Let's Make a Deal.jpg

The rain was getting heavier.

A young woman stood alone before the ruins that resembled a tombstone, a black umbrella blocking out the rain.

"Is this where you used to live?" Footsteps sounded, and a man carrying the same black umbrella and wearing the Devil Squad Sleeve badge walked up behind her. "The former Hero District, and now it has become like this."

Ina didn't turn around to look at the man, but simply asked, "Have you finished your business?"

"Yes." The man stood beside Ina and sighed softly. "What a mess this is. We received orders from Bishop Holman to return to the city, but as soon as we got back, the Bishop was gone."

"So, who did you hand over the work to?"

"Lord Yongxin."

"I don't remember such a person."

The man glanced sideways at Ina's delicate profile and then said, "See, you're playing dumb again, aren't you? I've told you this many times already. Lord Yongxin is the person appointed by Bishop Holman to liaise with us. He's the one who issues Bishop Holman's orders. I think Bishop Holman is grooming him as his successor. Who knows, he might be the future Bishop of the Fourth District... And you still haven't met someone like that."

"I don't care who the future bishop of the fourth district will be."

"Ah, right, right, all you care about is what's in the deepest part of the Contaminated Land," the man chimed in, "So you can get concrete evidence to convict your unreliable foster father... but that's no longer necessary. Your foster father murdered Bishop Holman, the evidence is conclusive, the Skeleton Corps has issued a warrant for his arrest, and he'll be caught soon. That way, your brother's revenge will be avenged, and you won't be so fixated on going to the deepest part of the Contaminated Land."

Ina was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I still want to go."

"Tsk, whatever you want then, but I still have to remind you of something..."

The man turned his head and carefully examined Ina's body. Underneath her black clothes, the majority of her body was made of human flesh, with only a very small portion being mechanically driven.

"Your metallization level is still too low; you don't even have a complete prosthetic limb." The man tapped his right prosthetic limb lightly with his left prosthetic limb, making a crisp sound. "Although your abilities are outstanding, you are still limited by your physical body, especially in the deepest part of the Contaminated Land, where you definitely cannot cope. Therefore, whether for your own safety or for what you want to do, you need to achieve a higher level of mechanization, just like us."

"Back then, the Night Stars weren't so highly mechanized," Ina said, "But they went further than any of us."

"Yes," the man said calmly, "So they've all gone mad. What's the point of going far then?"

Ina had no way to refute this claim, because the examples were right in front of her.

The once Hero District has now become a graveyard. Those warriors who ventured deep into the Contamination Zone to explore for Lyra are now buried and branded as traitors, their bodies and achievements decaying with time.

"What do you mean? Where do you think your adoptive father went?" the man said. "The Skeleton Corps hasn't caught him yet."

"So what?"

"So, as his only relative in this world... of course you might not think so, but you really should be the person who knows him best in this world," the man said. "So, where do you think he went? That's not what I'm asking. It's Lord Yongxin who said you might have some clues. If possible, he hopes you can temporarily join the Skeleton Corps to help out, and return to the base after finding your adoptive father. Of course, it also depends on your wishes."

Before Ina could speak, a female voice rang out beside her. "Ina?"

The two turned around and saw a middle-aged woman with a weathered face standing beside them, looking at them with disbelief.

"Is it really you... Ina?"

The woman took a step toward Ina, who had also been holding an umbrella, but it slipped from her hand without her noticing, leaving her instantly soaked in the rain and looking like a madwoman.

Upon seeing the woman, Ina stiffened for a moment, then softly said, "Aunt Sha Na..."

"Ah, it really is you, Ina." Sha Na walked up to Ina, slowly raised her hand, and gently stroked Ina's cheek. "Auntie hasn't seen you in so long. Why haven't you come to my house to play? Your Uncle Hermes has been talking about you a lot..."

Ina didn't speak, she just quietly looked at Sha Na. Her gaze seemed to transcend time and space, and Shana was still the same as she was when she was young, standing in the sunlight, smiling and reaching out her hand to her.

"Are you Jie La Er's daughter? How lovely... Oh, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Sha Na, you can call me Aunt Sha Na. I live next door to you. You can come and visit me when you have time."

Sha Na had also gently stroked Ina's face like that, her hand warm and comforting.

Unlike now, when it's cold and painful.

"That old beast's little beast! Give me back my husband!" Sha Na gripped Ina's cheeks tightly, suddenly becoming hysterical as if she had transformed into a different person. "Why are you still alive?! Tell me, why are you still alive?!"

Sha Na's sudden change startled the man beside her. He immediately walked towards the woman, shouting, "Crazy woman, what do you want to do?" while raising his prosthetic leg to smash her down.

But before he could make a move, Ina gently pressed on the back of Sha Na's neck, causing Sha Na to fall asleep in her arms.

"What are you trying to do now?" Ina looked at the man's raised prosthetic limb. "Are you trying to kill someone?"

Seeing that Ina had already made a move, the man lowered his raised prosthetic arm, but still said, "She's attacking you, and I'm just defending you. There won't be any problems."

"She wasn't an attacker; she was just an ordinary woman who couldn't even kill a chicken." At this moment, Ina's umbrella had also fallen, leaving her and Sha Na soaked to the bone and looking quite disheveled, a stark contrast to the man still holding an umbrella beside them.

The man immediately stepped forward to shield Ina from the rain, but Ina had already stepped back and refused, saying, "No need, you wait here, I'll take her home."

Without giving the man a chance to refuse, Ina carried the unconscious Sha Na towards the house next door.

The man glanced at Ina's retreating figure, then at the umbrella in his hand, and shrugged. "Why bother?"

Ina had no idea what the man was thinking, nor did she care.

She simply brought Sha Na back to the house she had visited countless times, swept away the mountain of junk with her foot, and then placed her on the bed.

Sha Na was still muttering something, but Ina couldn't hear it. She just stared at her quietly, the faint voice of their conversation echoing in her mind.

"Aunt Sha Na, what is this?"

"Try winding up the back of the clock."

"Is that so... Ah, why is there music?"

"This is the mechanical Music Box! Your Uncle Hermes gave it to me, isn't it amazing?"

"Wow, that's amazing."

"Then this is for you."

"But isn't this a gift from Uncle Hermes?"

"Hehe, soon your Uncle Hermes will give me a new one called 'Lyra's Reliance'. It records more and better music. Remember to come to Auntie's house to play then."

"Good!"

Those fleeting memories were gradually drowned out by the sound of rain outside the window.

Ina then reached into her bosom and pulled out a brand new mechanical Music Box.

She wound up the clockwork, and after the mechanical Music Box emitted a melodious and peaceful tune, she placed Music Box next to Sha Na's ear.

As Sha Na's furrowed brows gradually relaxed to the music, Ina softly spoke, "I'm sorry, Aunt Sha Na."

Then he got up and left.

The man was still waiting outside. As soon as he saw her come out, he said, "Are you two very close? I think she was about to kill you just now."

Ina calmly replied, "I am the same kind of person as her."

"The same kind of people?" The man thought for a moment. "You mean your relatives were all killed by your adoptive father? From that perspective, they are indeed the same kind of people. But she is now a relative of a rebel, while you are already a member of the Devil Squad, so you no longer need to... Hey, hey, where are you going?"

As the man spoke, Ina walked back to the ruins, picked up her umbrella, and opened it again.

But her body was already soaked through.

"Of course, it's to complete the tasks assigned from above," Ina said calmly, then turned and left.

The man quickly followed up. "Oh, so you've decided to listen to Lord Yongxin's advice? That's great. With your help, we should be able to find your adoptive father soon. Then, the revenge for your brother, and for that woman, can all be settled..."

Ina still ignored the man; she only glanced at the collapsed house again at the corner.

To be precise, it's about looking at the photos of the wanted posters that are plastered on the house.

That gaze once again pierced through the years, and the still-young man stood before her.

"Ina, from now on, I will be taking care of you and your brother. You are different from your brother; you are more introverted and tend to keep things to yourself, which is not good. You can tell me directly if there is anything. You don't have to see me as your father; just see me as an ordinary elder or... friend?"

She still remembers how cautious he was.

"Can I say anything?"

"Of course." That cautiousness instantly turned into joy. "You can tell me anything."

"Well... it seems like you're wearing your clothes inside out."

"You installed the parts backwards."

Upon hearing these words, Jie La Er suddenly felt a little dazed, as if the girl in front of him had for a fleeting moment overlapped with an image from his memory.

This left him somewhat stunned, and he stared blankly at the other person.

Until Bai Wei's voice rang out. "Although I really don't want to remind you at a time like this, don't you think it's inappropriate for you to stare at a little girl like that... especially with my eyes on her."

Jie La Er immediately snapped out of his daze and then noticed that Tachibana had already lowered her head.

"Ah, sorry." Jie La Er rubbed his forehead, thinking that he really was losing his mind because of too much blood. "I'm just surprised that you knew my parts were installed backwards... Who taught you that?"

If Eric were still alive, Jie La Er wouldn't be so surprised, but Eric is dead, and judging from his age, the child was either just born or not even born when Eric died, so it's impossible for him to have received Eric's guidance.

Could it be true, as Bai Wei said, that Eric has also returned?

Upon thinking of this, Jie La Er couldn't help but slap his forehead.

You're causing me to lose too much blood! You're causing me to lose too much blood! What are you thinking about all day long!

Tachibana didn't pay attention to Jie La Er's strange behavior. She just said slowly, "You'll get the hang of it if you practice a lot."

Too much fighting?

Jie La Er looked around and quickly understood what Tachibana was talking about.

Besides the scattered parts, there were also quite a few prosthetic limbs that had been assembled.

Jie La Er had initially thought this was Eric's masterpiece, but now it seemed that it was actually done by this little girl.

Jie La Er looked at the orange and asked hesitantly, "Did you make all of those?"

Ju nodded.

Why are you doing these things?

"Because there's nothing else to do," Ju replied calmly, "So I can only do these things."

Jie La Er was speechless.

Did he learn to this extent simply because he had nothing else to do?

Even though he's just a child, you can tell at a glance that he has a problem with his legs. That level of skill is at least that of a junior Mechanic.

Bai Wei wholeheartedly agreed. Looking at Ju's brown hair, he couldn't help but exclaim, "What Hai Yuan Ai?"

"Who is Hai Yuan Ai?" Jie La Er had never heard of this name before.

"Ah, don't worry about it, I was just saying it offhand." Bai Wei didn't bother to explain to Jie La Er; he simply said, "Now the opportunity has come."

"What opportunity?" Jie La Er didn't understand Bai Wei's meaning for a moment.

"A chance to repair your body," Bai Wei said. "Since you can't piece it together properly on your own anyway, you might as well let her help you. As it stands, this girl's skills are much better than others."

Jie La Er instinctively wanted to refuse. "I can't..."

"You can't drag her into this, so you have to fight with your ailing body, then malfunction and fail, ending up in hell, and finally say to her, who also went to hell because of the disaster, 'Sorry, I can't drag you into this'?" Bai Wei said calmly. "What? Is this really how you want it to be?"

Jie La Er remained silent for a long time, then said to Bai Wei in his heart with some helplessness, "I just want to say that I can't let her help me for free."

Then, he lowered his head to look at Ju, and after considering for a while, he spoke.

"Let's make a deal."

Hmm... why does that sound so familiar?

My sleep schedule has completely collapsed these past two days. Yesterday, I stayed up all night revising the story until 8 or 9 in the morning. I feel like my soul is floating in the air. I wanted to ask for leave, but I don't have any leave slips left. I can only maintain the minimum updates for now. I'll talk about extra updates next month.