Abyssal Wanderer

Chapter 251 NO.00fa: Shocking top secret information

Hanel just shrugged Jim's question.

"There are too many possible reasons, including internal struggles, operational errors, and even personal grudges... It is a waste of time to dwell on this. The motivations behind many major events are often so ridiculous that they are jaw-dropping. The reasons are not important. The key is that they have now exposed their flaws here."

Although the words were spoken very confidently, Jim understood that they were obviously perfunctory.

"If you really think so, why did you come to me?"

Therefore, he does not intend to continue this boring game any longer.

Using the Orphic Path mind-reading and empathy abilities to deduce the true nature of the case through motives, this is what he is good at. If it weren't for this ability, there would be no need for the other party to ask me for help.

"I need a trustworthy local as a guide to accompany me in my work here, and you are just the right person."

Hanel said, putting down the empty cup.

That's all.

The representational topology of her facial muscles told Jim this.

"A local you can trust."

Jim pointed to himself and repeated, then continued:

"I'm glad that I can still get such praise...especially after I left you alone."

He finally said it.

As soon as he said these words, it was like the second boot finally hit the ground, and he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief.

Ever since the two met again, this sentence was like the elephant in the room, standing between them.

In the previous conversation, both of them tacitly refrained from mentioning this matter - which made the atmosphere of the conversation as if they had never experienced separation, nor were they separated by nearly twenty years. .

Compared with a real relationship, they are more like ex-husbands and ex-wives who are still unclear about each other after their divorce last month. And they may be forced to work together temporarily due to work reasons.

To be honest, Jim didn't want to continue to maintain this atmosphere...but when the elephant in the room was driven to start pacing, he spread his legs to trample himself into pulp. No matter how much he pretends to be stupid and pretends that the elephant doesn't exist, it has no meaning anymore.

So he finally spoke out.

But Hanel's reaction was surprisingly calm.

She fiddled with the cup on the table, listening to the sound of ice cubes shaking in the cup, and then said softly:

"I remember saying, I don't blame you for your choices."

"You also said at that time, let me not look back."

Jim said and stood up.

The hard shell he had maintained all this time seemed to have cracked a crack - and something was about to overflow from that crack.

And he didn't stop.

"I followed your advice, even if it made me look like a coward... I tried to forget the past, I left Skyfire, I left the Eden Settlement. I gave up everything I held on to in the past, Come to a new city and try to convince yourself to start a new life.”

He raised his head, and two ghost shadows appeared on both sides of Hanel, one on the left and one on the right - they were the mother and son they had killed with their own hands.

Their bodies below the neck were carefully sliced ​​open, as if they had been tortured, leaving only the color of blood that made people twitch their stomachs. And their organs are only fixed to the framework that can hardly be called a "body" by the omentum and mesentery.

Jim could even clearly see the heart that was still beating.

kill me.

Their eyes said so.

Jim resisted the urge to draw his gun and shoot the two flashback ghosts.

Before they pulled the trigger, they had vowed to avenge the mother and son - no matter who was behind the scenes, no matter what the price.

but……

"It was you who told me that there was no need for us to fight such a hopeless battle...and I followed your advice and even admitted that I was a waste."

Jim poured himself another glass of wine and raised his hand in a toast to Hanel... and to his past self.

The other party remained silent.

Jim didn't pay attention and drank all the liquor in the glass. Then he continued:

"Then, today, nearly twenty years later, you came to me wearing the uniform of the Anthroposophical Ethics Supervisory Committee. As if this long time did not exist, I hope that I can help you like your colleague...

"To be honest, it's not that I don't want to maintain such a tacit understanding with you. But even if I do feel guilty, it doesn't mean you can always treat me as a fool."

Hanel's hand shaking the ice stopped, she raised her head and looked at Jim and said:

"Then what do you want to know? How did I survive back then?"

Jim shook his head.

"What I want to know is why you survived."

he asked, looking closely into Hanel's eyes.

This sounds like the same problem, but there are some subtle differences.

As soon as these words came out, Hanel, reflected in Jim's eyes, instantly put away all the signs that could reveal her inner thoughts - at this moment, she seemed to have turned into a soulless doll.

"Because I have also figured out that my persistence in the past is meaningless...so I also don't plan to die."

She answered expressionlessly, and then continued:

"This is what you told me."

Jim could not tell whether this was true or not.

To him, other people's true emotions are as clear as the status bar written on the NPC's head in the game.

However, the intersection between people is always maintained by a certain degree of lies. For Jim, an absolutely honest world is like replacing all his vision with the transmission state of X-rays, which is crazy.

During those most difficult years, Hanel was the only bright spot in his life - among the people he knew, only Hanel, who had been adjusted and transformed during the same period, could hide his true emotions according to his own needs. .

And this only person whom he could not completely see through became the only person he could rely on to prevent his mental index from completely collapsing.

Even now, Jim still can't tell whether Hanel is lying, just like he did in the past.

But he hoped not.

After all, if the other party really chose this path because of his departure, then he would feel at ease and take all the responsibilities on himself.

It's a strange mentality - when you realize that it's all your fault, you can actually breathe a sigh of relief.

"Do you have any more questions? Or do you need me to tell you everything I have experienced in the past twenty years?"

After answering Jim's question, Hanel said impatiently.

The next moment, she broke away from the soulless doll state and returned to her previous appearance.

"I do not want to know."

In response, Jim replied solemnly.

Then he continued:

"The only thing I have learned in the past twenty years is not to indulge in mourning for the past... But I need you to be able to explain to me what will happen next... if you really want to ask me for help."

This was to compensate for the debt he incurred twenty years ago when he left Hanel waiting for death alone in a dry well.

"What is your real purpose?"

Then, he asked.

Hanel was silent for a long time.

Finally, she sighed.

"Why Nord Resettlement Area?"

she asked.

"What's the meaning?"

Jim didn't understand the other party's question for a moment.

"I'm asking... why did the Orpsian Mystery Cult choose the Nord settlement area? Is there anything special about this remote place, anything that can attract them?"

Hanel asked.

This can be regarded as a characteristic of her daily handling of cases - she always likes to answer questions with questions.

Jim shrugged and said:

“That emerging symbol of resistance, the spirit of Icarus?”

Hanel shook his head in disappointment at this answer.

"That's just an appearance... Sure enough, the comfortable life of the past twenty years has made you forget the first lesson we learned when we joined the 'Sky Fire'...

"Human civilization has actually ended a long time ago. Today, we are all just survivors of the 'Great Impact'! Compared to the evolution of human intelligence itself, what really plays a decisive role in this world is actually the abyss of the dark web. The relics left by super-artificial intelligence.”

Then, without waiting for Jim to answer, she continued:

"If you think back and realize this, then I'm going to tell you something shocking and top-secret. Something you couldn't even imagine happening.

"Today's Nord resettlement area is replaying the 'lunar eclipse incident' ten years ago."

Hanel said solemnly.

"ha?"

Jim didn't know what he should say for a moment.

And obviously, Hanel thought the expression on Jim's face at this moment was shock.

She lowered her voice and continued:

"It's normal that you don't know... Even the committee was able to confirm this through extremely difficult means - the AI ​​from the super abyss is considered to be the first generation AI after Janus, the goddess of the moon, Hecate. , took action to block the servers in the Nord settlement area.

"So we suspect she found the right horse here."