Yong Xin?
At the sound of that name, Ina's pupils constricted slightly, and she immediately became wary.
Yong Xin had clearly noticed the change in Ina's expression as well. He smiled faintly. "It seems you know me."
"Of course." Ina answered as calmly as she could. "It would be hard not to."
Of course Ina knew Yong Xin.
Long ago, she had heard from a small number of Devil Squad members that this man was the confidant of Huo Er Man, the Bishop of District Four, and someone very likely to become the next Bishop.
The Devil Squad itself was relatively isolated. Normally, news from the outside world found it difficult to reach them. Yet Yong Xin's name had spread among them, and it was said that he had the authority to transfer Devil Squad members to the rear. That was considerable power. Many knights in the Devil Squad had tried every possible way to visit him.
Yet when it came to what position Yong Xin actually held, no one could explain it clearly.
That had left Ina somewhat doubtful of Yong Xin. However, Ina herself had never cared much about anything outside, so she had not paid much attention to him. After all, she had no intention of transferring back, and she had never met him.
But now, she had encountered this legendary figure at such a time. How could she not be on guard?
"Hmm... judging from your reaction, it seems my impression in your mind isn't very good." Yong Xin smiled as he asked, "Is that just my imagination? Or do you really have some issue with me?"
Although Ina was not especially socially adept, she was not foolish enough to tell the truth at a time like this. She denied it. "No. This is our first time meeting. Why would I have an issue with you?"
"Ah, is it our first meeting?" Yong Xin revealed a meaningful smile. "Yes, this truly is our first meeting."
Yong Xin's smile made Ina deeply uncomfortable.
She felt that the smile was fake, like a face of skin that did not belong to the body beneath it had been draped over a skull.
...Why did she feel that way?
Ina shook her head, throwing those strange thoughts from her mind before speaking coldly. "What do you want with me?"
"Nothing in particular." Yong Xin was still smiling. "I merely came to the archives to look up some information, then happened to find you. Honestly, I was quite surprised. It's already so late, after all, so I came over to see who was working so diligently, and then..."
As he spoke, he picked up one of the documents scattered across the table and waved it in front of Ina.
"I discovered that the materials you were researching were quite interesting. As it happens, I know a little about this subject as well, so I couldn't help answering your question. If I offended you, I apologize."
Ina did not care whether he had offended her. Her attention was entirely on Yong Xin's claim that he knew a little about the matter.
She now recalled Yong Xin's first words to her. He had been answering her muttered question: "Does such a thing really exist?"
Thus, although Ina had not wanted further contact with Yong Xin, after a brief hesitation, she still asked, "How much do you know about it? Can you tell me?"
"Of course." Yong Xin smiled. "It would be my honor to offer even the slightest help to the Devil Squad's only woman."
Though they had never met, Ina was not surprised that Yong Xin knew her identity. She went straight to the point. "You said earlier that these symptoms do exist. Have you seen them before?"
"Hehe, yes." Yong Xin sat down directly opposite Ina. As he flipped through the old documents, he said, "Because anti-contamination equipment has developed, there have been very few contaminated civilians or knights like those of the past over the last ten years. So it's perfectly normal for you to question whether these symptoms are real. After all, you haven't seen them yourself."
Yong Xin paused, then smiled.
"Of course I've seen it, and I even had contact with him. But for various reasons, his case was never recorded."
At those words, Ina's heart skipped a beat. She sat down as well and stared directly into Yong Xin's seemingly unfathomable eyes.
And so, the conversation began.
"Why wasn't it recorded?"
"I'm afraid I can't answer that. It's classified."
"Then what was he to you?"
"I can only say that he was a friend."
"...Then what symptoms did he have?"
"Just like the materials you've been reading." Yong Xin answered with a soft laugh. "Feeling as though there were another, different person inside his body."
Ina's brows furrowed slightly.
She felt as if Yong Xin had said a great deal, yet also nothing at all. Whenever she asked, either he could not say it, or it was already in the documents. What else was there to ask?
"Hehe, Miss Ina, I truly cannot discuss matters involving classified information." Yong Xin seemed to see what Ina was thinking and smiled. "But what I can tell you certainly goes beyond what is recorded in these documents. I spoke face-to-face with that person for a long time. I saw things others could not see and learned matters that would never be written down."
Ina raised an eyebrow. "For example?"
"For example... Miss Ina, have you heard this saying?" Yong Xin said. "The you of today and the you of yesterday are not the same person."
"...What kind of strange statement is that?"
"Hehe, it does sound somewhat abstract, but we can make it more concrete." Yong Xin continued, "For example, when you were very young, you liked red. But after growing up, something happened that made you dislike red, and you came to prefer black. Then are the you who liked red and the you who likes black still the same person?"
When she first heard those words, Ina was startled.
Because when she had been little, she truly had liked red, and afterward, for certain reasons, she truly had come to dislike it.
But how did he know?
Though somewhat surprised, Ina did not dwell on that question for long. There were only so many colors, and red was something little girls liked. It was not too strange for him to guess it.
So she focused more on Yong Xin's question itself.
Although Yong Xin had made the metaphor more concrete, Ina still found it difficult to understand. She shook her head. "I don't understand. I am myself. No matter what color I like, I'm still me."
"That's right. Normal people would all think that way." Yong Xin said. "But is it possible that the reason you think so is because you currently prefer black? What if one day, a voice appeared in your mind? She knew everything about you, had experienced everything you had experienced, and seemed to be another you. Yet the one difference was... she preferred red."
Even though she had already prepared herself mentally, a flicker of astonishment still crossed Ina's face.
"It seems you understand what I mean." Yong Xin spoke softly. "That is the essence of this symptom. The voice arguing with you in your mind does not feel like a stranger. It is the you of the past, or perhaps... a newly born you. Of course, what you argue over is certainly not something as simple as a favorite color."
"It would be something more contradictory, something with far more intense conflict, perhaps even something that could never coexist."
Ina tried her best to keep her expression unchanged. Then she looked into Yong Xin's eyes and asked, "What do you mean by something that can never coexist? If you're talking about beliefs, can beliefs truly rise to the point where coexistence is impossible?"
"In other places... I mean, in other churches, perhaps such a problem would not exist. But in Lyra, it is different." Yong Xin smiled and tapped his head with a finger. "Because Lyra People are special. In our minds, there is something at the very deepest level. Hmm... you could call it logic. You should know what it is."
"...Rules." Ina seemed to understand something.
"Yes. Lyra is a city built on rules. Such uniqueness is one of a kind even in the entire world. Lyra People are also the ones who obey rules most closely. Not because their character is especially good, but because obeying rules is no different from breathing to Lyra People." Yong Xin spoke softly. "And if the other personality in your mind contradicts this most fundamental rule, do you think you and that personality can still coexist?"
A brief silence followed.
Ina asked, "Then what happens when they cannot coexist?"
"This is a conflict between paths. Only death can bring an end."
"Death?" Ina asked. "The death of a personality?"
"Yes." Yong Xin nodded. "At first, the two personalities will test each other and try to understand each other. For people whose personalities are naturally gentle, they may even attempt to merge or coexist. But that is only temporary. In the end, there can only be one outcome: one personality kills the other, allowing the divided soul to become one again."
Upon hearing this, Ina felt somewhat dazed. The image of Jie La Er from that afternoon surfaced in her mind once more.
That utterly unfamiliar expression, that utterly unfamiliar tone, and those words.
Every single part of it matched Yong Xin's description.
So this was truly the situation he was facing as well?
Ina still tried to maintain her outward calm, not allowing her inner thoughts to show.
Then she asked Yong Xin one final question. "What happened to your friend in the end? Of the two personalities inside him... which one won?"
As she asked that question, Ina unconsciously clenched her hands.
Yong Xin pretended not to notice and merely spoke slowly. "After some time, my friend finally faced his last 'battle' with that newly born personality. Before that, he told me that if he lost, I was to kill him immediately. He knew full well how mad and disorderly his new personality was. And I agreed."
Ina said nothing. She merely looked quietly into Yong Xin's eyes, while her breathing gradually slowed.
"In the end, he opened his eyes, then smiled and told me that he had won."
At that moment, Ina's slowed breathing immediately returned to normal.
"Sounds like a good ending." Ina said with feigned composure. "He didn't suffer any aftereffects afterward, did he?"
"None at all." Yong Xin shrugged, then smiled. "He even felt as though he had been reborn."
This really was... like being reborn.
Jie La Er stared at himself in the mirror in astonishment.
Of course, he was not that narcissistic. More accurately, he was looking at the metal parts of his body.
They were all brand-new, a new set Ju had just replaced for him.
Yes, another new set.
But it was not merely a simple replacement. She had added more things inside.
Jie La Er could even feel that he could now overload this metal body and his prosthetic limbs.
Yes, Ju had upgraded his metal body from "civilian-use" to "military-use."
Though it had not quite reached true "military-use" standards yet, and still lagged far behind the basic configuration of the Evening Star Corps from ten years ago, overload capacity alone was enough to call it military-grade.
That was something only an intermediate Mechanic could accomplish at the very least.
Yet Ju, a ten-year-old little girl, had done it.
Jie La Er looked at Ju beside him, his eyes filled with disbelief.
"How did you even do this?" Jie La Er could not help asking again, though it was far from the first time he had asked.
Ju patiently raised her hand again and pointed at the small open manual on the table.
The manual had naturally been left behind by Ju's father, Eric.
Eric had been a crazy machinery enthusiast. He had bought this warehouse in the first place to satisfy his urge to research.
That little manual was one of his research results—"How to Make Military Products Using Civilian Components."
Under Lyra law, manufacturing military-grade prosthetics without authorization was illegal. But if it was only a design that had not been put into practice, it did not matter. Eric had surely only wanted to satisfy his own desire to develop things, which was why he had made a book of rough sketches.
But he surely could never have imagined that the contents of those sketches would be made by his own daughter and used on his old captain, Jie La Er.
That left Jie La Er both moved and astonished.
Yet what astonished him was not that Eric could create such sketches, but that Ju could actually bring them to life using only those rough drafts.
She was clearly only ten years old.
Such overflowing talent.
Jie La Er felt that, given normal development, Ju would surely surpass her father.
Only...
Watching Ju begin to put away her tools, Jie La Er felt somewhat disheartened.
The children of rebels were absolutely forbidden from touching military products. They would struggle even to become the most basic Mechanic. Once the equipment Ju had made was discovered by others, she would immediately be punished and become the next rebel.
If not for Jie La Er, Ju would never have had the chance to display her talent at all.
But... it was also because of Jie La Er that Ju was unable to display her talent as she was now.
That made Jie La Er feel distressed. When he had previously asked Ju what she wanted to become, he had genuinely wanted to help her. He had intended to do everything within his current power to make it happen.
Yet all Ju wanted was to complete her father's designs. Or rather, she merely wanted to do what any ordinary Mechanic could do.
And what she had done was also for Jie La Er's benefit.
Naturally, Jie La Er found that difficult to accept. Just as he was about to say something more to Ju, Bai Wei's leisurely voice suddenly sounded in his mind. "Interesting."
"What?"
"Didn't you notice?" Bai Wei said. "Making those modifications for you is against the rules, isn't it?"
Jie La Er's brows furrowed slightly. "You care about rules?"
"Of course I don't, and neither do you." Bai Wei said calmly. "But have you forgotten something? I don't care because I am not a Lyra Person. You don't care because you've been influenced by me."
Bai Wei paused, then spoke with a faintly mocking smile.
"Then why doesn't she care either?"
Jie La Er's pupils contracted slightly, and he looked once more at Ju's back.
Right. He had nearly forgotten the most crucial question.
Under Bai Wei's influence, he could stop following Lyra's rules. But why could Ju do the same?
Bai Wei was not inside Ju, and she was clearly not contaminated either.
What was going on?
Though greatly surprised, Jie La Er did not question Ju directly. He knew Ju surely did not know either, so he asked Bai Wei, "Do you have any idea?"
"I only have a guess." Bai Wei said calmly. "All right, stop playing house here. Set out quickly and take me somewhere."
"Now?" Jie La Er asked. "Where?"
"A place that records Lyra's history." Bai Wei asked, "Is there such a place?"
Jie La Er thought for a moment, then nodded.
"The archives of the Tower of Babel."
Before you continue