Divine Kingdom

"Like being reborn?" Ina said softly. "That's really great."

When she said this, Ina seemed a little dazed, like a child who had just heard a fairy tale. But it was unclear whether that dazedness was for the friend Yong Xin had mentioned or for someone else.

Yong Xin maintained his smile throughout, like an old man telling a story to a child, and then asked casually, "Miss Ina's sudden interest in this area, has she encountered a similar situation? Are you a comrade of the Devil Squad?"

Although the tone was casual, seemingly a casual remark, it still made Ina alert.

Instead of using the silly excuse of "I just suddenly became interested in this," Ina said in as calm a tone as possible, "It's just a suspicion. There are many strange things happening in the Contamination Zone, so it's normal to be vigilant."

As she spoke, Ina paused, then asked another question.

"Or should I report this to you before I have solid evidence?"

"Strictly speaking, yes, there are indeed such regulations." Yong Xin noticed a change in Ina's expression, then smiled again. "But what does that have to do with me? Miss Ina, are you mistaken? I'm just an ordinary employee, not your direct supervisor. You have absolutely no need to report to me. Besides... I've always felt that times are changing, and some rules should also evolve with the times, shouldn't they?"

Yong Xin smiled at Ina again.

Ina fell silent.

Rules that evolve with the times?

Normally, Ina would definitely not agree with such a statement, but now...

Ina didn't rush to speak, but simply nodded, then closed the spread-out documents again, stacked them together, clearly preparing to leave.

Seeing Ina's actions, Yong Xin asked with a smile, "Are you leaving?"

Ina nodded.

"Can I take that to mean I've already helped you?"

Ina hesitated for a moment, but still said to Yong Xin very seriously, "Thank you."

Hearing this thank you, Yong Xin seemed even happier.

"I'm also very glad that I was able to help you." Yong Xin nodded slightly to Ina. "I hope we will have the opportunity to meet again, Miss Ina."

Ina nodded, said nothing more, and turned to leave.

But as she reached the door of the archives room, Yong Xin suddenly called out to her.

"Oh, there's one more thing."

Ina stopped and looked back at Yong Xin. She saw that half of Yong Xin's body was hidden in the darkness, his left hand holding his right, which looked rather strange.

"What is it?" Ina asked.

"Well... this is just a friendly reminder. I hope you don't think I'm overstepping my bounds," Yong Xin said. "I don't know if the person you suspect is your comrade, colleague, or someone else, but I want to remind you that if he has clearly shown Second Personality, then it means his time is running out."

Ina's pupils narrowed slightly. "You mean, the decisive battle is coming soon?"

"You can understand it that way, but the struggle between the old and new personalities isn't something that can be decided simply by playing rock-paper-scissors at the last moment. The battle begins the moment the new personality is born," Yong Xin said softly. "The so-called final battle is just an ending that was predetermined from the very beginning. So if you want to do something, you'd better do it now... because the defeated personality often ends up in a terrible state. Because a personality isn't life, and death isn't the end for it."

After hearing Yong Xin's words, Ina stood there for a long time before slowly speaking, "But what can a bystander do?"

"To be honest, there's not much we can do," Yong Xin said. "But it's not like there's nothing we can do. For example, some equipment and facilities that can combat pollution can greatly alleviate the symptoms and better help the main personality. After all, the secondary personality is also born from pollution."

"Pollution-fighting equipment?"

"Yes, being in the Devil Squad, you should know a lot about these things." Yong Xin smiled as he gently grasped the trembling right hand. "But the most effective thing should still be the Purification Source Crystal, but unfortunately... it's gone."

Upon hearing this, Ina gave Yong Xin a deep look, but said nothing and quickly left.

Once Ina had walked away, Yong Xin's right hand twitched again, as if trying to stop something, but it was pressed down by his left hand.

Yong Xin revealed a faint smile, and then the flesh on his face began to swell like maggots, soon intertwining to form another face.

He turned his face to his right hand and said calmly, "What, you still want to stop her?"

My right hand is no longer responding, as if everything just now was an illusion.

"Why won't you just die peacefully?"

Yong Xin spoke softly, his words full of mockery and sarcasm.

No sooner had he finished speaking than an aged voice rang out from his arms, "I thought you had already killed him long ago."

Yong Xin's clothes billowed, and soon a tentacle emerged from them.

"So he was still alive?"

Yong Xin looked at his right hand and said indifferently, "Just a meaningless echo."

"Is it really meaningless?" the tentacle asked. "Are you sure this won't delay the Lord's arrival?"

"Of course not," Yong Xin replied briefly.

"Hehehe, I hope so."

Yong Xin looked down at the tentacles. "You're waking up more and more frequently, it seems like you're close to success over there?"

"Of course," the tentacle said. "I was worried that Huo Er Man's sudden disappearance would put them on guard, but..."

He paused, then spoke in a sarcastic tone.

"But they've been in the Memory Amber for far too long, so long that they've lost almost all of their most basic sensory abilities. They pose no threat now."

"It seems the Old God are in as bad a state as we expected."

"That's true... but we still need more time," the tentacle said. "Although our win rate is already quite high, it's still not 100%. At this final moment, we absolutely must go all out and not rush things like last time."

Yong Xin sensed the undisguised warning in the tentacles' words, but he didn't care. He simply asked, "How much longer at the very least?"

"Two weeks," the tentacle replied. "With just two more weeks, the Lord will be able to completely kill the Old God. At that time, the Old God will not be able to struggle at all, and the Lord's descent will not be hindered in any way."

From the initial month to now two weeks.

It seems that the Lord has also noticed the weakness of the Old God and has begun to act impatiently.

After all, it's been ten years.

Yong Xin gently rubbed his right hand.

That last lingering echo should finally be erased.

"Is there anything else I need to do?" Yong Xin asked again.

"Continue to urge the Devil Squad to retrieve that thing from the Contaminated Land," the tentacle said. "Also, don't let anything else change. That Jie La Er, no matter what means you use, even if you can't kill him, you can't let him interfere with the Lord. This is the final moment."

"Wait for the coming of the Lord."

"Everything will eventually settle down."

After saying that, the tentacles went silent again, softening from their erect state, and then shrank back into Yong Xin's clothes.

Yong Xin then looked at the pile of documents again.

"Her sudden interest in this symptom is unlikely to be related to a problem with the Devil Squad." Yong Xin spoke softly, as if muttering to himself, or as if talking to someone who wasn't there. "And judging from her reaction just now, it doesn't seem like she noticed my problem either, so there's only one possibility... Jie La Er?"

"According to the report from the Skeleton Corps, she saw Jie La Er this afternoon. Did she also notice something different about Jie La Er?"

"So, Jie La Er also has something extra inside him... just like you and me?"

"But if that's the case, shouldn't he be moving closer to me?"

No one could answer Yong Xin; his voice echoed only in the empty archives.

Finally, Yong Xin narrowed his eyes.

It's too uncontrollable; we can't just leave it unattended.

With that thought in mind, Yong Xin pulled out an application form from his pocket.

This is the application for upgrading the wanted notice submitted by the Skeleton Corps this afternoon. Once the name is signed, the wanted notice will be upgraded from level one to level two.

"You should be able to hear me," Yong Xin said calmly, taking out a pen. "Let's make a deal, Ian."

"Do you want your sister's life, or..." Yong Xin lowered the pen tip to the application form again, then slightly raised the corner of his mouth, "What about your adoptive father's life?"

The one or two hours before dawn are often the darkest time of the day.

Of course, it's not too dark Lyra City, because there are streetlights on many main roads that stay on all night.

But it's not here.

Because this is not the Lyra City.

With a "snap".

A beam of light shone in front of a dimly lit little house. A plaque hung on the house, with the words "Lyra Ministry of Foreign Affairs Archives" written crookedly on it.

"There really is such a place." Bai Wei's voice echoed in Jie La Er's mind. "Looks like you've come to the right place."

Jie La Er didn't speak, but tiptoed toward the archives. Although he didn't sense any living beings inside, he still decided to be cautious.

Yes, they are now Lyra City, at the almost forgotten department— the Lyra Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Bai Wei originally wanted to find a place that carries the history of Lyra, such as a library or archive, just like when he took Ulu to the library to look through books in Somu City.

But Jie La Er thought of this, because he remembered what Ku De had said to him that night.

Many things in Lyra City have changed quietly, and even the image of the Lyra God has been forgotten by most people.

In that case, it would be hard to say whether they could find what they wanted in the archives or the library. Jie La Er did not believe that the New Pursuit Society had not cleaned up those materials.

But this place is different. It was here that Ku De recalled many forgotten things. In other words, the people of the New Pursuit Society also forgot that Lyra still has this unchanging place.

Is this the last pure land?

Jie La Er didn't know either; he simply walked up to the archives and broke the lock on the door without much effort.

He became increasingly skilled at this rule-breaking lock-picking behavior, and even no longer felt any psychological burden, so he simply went in.

Then a foul odor wafted over.

Clearly, no one had been in the archives for a long time. Even Ku De hadn't been in a few days ago because entry required procedures, Ku De couldn't get in then. But Jie La Er was different.

Jie La Er held a spotlight in his hand, shining it into the dusty room, looking at the books that hadn't been opened in who knows how long, and... the portrait of the Lyra God hanging on the wall, a portrait interwoven with metal and Holy Light.

"It seems this place really wasn't affected," Bai Wei's voice rang out again. "So, have you remembered anything?"

"There are some." Jie La Er looked at the Lyra God in the painting with a complicated expression. He recalled that many years ago, the image of the Lyra God was engraved on every publication and every landmark building. Whenever Lyra People passed by Him, they would slow their pace or stop to pay their respects. But now, people have forgotten Him. "Only in places like this can we see Him again."

"Don't worry," Bai Wei said. "You will see His true form after you die."

Jie La Er shook his head and said, "In Lyra, there is no such thing as seeing the Lord after death."

"You've misunderstood," Bai Wei said slowly. "What I mean is that your Lord is not far from death. If things go smoothly, He will go to the underworld soon, and then you will be able to see Him after death."

Jie La Er: "..."

Such disrespectful words would never have been tolerated by Jie La Er in the past.

But now... let it be.

Jie La Er pretended not to hear and then began searching through the archives.

The archives here are mostly related to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, such as the number of horses used on each trip and the amount of goods brought back—these are all worthless records.

Jie La Er chose to come here again precisely because he was looking for something that every church had.

Just like the Rhine's 《Rhine Covenant》, in Lyra it is called the 《Lyra Revelation》.

This should be standard equipment for all believers, but the Lyra People have forgotten it.

Fortunately, Jie La Er quickly found one among them, a crumpled book that hadn't been opened in who knows how long.

After brushing off the dust, Jie La Er opened the book.

The first sentence on the title page resolved one of Bai Wei's doubts.

"The Lyra brought the Divine Kingdom to the human world."