I, Zhongli, wander the world

"Listen to my explanation!"

"It's your fault if I don't listen!"

"Is my whole heart a lie!"

"You lied to..."

Snapped.

Edogawa Ranpo, with a thrush on his head, turned off the TV.

The young detective, who was writhing all over after watching the stomachache TV series for a few minutes, leaned on the seat, with a dull expression on his face as if he had opened the door to a new world, and he didn't even notice the potato chips in his hand spilled on the ground.

"...There is really nothing to see." After a while, he murmured softly as if talking to himself.

"It's really hard work, Mr. Orange."

The hard-working Zhongyuan Zhong didn't want to talk.

The ochre-haired boy squatted on the ground leaning against the wall, his expression was the same dull expression as that of his friends far away in the detective agency, his eyes were staring straight at the completely darkened sky, and next to his ears were the escalating quarrels of the two adults .

Rimbaud was indeed explaining peacefully at the beginning, trying to explain his thoughts clearly.But Verlaine, who was fixed in place, refused to listen, not only refuted from his own point of view like a hedgehog, but even involved Zhong Yuanzhong, who was squatting aside, into the center of the topic.

"I betrayed you for Chuya." He tore open the scar between the two of them again with a sharp voice, "As a human being, you will never understand my thoughts, only Chuya is my only kind ! If I hadn’t fallen into suspended animation at that time, I would have killed you!”

Rimbaud took a deep breath, "The matter of Mr. Zhongye is a continuation of the mistakes that have been made all along, and it is my problem. But Paul, you should have told me before that."

"Why, are you coming to teach me again?" Verlaine sneered, "What is this time? Preventing problems before they happen? Trust between partners? Rimbaud, I admit that every action you make is sincere, but that's it. It's the sincerity that makes me sick!"

What he said was really unforgiving, even completely negating the bond of friendship in the past, Zhong Yuanzhong also rubbed his ears that were about to go blind, and then turned his attention to the other side.

"This machine has a dream." Adam adjusted his voice system to be impassioned like a speech, "This machine will set up an agency composed entirely of machine detectives, and use the superior search capabilities of machines to help humans!"

"Oh? It's a good idea." Zhongli, who has no prejudice against artificial intelligence, nodded approvingly, "Do you have any ideas or clues?"

The robot who opened the topic reached out and said "three", "There are three prerequisites for realizing dreams, more artificial intelligence companions, high enough status, and superior abilities."

"A Ph.D. in artificial intelligence is trying to find a way. Status is linked to performance, and performance is related to one's own ability. So this machine is now working hard to improve itself, and has read many books written by great human beings. By the way, this machine is currently studying Martin Lu De King, quite rewarding."

Zhongli thought for a while and said, "If it's just the bibliography, I have some recommendations here, which may be good reference plans. Do you need them?"

"Thank you very much for your help, Mr. Zhongli. If you don't mind, please type the directory on the portable keyboard on the back of your hand." Adam stretched out the hand that opened the keyboard kindly, and a 3D image popped up on the side of the palm thoughtfully. Projection display.

Oh, even the title has changed to "Master Zhongli", and the honorifics are also used correctly. It seems that the Japanese module of this robot is quite good.

Zhongyuan Zhong, who had already heard two completely irrelevant topics from the adults on both sides, complained in his heart expressionlessly.

Zhong Yuanzhong also began to regret why he followed out.

Is this the price of wanting to see his half-brother?

--"Feel sorry."

The keywords in a calm tone flowed into the ears, and Zhong Yuanzhong, who was almost numb, immediately listened attentively.

"Maybe this apology came too late, but I can still tell you with my own mouth, and you can listen to it with your own ears." Rimbaud smiled bitterly, "I obviously called myself a partner, but I have never noticed I'm sorry for your pain."

"...What's the use of saying this now." Verlaine snorted lightly, "The next step is to capture me back to France, right? Send me to the laboratory, put on a harness, wash away my thoughts and become a useful weapon without thoughts... ..."

"Will not."

"It's not up to you whether you can enter the laboratory or not."

"I mean, I'm not taking you back to France."

"……what?"

Verlaine finally met Rimbaud's eyes.

His espionage skills were learned from Rimbaud, which naturally included micro-expression analysis.He could see pain, regret, and determination on the face of his old partner.

But only without the imagined hatred of being betrayed.

"We won't go back to France." Rimbaud said calmly, "You can go to the countryside of Japan, the beaches of Australia, or the oak forests of the United States. Let's go around the world."

"In those places, there are no people who look at you differently, and there is no organization that orders you. Although you need to hide your whereabouts, it doesn't hurt with our capabilities. You can get real freedom."

Verlaine looked him up and down with unfamiliar eyes, as if meeting his former partner for the first time.

As espionage workers, the ability may vary, but there is only one thing that must be passed, and that is the absolute sincerity to the country.

He knew how much Rimbaud loved his country.

"You lied to me." He said dryly.

"I……"

Rimbaud's words were drowned in the fireworks that exploded into the sky.

"Huh? What kind of celebration?"

Zhongyuan Zhong also looked up at the fireworks in full bloom in the sky, and murmured to himself suspiciously, the crystal powder that drifted down after the fireworks passed away was reflected in his pupils.

The expressions of Rimbaud and Verlaine changed at the same time.

But faster than them was Zhongli's movement. The man who was talking to Adam raised his hand and turned it over almost without hesitation. A large amount of rock elements instantly condensed a jade shield on Verlaine's body, blocking all the powder out.

The petrification on Verlaine's body was also lifted at the same time, but he, who was supposed to escape immediately, didn't make any move.The man was stiff all over, looking at the powder flying in the sky in disbelief.

"how come……"

The sniper attack from a distance came at this moment, and Rimbaud immediately stopped the attack with his supernatural power, and shouted anxiously: "Go first! Paul, don't worry about this, go first!"

Another bullet came from another direction, and the impact shattered on the shield, and some powder floated down from the broken core.

"It finally appeared." Zhong Li calmly looked at the powder in the sky, his fingers moved slightly.

The metal powder was attached to the elements, and fell instantly like a thousand weights, bypassing the bodies of everyone present and smashing fine pinhole-sized marks on the solid concrete floor.

"Mr. Zhongli, did you anticipate this attack?" Rimbaud stood in front of Verlaine, looked around vigilantly, and kept asking Zhongli.

A lance piercing the rainbow was condensed in Zhongli's hand, and he also stood beside Rimbaud, "Mr. Rimbaud, you might as well think about it. Nearly three years have passed, why did you suddenly think of capturing Verlaine in Yokohama?"

Why did he suddenly have this idea?

Rimbaud was startled.

Stimulated by Verlaine, his memory has actually been fully restored as early as the first year, and he naturally knows the identity of Chuya Chuya, who once handled his commission, and knows that Verlaine will definitely stay for the boy.

The reason why he didn't think about driving people to Yokohama was because he was afraid that Verlaine, who was already on the tip of his horn, would be stimulated and the situation would be completely irreversible.

An opportunity to change your mind...

"I...received a piece of information." Rimbaud said in a low voice.

Originally it was just an ordinary intelligence collection, but he accidentally discovered the investigation report of the Huangbatu experimental subject living in Yokohama. That peaceful life made Verlaine, who had been unable to catch him, think uncontrollably. If Verlaine, who insisted on his identity, saw ...is it possible to change some of my thoughts?

"However, there is no possibility of this level of information spreading out." Zhong Li said, "For the benefit of the government and local forces in Yokohama, they have jointly blocked information about people related to me. If you pay attention, you will find that there is something about me. The information is the most detailed, below that, it is bound to be impossible to investigate."

"Not to mention casual investigations like yours."

So it must be deliberately guided by people with ulterior motives.

"Just now I learned from the chat with Adam that the reason why Europe sent him to hunt him down was because he received a report that the target would appear in Yokohama." Zhong Li glanced at the robot whose hands turned into guns, "If you make a temporary plan How did Europe know about the plan?"

Only the people behind the scenes who have grasped Rimbaud's thinking trajectory can accurately know the destination and arrange completely unrelated forces to enter the game in advance.

Rimbaud gritted his teeth and stopped another bullet, "Do you want to deal with Paul?"

"No." Zhong Li stabbed the spear into the ground, "The target is me."

Silent vibrations spread under the ground, and a bright yellow light flashed past the sniper point in the distance.

"'Secret of the Gentle Forest'... They want me to return to 'that' form." Verlaine, who barely recovered from his subconscious fear of metal powder, looked at Zhongli, "I need that gesture to test... Zhongli, yours real identity--"

He couldn't go on.

Verlaine looked down in disbelief. On the wrist not covered by the sleeve, an auto-injector was deeply inserted, and all the contents inside had been injected.

Sensing the surroundings through the feedback of the earth, Zhongli suddenly turned his head, and the expression on his face changed for the first time.

An ordinary aura within the range of perception disappeared at the same time.

Verlaine fell to his knees suddenly, clutching the front lapel tightly with his right hand, groaning in pain.

His powers were out of control.

The ground centered on Verlaine was instantly sunken by gravity, the surrounding gravitational field became disordered, Yu Zhang's shield was shredded, and even the refraction of light began to become blurred.

The gaffe was only a momentary thing. Zhong Li, who realized that he had made a mistake in the information gap, immediately retreated with Rimbaud, who was about to go forward, and Zhong Yuan, who was on the other side, also pulled Adam and ran over.

"What's going on!" he asked loudly amidst the roar of the earth.

"'Secret of the Gentle Forest', that is the way to restore Paul to the form of a monster." Rimbaud said with a suppressed voice, "You should understand that you are pregnant with Huangba, just like you at that time. The shape of the cost source..."

The first and only time Huangba vomited out of control was before Zhongli and Zhongyuan first met.

The incomplete loss of control that time blew up Leibo Street.

Verlaine panted and raised his head, but the expression on his face was unexpectedly calm.

"I will eventually repay the world with pain." He laughed with difficulty, "Just run away, Rimbaud, Chuya..."

"It's too early to say that."

Zhongli put away the spear that was originally used to mobilize the earth.

He took a step forward and stared at Verlaine with those golden eyes, with an unprecedented seriousness inside.

"This situation is my mistake, and it should be resolved by me." He said softly, "Even if it runs through the world."

The ground suddenly stirred up.

The hard ground squirmed like ooze, and a huge hand made entirely of rock rose from the ground, enveloping Verlaine and throwing it viciously towards the distant sea.

While still in mid-air, Verlaine had already left his human form, and black flames covered the entire sky.The turbulent gravitational field shattered the clouds, and evaporated the sea water it touched into a heavy fog that could not be lifted into the air.

The eight-eyed behemoth with its whole body in flames stood in the sea, roaring through the sky.

After a night of tossing and tossing, it was already the dawn of dawn, but the little sunlight couldn't cover the black magic fire.

Zhongli walked on the sea.

He walked towards the direction of the monster step by step. Even though his figure was so small, he had a majesty even higher than that huge monster.

Wherever it passed, the sea water petrified, the gravity calmed down, and the magic fire avoided the road in fear.

"Sir." Zhong Yuan, who was left on the shore with Adam Rimbaud, also murmured worriedly and expectantly.

Zhongli finally stood still somewhere, and his golden eyes, which had completely settled his emotions, looked at the eight eyes of the monster.

God, it's dark.