Do You See That Guy Across the Street?

The Gear Train stopped at an empty and quiet platform.

The car door slowly opened.

Then a noisy conversation came from inside the carriage.

"Oh no, I don't have enough salary this month."

"What do you want to change this time?"

"I want to replace it with a Mechanical Shoulder Guard, the one that came out three days ago. You should know what model it is, right?"

"I think I should know, but isn't that model pretty much the same as yours? It doesn't have any other function besides glowing in the dark, does it?"

"What are you talking about? Isn't being able to glow enough? Think about it, on a street at night without any lighting, you can just take off your shirt and glow."

"Ah, that's true... Damn it, now that you mention it, I'm thinking of getting it replaced too, but I just got new leg parts last week..."

Jie La Er stepped out of the carriage, and the door slowly closed behind him, cutting off most of the noise inside. The remaining sounds were faint and indistinct.

"You changed it pretty quickly..."

"There's nothing I can do about it. Besides, I'm nothing compared to that other person..."

As the Gear Car slowly started and drove into the distance, it took away the last trace of noise, returning silence to the deserted platform.

Jie La Er looked at the station sign in front of him, which read the name of the station, "Rim Station".

Bai Wei's gaze lingered on it for a moment. Logically speaking, such an ordinary station name shouldn't be worth his attention, but his eyes could see that the station sign was covered up, and there was another word underneath it. This was its former name, and the meaning of that name in this world was very simple and straightforward.

"Hero".

This made Bai Wei realize where Jie La Er had arrived.

"Looks like you've gone back to your hometown?" Bai Wei asked leisurely.

Jie La Er had no way to refuse to answer any of Bai Wei's questions. He could only nod and say "yes," then stop looking at the bus stop sign and start walking inside.

Unlike other stations, all the facilities at this station are very old, which is understandable, since the maintenance schedule posted at the exit clearly shows the last maintenance date – 236 years ago.

"I'm telling you, this place is a bit too stingy." Bai Wei's voice echoed in Jie La Er's mind again. "Just because you used to live here and committed a crime, does everything about you have to be treated specially? I can forgive what happened before, but it's a bit strange that such a big platform isn't maintained."

"Because this isn't a place I lived alone." Jie La Er began to explain again. He walked off the platform and stood in front of a street passage, pausing briefly to let Bai Wei look into the distance. "This is where the entire First Generation Pioneer Force lived."

This is a residential area.

But unlike the bustling and trendy steampunk style of other residential areas, this neighborhood looks quite ordinary.

Its metal parts are far fewer than in other areas, and most of the components are old, rusted, and unusable, just piled up haphazardly in twos and threes. There are also few people in this area; you can hardly see anyone walking around. Even if there are, they are mostly children who curiously look at Jie La Er, wondering why this seemingly unfamiliar guy is here.

It's more like a cemetery than a residential area.

"Do the members and their families of the Past Pioneer Forces, including the Evening Star Corps you belong to, all live here?" Bai Wei asked.

"Yes." Jie La Er nodded, then stepped into this place that he once knew so well.

Bai Wei was also observing this desolate place that seemed out of place with the rest of Lyra.

In the game, Lyra's map is quite large, with many places to explore. However, a game is still a game. Based on Bai Wei's observations so far, the game's Lyra map is definitely less than one-tenth the size of the real Lyra; at least, Bai Wei has never been to that place.

Therefore, this place is quite novel for Bai Wei.

This place is desolate now, but that doesn't mean it was desolate ten years ago. Unlike the "Devil" troops, the original Pioneer Force, "Night Stars," were regarded as heroes in Lyra, as evidenced by the previously covered bus stop signs. Ten years ago, this was undoubtedly the most prominent residential area in all of Lyra, as evidenced by the various dilapidated and unusable facilities along the streets.

Clearly, this was once the benchmark set by Lyra.

But is the purpose of this benchmark merely to inspire admiration?

Knowing the plot, Bai Wei obviously had more insight. He said to Jie La Er with a half-smile, "The most direct reason why Lyra gathered the entire Pioneer Force in one place is... to prevent the possible spread of pollution, right?"

Jie La Er paused for a moment. "That is indeed part of the reason."

"Heh... Is that really only part of the reason? I think it should be the main reason." Bai Wei slowly expressed his opinion, "The Pioneer Force are in direct contact with the Contamination Zone. For ordinary people, you are far too 'dangerous'. So the best thing to do is to gather you together and 'keep you under surveillance'. That way, if anything changes, we can react immediately. For example, ten years ago, you led the entire Xiaoxing to its demise in the deepest part of the Contamination Zone and claimed to have the orders, but you had no memory of it. So in their eyes, this is the most direct evidence of contamination."

Bai Wei paused as he spoke.

"Even now, Lyra probably still believes you were contaminated, but they can't find any evidence. All the contamination tests are useless against you. No matter how you look at it, you're 'clean.' And according to Lyra's rules, you can't be executed if you're not contaminated. But that doesn't mean they can't do anything. You weren't contaminated, but what about others? Those who didn't return can't prove their innocence, so they were labeled as traitors. And this former Hero District has naturally become what it is now... um, what was it called again?"

"Rim Station".

"Ah, you don't actually need to answer this question. I was just being sarcastic."

"I will answer all your questions," Jie La Er replied. "This is a deal between us."

"Heh, that's true." Bai Wei raised Jie La Er's eyebrows. "So, everything I just said was correct?"

"...That's basically true," Jie La Er said. "Although many people say I'm a traitor, I'm not a traitor in Lyra's rules, so I can still serve in the 'Bone' unit...that's Lyra's ironclad rule, and no one can break it."

When Jie La Er uttered that ironclad rule, he heard Bai Wei let out an undisguised mocking laugh.

"Ironclad rule? Don't you find that ridiculous?" Bai Wei said. "I won't even mention what I've seen. Just look at the last ten years. As far as I know, countless people in this city have wanted to kill you, right? Even if they used the rules to kill you, it's still killing you. Doesn't that alone violate Lyra's ironclad rule for the 'innocent'? If you're guilty, you die; if you're innocent, you don't have to bear any responsibility. Isn't that the so-called ironclad rule?"

Jie La Er was silent for a while, then slowly said, "You have too many questions, I can't answer them all."

"I already told you I was mocking you, you don't need to answer," Bai Wei said lazily. "But since you're so eager to answer, then I'll give you one."

"You say."

"What's most important to you?" Bai Wei posed a multiple-choice question, "Rules, truth, or life?"

This question left Jie La Er speechless for a moment; he clearly hadn't expected Bai Wei to ask such a question.

He stopped and thought about the question seriously, but in the end, he shook his head and answered sincerely, "I don't know."

"Don't know? Well, that's one answer, I suppose," Bai Wei said with a smile. "But I think you'll find out someday, and when that time comes, remember to tell me."

Before Jie La Er could answer, he heard Bai Wei speak again.

"Ah, I think I've seen your old house."

Jie La Er was also stunned, wondering how Bai Wei knew where his home was when he had never been to this place before.

But when he looked over, he understood.

Among this row of old houses, there is one that is the most dilapidated and broken, with half of it already collapsed. Upon closer inspection, you can see various spray paints with phrases such as "The culprit should die" and "Give me back my husband."

"Hmm, it seems the people here still harbor resentment towards you," Bai Wei asked. "Was it done by that woman who stabbed you in the back before?"

"...It shouldn't be just that," Jie La Er said. "Everyone here should hate me."

"You do have a good sense of self-awareness."

Bai Wei thought of that woman named Sha Na again.

Actually, it wasn't entirely an accident that Jie La Er encountered Sha Na in the Tower of Babel. In the game, Sha Na is a character who spawns regularly in the Tower of Babel. She tells everyone that her husband Hermes died in the Land of Corruption and claims that Jie La Er is responsible for it all. She even begs the player for help, asking them to kill Jie La Er. But by then, Jie La Er had already died in Somu City, so it was destined to be an impossible task. It was just a way for the player to learn about Jie La Er's character from another angle.

There are differences between games and reality, but in reality, Sha Na does work at the Tower of Babel. As long as Jie La Er stays on the first floor long enough, he will inevitably run into her. So that was also a little scheme by Bai Wei against Jie La Er.

Bai Wei had thought that Sha Na's appearance would bring some changes to Jie La Er, this old-fashioned man, but he hadn't expected that the catalyst for change would be such a simple and straightforward stab in the back.

But it's broad daylight now, so we probably won't run into that woman yet.

"Do you want to go inside your own home and take a look?" Bai Wei asked.

Jie La Er shook his head. "There's no need. I'm here to see Hermes."

Then they went directly into a house next door.

... It turns out that the two people's houses were right next to each other.

Bai Wei suddenly remembered the night he first arrived here, when Jie La Er tried to harm himself with that old detection device. That device had announced the order of succession, that is, who would inherit the estate after death. At that time, Hermes's name was second in line.

Judging from the houses that are right next to each other, the man named Hermes and Jie La Er did have a very good relationship, which explains why Hermes's wife was so devastated after the incident.

Since there were hardly any people left in the entire residential area, the house wasn't locked, and Jie La Er easily entered the home of his former comrade-in-arms.

"I don't quite understand why you came directly to his house to find him," Bai Wei said calmly. "Even if it really is your comrade who survived, it's unlikely he would go home to live, right?"

"He definitely can't go home, otherwise I would definitely know," Jie La Er said. "But he Sha Na very much, and if he really came back, he wouldn't leave Sha Na behind."

"... Are you sure?" Bai Wei said. "That Miss Sha Na clearly has mental problems, which means she hasn't come back, right?"

"He may have some unavoidable reason for showing up, preventing him from appearing before Sha Na." Jie La Er pushed open Sha Na's room door. "But he will definitely be unable to resist doing something."

The room was very messy, piled with all sorts of things, and didn't look like a room for an adult woman at all.

Most of these piled-up items were "junk," much like the items piled on the workbench in Jie La Er's house, and were clearly Hermes's things.

In the center of all this waste was a bed laid out on the floor.

This layout makes it seem as if the room's owner can only fall asleep surrounded by all this junk.

Jie La Er then began rummaging through a pile of junk, like an old man collecting scraps.

Bai Wei still found Jie La Er's thinking somewhat peculiar. He said lazily, "To be honest, I really don't think you'll find anything useful in here, and don't you think it's a bit... a bit..."

"Found it," Jie La Er suddenly said.

"Ah?"

He looked at Jie La Er and, with slightly trembling hands, rummaged through the pile of junk and picked out a piece that looked relatively new.

A white mechanical Music Box.

"What is this?" Bai Wei asked.

"'The Lyra's Song'." Jie La Er opened the Music Box, and a melodious tune immediately emanated from the small Music Box. As the tune played, Jie La Er spoke softly, "This is something Sha Na has always wanted. Hermes mentioned it to us many times before."

"So he bought it?"

"No, because it was originally just a concept Music Box and had not been officially produced yet. The official production date should be..." Jie La Er turned the Music Box to the back, where the production date was engraved—241.

Bai Wei asked, "Couldn't she have bought it herself?"

"No," Jie La Er said in a deep voice, "Because she was already the wife of the rebels at that time, and according to the rules, she could not obtain Lyra's new creations."

"Your rules at Lyra are truly ruthless," Bai Wei narrowed Jie La Er's eyes. "So, in your opinion, this Music Box was bought by Hermes?"

"Besides him, I can't think of anyone else," Jie La Er said. "After that year, everyone distanced themselves from everything related to Xiaoxing, and no one would help her."

"So, he really came back?"

"This is the only possibility I can think of." Jie La Er's expression became complicated. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be happy or have other emotions, but he knew what he had to do. So after a brief period of confusion, he gradually became determined. "I have to find him. I have to know what happened to him."

Bai Wei asked, "You've rummaged through so much junk, can't you find a picture of him?"

Jie La Er shook his head and said, "The photos of the traitors are a great disgrace to Lyra and must be destroyed."

He kept a few of those photos, which Bai Wei had seen, but Bai Wei couldn't remember who was who.

"So, does that Hermes have a full beard, blond hair, and relatively small eyes?" Bai Wei asked.

"Um..." Jie La Er instinctively wanted to answer, but quickly realized something was wrong. "Why are you asking that?"

"Because I saw someone in the house across the street secretly watching us," Bai Wei said calmly. "And he's been watching for quite a while. According to our deal, I should tell you."

Jie La Er paused for a moment, then, realizing what Bai Wei was talking about, abruptly stood up and rushed out of the room.