"Who are you?"

"Laura calls me brother!"

"Where on earth is she?" The old man choked, his voice filled with sorrow, and Adrian Desmond’s mood was weighed heavily by a little girl named Laura.

Adrian Desmond clenched his hand into a fist, closed his eyes tightly, "She was taken to Death Island later. On Death Island, her code was 3782. At the age of ten, she died in a duel!"

"Are you lying to me? Laura is not dead."

"Before Laura died, she asked me to tell you: Your most precious bottle of red wine is hidden in the wine cellar, counting the tenth row from east to west, the 13th shelf from top to bottom, and the 9th rack from left to right."

At this point, Adrian Desmond’s words left the old Jack unable to deceive himself any longer.

"Laura! My Laura..." The old man broke down, crying out loud. After searching for so many years, to learn only a dead code, anyone would find it unbearable.

"I buried Laura in the northwest corner of Death Island, under a camphor tree..."

"Who are you? Who exactly are you? Did you kill her?"

"I am her brother! I didn’t kill her! But she died in my arms, she said..." Adrian choked, the bitter taste of blood seemed to fill his throat.

"What did she say?" Jack asked anxiously.

"Don’t be sad, I’m going to heaven soon.

Heaven is so beautiful, and there’s no killing there!"

"Laura..." Jack suddenly let out a wretched scream, crying miserably.

"Sir, what happened to you?" The old man’s cries alarmed the nanny, who was startled and asked in a panic.

Adrian Desmond hung up the phone and called several other prominent families, informing them about the whereabouts of their missing children.

Some were very lucky, their children were still alive; others, like old Jack, received nothing but news of death.

Adrian Desmond’s ears kept echoing with the cries of parents. Even if they found their children, they cried bitterly.

Adrian Desmond would eventually tell them all: who took their children!

Death Island, Night Owl!

Surely, whether those who found their children or those who lost them, they would all direct their hatred towards Death Island, towards Night Owl.

A parent’s love for their child is crazy.

If someone hurt his daughter, Adrian Desmond would destroy the whole world!

"Night Owl, ten years ago, you should have died along with Death Island!"

He took a drag from his cigarette, pressed the burning tip into Night Owl’s eyes, a scorched smell wafting up as Night Owl’s eyes turned into black hollows.

After making 23 phone calls, Adrian Desmond was utterly exhausted, worn out emotionally...

All those 23 children were younger than him, the youngest only three years old... many didn’t survive even a year.

"Damn it!"

Adrian Desmond looked at Laura’s picture, that bright smile reminded him of his daughter, Curly.

"Brother, this flower is for you."

"..."

"Brother, I miss mommy. Brother, do you miss mommy?..."

"..."

"Brother, I don’t want to kill people. Why do people have to kill? Why do people have to keep dying?"

"Laura, I’ll take you away, alright?" One day, Adrian Desmond shared his thoughts with Laura.

"Alright!"

"If we can’t escape, it’s certain death!" Adrian Desmond didn’t forget to warn her of the terrifying consequences of escape, fearing she might regret it.

"Brother, I’m not afraid to die! I don’t want to stay here anymore. This place is like hell. I want to see daddy and mommy, I want to see my grandpa..."

"..."

"Brother, let’s escape. Don’t you want to see your sister too? Let’s leave together, even if we die on the run, it’s better than staying in this damn place."

Laura loved to cry, but she was also very brave!

When Adrian Desmond was only 14 years old and hadn’t yet devised an escape plan, Laura was killed in a duel.

When he returned from his mission, he found Laura gravely wounded, hanging on for him to come back.

"Laura?"

"Brother..." she smiled weakly at him, "You... came back? Are you hurt?"

Even at a time like this, when she was about to die, she was still concerned about him.

"Who hurt you?" Adrian Desmond wanted to kill someone.

"Duel, I... lost..."

A fair bet, a loss meant death, Laura didn’t resent the person who killed her.

"I’ll find a doctor!"

"No, don’t, it’s useless..."

"The doctor will heal you, you’ll be fine, don’t you want to find your grandpa? If you die, how will you find your grandpa?" Adrian Desmond shouted at her, tears falling onto her face, grief driving him to lose control.

"Brother, my grandpa is called Jack Rowell... He lives in Brevon, Britton with my daddy and mommy... When my grandpa and grandma got married, he left a bottle of red wine.

After my grandma passed away, my grandpa treasured that bottle.

That bottle of red wine...

I hid it in our wine cellar, counting the tenth row from east to west, the 13th shelf from top to bottom, the 9th rack from left to right."

"..."

"Don’t cry, I’m about to die, and I’m happy..." she smiled, using her blood-stained hand to wipe away Adrian Desmond’s tears at the corners of his eyes.

That was the second time Adrian Desmond ever cried, the first being when his parents died.

"Don’t be sad, I’m going to heaven soon... Heaven is so beautiful, there’s no killing there!" These were Laura’s last words to Adrian Desmond.

Don’t be sad, I’m going to heaven soon.

Heaven is so beautiful, there’s no killing there!

Adrian Desmond repeated these two sentences, his eyes reddening... Now, he was no longer that young boy who couldn’t protect anything. He could protect many, but Laura was forever gone.

"Laura, I will avenge you! With Night Owl’s blood!"

Alice pushed open the door to the study, just in time to hear what Adrian Desmond had just said.

"Bill, do you still blame me? Blame me for killing 3782!"

Adrian Desmond’s eyes were as cold as a winter moon, "She is not 3782, she is Laura! Laura Rowell!"