"Hesta."
Chiba chuckled in a deep voice, and Hesta involuntarily shrank her shoulders - Chiba almost never directly called her by her last name like this.
"Do you know who Ava Morgan is? Do you think your little moves can really hide from her eyes? Don't get too happy too soon!"
Chiba issued a rare blunt rebuke.
"I tell you what Ava will do. She will pretend to be deaf and mute first and collect evidence secretly. When the time comes, not only you, but also the forces behind you that encourage you will be slaughtered by her. Jing—you don’t know Ava at all!”
Hesta listened carefully and remained silent.
In fact, she was observing Qianye's reaction with some curiosity at the moment - the old man still kept the photo with Qianye in her bedroom. They should be very familiar with each other, after all, they had been together for a long time. , Ava is Chiba's assistant.
From Chiba's words, she heard another Ava. Although Hesta had never seen this Ava's image, it was not inconsistent with her knowledge of the old man.
More importantly, this is Ava in Miss Chiba's eyes.
When Chiba found that she couldn't pry Hesta's mouth open with all her words, she finally realized that the matter might be far more serious than she thought - in such a short period of time, this person used unknown methods to complete the attack. Jane's brainwashing.
She was a little upset and very angry.
"Did the person behind you make any promises to you?" Qianye's eyes were like an eagle, "Why did he want to help you - this can always be said, right?"
"……Can."
On this point, Hestad was really impressed.
"I asked her the same question," Hesta said softly, "She said, 'Some friendships based on common interests or interests often occur between men, but not women...'"
Just at this half sentence, a flash of surprise quickly flashed across Chiba's face, like a bolt of silent lightning. She listened to Hesta's retelling in a slow tone, but felt that the snow seemed to be falling more quietly.
"She asked me, 'If I have to give a reason, is this enough?' I didn't ask any more."
Hesta looked at Qianye and realized that Qianye seemed to be in a trance.
"Miss Chiba?"
Chiba did not respond to Hesta's soft shout. She stood up in the silent cemetery, and the previous impatience and annoyance were swept away from her eyes.
She heard an answer that was so unexpected that it took her a while to digest it.
"...Did she tell you personally?" Qianye turned half sideways and asked.
"Huh?" Hestad didn't understand what Chiba's question meant.
"Did she tell you herself, or did she have someone else relay it to you?"
"I said it myself," Hesta replied.
"Have you met her in person?"
"...Have you seen it?" Hesta answered without much confidence. She vaguely felt that Chiba seemed to have a guess about who was behind her, but...
Chiba's expression calmed down.
"I see," she murmured, "no wonder it can get around Ava's eyes."
Wait, Miss Chiba...
Did you get something wrong.
Hesta was a little unsure whether to explain more, and she was a little confused about Chiba's "understanding".
"When you came to me, was it the advice she gave you, or was it your personal idea?"
"It was my own idea." Hesta replied, "If it is not necessary, I don't want you to get involved..."
Chiba sneered.
"...but now I have encountered a very serious obstacle. If no one can cooperate with me, I will not be able to get over it."
"What?"
Hesta brushed the hair on the back of her neck, "In addition to my cheeks, I have wounds in many places on my body. Although they are all small injuries... they are easy to find. Once asked, I can't explain where these injuries came from. .
"It just so happens that I have to replace 'me' in the independent prison before the end of today. During this period, I can use some means to create some shocks and rationalize these wounds, but someone must cooperate-"
"Why do you have to do it before the end of today? Can't you wait until the day after tomorrow?" Qianye frowned, "Wait until the day of the trial and take action directly in the internal court."
Hesta shook her head, "She and I have agreed before that if anything goes wrong in today's replacement operation, we must both find a way to remedy it immediately, otherwise there will be unforeseen 'catastrophic consequences'."
"What consequences?"
"I don't know." Hesta replied, "She said she couldn't disclose it."
Qianye let out a "ha" that seemed to be a smile but not a smile, "Is this also what the person behind you meant?"
"...Maybe," Hesta looked at Chiba, "Does Miss Chiba know 'that person' very well?"
"Do you understand? I don't know either." Qianye's eyes stared at a point in the void in front of him, "Stop talking about this, tell me your plan."
Hesta was stunned and didn't speak for a long time.
"What's wrong? You haven't even thought of a plan yet?"
Hesta shook her head quickly. She suddenly felt a feeling of anger in her heart, and she didn't know how to explain it.
From last night to now, she has been thinking about how to explain her complicated past to Qianye. They are like a twisted vine taking root in her heart. Every branch involves flesh and blood, and it hurts at the slightest touch. Heartfelt,
How to restrain myself from telling all this, or to explain selectively, is a huge problem.
However, when she really stood in front of Chiba, she didn't ask a single question about why she wanted to kill Hoffman and others, why she committed the crime in such a cruel and public way...
She doesn't need to reveal her wounds or explain the logic behind her actions. From the moment they meet, all of Chiba's doubts and worries point to the future, to dangers that haven't happened yet - Chiba is already on her side. .
...It was the same with Ava back then.
"What’s wrong with you?"
"It's okay, I just suddenly thought of...I..."
Hesta took a deep breath and quickly adjusted her emotions - time passed by and now was not the time to express gratitude.
"I do have a plan."
…
At 5:15 in the afternoon, Victoria had returned to Tan Yi's reserve base from the core city.
The underground hospital at the base has a number of safety cabins specially prepared for mercury needles. Each safety cabin is like a huge capsule. Once locked, it can only be opened from the inside. They can spend the dangerous period from the time the mercury needle leaves the bullet to the time when they return to normal physical fitness safely in the safety cabin.
This kind of almost luxurious security can usually only be provided by core cities and reserve bases, so throughout the whole day, Victoria barely exited bullet time.
This kind of freedom is very rare in other places - Mercury Needles usually end bullet time immediately after confirming that the surroundings are safe and start to rest, so as not to encounter any accidents later and have to enter the second half of bullet time.
Getting into the second half was scary. Because this means that after the bullet time ends, the mercury needles will inevitably fall into the "completely restricted time", and that weak period of several hours is extremely difficult to pass away.
This behavior of constantly entering bullet time and exiting at the right time is called a "mini-restart".
