Hearing the commotion at the entrance, the Dottore Segments looked up in surprise as Dottore No. 6 slowly approached them.
"Heh, how interesting. You actually dare show your face before us."
"You can't seriously think that just because Neuvillette has your back, we won't make you pay, do you?!"
Hearing their words, Dottore No. 6 smiled faintly.
"Of course you won't attack me. After all, you wouldn't dare provoke Neuvillette."
"Though you fear death little, you still covet Fontaine's advanced technology. You cling to a shred of hope for it."
The Dottores' expressions turned icy.
Dottore No. 1 coldly addressed Dottore No. 6: "What exactly do you want here? If you've come to mock us, you can spare yourself the trouble."
"I'm here to rescue you all," Dottore No. 6 stated calmly. His words stunned the other Dottores, who had never expected him to say such a thing.
"Neuvillette has already gone to the location I provided. He won't return for some time. This is our best chance to escape."
"I've made contact with the Segment and obtained a method to detach ourselves from the Prime."
Dottore No. 6's words jolted the other Dottores back to reality. A flicker of emotion stirred within them as they regarded him with profoundly complex expressions.
"What do you mean by that?"
"Isn't it obvious? Everything I did before was to lower Neuvillette's guard, so I could find a chance to rescue all of you."
"Now that opportunity has finally arrived. I've created a device capable of opening a new spatial channel to the outside world. Using this device, we can escape without alerting Neuvillette."
Dottore No. 6 explained, but his words were met with disbelief from the other Dottores.
"Heh, after all this time, do you really think we'd fall for your tricks again?"
"There's no time for explanations. Get in the vehicle now."
Faced with the Dottores' skepticism, Dottore No. 6 simply persisted, urging them to hurry.
The Dottores exchanged glances, silently communicating their thoughts. They quickly reached a consensus.
With lightning-fast reflexes, Dottore Nos. 1, 2, 3, and 4 immediately seized Dottore No. 6, mocking smiles twisting their lips.
"Heh heh heh... Though your words sound tempting, we regret to inform you that we don't trust you."
"The safest course of action is to hand you over to Neuvillette. This should be enough to salvage some of our reputation in Monsieur Neuvillette's eyes."
"You've finally proven useful," one of the Dottores said, "I hope you find some solace in that."
Seeing Dottore No. 6's utterly bewildered expression, the other Dottores felt a surge of triumphant glee.
Whether his claims were true or false hardly mattered. The crucial point was that they had finally seized an opportunity to utterly discredit him in Neuvillette's eyes—a truly gratifying moment!
"Fine, so this is how you want to play it, huh?!"
"I risked enduring humiliation by Neuvillette's side, all to find a chance to help us escape. But all you care about is using me to curry favor!"
Hearing Dottore No. 6's icy words, the other Dottores laughed derisively.
"You call that 'trying to save us'?"
"We're all 'me' here. There's no need for such transparent lies."
"If you wanted to leave the Fortress of Meropide with us, the most likely scenario is that you struck a deal with that Segment to sell us for a better price."
Dottore No. 3 scoffed. "You actually thought you could fool us? How naive!"
"Despite being the same 'me,' it seems you've only inherited some unsavory tricks, nothing of real value."
"Now all we need to do is wait for Neuvillette to return, then hand you over to him," Dottore No. 1 said slowly.
"To be honest, we should thank you. We were originally uncertain about the final outcome, but now we have no such concerns."
"Hmph, you lot truly don't deserve to be saved."
Seeing Dottore No. 6's enraged expression, the other Dottores felt immensely satisfied.
"Take him away and lock him up with the other one."
Soon, Dottore No. 6 was led to the room where Dottore No. N was imprisoned.
When Dottore No. N heard the commotion at the door, he instinctively prepared to unleash his usual taunts. However, he was shocked to see Dottore No. 6 being dragged in by the other Dottores.
Dottore No. N remembered him—a fellow Dottore who, like himself, seemed to clash with the others, though far more successfully.
But now that he was being dragged in by the Dottores, it was clear his future prospects were no better than Dottore No. N's own.
"An alliance?" Dottore No. N suggested.
Dottore No. 6's only response was a straight middle finger.
Enraged, Dottore No. N unleashed a barrage of sarcastic remarks at Dottore No. 6, but the latter completely ignored him. Soon, Dottore No. N abandoned his futile taunts.
Not long after, Neuvillette returned to the New Fortress of Meropide.
When he arrived at Dottore No. 6's room, he found the Dottore gone. A note lay conspicuously on the table, stating that Dottore No. 6 had gone to persuade the other Dottores.
The note explained that they were, after all, on the same side, united in their hatred of the Prime's arbitrary manipulation. Though there had been conflicts in the past, taking a step back would open up a wider horizon. He was willing to take the initiative to resolve their differences.
After reading the note, Neuvillette felt deeply relieved by Dottore No. 6's newfound enlightenment.
However, he also understood that the other Dottore Segments wouldn't be so easily persuaded. To prevent any unforeseen consequences, Neuvillette immediately hurried to the cells where the other Dottores were imprisoned.
"Monsieur Neuvillette."
The Dottores had been lying in wait for Neuvillette's arrival, eager to report Dottore No. 6's act of betrayal.
As soon as Neuvillette appeared, the Dottores rushed forward with forced smiles.
But Neuvillette ignored them, his gaze sweeping the room. When he didn't spot Dottore No. 6, his anxiety spiked, and he immediately demanded:
"Where is he?"
Hearing Neuvillette's question, the Dottores quickly chimed in, their voices overlapping.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, please let us explain..."
The Dottores quickly recounted Dottore No. 6's betrayal. Neuvillette's brow furrowed deeply as he listened, his gaze piercing.
If Dottore No. 6 hadn't left that note, and if the radar's last recorded location hadn't been so close to the New Fortress of Meropide, Neuvillette might have believed their explanation. But now, he didn't trust a single word.
Seeing the expression on Neuvillette's face, the Dottores assumed he was angry. Seizing the opportunity, they presented him with the device they had confiscated from Dottore No. 6—a contraption they hadn't yet had time to dismantle and analyze.
"Monsieur Neuvillette, this is the device he planned to use to help us escape. We'll demonstrate its operation for you."
As they spoke, the Dottores began manipulating the device.
Though they didn't yet understand its inner workings, the controls proved surprisingly straightforward. Their sharp minds quickly grasped the operating principles, and they began the demonstration.
However, when the Dottores eagerly activated the device's switch, the expected spatial portal didn't materialize. Instead, a burst of music filled the air.
Because we are family~
A loving family~
Upon hearing the music, the Dottores' minds went completely blank, utterly stunned.
What's going on? Isn't this supposed to be a device for opening spatial portals? Why is it suddenly playing music?!
Moreover, the singing voice sounded unmistakably like Dottore No. 6 himself.
"The device that helped you escape?" Neuvillette asked.
Hearing Neuvillette's question, the Dottores felt a flicker of panic.
Though Neuvillette's tone remained calm, they could sense the disappointment and anger simmering beneath his composed exterior.
"No, Monsieur Neuvillette, there must be some mistake! We'll bring him here immediately for a face-to-face confrontation!" Dottore No. 1 reacted swiftly, glancing at the other Dottores. Soon, Dottore No. 6 was brought before them.
The moment the Dottores saw Dottore No. 6's smug expression, they instantly realized they had likely been double-crossed again.
Sure enough, as soon as Dottore No. 6 laid eyes on Neuvillette, he immediately launched into a preemptive accusation:
"Monsieur Neuvillette, these people are utterly incorrigible!"
"I came here with the best intentions, hoping to resolve our past conflicts, yet they immediately arrested me and even prepared to torture me into confessing!"
"If Monsieur Neuvillette hadn't arrived in time, they would have beaten me beyond recognition!"
"Silence! You clearly told us you'd help us escape the Fortress of Meropide together!" Dottore No. 2 retorted.
To his surprise, Dottore No. 6 nodded.
"That's right. I did say that."
Hearing this admission, Dottore No. 2 seemed momentarily stunned, as if he hadn't expected the other to confess.
But the other Dottores felt a chill run down their spines, knowing their counterpart would never dig his own grave.
"If we unite and work together for Fontaine's development, wouldn't we all be able to leave the Fortress of Meropide together?" Dottore No. 6 proposed.
"Haven't you seen? I even recorded a song myself to promote harmony between us!"
"But I never imagined you would attack me the moment we met, showing no mercy even after I declared my intentions. Monsieur Neuvillette, you must seek justice for me!"
When facing Neuvillette, Dottore No. 6 put on a show of extreme grief and agitation, as if he had suffered a grave injustice, prompting the other Dottores to curse him inwardly.
Hearing Dottore No. 6's lamentations, Neuvillette swept his gaze across the other Dottores, then asked, "Do any of you have any explanations to offer?"
"Perhaps there's been a misunderstanding..." one of the Dottores ventured.
Realizing they had been tricked by Dottore No. 6 yet again, the Dottores unleashed a torrent of curses in their Mind Chatroom, cursing No. 6's ancestors to the eighteenth generation. Though this risked cursing themselves as well, their overwhelming frustration left them caring little for such niceties.
Naturally, they didn't spare the Prime Dottore either, cursing him along with his creations. After all, this repulsive puppet had been fashioned by his own hand.
As they watched Dottore No. 6 strut past them with his nose in the air, the Dottores' mood plummeted. A desperate urge to take him down with them began to fester in their hearts.
But the moment they saw Neuvillette's invincible face, they swiftly abandoned these unrealistic notions.
Meanwhile, back at the Prime's location, Dottore suddenly sneezed and frowned deeply.
Could he have been infected too?
But his precautions had been thorough. The power within him should have provided temporary resistance, theoretically preventing any overt symptoms.
Still, fearing the slightest chance of infection, Dottore immediately conducted a self-test. When the results showed a single line, he finally felt relieved. It seems someone was just thinking about him.
Putting aside the question of who might be thinking about him for now, Dottore couldn't help but reflect on recent events in Sumeru.
Many people in Sumeru were now wearing masks, suggesting a highly contagious disease was spreading through the population.
However, this was merely the official narrative. In reality, Dottore knew very well that the source of the outbreak was him. For his research, he had deliberately turned the Akademiya's inner circle into his lab workers and test subjects.
Yet even he was astonished by the virus-like nature of this phenomenon. Its transmissibility was astounding—almost any contact between people could lead to infection.
Due to its extreme contagiousness, nearly everyone in Sumeru now wears masks when going out and avoids interacting with others as much as possible.
To minimize contact, most Sumeru residents have begun using the Akasha Terminal's newly enabled remote communication feature to interact with others, hoping to avoid accidental infection.
Even more astonishing to Dottore was the discovery that this virus-like entity could, to some extent, suppress the further progression of Eleazar!
This revelation far exceeded Dottore's expectations, prompting him to conduct even more in-depth research on Eleazar. However, as he delved deeper, an unsettling feeling gnawed at him, as if he had forgotten something crucial.
That's right, it's been ages since I last heard from Fontaine. I wonder how things are over there.
Lost in thought, Dottore contacted Dottore No. 1...