Conan: Begins to collaborate with Miss Bayonetta and become famous

Chapter 945 Why Did You Save Me?

"Why...why did you spare my life?" There was no provocation in this question, only the bewildered search after being completely lost.

Kiel's question was like a needle, piercing the barely maintained peace in the carriage.

In her puzzled gaze, tears that had been building up for so long finally broke free and streamed down her dusty cheeks, leaving a clear wet trail.

Standing a short distance away, Vermouth watched Gil's current disheveled and utterly overwhelmed state by guilt, and a crack appeared in her usually icy expression.

A complex look of pain flashed across those eyes that were usually so insightful about the world.

It was a sense of sorrow and pity for those who had once known each other, regardless of any past grievances or entanglements, now reduced to this state, this place, and this scene.

She gently looked away, her jawline tightening slightly.

The liquor fell silent.

How should he answer?

In that chaotic situation, letting her go was perhaps just a fleeting thought, mixed with a tiny bit of sentimentality from their past working together.

It might even just be a gamble based on intuition.

Even he himself could not clearly analyze the full motivation behind that decision.

He opened his mouth, just as he was about to gather his thoughts, but then he saw that Kiel's eyes had completely lost focus.

The last bit of doubt that sustained her seemed to have received a desperate answer—or perhaps she had simply exhausted all her strength.

Her head tilted limply to one side, her neck seemed to have lost all its skeletal support, her eyes were tightly closed, and her breathing became even weaker and more rapid.

That's an attitude of giving up the struggle and waiting for the end.

Baijiu felt a sudden weight lift from his heart, and all distracting thoughts were instantly dispelled.

He lunged forward, grabbed Kiel's thin shoulders with both hands, and shook her almost violently, trying to infuse a sliver of life back into her dying body.

“No!” His voice was firm and decisive, carrying an unquestionable command that pierced through her fading consciousness. “Look at me! Kiel! Hold on!”

Baijiu's hand gripped the brass key he had snatched from Rum tightly. He quickly raised the key to Kiel's increasingly unfocused eyes, almost touching her pale nose.

His speech was rapid and urgent, carrying an unavoidable questioning tone:

"Look! Do you know what this is?"

Kiel's pupils slowly contracted as she tried to focus, but blood loss made her unusually sluggish.

She didn't answer immediately, but her breathing became heavier.

The liquor gave her no chance to catch her breath. Its voice grew even deeper, carrying a force that pierced through the fog, as it repeated, each word crystal clear: "Answer me, Kiel. Do you know what it's used for?"

A bitter smile, extremely complex and difficult to decipher, appeared on Kiel's lips, a smile mixed with a secret understanding.

With all her might, she slightly raised her trembling fingers, trying to touch the key. Baijiu brought the key closer, and her fingertips finally touched the cold metal. With her last bit of strength, she barely managed to pinch one end of the key between her index and middle fingers.

But this simple action almost exhausted her; her arm fell limply to her side, the key remaining between her fingers as if it were her last, faint connection to the world.

Bai Jiu leaned down, his lips almost touching her ear, his voice lower yet carrying a stronger sense of pressure, like a final judgment: "Tell me, what is it used for?"

Kiel remained silent for a long time, so long that it seemed his consciousness had completely drifted away.

The only sounds in the carriage were her labored breathing and the roar of the wheels.

Finally, her lips moved almost imperceptibly, her voice as light as a wisp of smoke, yet carrying a deep, chilling quality from the Siberian permafrost: "Sevastopol..."

The moment the place name was uttered, it felt as if an invisible chill swept through the carriage.

“Sevastopol?” Baijiu repeated himself.

"Is it a city?" Baijiu thought quickly. "Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula? Where exactly is it? In which part of Sevastopol?"

Kiel stared into Baijiu's eyes: "Submarine...."

A flash of shock crossed Baijiu's eyes.

"A submarine?" Bai Jiu frowned, quickly absorbing the information before casting his gaze into the distance. "It's a submarine..."

“That is…” Bai Jiu’s eyes suddenly brightened: “The submarine’s name is Sevastopol.”

Kiel's face was completely bloodless, like a sheet of paper soaked in water, his purplish-white lips were slightly parted, and his breath was weak.

With her last shred of clarity, she uttered a few words so faint they were almost swallowed by the wind: "Good luck..."

Before she could finish speaking, her head slumped to one side, and she fell into a deep coma, as if all her life had vanished with that blessing.

Vermouth quickly turned her head, her wary gaze sweeping over the swaying aisle behind her.

His voice was calm and unwavering, carrying the most direct warning: "They're coming soon."

The liquor did not respond immediately.

He gazed intently at Kiel's unconscious face, noticing a few tears silently sliding down her closed eyes, leaving cold marks mingled with the smoke and dust.

He silently reached out and patted her cold shoulder hard.

"Thank you so much," he said softly.

After saying that, he suddenly stood up and, without the slightest hesitation, rushed towards the broken end of the carriage like an arrow—where was the edge of a bottomless cliff.

The strong wind whipped the stray hairs on his forehead into a wild dance.

He deftly opened the crucial paraglider, the canopy billowing instantly in the gale, making a rustling sound.

He gripped the control straps tightly with both hands, turned his body slightly to the side, and a second before jumping, he suddenly turned back to look at Vermouth.

At almost the same moment, Vermouth also looked at him.

Their eyes met firmly in mid-air.

The air seemed to freeze at that moment, all the noisy background sounds disappeared, leaving only the unfathomable, almost overflowing reluctance and determination in each other's eyes.

There were no words, no shouts.

They took steps in each other's direction without prior arrangement.