Visas' Tongue

"You mean, you didn't kill the Mechanic, but a man named Ocott was also the Affairs Assistant of District Four."

"Yes."

"So you chased him all the way to the Gear Car and used your former 'Xiaoxing' authority to stop the Gear Car in front of the Fifth District, just to arrest him."

"Right."

"Then, the other party resisted arrest, and you engaged in a fierce battle with him..." The skeletal Knight in charge of interrogating Jie La Er leaned forward little by little, "Next, you discovered that this Affairs Assistant had undergone illegal modifications; he had installed six..."

"No," Jie La Er corrected the Knight, "It's eight."

"Ah, yes, yes, eight." The Skeleton Knight nodded repeatedly. "Eight mechanical arms, and what he used to control these mechanical arms was... contaminants. He even implanted contaminants into his body? In the end, he was devoured by the contaminants and turned into a monster-like being. So, when you were fighting him, you destroyed three sections of the Gear Car carriage?"

"I didn't destroy it, he did," Jie La Er explained patiently. "I was just trying to avoid his attack, so it can't be blamed on me."

Is this the key point?

The skeletal Knight sat up straight again. "So, where's the evidence?"

"His body is the evidence."

"And what about his body?"

Jie La Er looked up at the skeleton Knight before him. "I've already explained this before. Before you arrived, his body was dragged away by some creature from under the 'Iron Chain Bridge.' My initial assessment is... contamination."

Why didn't you stop it?

"Because I was facing you, I turned my back to the body, which allowed it to slip through. By the time I realized it, the body had already been dragged into the water," Jie La Er said. "In fact, if you had run a little faster, you would have seen the last moment before the body was dragged into the water. At that time, Ocott's eyes were still open. Yes, if you had run a little faster, you could have seen him one last time."

... God, run fast so we can see each other one last time.

The skeletal Knight felt like he had a lot of pent-up emotions stuck in his chest. He glared at Jie La Er for a long time before finally speaking, "Don't you think something's a little off?"

"I don't think there's anything wrong with it," Jie La Er said calmly. "If you think there's a problem with what I said, you can point it out directly instead of asking me."

One sentence was enough to leave the interrogating skeletal Knight speechless, and the Knight subconsciously glanced outside the room.

Standing outside the room were Ku De and Cha Mo Si.

After listening to Jie La Er's interrogation in its entirety, Cha Mo Si couldn't help but scratch his head. "Something feels off."

"What?"

"I'm talking about Jie La Er," Cha Mo Si said. "I feel like he's not the same as before. We just came back from the Rhine -Somu City together, it's only been a day since we last saw each other, but he seems like a completely different person... Don't you feel the same way?"

Ku De did not answer Cha Mo Si's question directly, but instead stared quietly at Jie La Er in the inner room. After a long while, he slowly spoke, "Then how credible do you think his statement is?"

"The credibility of your story..." Cha Mo Si's eyes widened. "Are you serious? I find it ridiculous that you even asked that question."

"This is our duty," Ku De said. "This is his explanation. Even if it is unreasonable, you have to point out the unreasonable parts, instead of making assumptions. As it stands, his explanation is at least logically consistent."

"... Logically, it's self-consistent, Captain. I really don't know if you're joking with me," Cha Mo Si said. "According to him, the 'locks' on that Affairs Assistant named Ocott have been unlocked, both the 'Body Lock' and the 'Heart Lock' have been unlocked, and that's not all. He even underwent illegal modifications, and contaminants were inserted into his body. This isn't just about crossing the line; this is simply... impossible! Even if he really went mad, who helped him do all this? This isn't something you can just do secretly at home by making some changes yourself. So who gave him this support? He's the Affairs Assistant of District Four. Could it be that the person who helped him was the Bishop of District Four?"

Cha Mo Si rattled off a long string of words. He had expected Ku De to interrupt him, but Ku De didn't. After listening, Kud even nodded slightly and said, "Go on."

Continue...

Cha Mo Si was speechless, but he continued, "Then there's the pollutant he mentioned that took away the evidence. Captain, the river under the 'Iron Chain Bridge' is Lyra's inner river. What kind of pollutant could get here? Is the entire Fifth District and the entire Devil Squad just for show? And according to his description, the pollutant was heading straight for the corpse. Why is that? Has someone already developed the means to control pollutants? There are just too many loopholes."

"So you think this was all orchestrated by him?"

"Is there any other possibility?"

Ku De looked at Jie La Er in the room and said softly, "Even you think it's a ridiculously lame excuse, so why would he use it?"

Cha Mo Si paused for a moment, then looked at Ku De with a resentful gaze. "I always feel like you're insulting me, and I have evidence."

Ku De ignored Cha Mo Si and continued to look at Jie La Er thoughtfully.

Cha Mo Si stopped joking and frowned as he asked, "Do you really think what he said is true?"

"I don't know, but as far as I can remember, he has never lied, at least not like this one."

"It does surprise me that he could come up with such a story," Cha Mo Si said. "But even if it's surprising, a story is still a story... Perhaps he's already gone mad, gone mad ten years ago, otherwise the Night Star incident wouldn't have happened. All of this is just the ramblings of a madman. And if you believe he's not mad, or that what he's saying is true, then..."

"It's Lyra," Ku De said softly.

"No." Cha Mo Si rolled his eyes. "You're the one who's gone mad."

Ku De: "..."

Cha Mo Si patted Ku De on the shoulder and said quite seriously, "Be careful, Captain. When you start to wonder if a madman might be telling the truth, it's very likely that's the beginning of your own madness. I have an uncle like that. He was perfectly fine before, and then one day he suddenly felt that the world was not normal. Then, while shouting that the world was crazy, he pulled all his prosthetics off. God knows why he had such strength."

"But if he's insane, how do you explain the three destroyed carriages?" Ku De said. "Did he destroy them himself?"

"That's why I said..." Cha Mo Si shrugged, "God knows why a madman would have so much strength."

Ku De didn't respond, but he knew Cha Mo Si was right.

What Jie La Er said was so horrifying that either he had gone even crazier, or... Lyra, that is, the world, had gone mad.

And no normal person would consider the latter possibility.

Just then, Jie La Er suddenly stood up in the inner room, startling everyone.

"What are you doing?" The Knight immediately tensed up.

"It's time." Jie La Er pointed to the wall clock and said calmly, "I think I can leave now. I still have a lot to do today."

"Leave?" The Knight was shocked. "You think you can leave tonight? What do you think we're doing? Playing house? You're not allowed to leave!"

"Why can't I leave?" Jie La Er looked at the Knight before him. "What law have I broken?"

"You..."

"I'm a member of the Skeleton Corps, right?" Jie La Er said. "Does the Skeleton Corps have law enforcement authority within Lyra? If so, what's wrong with me, who has law enforcement authority, giving chase after someone after witnessing a murder?"

Jie La Er threw a series of questions at the Knight, leaving Knight speechless.

He had forgotten Jie La Er's identity.

Jie La Er is now part of Lyra's city defense forces, specifically the "Bones," who do indeed possess law enforcement authority.

If Jie La Er didn't have this identity, his actions today would have absolutely led to the Skeleton Corps detaining him until the truth comes out. But because he has this identity as a law enforcer, everything is different. His actions are absolutely in accordance with the rules, and even if there were some overstepping of boundaries in the process, they certainly didn't reach the level of breaking the law.

Therefore, you could say that Jie La Er adhered to the rules, or you could say that he exploited a loophole, but either way, there was no problem with the procedure.

Because Jie La Er had no way of proving what he said was true, and the "skeletons" had no way of proving what he said was false.

Until the truth comes out, they have no way to detain this law enforcement officer.

"It seems I wasn't wrong." Jie La Er walked towards the door. "If you find anything, let me know then, and I'll cooperate."

Perhaps provoked by Jie La Er's "arrogant" attitude, the Knight was about to say something, but was stopped by Ku De outside the room.

Jie La Er walked up to Ku De and Cha Mo Si. Unlike the Knight in the inner room, Cha Mo Si didn't hold back. He looked at Jie La Er and said coldly, "Jie La Er, you can't escape forever by relying on loopholes in the program. People eventually have to pay the price for their actions."

Jie La Er was silent for a moment, then said softly, "Yes, people always have to pay the price for what they do."

Having said that, he ignored Cha Mo Si and left.

All the members of the Skeleton Squad in the office would frown deeply when they saw him, and then quickly avoid him, for fear of getting involved with him.

Only Ku De watched his retreating figure in silence.

Ku De also sensed that Jie La Er had indeed changed. Although everyone said he had survived until now by exploiting loopholes in the program, in the year Ku De had been in contact with him, Ku De had never found Jie La Er to have ever exploited loopholes. On the contrary, Jie La Er was the most disciplined person in the team, even to the point of being reckless with his life. Otherwise, they would not have used this characteristic of his to kill him.

But today, things are definitely different.

Ku De could clearly sense it.

If Jie La Er was previously bound to something for ten years, now he seems to have broken free of that bondage and is sprinting toward a goal, determined not to give up until he reaches it.

But what lies at the end of that goal?

Madness, or destruction?

Ku De didn't know either.

Just then, Jie La Er suddenly stopped. He stood in front of a room, stared into it for a long time, and finally left.

Seeing this, Ku De frowned slightly and walked straight ahead into the room.

Inside the room was a mother and child who looked somewhat familiar to Ku De, weeping, and a Knight was comforting them.

"Who are they?" Ku De asked.

Cha Mo Si, who caught up, replied, "The wife and children of the murdered Mechanic."

Ku De remained silent. Not long after, the Knight who had interrogated Jie La Er earlier came over with a stack of documents in his hand. "Captain, this is Jie La Er's statement. In addition, he made a request."

What are the requirements?

"He wants an immediate investigation into Carol's death," the Knight replied. "He said the killer wasn't just Ocott, but also someone behind him."

Hearing this, Cha Mo Si rolled his eyes. "Crazy, still putting on a show. Isn't he the murderer himself? Ignore him..."

"No," Ku De interrupted Cha Mo Si. "Open an investigation."

Cha Mo Si was stunned. "Open an investigation? Who will investigate?"

"I."

Jie La Er walked out of the Skeleton Corps's office.

It was completely dark by then, which meant he had been outside all day.

It was only one day, but he felt like he had experienced countless things.

After banishing the image from his mind of Carol begging him to leave Lyra, and Carol's wife and children embracing and crying, Jie La Er slowly spoke to the being within him, "You saw it before, didn't you?"

Bai Wei remained silent.

"You must have seen it, you must have seen the pollutants carry that guy's body away... Why didn't you tell me?"

Bai Wei did not answer.

Jie La Er looked up at the starry sky and said softly, "It requires an additional price, doesn't it?"

"Visas, what is it that you want?"

Bai Wei, deep within his sea of consciousness, did not respond to Jie La Er.

His star-like pupils reflected an indescribable monster.

The monster writhed in the river before returning to that place where chaos, madness, and noise intersected.

It was unaware that it had brought back a gaze that did not belong here.

It is unknown whether this gaze pierced through the mist, through the madness, through countless indescribable things, and saw into the deepest part, surrounded by countless pollutants... a lump of flesh.

Bai Wei, in his sea of consciousness, slightly raised the corners of his mouth and said softly, "So, this is where I am now."

He finally found it.

That which holds the rules of [Domination]

The Visas' Tongue.