Anna shrugged, "As long as you like it."
"Then what is the purpose of your voyage," Hesta whispered, "It can't be, it is to tame the girls who were brought on board by Rob."
"The purpose of the voyage is, of course, to arrive," Anna laughed. "I want to go back to Vyborg for a visit. I haven't been back for a long time. Have you ever lived in the snowfield, Hesta?"
"I have stayed in several snowline areas during previous missions. The longest one... was about seven weeks."
Anna waved her hand, "That doesn't count as life."
"Where exactly is your home in Vyborg?"
Anna narrowed her eyes and thought for a long time, "There is a lake, a large forest, and a very high mountain. What are they called... I can't remember them."
"...There are probably places like this everywhere in the north of District 14."
"There is a road leading to the forest by the lake," Anna's eyes dimmed a little. "That road is full of tombstones of forest rangers. They are all square. Some of them have busts... some consuls are also buried. over there."
"Are there any other clues?"
"I should have written it all in the book," Anna said softly. "It's always easy to forget what is written down...but there really aren't many clues."
"I have also read your book. There are almost no specific place names. After such a long time, Vyborg has changed a long time ago. Even if you return to the port there, how will you find the place where you lived before?"
Anna suddenly laughed.
"why are you laughing?"
"I will definitely be able to find it, but even if I can't find it, it doesn't matter... because as you said, there are snowfields like that everywhere in the north of District 14." Anna's eyes drifted further, "When I was a child, I used to live in a place far away from home. I was lost on a distant frozen lake. At night, with the solid ice under my feet that had never melted, the starry night above my head, and the wind blowing from all sides, four sled dogs and I cuddled tightly together.
"After I left Vyborg, I learned that the ice core of the frozen lake in that area showed that it was at least 420,000 years old. Thinking back to that night when I got lost, everything was different."
Hesta blinked, obviously not understanding what Anna was saying.
"...What's different?"
"The frozen lake that is 420,000 years old, the stars that are millions or even billions of years old..." Anna turned her head, "and the eleven-year-old me."
For a moment, Hesta's eyebrows trembled slightly.
She held her breath involuntarily and recalled the first time Liz talked to her about the Mother City. That night she had tried to find St. Anne's Abbey and the Cevennes on a world map, and Liz told her that these places were too small to be found on a map.
From this, she felt the vastness of the world for the first time.
"The world is deep." Anna whispered, "And I am like an ice crystal in the storm...
"Later, I often recalled that moment, not the moment when I got lost, but the moment when I learned about the formation time of the frozen lake." Anna spoke softly, her voice as distant as her story, "It was from that moment At the beginning, something became different..."
Anna's narration suddenly stopped as she considered the appropriate words in her mind.
"I understand," Hesta continued, "Perhaps that kind of moment only happens once in a lifetime. Once it is broken, it is impossible to go back."
"...It seems that you are not too dull," Anna looked at her, "at least you can understand what I am saying-"
"Is this what it feels like to live in the snowfield?" Hesta also looked at her, "It feels no different from living in Tan Yi's Mercury Needle Base."
"There are so many differences," Anna lowered her gaze and smiled, "The winter in District 3 is never cold enough... If you have ever walked through a snow-covered mountain forest, you will understand what I am talking about. "
Hesta thought for a moment.
"So you are a person with a hometown..." she whispered, "Vyborg is your hometown."
"Of course," Anna said softly, "but sailing on the sea is too slow, and the journey is lonely, so it's understandable to have some fun... right?"
"What are you going back for?"
“Fishing, hunting, living the life.”
Hesta glanced at Anna's legs, and Anna glanced at Hesta's right arm with a subtle expression.
"...Okay," Hesta looked away, "I understand."
Nearby, Putina completed the new mix. She pushed a glass of sparkling wine in front of Hesta. Hesta took a sip and suddenly found that there was no alcohol in the glass of "wine".
She raised her head and looked at Putinna, who blinked her left eye gently - "No need to thank me."
Hesta closed her eyes and raised the corners of her mouth slightly.
The bar fell into a brief silence. Myshkin jumped on the table, walked lightly to Hesta, and sat down with his head held high.
However, Hestad didn't look that way.
"At the beginning," Hesta looked at Anna, "when you boarded Roboglier's ship, did you sneak in, or did you board the ship as a passenger?"
"passenger."
"I knew it..." Hesta murmured in a low voice, "I guess you also have to pass some trials."
"That's nothing."
"Is it easy to get away with it?"
"...It's hard to say. Is it difficult? It's not difficult either, but I can't say it's easy either." Anna said softly, "There are a large number of people to be wiped out."
"Rob told me last night that most of the passengers on the Shengming also passed a certain trial, including people like Rene." Hestad paused for a moment, "These trials are different from the ones you went through." ,It is the same?"
"It's not quite the same, but it's essentially the same." Anna said softly, "Why, are you curious about why someone like Rene can board the ship?"
"Kind of."
"Don't you think he looks like a catfish sometimes?" Anna smiled, "That means he has seen too few mercury needles, and he doesn't know that he should be more restrained... Otherwise, this person is quite convenient to use, right? "
"I am more inclined to believe that Rene has never experienced the trial at all," Hesta replied, "There were originally several such passengers on the Ascension."
"Who do you mean?"
"Tasia and Meyer." Hesta said, "I have deceived Agnes about the 'trial' before. At that time, Meyer's reaction was very confused - she didn't know there was such a thing as a trial;
"As for Tasia, she said that all the passengers traveling with her boarded the ship after passing the trial. Only she boarded the ship directly relying on her father's relationship and avoided the trial, so-"
Anna chuckled: "Unfortunately, you guessed wrong again."
"...?"
"The two people you mentioned have passed the test."
"You mean they lied to me?"
"They didn't lie to you, but they didn't know anything about the fact that they had passed the test." Anna said softly, "There are many dimensions in the test standards for testing male passengers, but there is only one for women."
"...obedience?"
"Wrong, wrong, wrong," Anna shook her head, "altruism."
