"'The Mourners'..." Boss narrowed her eyes, as though sinking into some memory.
Her gaze flickered repeatedly, and she seemed to think of something. "'The Mourners'... is a collective name for a group, much like 'Athlete Students' or 'Art Students.' Why would a Mystical Creature call itself one of 'the Mourners'?"
"A collective name? Though I suppose that makes more sense..." Lin Yi looked thoughtful, recalling that Admonition.
Boss continued, "That thing probably wasn't one of 'the Mourners.' In theory, 'The Mourners' should be something more like beings turned into sculptures..."
"Could it have turned into a sculpture and left a Crystal Skeleton behind?" Lin Yi asked.
"Hard to say." Boss asked, "What happened between you?"
Lin Yi recounted his conversation with the "Mourner."
By the time she heard the end, Boss's expression had turned strange.
"What is it, Boss?" Lin Yi rarely saw an expression like that on her face.
It was rather like seeing a cool, aloof female executive suddenly wear an incongruously dopey, adorable expression.
Boss said slowly, "In Year X999... during the initial stages of the global Cataclysm, Little Japan suffered an attack by the 'Snake Nest.'"
"At that time, the emergence of the 'Snake Nest' constituted nation-destroying Contamination for an island country..."
"All of that is recorded in historical documents."
Boss paused here. "But why Little Japan became the first country to experience a 'Snake Nest' outbreak, as if it had somehow transgressed a Heavenly Chasm, while only Dark Zones were appearing everywhere else, has always been an unsolved mystery."
"But I feel like I'm very close to the answer..."
The corners of Lin Yi's mouth twitched violently. Boss's gaze frightened him a little, while the description of the Möbius Strip Time Paradox surfaced in his mind again. "Boss... you're not saying Little Japan was destroyed