Exhaling a plume of white, cold air, Lin double-checked the contents of his notes before closing the notebook and tucking it into his jacket pocket.
Since Lin wanted to know everything about that day, he had the student start from the moment the two of them left school for the internet cafe, narrating the entire process. He insisted on a blow-by-blow account, including any abnormalities noticed while gaming.
Many of the details allowed Lin to form a few hypotheses, but the most noteworthy part was the statement the boy had made.
"I... I saw it." His expression flickered between light and shadow. After saying those words, he bit his lower lip hard.
"Saw what?" Lin guided him intentionally.
"I saw, when he slumped over the keyboard..." The boy's hands trembled slightly as he clutched his head. His pupils contracted, and his breathing became rapid; his youthful face was contorted with abject terror. "He was... he was smiling... He didn't actually pass out instantly like the rumors say... I'm certain he was staring at me and smiling at that moment..."
"It was like he became a different person... I thought he was going to lunge at me and bite me to death the next second! Yes! Bite me to death! That look in his eyes... it couldn't have been human!"
"I! I! I..." He stammered incoherently, his hands waving wildly in the air, the chaos in his eyes gradually spreading across his entire gaze.
"Alright, that's enough."
A powerful, calm voice pierced through his confusion, causing him to freeze.
Lin tapped the tabletop with his pen, producing a sharp clack-clack sound. "Let's skip that part for now. Start from when you finished school."
After listening to the entire process and asking a few more questions, Lin let him go.
As expected... he didn't fall into a coma immediately, and it was as if he had been replaced by someone else...
Lin looked up, squinting at the dense foliage. In this season approaching winter, the leaves were withered and yellow, drifting down from the branches one by one.
As a fragile leaf vein struck his body, it shattered into pieces.
"Don't you find this situation familiar?" Lin asked Elysia, who had just spat her bubblegum into a trash can.
"...You mean the person who previously occupied your body?" Elysia mind was just as sharp. "Thinking about it, they are indeed very similar—specifically the traits of a coma and appearing to be a different person."
This was exactly what Lin was worried about. He had a premonition that this might be a problem of "consciousness"—a challenge the Fire Moth had never encountered before.
What exactly is consciousness? Whether it was the information given by Yama or the abilities displayed by Aponia, the answers were extremely vague, bordering more on metaphysical questions.
"Let's go."
"Wait a moment, Lin."
Elysia smiled charmingly, her gaze firmly locked onto a specific spot. "It seems... some 'people' aren't very welcoming of us."
Within the shadows, several silhouettes were quietly drawing closer.
"I'm telling you..."
Erwin couldn't help but raise his voice, speaking with great dissatisfaction to the person beside him who had done absolutely nothing. "Could you please help out? We're on a two-person mission, but why am I the only one doing any work?"
The person laughed shyly. "Well, I don't really know how to do this stuff... How about this: I'll give you a 20% discount if you buy things from my shop in the future?"
"This isn't a matter of discounts... Wait, what shop?"
She puffed out her chest confidently. "Though it hasn't reached that scale yet! I'm going to collect all sorts of treasures at HQ in the future. Then everyone can come to my shop to buy things. Hehe, then I'll have money—shiny, sparkly money..."
Erwin slapped his forehead weakly, looking at this daydreaming girl. He didn't know whether to first criticize why one would need to earn money inside Fire Moth, or criticize the fact that she was already developing potential customers.
However... this is Vice-Adjutant Lin 'sister.' Maybe I should look after her a bit more...
Indeed, Erwin and Pardo had been paired together, responsible for investigating incidents similar to the "1:15 AM Video" in the Far East. He knew this girl who was pushed into high-intensity training by Lin every day; he had heard her call him "Brother Lin," and Lin called her "Pardo."
Erwin found it quite surprising. In his heart, Lin was always the symbol of propriety and seriousness. No matter who it was—even the current Captain Elysia—everyone called him by his full name. He had never heard anyone use a term as intimate yet informal as "Brother Lin."
So, having the chance to be on a mission together, Erwin couldn't resist asking the question he had hidden in his heart for a long time: "What is your relationship with Vice-Adjutant Lin? Why do you call him Brother Lin?"
"Hmm? Relationship? Brother Lin is just Brother Lin," Pardo replied, puzzled.
"..."
Is that just another way of saying they are very close?
But once the actual investigation began, Erwin truly learned what it meant to be a "spoiled child."
Pardo didn't even know the basic protocols for mission execution. After arriving at the branch, she didn't check the mission briefing. She was completely ignorant of what to do, where to do it, or whom to look for.
"Brother Lin said to just ask you if I have any questions," she replied innocently.
"..." Fine. Since Vice-Adjutant Lin had entrusted him with this responsibility, he would take it on.
As a side note, Erwin had also been present at that banquet, but his presence was so thin, and the topics discussed by the invitees seemed to be on a different level, so he had hidden in a corner and eaten noodles all night in a daze.
However, he was flattered to find that Lin actually remembered him and had even given him a small gift.
Even more surprising... that gift was a "holy grail" sold by a certain artist at a doujin convention that was currently impossible to buy—a collector's item with a price but no supply. He had no idea where Lin had found it.
"Nagazora City, Chiba Academy..." Erwin easily found the destination.
Nagazora was the site of the Third Eruption, and the Sixth Eruption had occurred right next to it. Having been baptized by the Honkai twice, it had stubbornly been rebuilt, though its population was nothing like it used to be—transforming from a prosperous city into a relatively quiet place.
However, there were still as many students as ever. They entered the school easily using their privileges.
"Wait for me here." Erwin looked at Pardo with a headache; her face was written with curiosity about everything new. While she didn't cause trouble, she wasn't useful either; he could only treat this as taking her out for a tour. "I'll go find the designated target to gather information and be back in a bit."
"Alright, I'll wait for you here."
Erwin breathed a sigh of relief and then walked quickly toward a student to ask for the location of a certain classroom.
Pardo stood under the shade of a tree, looking at the passersby with utter boredom.
Just waiting like this, huh...
Just as Pardo was so bored she wanted to count the clouds, the corner of her eye caught a flash of light. A coin was lying under the bushes by the road, gleaming in the sunlight.
Her eyes lit up, and she pounced on it immediately.
"What good luck, hehe..." She squatted down, reaching out with a grin to pick up the coin.
Snap.
Suddenly, a hand reached out from the bushes and grabbed her arm.
"Okay, thank you..."
After finishing his inquiry, Erwin turned back to check if Pardo was still in the same spot.
But...
The space was empty. The girl had vanished into thin air.