# Chapter 42: Gifted Intelligence · Hugh Siro (Fourth Update)
Boom, boom, boom!
A series of rumbling sounds came from below. Su Xiao held a tablet computer in his hand, working on a puzzle game that Pudge had recently developed. It could be considered a sequel to the previous game, or perhaps a DLC. The difficulty was extremely high, but there were only three levels.
On a small bed not far away, the Priest was lying down resting, while Guild Leader · Rogash stood before a bookshelf flipping through books. Although the auras of everyone present resembled those of final boss villains, they didn't keep their faces tense all day—that would be meaningless.
A young girl with a fishbone braid was lying on top of a bookshelf. Wearing a nightgown, she crossed her fair calves, occasionally glancing at Su Xiao, then at the Priest.
This girl was named Anier. She called Guild Leader · Rogash her father. Her aura was somewhat strange—sometimes as weak as an ordinary person, other times suddenly rising slightly, as if changing with her emotions.
A series of rumbling sounds came from below. The noise had started half an hour ago. The Priest was getting annoyed by it. He sat up from the small bed and said, "Rogash, just bring him up directly. It's too noisy."
"..."
Guild Leader · Rogash seemed to ponder for a moment before finally raising his hand to press a mechanism on the bookshelf. A few seconds later, the rumbling from below ceased.
After a moment, hurried and powerful footsteps came from outside the door. With a bang, the double wooden doors were kicked to pieces.
"Can't you push the door open with your hands?"
Guild Leader · Rogash spoke in a low voice. His long hair wrapped around the book in his hand and returned it to the shelf.
"Rogash, long time no see. I've missed you, my father."
Hugh Siro stepped on the broken wooden fragments as he strode in, carrying a large cloth bag in his hand.
Guild Leader · Rogash glanced at Hugh Siro. Seeming dissatisfied, he picked up another book and flipped to the page with the bookmark.
"Hugh Siro, calm down."
Baha landed on a bookshelf. Seeing Baha, Hugh Siro's eyes showed some surprise.
"Don't look at me like I'm a ghost. Listen to me—your intelligence is about to be completely crushed."
"Don't say it, Baha," Hugh Siro said, cracking his neck. He continued, "I'm prepared to die here, but before that, there are some things I need to confirm. Also, thanks."
Hugh Siro opened the cloth bag and pulled out the female secret technique master by the hair.
"Rogash, tell me what this is all about. Could it be that after killing your own daughter Anier, you actually feel guilty? If so, I'm going to throw up, Rogash."
Hugh Siro held the female secret technique master by her hair, his gaze fixed on Guild Leader · Rogash.
"Just a half-finished product to lure you here. Number 9, return to your resting place."
Guild Leader · Rogash didn't even look at Hugh Siro.
"As you command."
The female secret technique master spoke expressionlessly. Blades suddenly pierced out from her body, making her look like a hedgehog. These blades penetrated Hugh Siro's skin, and he felt excruciating pain at the wounds, forcing him to release her hair.
The blades on the female secret technique master retracted into her body. She tore off her tattered clothes and walked naked toward the inner part of the library. As she walked, her appearance rapidly changed, becoming an ordinary, forgettable face.
"This, this..."
Hugh Siro was dumbfounded. Thinking wasn't his strong suit. He felt like a stupid fish that had charged headfirst into a sewer crack, gotten stuck, and was now gulping down sewage. In short, he felt as terrible as if he'd eaten shit.
"My offspring Hugh Siro, you always believe what you see—whether it's being tricked into bed by the secret technique master of the Wodehouse family, or everything you witnessed in Smoke City.
In this world, everyone plays different roles. Do you really know what role you're playing?"
Guild Leader · Rogash didn't look at Hugh Siro. The imagined father-son battle never happened, the reason being the gap in intelligence.
"Brother, what is Father talking about? Why can't I understand? And, where have you been for over a decade?"
The girl lying on the bookshelf, Anier, spoke, swinging her calves as she talked.
"You!"
Hugh Siro was struck as if by lightning. He stepped back, grabbing his chest with one hand as if trying to seize his own heart. His breathing became rapid.
"You, you, you."
"Brother, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell? I've missed you so much. Father said you went out for training and wouldn't let me look for you..."
Anier wiped the tears from her face. Seeing this, Hugh Siro plopped down on the ground, completely dumbfounded.
"Ah, too tragic."
Baha sighed. Having fought alongside Su Xiao for so long, he knew this routine inside out.
"Quite brilliant, isn't it."
The Priest smiled. The bystander is confused—though he didn't know the details, he could see the clues.
"Heh heh heh heh... Rogash, my performance was quite brilliant too, wasn't it."
Hugh Siro got up from the ground. He looked at Anier with a complicated expression and said, "Rogash, knowing your habits, you'd call her Number 1, wouldn't you."
As Hugh Siro spoke, his thoughts raced: 'He, Hugh Siro, would not be fooled! Whatever Rogash says is bullshit!'
Firmly believing this, Hugh Siro felt suddenly enlightened and regained his confidence.
"Foolish. She really is your sister. The one soaking in the experimental apparatus over a decade ago was Number 1."
Hearing Guild Leader · Rogash's words, Hugh Siro looked like he was watching a show and said:
"Bullshit. Over a decade has passed. How could my sister Anier still look like she did in her teens? This loophole is too obvious, Rogash!"
"Good question."
Guild Leader · Rogash closed the book in his hand. After talking with Hugh Siro for so long, the other party had finally said something he was satisfied with.
"Over a decade, why is Anier still the same as when you ran away from home? I started researching this question nine years ago and reached a conclusion two years ago. Your sister Anier is a coexistence body of the Dark Mask.
When I was young, I touched the Dark Mask. I myself didn't seem to show any abnormal changes. Unfortunately, you two siblings inherited that 'touch' of mine. Your sister stopped growing in her teens, and your misfortune... is the pain of immortality."
Guild Leader · Rogash seemed to let out a low sigh. No one knew what he was thinking.
"Absurd. You mean you deliberately scared me out of the house to make me grow up outside?"
"Of course not. In terms of talent, you have the highest aptitude for secret techniques, but... perhaps there was a problem with the inheritance. You didn't inherit certain things from me."
"Speak plainly."
"He's calling you stupid."
Baha's tone was helpless. Hearing this, Hugh Siro's eye twitched.
"Your intelligence is not outstanding, so you couldn't calmly watch me conduct various experiments on Anier. Eternal youth is a curse, Hugh Siro. Dare you press your finger on your brow?"
"!"
Hugh Siro instinctively covered his brow. This was his secret. Ever since gaining his 'immortal body,' he had accidentally touched his brow once. The feeling drove him crazy, nearly to the point of madness. There was no wound on his brow, but it felt like there was a hole from which something would 'flow out.' That thing was black, coming from within himself.
"The black filth that 'flows out' from your brow is your malice, greed, sloth, and prideful anger. When they've all flowed out, in your case, you should feel happy."
"Greed and sloth flowing out isn't a bad thing."
"Big brother, think carefully," Baha chose to explain to Hugh Siro, since they still had some friendship. He continued, "Your father means that when those black filths have all flowed out, you'll be mentally handicapped. Smiling happily every day—of course you'd be happy."
"?"
Hugh Siro's brain cells were practically burning. He couldn't tell truth from lies anymore, and he felt that perhaps he wasn't smart because too much black filth had flowed out? Thinking of this, Hugh Siro felt a bit of comfort. His poor brain wasn't innate!
"Don't be fooled by your sister. Her black filth is almost gone. What she'll eventually become, I don't know. In her eyes, you and I are just strangers."
"Father, how can you say that."
Anier casually picked up a book and threw it at Guild Leader · Rogash. The book was caught by his long hair just as it reached him.
"My offspring, joining us is the choice you should make. Your sister Anier needs you. I don't know if she can recover, but... as long as there's hope, don't give up."
Guild Leader · Rogash stood before the window. A night breeze blew in, stirring the curtains and his hair that reached his knees. His eyes were so black they made one's heart uneasy.
"I'm not a good father, nor a kind person. But the Dark Mask might be able to help your sister recover. Do you want to join us, Hugh Siro?"
Guild Leader · Rogash raised both hands, his presence overwhelming.
"Heh. If it were just cooperating with White Night, I'd consider it. At least in Smoke City, he never screwed over this guy with the bad brain. But you, and you."
As Hugh Siro spoke, he pointed at the Priest, then at Guild Leader · Rogash.
"I, Hugh Siro, would rather die here! Be beaten to pieces by you! Than cooperate with you!"
Hugh Siro smiled with mysterious confidence.
"..."
"..."
Five minutes later, Hugh Siro sat on a fallen bookshelf, holding a cup of black tea. He took a few sips, then looked at Anier. After pondering for a long time, he finally spoke:
"For now... let's cooperate."
PS: (Recommending a friend's book, title: Revolution, Empress. Also, today's update is late again.)