This girl is a tough nut to crack.
Zheng Fan adjusted his exquisite small bow tie, deep in thought.
Unlike Lin Yilin, who already had a request, and Jiang Si, who was forced onto the pirate ship, this girl currently showed no opportunity for cooperation.
Harmonious development seemed unlikely in the short term.
In that case, he would just take her directly.
Although Zheng Fan, by habit, preferred peaceful negotiation and cherished every opportunity that might bring him pleasure—after all, he was still a newcomer to this place and a bit unfamiliar—if soft methods didn't work, he would have to resort to hard ones…
The Old Nun kindly spoke to Doris: "You came to see the newly arrived children again."
Doris nodded lightly: "Yes."
"You are 'Number One,' a role model for all the children. Just hold on a little longer. After the final Lamplighter selection, you will be another excellent Lamplighter to emerge from our Monastery." The Old Nun gently stroked Doris's hair.
Doris was expressionless, like a doll.
"Those children, arriving at this time, seem a bit rushed for the next selection," she said.
"Yes. It's just a pity that the timing of Dadu bringing the children is not up to us. We can only do our own part, can't we, Doris?" The Old Nun didn't seem to care much.
"Mm."
"You are my most satisfying work, Doris." The Old Nun continued, her wrinkled hand stroking Doris's smooth cheek: "I have spent half my life in this dark world, this Monastery. But the Lamplighters who truly emerge from the Monastery are few and far between. You are the most promising one in the last five years. A perfect work of art…"
Doris blinked lightly.
"I'm so sorry, it might be because I'm about to watch you leave, and I, an old woman, can't help but feel a bit emotional. Afterwards, please continue to take good care of the other children as always, Doris."
With that, the Old Nun slowly departed.
Doris silently watched the Old Nun's retreating back.
Her clear gaze gradually became suppressed.
Returning to her room, she closed the door again and turned around.
"What exactly are you doing here?" Zheng Fan stood right in front of her, asking curiously.
Doris stood still for a moment, then walked forward, intending to pass through him, but instead, she bumped into Zheng Fan and was pushed back.
She widened her eyes, looking at Zheng Fan, unable to believe that she, who should not have truly made contact with the other party, could be directly touched by an Illusion due to a slight subconscious oversight.
But in the next moment of shock, she decisively relaxed her entire body and closed her eyes.
Only the gramophone in the room was playing a record; the soothing music made the place quiet and peaceful.
"What, are you asking for a kiss?" Zheng Fan asked, looking at Doris, who had closed her eyes in front of him, her chin tilted up, and her body relaxed.
Doris: ?
She suddenly opened her eyes wide.
"Sorry, I'm not that easy of an Illusion." Zheng Fan's face suddenly gained lines like a comic book tough guy.
"Enough, just get on with it, don't toy with me." A hint of humiliation flashed across Doris's face.
No, girl, you were completely unresponsive just now, but now you're suddenly so dramatic?
Zheng Fan hadn't even had a chance to make a lewd joke, but Doris had already begun quite seriously.
Are you also a master in the field of physical transactions?
"I want to get on too, I tried just now, but it was useless." Zheng Fan waved his hand casually and turned around.
"Why?" Doris asked, puzzled.
"Pure White Factor." Zheng Fan looked boredly at the ceiling, "Why do you have something like this? Is this a condition for becoming that Lamplighter?"
He hadn't expected to encounter Pure White Factor in this place.
He had learned about it early on from Lin Yilin's good friend, Hong Yijia. It was said to be a special factor belonging to the White World that could isolate most strange supernatural elements.
He had initially thought it would be a very rare thing, but then he encountered another owner of it in this strange place.
And his unrevealed attempt just now confirmed that he couldn't normally possess an owner of Pure White Factor.
If he forcibly occupied it, it would likely cause some kind of intense backlash that would explode the body. Of course, as long as Zheng Fan possessed it, he could regenerate it the moment the body exploded.
But in that case, it would just be another Cheng Fei.
One such body was enough; there was no need for several more.
The path of forceful possession was helplessly blocked again.
However, the good news was that, due to a small twist of fate, this girl was willing to communicate with Zheng Fan.
"Pure White Factor?… Do you mean Light Seed?" Doris was first puzzled, but after a moment of thought, she understood what Zheng Fan might be referring to.
"It doesn't matter what it's called. Because of this thing, I can't directly occupy your body." Zheng Fan rotated his head 180 degrees to look at her.
"That is the baptism bestowed by the Lighthouse of Avalon Monastery." Doris lowered her head and voluntarily said, "Children who undergo the baptism will receive a Light Seed in their bodies. But initially, it's just an ordinary seed."
Zheng Fan turned his body back to face forward: "The method to make the seed sprout and grow is…"
Outside the room, the corridor was covered everywhere with bloodstains that the people here were already too lazy to wipe away.
Occasionally, one could see scraps of flesh and blood.
It was like it had been marinated, a fishy stench that permeated the Monastery and was difficult to dissipate no matter how long it had been there.
Zheng Fan had never considered this place a Monastery from the start.
He only saw it as a cult-like place that used children as sacrifices.
"Selection."
Doris stepped to the gramophone, turned up its volume, then returned to her desk: "The regular selection from the Lighthouse. The lights of the Monastery will temporarily extinguish. In the darkness, we are each other's enemies and nourishment. The Lighthouse watches our struggles, ripening the seeds in this process. The final victor will receive all the seeds they personally killed, advancing towards maturity and perfection."
"You mean, this Monastery gathers children no older than twenty, plants strange things in their bodies, uses their bodies to nurture them, and then periodically forces them into a battle royale where they can't survive without fighting, all just to cultivate a single 'masterpiece'?" Zheng Fan translated it into his own easily understandable language.
Doris nodded lightly, saying nothing.
"That old woman called you 'Number One'." Zheng Fan raised an eyebrow.
Doris said nothing, her expression like a doll, staring straight ahead, yet not knowing what she was looking at.
"You've killed a lot, you're almost at 'chicken dinner'."
"…Mm."
After a soft response, Doris slumped into the chair, leaning against the backrest.
Zheng Fan casually lay down on the large bed in the room.
The excellent living conditions, and then that gramophone, whatever conditions one desired could largely be met here.
And when he had followed Doris into the Monastery earlier, he had floated around and seen that many of the rooms in the back were large common rooms for hundreds of people. It wasn't just about snatching others' seeds; in this Monastery, seeds that were nearing maturity could obtain a more superior environment.
He hadn't expected this.
Normally, he should have become an old man possessing some low-tier nobody in a battle royale game, leading him to rampage and win.
But instead, things weren't going according to plan; how did he end up with an already pre-determined champion?
Just as he was about to ask something else, Zheng Fan suddenly felt a pull, and his presence in this world was rapidly diminishing.
Retention limit?
"Alright, I'll come back next time." Zheng Fan got up and said to Doris.
Doris turned her head: "What?"
But behind her, on her bed, there was nothing.
She was once again alone in the room.