Mistakes and the Perpetuation of Mistakes / The Expression Beneath the Helmet

After closing the door, darkness enveloped the room. Lin casually turned on the light, Elysia stood not far away.

They didn't seem to need to sit down and talk. Lin knew Elysia well, just as the girl knew him, and he knew Elysia didn't need him to comfort her.

"Man killed man..." Elysia's smile held a hint of helplessness. "It's unbelievable. No matter how many times it happens, it makes you realize how fragile life is."

Is life really so fragile?

Lin could see the heartache hidden beneath Elysia's uneasy smile.

"The murderer who killed Vill-V... that's why I came here." Lin revealed the purpose of his trip.

Then he waited for Elysia to look up in surprise.

"Did you notice anything unusual at the ball?"

Unlike the previous inquiry about Erwin's death, this time Lin directly asked Elysia about the details of the ball.

"Abnormal..." Elysia frowned slightly upon hearing this, pondering, "What level would be considered abnormal?"

"... For example, people who shouldn't be there appear, and things that shouldn't happen happen."

"Kevin ... came to ask me about your whereabouts and that hacker girl named Qianqi after you left."

Lin He... Qianqi?!

If it were just Lin, then there would be no need to care at all.

Why did Kevin inquire about Qianqi's whereabouts at that inopportune time?

Do Qianqi and Kevin have any connection?

A familiar word came to mind.

Frame?

Just as Lin had thought before, Qianqi was the most likely and most suitable person to be the culprit in the database theft. If it were him, and he were to choose someone to frame, it would definitely be Qianqi.

This guess felt like a chill, rising from his tailbone all the way to the back of his head.

"Forest?"

Elysia's call startled Lin awake. He nodded, let out a long sigh, and said, "I understand."

Asking about the whereabouts of a complete stranger...

When a person starts acting strangely, suspicion will overwhelm them.

Lin quickly visited the residences of Erwin, Pardo, and Mobius, inquiring about each one before returning to his own room.

Apart from Pardo, who still doesn't know who Lin is, the other two are quite cooperative, and Lin has learned some useful information.

Kevin actually exhibited three unusual behaviors last night.

Firstly, he came to the ball. From what Erwin and Mobius knew, Kevin had not initially planned to go to the ball.

Secondly, he inquired about the whereabouts of Qianqi, Lin, Mobius, and Vill-V. After Qianqi and Lin left, Vill-V also left shortly after.

Thirdly, he did nothing else throughout the entire ball; he was simply observing something.

Chapter 148 Errors and the Continuation of Errors

Are these anomalies really that strange? Not really.

Kevin's attendance at the ball could be attributed to a spur-of-the-moment decision or to being persuaded by Mei. His inquiry about Lin and the others' whereabouts might have been prompted by seeing his hurried demeanor and his worry after finding Qianqi and tying her up. His lack of other actions throughout the ball suggests that his aura prevented him from getting close to anyone else.

No, I can't think like that.

He was now a villain, an absolutely evil person. He couldn't think of Kevin in a positive light as usual; instead, he had to consider the deeper meaning behind Kevin's actions with a conspiracy theory mindset.

He came to the ball to create an alibi, and asked about Lin and Qianqi's whereabouts in order to find someone to frame. He did nothing else during the entire ball; he was observing and selecting his prey.

It is said that before going to the ball, Kevin's consciousness had already been devoured by the Honkai Beast inside his body, and he was only thinking about how to cause destruction and kill people.

However, speaking of the anomaly, Lin also discovered another problem.

He didn't seem to see the Armed Puppet again at the base.

Those small puppets that maintained some simple work at headquarters had disappeared without a trace. Lin hadn't found them anywhere in the base since the ball ended.

This is at least an anomaly that you can ask someone else and get an answer to, isn't it?

Thinking this, Lin turned on his communicator, found Einstein's number, and pressed the dial button—

"Beep----"

Busy tone.

... Can't make a call?

After hanging up, Lin thought for a moment, then strode towards the Research and Development Department.

"The communication channels are currently undergoing encryption upgrades to prevent potential hacker interception, so communication between headquarters and other locations has been temporarily cut off."

But that was the answer I received.

Seeing Lin remain silent, the researchers in the Research and Development Department shrugged and went back to their work.

Einstein was still at headquarters during the ball last night, but left early this morning. The animated steel dolls also disappeared along with him, and coincidentally, the headquarters' communication channels are undergoing an encryption upgrade.

This is very abnormal.

Why would this happen? Could it be that they...?

Lin glanced at the busy Research and Development Department staff, walked out of the Research and Development Department, and then looked at the people passing by chatting and laughing.

He started jogging quickly down the corridor, making a rapid walk around the entire headquarters.

This is so abnormal, why would such a thing happen?

The question of "that matter" fermented in Lin's mind.

Just then, the white-haired man walking towards them made Lin temporarily put aside his doubts.

Frost filled his eyes.

Kevin quickly came up to him and stood still. Lin calmly looked at him, at this friend who was "close" to him.

"Lin, we've searched most of the headquarters, but we've found nothing." Kevin shook his head, seemingly disappointed.

What are we searching for? Of course, we're searching for the weapon that went missing from Vill-V's Spiral Workshop. Since the murderer took it, finding it is equivalent to finding the murderer.

"...Yeah?"

"Lin, I want to ask you something." Kevin's gaze didn't leave Lin; instead, it shifted to his helmet, staring at the viewing window that symbolized Lin's view outwards. "Why did you and that hacker conduct this investigation without authorization?"

They've arrived.

Kevin's question was within Lin's expectations. Kevin also had the standing and authority to ask, so Lin had already thought about how to answer it from the beginning.

"Because I discovered some clues."

"Some clues? What are they?"

As expected, Kevin showed great interest, which makes sense, since he is currently in charge of the investigation, so Lin couldn't possibly keep it a secret.

Moreover, Qianqi has already said that Lin has discovered who the murderer is, but he will not tell anyone until all the evidence is complete.

But this argument was useless to Kevin. Orders were everything, and Kevin could now easily order Lin to reveal the real culprit.

So... now is the time for the evil of telling lies.

"The murderer is Doctor Einstein."

"What?"

Lin carefully observed Kevin's surprise, which seemed incredibly natural, as if it were the same naturalness he had before he turned into an icy person.

"Einstein did not attend the ball, and she was still at headquarters at the time, but she left the next day, which coincides with the time of Vill-V's death."

"Wait a minute, just based on time..."

"After Einstein left, the Armed Puppet in the base also disappeared."

Thanks to Lin's reminder, Kevin noticed that the puppets had indeed disappeared from headquarters. Occasionally, he would see one or two short figures carrying things or documents.

"Einstein possesses considerable technical expertise. She could easily implant programs into the Armed Puppet to monitor and interfere with her, and even assassinate Vill-V. Given the Armed Puppet's size and ease of use, destroying evidence would also be very simple."

Lin's reasoning, expressed in just a few words, silenced Kevin for a while. He seemed to be thinking about something, and finally looked at Lin with a sharp gaze.

Did he believe it?

Lin couldn't explain it. This statement has many flaws. Attributing everything to Einstein's technology and the special nature of the Armed Puppet is an extremely irresponsible conjecture.

But if Kevin says he believes it...

"I understand. I will investigate Doctor Einstein's room next and try to send soldiers to capture her."

He believed it.

At that moment, Lin tensed up all over and clenched his fists tightly.

"Um, if possible, could I continue my investigation privately? I want to find evidence."

Don't promise me.

Please, Kevin.

Now Lin can be a bad guy, deceive Kevin, and frame Einstein. He has placed his position on a "mistake" from the beginning. As long as Kevin denies him and as long as Kevin's actions can refute his conjecture, then all of this is just a bad guy doing bad things, and Lin can willingly accept the punishment.

But what if Kevin, after hearing this reasoning that was so flawed that it only required careful consideration to identify the error, still chose to let Lin continue participating in the investigation...?

What does that mean?

If the weapon stolen from Vill-V's Spiral Workshop appeared in Einstein's room, and Lin "just happened" to find it during his investigation.

What kind of scene would that be?

So Kevin, don't believe what a bad person says.

However, an invisible malice had already enveloped Lin.

"Can."

The heavy words struck Lin's heart.

Chapter 149 The Expression Under the Helmet

"This way we can identify the mastermind behind it all. You should be happier."

After listening to Lin's description, Qianqi chuckled nonchalantly, shook the can of Coke in her hand, and said, "It's all their fault. They're the ones plotting schemes. You're just worried about the safety of the entire headquarters. When the truth comes out, you won't be a bad guy, you'll be a hero."

Lin picked up the water glass, poured the water into his mouth, swallowed the pill, and continued the effects of Ritalin.

The whole world was shaking, but he quickly calmed down under the influence of the medication.

Was Kevin lying? Definitely. At least two of his three statements were false, and the remaining statement was the truth he told to avoid arousing Lin Ding's suspicion. Only by being half-truthful can one deceive the senses.

Upon hearing Qianqi's words, he didn't react immediately, staring intently at his reflection in the water glass. What was his expression like under the helmet, a person bound by it?

It must be incredibly sad.

"You deliberately concealed something, and Kevin's guilty conscience completely exposed his guilty conscience, which was the specific details of our attack. He chose to avoid talking about the details of the attack in order to prevent you from recalling them, but in fact you had already memorized the suspicious points of the battle."

"If Doctor Einstein murdered Dr. Vill-V, then Dr. Vill-V's wound wouldn't be so high, at least not a horizontal cut, but a diagonal wound from bottom to top. Moreover, the person who attacked us was clearly of normal human size, not one of those three-headed dolls."

"Kevin couldn't have missed these details, but he deliberately didn't mention them. Either he forgot, or... well, he's afraid you'll find out."

Swinging legs, a sneer on the face, and cold words.

Lin listened silently to the words that "slandered" his friend, unmoved, but his eyes inside the helmet grew colder and colder.

It was as bleak and desolate as a blizzard.

Even now, he hasn't told Elysia and the others that he's only cooperating with Qianqi. Before this, he never imagined that he would be partnered with a manipulative hacker.

Perhaps it is people he is not very familiar with who can make him feel at ease.

There's nothing they can do now but wait.

They obtained the authority to act and investigate from Kevin, but Lin and his team couldn't use it. They could only wait for Kevin to find stolen goods in Einstein's room before they could proceed to the next phase of the operation.

Before this...

"What exactly is your helmet for?"

Qianqi's curious gaze lingered on Lin's head. Perhaps everyone who comes into contact with Lin for the first time will be curious about his always-wearing helmet.