Long Time No See, Father (6K)

"Why not tell her?" After Ina left, Bai Wei's voice echoed in Jie La Er's mind. "Since you've already said almost everything, why not tell her about her brother as well?"

Jie La Er watched Ina's figure disappear into the alleyway without looking away, and simply said softly, "You heard everything?"

"Isn't that just stating the obvious?" Bai Wei said lazily. "I'm inside you, is there anything I can't hear?"

He paused.

"But next time you're discussing with your daughter how to kill me, shouldn't I think it would be better if I turned my back on you?"

"Can you still memorize it?"

"Hmm... it doesn't seem likely," Bai Wei said calmly. "It's like a pig trapped in its pen during the New Year, forced to watch helplessly as humans sharpen their knives and discuss how to cook it to make it taste better. They can't see it or hear it."

What is Chinese New Year?

Is that the main point?

"Then... what is a pig?"

"...Heh." Bai Wei raised an eyebrow at Jie La Er. "Looks like you're in a good mood. You can even crack jokes after talking with your daughter?"

"Nothing could be funnier than the legendary Visas describing himself as a pig," Jie La Er said softly. "If you're a pig waiting to be slaughtered, then what are we? Meat already on the chopping block?"

"It seems you're still quite pessimistic about the current situation," Bai Wei said. "Don't worry, as long as you follow my plan, you won't die. You might even be able to retire peacefully and watch your daughter bring up a blond guy to call you father-in-law. Hmm... isn't that a more terrifying situation for you than the end of the world?"

"Hmm... I'm understanding less and less of what you're saying," Jie La Er said. "But can I take that to mean I won't die like the previous host?"

You can understand it that way.

Why is that?

"Why what?"

"Why did the previous host have to die, but I don't?"

"Tsk, the things you care about are indeed strange. Isn't it a good thing not to die?" Bai Wei said. "But this is the kind of question you would ponder. You Lyra People are a bit too meticulous, wanting to know the answer to everything."

Bai Wei paused for a moment, then continued.

"Simply put, it's about facing different situations. You're much stronger than that guy, and..."

"And?"

"I need to leave behind a case of someone who doesn't die," Bai Wei said calmly. "Otherwise, when I'm looking for the next host, if I just tell him that the previous two hosts have already kicked the bucket, then there's a good chance we won't even have a chance to talk."

"Oh... I see."

Hearing Bai Wei's half-joking remark, Jie La Er smiled silently, lost in thought.

"So you still haven't answered me," Bai Wei said. "Why don't you just tell her about her brother? If you don't tell her now, it will be even more troublesome later."

Jie La Er slowly closed his eyes.

His mind was filled with the image of Ian's tense yet earnest face.

"Father, I want to join Xiaoxing."

"I've been thinking about why I agreed to let Ian enter Night Star back then."

Jie La Er slowly opened his eyes again. He was still looking at the alley entrance. Even though Ina had been gone for a long time, his gaze never left her, just like those old fathers in his previous life who would send their children who had just started college to the train station or airport.

"Perhaps it's because I didn't want to stop him from becoming who he wanted to be, or perhaps it's because I also wanted to see my beloved son standing beside me in that boundless, Land of Corruption." Jie La Er spoke slowly, as if talking to himself, or perhaps to Bai Wei. "But whatever I was thinking, I agreed to let him become like me, and then let him experience the same things as me."

Bai Wei understood what Jie La Er meant. "So you regret it? You're thinking, if you hadn't agreed back then, he would still be doing well now?"

"Yes," Jie La Er said softly. "Although Huo Er Man told me that he came back, I don't know what he went through or what he's become. All I know is that if I had rejected him back then, he wouldn't be like this now. At least... he could still be with Ina, living a good life."

Even if it makes him hate you?

Even if it makes him hate me.

Bai Wei laughed, "I see. Your daughter wants you to treat her like you treat her brother, but you do the opposite and don't want her to follow the same path as her brother... Hmm, that's a bit of a domineering old father vibe. By the way, have you ever lied to her before?"

"No."

"So this is the first time?"

"...Yes." Jie La Er gently rubbed the pass belonging to the Devil Squad in his hand. "This is the first time, and also...the last time."

In front of the iron bridge connecting District 4 and Fifth District, Ina suddenly turned around and looked behind her.

It was empty, with nothing at all.

"Is there a problem, Vice Captain?" asked a member of the Devil Squad guarding the iron bridge.

Ina shook her head. "There's no problem."

Then, she looked at the guards at the bridgehead, her brows furrowing slightly.

Why are there so few people on duty?

"Because there were some issues at the Contaminated Land," the Devil Knight said. "The Abyss urgently needs manpower, so most of our personnel have been transferred there."

Is something wrong with the Abyss?

Ina's pupils narrowed slightly, and then she immediately asked what was going on.

As one of the vice-captains of the Devil Squad, Ina naturally had the authority to know these things, so the Devil Knight immediately told Ina about the situation in the Contaminated Land.

After listening, Ina immediately frowned and subconsciously looked in the direction of the Contaminated Land.

I never expected that the Abyss would change so much in just a few days since I returned.

If it weren't for something more important, Ina would want to return to the Contaminated Land right now and begin exploring the abyss, after all... that's something she's been looking forward to for ten years.

But because there were more important things to do, Ina had to suppress her impulse and said casually, "Is that so? Then you should go and provide support. I'll take over the guard here."

The Devil Knight with some surprise, "You're here to keep watch?"

"Yes, De Ni hasn't come back yet anyway, so I'll just wait for him here." Ina turned to look at the Devil Knight in front of her. "What, you think I can't do it?"

"Of course not," the Devil Knight said. "With you here, we can indeed send more people to the Abyss for support. So, when do you plan to begin?"

"Tonight then," Ina waved her hand and walked away. "I'll be relieved after you finish your shift."

The Devil Knight bowed to Ina.

Everything went smoothly.

Furthermore, because of the situation in the Abyss, the security forces in the entire Fifth District are now severely insufficient, which is obviously a good thing for Ina.

This means that there will be fewer obstacles for her and Jie La Er's actions tonight.

But... will it really go that smoothly?

Ina felt inexplicably uneasy.

Behind her, the Knight who had just been bowing to her had a faint glimmer in his eyes beneath his mask.

"Oh, I see."

Looking at the Devil Knight bowing to him, Yong Xin said softly.

"Knowing that Third District are difficult to attack, he directly set his sights on Fifth District, which seems even more difficult to attack on the surface. He even went so far as to drag Ina into it... As expected, he's starting to become unscrupulous."

The Devil Knight asked, "Lord Yongxin, do you need our cooperation?"

"Hehe, no need." Yong Xin said indifferently, "If you stay there, it might arouse their suspicion. So, just leave as she asks. The Abyss is short of people anyway."

"Yes." The Devil Knight quickly took his leave.

Then Yong Xin summoned his subordinates.

"You heard what I just said, right?" Yong Xin asked.

The subordinate nodded. "I heard you."

"Then you should know what to do." Yong Xin looked at his subordinate and said slowly, "Order the first to fifth squads of the skeletons to secretly enter the Fifth District. The other squads continue to maintain the search for Jie La Er without arousing his suspicion. The first to fifth squads can carry any number of heavy weapons. Once Jie La Er appears, kill him on the spot without hesitation."

As he said this, Yong Xin noticed his right hand trembling slightly.

"Aren't you going to demand her capture alive?" the subordinate asked. "And what about Ina?"

His right hand trembled more and more violently, but Yong Xin's expression remained unchanged, with a faint smile always on his face.

"Same here, kill on the spot."

The subordinate accepted the order and left.

Yong Xin then turned his gaze to his right hand, his smile growing wider.

"The reason you've persisted until now and still refuse to die is because of those two, isn't it?" Yong Xin chuckled softly, turning to look out the window. A few dark clouds had appeared under the clear sky, and rumbled thunder could be faintly heard. "So, after tonight..."

"Now you can die in peace."

"Ian."

After noon, the weather suddenly turned bad.

The few dark clouds that had been there suddenly covered half of Lyra City.

Although it hadn't rained yet, the entire Lyra felt unbearably stuffy and dry.

Just like the overall atmosphere of the Lyra.

Ju walked out of the school alone, watching the adults coming and going, their expressions tense as they picked up their children. It was as if she were looking at another world, where everything was irrelevant to her.

With such a big incident this morning, the entire Lyra is almost under lockdown, so the school naturally doesn't dare to let the students continue attending school and immediately notified the parents to pick them up.

But Ju had no parents, so she had to leave the school alone, watching the parents lead their children away quickly. Even the bullies who had been bullying her were no exception. They used to be so proud and arrogant, but now they were being held in their parents' arms like quails.

Even so, as they walked past Ju, they would give her a mocking look, as if they were laughing at her for not having parents.

Fortunately, Ju was already used to it. She simply kicked a rusty screw on the ground into the artificial lake next to her, listened to the splash, and then watched the ripples disappear little by little.

Hmm... as expected, it's not very interesting.

Ju Xin thought.

Should we, like before, throw one of those balls that explode and splatter poop into the shoes of some annoying people?

But with so many parents here, it doesn't seem like it will be easy to succeed.

Ju is pondering this question.

Then, she heard the parents who were passing by discussing nervously.

What happened this morning?

"Haven't you heard? It's that guy named Jie La Er again..."

Upon hearing this name, Ju's eyes, which were originally as calm as a lake, rippled as if a pebble had been thrown in.

Hmm... this seems to be getting interesting.

Ju's steps suddenly became lighter.

She used to think that everything was irrelevant to her, but now it seems like it is.

Because Jie La Er's body... was repaired by her.

Does that mean that everything that happened today is also related to her?

Thinking about this, Ju felt that throwing poop into other people's shoes had become quite boring.

So she casually followed the two parents and listened to their conversation.

"It seems like a lot of people have died..."

"The entire station has been unsealed."

"The Skeleton Corps is littered with corpses..."

The light in Ju's eyes grew brighter and brighter, and even her breathing quickened unconsciously.

Then, she bumped into a parent in front of her with a "plop".

"Huh? Who are you? Why are you following us?"

The parent looked at her sternly.

Before Ju could speak, the child in the parent's arms shouted, "She's Ju! She's that prisoner's child!"

"That rebel's child?! Why is he following us?!"

"Damn it, she's definitely in cahoots with that Jie La Er! Grab her now!"

The parents were about to take action, but Ju already had plenty of experience in dealing with this kind of situation, and she had already run away the moment the children shouted.

The parents couldn't catch up with her, so they could only shout at her back.

"You bastard! Sooner or later, you'll be sent to see your damned father!"

"You will be hanged on the mast along with that guy named Jie La Er!"

These words did not affect Ju; they only made her steps lighter.

She even made a special trip to the headquarters of the Skeleton Corps. Looking at the skeleton Knight with broken arms and legs, she couldn't help but laugh out loud.

Ju has almost forgotten when she last laughed.

Indeed, giving Jie La Er "treatment" and "remodeling" was the right thing to do.

She thought to herself.

Isn't this much more interesting than those egg-bursting balls and the like she makes?

I wonder where Jie La Er is now.

Wait, is it possible that he wasn't caught...?

Ju suddenly realized something, and immediately turned around, speeding back home.

When Ju opened the door and saw that familiar figure frowning as she cleaned the blood-stained parts, she stopped in her tracks.

"Um?"

Jie La Er seemed a little surprised that Tachibana would return at this time. Looking at Tachibana's sweaty appearance, he thought she had been chased by thugs again. Just as he was about to ask her, Tachibana spoke first.

"What are you doing?" Ju asked.

"Uh..." Jie La Er somewhat awkwardly, "The parts you replaced for me are damaged again, so I wanted to see if I could replace them myself."

He was really too embarrassed to trouble Ju.

After all, he had done a series of things this morning, and even he himself didn't know how to tell Ju that he was actually a good person.

They couldn't shift the blame to Bai Wei, nor could they tell Ju the whole truth.

That's why Jie La Er decided to take matters into his own hands, finish the job as soon as possible, and leave as soon as possible. He would not see Tachibana again after that, because no matter how today's operation went, Lyra would intensify her search for him, and then it would be really difficult for him to hide in such a small warehouse.

But Jie La Er didn't expect that Tachibana would return so soon.

This made him hesitate, unsure how to explain it to Tachibana.

Then, he heard Ju suddenly say, "I'll help you."

Jie La Er was slightly taken aback, thinking he had misheard, "What?"

"I said, I'll help you," Ju repeated, "I'll help you fix it."

Then, as if remembering something, she added a sentence.

"No money is needed."

... Why is that?

Jie La Er was a little confused. He stared blankly at Tachibana, trying to read a hint of a joke in her eyes.

But Ju was clearly not joking; her burning gaze was full of seriousness.

So after a moment of silence, Jie La Er nodded and said, "Then I'll leave it to you."

He paused, then spoke softly.

"I have something very important to do tonight."

Upon hearing this, a glint of light flashed in Ju's eyes again.

Although she was very curious about what Jie La Er was going to do, she wisely refrained from asking and simply nodded, trying her best to suppress her excitement.

"Leave it to me."

After nightfall, the rain that had been holding back all day finally began to fall.

Ina pulled down the brim of her hood, then walked to the bridgehead and said to the Devil Knight who were still on duty, "Let's change shifts. You should rest early and conserve your energy so you can head to the abyss tomorrow."

"Yes!" The Devil Knight bowed to Ina and prepared to leave.

"Wait a minute." Ina's peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a Gear Train parked on the tracks not far away, and her brows furrowed slightly. "What's going on with that train?"

"Oh, those are supplies sent by the Tower of Babel," the Devil Knight replied. "Captain You Li will send someone to receive them first thing tomorrow morning."

"I see." Ina nodded. "I understand."

This is normal, because the Gear Train's tracks only go this far, and all supplies can only be delivered here before being transported by the Devil Knight to the Land of Corruption.

The Devil Knight bowed to Ina again, and then left together.

Ina sat alone in the checkpoint at the bridgehead, gazing at the other side of the bridge.

But what she didn't know was that in the nearby Gear Train, fully armed skeleton Knight were also silently watching her.

"Perfect." Jie La Er said softly as he felt his new body. "You are really... amazing."

While wiping away sweat, Ju pointed expressionlessly at the Chainsaw Sword placed to the side. "That one, I fixed it too."

Jie La Er was even more surprised.

"Can you tell me what you're going to do tonight?" Ju asked.

Jie La Er immediately fell silent, then gently shook his head. "I'm sorry, I can't say."

Ju said "Oh," seemingly unsurprised, but then asked, "Will you come back?"

Jie La Er looked at Tachibana with some surprise.

He could clearly sense that Tachibana was different today. Although Tachibana had never been afraid of him, she had never shown any signs of... anticipation towards Jie La Er like this before.

Although he didn't know exactly what had happened, the sight of orange still made Jie La Er feel a little dazed.

It's just like that little girl from many years ago who asked herself when she would go home.

"I will come back," Jie La Er replied.

The sky grew darker and darker.

The rain was getting heavier and heavier.

As Ina watched the time ticking away on her pocket watch, she suddenly felt a little dazed.

It was as if she had returned to many years ago, when she was at home waiting for Jie La Er to come back.

Such anxiety and... unease.

She had lost count of how many times she had stuck her head out of the checkpoint and looked towards the other side of the bridge.

But there was still nothing there, just pitch black.

"It'll be a while longer."

She murmured to herself, and just as she was about to pull her head back, she suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of her eye, and her whole body froze.

She saw a figure in a familiar uniform walking from the direction of the Land of Corruption.

How... is this possible?

Ina was stunned.

She blinked unconsciously.

The figure then vanished.

But Ina still felt her hair stand on end.

Because she was certain that the figure she had just seen... was Jie La Er.

But it was... Jie La Er from ten years ago.

She immediately came out of the checkpoint and looked around.

But there was nothing there, only the rain drizzling down.

Tower of Babel.

Yong Xin was standing in the lobby, watching Lyra in the rainy night, silently calculating the time in his mind.

"Any news from over there?"

Yong Xin asked.

Then a figure appeared in the darkness. "Not yet, Lord Yongxin."

"Is that so?" Yong Xin nodded slightly. "It seems I was too hasty. You may leave now. Let me know when you have any news."

The figure then retreated.

Yong Xin continued to stand by the window, looking in the direction of the Fifth District.

Logically speaking, tonight should be the last night.

The only potential problem will be eliminated.

Yong Xin was very certain of this.

Because he didn't believe that Jie La Er would leave Ina there alone, for the same reason that the thing inside him had been surviving until now and refused to die.

Even so, Yong Xin still felt somewhat uneasy.

Was I being too hasty?

As he was thinking this, he heard footsteps again, from his former subordinate. "Lord Yongxin."

"Any news from over there?"

"No." The subordinate presented a letter. "It's news from the man you sent to Somu City. This just arrived."

Yong Xin's pupils narrowed slightly.

He had almost forgotten about this.

Although it was no longer important, for some reason, looking at that unopened letter, Yong Xin's unease grew stronger.

He then picked up the letter and waved for his subordinates to leave.

He opened the envelope only after his subordinates had left.

After quickly reading it, Yong Xin's expression changed from feigned calm to astonishment.

"The lost eye... How could it be an eye... So, it was an eye after all..."

At that moment, he seemed to understand everything.

Then, footsteps sounded again.

Yong Xin sighed heavily, then turned his head to look at the person who had come.

"Long time no see."

He said softly.

"Father."