Now, We Can Properly Discuss the Deal

After some twists and turns, Jie La Er finally returned to his cabin.

Bai Wei could also take a good look at what kind of place this eccentric old Knight lived in. He found that it was pretty much as he had imagined. Apart from an iron-framed bed in the corner that could be called a household item, the not-so-large house was almost entirely filled with all kinds of metal utensils.

Weapon parts, a workbench for making tools, and a basket of parts whose purpose was unknown.

At first glance, it doesn't look like a place for people to live; it looks more like a junkyard.

As Bai Wei continued walking, he finally saw something different.

A desk, and a rather strange-looking machine.

Leaving the machine aside, Bai Wei shifted his main attention to the desk, where a black-and-white group photo stood. The photo showed more than ten Knights of Lyra, including Jie La Er. Jie La Er looked much younger then than he does now; he was holding a young girl in his right arm and leading a slightly older boy by the hand in his left, and everyone was beaming with enthusiastic smiles.

The photo also has a line of small print. "Year 232, Night Star".

Bai Wei instantly understood who the photo belonged to.

That squad that Jie La Er took to the deepest part of the Contamination Zone ten years ago, and never brought back.

The table was covered with the team members' belongings, all sorts of photos, but most of them were of the young boy and girl.

They looked like his children; the boy was older than the girl, but he didn't know where they had gone.

However, their last photo was also taken in 236 AD. At that time, the boy had already put on the uniform of Xiaoxing and was smiling brightly, while the girl was looking up at him with longing eyes.

... Does that mean your son was in that group too?

Bai Wei seemed to be deep in thought.

Jie La Er walked to the desk, then took the Chainsaw Sword from behind him. The blade and hilt separated, seemingly to clean the grime inside. Bai Wei wasn't interested in these details, so he continued examining the items on the desk.

On the table were some old, worn-out items, such as an alarm clock, a pipe, and a folding knife. These items were all engraved with names and dates. The names were likely those of the members of the Evening Star Squad — Hermes, Eric, Hoon ... and the dates were probably the production dates of these items: 231, 233, 236...

Lyra seems to really like to engrave the production date on its utensils, as if recording their birthday.

These old, worn-out items were all produced more than 236 years ago, which is ten years ago.

Bai Wei then examined the other items in the room. Anything with a date engraved on it was from the year 236. For Lyra, where utensils and equipment were updated and replaced very quickly, this was truly an antique among antiques.

This is the Lyra from ten years ago.

Jie La Er attached the disassembled Chainsaw Sword to the strange device next to his desk, and at the same time, he finally spoke to Bai Wei, "How much do you know about me?"

...oh?

Bai Wei finally turned his attention to Jie La Er.

After his soul recovered and he spoke with Jie La Er did not speak to him on his own initiative for the past two days, and even deliberately ignored Bai Wei on many occasions.

But now, he seems to have changed his mind.

Bai Wei could guess some of Jie La Er's thoughts, but he didn't expose them. Instead, he slowly said, "It's not a lot, but it's not a little either."

Can you tell me about it?

"Of course," Bai Wei said with a smile. "For example, like what I mentioned before, which you describe here as... the 'Night Star' incident, right? The one Lyra calls the worst betrayal, in 236, you led Lyra's most elite Evening Star Squad into the deepest part of the Contamination Zone without any orders, ultimately leading to the annihilation of the entire force. Only you, as the captain, survived and claimed to have lost your memories of the Contamination Zone. After that, you were demoted from the pioneering force to the guard force by the higher-ups, until today... Am I right?"

Jie La Er was silent for a moment, then said, "Many people know about this."

"Indeed, but I also know some things that others don't."

"For example?"

"For example... you haven't lost all your memories," Bai Wei said softly. "At least you remember that you received orders from higher-ups before you set off."

Upon hearing this, Jie La Er's body trembled almost imperceptibly, but Bai Wei still noticed it.

But he pretended not to notice and continued speaking slowly.

"You remember, you clearly remember that day, when the higher-ups at Lyra gave you this mission, and you were ordered to lead your team into the Contamination Zone. But you can't remember what the mission was. When you regained consciousness, you were already back in Lyra, but by then you were no longer a hero, but a traitor. The entire Evening Star Squad was also labeled as rebellious—because your entire mission was erased, there were no records, no one who issued it, and the higher-ups all denied it. So, you are the rebels, am I right?"

Jie La Er didn't say anything; he just unconsciously put his hand on the wall for support.

"I think you haven't been idle for the past ten years. You've been searching for answers and the truth, but you haven't found them. That's why you need my eyes, to see what you want to see but can't see for the time being," Bai Wei said. "As the most outstanding 'Evening Star Knight' in the past, you know one thing very well: 'The past doesn't lie, but memories do.' Once the past and memories deviate, there's only one possibility... corruption."

Jie La Er closed his eyes, seemingly preparing for what Bai Wei would say next.

"Now, the past and memory have diverged, so there are two possibilities: either you've been corrupted..."

Bai Wei paused.

"Either Lyra has gone mad."

Silence, a long silence.

After an unknown amount of time, Jie La Er slowly opened his eyes and said softly, "Even in Lyra, very few people know this so clearly. Regardless of whether you are Visas or not, my previous wariness of you was correct. My intuition tells me that you... are dangerous."

"I don't deny that," Bai Wei said calmly. "When you want to do business with someone, it's reasonable to show some skills, especially when dealing with someone who is in deep trouble."

"So that's why you came to me, just like when you found your previous host?"

Bai Wei did not respond.

"Indeed, your eye contains a power I cannot comprehend," Jie La Er said softly. "Just as you said, if it is this eye, perhaps it can really help me see some things that I have never been able to see before."

"So..." Bai Wei asked, "Do you want to make a deal?"

Upon hearing the transaction request, Jie La Er suddenly smiled; it was the first time Bai Wei had seen him smile in days.

"But how can I be sure that you aren't an even bigger source of pollution?"

...oh?

Jie La Er suddenly pulled the lever of the strange machine, which immediately emitted a roaring sound and then began to vibrate.

Then, Bai Wei watched as the machine slowly separated, and a chair was pushed out from inside the machine.

Jie La Er sat down in the chair, followed by a series of metallic clanging sounds as chains emerged from various corners of the chair, securing his limbs and neck.

Bai Wei asked with interest, "What are you trying to do now?"

"As I said, you are too dangerous," Jie La Er said softly. "Both that eye and you yourself give me that feeling. When you speak to me, every organ in my body seems to be warning me, a feeling I've never had even in the Contaminated Land. And what you've done makes me... afraid."

"You mean killing that Archbishop?" Bai Wei said calmly. "I told you, I didn't kill him. He just lost in the game. And, strictly speaking, I even saved your life. If it weren't for me, you would have been killed by that Archbishop that night."

"I know, but I'm not afraid of death," Jie La Er said. "The Knight of the Evening Star are not afraid of death. What we fear most is... being corrupted. Death is a glorious sacrifice, and we leave this world as humans. But if we are corrupted, we don't know what kind of monster we will become, or what kind of things we will do."

As Jie La Er explained, the machine's roar and vibration grew louder, and Bai Wei saw two black tubes fall onto Jie La Er's head.

"I see. You think I'm also a source of pollution, and that you've already been polluted by me."

"'When you hear voices that don't belong to you in your mind, then don't doubt it, you've been corrupted,' Jie La Er said calmly. 'This is the ironclad rule of the Contaminated Land.'"

"Interesting," Bai Wei said. "To be honest, you've already surprised me a bit. So what are you planning to do now? Remove my eyes from your body? That doesn't seem like that much trouble."

"No, I need to test what level of contamination I've been exposed to first," Jie La Er said. "Level 1 and Level 2 contamination can be eliminated, but if it's Level 3 or higher, then there's only one option."

The moment Jie La Er finished speaking, the Chainsaw Sword he had just attached to the machine suddenly began to operate slowly.

Bai Wei finally understood what he was going to do.

"I've already set it up," Jie La Er said. "As long as this machine detects that you've contaminated me, it will treat my body at level five contamination. I know I can't harm you, if you really are Visas, but I also need to make sure..."

Jie La Er paused, then his tone gradually hardened.

"We will make sure you are not left with any part of your body that you can use to harm Lyra."

The Chainsaw Sword was spinning faster and faster, like a wild beast turning from a tentative murmur into a threatening roar.

At the same time, a human female voice also came from the machine.

"The pollution level test is about to begin. The tester is Jie La Er, the Knight of the Evening Star."

"If contamination is detected, immediate cleanup operations will be carried out according to the level 5 contamination standard."

"After the operation, your belongings will be handed over to the heirs, the Evening Star Corps, Ian... beep Error, this identity has been cancelled. They will be handed over to the second heir, the Evening Star Corps, Hermes... beep Error, this identity has been cancelled. They will be handed over to the third heir, the Evening Star Corps, Eric... beep Error, this identity has been cancelled..."

The machine reported more than ten names in a row, all of which were already logged out.

Jie La Er gently closed his eyes, and finally, the machine gave the only name it could execute. "Devil Squad, Ina".

"Start testing..."

He then opened his eyes, and the Chainsaw Sword above his head was also powered to its maximum. At this power, the Chainsaw Sword was powerful enough to pulverize any mortal body, just like the previous contaminants.

After all, it was made to combat pollutants.

Once Jie La Er is identified as a contaminant, this killing sword will show absolutely no mercy just because he was once its master.

"Testing, testing..."

The machine was constantly emitting a voice indicating that it was performing a test, and at the same time, its body was shaking continuously. Because it had not been repaired for too long, it had reached the end of its service life.

Bai Wei watched quietly.

Both the sword above their heads and the machine are so ancient that they are completely out of place with the modern Lyra.

Just like Jie La Er under the machine.

But they still came together, just to stop themselves, a potentially huge threat.

"... an interesting guy."

"Testing! Testing!"

At that moment, both the machine and the Chainsaw Sword reached their maximum power.

They were shaking constantly, as if they were about to collapse at any moment.

Jie La Er was also staring intently at the Chainsaw Sword.

Come on... the final answer!

The Chainsaw Sword, like a raging lion, slowly approached Jie La Er, its sharp chainsaws seeming ready to tear Jie La Er apart at any moment!

Then.

With a clang.

One of the screws popped out.

The machine also made a sound.

"Test results: level of contamination - zero."

"Knight of the Evening Star, Jie La Er, you are untainted."

Congratulations, you are in good health.

Congratulations, you are in good health.

The Chainsaw Sword stopped working, and the machine, which had far exceeded its service life, finally broke down after completing its last inspection. It got stuck on the last sentence, repeatedly saying, "You are healthy."

Jie La Er turned his head and watched as the screw that had just popped out landed on the desk next to him, rolled past the small items engraved with names and years, rolled past one photo after another filled with enthusiastic smiles, and finally came to a stop on the largest group photo, making a crisp "clink" sound.

"Congratulations, you are very healthy... click."

The machine has completely stopped working.

The screw stopped turning.

Jie La Er sat alone in the cramped room, staring at the screw that had stopped in the group photo, the machine's words "You are healthy" still echoing in his mind.

He remained silent for a long time.

Until Bai Wei's voice rang out again.

"Now, we can have a proper talk about the deal."

Phew, this chapter is equivalent to two chapters.

By the way, let me recommend Tian Ge's book! Thanks to Tian Ge for the previous favor!