Chapter 78 Times Have Changed
Gerard pushed open the door of the archive room, and the dust on the door fell down, as if indicating that no one had set foot here for a long time.
Behind the door was a hanging crystal. Gerard looked up at the crystal and then walked under it. The crystal just flashed slightly and did not make any further noise.
Gerard walked between rows of bookshelves. The archive room was so quiet that only the sound of his own footsteps could be heard.
"Seeing you were so hesitant just now, I thought this place would be a very difficult place to enter." Bai Wei's voice sounded in Gerard's mind, "After all this time, there's not even a supervisor here?"
"The crystal just now is already a supervision." Gerard said in a deep voice, "Only the believers of my Lord can enter here. For those who betray my Lord Tianqin in their hearts, the crystal will sound an alarm immediately."
"There is such a thing?" Bai Wei asked with interest, "But doesn't it sound a little too unreliable? How do you verify that the crystal really has the ability to verify faith?"
"No need to verify. From the time it was created until now, it has never..." Gerard subconsciously wanted to say "never made a mistake", but the words stopped at the tip of his tongue. After hesitating for a moment, he changed it to "very rarely made a mistake."
But Bai Wei caught this pause and said with a smile: "It's not that there have never been any mistakes, but there have been very few mistakes. Let me think... the person who made the mistake was you, right? Ten years ago, you caused such a terrible "Xiaoxing" incident, but Tianqin didn't execute you directly. I think... it should be that in their certification, you did not betray Tianqin, right?"
Gerard didn't say anything, but Bai Wei knew from his expression that he was right.
Bai Wei didn't know as much about Jellal as Uru did. After all, Uru was a character that the player had interacted with, but Jellal died before they interacted with him. He died in front of Cory before the player fought against him in the game. After that, the player's understanding of him was only from the fragmentary analysis of the "Evening Star" incident in the Lyra map.
But Bai Wei still chose him as the next host because he is the only broken "gear" in the current Tianqin.
Tianqin is different from Rhine, this is a very special sect. Just like the feeling of the city of Tianqin, it is like a large, sophisticated machine.
Everyone in this city is like a gear in this running machine, and each gear is doing its job by default. As long as there is no problem with the machine, it is assumed that each gear is still running normally in its position.
Until the Vesperia incident ten years ago.
There was no doubt that this was a huge problem for the machine, so they took out the problematic part and checked it carefully, but found that... there was no problem with the gear.
So, what is the problem?
Jellal stopped in front of a small room.
He had already roughly looked through the files outside the archive room, but did not find what he was looking for. It was normal to think about it, as the external archive room itself was semi-public and anyone with permission could access it.
There is no doubt that the files in this small room are not open to the public and are not allowed to be viewed.
Jellal reached out and turned the doorknob.
With a "click", the door opened.
There isn't even the most basic lock, which gives people the feeling that it is only for guarding against good guys but not against bad guys.
Gerard walked in.
The area of this small room was only one-tenth of the outside and there was not much information, so Gerard did not spend too much time to find what he wanted.
"Maintainer information from 230 to 240 (confidential)".
Gerard stared at the file for a while before reaching out his hand, but stopped above the file.
If you stop now, there is still a chance to turn back.
But if you open it, it would be a complete violation.
The Lyrans' violation was equal to betrayal. Even ten years ago, Gerard did not think that he had betrayed the Lyrans. But now, in order to prove that he had not betrayed them, did he have to actually betray them first?
Then Bai Wei's voice rang in his mind: "It's okay, you are still young, you can wait another ten years."
Gerard narrowed his eyes slightly. He didn't think that Bai Wei's ridicule could affect him.
But even so, he took a deep breath and reached for the file.
He originally thought that this process would not be easy, his mind would resist, his metal body would block it, and he would have to take some tougher measures at that time, after all, he was already standing here.
But in the end, his hand easily touched the file.
Gerald was slightly startled.
Why... is it so smooth?
Neither the mind nor the body has any warning signs?
Is this Tianqin's tacit consent?
Or...
A terrible idea involuntarily emerged in Gerard's mind, but he did not dare to think about it any further and immediately opened the file.
The maintainer data from that decade is still there.
After suppressing his shock, Gerard began to look through the maintainer's data, and eventually let him select a target.
"Carol, resigned in 237, currently working in XX Metal in Area 3."
Ten years is not too long a time, so most of the maintainers are still on the job, and these people are obviously not good targets.
But it’s different for those who have already left.
For example, Carol, who works in a prosthetics store.
After writing down the name and address, Gerard put away the file and decided to find the maintenance worker immediately.
The fact that he had just flipped through the information without any hindrance made Gerard feel even more uneasy, as if something big was about to happen, but he was the only one who knew about it.
He walked out of the small room quickly and left the archive room quickly. The footsteps, which were louder and more rapid than before, quickly disappeared at the end of the corridor.
At this time, a black shadow slowly emerged from the corner of the room.
He slowly walked to where Gerard had been before and took out the opened file.
"It's been ten years, and you actually took the first step." He murmured as he flipped through the information, "Master Yongxin is right. You really won't settle down."
He paused and chuckled.
"But it doesn't matter. It's too late. The final celebration is about to be completed. You..."
Before he could finish his words, his body suddenly stiffened.
"Um?"
He looked around with some confusion.
Just now, he felt as if someone was looking at him, but he was clearly the only one here.
"Strange." He shook his head and put the file back on the bookshelf. "That old hero really doesn't want me to have a good sleep... It looks like I'll have to go out on a rare mission."
He also walked out of the archives room and closed the door.
The picture then quickly shrank and was finally reflected in a star-like pupil.
Just as Gerard walked out of the Tower of Babel, he heard Bai Wei's voice leisurely ringing in his mind: "I'll give you some free advice. No matter what you want to do, you'd better do it quickly."
Gerald paused: "What do you mean?"
Bai Wei smiled and said, "The advice is free, but the specific content of the advice is not. Do you want to trade?"
Gerard was silent for a while and said nothing, but just quickened his pace towards the gear station.
…
There are five districts in Tianqin City, which are governed by five archbishops.
Area 1 is where the Tower of Babel is located, and it is the core area. The other four areas are spread out around Area 1, giving the entire Lyra a honeycomb-like structure.
Except for District 1 in the core area and District 5, which borders the polluted area and is responsible for combating pollution, the remaining three districts do not have any obvious differences in functions. However, there are still slight gaps. For example, District 3, where Gerard is going now, is a commercial district that is more inclined to the manufacture and sale of various metal parts.
Overall, this area is still very prosperous, and there are many people at the station, making it quite crowded.
But when Gerard got off the gear car, that unique "personal flavor" quickly cleared a path for him.
"Although I know you are quite excited, after all, the confusion you have been dealing with for ten years has finally made some progress." Bai Wei's voice slowly rang in Gerard's mind as he ran quickly, "But I think you still have to take care of your personal image... You are still bleeding."
With Bai Wei's reminder, Gerard realized that his abdomen was still bleeding. The blood, along with the excess engine oil he had applied in the morning, was leaking out, and it looked truly horrifying.
No wonder the look in the eyes of those passers-by when they looked at him was different from before, full of disgust and fear... You know, there was no fear before.
Gerard frowned slightly. He knew that it would be best to treat the wound now, but Bai Wei's words just now made him very concerned. He didn't dare to stop at all. He just tightened the bandage that was used to stop the bleeding to slow down the bleeding, and considered the treatment completed.
But as mentioned before, the smell of the mixture of engine oil and blood also brought him a great positive effect. It took him less than five minutes to walk out of the station, which would have taken him more than ten minutes. He had a smooth journey all the way.
Then he rushed to the prosthetic limbs shop recorded in the file in the shortest time possible.
The prosthetic shop was packed with young people who came to replace their prosthetic limbs.
But Gerard still saw the person he was looking for at a glance - Carol.
At this moment, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
No matter what Bai Wei's previous "advice" was for, at least he had met Carol.
He originally wanted to go directly to Carol to ask, but that would be too conspicuous, so after observing for a while, Gerard decided to follow the rules and started to line up.
Prosthetics is the hottest industry in Tianqin.
Therefore, mechanics who can replace prosthetic limbs for people are naturally the most sought-after profession. Every prosthetic limb shop has three to four mechanics, and the better the prosthetic limbs made by the mechanics and the better the replacement techniques, the more popular they will be. Carol, who used to be a maintenance worker at the Tower of Babel, is obviously more skilled than ordinary mechanics in all aspects, so he has the most customers, and the queue is also the longest - Gerald queued directly outside the store.
He looked at the sky. Although it was just past noon, at this rate, he might not even get his turn after get off work.
So he could only pat the young man in front of him and said, "Little brother, I'm in a hurry. Can you please change seats with me? I'm willing to pay you."
The young man who was tapped on the shoulder turned his head impatiently, cursing: "Why are you so anxious? Am I not anxious? The mechanic I found earlier didn't connect my prosthesis properly, and I'm injured now... Fuck you, you're bleeding!!!"
Gerard looked down at his abdomen again, and then said calmly: "It's okay, it's just a minor injury. If you don't want to..."
"I am willing, I am willing, I am very willing, you should come in front of me, otherwise you will die behind me, it will be scary."
The young man quickly made way for Gerard and stood behind Gerard consciously.
Gerard thanked him, and then heard the young man muttering behind him: "That's not right, what if he dies in front of me later?"
But soon the young man didn't have to worry anymore, because Gerard patted the shoulder of the person in front of him again.
"Hello, girl."
"What's good about that? I'm not... Holy shit, why are you bleeding?"
With a series of slaps, Gerard soon reached the middle of the team.
This naturally caused some commotion.
Carol raised his head and when he saw Gerard, his pupils narrowed slightly, but he didn't say much and continued with the work in his hands.
Gerard didn't move forward to change position. This position was enough, and he was sure that Carol had seen him.
So from this moment on, the conversation has begun.
Carol looked at the young man in front of him and asked, "Are you sure you want to install our latest V4 prosthetic limb?"
"Yes, yes." The young man nodded repeatedly and described it excitedly, "It's the style that reaches the shoulders."
"Are you sure it's that one?"
"Yes, yes, I've been looking at it for a long time. It's a way to attach some small devices to the shoulders." The young man said with a smile, "I want to add two hooks in it, you know, so that..."
"Then your whole arm will have to be cut off." Carol looked at the half of the young man's arm that was left, and calmly interrupted the young man. "You should know that this process is irreversible. Once you choose a shoulder model like the V4 model, you will have to choose this model or a larger one in the future, because the cut arm cannot be regenerated... Do you understand what I am saying?"
"I see. You just want to say that this model is very valuable." The young man said, "Don't worry, I have brought enough money. You can get started."
Seeing the young man so determined, Carol was silent for a while, then nodded: "Okay then."
Then he asked the young man to sit on a machine.
This machine was similar to the one that Gerard wanted to use to commit self-harm last night. With Carol's operation, the machine started working, and several syringes filled with drugs were injected into the young man's right shoulder.
Then half of the young man's body began to become weak at a speed visible to the naked eye.
It looks like an anesthetic.
It was the first time that Bai Wei saw a metal prosthesis being installed, and he watched with great interest.
The machine continued to work, and soon a rapidly rotating blade appeared. It hung on the young man's right shoulder and made a harsh and sharp sound, which made the young man sitting there feel nervous.
Carol pressed the machine and said to the young man, "You have one last chance. Once the knife goes down, you will lose your natural arm forever. From now on, whether you like it or not, you will have to use a prosthetic limb, so..."
"I understand, I understand. Let's get started quickly." The young man urged impatiently, and then winked at his companions, expressing his happiness for the robotic arm that was about to be replaced.
Carol finally stopped talking and pressed the lever.
The blade slashed down quickly.
Flesh and blood are so fragile in front of metal. In just a blink of an eye, the young man's entire arm was cut off.
The young man immediately showed a painful expression.
But I don’t know if it was the effect of the potion just now, the injury didn’t cause too much bleeding, so the young man didn’t faint directly.
Moreover, the machine did not allow the young man to remain one-armed for too long. Soon, it began to help him install the robotic arm he had bought.
Honestly, just looking at this picture, it’s hard to believe that Tianqin and Rhine are from the same era.
After some operation, the young man successfully installed the mechanical arm. He subconsciously wanted to stand up and show off to his companions, but Carol held him down: "Wait, the 'lock' is not installed yet."
The young man was stunned and didn't react for a moment: "Lock? What lock?"
"What lock are you talking about?" Carol glanced at the young man. "The specifications of this prosthesis are already military grade, so it will naturally be equipped with a 'lock' to prevent you from using it to hurt Tianqin... Don't you know this?"
"Oh, of course I know. Isn't this common sense? I just didn't think of it for the moment." The young man waved his hand and urged again, "Then hurry up."
"It's ready." Carol patted the young man's shoulder and said impatiently, "Let's go."
The young man immediately left happily, and his flattery could still be heard until they walked out of the store.
From beginning to end, he never even looked at his severed arm again.
It was thrown there like garbage and then thrown into a metal bucket by Carol.
The blood from the arm dripped onto the edge of the metal bucket, as if it had been eaten.
"Next." Carol said to the person behind him.
The next step was to repeat the same operation, with one young man after another cutting off their limbs, replacing them with new prosthetic limbs, and then leaving happily without looking back.
Arm after arm was thrown into the bucket, like feeding a fat man who was hungry.
Finally, it was Gerard's turn.
Carol said without looking up, "It's different from your time. You used prosthetics to protect the rest of your body, but they don't... Times have changed."
Gerald asked, "You know me?"
Carol then raised her head and looked at Gerard: "No one in that era would not know the Knights of the Evening Star."
Gerard was silent for a while, and just as he was about to speak, he heard Carol speak again.
"You are here for Clerk No. 44, right?"
(End of this chapter)
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