Not Afraid? Then Why Are You Trembling?

Cha Mo Si sat on the ground, eyes closed, rubbing his temples wearily.

"Vice Captain," one of the Knight said to him, unable to bear it any longer, "Why don't you take a rest? You haven't slept for two days."

Cha Mo Si then opened his eyes, his tired eyeballs bloodshot.

"How can I sleep when we haven't caught that guy?" Cha Mo Si spoke slowly, his voice hoarse. "These past two days, every time I close my eyes, I see Ku De ..."

Cha Mo Si couldn't continue, so he slammed his fist on the ground to vent his anger.

"Where on earth did that guy hide?!"

The Knight accompanying him sighed softly, then half-squatted down beside Cha Mo Si and said, "There's no way around it. Lyra is just too big, and we're severely understaffed. Even with Level One Wanted Order, we still can't conduct a full search for Jie La Er. Finding him with just our small team is definitely not an easy task."

What the Knight said was exactly what angered Cha Mo Si.

The wanted poster has not been upgraded for a long time, and their small team alone is not able to cover all the possible locations where Jie La Er might appear.

After Ku De's death, Cha Mo Si never rested, leading the Tenth Squad back and forth in places where Jie La Er might appear, but they couldn't even find a trace of him.

Where is he hiding?!

This was a question that not only Cha Mo Si was pondering, but also the entire Tenth Squad. Because of Captain Ku De's sacrifice, the Tenth Squad, who believed that Jie La Er was the murderer, were naturally the ones most eager to capture him in the Skeleton Corps.

After pondering for a moment, the Knight frowned and looked at Cha Mo Si: "Vice-Captain, do you think it's possible that Jie La Er is no longer in the city?"

Cha Mo Si turned to look at the Knight, a hint of surprise flashing in his eyes. "You mean, he betrayed Lyra?"

Do you think that's possible?

Cha Mo Si originally wanted to say no, because since the establishment of Lyra City, there had never been a single "traitor." Even though the law never stipulated that Lyra People were not allowed to leave Lyra City, it seemed to have become a consensus among everyone that Lyra People only lived in Lyra City, and no one had ever thought of leaving.

Is it possible that Jie La Er could be that "exceptional case"?

Cha Mo Si only thought about it briefly before his expression turned even uglier.

Hasn't Jie La Er already become that "exceptional case"?

Isn't everything he's doing now beyond what the Lyra People have ever known?

He was already the biggest, most notorious, and most incalculable defector in the history of Lyra.

Thinking of this, Cha Mo Si stood up from the ground, his face dark, and quickly walked to the side.

Another Knight followed in surprise. "What's wrong, Vice Captain?"

"I think you have a point," Cha Mo Si said. "If it's that guy, he might really have defected from Lyra City. I have to tell Minister Fen Li to immediately strengthen the border defenses..."

Cha Mo Si felt extremely annoyed at this thought.

Why didn't he consider that Jie La Er might have already left the city?

Even now, he still thought of Jie La Er as a normal Lyra People, completely unaware that he might leave the city. If it weren't for another Knight reminding him, he wouldn't know how long he would have been wandering around like this.

"After tightening martial law at the border, I will also request Minister Fen Li to send troops out of the city to search for him," Cha Mo Si said. "We can't let him get away like this."

The Knight were surprised by Cha Mo Si's impulsiveness. "But vice-captain, if Jie La Er has really left the city, he could have left two days ago, right? Do we still have a chance to find him if we leave the city now?"

"Leaving the city isn't that simple," Cha Mo Si said coldly. "Without sufficient supplies and equipment, his gear won't get him very far."

This is the most direct reason why the Lyra People find it difficult to leave Lyra.

After leaving Lyra's source oil, mechanical products will stop working very quickly, and those weapons that were once Lyra's greatest asset will immediately become scrap metal that slows down operations.

Therefore, Lyra always traveled in small teams, carrying large amounts of supplies, to travel for several months at a time, just like when they were sent as envoys to the Somu City in the Rhine.

Jie La Er, on his own, couldn't stay outside for too long or walk too fast.

He didn't even have a means of transportation, since there were no Gear Car tracks outside the city.

At most...

Cha Mo Si seemed to remember something, his pupils narrowed slightly, and then he cursed "Damn it!" before quickening his pace.

"What's wrong, Vice Captain?"

"This guy has most likely gone straight to the Diplomatic Affairs Department." Cha Mo Si's face was very grim. "The captain's father works there."

Upon hearing Cha Mo Si's words, the Knight's expression changed, and he quickened his pace.

The captain is gone. If even the captain's father were to get into trouble, they would truly be ashamed.

But is it really too late now?

"If Jie La Er escapes, he can only run towards Rhine and Holy Sound." The thought that his captain's father might also be in danger Cha Mo Si's expression contort with rage, as if he wanted to devour someone. "I will apply to the Minister for a cooperation order. No matter where he runs, I will bring him back!"

Cha Mo Si had just returned to the Bone Headquarters when he found it in chaos, with everyone looking tense, leaving him somewhat confused about what had happened.

"Hey!" Cha Mo Si quickly stopped a female Knight was rushing by and asked, "What happened? Where is Minister Fen Li?"

The female Knight recognized Cha Mo Si, and in response to Cha Mo Si question, she immediately replied, "Just now, the Twelfth Squad, responsible for border defense, reported that they encountered Jie La Er!"

Upon hearing the news, Cha Mo Si was initially taken aback, but quickly recovered.

Sure enough, their guess was right!

Jie La Er really wants to leave Lyra City!

Although... I don't know why he's only leaving now. What was he doing a couple of days ago?

But there was no time to worry about that now. Cha Mo Si immediately said, "Tenth Squad, assemble immediately! We're going to support the Twelfth Squad right now! Tell them to hold on, we absolutely cannot let Jie La Er escape the city!"

After Cha Mo Si finished speaking, he noticed that the female Knight was still standing still, with a very strange expression on her face.

"What's wrong?" Cha Mo Si asked.

"Lieutenant, according to the Twelfth Squad's report, Jie La Er is not leaving the city; rather, he is returning from outside the city."

Cha Mo Si was stunned.

Did they return from outside the city?

What does this mean?

Has he already left the city?

Then why come back?

A series of questions flooded Cha Mo Si's mind. Before he could figure them out, he heard the female Knight say softly, "And the Twelfth Squad was already... completely mortally wounded the moment they made contact with him."

Cha Mo Si was completely stunned.

Although we knew that the Twelfth Squad responsible for border defense was not that strong, it was still a fully-fledged squad, yet it was wiped out in a single encounter.

Cha Mo Si's mind was once again filled with Jie La Er's image.

He gritted his teeth, then slammed his fist against the wall. "So now we've lost track of him again?"

"No." The female Knight shook her head. "On the contrary, we still have his whereabouts."

Cha Mo Si instinctively asked, "How did you do that?"

"Because... he made no attempt to conceal himself." The female Knight took a deep breath and then said softly, "He has already eliminated five of our checkpoints and injured more than ten skeleton Knight. The most recent report was five minutes ago."

"And judging from his route of advance..."

The female Knight unfolded the Lyra map in her hand towards Cha Mo Si. A straight line connected the sites that Jie La Er had destroyed, and the direction this line pointed to was...

Cha Mo Si turned around abruptly and looked at the most magnificent building in Lyra not far away.

The Tower of Babel.

Bai Wei casually tossed the blood-stained prosthetic limb aside, then quietly watched its owner, a skeleton Knight, who had fainted from excessive blood loss.

In this way, the last skeletal Knight at the checkpoint also fell.

Then he glanced at the Lyra People who were hiding in the corner watching. The immense pressure from his left eye made these non-combatants not even have the courage to look him in the eye, and they were so frightened that they turned around and ran away.

As a result, Bai Wei was left alone on the not-so-narrow street.

As Bai Wei stretched his stiff neck, he wondered if this was the fifth or sixth checkpoint that had been breached.

Hmm... I don't remember very clearly.

He looked up at the Tower of Babel in the distance.

If the fighting continues like this, it seems that it won't be long before they reach the very core of Lyra.

However, Bai Wei had no intention of moving forward any further.

In his left eye's field of vision, the Skeleton Corps were withdrawing from the scattered checkpoints and then quickly regrouping. They had clearly figured out his intentions and were preparing to abandon their piecemeal tactics and instead intercept and capture him together.

This is certainly the right thing to do.

Bai Wei had always felt that the checkpoints set up by the Skeleton Corps were somewhat stupid, with only two or three Skeleton Knight at each checkpoint.

With such limited defensive capabilities, it's no wonder that Jie La Er could freely enter and exit even while injured, let alone Bai Wei, who was controlling Jie La Er's body. Exhausting the activity level of a station wasn't even a warm-up.

Of course, this is also related to the unique characteristics of the Lyra.

The most combat-effective unit in Lyra is the second-generation Pioneer Force, the Devil, while the Skeleton Corps, responsible for maintaining order, actually has very limited combat capabilities.

After all, the Lyra People are just too "well-behaved." The rules they adhere to in their hearts ensure that no vicious criminals will ever emerge in this city. The Skeleton Corps, though called a security force, is actually more like a combination of the police, fire department, and medical services that Bai Wei experienced in his previous life.

He can do a lot of things, but he's not good at anything.

Apart from a few small teams responsible for diplomacy, the vast majority of skeletal Knight are far less capable in one-on-one combat than Rhine Knight.

Therefore, if it were in Somu City, Bai Wei would not have chosen such a radical action.

Under Bai Wei's watchful eye, the Skeleton Corps had already assembled on his inevitable path, and were equipped with heavy firepower. If he continued to charge straight in like this, things wouldn't be as simple as they were now.

But,

He has achieved his goal.

Bai Wei gave the skeleton Knight in the distance a smile they could never see, then turned around and walked back the way he came.

From the beginning, his goal was not the Tower of Babel.

Ten minutes later, Bai Wei arrived at his destination—the Gear Train terminal of Lyra.

Every Gear Train of the Lyra departs from here. This is also a very distinctive building, which looks like a huge, horizontally cut bulge, or a heart.

In a sense, it is indeed the heart of Lyra City.

Bai Wei walked into the building alone; the only sound in the empty building was the sound of his footsteps.

Clearly, the staff here had already evacuated in advance.

This is also a rule of Lyra: once an uncontrollable crisis is discovered, all personnel within a certain area must be evacuated immediately until the crisis is resolved.

Bai Wei's previous actions were enough for this long-peaceful city to judge it as an uncontrollable crisis.

This is also what Bai Wei wants.

He came here in such a grand manner just to verify one thing.

Using his eyes and senses, Bai Wei arrived at the innermost room of the main station.

He felt that what he was looking for was in this room.

However, a heavy metal lock was placed outside the room, causing Bai Wei to frown. This was not the small lock outside the archives in the Diplomatic Affairs Department that could be easily pried open; this was a specially made large lock.

If there is no key, then a sharper tool will be needed to cut it open.

But this is rather troublesome. Jie La Er did not take the damaged Chainsaw Sword with him when he went out, and Bai Wei did not expect that he would still be troubled by a lock after arriving here.

Where should I find one... hmm?

He suddenly raised an eyebrow.

It seems there's no need to go looking for it specifically.

A series of footsteps sounded behind me.

Bai Wei put down the lock in his hand, then slowly turned around, looked at the "familiar faces" who suddenly appeared behind him, and said calmly, "It's quite surprising that you were able to find this place."

Cha Mo Si stared intently at Bai Wei, his teeth practically grinding to powder.

"Jie La Er!"

"This time, you can't escape!"

Hearing Cha Mo Si's words, Bai Wei was not in a hurry. Instead, he smiled and said, "Yes, they can't escape now."

This smile made Cha Mo Si uneasy.

He had known Jie La Er for a year, but he had never seen Jie La Er smile like that before today.

Such mockery, ridicule, and... disdain.

"As expected..." Cha Mo Si was even more certain. He slowly tightened his grip on the weapon in his hand. "You damn madman, you've finally stopped pretending, haven't you?"

"Damn madman... Heh, so that's how you've always seen him."

Bai Wei shook his head with a "tsk tsk," seemingly expressing regret or pity.

But more often than not, it was mockery.

"What? Are you still trying to play dumb?" Cha Mo Si stared intently at Bai Wei, his voice growing louder. "This time, you can't fool anyone, Jie La Er! Today is your death day!"

At the same time, he also quickly made hand gestures with his hands behind his back, instructing the accompanying Tenth Squad to quietly deploy into formation.

But this scene naturally did not escape Bai Wei's eyes.

The Tenth Squad is also an elite unit in the Skeleton Corps, and it's a fully-equipped squad, except for the absence of its leader, Ku De.

They were also equipped with enough weapons; Bai Wei could already see people aiming at him with loaded Automatic Firearm.

This well-trained squad is clearly not as easy to deal with as the skeletal Knight at the previous checkpoints.

Moreover, Bai Wei didn't have much time to waste now; he could sense that Jie La Er would wake up soon.

Since that's the case, we need to be a little more serious and finish this quickly.

"You've been saying he's a damn madman," Bai Wei said slowly. "So now that he's really gone mad in front of you, why are you so afraid?"

Cha Mo Si said coldly, "Why would I be afraid?"

"Yeah?"

Bai Wei's pupils narrowed slightly, and his star-like eyes seemed to be etched directly into the hearts of everyone present.

He then chuckled and said.

"Then why?"

"Are you shaking?"