"You're exaggerating," Red Shirt curled his lips, "Have we ever contained grotesque humanoids so far?"
"That's because the rules of weirdness will counterbalance each other,"
The frogman carefully pointed the phonograph's loudspeaker at Fujino. It felt like pointing an Italian cannon at an enemy bunker. Of course, Fujino was still pacing back and forth in the room, and could only take a rough look at the area.
"Besides, it's not like you don't know that the power of rules of humanoid grotesques is inherently higher than that of ordinary grotesques of the same level. If you hadn't said that Fujino's rules were completely restricted, I wouldn't have brought it here..."
As he spoke, he stroked the wooden box of the gramophone, "But don't underestimate it. Dongdu has estimated that it is currently a D-level grotesque containment object, or a rare growth-type grotesque."
"Is it?"
Sequoia immediately became interested and circled around the gramophone.
"Eat it alone, why have I never heard of you mentioning such a good thing?"
"You need to figure out the situation first,"
The frogman moved his fingers slowly, carefully adjusting the position of the stylus, "The cost of using this weird thing once is two years of life. Do you dare to use it?"
Sequoia immediately froze on the spot, "So cruel?"
"More than that,"
The frogman adjusted his position and took a deep breath.
"The cost of triggering this weird rule is one year for the first time, two years for the second time, and four years for the third time. It grows exponentially. Of course, the level and power of the rules will become higher and higher as you go later, but In the end, I’m afraid not many people will be able to afford it.”
"This kind of growth is too scary." Hong Shi touched the crank of the gramophone. "Use it every time and then use it less. So, you have invested a lot of money this time..."
"Snapped!"
"Don't move," the frogman slapped the red shirt's hand away, "be careful to slap you Yang Shou."
"Tch, it's as if no one has ever seen a container before,"
Even so, Hong Shi still took his hand back and said, "By the way, are you sure you want to use it as soon as you come up? There's no reason to be the king at the beginning."
"Time is running out, let's fight this time,"
The frogman looked at Fujino, then at the [Gramophone], gritting his teeth, "If it doesn't work, nothing else will work. Besides, there is a price to pay for using other containment objects? How can we afford it..."
"Wait! I have a question."
"Say it……"
"When Tomoko introduced me to the case of Satomi's grandma, she mentioned that one way to break grandma's weird rules is for the loan shark to sincerely repent. If your [gramophone] did this, Fujino wouldn't be too sad to sincerely repent, right? In the end, grandma’s rules became invalid..."
"What are you thinking about... [Gramophone]'s sadness is the rule. Sadness without any reason at all is called true sadness."
The frogman said, grabbing the handle of the [Gramophone].
"hold on!"
"what happened again?"
"Are you planning to go there yourself? There are several death row prisoners waiting outside."
"It's useless," said the frogman: "The so-called two-year price of [the gramophone] is for those of us with extraordinary mental strength. Ordinary people like us, who can't swing it even half a circle, have to be beaten. It's useless."
Sequoia's face froze and he looked outside the door for a long time.
She originally wanted to say that Tomoko was outside...
The words stopped at the tip of his mouth——
The investigator's assistant's mental strength is at a high point, but it is not bad if he is two or three times taller than an ordinary person. Let Sophon drive the [Gramophone] may have an effect, but the rest of his life will definitely be drained.
Sequoia and Frogman, like Crow, fall into the category of not abusing assistants. This is not a critical moment where life is hanging by a thread. There is absolutely no need to push Tomoko into the fire pit.
Moreover, for eccentric investigators, even if their physical lifespan is taken away, there is occasionally a chance to make up for it.
"I'll do it,"
Sequoia said: "I remember the last weird incident on Kotobuki Street, where you were given a life span." As he said that, he reached for the crank of the [Gramophone].
"Yo,"
The frogman grabbed her wrist, "When did your cold and hard heart become so soft?"
"You're overthinking. I'm afraid you'll die young and you won't be able to find anyone to top the tank if you encounter danger in the future."
The frogman turned his head and saw in Sequoia's eyes that he had no will to pretend.
Of course this woman with a stubborn and fiery personality knows that she will never make the slightest sacrifice for a stranger, but as long as you are included in her circle of friends, she will dare to face danger for you.
There is a high probability that he will not be able to defeat the red shirt. The frogman thought, let's not waste time and just agree.
"Okay," the frogman said, leaving half of the position on the handle of the gramophone, "we both shake it together, and whoever it draws will be the winner."
"I think it will work."
Sequoia and Frogman stood on both sides of the table, one on the left and one on the right of the gramophone, one holding the front end of the rocker and the other holding the back end, shaking it without touching their skin.
At this moment, time seems to have stopped.
The vinyl record slowly rotated, the needle gently landed on the record, and the light in the room became gentle.
Sequoia's eyes froze, and she would never forget this scene.
Soothing and warm music surged faintly in room D-004——
"calling from a deep place in the soul",
いつも多でも梦を画（えが）こう(Drawing dreams all the time),
かなしみの数を语いい(つ)くすより(instead of pouring out all kinds of sadness),
"同じくちびるでそっとうたおう" (it's better to sing softly with your lips).
"Is it actually "いつも多でも"?"
The ending theme of Spirited Away is "Forever". Sequoia couldn't help but be a little surprised. This was her favorite song. However,
"Are you sure this kind of warm song will make Fujino fall into sadness?"
Red Shirt turned to look at the frogman. The ugly face that did look a bit like a frog was abnormally white at the moment, and his skin was bloodless. He felt just a little bit older in an instant - [Gramophone] finally chose to attack the frogman. .
"Are you okay?" Sequoia asked.
As he spoke, he grabbed the frogman's wrist with his other hand and tried to move his hand away from the crank.
"It's too late, everything that should be smoked has been taken away. Maybe this is the world's malice towards ugly men, haha,"
The frogman laughed dryly, "The rules of this gramophone are only useful for grotesques. We may sound warm and healing, but for grotesques, they are extremely sad. If you don't believe it, look at it——"
Sequoia looked at Fujino.
The weird and stiff expression in the suit gradually softened. He stopped anxiously and sat on the chair next to the desk. He held his chin in one hand and his eyes were blank, as if he was thinking about the past of his life.
"It's time to take action!"
The frogman turned around and took out a blank record from the giant black box, "Just record Fujino into the record when he is at his weakest. By then, the power of the rules will be completely isolated, and it will be complete."
The frogman said, putting the record on the disc of the [Gramophone]...
——————
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