The fire illuminated the darkness, and there were sounds of collapse from bombs one after another. The people around fled in panic following the instructions of the staff.
"...Listen, Xiao Zhao. You, Natsume, and Kuroko should evacuate first. I will come find you later." Jiang Lai rubbed the other's head to comfort him. "Pay special attention to Kuroko, as he is easily overlooked by adults."
After saying this, he turned around and tried to leave.
"Wait...!" Kurosawa Akira still stubbornly grabbed the corner of his clothes, "What are you doing?! This ship is in danger, we need to retreat as soon as possible..."
"I have something else to do. I need to deliver some tools to Hagiwara. He's in a dangerous situation right now." Jiang Lai tried to keep his words short. He stared at the other party and said, "Anyway, you guys retreat first!"
He raised his hand to break away from Kurosawa Akira, but the silver-haired boy grabbed him tightly: "... No, you will die!" The boy's hand tightly grasped him, "It's really dangerous here, let's go!"
"Be obedient, I'll be fine." Jiang Lai pushed him, signaling him to let go.
"No..." He shook his head stubbornly and used all his strength to grab Jiang Lai, "Fire and explosion... If you don't run, you will die, absolutely!"
"..." Jiang Lai was slightly startled; the other party's persistent murmur sounded a little vague.
Is it something from his past? Organization?
However, Kurosawa Akira had never talked to him about all these things. Or rather, Kurosawa Akira's impression of them seemed to be fragmented and vague.
It seems that those things left a deep psychological shadow on him...?
The silver-haired boy lowered his head. At this moment, the two of them maintained this posture, which seemed out of place in the chaos.
But time is running out. Jiang Lai knows that Hagiwara Kenji is still waiting.
"Let go." Jiang Lai pushed the other's hand away, "——I said I would grow up with you, don't worry."
"Evacuate as quickly as possible with the crowd."
"..." The silver-haired boy still had his head down. Unlike his stubbornness just now, he was breathing softly and was now in an unbelievable silence.
His drooping hair hid the expression on his face.
Finally convinced? Jiang Lai breathed a sigh of relief and decided to say goodbye to him. He lowered his head and was about to give him one last word of advice.
Then I saw a pair of gray eyes.
“……!”
My mind suddenly went blank, and my ears were buzzing, as if I was struck by some invisible mental shock. The lead-gray color was like an endless thin curtain, densely wrapping my thoughts into a ball.
The silver-haired boy looked up, his expression was completely different from usual, calm and indifferent. He spoke softly, but his words went straight to the heart:
[Follow me.]
His mind was confused, but his body moved consciously according to the instructions. Jiang Lai followed behind Kurosawa Akira, moving forward mechanically.
"etc!"
"Hey! Jiang Lai! Jiang Lai!"
"Jiang Lai——!"
The exploding shout in his ears finally pulled Jiang Lai out of the lead ash. He shuddered all over, and the scene in front of him filtered into his brain again.
At this moment, he had walked a long distance, and in front of him were people's backs. He was standing in the queue of people boarding the lifeboat, which was being directed by the staff.
Matsuda Jinpei had a rare look of anxiety and astonishment on his face. He kept calling out to Jiang Lai: "Hey, hey! What's wrong with you?!"
"......!" Jiang Lai immediately stopped following Kurosawa Akira's footsteps. The silver-haired boy sensed the pause of the person behind him and turned around -
Then a pair of warm hands firmly covered his eyes.
Jiang Lai bent down and covered the other's eyes: "...Listen carefully," his tone was serious and steady, "Don't use this on me. Ever."
"It should be directed at the enemy, not the family."
"This is not the protection you once spoke of."
"..." The silver-haired boy with his eyes covered did not speak. He raised his hand and placed it on Jiang Lai's wrist, his fingertips feeling slightly cool.
Such silence seemed a little eerie, especially against the backdrop of the noise and sounds of collapse and waves.
"I don't know if you are the conscious Xiao Zhao now, or another personality." Jiang Lai said calmly, "However, let's talk about the title and self-introduction next time."
"Now it's time for the adults to make the decision."
After he finished speaking, Jiang Lai let go of his hand, turned around and left without looking into the other person's eyes.
Matsuda Jinping in spirit form floated to his side, his tone filled with doubt: "Kurosawa Akira..."
"I'll explain these when we get back. Maybe you can also ask Jing Guang." Jiang Lai exhaled and ran back to the utility room. Fortunately, the door was not locked, so he pushed it open. "--Anyway, find the tools first!"
Time is life!
When Hagiwara Kenji discovered the high-intensity bomb buried in the cargo hold, he also heard a huge explosion outside and the entire ship shook a few times!
"!" His eyes suddenly became sharp.
There's more than one place where it's buried! ?
However...it seems that the power of the other places is not particularly great compared to the cargo hold.
His gaze returned to the bomb in front of him.
The red countdown above is slowly ticking away.
The first few were just a cover-up, is this the final killer? Hagiwara Kenji observed the bomb in front of him, and professional knowledge emerged and filtered in his mind.
His eyes quickly scanned the cargo hold, looking for any auxiliary tools that could be used.
…I don’t have all the stuff I need to defuse the bomb, so I can only give it a try. Hagiwara Kenji looked at the countdown and chuckled.
——He didn't think of retreating.
After using simple and scarce equipment to simply remove the outermost packaging shell, Kenji Hagiwara heard the sound of footsteps behind him. He turned around and saw a familiar black-haired young man.
"—— Jiang Lai!?" Hagiwara Kenji looked surprised, "Why are you back again?!"
"Of course I'm here to give you tools." Jiang Lai handed over a makeshift cloth bag with a bunch of tools in it. "I heard the explosion and guessed that there was probably a bomb here, so I quickly went to find the tools you needed."
Kenji Hagiwara only took a quick glance and saw many of the tools he needed at this moment.
——Very professional.
Hagiwara Kenji paused for only a second, then quickly dumped the contents of the bag onto the ground. He looked up and said, "Thank you, Jiang Lai~ But leave this to me, and evacuate as soon as possible."
"I'll help you sort the tools." Jiang Lai placed the various tools on the ground in order according to the instructions of the soul body Matsuda Jinpei, "Assist you."
"It's dangerous here..."
Before Hagiwara Kenji could finish his words, Jiang Lai spoke up: "It will be faster if two people work together. After all, time is running out." He had just seen the red countdown.
"..." Kenji Hagiwara blinked, "Aren't you afraid at all, Eira?" He could see clearly that the other person's hands were steady as he held the tools.
"Because you are here, there will be no problem in defusing the bomb, so I am not afraid." Jiang Lai raised his bright and warm brown eyes and replied with a smile, "And——"
"——Being impatient and irritable is a big taboo." These gentle words struck Hagiwara Kenji's heart hard!
"......!" Upon hearing this, Hagiwara Kenji's pupils shrank slightly and he tilted his head suddenly. Jiang Lai added with a smile.
"That's what Teacher Kanna said."
"Hey, hey..." Jinpei Matsuda spoke from the side.
After taking the statement at the Metropolitan Police Department, Jiang Lai went back and told him all these things, so Matsuda Jinpei naturally also knew about this "Teacher Kanna" that Jiang Lai had impersonated.
"I say, why do I feel that this image is becoming more and more like me?" Jinpei Matsuda twitched his lips.
Jiang Lai: Because it was created based on you. (dog head.jpg)
Hagiwara Kenji was startled. He tightened his grip on the pliers in his hand and said with a smile, "Is it your mysterious teacher again..."
After pausing for a second, he raised his hand and handed the tools to Jiang Lai: "No need for assistance, little Jiang Lai, just help me dismantle it, it will be faster." His tone was light and he looked very relieved.
"Huh? You must not touch the bomb, Jiang Lai." The spirit body of Matsuda Jinpei quickly reminded him, "Even with my command, without any training, you are likely to accidentally touch something!"
Jiang Lai himself understood it.
"Uh, I don't know how to dismantle it." Jiang Lai shook his head honestly and refused. He didn't expect Hagiwara Kenji to hand him the tools so directly. He held them awkwardly and said, "He only taught me theoretical knowledge but never put it into practice, so I can only command and assist..."
"Ah...really?" The half-long-haired man stared at him for a few seconds, then smiled and raised his hand again, "OK, then leave it to me. Xiao Jianglai, please sort the tools~"
While Kenji Hagiwara was concentrating on defusing the bomb in front of him, he was piecing together the clues he knew in his mind.
He was actually doing it on purpose, he was testing the other person. He noticed the wrong way the other person was holding the tool, and he also roughly scanned the other person's palm when he just handed the tool to him - there were no obvious marks or scars that usually appeared on the other person's palm.
Only then did he believe that Jiang Lai did not have the experience and skills to defuse bombs in actual combat.
In fact, he didn't really believe the "Teacher Kanna" mentioned by the other party before, but guessed that Jiang Lai himself possessed these skills, but it was inconvenient to explain the reason and origin, so he used a fictitious teacher as a shield.
And the habitual address of the same friend as my deceased friend might just be a coincidence, because I am too sensitive to childhood influence.
But just now... the young man once again uttered the kōzen belonging to Jinpei Matsuda, and his expression was so natural and friendly, as if such a person really existed.
This made Kenji Hagiwara feel a little dazed, and he felt that the "Kana" was actually his good friend Jinpei Matsuda pretending to be him.
But the small battle is already over.
The young man beside him handed him a series of tools tacitly. Although it was their first time, they cooperated surprisingly well. Hagiwara Kenji finally successfully dismantled the bomb before the countdown entered the dangerous moment.
Seeing the line cut and the countdown disappear, Hagiwara Kenji finally breathed a sigh of relief, and Jiang Lai also relaxed: "Finally done! Great, Officer Hagiwara!"
Hagiwara Kenji glanced at Jiang Lai with his deep purple eyes and replied with a smile: "Thank you for your cooperation, Jiang Lai~ We are very... in sync."
It feels like being with teammates you know.
Kenji Hagiwara put his hands on the ground and inexplicably had a ridiculous yet possible idea.
"No trace of the body was found at the scene" flashed into his mind again. Previously, he had always thought that it was because the explosion was too powerful, but at this moment, combined with his conversation and interaction with Jiang Lai, a surge of possibilities emerged in his mind -
Maybe... Xiao Zhenping is really still alive? As Jiang Lai's mysterious teacher, he appeared under the name "Kanna".
At this point, Kenji Hagiwara finally believed that there was such a person as "Kanna".
The crisis was resolved, Matsuda Jinpei floated to Jiang Lai's side, bent down and pretended to touch his hair. Jiang Lai knew that the soul body could not be touched, so he simply did not hide, and glanced at Matsuda Jinpei with his half-moon eyes.
However--
The warm palms ruffled Jiang Lai's hair and pressed his head down slightly with force.
Jiang Lai: “!?”
Matsuda Jinpei: “?!”
——What’s going on! How is it possible… that we actually bumped into each other?!
The author has something to say:
If you want to change your destiny and revive, you need to convince important people in the scientific world and the majority of people in the three forums.
Kenji Hagiwara is of course an important figure in the world of science. Previously, he actually did not believe what Jiang Lai said about Matsuda being alive, but now he reluctantly accepts and imagines that Matsuda might still be alive.
——Congratulations on your resurrection progress increasing by one!