A Genuine Refusal / The Traitor Revealed

The suddenly cooled voice seemed to be questioning Lin.

How did you find it?

"I traced back from where you first became famous, and eventually found your birthplace...and your family."

"..."

"Happy Holiday, Mobius," Lin said calmly, his voice drifting into Mobius's ears. "This is the holiday you missed twenty years ago. I think everyone should have a 'childhood' at least once in their life, so... I'm sorry, it's twenty years late."

The laboratory was quiet, like a tranquil little world.

Only the soft breathing of two people remained, and one of them slowly approached...

"..."

The cloth covering Lin's eyes was pulled down, and her indifferent eyes met his. Then she silently shrank back and pulled the white coat from the edge of the sofa to cover their bodies.

"Go to sleep."

She hugged the body tightly.

"And... Happy Holidays, Lin."

Chapter 151 The Real Rejection

September 18th.

Lin stared at himself in the mirror. His expressionless face, while not exactly imposing, was full of pressure. His eyes were as still as a dead man's, and his black hair was unkempt.

He had expected to look haggard after these few days of hard work, but he looked surprisingly energetic.

So, is this the face hidden under the helmet? And what's hidden under that face now?

Lin took out the medicine bottle, blankly picked up the water glass, and swallowed the medicine.

"..."

After putting down his water glass, he picked up his helmet, but stopped just as he was about to put it on.

Today he plans to investigate Einstein's room. Ever since Lin told Kevin the "lie," Kevin and the other investigators have turned Einstein's room upside down. Even though they claimed to have found no clues, they still did not stop investigating Einstein.

No clues found? Is that really the case?

Why continue the investigation if no clues have been found? If no clues have been found... why not bring Einstein back?

Was it to create the illusion of fleeing from justice?

After Lin realized what was happening, he noticed that he had completely viewed Kevin through a culpable lens.

This is perhaps what is meant by the Honkai of trust.

Should we stop here?

If we give up the investigation now, things might return to normal. Perhaps if I had been more careful, we wouldn't have ended up like last time. And did Kevin have their reasons for killing Vill-V? If we give up now, this case might just remain an unsolved mystery, and no one will be accused of being the murderer...

So, should we give up...?

The helmet's visor was dim, which was normal, since he wasn't wearing it.

Lin looked at the helmet that Vill-V had remade for him, with its useless added devices and its deliberately identical shape to the old helmet.

In the end, Lin said nothing, put on his helmet, and left the room.

Have you made a decision yet?

Qianqi had anticipated Lin's arrival, fully armed, with a green code page on her computer.

Today, she was dressed in the same geeky outfit she wore when we first met, chewing gum as she sat in her soft chair, watching Lin walk in with his head down.

The faint, emotionless smile still lingered at the corners of his mouth.

"I've already hacked into Mei's mainframe, but unfortunately, as you said, she's not the type to store important things on electronic devices. I could only find some trivial things."

"In the end, we still need to investigate in person. It really feels like we have to arrange to meet in person if we can't solve the problem online..."

Lin listened silently to Qianqi's boastful talk; her unhurried tone revealed no discomfort with the current situation.

She seemed to enjoy the thrill of being troubled by puzzles and feeling the sharp killing intent pierce her back in the fog filled with monsters and killers.

"... What are you expecting?" Lin looked at her, and she looked at Lin as well.

Qianqi's smile was clearly reflected in his eyes.

"Expecting? Hmm... Yes, I am indeed looking forward to it." Qianqi admitted without hesitation, "Scheming against others is an eternal theme in human society, and this is probably the most thrilling experience I've ever had, so I'm really looking forward to how things will develop next."

"Who are you playing now?"

"..."

This was the first time Lin had witnessed Qianqi's genuine emotions.

No matter how convincingly one disguises oneself, it is still just a counterfeit created by combining facial expressions and body language.

Now, upon hearing Lin's words, she widened her eyes in surprise, a look of bewilderment flashing in her gray pupils.

"Disguise? What are you talking about?" Qianqi's expression quickly turned cold.

"... If all your previous personas were disguises, then is this 'bad guy' image also a disguise?" Lin said calmly, word by word. "Uncovering a lie doesn't necessarily reveal the truth. And after the second lie is exposed, will what is revealed be the truth, or the truth you want me to see?"

"..."

"..."

"So... what's the point?" Qianqi turned around, tapped a couple of times on the keyboard, and the interface reverted to a simplified application desktop. Without turning her head, she said, "Even if I'm faking it, so what? Aren't you enjoying it?"

"Those who want to see me as a weak person will find that I am a weak guy; those who want to see me as a hacker with a twisted sense of humor will find that I am a hacker with a twisted sense of humor; and you, you need a 'bad guy' to keep you company, so I can also pretend to be a bad guy, that way it won't hurt anyone, right?"

Yes, this is good for everyone. Everyone gets what they want, placing Qianqi in a suitable psychological position, and she will do her best to portray the image in everyone's mind.

"Then what about you?"

Qianqi's body swayed slightly, but the movement was so small that Lin couldn't see whether it was really her trembling or just his eyes playing tricks on him.

Then came a suffocating silence, as if time had frozen.

"Nobody needs 'me'."

When Qianqi spoke again, she was calm.

"Don't do that next time, it will cause misunderstandings."

"... Who would misunderstand?"

"I."

Qianqi uttered a single word with bitterness and helplessness.

A conversation that seemed familiar.

"Do you know what a fundamental mistake those women around you have made? They've taken your kindness for granted, but that doesn't mean you're really that close to them. It just means you're like a central air conditioner, and because of your unique personality, it's hard for people to see it. That's the kind of person I hate the most."

"Doctor Mobius was probably the first to see it, so she should be constantly reminding you that you must treat her with special care."

"Someone like me is very easily attracted to qualities like yours, so don't make me misunderstand..."

She turned around, but Lin couldn't see her expression.

"We'll maintain this 'Villain Alliance' relationship that's neither too close nor too distant, like playing house. That's fine. You don't need to know me, just know Qianqi as a person."

"..."

"By the way, besides Kevin and May, did you have any other close friends during your high school years?"

"...there is none left."

"I see."

Qianqi stretched and smiled brightly, "Alright, let's go, it's time to do what we need to do."

Chapter 152 The Traitor Revealed

O Lord, do not your eyes watch over the faithful? You strike them, yet they are not wounded; you destroy them, yet they are not punished; they harden their faces like rock, refusing to turn back. —Old Testament

Humans are always obsessed with the truth, and even self-destruction cannot stop their pursuit of knowledge.

To the rhythm of heart-pounding footsteps, Lin arrived outside Einstein's room.

The headquarters was unusually quiet today, so quiet that it seemed to have become an empty shell, and he had become the last person in the headquarters.

... No, it's as if he's the last person in the world.

Qianqi is responsible for collecting data on the manipulation of the system, while Lin investigates Einstein's room. This "alliance of villains," which is actually a "fake alliance," resumes its private investigation of the incident a few days later—or rather, it seeks evidence.

Lin stopped in front of the door. He had timed his arrival perfectly. Based on his observations over the past few days, Kevin wouldn't be in Einstein's room at this time. He had plenty of time and Kevin's "tacit approval" to search the room thoroughly.

But...

Why...

As Lin's hand gripped the doorknob, an inexplicable palpitation enveloped him, time seemed to stand still, as if the next second...

What will happen in the next second?

This sudden, inexplicable flutter of Déjà vu.

At that time...

At the end of the "last" time, when he awoke from that hell, he felt the same indescribable strangeness.

Something viscous enveloped him, crushed him, and suffocated him.

It was just an ordinary door, looking exactly like its own from the outside. No one was allowed to decorate the door except during permitted times and celebrations, so it looked unremarkable. For the sake of convenience, there was no doorknob, and it could be turned open with just a little force. It was just an ordinary act of pushing the door open.

However, Lin felt that he was opening Pandora's box, and that once he opened the door, certain things he held dear would Honkai.

Listen, "He" is mocking us again.

"Despair."

Liquid dripped onto the ground.

"Gurgle..."

The intense tension caused slight changes in Lin's physiology, resulting in a discordant, distorted sound emanating from his throat.

"Despair."

Liquid dripped onto the ground.

He seemed to see a bright red, viscous liquid dripping down.

It dripped and fell to the ground.

Strange, how did he know it was a scarlet liquid?

How could he suddenly imagine that scarlet liquid was dripping after losing his color vision?

Ultimately, why does he have this kind of "imagination"?

With a slight push, I opened the door.

Why...?

After that "scene" appears, Lin will understand why.

He "should" understand why.

"Despair."

Her blue hair was dry and brittle like a pile of straw. Blood flowed from her cruelly ripped throat, running down the blade of a strangely shaped longsword before gathering at the hilt and slowly coalescing into a ball...

"Despair."

The deafening crash sent blood splattering onto the ground.

Her unfocused pupils could not be fixed, but in her last moment, she still gazed ahead, as if she wanted to remember the person who killed her and take him to the boundless hell.

Doctor Einstein, who had disappeared a few days earlier, was now pinned to the wall by a weapon created by Vill-V, his neck pierced through. His limp limbs hung down like the bound hands and feet of a prisoner on a stake, unable to move.

The passing of life is irreversible.