Even now, Lin thought of himself exchanging identities with Ritter. If Kevin, Mei, Hun, Himiko, and... Elysia became the people being used to threaten him, what would he do?
He did not even need half a second to find the answer in his heart.
So he said:
"No, I can't understand."
Imaginary Tree: Of Two People, One
"Doctor, what did you say?" Ritter looked at Lin in confusion. He could not understand why Lin had suddenly abandoned his friendly attitude from before. His eyes were sharp, as though a bullet might shoot out of them at any moment. He did not look like a researcher at all, but more like a...
Warrior.
"I'm not a doctor." Lin rose to his feet with a swish, completely unlike before. Looking down at Ritter from above, he said, "The ones you killed, the ones whose families you took away, they were the doctors."
Ritter's expression changed at those words. Lin's backlit figure overlapped with the shadow he had briefly fought that day. "You... you are—"
Bang!
After the muffled sound, the small space fell silent again.
Ritter was utterly horrified. Those frozen black eyes stared fixedly into his own. The arm covering his mouth and pinning him against the wall carried even more terrifying strength than last time. Lin's other hand held two fingers together above his eyelids. If he made any sudden move, Lin would immediately drive those fingers into his eyes.
The lights swayed. Aside from those terrifying black pupils, Ritter could not make out any expression on Lin's backlit face.
"Mmph—"
Lin extended his fingers slightly, making Ritter give up struggling.
"Where is the information on the Poisoned Cocoon?" Lin grabbed a tissue from the table and wiped away the blood flowing from his left ear. He put on his helmet, and its visor lit up. "Either give me a copy, or recite it to me."
He loosened the hand pressing over Ritter's mouth a little, but the hand poised to gouge out his eyes moved even closer. Ritter, who had intended to resist, could only grit his teeth and give up.
"I don't have that."
"Then tell me where it is."
"I..."
"Think carefully." Lin warned coldly.
After a moment of silence, Ritter said hoarsely, "There's information on the Poisoned Cocoon in the mainframe of Area A-3, but my clearance isn't high enough."
"Come with me."
Lin shifted his hand downward, then abruptly caught Ritter's hand as it secretly reached for his holster. He lifted his foot and stepped on Ritter's other hand, then drew the pistol, pulled him in front of himself, and pressed the gun against his waist.
The disarming process had been so fast it was dazzling.
"Move."
Lin's low voice sounded like something from hell.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Ritter walked in front while Lin concealed the gun pointed at him beneath his clothes. The two maintained roughly the same pace as they headed toward Area A-3.
"Though it may sound like an excuse, I really was only carrying out orders." Ritter walked forward heavily as he explained to Lin behind him. "I understand why you came after me, but you and I are both members of MOTH. Are you going to violate orders?"
Attacking the Fifth Branch, which also belonged to MOTH, was an order. Being forbidden from attacking fellow members in a private conflict was also an order. These two contradictory orders had come from the same organization.
There was no reality more absurd than this.
"That's not for you to worry about."
The force behind him increased, warning him not to say another word.
"Then what will you do with me after you get what you want?" Ritter gave a somewhat self-mocking smile as he asked. "You should understand that this can't possibly be kept hidden."
The fact that Lin had managed to find this place already proved that his reasoning was sound. He must have considered how to deal with Ritter, and Ritter had more or less guessed what would happen to him.
Lin replied cryptically, "I never kill people."
"All right, that's enough for today, Mei."
The pink-haired girl with fox ears stood up, and the two blades at her waist clinked crisply against each other.
"All right. See you next time, Sakura." Mei nodded to Sakura as well. Sakura could be hard to understand when she spoke, but she usually did not do it on purpose. She herself was remarkably gentle and perceptive. It was hard to imagine that she had once been on the same team as that Chrono, and that they had even been quite close.
Even if it were not for solving mysteries, Mei could chat with Sakura for a long time. They had quite a few shared interests, such as swordsmanship and cooking.
"Hm?" Mei saw an unbelievable sight at that moment, leaving her stunned.
A helmeted man silently emerged from the Imaginary Tree. After a brief glance around, he headed straight toward the rest area.
Lin and Sakura had appeared at the same time.
Strange. Wasn't Sakura able to sense Lin? Why had she not left before him this time?
And Lin was heading this way?
Mei wanted to warn her. "Sakura..."
"Sakura."
Sakura's hand resting on her sword trembled. Like a truly startled fox, her ears stood upright as she turned to look at Lin, who had already walked up behind her.
"Lin?" Sakura took a step back, opening the distance between them. "Why are you..."
"I came to see you about something today."
Lin stated his purpose simply and clearly. He took out the coded document Mei had seen before. "You..."
At that moment, he noticed Mei sitting there. He paused for a second and put the document away. "Are you still busy? I'll come find you later."
Hm?
Lin's words confused Mei even more.
Why was this helmeted man being so considerate today? Weren't his relations with Sakura bad?
"No, it's fine..." Sakura actually gave Mei a look at that moment, her plea for help unmistakable. "What did you need from me?"
Mei, who had originally planned to leave, could only sit helplessly where she was.
After all, Sakura had often looked after her.
"...Why are you still here?" Lin turned to look at Mei, who was practically shooting daggers at him with her eyes.
Mei raised her smooth chin. "Don't you think you're pretty scary?"
Lin turned to Sakura. "Am I scary, Sakura?"
"..."
Sakura did not know how to answer that.
Could it be that he thought he was not scary in Sakura's eyes?
Come to think of it, it was strange. Sakura was not the timid type, so why did she alone seem to shrink back from Lin?
Sakura's helplessness made Lin realize something. He looked at Sakura, then said to Mei, "Raiden Mei, come here for a moment."
"Huh?"
"...Please come here for a moment."
Mei's eyelid twitched. She followed Lin to a spot farther away from Sakura and looked at him strangely. "What is it? Is it about Sakura?"
"Yes." Lin took out the document again and handed it to Mei this time. "Please give this to Sakura and ask her to help translate its general meaning."
"Why don't you give it to her yourself?"
"She probably doesn't want to see me."
"Uh..."
Mei's mind was becoming more and more confused.
"If she doesn't want to, forget it. Return it to me next time. I'm leaving." With that, Lin turned to leave.
Mei asked his back, "Do you two have some kind of history?"
"It's nothing. She probably just hates people like me."
Mei rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Sakura said Lin hated her, while Lin said Sakura hated him...
What exactly was going on?
Similar Circumstances
"Bzz—"
"Welcome back, Dr. Lin Qijiu."
The instant Lin stepped into Area A-3, the Honkai Energy-corroded region on his back began to ache.
He frowned, and Prometheus promptly told him that the Honkai Energy concentration in Area A-3 was too high and that he should not act rashly.
Why would a place used to store information have such a high concentration of Honkai Energy?
Lin poked Ritter in the kidney with his gun.
"This is also where special Honkai Beasts are held. After all, keeping shameful information and dangerous things together makes them safer." Ritter answered expressionlessly, his hands raised.
"...Let's go."
Lin had not brought any inhibitors, so he had to get what he wanted quickly. He could not afford to delay.
There was only one mainframe in Area A-3. Because of the Honkai Energy concentration here, no one was inside. Lin followed Ritter all the way to the mainframe, then pulled out his helmet's data cable and plugged it into the machine.
Beginning data search
Thanks to Prometheus, Lin did not need to divide his attention to search for the information. He focused entirely on keeping Ritter under control, not giving him the slightest chance to escape.
"Heh... No need to hold me down so tightly, is there? You have the gun. If I run, you can shoot me dead with one shot." Ritter snorted through his nose.
"...You're completely different from before."
Back then, Lin could still sense Ritter's guilt toward the dead. Now there was not the slightest trace of remorse, as though it had truly been nothing more than an ordinary mission.
"Aren't you the same? Dr. Lin Qijiu... no, I should call you Lin, right?"
The mission had specifically mentioned that the assault was to be carried out after Lin left on his own mission. Moreover, Lin's "appearance"—that helmet—was far too famous. Ritter had therefore pieced everything together in a very short time and naturally learned Lin's true identity.
"Everyone says you're an emotionless monster, but it seems that isn't entirely true." Ritter sneered. "Aren't you just a young man willing to violate the rules because of the anger in your heart? It's no big deal."
"You must be dying to beat me to death right now, huh? Don't take it personally. You're easy to read. After all, you're just a brat about the same age as my daughter."
Even beneath the lights, Lin's azure visor looked especially dark and eerie. He stared impassively at Ritter's mocking smile and asked after a moment, "You're provoking me. Why?"
"Is telling the truth considered provocation? Don't think so highly of yourself. Even if you expose the Poisoned Cocoon, it'll be useless. You won't shake anyone in MOTH."
"Why do you think The Deepest Place exists? To hold criminals? Hahaha... So-called crimes are assigned by humans themselves. So who knows what kind of people will be imprisoned here?"
The implication was that even if Lin exposed what some members of the High Council had done, he would be charged with some fabricated crime and imprisoned in The Deepest Place.
Lin, no information related to the Poisoned Cocoon has been found.
"...You lied to me."
"I didn't lie. The Poisoned Cocoon records are paper files, D5. But you never asked, did you?"
"..."
Lin gave the mocking Ritter a deep look. Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at the pile of document folders in the corner and slowly forced Ritter toward them.
Closer.
Lin stopped about a meter away from the files, realizing something.
If he reached out to take them, he would have to let go of Ritter.
Would Ritter risk his life to run?
Or was this actually Ritter's trap?
As Lin considered it, he saw the folder placed on top of several bags of files. The label D5 was written clearly on it.
Ritter quietly smiled.
Before you continue