Fire Falls from Heaven, Mars Beyond

"Name?"

"Lin Xu."

"Age?"

"Forty... forty-four?"

"Can't even remember your own age?"

The man sitting across from Lin Xu frowned slightly, suspicion in his eyes.

"I'm getting old. Isn't it normal to forget some things?"

"Normal? Forgetting even your own age counts as normal?"

The man's tone was stern. Lin Xu lightly moved his wrists, making the silver handcuffs clatter.

"Sir, even now, I don't know why you arrested me."

"It's already 2045. Do you really need to ask me for this basic information?"

"One iris scan would bring everything up. Why waste time on this?"

"Fair enough."

The man chuckled.

"There truly is no need to waste time."

"Then let's be frank."

"What is your relationship with Jiang Xingye?"

Jiang Xingye...

Just as he had expected, the first "substantive" question this man asked concerned Jiang Xingye.

Clearly, in their eyes, Jiang Xingye's importance, priority—or rather, her "danger"—far surpassed that group of mercenaries who absolutely should not have appeared near Skyvault Technology's campus.

They could not even be bothered to ask where he had found the mercenaries, much less why he had brought in so many of them.

Jiang Xingye, Jiang Xingye, what exactly had you done?

Lin Xu glanced at the antiquated clock hanging on the interrogation room wall, so old-fashioned it seemed utterly out of place in this era. He sighed before answering.

"Sir, if I said I have nothing to do with her, would you believe me?"

"Nothing to do with her?"

Mockery appeared on the man's face.

"I suggest you think carefully before answering."

"...I have thought carefully."

Lin Xu shrugged.

"She and I were merely former coworkers, ordinary friends. In fact, we haven't been in contact for years."

"Otherwise, I wouldn't have been stupid enough to look for her files at the company, much less get discovered by you and dragged here for questioning."

"Honestly, I really want to know. Did she commit some heinous crime, or did I? I only asked about someone, and you deployed the military to arrest me?"

"Don't try to fish for information from me."

The man looked at Lin Xu as if he found him amusing, his eyes carrying an absurd sort of humor.

"Ever since you sat down, you've been constantly trying to pry information out of me."

"I'm quite curious—how can you be so unconcerned?"

"Do you know where this is? This isn't some ordinary police station, nor is it an ordinary national security office. This is Maritime Security!"

"You shouldn't be unfamiliar with Maritime Security, should you? Judging from your work history, you have dealt with us before, though you never came into direct contact with our department."

"But you should know our methods and our principles very well, shouldn't you?"

"...Not really."

Lin Xu shook his head.

"I told you, I'm old. I've already forgotten many things."

"Stop asking what my relationship with Jiang Xingye is. In my memory, she and I were just ordinary coworkers and ordinary friends."

"If you want to get anything from me, you'd better ask something more specific."

There was a strong element of leading in Lin Xu's words.

He had already realized that prying information from the mouth of the professional interrogator across from him was impossible.

This man was no minor figure. He would not foolishly reveal information that this "suspect" did not know in order to bait him.

He was excessively cautious, excessively rational.

He could not make mistakes.

But neither could he avoid making them.

Because in truth, everything he knew was completely unfamiliar to Lin Xu.

No matter what he wanted to ask, as long as he opened his mouth, Lin Xu could get intelligence for free.

Either way, Lin Xu profited.

Seeing Lin Xu's expression of "full cooperation," the man's gaze shifted several times before he finally spoke.

"If you want to communicate, then I suggest you be as honest as possible."

"Can you stop telling me things like 'you have nothing to do with Jiang Xingye'? She's your ex-wife. How dare you say you have nothing to do with her?"

"..."

Lin Xu was dumbfounded.

What the hell?

In this world, Jiang Xingye and I were married?

Not only were they married, they had already gotten divorced?

What kind of painless second-marriage route was this??

Lin Xu stared at the man in disbelief, and the man stared back at him with equal disbelief.

"No, you seriously don't remember?"

"The emotional monitoring system shows your credibility at 89%. Even if you were a genius actor, you couldn't control your microexpressions to that extent."

"You have amnesia? Since when?"

"...You're asking someone with amnesia when they started having amnesia??"

Lin Xu stared wide-eyed.

"Isn't that question a little too stupid, sir??"

A somewhat awkward smile appeared on the man's face. He seemed to realize that the question he had asked on instinct was rather foolish.

After a brief pause, he seemed to receive some sort of instruction. He skipped over his original question and instead asked:

"Do you know the Planetary Reincarnation organization?"

"I don't. What kind of organization is that?"

Lin Xu had been waiting for this question. His expression was utterly sincere, and there was not the slightest falsehood in the curiosity and confusion he displayed.

—This was not an act to begin with. It was genuine emotion.

Seeing his expression, the man's brow furrowed even more deeply.

He could almost confirm that Lin Xu really had lost part of his memories. After briefly consulting his superiors, he answered:

"Planetary Reincarnation is a terrorist organization recognized by countries around the world. It has also been classified as a cult by our country."

"They firmly believe that every object in the universe exists in the form of a 'cycle of life and reincarnation,' including the stars."

"The most famous line in their doctrine is, 'Fire falls from heaven, Mars beyond the shore.'"

"Well? Does that bring back any memories?"

"...No."

Lin Xu shook his head blankly.

Of course he had no memories. Today was the first time he had even heard the term "Planetary Reincarnation"!

And seeing his reaction, the interrogator across from him began to seem somewhat at a loss.

"...The brainwave monitoring is fine too..."

"You truly don't remember anything about Planetary Reincarnation or Jiang Xingye?"

"Then what exactly were you looking for her for? And what were you planning to do with all those mercenaries?"

"...If I knew, would it still be called amnesia?"

"I only vaguely remember that Jiang Xingye seemed to tell me the end of the world was coming, so I hired mercenaries and wanted them to help me seize a rocket from Skyvault Technology."

What Lin Xu said was half true and half false. Even he himself found it unconvincing.

Yet somehow, the man seemed to believe it.

"Seize a rocket??"

The man's eyes sharpened abruptly.

He seemed to have seized upon some crucial clue, so he immediately coaxed him along.

"Where were you going with the rocket?"

Before Lin Xu could answer, the man suddenly raised his voice and spoke rapidly.

"Don't think! Say whatever comes to mind!"

"...Mars?"

Lin Xu had never experienced an interrogation like this before. He instinctively blurted out the first answer that flashed through his mind.

Upon hearing his answer, the man across from him let out a long breath.

"You were used by Planetary Reincarnation."

"Although we still can't confirm that you're innocent, based on the clues so far... you were most likely used as a pawn."

"They most likely erased your memories, and they used some especially cruel method to do it."

"That's why you forgot so many things related to them."

"No matter what, you count as one of the victims."

"From now on, stay here with us."

"We'll protect your safety. Of course, we also hope you'll cooperate with our investigation."

"Those lunatics who believe in the end of the world pose an enormous threat to society. If we can wipe them out in one stroke..."

"Sir, wait."

Lin Xu interrupted the man, speaking extremely quickly.

"I don't know what the Planetary Reincarnation organization does, but I'm absolutely certain the end of the world is real!"

"There isn't much time... can you tell me where Jiang Xingye is now?"

As soon as he finished speaking, a pitying expression appeared on the man's face.

He looked at Lin Xu and asked:

"How long did they tell you was left until the end of the world?"

"Ten seconds."

Lin Xu answered without hesitation.

"Ten seconds from now, the end of the world will arrive!"

"You will die within twenty seconds after the end of the world arrives!"

"You have to seize the final moments and tell me the answer!"

"Now!"

"3!"

"2!"

"1!"

Silence.

In that silence, an intense flash of light filled the entire interrogation room.

The end of the world had come!

Lin Xu felt his life rapidly slipping away.

His eyes could no longer see, so naturally, he had no idea what expression the man across from him wore.

He could only scream with all his strength.

"The end of the world is here!"

"Where is Jiang Xingye? Tell me!"

No one answered.

Lin Xu held on entirely through sheer willpower.

Second by second, time passed. Just before his consciousness completely fell into darkness, he suddenly heard a hoarse, indistinct voice that had likewise burned away its life.

"Mars!"

"Mars!"