28

【Xiao Hei, what did you guess? 】

Noel curled up in the cupboard, hugging his panda pillow tightly, and asked Xiao Hei, who had been silent just now, in his mind.

[During the time you were away, if he contacted Rei Furuya, you were testing whether he would be wiped out by the world.]

After a long silence, Xiao Hei spoke slowly. His mechanical voice was flat and as cold as an experimental report.

Just like the cold intelligent AI beside the villain, Noel was a little confused for a moment.

【But he did not contact the police and showed you goodwill.】

Xiao Hei then added that he was trying to make Noel aware of the objective reality and prevent him from getting into any weird dead ends again.

Am I scary?

He asked. As of now, Xiao Hei was the one who knew the most about his situation. He was not sure how long Xiao Hei had been watching, whether it was since the time he "traveled through time" or even earlier, during that period of wandering life.

[While I said I cared, I used him to conduct experiments without mercy.]

Noel continued to add to the tunnel, and it was obvious that he understood that if it was true as he speculated, then Xiaoguang who contacted Furuya Rei to change the plot would definitely end up dead, but he chose to let it go, putting the only person who was kind to him in front of the most dangerous abyss.

The story of the farmer and the snake?

[I don't make any comments. Everyone's choices are based on their own experiences. As a bystander, I don't need to criticize them from a high position.]

Xiao Hei's answer was not unexpected to Noel. Since the first conversation, Xiao Hei had not concealed his identity as a bystander. Instead, it was the emotions he showed during this period that were discordant.

[According to what you said, Xiao Hei, my past was so miserable. You see, I was born an orphan and lived a hard life in the crime alley. I was taken away by the organization to be used as a weapon, and then thrown into the laboratory. I was taken out and continued to be used as a weapon. I was also brainwashed.]

So I am innocent?

Noel didn't mean to argue, he just thought it was a little ridiculous.

【I am not in a position to judge.】

Xiao Hei said indifferently, without any emotion in the mechanical voice.

[Should we let the law judge? ]

Noel thought about the laws of various countries that he knew and found it even more absurd.

[I was a minor according to the law. The first time I killed someone, it seemed that I was trying to save the bread I got from a homeless person. How old was I at that time?]

[Eight or nine? I have always had a bad memory.]

The memories of the past were mixed with the memories of summer, like shadows on the ground. He grabbed a piece, not knowing whether it was his own or a reflection of the moon.

But Xia Tian would never kill anyone, so he made it clear who the shadow belonged to.

[Just as Xiaoguang thought, if the matter is handled properly, I might be able to be acquitted even if I am brought to court.]

Noel guessed part of Morobushi Jingguang's plan. After all, after spending a few months together, he got to know Morobushi Jingguang better, the man who only had fragments of memories in the main drama.

He is kind and compassionate, and is definitely not a man without action. When he clearly expresses kindness to himself, it is definitely not just talk.

He was delighted by the goodwill, but had little interest in the actual help behind it.

He didn't think this was right for him.

【Who can judge then? 】

Xiao Hei asked.

【I'll come.】

After this conversation, Noel became even more confusing to Xiao Hei.

———

The two police officers who had just sent Noel away were sitting in the car and having a conversation.

"Xiao Zhenping, you also noticed something was wrong." Hagiwara Kenji drove slowly, and for once he didn't put too much effort on the accelerator. The scenery along the road was endless, and they had no intention of appreciating it.

"His situation is not as simple as running away from home."

He narrowed his eyes slightly, as if thinking about something. The co-pilot did not respond.

"Although I don't know if I'm overthinking it,"

Hagiwara Kenji continued, "The white shirt he wore was exactly the same as it was four years ago."

"Of course, such a basic white top is not uncommon, but is it unreal for someone this age to wear such a simple style?"

"Of course, it's possible that I'm just overthinking it."

Kenji Hagiwara rubbed his temples and felt a little irritated. The boy was inharmonious and weird everywhere, like a tangled mess of wool, making it difficult to know where to start.

"He showed up at the restaurant alone at 11 o'clock, wearing thin clothes, as if he had been skipping classes for a long time, and..."

Jinpei Matsuda pointed out one doubt after another, just like sorting out complex parts by type to facilitate the final assembly.

"He was still wearing bandages."

Matsuda Jinpei paused when he said this, and through the thin clothes one could see the unreasonable ups and downs inside.

"That's right, I saw it at his collar." Hagiwara Kenji added, "And I don't know if you noticed, Xiao Zhenping, that when I approached Xiaokong, he was obviously nervous and on guard."

"Like a stray cat being approached by a human." Compared to Jinpei Matsuda's objective description to find evidence, Kenji Hagiwara is better at using delicate perception to understand the person involved.

"He has medicine in his pants pocket, in the form of capsules." Matsuda Jinpei added, "When he walks, there is a distinct sound of particles hitting each other, and they are hollow, so they should be capsules rather than pills, and they are packed in a small metal box."

"Is it obvious?" Hagiwara Kenji complained helplessly. He knew that his childhood friend's body was good enough to hear the sounds of various mechanical gears meshing, but it was still too outrageous, as he was obviously closer.

"But he looks healthy, or he used to be healthy. He's about 1.77 meters tall, and he's obviously worked out, so his body fat percentage should be good. Plus, he eats so much, isn't his stomach really some other-dimensional thing?"

“So there are too many points of conflict.”

"If I hadn't seen the physical condition with my own eyes, I would have thought based on other things that he was abused by his parents, locked up at home for a long time and unable to go to school, so he found an opportunity to secretly escape." Kenji Hagiwara has seen many children who have suffered long-term domestic violence, but it is obviously impossible for them to look like Natsukawa Sora.

"After all, he has no problem beating up one or two adults," Matsuda said with a sneer.

"Besides, he lives with his younger brother. It shouldn't be a problem when his parents are away on business. I even asked Xiao Guang, his younger brother, about this."

Although I was surprised by the maturity of Natsukawa Hikaru on the other end of the phone, under normal circumstances, Hagiwara Kenji's ability to ask questions without showing any emotion is not something a child can perceive.

Unless the other person is not a child, but a well-trained public security policeman who is familiar with Kenji Hagiwara's habits and manners and is familiar with counter-detection.

"That way there's no reason to run away from home."

After all, if it was just me and my younger brother at home, was running away from home because I was angry with my younger brother?

Kenji Hagiwara felt that all the roads leading to a result were blocked.

"So the biggest possibility at the moment is that he really was hungry in the middle of the night and came out to eat, but he just didn't wear a coat in the winter?"

Even Jinpei Matsuda couldn't hide his surprise, and they were back to square one again.

"There is also the possibility that he was not in good health and stayed at home for a long time without going to school, but he was too embarrassed to admit it so he lied."

Thinking of the boy's excuse of being a cartoonist, and the fact that he said he was in school but didn't even know he had to go to school on Saturdays, he added these in.

"Not feeling well?" Matsuda Jinpei continued to be highly skeptical about this. He knew the human body very well and knew that the boy was by no means weak.

"Xiao Zhenping, is it possible?" Hagiwara Kenji suddenly looked serious. He pointed to his head and said, "The drug may be a mental health issue."

This would explain why Noel didn't go to school despite being healthy, as well as a series of strange reactions from Noel, and even the reasons were clear.

Hagiwara Kenji recalled the boy he saw four years ago who didn't care about death at all and looked at the bomb indifferently. There must be something wrong with his psychology. Maybe Natsukawa Sora now just looks fine on the surface, but he is suffering from great pain in his heart and has no one to tell...

The two police officers sat in the car in a somewhat silent atmosphere. Hagiwara Kenji unconsciously slowed down again to prevent himself from causing trouble to his fellow traffic police officers due to distraction.

"In fact, I should have thought of it earlier. Maybe the bombing had a more serious impact on him."

Kenji Hagiwara, who has always had excellent empathy, inevitably feels a little guilty at this time. As the person involved, he is more easily constrained by his sense of responsibility and guilt, and then falls into a state of torturing himself, such as "Why didn't I discover it in advance? If I had paid attention at that time...", and then begins to feel depressed.

"Come and see him after some time, now you know his address." Jinpei Matsuda's way of comforting people is always very direct. Compared to words, he prefers to give solutions directly.

"I'll accompany you."

———

In the next few days, everything returned to normal. Noel returned to the house. During the day, he went out on missions with Amuro Toru and then came back to be fed by Xiaoguang. Then at night, he said good night to Xiaoguang while hugging a panda pillow in his closet.

Unfortunately, those days came to an end soon, not because of any accidents, but because the higher-ups decided to transfer Bourbon and Grappa to the United States.

There is no way. After all, compared with the huge social crisis caused by the economic bubble in Japan, it is obvious that prosperous New York needs killers more. After all, a large number of people who could have become customers and targets in the former have voluntarily jumped off the building.

So according to the records, one day in February, the Xiachuan couple came from the United States to pick up the Xiachuan brothers, and they did not return from the United States until three years later.

The two police officers who wanted to visit were naturally disappointed. They did not have the boy's contact information, so they could only postpone their plan to visit the boy indefinitely until a day three years later.