Immortal In A Death Game-Chapter 170: I’ll Help You

"Latin?! You can read Latin?!"

Leona’s eyes went impossibly wide, her mouth falling open as she stared at Adam. The pen in her hand clattered to the table.

"Yes." Adam nodded slowly. "I discovered it recently, back when I was... in France."

"Bro, you’ve been to France?" Harvey looked at the others. He was about to say something else, but Leona clamped his mouth. Without another word, she shot up from her chair, lightly pushing Harvey’s head away before sprinting toward the exit of the cafe.

It wasn’t until she was outside and then leaned back in that she called for the three. "Come with me. All of you. Now."

Harvey and Beatrice exchanged confused glances before following. Adam trailed behind, unsure what had triggered such an intense reaction.

And finally, with the three gone, the other patrons of the coffee shop all let out a breath of relief. How could they not, when the members of RLRD are notoriously known throughout the entire IBAA compound?

Half an hour later, the group was back at their own building, specifically, in Leona’s room.

"Just sit on the floor or the bed, anywhere is fine."

The room was a scholar’s paradise. Floor-to-ceiling bookshelves lined every wall, packed with all sorts of books that almost looked like they were ancient. Even the decor that completely filled the walls looked incredibly aged—there were bronze, rusted weapons, and rocks.

A lot of rocks.

Harvey immediately began wandering around, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Whoa, Leona. Man. This is incredible. I had no idea you had all this stuff."

"Do not touch anything," Beatrice warned sharply, following Harvey’s movements with her eyes.

"Psh. I’m just looking," Harvey protested, leaning closer to examine a carved figurine. "Please, don’t tell me you’re not interested in any of this stuff? This is the first time I’ve been inside her room."

"I told you not to touch anything."

"Relax," Harvey waved his hand. "I knew the OG was using her money somewhere, I just didn’t think it would be on... old things. I’m curious about—"

His elbow knocked against a small ceramic bowl, sending it tumbling.

Beatrice shook her head in exasperation as the bowl shattered against the stone floor. The two slowly turned to Leona, but she didn’t even glance in their direction. Her entire focus remained fixed on Adam as she rifled through one of her storage closets.

"Here." She carefully handed a heavily framed piece of parchment toward him. "Read this."

Adam took the frame, scanning the Latin text.

"S-so..." Leona sat in front of Adam on the floor. "Can you—"

"Imperium Romanum ad fines terrarum extendebatur," Adam whispered, not even pausing between the words. "...Sed gloria eius in sanguine innocentium fundata est."

"Your... your accent. Wait..." Leona’s breath stuttered. "What... does it mean?"

"Oh. It’s saying that the Roman empire reached the ends of the earth, but then its glory came from the blood of innocent people." Adam translated without any trouble at all, almost shrugging before he repeated the passage in Latin again.

"That..." Leona gulped, loud enough that everyone heard it. "Your... accent’s perfect. No, it’s almost... so casual."

"So..." Harvey chuckled from across the room while trying his best to fix the bowl. "Is Adam older than Jesus or what?"

"This is serious, Harvey." Leona just waved Harvey off, never taking her eyes off Adam. "This is... Adam, you might be the most important discovery in humankind in the last fifty—no, hundred years."

She reached toward him unconsciously, her hand extending as if to touch his face. Adam noticed the intense, almost excited look in her eyes and flinched slightly.

It... reminded him of how the Hospital looked at him. Beatrice noticed this and immediately stepped forward, gently catching Leona’s wrist. "Leona."

"Oh!" Leona jerked back, breathing heavy. "I’m so sorry, Adam. I didn’t mean to—I got carried away. I’m sorry, I’m so sorry."

"It’s okay," Adam said quietly. "Did you... find out something? You’re reacting like you discovered something important. Did you...?"

"Hmm..." Leona fell silent, her excitement suddenly washed away. Even Harvey gave up on fixing the bowl as he sensed the sudden change in Leona.

"I can’t be completely certain," Leona finally said, and there was a hesitation in her voice now. "But Adam... you’re surely more than a thousand years old."

"What...?" Adam leaned back, shaking his head. "That’s impossible. I can’t be that old. I remember being young in the Hospital."

"Wait." Leona suddenly sprang from the floor, rushing to one of the other several closets lining the far wall. Her excitement returned, perhaps even more so now to the point that it caused some of the wall decorations to rattle as she rummaged through boxes and containers.

She returned moments later, grabbing Adam’s hand and placing something small and heavy in his palm.

"Look at this," she said. "Do you feel... or remember anything?"

It was a miniature replica of a ziggurat.

Adam brought the ziggurat closer to his face, studying every detail. He even angled it to imitate the way he was looking out in his visions.

"Do you remember anything?" Leona asked urgently. "Anything at all?"

He stared at it for several seconds, forcing himself to remember anything—or even imagine something. And finally, he sighed and shook his head.

"There’s... nothing. I’m just remembering the same thing that flashed in my mind back then."

Don’t tell them about the Administrators, Adam. Trust them, but not that much—you barely know any of these people... you’ve already said too much.

Adam hesitated, then handed the ziggurat back to Leona.

"Do you really have visions of standing on a ziggurat?" Leona pressed. "Because the implications of that are... scary."

"I... don’t know," Adam admitted. "The Hospital might have all the answers you’re looking for."

Leona’s expression darkened at the mention of the Hospital.

"The Hospital," she whispered, her voice filled with disgust. "They did all those things to you under the guise of science."

"This is why I don’t trust science doctors," Harvey finally joined, sitting down close to Adam on the floor.

"Medical scientists." Beatrice corrected. "And yes, some of them can get carried away."

"Agree." Leona nodded. "Instead of trying to learn from you, they learned through you. Opened you up."

"Hm..." Adam didn’t really know what to say to that.

"I’ll help you fight them, Adam." Leona gently placed her hand on Adam’s knee. "I’ll help you fight against this... Hospital."

"...Huh? Why?"