novelhk Chapter 131: Black Soil Rose
Chapter 131: Black Soil Rose
Chapter 132: Black Soil Rose
"That makes perfect sense," the gentleman replied with a smile.
Upon hearing this, the corners of Lox's mouth couldn't be concealed as he turned up in a smile.
Sign a contract? Sign my ass!
Lockes was 100% certain that this blond kid would never sign that contract.
Once this pretty boy has explained the Rat King's abilities, the blond-haired guy will definitely turn his back on him!
The gentleman stroked his cane, glancing at Lox, who was already on the verge of losing his composure: "But I refuse."
Oro wasn't surprised. His golden eyes stared directly at the gentleman: "Ha, the demons' so-called spirit of contract?"
"Oh, it's so kind of you to understand this impolite gentleman."
The gentleman clapped his hands lightly, as if rewarding a child who had answered the teacher's question correctly: "Actively leaking client privacy is a serious breach of professional ethics."
"However, as compensation for not being able to meet the client's requirements, I can make an exception and allow you to skip those cumbersome procedures and sign the contract directly."
Having said that, the gentleman raised his hand.
Long, slender fingers traced across his chest, easily tearing open his black tuxedo and white shirt.
There was no blood splattering, and the cut was as clean as if it had been made with a paper cutter.
Then the gentleman did something that made both Rocks and Oro frown: he used his own hands to slowly tear open the flesh on his chest!
Skin, muscles, bones—those tissues were forcibly pulled to the sides, exposing the inside of the chest cavity.
There were no internal organs, no network of blood vessels; the chest cavity was filled with only a deep darkness, and something was pulsating within that darkness.
The gentleman's hand reached into the darkness, the movement as effortless as taking a pocket watch from a pocket.
Thump, thump—
The sound was rhythmic and clear, coming from the depths of darkness.
The sound grew louder and louder as the gentleman moved his arm.
Finally, a heart was pulled out of the chest cavity.
A vibrant heart that is still beating.
Its heart is about the same size as a human's.
The gentleman held his beating heart in his right hand and raised his left hand in a gesture.
The black mud tablet in Oro's hand vanished instantly.
The next second, the mud tablet appeared in the gentleman's left hand.
The entire process was so fast that even Rocks' Observation Haki couldn't detect it. It was definitely not movement; it was a complete disappearance and reappearance.
The gentleman examined the clay tablet from left to right, his movements as meticulous as if he were appraising the authenticity of an antique.
He held the clay tablet up to his eyes, examining the surface texture against the dim, grayish-blue light, and even tapped it lightly with his fingertips, listening intently to the sound.
"Hmm, well maintained." The gentleman nodded in satisfaction.
Then he opened his mouth and gently blew a breath toward one side of the clay slab, as if to blow away the dust on it.
After blowing on it, the gentleman placed the clay tablet in front of him, and the black clay tablet actually stayed in mid-air.
Then, the gentleman placed the heart in his right hand onto the mud slab.
The heart beats even more violently the moment it touches the mud slab.
The hissing sounds echoed across the empty tower platform, creating an eerie sync with the low, rippling vibrations of the distant city's pulse.
The gentleman raised his left hand and made the shape of a knife with his palm.
Then start cutting.
"Knock knock knock————"
The sound of a cleaver cutting meat was dull and rhythmic.
When the still-beating heart was sliced, dark red blood spurted out from the incision, splattering everywhere.
But the gentleman didn't care at all. He cut his sleeves very seriously, his eyes focused intently on the movements of his hands, his lips slightly pursed, his expression as serious as if he were performing surgery.
The angle, depth, and force of each cut are controlled perfectly.
Each piece is uniform, with a consistent thickness and neat edges.
After finishing cutting, the gentleman didn't stop.
Xiu began to manipulate the pieces of meat, her movements very light and careful, as if she were assembling some intricate model.
Place those pieces one by one on the black clay slab.
They were arranged in the shape of a flower, with each slice of meat curled into the arc of a petal, five or six slices forming a circle, creating a bright red rose.
The heart of the rose is still throbbing faintly.
One, two, three —
The gentleman arranged a total of nine roses.
Then He arranged these roses in a standard heart shape on the clay tablet.
Nine roses are neatly arranged along the outline of a heart, with each rose spaced exactly evenly apart.
Finally, the gentleman stepped back and tilted his head to admire his work.
"Clang! Clang!"
He suddenly spun around happily, the hem of his tailcoat drawing a graceful arc in the air.
After spinning around, he spread his arms wide, making a display gesture, his smile as radiant as an artist who had completed a masterpiece.
"Ah~ Look at these roses blooming on the black soil, how beautiful they are~"
The gentleman straightened his back and used his left hand to support the suspended mud slab, which rested steadily three centimeters above his palm in his sleeve, without any support.
Holding the clay tablet in her sleeve, she walked gracefully to Oro and Lox, then presented the tablet to Oro.
"Please take a look at this little rose garden, look at this perfect work of art! Isn't it beautiful?"
The slices of meat laid out on the black mud slab were still pulsating.
It's not a pulsation as a whole, but rather each piece of flesh contracting and relaxing independently and subtly.
Dark red blood slowly seeped from the cut surface of the meat slices, spreading across the black mud slab and forming dark bloodstains.
A strong, pungent smell of blood mixed with a strange, sweet odor assaulted Oro's nostrils.
Auro's carefully maintained calm demeanor began to crumble.
His lips twitched, and his facial muscles twitched slightly uncontrollably. Auro pursed his lips tightly: "The devil's tastes are astonishing."
Oro's voice remained relatively calm, but his speech was a bit faster than usual: "But I think that since you've brought us here and let us meet you, you must have something you want us to do."
"If there's something to say, just say it directly. Why ruin the decorum between gentlemen in this way?"
The gentleman pretended to be taken aback for a moment.
His eyes widened slightly, his eyebrows rose, and his mouth opened in a perfectly measured arc of surprise.
Then He exclaimed and shook his head: "I've been seen through."
The gentleman sighed, but the smile on his lips remained unchanged. He winked at Oro and said, "I do have a small favor to ask you two."
"But the contract I painstakingly drafted wasn't meant to make fun of you two."
"A contract?" Locke couldn't hold back any longer.
He peeked out from behind Oro and gestured with his eyes to the bloodied, mangled heart-shaped rose on the black mud slab: "Don't tell me this is the complete demonic contract. That black slab is actually a cutting board?"
"Yo~shi yo~shi!"
The gentleman snapped his fingers with his left hand, then pointed his index finger straight at Rocks, the movement so fast that the tip of his finger almost poked Rocks' nose.
Congratulations on getting it right!
The gentleman's voice brightened: "The reward is my praise, how about it? Touched?"
After saying this, He swiftly turned the black clay tablet with His right hand.
The mud slab spun in the air, its surface spraying blood outwards.
Auro reacted quickly, manipulating the gold to block the splashing droplets.
Blood and bits of flesh splattered against the golden barrier, making a series of loud pattering sounds.
The gentleman looked at the blocked drops of blood with a pained expression, his lips pouting like a child whose candy had been taken away: "Ah~ what a waste. But it's alright, after all, roses are the main course."
He turned to Oro, his expression returning to that elegant smile: "Come, eat a rose, and we'll sign the contract."
As he spoke, the gentleman quietly moved a little closer to Oro.
His movements were very light, his footsteps almost silent. He leaned forward, his lips close to Oro's ear, and whispered in a voice only the two of them could hear, "Just between you and me, the contract I drafted is exactly the same as the one for the previous client~"
His voice grew deeper and more magnetic, each syllable like a gentle rub against the eardrum: "Come on, come on~ Little Auro~"
"Eat just one of these, and you'll know exactly what abilities Little Im possesses!"
"Then you'll know those secrets~"
"You'll get what you want!"
"Get everything you want!"
The voice carried a certain allure, a call that pierced through reason and reached the very core of one's instincts.
I wrote this on January 26, 2013. This chapter has been edited many times, with about 1000 words removed. I don't know when it will be deleted again, so please forgive me if you find any missing chapters or disconnected content.