Open Your Eyes

"So, you just left like that?"

As Jie La Er left Carol's shop, Bai Wei's voice rang in his mind at just the right moment.

"He has done his best to give me information," Jie La Er said. "That's enough."

"Heh... Is that really enough?" Bai Wei said with a light laugh. "You should be able to sense that he knows much more than he has revealed."

"So what?"

"So what?" Bai Wei said, "Jie La Er, for ten years, you've been going around in circles, unable to escape the web this world has woven for you. And now, you finally have a chance to break free of this web, but you immediately retreat after lifting a corner of it."

There will be other opportunities.

"Really? So you're planning to wait another ten years?"

Jie La Er stopped in his tracks. "What exactly are you trying to say?"

"Just a sincere suggestion," Bai Wei said calmly. "If I were you, I would go back to that shop right now and use every means possible to get the truth out of him. Either by force, or by exploiting his long-standing admiration for you, or..."

Bai Wei paused.

"Doesn't he have someone he cares about?"

No sooner had Bai Wei finished speaking than Jie La Er growled, "Shut up! Don't treat me like someone like you!"

"That's true. If it were me, I would never allow myself to be schemed against for ten years," Bai Wei said. "Jie La Er, do you remember the question I asked you before? How much are you willing to pay for the truth?"

This wasn't the first time Bai Wei had asked him this question, and Jie La Er had never answered.

But this time, Jie La Er did not evade the question. Instead, he slowly said, "Everything I have."

"Everything about you?"

"Yes, everything I have," Jie La Er said. "I'm still haunted by the nightmare from ten years ago, and my former comrades are still suffering injustice even after they've died. So I'm willing to give everything for the truth, for justice for them... but that's all I have."

As he spoke, he turned his head and looked at Carol's little shop.

Carol was tidying up the shop, carefully wiping down each machine as if it were his own child.

"But I have no right to drag others into this for my own selfish desires. My Night Star and I have already been branded as traitors, and I know how painful that is," Jie La Er said, emphasizing each word. "So I absolutely cannot let others repeat my mistakes."

Jie La Er has not confided in anyone about his feelings.

He never expected that the first person he would confide in in ten years would be the legendary Visas.

After listening to Jie La Er's words, Bai Wei was silent for a moment before slowly saying, "Hmm, indeed an admirable spirit of sacrifice, and... a laughable awareness."

Jie La Er narrowed his eyes slightly. "What do you mean?"

"You say you're willing to give everything for the truth, but in your mind, everything is nothing more than the annihilation of the body, nothing more than dying alone," Bai Wei said with a light laugh. "Don't you think that's ridiculous? The force you're facing has kept you in the dark for ten years with a woven web, and you only saw a sliver of truth through my eyes. Why do you think you can fight against such an existence with your solitary resolve to die alone?"

Jie La Er slowly clenched his fist.

"Do you remember the advice I gave you earlier?" Bai Wei said, "Whatever you're going to do, do it quickly, you don't have much time left. This advice is free, but free things are often the most expensive."

After saying that, Bai Wei fell silent, as if he had fallen into a deep sleep.

But these words still caused Jie La Er great unease.

He looked back again, but Carol had already closed the shop door.

Jie La Er wanted to turn around and check, but then he saw two passing children playing with their prosthetics. One of them pointed his fist at the other. "Watch my catapult launch... Hey? Why can't I launch it?"

"Idiot, there's a lock!" another, slightly older child scolded him. "You can't use Lyra's weapons to attack Lyra people! Don't you know that?"

"Ah... okay then."

Seeing this, Jie La Er felt a little relieved.

The lock is still there.

The rules of Lyra are still in effect, so there's no need to worry too much.

Let's not bother Carol anymore.

Jie La Er turned and left.

Carol closed the shop door and hummed a little tune as she walked toward the back room.

Today's sales target has been met, so I'll take a day off tomorrow to spend time with my wife and son.

Carol took out the family photo from his pocket. Looking at his son's silly smile in the picture, he couldn't help but smile back.

Then he heard someone speak behind him.

Good evening, Carol.

Jie La Er entered the station.

He hadn't felt so relaxed in a long time. After Carol's maintenance and repair, he felt like he had returned to ten years ago, his steps steady but not heavy.

But his inner feelings were the opposite: heavy and uneasy.

Bai Wei's words were still echoing in his mind.

Why do you think that you can fight against a force that has kept you in the dark for ten years just by being prepared to die alone?

Jie La Er sensed that something was amiss.

"Let me give you some advice: whatever you want to do, your time is running out."

Jie La Er's pace slowed down little by little.

"If you miss this opportunity, are you going to wait another ten years?"

He stopped, suddenly realized something, and cold sweat instantly poured down his back.

"Visas... did your other eye see something?"

Bai Wei remained silent.

But a deafening explosion answered him.

Jie La Er turned his head sharply and saw thick smoke rising from the direction of Carol's shop.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, he frantically pushed aside the frightened passengers and ran towards the direction of the white smoke.

The repaired metal body allowed him to run back to Carol's shop within five minutes.

But it was too late.

The small shop was engulfed in flames, and passersby stood outside watching.

"What happened?"

"I don't know, it just suddenly exploded."

No one dared to enter, except Jie La Er, who pushed everyone aside and went in alone.

Then he saw Carol in the corner.

His body was pierced by six metal bars, and next to him was a collapsed machine from which the metal bars had fallen.

So it looks like the machine suddenly went out of control and killed Carol.

This was like an accident.

Jie La Er stood before Carol, looking down at the metal bar that had pierced his heart, along with a photograph of Carol's family.

Silence, a long silence.

The shop was so quiet that the only sound was the crackling of the flames engulfing the objects.

After what seemed like an eternity, Jie La Er finally spoke slowly, "Visas, you saw all of this all along, didn't you?"

"Not entirely," Bai Wei said calmly, "But there's a general outline."

"Who did this?"

"This isn't part of the deal," Bai Wei said. "Do you want to start a new deal?"

Jie La Er gently closed his eyes. "In our current deal, I can use your eyes, right?"

"Yes."

How far can your eyes see?

Bai Wei understood Jie La Er's meaning. After a moment of silence, he said, "You've already opened your eyes once this morning. If you open them again, I'm not sure what will happen to your body. If you really want to kill that guy, you can let me do it."

"No." Jie La Er reached out and grasped the metal bar that had pierced Carol's heart, then slowly pulled it out. "I'll do it myself."

"... I remember you weren't allowed to make a move in Lyra City, were you?"

Jie La Er didn't say anything; he simply flicked the blood off the metal strip into the flames beside him.

The fire consumed the blood and instantly became even more intense.

"...Heh, since you've made up your mind," Bai Wei said softly, "Then, open your eyes."

Ocott hummed a song as he wiped the blood from his hands with a handkerchief, then threw the bloodstained tissue into a nearby trash can before walking into the station.

"Hello." He walked casually to the ticket window, smiling broadly at the ticket seller, and said, "Please give me a ticket to the Tower of Babel station..."

He froze mid-sentence, then immediately turned around, as if searching for something.

"Sir... what's wrong?" The ticket seller looked at Ocott, whose expression had changed drastically, with some confusion. "Do you still need a ticket?"

Ocott looked away; he hadn't seen anything, but he was still terrified.

After a long silence, he said to the ticket seller, "I don't want to go to the Tower of Babel. I'd like a ticket to Fifth District, the sooner the better."