CH 52.2

Jiang Yiyi, doubting his current sense of aesthetics, moves back to sit on the sofa.

After a long, hard gaze at Lin Yi, to the point that he is looking uneasy, he says, “draw it.”

Lin Yi does not dare ask why. He moves to the table, grabs a pen and starts drawing without delay.

Jiang Yiyi then changes channels again. The interlude has also diminished his interest in teasing Lin Yi, so he simply says, “he is interested in me.”

Jiang Yiyi pauses, chuckling, “of course, same as everyone else.”

“Only, as the Warden, he is especially interested in me.” Jiang Yiyi summarily concludes the previous discussion, “he does not care for the possibly fictional ‘perpetrator,’ but me.”

“Me, who might be the only completely evolved Extraordinary.”

Lin Yi pauses, “he wants to sway you, Doctor?” Then Lin Yi modifies what he just said, “no, I mean, he wants to study you?”

“Didn’t you say Magician mentioned something earlier?”

Jiang Yiyi unceremoniously reveals what Lin Yi felt odd but couldn’t pinpoint, “that they have walked on the path of studying evolution for so long, that they do not even know where they have strayed to end up in this predicament.”

“Compared to Mentor, Magician really can be described as lacking in the way of words.” Jiang Yiyi analyses the countless implied items in the sentences like it’s second nature to him, “he said far too much, enough to piece together their true objective.”

“Stargaol is founded in response to Extraordinaries, and did everything they have because of that.”

Jiang Yiyi has a distant look on his face, like he is peering at the unspoken conflict long lost to history, “they may have found something, or maybe not; regardless, they have become trapped in a predicament.”

Lin Yi stops once more, “which is why they want to work together with you?” Puzzled, he wonders, “I don’t really understand, though. If they are that desperate to get out of a predicament, then why not simply…” use forceful means?

Doctor is here, right on their turf, fully at their mercy. While a price may have to be paid in terms of lives——But throwing without even an attempt seems far too conservative an approach.

“It is because they have had their lesson.” Jiang Yiyi has already made that conclusion before. In fact, since entering Block One, since Mentor appeared, he is certain that they have had a lesson memorable enough to severely restrict their approaches when handling Extraordinary affairs.

Without that lesson, Jiang Yiyi would not be inside Block One like this, but in a laboratory, or even lying on an operating table.

Without a lesson harsh enough learnt, Mentor would not have been here, and holding a talk.

The weak at the other’s mercy earns no pity from the powerful.

“Lesson…” The tone is drenched in marred stains of blood. It is heavy.

“We will have an answer soon enough.” Compared to Lin Yi’s current elegiac mood, Jiang Yiyi looks almost cold——The same as he is, most of the time.

Truly, Doctor is always able to view all with disdain.

Lin Yi finally puts his pen down, also feeling impressed by Doctor’s continuous calm. A powerful calm——Which, before meeting Jiang Yiyi, Lin Yi has never felt. Now, though, he finds his feelings summarised in this sentence.

Is Doctor’s calm possibly just like anyone else’s calm?

Jiang Yiyi does not know what Lin ‘the Self-Brainwasher’ Yi is thinking about in his mind yet again, and walks over to look at Lin Yi’s drawing.

Being an undercover agent means Lin Yi would boast more than average skills in a lot of areas, such as painting.

Jiang Yiyi looks at the drawing depicting a person not much different from the mirror before, and turns to Lin Yi.

“Jian Si is nowhere near my equal?”

Lin Yi nods quite naturally.

Does he really have a distorted sense of aesthetics? Or maybe this is part of the game’s odd background settings?

“You do not find this mundane?”

“Of course not?” Lin Yi looks at the painting, then at Jiang Yiyi, before speaking with shame, “my drawing skills are too inadequate…”

Looks like it is certainly the game’s setting now. Jiang Yiyi has his answer, and ends this topic that has lost his interest, “open the door.”

Did Doctor make him draw his silhouette just to admire himself?

Lin Yi wonders inside, before swiping the door open without hesitation. When the cell door slowly opens, he suddenly realises something, “Doctor? Are we going outside?”

“Not outside.” Jiang Yiyi is looking at the door reading ‘1-007’ opposite his own cell, “but to visit a neighbour.”

The one always laughing strangely? Lin Yi looks at the card in his hand, unsure if he is even authorised. Mentor did say that earlier, though…

Knowing Mentor is the Warden himself still hasn’t diminished the trust Lin Yi has of him in the subconscious.

He walks a few steps, and stands in front of the door. He does not hear the usual laughter, but in fact, 1-007 is silent.

There seems to be tension in the air.

Lin Yi looks at the electronic lock, and extends his hand with the card in hand.

The lock reads the card, checks the authorisation, and beeps. The long-shut door begins to open.

Lin Yi hears something before he can react.

A ‘schwoop’ sound of something slashing through the air at a high speed.

There is a familiar scent of blood.

Lin Yi’s reaction is finally kicking back in——He takes a step back, and maintains a distance from the person.

He did not appear suddenly, but has been standing behind the door the entire time, waiting for them to open the door.

“Hahahaha.”

Cackles the man who is now licking the blood on his hand.

His hand was in the air.

Putting Lin Yi back where he stood earlier would put where the hand was——On Lin Yi’s neck. A lethal position.

Unfortunately, the act which would have taken Lin Yi’s life was stopped by someone else——As there is a blade punched into the man’s palm, almost through.

“A very passionate welcome indeed.”

The man’s eyes look past Lin Yi, moving onto Jiang Yiyi, still standing within the confines of room 1-002.

Almost as soon as he sees Jiang Yiyi, his eyes brighten, and he is mesmerised, “you are so pretty.”

Lin Yi steps to the side quietly, giving Doctor plenty of space to move about.

A silver light dances across Jiang Yiyi’s fingers. He chuckles where the danger is performing a ballet with the shadows.

“Hss.” The man gasps, “don’t do that. I won’t be able to stop myself killing you.”

He lowers his head to lick the dripping blood from his palm more efficiently, “we finally get such an interesting little guy. He’d be angry if you just died.”

Lin Yi is surprised——At how he seems indifferent to Doctor’s terrifying qualities. Anyone who sees Doctor with a blade in hand should be able to feel it.

Yet, not only did he not seem to notice, but he… is dismissive of Doctor?

Truly, a madman. Lin Yi backs off some more, in anticipation of blood being splattered.

“Come try, then.” Jiang Yiyi is also curious, how powerful an Extraordinary with a room of such a forward number in the heavily fortified Block One would be.

His smile fades, as he calmly tells the blood-licking man, “try to kill me.”

Author’s notes:

As previously noted, Lin Yi’s Organisation has always been a part of Stargaol——While Mentor clearly belongs to it as well, and is higher-ranked, being Lin Yi’s teacher.

And also, note the last part of Chapter 50,

【Lin Yi corrects his answer, “Doctor is very interested in him.”

“Or in them, I suppose.” Magician mumbles, before putting his flashy smile back on, “it is certainly rare to hear Doctor being interested in anything, but I’m afraid…”

He stops when noticing the person entering behind Lin Yi, “why are you here?”】

Note Magician’s wording. ‘But I’m afraid…’——Means he was going to refuse, but stops, because Mentor suddenly walked in to interrupt him.

Then this part.

【“Sure, since it is Mentor asking…” Magician changes the topic back with a smile, “what were we talking about again?” He feigns recalling, “Doctor is interested in other people?”

“I do have to make sure I submit an application for what interests even the Doctor.” Magician is quite impassioned, “Doctor is a psychologist as well, is he not? He may be able to treat the frenzied quite effectively.”

Wasn’t he quite firmly against this suggestion in the beginning?

A somewhat confounded Lin Yi looks at Mentor in reflex.】

Magician switched his opinion around in no time, which is why Lin Yi felt 【he [was] quite firmly against this suggestion in the beginning】

Then, the final sentences implied that Mentor is clearly in a superior position to Magician.

【After which, a few seconds of silence follows.

Mentor puts his hand on his nose, gripping slightly, before expressing a disappointment at the only other person left.

“You have not grown in the slightest these years.”】

The bottom floor has a lot more buried flags to uncover; I’ve tried my best to write it out more clearly——Even if it is mysterious when first appearing, but I’ve tried to clear them up as much as possible through Doctor’s conversation with others.

Because I really can’t find an appropriate time to explain a lot of exposition——So poor Lin Yi is selected to be the dunce of the day… and ask all these things. （Smile.jpg） Meaning Doctor is continuously reevaluating him to be dumber than he thought.

When actually…（GoesQuiet.jpg）【Spoilers, and therefore nothing further will be said】

I realise I truly love my flags.

You can hide a lot of devils in details, which are difficult to point out one by one in the author’s notes section. I only picked the most important ones, and have given up on the rest.

Not to mention some of the flags are so old——I’ve forgotten already…

Although I feel like this should be very obvious, but if any good reader is still confused by the apparent contradiction in Chapter 50.

【Magician pushes down his non-existent cap, “Mentor, we need not your opinion on Stargaol affairs.”】

This is a blatant attempt by Magician to distance Mentor from Stargaol, hiding their relationship, trying to make Mentor look like he does not work with Stargaol——As the fact that Mentor = Warden was not yet exposed.

Of course, the final part of Chapter 51 may not have resonated much with my dear readers, but Lin Yi, the ‘outside’ observer, certainly did.

【The end of that conversation consisted of extremely implicative messages. Removing all the unnecessary packing material leaves behind one clear message – insinuating that Mentor’s true identity had to do with Stargaol.】

The final part of the discussion in Chapter 51 was a discussion of what was almost practically an open secret already.

【“it is truly unfortunate that you appear to be quite busy…”

“if Doctor is so inclined, I am always free to oblige.”

“Stargaol should have a more urgent need of you though, don’t they?”

“compared to you, Stargaol is nothing but ordinary.”】

Jiang Yiyi has already figured out who Mentor is, and Mentor knows Jiang Yiyi has already figured out who he is.

Almost feels like the author’s notes is getting longer than the story itself, doesn’t it?

This was a summary of the important flags set up in the previous chapters——Because they all tie into each other, I can only explain during this chapter.