attempt, when the Singular Demon God\'s teleportation ability becomes available, would Tyler still be confident of escaping the Singular Demon God?
No, mere defense and escape are not long-term solutions.
This is a problem that Tyler has been thinking about for some time.
Based on this consideration, Heloise, in Tyler\'s eyes, is no longer just an assassin, but a chess piece that can be used in return.
If he can successfully turn Heloise, then Tyler will have the ability to counteract and even attack the Shadow Serpent Society.
Furthermore, if he can completely eliminate the Shadow Serpent Society, or at least remove the Shadow Serpent Society\'s surveillance ability, then Tyler would effectively blind the "Singular Demon God" and block its ears.
With the vast territory and population of the Human Federation, without eyes and ears, the "Singular Demon God"\'s assassination would no longer pose a threat.
Therefore, Tyler believes that Heloise could be the crucial chess piece allowing him to switch from defense to offense.
.
The potential value of exploiting Heloise was incredibly enticing. However, concurrently, the risks associated with leveraging her were immense.
According to the "Future Death Date: 8th July, 3:16 PM", the earliest possible time for the "Parasitic Blood Serpent" to fully infect Heloise could be on the 7th of July, leaving only four days from today.
Within these four days, Tyler not only needed to turn Heloise but also find a way to save her. In this barren wilderness, three to four days\' journey from Delis Town, this seemed an impossible task.
Moreover, before successfully turning Heloise, Tyler also needed to guard against the potential of the Shadow Serpent Society contacting her again.
According to Granny Kasi, the Earthly Ghost could use snakes as his messengers. It was possible that during Tyler\'s absence, a snake might find Heloise and inform her that "Banning" had changed his name to "Felix" and dyed his hair a yellowish-brown — if they had already discovered these changes.
With this in mind, Tyler immediately turned back towards the lake, using his binocle to check on Heloise as he walked.
Fortunately, there was no suspicious snake activity around the lake.
(...It\'s time to make a decision.)
Watching Heloise, who was conscientiously folding the crimson dragon cloak, Tyler was about to make a choice.
.
Should he retrieve his cloak and part ways with her here... or risk continuing to travel together?
Should he let Heloise die and himself escape for now... or do everything in his power to save her, gambling on the potential she possessed?
In terms of risk, if he failed, he would die — there was no bigger threat than that.
In terms of benefits, Heloise was a young girl he had known for less than a day. Whether she could become a pawn was still uncertain.
With the limitation of only three to four days of action left, abandoning Heloise and waiting for the next pawn to appear might be a more prudent choice.
Nevertheless, Tyler didn\'t choose this.
(The next assassin might not be as innocent as Heloise.)
Tyler looked at the letter "T" in his hand and made up his mind.
He would save Heloise, then officially start the war against the Earthly Ghost and the Shadow Serpent Society!