The Bottom Line Keeps Sinking

[Overload] Terminate.

The machine's violent buzzing gradually subsided, but Ocott, who should have been dead, was not completely dead yet. Even with his heart pierced, he lay on the ground convulsing, his vitality terrifyingly tenacious.

Jie La Er walked up to Ocott, said nothing, and just looked at him quietly.

The life force in Ocott's eyes had completely vanished; only his flesh was still twitching, like a lizard's tail that had been chopped off from its body.

"What a powerful life force!" Bai Wei's voice echoed in Jie La Er's mind.

"Because he sewed contaminants into his flesh." Jie La Er didn't hold back his explanation. He raised his hand and pointed to the open wound on Ocott's chest, where the flesh inside was still writhing, as if trying to mend the gap. "Such a wound is not fatal to the contaminants, so the contaminant part will try to recover, but it is fatal to humans. So his body is dead, but the contaminant part of his flesh is unwilling to accept this fact."

Jie La Er had seen far too many scenes like this; those who were corrupted would all end up like this, unable to find peace even in death.

Therefore, being corrupted was the last thing the Evening Star Knight wanted to see. They would rather destroy their bodies than be desecrated and toyed with after death and become true monsters, given the slightest sign of corruption.

And this guy in front of me actually had pollution planted in his body.

The thought of this filled Jie La Er with an indescribable rage.

When exactly did Lyra become like this?

"So why did you just kill him?" Bai Wei asked. "Didn't you want to get more information out of him?"

"The corrupted are not to be trusted." Jie La Er bent down and began to examine Ocott's body. "The corrupted often pretend to be uncorrupted, and then use various means to drag the uncorrupted into the abyss. The voices they speak are huge sources of pollution and should not be listened to."

At this point, Jie La Er paused again, a strange look flashing across his face.

After all, he had just suffered a more direct form of pollution than sound. Ocott released the source of the pollution into his mind. Anyone in that situation would inevitably go crazy on the spot, but he... was completely unharmed.

But were they truly unharmed?

Jie La Er heard Bai Wei's exclamation in his mind again.

"Ah, the corpse is already like this, yet it still refuses to die. It's truly an astonishing vitality."

Jie La Er couldn't help but think of someone who only had one finger and one eye left but could still speak properly here. He felt a rare urge to complain, but he held back.

"Instead of trying to get information from him, you should try to get it directly from him."

Jie La Er rummaged through Ocott's clothes and quickly found a badge and an identity book, both of which were marked with the prominent "IV".

Upon seeing the logo, Jie La Er immediately recalled a familiar yet unfamiliar face etched in his memory, and fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Bai Wei asked.

"This is the seal of the Fourth District," Jie La Er said softly. "I know the bishop of the Fourth District. At least ten years ago, we were acquaintances."

"I see." Bai Wei said with a smile, "So you can't accept that the mastermind behind all this points to a former acquaintance? Tsk, in that case, why not think of it on the bright side? What if it's just a coincidence, and the bishop you know is unaware of all this?"

Jie La Er opened Ocott's identity book, which recorded his name and position— Affairs Assistant.

"This is a position that allows direct contact with the bishop," Jie La Er said. "I find it hard to believe that the one I know has such weak control over the lower classes; it's an insult to him."

"So, you'd rather believe he's a cunning and ruthless villain than a spineless fool who's been sidelined?" Bai Wei said with a smile. "Maybe that's a form of understanding."

Jie La Er was silent for a moment, then said, "Perhaps I don't know him as well as I thought, or perhaps... ten years has changed too much."

"Yes, after all, even you no longer abide by all the rules." Bai Wei said with a half-smile, "Before, when you activated the [Overload] state, it wasn't to fight against the pollution as you said... or rather, it wasn't just to fight against the pollution. You were more interested in using the [Overload] state to clear away the old 'locks' on your body, right?"

Jie La Er remained expressionless.

"The Mechanic maintained your body, but not the 'lock' within it, which aligns with what he said to you at the end," Bai Wei said slowly. "He hoped you could leave Lyra after breaking free of this lock."

After listening to Bai Wei's words, Jie La Er said nothing and did not question Bai Wei about why he knew everything, as if he had tacitly agreed with Bai Wei's guess.

But Bai Wei didn't finish his sentence.

The real problem with Jie La Er unlocking the lock was that... he had broken the rules again, violating the rules Lyra had set for him.

The most direct reason for this is the new deal that Bai Wei made with him earlier.

Tonight's battle made Jie La Er realize that he definitely couldn't continue down this path while wearing shackles.

So, either break free of your shackles, or... continue using Bai Wei's power.

Jie La Er chose the former.

Since both were against the rules, Jie La Er decided to trust himself, and he always harbored the greatest fear of Bai Wei.

However, Bai Wei was not worried about this change. After all, this morning, Jie La Er was determined to never have a second deal with Bai Wei, but by evening, everything had changed drastically.

People's bottom line is always lowering, and there's still plenty of time, isn't there?

Just then, a commotion arose in the distance, accompanied by beams of light shining from the tracks of the Gear Car.

The belatedly aware Skeleton Corps finally caught up with them here.

That's the end of today.

Bai Wei was about to rest when he suddenly caught a glimpse of something out of the corner of his eye.

Something seemed to be wriggling beneath the bridge connecting Fifth District.

Bai Wei immediately cast a glance at it, then let out a slightly surprised "Oh".

Jie La Er heard this and asked, "What's wrong?"

"Nothing much." Bai Wei didn't say anything to Jie La Er, but said with a faint smile, "I'm just curious how you're going to explain what happened tonight to your colleagues."

"There's nothing to explain; the evidence is right here."

Jie La Er looked toward the tracks, and soon several lights shone on him.

"Hey you over there! This is the Skeleton Corps! I order you to drop your weapons and shut down your metal drive!"

Jie La Er slowly raised his hand, and soon after, Ku De and Cha Mo Si appeared in front of him.

"I have important evidence behind me," Jie La Er said calmly.

"Behind you?" Cha Mo Si frowned deeply. "What nonsense are you spouting? There's nothing behind you!"

Jie La Er paused for a moment, then turned around abruptly.

Behind him, there was nothing but a pool of blood. This made him subconsciously raise his head and look at the water below the bridge.

Beneath the dark water, a tentacle writhed, slowly dragging Ocott's unseeing corpse into the endless abyss.