Chapter 68 (Chapter 67): Beneath the Gentian Flower: Those Who Did Not Leave...

Some people can feel the rain.

The others simply got wet.

— Bob Dylan

Perhaps to avoid hiking trails and the streams and waterfalls that block the way, the road into Elephant Mountain is exceptionally winding. Furuya Rei followed closely behind Ayr's pace and didn't notice any particularly memorable landmarks at those bends.

But the girl in front of him only glanced at him as she walked, then turned sharply and headed in a certain direction without giving him any warning as he tried to memorize his surroundings.

However, even if you take out your phone and record the whole way on this kind of mountain route, it won't be of any use.

Because there wasn't a single trace of pedestrians or landmarks. Furuya Rei glanced back at the path he had come from, which was completely hidden by the trees, smoothed his damp, blonde bangs that were sticking to his forehead, and followed Elju's pace.

"Is this the location of the training camp?" He asked, carefully stepping on the concrete blocks on the ground or under the fire, avoiding the exposed and menacing steel bars. "The area is much smaller than I expected."

"Because it's in an unfinished state." Elju braced himself against a stone pillar lying in front of him, deftly flipping himself over, the hem of his raincoat sweeping across the damp, dark gray cement.

"In two years, we've only managed to build dormitories for the children." She turned to look at Rei Furuya, who had easily leaped over using one hand to support himself on a stone pillar, and then raised her hand to trace a circle across the surrounding woods. "Those are all undeveloped areas."

“Training grounds, laboratories, small research facilities for drug development… none of these have been built yet.” Elg kicked aside a stone and walked toward a certain direction with a clear goal. “Besides, developing the mountains and forests is extremely time-consuming.”

"Won't such a large-scale construction project attract the attention of the police?" Furuya Rei walked behind the girl, looking at the still considerable area of ​​ruins, and said, "No, they probably didn't intend to hide it."

"The application for this project certainly went through the legal procedures. The official purpose is to study the biodiversity of Xiangshan and the construction of a germplasm resource bank," Aierjiu replied as they walked. "Strictly speaking, this should be considered a government-supported project."

"However, you don't need to think that the Nagano government is careless."

“All the application documents are genuine, and Rag submitted them personally.” The black-haired girl turned her head to look at Furuya Rei’s face, which was several shades darker than before, whether due to the dim lighting or something else, and said, “This place will indeed be used for this kind of research.”

"It will simply lead to other 'medical research' with even greater development potential."

“The previous training camps also had their own protective suits, which were legal and compliant.” She bent down to pick up a half-burnt photo frame, her tone calm, as if she were talking about some stray cat or dog on the street.

Walking beside her, Furuya Rei looked down at the child, watching her brush the dust off the photo frame with her rain-dampened hands. Her brows, which had been slightly furrowed since the topic of conversation began, furrowed even more.

Although he knew that Al was a victim of the organization's human experimentation, and that Al had protected his companions after being given a codename, and that Al had always planned to escape the organization.

But when a victim casually recounts how he became a perpetrator, a faint unease still creeps into his heart, perhaps tinged with anger and sorrow.

"Well, thinking about it, that makes sense." Furuya Rei watched as Elle casually tossed the photo frame aside, then looked away and let out a soft breath before following the girl deeper into the area. "But you're quite nonchalant about it."

Upon hearing this, El, who had stepped over a stone slab, turned his head. His dark eyes, seen through the transparent raincoat covered with raindrops, were as calm as a still pool under the overcast, moonless night.

She didn't say much, just glanced at Furuya Rei before turning her head and walking towards the southwest corner of the ruins, pushing aside or climbing over the concrete and steel bars blocking her way. She finally stopped at a place that looked no different from the rest of the area.

At least in Furuya Rei's eyes, there was no difference: the same rubble and broken tiles, the same black ash marks left by the flames, and the same spray paint marks left by the police after taking samples for evidence.

Upon arriving at her destination, Elle began circling the area, but after taking a few steps, her expression clearly darkened.

The black-haired girl stuck her flashlight into the pile of rubble next to her, found a spot with the fewest rubble, and began cleaning up the scene by the light of the flashlight.

Damn it, this body is so weak right now. El struggled to pull up a large stone slab, relying on the force of leaning back and gritting his teeth to barely manage to lift the excessively heavy weight in his hands a few centimeters.

She was pedaling with all her might on the slightly slippery ground when suddenly the weight in her hands went to nothing. Caught off guard, she slipped and fell backward. But before she could even worry about the safety of the back of her head, she felt her collar tighten.

El, who had been twisted up, swayed in mid-air for a moment, then looked up and met the gaze of Furuya Rei, who was holding himself up with one hand and lifting the large stone slab with the other.

The blond man's arm muscles bulged from the effort, but his expression was relaxed. After placing the child on a flatter patch of ground, he casually pushed the large stone slab aside.

Oh dear, how could she forget? Elle wiped the raindrops from her face and silently recited to herself, as if reading aloud: This is one of the gorillas in the five-man gorilla group.

"Don't be angry," Furuya Rei said with a smile, looking at the expressionless but slightly droopy-faced black-haired girl beside her. "Isn't it rare to be able to face the path you've chosen with equanimity?"

"Damn it, I'm not angry at all, and I don't think there's anything wrong with the path I chose." Elju looked at Furuya Rei with a look that said "I'm an idiot," and forcefully pulled out his flashlight.

The reason I didn't answer you is because it's raining heavily now, and water might get into my mouth when I talk in the rain.

The air quality is terrible today, and the rainwater is really dirty.

The black-haired girl, who had decided to remain silent in the rain, still didn't open her mouth, but just quietly watched Furuya Rei, who was doing his own psychological counseling.

Look, in just a few words, you've already drunk half a mouthful of water.

"This is not a choice you can make." The blond man looked at the child whose face had become more lively and said sincerely, "Even I have to face the blood on my hands with equanimity."

The flashlight beam made Furuya Rei shine brightly in the darkness, but his handsome smile was even more radiant than his super reflective blond hair, which was slightly damp from the rain.

The answer is off-topic, so it gets zero marks.

El, who hadn't said a word, revealed a pair of dead fish eyes and walked towards the pile of rubble that had solved the biggest obstacle, but he was stopped by Furuya Rei after only two steps.

"You can just stand there and direct. Do you want this area cleared out?" He twisted his wrist, put the flashlight in his mouth, and tilted his head to indicate the area to the girl.

"...I just need to take a look at the markings on the ground." Elju, who finally had to speak, pulled up the hood of his raincoat and went over to provide auxiliary lighting for Furuya Rei. "Just clear out a small section, enough to see the ground."

As night fell, the rain in the mountains intensified.

The gentians outside the ruins were hit and swayed from side to side, while the two people wearing raincoats were soon covered in water from head to toe in the heavy rain, and their shoes were completely soaked.

Fortunately, the flashlight was waterproof, and this area did not seem to be inside the house, but was only affected by the collapsed house, so it was quickly cleared up so that the ground was visible.

Rei Furuya moved the last piece of gravel, revealing the pale yellow plastic ground beneath. He reached out and touched the ground, which was also wet from the rain, and when he withdrew his finger, he saw some pale yellow particles on his fingertip.

It's made of the same material as the plastic running track in the school playground.

Is it some kind of event area? He made way for El, who was peering over, and the black-haired girl, clinging to the edge of the pit, reached out and touched the pale yellow ground, just like him, before casually sweeping away the surrounding pebbles.

A white outline of half a triangle appeared at the edge of the pale yellow area, outside of which was a darker brownish-red, made of the same plastic granule material.

Rei Furuya stared at the white outline that was partially visible for a while, then suddenly realized that it should be one point of a complete five-pointed star, and that the El Sake Club had found this spot precisely because they were looking for this iconic pattern.

“You just said I was very open-minded.” Having confirmed the location, Elghu stood up, leaning on the stone bricks beside him, and suddenly restarted the topic that had ended with ideological education. “I am indeed very open-minded, but not because of any particular path I have chosen.”

In the pouring rain, two people standing opposite each other shone their flashlights on each other, illuminating their disheveled, rain-soaked faces and the streaks of raindrops in the light.

Rei Furuya simply pulled off the hood of his already useless raincoat, and the raindrops pounded directly onto his blond hair, running down his strands and past his deep purple eyes.

He was looking intently at the ale.

"The location here was something that Rag and I worked hard to secure, and the idea of ​​setting up the biological research company was also our suggestion." The black-haired girl looked up and said, "The purpose is to establish a new training camp here, in Matsushiro Town."

"Why Matsushiro Town?" Furuya Rei asked, watching the girl begin filling the hole she had just dug with stones. "It's located deep in the mountains. Even if the terrain is hidden, it would be difficult to escape."

“Because the deep mountains are just a condition that slows down the development of the training camp.” Albuquerque buried the complete five-pointed star and had Furuya Rei put the original large stones on top of it. “The key point is that there is an underground secret passage left over from World War II under Elephant Mountain.”

"The Matsushiro Headquarters, an underground fortress built to prepare for the decisive battle on the mainland." The black-haired girl pointed to the ground beneath her and Furuya Rei's feet and said, "It's about one kilometer away from here as the crow flies."

Rei Furuya had naturally heard of this well-known tourist spot in Nagano Prefecture, but he had only visited it once when he was a child with Kagemitsu Morofushi, and since then he had avoided long and deep tunnels.

But if El said that authenticity is the key point, then… The blond man pondered for a moment, then suddenly raised his head, looked at the collapsed ruins behind him, took a few steps over, squatted down, and carefully examined the black and gray traces.

"Because the clearing of the forest was slow, but the American labs needed the materials urgently, the organization had to build dormitories first and move the children over. So there are basically only children, guards, and some researchers here."

“This is the opportunity we’ve been looking for.” Elle put his hands in the pockets of his raincoat, slowly walked to Furuya Rei’s side, looked at the blond man who had already realized the key point, and said, “Escape from the mountains is difficult, but leaving the mountains is not necessarily an option.”

She emphasized the second "里" (li), and Furuya Rei, who had already realized what was going on, stood up and replied, "So you want to dig a tunnel from here to the Matsushiro headquarters at the foot of Mount Ebisu."

“That tunnel is very intricate, but for someone with a photographic memory, finding the right way shouldn’t be too difficult.” The blond man’s thoughts became increasingly clear. “Besides, there must be more than just the entrance to the attraction that’s open to the public. You can definitely find a way out that’s out of sight.”

However, who would have thought of escaping by digging a tunnel through the mountains? Rei Furuya looked at El with a hint of astonishment, though most people, like Shuichi Akai, were simply too defiant.

Of course, most of those who wanted to leave the organization were killed.

"Yes, that place just now was the entrance to the tunnel."

“Digging one kilometer in two years isn’t difficult… This wasn’t my idea.” Elju glanced at Furuya Rei, easily discerning his thoughts from his expression, and revealed his crescent-shaped eyes, saying, “It was Lag who planned it.”

"It's said to be a combination of 'The Shawshank Redemption' and 'Tunnel Warfare'." The black-haired girl turned her head and walked outside, stepping on the broken bricks. "I think she must have gone crazy in the training camp to come up with this idea."

“But if we want to take everyone with us, this is the only suitable route.” Elju reached out and felt the rain in the mountains, then said, “The tunnel has indeed been dug, and we have made preparations for the aftermath.”

"They blew up one floor of the building to make the whole structure collapse, and then buried the traces of the tunnel, right?" Furuya Rei speculated based on the inconsistencies he saw: "The upper stones are too intact. If it had all collapsed, it wouldn't have looked like that."

"Yes, we installed a sufficient amount of explosives on the first floor of the training camp."

"So this isn't the result of the organization destroying evidence." Rei Furuya looked at the black-haired girl who had stopped in front of him.

The heavy rain turned into fine raindrops, eventually becoming mist in the mountains, carrying a cool sensation that seeped into people's necks.

Only then did Elju raise her hand and lift her hat, her wet black hair clinging to her cheeks. She said, "It was Rag who deliberately detonated the training camp."

“This was our plan, but the result is completely wrong.” The black-haired girl pointed to the spot where they had dug out the five-pointed star and said, “There’s also a bomb at the tunnel entrance that will be detonated once everyone enters.”

But the ground was perfectly intact. Furuya Rei recalled El's suddenly darkened expression as he approached the spot, realizing that El had discovered there were no signs of the ground sinking due to the explosion.

"Was there not enough time to detonate it?" he hypothesized, trying to reassure the girl, whose tone was calm but who was clearly upset. "Maybe the last person to leave was in a hurry."

But Elju shook his head and said, "All detonation authority is in Rag's hands."

The rain in the mountains gradually stopped, and the gentian flowers, like deep purple wine glasses, were filled with fine wine.

A moment later, as if unable to bear it any longer, it poured all the mountain rain onto the soil.

“Bourbon, she didn’t leave through the tunnel.”

-----------------------

Author's Note: Yes, this is a Chinese version of "The Shawshank Redemption".

The film is titled "The Shawshank Tunnels".

Lag: Oh my god, I'm a beetroot, Xiaotong!

El:

…

The Matsushiro headquarters did indeed exist.

These are unused relics from World War II, with only a portion of the tunnels open to the public for tours.

I've watched some videos recorded by content creators, and they are indeed profound and complex.

And surely the underground fortress has more than one exit?

In short, I'm rambling on and on (awkwardly).

…

Mwah