Chapter 92: Are you looking at that one opposite?
The cog train stopped at an empty and silent platform.
The car door opened slowly.
Then noisy conversations began to emerge from the carriage.
"Ah, this month's salary is not enough."
"What do you want to change?"
"I want to exchange it for a mechanical shoulder guard. It's the one that came out three days ago. You should know what model it is."
"I think I should know, but isn't that model similar to the one you have now? It doesn't have any other functions except glowing at night."
"What are you talking about? Isn't it enough to be able to glow? Just think about it, at night on an unlit street, you can just take off your shirt and you will be able to glow."
"Ah, that's true... Damn it, now that you mention it, I want to change it too, but I just got new leg parts last week..."
Gerard walked out of the car, and the door slowly closed behind him, blocking out most of the noise in the car, and the only sounds that could be heard were indistinct.
"You changed it so quickly..."
"That can't be helped. Besides, I'm nothing. I heard that guy..."
As the gear train slowly started and drove away into the distance, it took away the last bit of brief noise and returned silence to the empty platform.
Gerard looked at the sign in front of him, on which was written the name of the station - "Rim Station".
Bai Wei's gaze lingered on it for a moment. Logically, such an ordinary platform name was not worth his second glance, but he could see that the station sign had been covered, and there was another word underneath it, which was its past name. The meaning of that title in this world was also very simple and straightforward.
"hero".
This made Bai Wei realize where Gerard had come to.
"It seems like you are going back to your hometown?" Bai Wei asked leisurely.
Now Gerard had no way to refuse to answer any of Bai Wei's questions. He could only nod and say "yes", then stop looking at the sign and start walking inside.
Unlike other stations, all the facilities in this station are very old. Of course, this is understandable, because the maintenance table posted at the exit clearly records the time of the last maintenance - 236 years.
"I say, this place is a bit too stingy." Bai Wei's voice sounded in Gerard's mind again, "Just because you once lived here and committed a crime, does that mean everything about you should be treated specially? What happened before is fine, but it's a bit strange that such a large platform is not maintained at all."
"Because this is not a place where I have lived alone." Gerard began to explain again. He walked out of the platform and stood in front of a street passage. He stopped briefly and let Bai Wei look into the distance with his vision. "This is where the entire first generation of pioneers lived."
This is a residential area.
But unlike the lively and fashionable steampunk style of residential areas in other districts, this residential area looks very ordinary.
It has far fewer metal parts than other areas, and most of the parts are old and rusty and unusable, just randomly piled up in twos and threes. There are few people in this area, and you can't see many people walking around. Even if there are, they are mostly children. They cast their eyes on Jellal with curiosity, wondering why this guy who looks so strange came here.
It's more like a cemetery than a residential area.
"Do all the members and their families of the pioneer troops of all generations, that is, the Xiaoxing Troop you are in, live here?" Bai Wei asked.
"Yes." Gerard nodded, and then stepped into this place that he was once very familiar with.
Bai Wei was also observing this desolate land that seemed out of place with the entire Tianqin.
In the game, the Tianqin map is also relatively large, with many places to run around. But the game is a game after all, and from what Bai Wei has observed so far, the Tianqin map in the game is definitely not even one-tenth of the real Tianqin. At least Bai Wei has never been to this place.
So this place is also relatively new to Bai Wei.
It was desolate now, but that didn't mean it was desolate ten years ago. Unlike the "Devil" troops, the first generation of pioneer troops, the "Evening Stars", were regarded as heroes in Tianqin, as can be seen from the previously covered station sign. Ten years ago, this was definitely the most prominent residential area in Tianqin, as can be seen from the various facilities on the street that were so dilapidated that they could not be used.
Obviously, this was the benchmark set by Tianqin.
But is the purpose of this benchmark just to make people admire it?
Bai Wei, who knew the plot, obviously had more knowledge. He said to Gerard with a half-smile, "Tianqin gathered the entire pioneer army in one place. The most direct reason is... to prevent possible pollution from spreading, right?"
Jellal paused, "That's part of the reason."
"Heh... is it really just part of the reason? I think it should be the main reason." Bai Wei slowly expressed his opinion, "The pioneer troops are in direct contact with the contaminated area. For ordinary people, you are too 'dangerous', so the best thing is to gather you together and 'watch over' you, so that if there is any change, we can react in the first time. For example, ten years ago, you and the entire Xiaoxing were wiped out in the deepest part of the contaminated area, and claimed to have the order, but you have no memory, so in their eyes, this is the most direct evidence of contamination."
Bai Wei paused as he spoke.
"I'm afraid that until now, Tianqin still believes that you are contaminated, but they can't find any evidence. Various contamination tests have no effect on you. No matter how you look at it, you are 'clean'. According to Tianqin's rules, you cannot be executed if you are not contaminated. But this does not mean that they can't do anything. You are not contaminated, but are others contaminated? Those who did not come back could not prove their innocence, so they were labeled as rebels, and this once heroic area naturally became the current... um, what was it called?"
"Rim Station."
"Ah, you don't actually have to answer this question. I was just being sarcastic."
"I will answer all your questions," Gerard replied, "This is the deal between us."
"Haha, that's true." Bai Wei raised Gerard's eyebrows, "So what I just said is correct?"
"...Basically, yes." Jellal said, "Although many people say that I am a rebel, according to the rules of Lyra, I am not a rebel yet, so I can still serve in the Skeleton Force... This is the iron rule of Lyra, and no one can break it."
When Gerard said that iron rule, he heard Bai Wei's undisguised mocking laugh.
"Iron law? Don't you think your words are funny?" Bai Wei said, "I won't talk about what I saw. As far as I know, there are countless people in this city who want to kill you in the past ten years. Even if they use the rules to kill you, they are still killing you. Doesn't this alone violate Tianqin's iron law for 'innocent people'? If you are guilty, you die. If you are innocent, you don't need to bear any responsibility. This is the so-called iron law, right?"
Gerard was silent for a while, and then slowly said: "You have too many questions, I can't answer them all."
"I've already told you that I'm just mocking you. You don't need to answer." Bai Wei said lazily, "But since you want to answer so much, just give one."
"you say."
"What is the most important thing to you?" Bai Wei asked a multiple-choice question, "Rules, truth, or life?"
This question made Gerard's expression flash with a hint of silence. It was obvious that he did not expect Bai Wei to suddenly ask such a question.
He stopped and thought about the question seriously, but in the end, he shook his head and answered sincerely: "I don't know."
"Don't you know? This can be considered an answer." Bai Wei said with a smile, "But I think you will know it one day. When that time comes, remember to tell me."
Before Gerard could answer, he heard Bai Wei say again.
"Ah, I think I've seen your old home."
Gerard was also stunned, thinking that how could Bai Wei know where his home was when he had never been to this place?
But when he looked over, he understood.
Because among this row of old houses, there is one that is the most dilapidated and worst, and even half of it has collapsed. When you get closer, you can see all kinds of spray paint, with words like "The culprit should die" and "Give me back my husband".
"Well, it seems that the people here still have a grudge against you." Bai Wei asked, "Was it the woman who stabbed you before who did it?"
"...It should be more than that." Gerald said, "Everyone here should hate me."
"You are quite self-aware."
Bai Wei thought of the woman named Shana again.
In fact, it was not entirely a surprise that Jellal met Shana in the Tower of Babel that day. In the game, Shana is a character that is fixed in the Tower of Babel. She would tell everyone that her husband Herme died in the polluted land, and pointed out that it was all Jellal's fault. She would also beg for help from the player and ask the player to kill Jellal, but Jellal had already died in Som City at that time, so this was destined to be an impossible task, and it only allowed players to understand the character of Jellal from a side perspective.
There is still a difference between games and reality, but in reality, Shana does work in the Tower of Babel. As long as Jellal stays on the first floor long enough, she will always meet her, so that was also Bai Wei's little calculation against Jellal.
Bai Wei thought that the appearance of Shana would bring some changes to the old antique Gerald, but he didn't expect that the opportunity for change would be such a simple and clear stab.
But it's broad daylight now, so I probably won't meet that woman.
"Do you want to go into your own home and take a look?" Bai Wei asked.
Gerard shook his head, "That's not necessary. I'm here to find Helmer."
Then he walked directly into a house next door.
…It turns out that these two people’s houses are next to each other.
Bai Wei suddenly remembered the night when he first came here. When Gerard wanted to use the old testing instrument to hurt himself, the testing instrument had reported the order of succession, that is, to whom the inheritance would be given after his death. At that time, Helmer's name was ranked second.
Now judging from the houses next to each other, the man named Hermer did have a very good relationship with Gerard. No wonder Hermer's wife was so devastated after the accident.
Since there were only a few people in the entire residential area, the house was not locked, and Gerard easily walked into the home of his former comrade-in-arms.
"I say, I don't quite understand why you came directly to his house to look for him." Bai Wei said indifferently, "Even if it is really your comrade who survived, it is unlikely that he would go home to live, right?"
"It's impossible for him to go back home, otherwise I would definitely know." Gerald said, "But he loves Shana very much. If he really comes back, he will not leave Shana alone."
"...Are you sure?" Bai Wei said, "That Miss Shana obviously has mental problems. Doesn't that mean he didn't come back?"
"He may have his own reasons for not being able to show up in front of Shana." Jellal pushed open the door of Shana's room, "but he will definitely not be able to help himself and do something."
The room was very messy, with all kinds of things piled up, and it didn't look like the room of an adult woman at all.
Most of these piled-up things were "junk", similar to the things piled on the workbench in Gerard's house, and they were obviously Helmer's things.
In the middle of all this waste is a bed on the ground.
This layout makes it seem as if the owner of this room can only fall asleep surrounded by these wastes.
Gerard began to rummage through the pile of waste, like an old man collecting junk.
Bai Wei still felt that Gerard's idea was a little strange. He said lazily, "To be honest, I really don't think you can find anything useful in here. Besides, don't you think that sneaking into the widow's room in broad daylight and looking through her personal belongings is a bit..."
"Found it." Gerald suddenly said.
"ah?"
He looked at Gerard, and with his slightly trembling hands, he picked out a piece of scrap that looked relatively new from a pile of scraps.
A white mechanical sound box.
"What is this?" Bai Wei asked.
"'Sounds of the Lyra'." Jellal turned on the music box, and a melodious melody immediately came out of the small music box. In this melody, Jellal spoke softly, "This is what Shana has always wanted. Helmer mentioned it to us many times."
“So he bought it?”
"No, because originally it was just a concept speaker and has not yet been officially produced. The date of its official production should be..." Gerard turned the speaker to the back, on which was engraved the production date - 241.
Bai Wei asked: "Couldn't she have bought it herself?"
"No." Gerard said in a deep voice, "Because she was already the wife of the rebel at that time. According to the rules, she had no way of obtaining Tianqin's new creation."
"Your Tianqin rules are really ruthless." Bai Wei narrowed Gerard's eyes, "In other words, in your opinion, this music box was bought by Helmer?"
"I can't think of anyone else except him," Gerard said. "After that year, everyone was distancing themselves from everything about Eve Star. No one would help her."
"So, he really came back?"
"This is the only possibility I can think of." Gerard's expression became complicated. For a moment, he didn't know whether he should be happy or have other emotions, but he knew what he wanted to do. So after a brief period of confusion, he gradually became determined, "I want to find him. I want to know what happened to him."
Bai Wei asked, "You've looked through so much junk, can't you find a photo of him?"
Gerald shook his head and said, "The photos of the rebels are a great shame to Tianqin and must be destroyed."
That is to say, he kept a few photos at the beginning, and Bai Wei had seen them, but Bai Wei couldn't remember who was who.
"So does that Herme have a beard, blond hair, and small eyes?" Bai Wei asked.
"Well..." Gerald subconsciously wanted to answer, but soon felt something was wrong, "Why do you ask that?"
"Because I saw a man in the house opposite who was secretly watching us." Bai Wei said calmly, "Moreover, he was watching for quite a long time. According to our deal, I should tell you."
Gerard was stunned for a moment, and when he realized what Bai Wei was talking about, he suddenly stood up and rushed out of the room immediately.
(End of this chapter)
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