Chapter 47 Chapter Forty-Six

Elderly Chinese men and young girls squatted far away from her, watching her guzzle cold water.Emiko was surprised when the old man allowed the girl to pull her up from the balcony.But now that she was safe and he kept pointing that spring-loaded pistol at her, Emiko finally understood that he hadn't saved her out of kindness. "You really killed them all?" he asked. Emiko lightly raised her cup and took another sip.It might even have made her happy to see them so terrified of her, had it not hurt so badly.After drinking water, she felt much better, although her right arm was no longer moving and her thigh was swollen.She put the cup on the ground and tended to her injured elbow carefully.The pain made her gasp involuntarily.

"Did you kill them?" he asked again. She shrugged slightly, "I'm fast, they're slow." They talk in Chinese.The language hadn't been used since she left Mr. Iwato.English, Thai, French, Chinese, accounting, political etiquette, catering services... many skills she has never used again.It took her a few minutes to retrieve knowledge of the language from memory, and after that, her Chinese skills grew more and more proficient, like a limb atrophied from long periods of inactivity and then miraculously strengthened.She wondered if a broken arm would heal just as easily.Maybe there are more surprises in her body, waiting for her to discover.

"You're the yellow card secretary who escaped from the factory," she said. "Fusheng, right? Mr. Anderson said you escaped as soon as the white shirts started martial law." The old man shrugged, "I'm back again." "why?" "As long as it is our thing, even if it is a piece of waste, we will not let it go easily." There was an explosion outside.They all looked in that direction. "I think it's almost over," the girl murmured. "This is the first explosion in over an hour." Emiko thought to herself that she could kill them while they were distracted, even if she had a badly injured arm.But she's tired of it.Tired of killing, tired of destroying.Looking out of the balcony, one can see thick smoke wafting from the burning city, leaving black traces on the gradually brightening sky.The whole city was torn to shreds...and her?She's a clockwork girl who can't hold her own.

A strong sense of shame made Emiko close her eyes.She could almost see Misumi-sensei's gloomy expression.To her amazement, that woman still retains her power over her to this day.Maybe she will never be able to get rid of that old teacher.Misumi-sensei was as much a part of her as her hateful pore structure. "You want to take my bounty?" she asked. "Want to catch the killer and make a lot of money?" "The Thais want your life badly." The door lock of the apartment rattled, and all three looked up.Mr. Anderson and another foreigner opened the door and stumbled in.Both of them had black and blue bruises on their faces, but both were smiling.Seeing the situation in the house, they stopped immediately.Anderson looked first at Emiko, then at the old Chinese, and finally at the pistol that was pointed at him now.

"Fusheng?" Another foreigner took a step back in panic and hid behind Mr. Anderson, "What's going on?" "That's a good question." Mr. Anderson stared at the scene in front of him, his blue eyes rolling. The girl named Ah Mai subconsciously gave a Namaste to the foreigner.Emiko almost laughed.The urge to get down on her knees and show her respect was all too familiar to her. "What are you doing here, Fusheng?" asked Mr. Anderson. Fu Sheng smiled at him, "I caught the murderer of Somdej Chao Phraya. Aren't you happy?" Mr. Anderson didn't answer, just looked back and forth between Fusheng and Emiko.Finally, he asked, "How did you get in?"

Fusheng shrugged, "You know, I found this apartment for Mr. Yates, and I gave him the key of the apartment myself." Mr. Anderson shook his head. "He's a fool, isn't he?" Emiko shuddered, realizing that this situation could only work against her if it continued.The only one who can be abandoned is herself.If she was fast enough, she could snatch the pistol from the old man the same way she snatched it from the sluggish bodyguards.It would hurt her to do that, but it's totally doable.The old man was no match for her. The other foreigner had already slipped out the door without a word, but to Emiko's surprise, Mr. Anderson didn't do the same.Instead, he raised his hands, palms forward, and just walked into the room.One of his hands was bandaged.His voice reassured her.

"What do you want, Fusheng?" Fu Sheng took a few steps back, keeping a distance between himself and the foreigner. "I don't want anything," Fusheng shrugged slightly, "I just want the murderer of Somdej Chao Phraya to be punished with justice. Nothing else." Mr. Anderson laughed. "Nice." He turned and carefully sat down on one of the sofas, grunting in pain as he leaned back.Then, he smiled again. "Well, what do you really want?" The corner of the old man's mouth curled up, as if hearing some joke, "The thing I've always wanted: a future."

Mr. Anderson nodded after thinking, "Do you think this girl can help you achieve your goal? Offer a large bounty?" "Catching a killer who killed a member of the royal family is undoubtedly a feat that will allow me to rebuild my family." Mr. Anderson said nothing, just stared at Fusheng with those cold blue eyes, then turned his gaze to Emiko, "You killed him? Really?" A part of her wanted to lie, and she could see in his eyes that he wanted her to tell the same lie, but she couldn't force herself to tell the lie, "I'm sorry, Mr. Anderson."

"Killed all the bodyguards too?" "They hurt me." He shook his head. "I can't believe it. I've always believed that the whole thing was a conspiracy designed by Akarat. However, you did jump from this balcony." Those disturbing blue eyes kept staring at her, "You Trained to kill?" "No!" The statement terrified and shocked her, and she couldn't help but rush to explain, "I don't know. They hurt me. I'm angry. I don't know..." She had an extremely strong urge to ask He knelt and kowtowed, trying to convince him of her loyalty.She forced herself to suppress the urge, because she knew it was in her genes, the same as a dog lying on the ground showing its soft belly.

"So you're not a trained killer?" he asked. "A military-style clockwork man?" "No, I'm not the military type. Please, trust me." "But you are still very dangerous. You took Somdej Chao Phraya's head off with your bare hands." Emiko wanted to say that she didn't do it, but she just couldn't say that.All she could do was whisper, "I didn't take his head off." "Still, you can kill all of us if you want. We can't even react. Fusheng won't even have a chance to raise a gun." Hearing this, Fusheng pointed the pistol at her again, his movements were pitifully slow.

Emiko shook her head. "I don't want to do that," she said, "I just want to leave, go north, nothing else." "You're still a horrible creature anyway," said Mr. Anderson. "Very dangerous to me, and to everyone else. If anyone sees me with you..." He shook his head with a sullen look. Emoticon, "You are more valuable dead than alive." Emiko was mentally prepared for the severe pain to come.First the Chinese, then Mr. Anderson.Maybe without killing that little girl... "I'm sorry, Fusheng," said Mr. Anderson suddenly, "you can't kill her." Emiko glared at the foreigner. The old Chinese smiled, "Are you going to stop me?" Mr. Anderson shook his head, "Times are changing, Fusheng. My colleagues are coming, fully armed. Our destiny will change. Thailand will no longer only have factories. There will be calorie contracts, freight centers, research and development centers, The trade talks ... start today and everything changes." "Will this new wave of trade get me the ships I want?" Mr. Anderson smiled, and immediately rubbed his ribs again in pain, "You will have more boats than ever, Fusheng. Our need for people like you will never be greater." Fusheng looked at Mr. Anderson, then at Emiko, "What about Ah Mai?" Mr. Anderson coughed twice. "Never mind the little things, Blessed. You'll have almost endless money to spend. Hire her, marry her, I don't care, you can do whatever you want. God, if you don't want her name on your own I'm sure Carlisle can find her a suitable job." Leaning back, he called into the corridor, "I know you're still there, you coward. Come in." The voice of another foreigner—Carlisle—came in: "Are you really going to shelter that clockwork man?" He cautiously poked his head out from the door. Mr. Anderson shrugged. "Without her, we would have absolutely no excuse for a coup." He smiled at her. "She'd be worth something." His eyes turned to Fu Sheng again, "Well, what do you think?" "Dare you swear?" asked the old man. "If we don't keep our agreement, you can report her anytime. She's not going anywhere during this time. Especially now that everyone is looking for the Clockwork Man Killer. If we can make this agreement, everyone will benefit Make a quick decision, Fusheng. This judgment is not difficult. This is a rare win-win situation." Fusheng hesitated for a moment, then nodded quickly and put down the gun.Emiko felt a burst of relief.Anderson smiled.He turned his gaze to her, and his expression softened, "Many things will change over time. But we still can't let anyone see you. Many people will never forgive you. Do you understand?" "Yes, I won't let anyone see me." "Fine, we'll figure out a way to get you out when things calm down. For now, though, you'll stay here. We'll splint that arm, and I'll have a box of ice delivered in a bit. Do you think this will work?" A sense of relief almost overwhelmed her, "Of course, thank you very much, you are so kind." Mr. Anderson laughed. "Where's the whiskey, Carlisle? Let's have a drink." He stood up, shivering with pain, and came back with glasses and a bottle. He coughed as he put the drinking utensils on a small coffee table. "Damn Akarat," he whispered, and then began to cough again, gurgling in his throat. Suddenly, his waist bent down deeply.There was another violent cough, followed by a whistling sound from the trachea.Mr. Anderson stretched out a hand to stabilize his body, but knocked over the small coffee table. Emiko watched the cups and bottles on the coffee table sliding towards the edge, and then they fell off the table, falling very slowly downward, reflecting the light of the rising sun.They are beautiful, she thought, so clean and bright. They fell to the floor and shattered.Still coughing violently, Mr. Anderson fell to his knees involuntarily among the shards of glass.He tried to get up, but the spasms of coughing made him powerless.He curled up on his side and fell to the ground. When he finally stopped coughing, he looked at Emiko, his blue eyes shining in their sunken sockets. "Akarat really hurt me," he gasped. Fusheng and Amai hid far away.Carlisle shielded his muzzle with an arm, and a pair of panicked eyes peered out from the crook of his elbow. "It's the same as the sick people in the factory." Ah Mai muttered to himself. Emiko squatted down next to Anderson. He suddenly looked so small and vulnerable.He held out a hand awkwardly to her, and she took it.Blood stained his lips red.