“Alright, alright, let's stop talking about this. I've already bared my soul to you; there's nothing else left to say.”
Evans paused. “But what was that method you mentioned earlier? I'm actually quite curious. Can you tell me?”
“Huh?”
“During the negotiation with Pops, you said ‘maybe there's another way,’ but you never followed up on it.”
Evans's tone carried a hint of anticipation. “Just to satisfy my curiosity, what exactly is the method?”
“Ah, it's nothing,” Ren Yi replied casually. “It's just about the problem you mentioned earlier... the problem of a short life being unable to accompany an everlasting existence.”
“I'm very lucky. The family and friends I cherish don't seem to face this issue.”
“But for less fortunate situations, there are indeed other ways.”
Evans leaned forward slightly.
“You can't just keep resurrecting them forever, can you?” Ren Yi tilted his head.
“That would exhaust you to death. Besides, is a resurrected person still the same person? This kind of thing is too philosophical; it doesn't suit you.”
“So?”
“So...” Ren Yi's voice carried a mischievous, almost punchable tone. “Young man, it's time to teach you what ‘Instances’ and ‘NPCs’ are.”
Evans froze.
The black liquid squirmed around the space for a moment, like the materialization of confusion.
“Instance? NPC?” He repeated the two terms.
Since there were probably no video games in this world, Evans was completely bewildered.
“Uh, it's a bit complicated...”
Ren Yi began to explain.
“Think of them as our business locations and business models. They can also preserve things permanently and allow infinite resurrection.”
“But the difference between this and the so-called New Era is that this thing is bound to you. It doesn't require any external objects.”
He paused, looking at the gradually solidifying black liquid around them.
“Isn't this way simpler than ‘resurrection’? And you don't have to worry about headache-inducing questions like the ‘identity of the soul’.”
Evans fell silent for a long time.
A white slit suddenly cracked open in the black liquid before him; he was smiling.
“Are you serious?”
“Do I look like an Anomaly who jokes around?”
“You always do,” Evans's muffled laughter came from beneath the black liquid. “But this time, it seems you aren't.”
The two monsters stared at each other, one laughing until his black liquid surged, the other laughing until his white mist scattered.
If a normal person were to witness this scene, they would probably be scared out of their mind on the spot.
Oh, you mean the cross on the floor? It seemed to have passed out for the moment; we can ignore it.
“Alright, we've chatted long enough. Let's get down to business.”
“We still need to review the negotiation from earlier.”
The cloud of grayish-white mist surged, as if rummaging through something.
A moment later, he pulled a mushroom out of the mist.
Four or five small mushrooms huddled together, growing from a single stalk. The edges of their caps glowed with a faint fluorescence, looking quite lush.
But the moment Evans saw the mushroom, the black liquid surged again. This time, the movement was violent, like the materialization of intense anxiety.
The black liquid surged violently.
Evans stared at the mushroom for three seconds, forcing himself to calm down. “It grew? Did Pops lie? Why didn't you tell me earlier?”
“Don't panic. He didn't really lie,” Ren Yi added, his tone flat.
“The one who lied was you.”
The air suddenly fell silent.
“...Huh?”
“Those words of yours: ‘I ate all the Anomalies’.”
Ren Yi said in a ghostly tone, “It almost stuffed me to bursting.”
The surrounding black liquid completely froze.
The mushroom lay quietly on the table, its fluorescent glow blinking as if mocking him.
“Ahem.” Evans turned his simulated face away. “Well... it wasn't like...”
“I know,” Ren Yi waved his hand. “Keeping a card up your sleeve. I understand. I didn't say you did anything wrong.”
Evans turned back, the black liquid on his face finally settling. “Then what are we reviewing?”
Ren Yi pointed at the mushroom in front of them.
“The current situation is that Pops didn't lie,” he said, emphasizing each word. “But not lying is actually the biggest problem.”
Evans frowned, the black liquid on his face twisting into a cooperative wrinkle.
“Do you remember how you dealt with this mushroom?” Ren Yi asked.
Evans's gaze fell on the mushroom as he recalled the scene.
“The truth, and... concealment?” he said tentatively.
Ren Yi nodded.
“Every single word Pops said was true, but he didn't tell the whole truth.”
“And there's a very critical question... How did he know this mushroom was on you?”
Evans's pupils contracted sharply.
“Assuming he has the ability to detect the Anomalies on you, he should have assumed you had no means of lie detection.”
Ren Yi continued, his pace steady as he unraveled the details.
“In that case, proper concealment would have actually helped guide you into cooperation. After all, you couldn't verify his sincerity, could you?”
“But he chose to do exactly this instead,” Evans took over.
“Yes.” Ren Yi picked up the mushroom to examine it. “He insisted on telling the absolute truth, as if he knew all along that this thing might be with us.”
“Furthermore, don't you think his knowledge of the City of the Sky Lake—things like cutting-edge technology and containment protocols—is a bit too deep?”
...
At that very moment, in the room they had just left, Pops was quietly drinking his lukewarm tea all by himself.
He had also felt the vibrations from the massive explosion outside just now, but he seemed to have expected it, remaining completely unperturbed.
Once the vibrations subsided, he gently set his teacup back on the table. Then, bending down, he retrieved a small communication device from the bottom drawer of his desk.
The device was only the size of a palm, ancient in design, and its casing was covered in scratches.
A green light glowed on the screen, indicating a new message.
Pops opened it.
It was a completely blank message, with no sender and no content.
Only the receipt time lay quietly on the screen, like silent lip-reading.
Pops closed the communication device. Then, picking up the completely cold tea, he downed it in one gulp.
Rate on N.U.
