Rene laughed in disbelief, as if he was very surprised by this question, "You...how could you think that - I absolutely -"
"Rene," Hesta interrupted him in a low voice, "Although today is only our second meeting, do you know what I admire most about you?"
Rene fell silent, but his expression softened.
"You know how to assess situations," Hesta stared at him, "and you know how to show loyalty."
Rene took a deep breath, and his voice suddenly became very soft.
"Ms. Hesta, you really speak to my heart..."
René moved his seat a little further towards Hestad so that he could talk to Hestad in a lower voice.
"On this ship, neither Mr. Roboglier nor Gobelin, nor the general over there, none of them can protect us. We... we... ant-like characters... our whole lives. They all have no name, and in the end——"
"Why belittle yourself," Hestad withdrew his gaze expressionlessly, "History is jointly created by unknown people, and unknown people are the cornerstone of this world."
Rene clasped his hands tightly and was moved for a moment.
"So tell the truth," Hesta whispered, "and never lie to me."
"...You know things like a god." Rene murmured, "I...yes, I did deliberately test it yesterday."
"Testing what?"
"I saw a document, to be precise, a two-page document, specially for the internal preview of the Shengming crew. Just the morning before yesterday, all the crew members received a secret letter. I read it in a hurry. , I couldn’t read it all, but the entire crew has received a promise from the chelate on the ship. As long as they follow the instructions in the document, the chelate will not cause trouble to any staff members.”
"Where are the documents?"
"It was in a bar on the second floor, and the light was dark. It was attached to a wall in the staff lounge. I couldn't take it with me, and the phone I had on me at the time was out of battery, so..."
"You killed a crew member," Hesta whispered, "to test what?"
"Maybe...it can't be said to be a test," Rene's eyes were half-closed. "It's a very complicated mood. You know, the crew member was very rude at the time...There are too many people here, or we-"
"Go on."
Rene's throat moved, "She didn't allow us to go up to find Mr. Robbeglier. Even if we threatened to do something to her, she wouldn't allow us to go to the seventh deck... I was a little angry at the time, but when I thought about it, The documents I saw - these crew members would see a bulletin of the day every day. I suddenly realized that the reason why she stopped us tightly was probably because there was something on the top deck that was inconvenient for us to see, so... "
"So you killed her and went up to the top deck with the others."
"Because she kept threatening to call her colleagues over! I couldn't let her leak the news. If these crew members were doing something shameful behind their backs, wouldn't others have time to cover it up if she made such a fuss? "Rene's eyes widened, "And there was an explosion on the deck below - one of the Thorn Monks named Ashley died. That was the best opportunity, so... I made up my mind."
"Okay, make a decision immediately," Hestad nodded, "Then on the seventh deck, did you find any suspicious clues?"
"Ms. Hestad," René said in a pleading tone, "can I ask you a question first?"
"explain."
"Can we get your blessing?" René stared at Hesta's face intently, not prepared to let go of any slight change. "You don't have to tell me some clichés to coax me, just tell me whether you can or can't. That's enough - if you think we are an eyesore, we will disappear immediately and never disturb you again, we swear -"
"How should I understand your question?" Hestad gently rubbed his chin with his left hand. "If you are asking about 'can' or 'can't' in terms of ability, you must know the answer, otherwise there is no need to approach me yesterday - you Are you worried that I don’t have the will?”
"Exactly..." Rene's cheek muscles twitched slightly, "After all, you are a mercury needle, you are different from the rest of us -"
"The duty of mercury needles is to fight against chelates. Of course, these explanations of mine may not sound very strong to you, so let me tell you one thing."
Hesta paused for a moment, and everyone looked at her with bated breath.
"No matter how bizarre things happened on the ship during this period, when the Shengming docked, someone would always be responsible for the successive murders. As a mercury needle in the third district, I was on my way to the new district. Sometimes, I really need some, um, cases... to prove that my own abilities have not deteriorated because of my injuries, you know what I'm saying."
Rene's eyes brightened slightly, "You mean..."
"Take a step back. If I didn't have the will, why would I bother to come here this morning? Why don't I just lie down in my own safe house? 'Protecting civilians' is not an empty talk for me, as will everyone here. My very important witness." Hesta raised her head slightly, "Of course, we are back to the original point. There is an important premise for all this -"
"We will never lie to you!" René immediately rushed to speak, "We are absolutely loyal to you! We will always be loyal!"
Hesta lowered her eyes and smiled, "It doesn't take forever."
Rene shook his head eagerly. He lowered his voice and said sincerely, "If we can land safely, you will be the savior of all of us... Of course we will always be loyal to you!"
"Okay, let's get to the point. What did you find after boarding the seventh deck?"
The muscles in Rene's face twitched a little again - they seemed to do that every time he felt uneasy.
"There's nothing up there...ma'am."
Hesta frowned slightly, "What?"
"This is the strange thing. There is nothing on it - no Mr. Robbeglier, no captain, no crew members, no other passengers, nothing, everything is empty... The captain's cabin , Navigation Museum... We looked at all the buildings on the seventh deck, just..."
"Who are all the people who have gone up?"
"The six of us, as well as Agnes and Meyer - you all know them." Rene suddenly remembered something and rolled his eyes, "...were they the two of them who told you about yesterday's 'accident'? "
Just as Hesta was about to speak, René quickly explained, "Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to spy on your sources - I just want to remind you that if they express their loyalty to you, it will only be them. The plot...There is no way Sister Agnes will betray Gobelin."
(End of chapter)
