Did something go wrong in finding the truth on the way to defections?

0.

"Culom, report your location."

"Yes. This is Collom. It has passed through the East A-09 area and is expected to arrive at the destination in five hours."

"Speed ​​up the progress. At all costs, the target must not be allowed to enter East E."

"Yes, Coulom received it."

"..."

"Any more requests?"

"Culom, the task of the Assault Eagle is to intercept and bring the target back to the Sky Garden. Any other incidents are temporarily delayed. In view of the special circumstances, the Sky Garden allows you to use special means."

"...Let me confirm again, are you talking about special means?"

"Yes. The order has been sent to you. This is the highest order of the Hanging Garden. Are there any questions?"

"No problem. I will follow the instructions and bring the wanted criminal JA-02 back to the Hanging Garden. It's over."

"Received. Remember to keep alive. End."

……

The above conversation took place three hours after the former commander of Gray Raven Squad defected.

1.

"Commander, you have been asleep for two hours."

Watanabe stopped there, and you understood what he meant, and slowly opened your eyes.

In fact, you woke up half an hour ago and just kept your eyes closed.The change in your breath when you wake up naturally can't escape the eyes of the transition, but he can't see through it.

On the other hand, you also know that your pretend sleep cannot escape the eyes of the side.Under the premise that the two of you knew each other, one pretended to sleep for half an hour, and the other waited for half an hour.

Of course, you're not really pretending to be asleep.Defecting alone, there are countless elite humans working overtime on top of your head to decipher your position, and countless elite structures behind you will catch up at any time and beat you helplessly. In this case, you even surprised yourself I was able to sleep soundly for over an hour.

It is true that Watanabe's help is indispensable here, and the reason why Watanabe chose to wake you up at this time is because for an injury of your level, two hours is just enough for your body to recover its basic functions.

As expected of Watanabe, he is really reliable.

There was an annoying soreness in your back, shoulders, and neck. You twisted your neck, and the movement of your body tugged at the ropes tied around your wrists. The rough texture rubbed against your skin was unpleasant.Although you knew about your situation half an hour ago, when you actually see this scene now, you still feel a little strange and embarrassed:

You sit on a chair, your hands are tied around the back of the chair, your ankles are tied together, and a few loops of rope around your abdomen firmly bind your upper body to the back of the chair.

The last time I encountered this situation was in the assessment test of Faus.You closed your eyes and sighed inwardly, then looked up at Watanabe.

Even though it was late at night, the leader of the Forsaken was still well-groomed and had a serious face, like a warrior ready to go to the battlefield at any time.

You glance sideways at the table next to Watanabe, where your equipment is lined up: fanny pack, serum, saber, gun, ammo.

...As expected of Watanabe, he is really reliable.

Although from the point of view of interrogating prisoners, Watanabe is a bit too gentle, but now you can only be grateful for this experienced and calm-minded elder—after all, you don’t really want to be treated like a prisoner. Throw cold water or use lynching.

"As expected of you." You couldn't help sighing.

Watanabe didn't speak, and stared at you with two different-colored eyes full of scrutiny.

"The rope is a bit tight." You moved your wrist behind your back, and your fingers touched the bandage on your palm. "You even helped me bandage it, thank you. I used to have a friend named Bellamy, and your bandaging method is exactly the same."

"It's because you helped the Forgotten before." Watanabe's aura was deep and cold, obviously, he still didn't relax his vigilance towards you, "You groped into my room late at night without alarming anyone. Ambushed me in the tent, and even launched a sneak attack when I came in, such a suspicious behavior, I can't tie it up too much."

"I've learned my lesson." You turned your head to reveal a bruise between your neck and shoulders, "You almost stabbed the knife into my neck, didn't you? Fortunately, it was replaced with a knife handle in the end, but I was still beaten by you fainted."

The hand strength of the structure is really not covered.Although Watanabe had already withdrawn his strength at that time, the distance between you was too close, and the inertia of the knife handle alone knocked you unconscious.Even though it's been two hours now, you can still feel a sharp dull ache from that bruise.

Watanabe didn't intend to continue chatting with you, he walked to the table, picked up a serum and shook it at you.

"The amount of serum and ammunition is wrong. If it's just a mission, the Hanging Garden won't give you so many supplies. Did you apply for these supplies, or did you steal them like the arrest warrant said?"

Watanabe's expression was as serious as when you first met, and you immediately recalled the bad memories of being photographed in the yellow sand by Vasago.You sighed in your heart, and in a blink of an eye, you put away your familiar tone and attitude, the corners of your mouth were straightened, and your eyes were calm and composed.

"For the goal of fleeing alone, the most scarce thing is supplies. In order to obtain supplies, I will definitely go to the nearest East E District, which is the territory of the Forgotten. The Hanging Garden will contact you as soon as possible. I should have thought of it earlier. .You are also laying an ambush waiting for me, right?"

"You may think so."

Watanabe's tone was cold, as if you were not the Gray Crow Commander who had gained his trust, but a lackey of the Hanging Garden—in fact, you are no longer worthy of the name lackey.

Since Watanabe received the arrest warrant for the Hanging Garden, he must have seen the content on it: revoke all your positions, revoke all your authority, you are no longer even inferior to the bottom staff.

"Answer my question." Watanabe looked at you condescendingly, "Did you steal these extra supplies?"

"You answer my question first." You refused to back down, and even used the tone you used to refute those stupid and selfish doubts during the meeting: it was clearly a question sentence, but your tone was as calm as a statement sentence, "When I came over I found out that you sent more people on the defense line than before, and this is preparing to catch me, right?"

A brief moment of surprise flashed in Watanabe's eyes. He seemed to have not expected your attitude to be so cold and hard, and your tone was like eating a knife, as if you were dealing with the enemy. Even listening carefully, you could hear a little provocation means.

He seemed to be thinking about something, and after a while, he withdrew his cold aura a little bit, and said to you: "You should know why you came to the oasis, and you should also know why I am standing here."

You were taken aback when you heard the words, then lowered your head and showed a helpless smile.

"Of course, I know. You didn't hand me over to Hanging Garden while I was unconscious. This is enough to show that you are not my enemy. Sorry, Watanabe... sorry."

"It's nothing, I just hope you can stay awake." Seeing that you are no longer so tense, Watanabe breathed a sigh of relief, "Can you answer my question now? Let me declare first that this is not an interrogation, just in case .”

"I've been tied up like this, isn't it an interrogation?" You smiled jokingly, "Okay, I'm just joking. I'm sober, two hours is not enough to recover, but it's enough for me to sort out the reality."

"Then say it."

"I didn't steal it, those things were on the speaker's desk. I know I shouldn't have taken it, it would only make the frame-up more real, but..."

You fall into the memory, you seem to have returned to the office where no third party is present, the cold air and warm blood stimulate your nerves at the same time, the gray and black floor, the bright red of the blood and the white light of the screen time and time again Line of sight occupied.

The human body whose vital signs are getting weaker and weaker seems to be right in front of your eyes. The familiar saber is stained with blood and falls on the floor. You are sure that it is covered with your fingerprints.Not only fingerprints, but also access records and people you met when you came here can show that you are the only person who has entered the office today.

...you are the only suspect at the crime scene.

"However," you took a deep breath and recalled your rationality. Now is not the time to immerse yourself in the past and feel fear. You must remain calm. Every detail in your memory is important evidence, "I have already I took it and ran away, it’s pointless to dwell on it... I don’t know what I was thinking at the time, obviously I should be more calm, but if someone opened the door and bumped into all of this, I definitely can’t tell..."

"Okay, Commander. As you said, it's pointless to dwell on these things." Watanabe's voice woke you up from the pain and self-blame. His whole body revealed the calmness and composure unique to a leader. It's painful for you, but you have to tell me what happened. Are you sure Hassan was unconscious?"

"..."

Seeing that you didn't speak, Watanabe thought that you were still immersed in the shock and fear of witnessing the assassination of your boss and being framed, and he couldn't help thinking whether the tone just now wasn't gentle enough.

Although you are the leader of the younger generation in the Hanging Garden, you are still a young man who has just graduated from school. Suddenly encountering this situation is like a bolt from the blue, and the one who was assassinated was the boss you have always trusted and respected. Now you What is most needed is reassurance rather than frightening or pressing.

Just when Watanabe was about to soften his tone to continue to appease your emotions, you raised your head, looked into Watanabe's eyes and asked, "Watanabe, do you trust me?"

"..." Watanabe was taken aback, as if he didn't expect you to ask this question, "Commander, I know you are very sad, but..."

"No, listen to me first." You shook your head and interrupted Watanabe, with a sincere tone, as if you were introducing yourself when you first entered Faos, cautious and tentative, "You really, trust me ?"

"...Commander, my trust will not have the slightest impact on the outcome of the matter. The most important thing now is the truth." Watanabe said, but he immediately took a step forward and knelt down in front of you.

Your perspective changes immediately, from looking down and looking up with a sense of distance to looking up close at hand, and you even need to lower your head to see Watanabe's eyes.

The distance is so close that you can even see the scuff marks on his coat and the reflection of you in his eyes: that face has the same facial features as yours, and the eyes are full of pain, sadness and fear. This is definitely not a pair that belongs to you. The eyes of elite graduates such as the Chief Graduate or the Commander of the Gray Crow Squad.

You wait for Watanabe to announce the trial.Now that you are in his hands, how to deal with you depends on his words.

"But I believe you, Commander, and I believe you are innocent."

Watanabe's tone was very serious.Although he usually speaks in such a serious and serious tone, this time it is different. You clearly realize that Watanabe really believes in you, not to appease your emotions, nor to set out the truth, even this sentence It has nothing to do with the two organizations, Forgotten and Hanging Garden, it's just out of mutual understanding between two friends, he chose to believe you.

And...he still calls you Commander.

The tear-jerking plots in emotional novels are nothing more than this, and they are not even as good as the tear-jerking scenes now.You looked away from Watanabe's face, nodded slowly, and said, "So...will you forgive me?"

"what?"

"What I have done...Watanabe, will you forgive me in the end?" You carefully controlled your emotions, most of your tone was calm, but your slightly trembling voice revealed your true emotions: you are very Panicked, and still terrified.

"Are you explaining that you stepped into a trap even though you knew it was a blame game, or did you escape alone without explaining to the team?" Watanabe changed into a relaxed tone, trying to calm down your emotions completely, "If it's the latter question, you should Go ask the Gray Crow team. But first, you have to find a way to return to the Hanging Garden, find out the real culprit, and remove the suspicion."

However, what Watanabe didn't expect was that you shook your head again, lowered your head and said, "No, it's more than that... more than that."

Watanabe frowned and looked at you.Under the broken jacket on your shoulders, the white bandages have begun to ooze blood, and there are many small wounds on your face. Although they have been treated with simple disinfection, the wounds are still clearly visible.

He remembered that when you failed the sneak attack and was knocked out by him two hours ago, you could describe it as disgraced. That embarrassment did not have the legendary demeanor of the commander of the Gray Crow Squad.He doesn't know what happened to you, but he knows that you must have suffered a lot when you came to the oasis with a human body through countless infected bodies.but……

"Commander, there is not much time left for you. It has been five hours since I received the arrest warrant, and the ground troops from the Sky Garden will arrive at some time." Watanabe said, "If you want to Let me help you, so from now on, I need you to answer my questions calmly, can you do it?"

Yes, before venting, there is one more important thing: time is running out.

You closed your eyes and took a deep breath, leaned your back on the back of the chair and sat upright, "Yes, you can ask."

"Very good." Watanabe got up and looked out from the curtain of the tent. After confirming that there were no people or structures around, he turned around and walked to the table, took out a saber from the drawer and put it next to your holster, and then changed Dropped your slashed knife, "Did Hassan lose consciousness when you entered the office?"

"Yes. I felt his pulse and it was weak, but he was still alive. The knife... I mean, the murder weapon," you turned pale, but tried to keep your words logical, "the murder weapon was still with me two days ago In my hand, when I was training with the commanders of other teams, I accidentally cut it off, and I was reluctant to throw it away, so I gave it to the technical department to see if it could be repaired."

"In other words, other people have a lot of time to get your knife." Watanabe said, "Have you checked the knife? I mean the murder weapon, are you sure it is genuine and not a counterfeit? "

"It's the real thing, I'm sure, I saw the team badge. The gray crow team badge is printed on the handle of the knife, the location is very hidden, only the Gray Crow team and I know, and there is also the Assault Eagle." You still have a look on your face Pale, "The fracture has been repaired, at least I can't see the trace of the fracture, it has been repaired very well, as if it had never been broken."

"Have you ever given a knife to someone else?" Watanabe asked.

"No. At least in my memory, no." You frowned and recalled the scene you saw at the time. "The knife at the scene didn't look new. I can't tell if it's old, but I don't think so."

"Human memory always makes mistakes. Think about it carefully, is there anyone you suspect?"

"You mean those who look at me badly?" You shook your head and smiled helplessly, "That's too much. You know, I'm not good at communication, and I'm not used to the way of being an official."

"...Okay. Did Hassan leave any information?" Watanabe continued to ask, "Have you checked the scene and found anything suspicious?"

"No. I didn't check the scene. I smelled blood as soon as I entered, and then I saw the body of the speaker... I saw the speaker lying in a pool of blood. I wanted to ask for help, but after seeing the knife, my My mind became a mess." You lowered your head again, "I'm sorry, if I check carefully, I should be able to find a lot of useful clues. But after I saw that knife... I appeared in my mind It's like being judged."

"Don't think about it. A knife is not enough to support a chain of evidence, and you have no motive."

Watanabe glanced at you, you still lowered your head as if you had done something wrong and were waiting to be scolded.

He felt very strange. Based on his understanding of you, you are not only a genius in tactical command, but also a genius in emotional control. It has been at least five hours since you have been engaged in posting, and this time should be enough for you to regain your sanity, but You just made a statement in the process just now, and you have experienced many mood swings, and you even have signs of losing control of your emotions.It's really not like you.

This is really suspicious.Even knowing that you might be freaking out, your mood swings are still suspicious.

In order to ease your emotions and to test, Watanabe asked half-jokingly: "There is really no motive, right?"

"..."

You are silent.

Watanabe felt his eyes go dark.It's over, is there really a motive?

As we all know, the commander of the Gray Crow Squad and the chairman of the Sky Garden are both teachers and friends. Under this premise, the fact that you killed Hassan is nonsense, but you are asking about the motive time, you are silent.

Watanabe is far away in the oasis, and he has always avoided any contact with the Hanging Garden. If the incident was not so serious that the Hanging Garden contacted him through a special channel, he would not even know that such a big thing happened to the Hanging Garden.Therefore, he really can't figure out what motive would make you kill Hassan.

Watanabe hesitated to speak, but then he realized that you are not such a fragile person, a full five hours is enough time for you to think about all possible outcomes.

You are not an ordinary young man, you are the elite commander of the Hanging Garden, and you have learned from Li before that you are the chief who stood out from countless elites in Faos with unquestionable results, these are enough to make Watanabe Believe me, what he can think of, you can think of too.

Watanabe pulled out a dagger from behind and held it in his hand with a "clank". He looked into your eyes seriously and said, "Although I would like to believe you, these are just your one-sided words, do you understand?"

"I understand what you mean." Your complexion is not so pale anymore, and now you look at Watanabe calmly, your eyes are full of peace, "You can think that I am lying to you. Deception, this subject was taught in school , I have studied well, and my graduation grades are almost perfect. And you also know that from ancient times to the present, no matter when and no matter what happens, human beings are like this... You have a deep understanding, don't you?"

Watanabe frowned, "Do you know what you're talking about?"

"I know. The ground troops will come at any time. I destroyed the positioning device as soon as I got out, but they still have a way to find me. They always have a little trick like this, don't they?"

You saw your own reflection in Watanabe's eyes, that face has the same facial features as yours, but the depths of the eyes are full of black clouds: these eyes no longer belong to the chief of the school and the commander of the Gray Crow Squad, It is the wanted fugitive JA-02 belonging to Hanging Gardens.

"You can hand me over, Watanabe, this is your freedom. You can subdue me as effortlessly as before. You know, my frontal combat ability has always been criticized."

"... Let me ask the second time, are you sure you know what you are doing?" Watanabe pulled out the second dagger.

"Yes, I'm sure." You stared at Watanabe's eyes, the two short knives were finally unsheathed, and the bitter cold permeated the small space of the tent in an instant, and you tried hard not to shrink your neck, "very sure .”

Watanabe gripped the two daggers tightly.

What the hell is the Hanging Garden? Could it be that even the only normal person has been assimilated?If he had known this earlier, he shouldn't have connected to that communication in the first place, what arrest warrant, what assassination, these all happened inside the Hanging Garden, what does it have to do with him as the leader of the Forgotten?

"I'm asking one last time."

Watanabe approached you, and the sharp blade of the short knife rested on your throat. It felt so real and terrifying that you even had the illusion that as long as your throat vibrated when you spoke, the blade would cut your throat Skin, slit your throat.

"From the beginning to the end, you did this on your own initiative, without any coercion, right?" Watanabe said. Last chance to win help from the Forsaken."

You shrunk your neck back, but Watanabe's short knife quickly came close, even closer, as if even breathing would make your skin touch the blade.You rubbed the rope on your wrist unnaturally, then looked up at Watanabe, and Watanabe was also alerting you with the posture of alerting the infected body.You pursed your lips and said:

"You know, if it wasn't for the Pamish virus, I would have been a public speaker. I'm..."

"Watanabe! It's not good, the infected bodies rioted in D-09 area!"

Suddenly, a rush of footsteps came from outside the tent, and then, a hand lifted the curtain of the tent, and a fully armed Forgotten ran in.

Watanabe frowned imperceptibly, and at the moment when he was distracted, you seized the opportunity and kicked Watanabe's knee suddenly.At the moment when the blade was far away from your throat, you stood up with a slight leap, your upper body took the chair behind you and swung the chair legs towards Watanabe's waist!

"Well--!"

The hilt hits your neck again.Watanabe didn't stop this time, your behavior has been judged as an enemy by him, and the reason why it fell on you was the handle of the knife instead of the blade, just because the arrest warrant said to keep you alive - if the Forgotten handed over The hanging garden is your corpse, so this will only deepen the contradiction between these two organizations.

Although the Nightblade body is old, the gap between the structure and humans cannot be bridged no matter what. Even if you have bought yourself as much recovery time as possible through gags and confusing the public, you still cannot fight in front of you. The next time I got a little bit of benefit from Watanabe.Before your consciousness fell into darkness, you sent out that sentence of emotion again:

As expected of Watanabe, he is really reliable.

You lose consciousness and fall at Watanabe's feet, your face hits the ground first, your body hits the ground with a dull sound, and at the same time there is the sound of the old wooden chair legs breaking.

Watanabe withdrew his short knife without saying a word, turned around and said to the Forgotten who was shocked by the scene in front of him, "Why is there a riot in District 09? Report the situation."

The Forgotten pointed at your body lying on the ground with the muzzle of the gun in a daze, "Watanabe, this is..."

"The fugitive from the Hanging Garden. It's nothing, it has been subdued." Watanabe said, "Sure enough, he came to the oasis. I thought it was right."

"Sky Garden? The riot in District 09 was caused by the Sky Garden. They actually cleaned up the infected bodies on a large scale at night. It's crazy." The Forgotten shook his head and said, "The infected bodies in District D-10 seem to be alarmed too. The line of defense is a bit dangerous, and the others have already rushed over. Watanabe, you go over quickly, and hand this guy over to Hanging Garden by the way."

"Stabilize the line of defense first. This guy is a burden, how can you fight with a burden?" Watanabe turned his head to look at you, after confirming that you really lost consciousness this time instead of pretending to be asleep, he turned and walked out of the tent with the Forgotten Man. Their conversation faded away.

"Is it the structure of the Hanging Garden? Who is the leader, do you know it?"

"According to reports from the front line, it's a female construct using a bow and arrow. What's wrong with Watanabe? You don't look very well."

"It's nothing, I just didn't expect that the Hanging Garden would dispatch a cleaning force to chase a human fugitive. It seems that what that guy said is true."

"That guy? The fugitive?"

"...Yes. Don't ask, if you are interested, I will tell you when I come back."

2.

two hours later.

The infected bodies in the three areas of East D-09, East D-10, and East E-01 were all alarmed. Under the joint operations of the cleanup force and the Forgotten, these terrifying numbers of infected bodies were finally suppressed.

In the process of handing over the wanted criminal JA-02, in order to prevent the Forgotten from harboring fugitives, Bianca, the captain of the cleanup force, and Watanabe, the leader of the Forgotten, went to the interior of the oasis territory together.But the moment Watanabe opened the curtain of the tent...

"..."

"..."

"Is this the wanted criminal you mentioned? Sir, I have reason to regard your behavior as interference with my mission, please give me an explanation." Bianca looked around the empty tent, she took a step back and Watanabe Pulling away the distance, it seems that he is ready to shoot Watanabe at any time, "Otherwise I will try to bring you back to the Hanging Garden as an accomplice."

"That guy escaped." Watanabe said succinctly, "All the wanted criminals can run away. Don't you think that Hanging Garden will not hold the cleanup team accountable? If it wasn't for you attracting too many infected bodies, and the East E The district chose to attack by force, and I will not go to the defense line, and the wanted criminals will not run away."

"You are not qualified to blame the cleanup force, sir."

"..."

Seeing Watanabe's silence, Bianca asked blankly, "Are you trying to shirk responsibility?"

"...Bianca, did you come here from East A District?" Watanabe frowned and pointed to the red soil on Bianca's shoulder, "Only East A District has that kind of red soil. But how do you Will it enter the D-09 area? As far as I know, there is a shortcut in the B-02 area that leads directly to the E-02 area, and the Sky Garden will not be unaware of this."

"I naturally have my reasons for doing this." Bianca said, "Please don't change the subject. Now I am asking you about the whereabouts of the fugitive. Please answer directly."

Watanabe frowned even more suspiciously, "Bianca, you didn't mean to let..."

"If you don't know what to say, then I don't mind helping you remove the sound generating device." Bianca interrupted Watanabe. She looked around the tent again, then turned and walked towards the door curtain.

"I don't have time to listen to your nonsense. Since the wanted criminal JA-02 has escaped, there is no need for me to stay here. I will immediately lead the partners of the cleaning team to the East E-01 area. Please inform your men and let them Let go."

"I also hope that you will leave as soon as possible. With you here, the Forgotten cannot rest in peace."

"Each each other."

"...Before I say goodbye, I have a question. Does the Hanging Garden have any direct evidence? Are there any witnesses, or videos?"

"No comment, but please don't meddle in the affairs of the Hanging Garden."

Bianca and Watanabe left the tent one after another.

At this time, the sky had already begun to turn white, and the night finally passed. The hazy white light shone into the tent through the gap in the door curtain. There was nothing on the table, and a wooden chair with a broken leg was lying on the ground next to it. Throwing a few loops of rope, one of the fractures was uneven, apparently worn off.Beside the rope, a piece of broken wood fell, with a bead of blood and a little bit of rope hanging on the sharp wooden thorns.

The morning breeze blew into the tent, and the drop of blood trembled, and soon fell to the ground, dyeing the yellow sand into a rose red color.