"Doctor, what did you say?" Rit looked at Lin in confusion. He couldn't understand why Lin had suddenly reversed his former friendly attitude. His eyes were sharp, as if a bullet could shoot out at any moment. He didn't look like a researcher at all; he looked more like a...
Soldier.
"I am not a Doctor." Lin instantly stood up, a completely different person from a moment ago, looking down at Rit. "The ones you killed, whose families you took away, they were the Doctors."
Upon hearing this, Rit's expression changed. Lin's silhouette against the light overlapped with the shadow of the person he briefly fought that day: "You... you are—"
"Bang!"
After a muffled thud, the small space became quiet again.
Rit was utterly terrified. Those frozen black eyes stared intensely into his. The arm pressing his mouth against the wall had a force more terrifying than before, while the other hand held two fingers suspended above his eyelids. If he moved even slightly, Lin would instantly thrust his fingers into his eyes.
The light fixture shook. He couldn't see any expression on the backlit Lin, except for those terrifying black pupils.
"Woo, woo—"
Lin extended his fingers forward slightly, causing Rit to immediately give up struggling.
"Where is the Cocoon's data?" Lin grabbed a tissue from the desk, wiped the blood from his left ear, and put on his helmet, the viewport lighting up. "Either give me a copy or recount it to me."
He slightly loosened the hand pressing down on Rit's mouth, but the hand poised to poke his eyes moved closer. This made Rit, who was considering resistance, grit his teeth and give up.
"I don't have that."
"Then tell me where it is."
"I..."
"Think carefully." Lin warned in a cold voice at that moment.
After a moment of silence, Rit said hoarsely, "The Cocoon's data is in the main server of A-3 Sector, but my clearance is insufficient."
"Come with me."
Lin's hand moved down a short distance, then abruptly snatched Rit's hand, which was quietly reaching for his gun holster. He placed his foot on Rit's other hand, then drew his handgun, pulling Rit in front of him and pressing the gun against his waist.
The disarming process was blindingly fast.
"Walk."
Lin's low-pitched voice was like the sound of hell.
"Tap, tap, tap..."
Rit walked in front, and Lin followed behind, concealing the gun pointed at him with his coat. The two maintained a similar pace toward A-3 Sector.
"Although it sounds like a justification, I was only executing a mission." Rit walked slowly forward, explaining to Lin behind him. "I understand why you're after me, but you and I are both members of the Moth of the Fire Chasers. Are you going against orders?"
Attacking the Moth of the Fire Chasers' Fifth Branch was an order. The prohibition against attacking or privately infighting was also an order. These two contradictory commands came from the same organization.
There was no reality more absurd than this.
"That is not your concern."
The force behind him increased, coercing him not to speak further.
"What will you do with me after you get what you want?" Rit gave a somewhat self-mocking laugh when he asked this. "You must understand that this incident can't be concealed."
The fact that Lin was able to find this place indicated his logical mind was sharp. He must have already considered how to deal with Rit. Therefore, Rit could more or less guess his own fate.
Lin replied with an unreadable tone: "I never kill people."
"Alright, that's all for our chat today, Mei."
The fox-eared, pink-haired girl stood up. The two blades at her waist chimed softly.
"Okay, good, see you next time, Sakura." Mei also nodded to Sakura. Although Sakura's speech was also difficult to understand, she was usually not deliberately so. She was quite gentle and intellectual in person. It was hard to imagine she was once in the same squad as Kalpas and had a good relationship with him.
Even if it wasn't for solving a mystery, Mei could still chat with Sakura about many things. They had many shared topics, such as swordsmanship and cooking.
"Hmm?" Mei was momentarily stunned by an incredible sight.
A helmeted man quietly walked out of the Elysian Realm. After a quick scan, he walked straight towards the rest area.
Lin and Sakura appeared simultaneously.
Strange. Doesn't Sakura sense Lin? Why didn't she leave before he arrived this time?
And is Lin walking this way?
Mei wanted to warn her: "Sakura..."
"Sakura."
Sakura's hand, resting on her sword, trembled slightly. She perked up her ears like a truly startled fox and turned to look at Lin, who had already walked up behind her.
"Lin?" Sakura took a step back, widening the distance between them. "Why are you..."
"I need to talk to you today."
Lin stated his purpose directly. He took out the classified document Mei had seen before: "You..."
At that moment, he saw the sitting Mei, paused for a second, and put the document away: "Are you busy? I'll come back for you later."
Huh?
Lin's words made Mei even more confused.
Why is this helmeted man so considerate today? Isn't he supposed to be on bad terms with Sakura?
"No, I'm not busy..." Sakura actually threw Mei a look, a clear appeal for help. "What did you want to see me about?"
Mei, who was originally planning to leave, had no choice but to stay put.
Well, she did receive a lot of care from Sakura too.
"...Why are you still here?" Lin turned his head to Mei, who was visually scrutinizing him.
Mei lifted her smooth chin: "Don't you think you're scary?"
Lin turned to Sakura: "Am I scary, Sakura?"
"..." This left Sakura unsure how to answer.
Did he really think he wasn't scary in Sakura's eyes?
It was strange, come to think of it. Sakura wasn't the timid type, so why did she show such a sense of apprehension only toward Lin?
Sakura's confusion made Lin realize something. He looked at Sakura, then said to Mei: "Raiden Mei, come with me for a moment."
"Ah?"
"...I 'request' you to come with me for a moment."
Mei's eyelid twitched. She followed Lin to a spot further away from Sakura. She stared at Lin oddly and asked, "What is it? Is it about Sakura?"
"Yes." Lin took out the document again. This time, he handed it to Mei. "I'm asking you to give this to Sakura and have her help translate the general meaning."
"Why don't you just give it to her directly?"
"She probably doesn't want to see me."
"Uh..."
Mei's mind was getting more and more scrambled.
"If she doesn't want to, forget it. Just give it back to me next time. I'm leaving." Lin turned to leave after saying this.
Mei asked his retreating back: "Do you two have some kind of history?"
"Nothing, just that she probably hates someone like me."
Mei touched her nose.
Sakura said Lin hated her. Lin said Sakura hated him...
What exactly was going on?