(beginning)
Elven calendar year 1015, July 26th.
It's midsummer.
(1·Time)
"Would it be better for me to move out?"
The speaker opened his eyes slightly. It was a very serious look that wanted to seek answers.
Looking at his friend who asked him the same question for the second time, the silver-haired investigator sighed deeply.
They have been together for sixteen years since they first met in the dark cave.
The silver-haired boy who broke into the ruins with his father's fire-breathing dragon gradually turned into a boy and then a young man; he faded away from the immaturity of his student days and gradually became the backbone of the Kanto Investigation Department. And his vice-captain grew up with him and has long since changed...
Well, maybe nothing has changed.
Whether it was due to his personality and temperament or a problem with his genetic arrangement, his colleague and cohabitant, a first-level prosecutor in the Kanto region named Xing Yuye, seemed to be permanently fixed in his appearance when he was eighteen years old. It might be okay on a normal day, but when she puts on a crisp investigator uniform and charges forward faster than Pokémon, anyone would think she is a dashing young man.
Similar to his appearance, his friend's gender awareness showed no tendency to grow.
When the two were transferred back to the Kanto Investigation Department, accommodation became a thorny issue. Miyuan City's land prices are world-famous, and the search department has never provided employee dormitories. Just renting a house in a suitable location can cost a young employee half his life.
Therefore, when Inspector Shenyu invited his friends to share a house on the grounds of saving money, his deputy captain readily agreed without hesitation, without any concern whether it was inappropriate for two adults to do so, and with Mr. Zhuma's clear financial foundation No need to expend such effort.
"Of course not. What makes you think so?"
Investigator Shenyu, who had always been taciturn, wished he had two more mouths. He asked patiently: "Did I disturb you?"
"No, no, how could it be?" The speaker shook his head quickly, shaking his purple hair, "I'm worried about the opposite... Am I really not going to disturb you, Xiaotian, here?"
Her voice is clean and bright, with the smell of morning sunshine, like a young person who has just embarked on a journey.
Hearing his friend calling his childhood nickname in a soft and affectionate tone, the silver-haired young man couldn't help but soften his tone.
"No - we made this agreement when we decided to live together, didn't we? If the other party's habits make you feel uncomfortable, you must talk about it and discuss it. You can't hide anything."
After a pause, he asked calmly, "Do you believe my honesty to you?"
"Of course." His vice-captain replied without hesitation, "I'm just a little worried... No, it's nothing, I'm just overthinking."
The purple-haired "boy" smiled at him. He noticed that the other person seemed to let out a small sigh of relief - it was the kind of extremely subtle subconscious reaction that perhaps even he was not aware of.
When the young man fell into a thoughtful mood, Investigator Xingyu's attention had been transferred to other places as fast as his running speed.
"Xiaotian, have you seen the new issue of Trainer's Voice?"
"I just read it yesterday. You can get it from my bedroom—it's late, so don't look at it for too long."
"As you command——"
(2. Omen)
At night, there are stars.
This single-family home was selected by the two residents together. Although it is a little far from the city center, the rooms are spacious and the price is affordable. The south window faces a quiet small park - the green space is not large, but it is enough to make the nearby air fresh and smell good.
For trainers who can ride Pokémon on the road, as long as they don't mind the strong wind blowing their hair into a mess, the commuting distance has never been a problem - unlike the conventional workplace, the Investigation Department has never required employees to be exquisitely groomed. Compared with the happiness and comfort brought by shopping for ingredients and walking home slowly, making a delicious dinner together, or walking side by side in the park after dinner, or having a passionate battle, the inconvenience caused by the remote location is not at all What kind of.
July, the height of summer, is when bug Pokémon in the northern hemisphere are most active. The chirping of insects outside the window comes and goes, like the best white noise given by nature. The temperature strictly controlled by the air conditioner is also suitable for sleeping. However, perhaps because of the words of his cohabitant, or perhaps because of the pressure brought by the difficult task he was about to face tomorrow, the young man did not sleep peacefully.
He had a nightmare.
Consciousness rises and falls in the chaotic light and shadow, making it difficult to capture the reality. Countless sounds overlapped in my ears, converging into a symphony full of blood.
Gunshots, explosions, heart-rending screams. besides--
The man turned around and gave him a peaceful smile as always. But the blood continued to seep out, gradually dyeing the familiar white clothes red.
The young man wanted to struggle and shout, but his body seemed to be sinking into the deep sea, frozen and unable to move.
The bloody man smiled. The transparent eyes were like glass balls, reflecting no emotions - no happiness, no sadness, and no reluctance.
Her voice blended into the chaos, hazy and deafening.
"farewell."
(3. Undercurrent)
The dull sound of the cell phone falling to the ground revived the young man's consciousness.
He realized that he had turned over and sat up at some point. Waves of sourness stung his eyes - maybe it was because the cold sweat dripping down his forehead seeped into his eyes, or maybe it was because of something else.
After calming down, he bent down and picked up the phone. The touch of your finger wakes up the screen, and the white light lights up gently.
[05:37 AM]
Night enveloped the bedroom, enveloping it in an oppressive and silent air. The figure of the occupant solidified into a sculpture, almost as if he had fallen asleep in a sitting position.
After a long time, a gentle sigh came.
The investigators who bravely act on the battlefield are not fearless. The silver-haired young man knew that he had a deep-rooted and insurmountable weakness - he was afraid of the departure of his best friend.
A long time ago, he once heard from a friend who was a young girl that she had a practical "little trick". The young boy at that time could not fully understand what the so-called little skills meant, until the battles, crises, injuries and bloodshed revealed the facts ferociously before his eyes.
The moment the psychological suggestion is activated, all emotional reactions are erased, and all mental energy is used to calculate to achieve the ultimate goal. In the work of the search department, this is undoubtedly an excellent talent. It can eliminate interference and confusion, and can exert 100% power at any time. This stability has repeatedly turned the tide, or directly or indirectly saved the lives of many comrades. life.
However, for relatives and friends, the psychological suggestion technique called "Absolute Calculus"——
"What a disaster."
Investigator Shenyu whispered to himself.
A well-calculated survival path, firm execution, and unhesitating sacrifice. Shen Yutian believes that his colleagues all have a sense of justice to sacrifice themselves for others, but due to the survival instinct engraved in human bones and blood, at the moment of death, no matter how great a hero is, he will be more or less hesitant and hesitant.
Thus, the man who "did not hesitate" became the most dangerous martyr.
The night still enveloped the room gloomily.
When the time on the mobile phone screen jumped to six o'clock, the person who was awakened by the nightmare gave up the plan of falling asleep again.
He stood up and walked out of the bedroom quietly.
(Four·Miaomiao)
"Isn't it my turn to cook today...?"
The speaker, with his shaggy purple hair on his head, looked at the odd-numbered date, looked at the clock on the wall, and then looked at his cohabitants in the kitchen who had obviously been busy for a long time, showing a rare dull expression.
The young man with a neat low ponytail raised his hand and interrupted the other party's unspoken apology as expected, "I happened to wake up earlier, I just have nothing to do."
The person who had been robbed of his life opened his mouth and was about to say something more when he was suddenly hugged by two warm and soft plush balls around his ankles.
"mum."
"Meow."
Two wonderful cats were hanging at the feet, one on the left and the other on the right, looking at their owners with their round eyes.
"Well, good morning...are you guys hungry?"
The hairballs stretched out their little claws, swishing upwards along the person's body, and hung on the chest, like two children's schoolbags with their backs turned upside down.
"Miwu."
"Meow."
A pair of hands fell from the sky and rubbed the heads of the two cats. Then, the owner of the hand went to fetch the food trays of the Meows without complaint, and prepared the Pokémon's breakfast amidst the endless meows and meows.
When she finished her work and returned to the kitchen, the cook turned off the gas stove just in time.
"Today your mission is the most difficult, just think of it as a 'mission subsidy' given to you by your teammates." The young man imitated what the other party had said, and as expected, he saw the expression of his friend who was choked and had nothing to say.
When the two first moved here, the small courtyard behind the house was almost in a mess. The two flower trees have completely dried up, and the stones that may have been landscape sketches are scattered everywhere, as if they have been hit by a tornado. Even with the help of Pokémon, it must be very laborious to clean up.
They agreed to clean up together when they had time - but after Inspector Shenyu was urgently assigned and spent two days completing the task and returned home, he was speechless looking at the courtyard that was so flat that it could cure obsessive-compulsive disorder.
"Your mission is so tiring, I have the nerve to do nothing here. Just think of it as a 'mission subsidy' given to you by your teammates."
She said it softly and skillfully, without any expectation that one day these words would be returned exactly as they were - at least ten times!
Sitting face to face at the light wooden dining table, the sweet smell of osmanthus syrup slowly spread to the nose. The person who smelled the familiar smell looked at the food on the table and suddenly looked surprised.
"Sugar taro seedlings." The young man opposite said it eloquently - using a language of "non-existence".
"Hey... when did you remember how to make it?" The former alien traveler poked the bowl of alien dessert with a spoon, his expression was very subtle.
"The last time you did it - it wasn't difficult."
"And its name..."
"Did I pronounce it wrong?"
"Not at all, it's pretty standard - rather, that's what surprised me the most."
In my memory, she only made this kind of dessert for her cohabitants two or three times, and she couldn't even remember whether she ever mentioned its "otherworldly name".
The silver-haired young man raised his eyebrows calmly.
"This is the language of your hometown. Of course I remember it."
(V. Gathering momentum)
"I once again recalled your Spanish test scores that have never been lower than an A since you joined the club, and I felt the cruel individual differences between humans - or do you have a good friend whose hometown is the United Kingdom of Silton?"
The purple-haired investigator said expressionlessly, throwing a thick stack of fresh Spanish materials back on his desk.
The young man understood the hidden meaning in his friend's words. He thought for a while and felt that "really" was not a good answer, so he had to blink, swallow the words quietly, and continue to sort out the information he had just received.
As we all know, the joint mission of the four major departments has always been the most hellishly difficult task, and this time is no exception. Thanks to the pessimistic progress of the mission, the office of the countermeasures team was filled with anxiety and solemnity. Only the two experienced investigators in charge still had the energy to joke around and liven up the atmosphere.
Not long after the two of them arrived at the office, the Intelligence Specialist was stuffed with the latest information on monitoring locations - the part of which the investigators from the United Kingdom of Silton were responsible for had not even had time to translate it into Alliance language.
Spanish, as the most commonly used language in countries outside the alliance, has always been an essential subject in the year-end assessment of members of the four major departments. It's a pity that Investigator Xingyu has no talent in language learning. He has been in love with Spanish for more than ten years and still can't get the upper hand. Just reading the summary of the intelligence consumes most of his brain cells.
When they were still studying at Silver Academy, she once seriously asked her friend how he could remember so many Spanish words. And the other person's answer was something she would never forget.
“When you see an unfamiliar word, look it up in a dictionary.”
The silver-haired boy answered sincerely, completely unable to understand why the questioner showed a very complicated expression after hearing the answer.
——If I could remember it after looking it up, wouldn’t there be no reason to fail the class...
To this day, she still firmly believes that someone like her sweetheart, who can remember Spanish words or foreign words after hearing them once, must have a hundred or more folds in the cerebral cortex than hers.
"Master, master, is the joint mission of the four major departments really that difficult? Wait a minute, are you going to crawl through the ventilation ducts like Rigg in Assassination 0770? Does Chief Akawe really have a photographic memory like the rumors say? - - Take care of me. Isn’t it night when the operation starts? It’s too late to sort out the information later..."
The boy with orange curly hair wandered back and forth around the young man's desk. Others in the room were already used to this, and they regarded his voice as the white noise of the environment.
The young man chattered a ton of words, and then Investigator Shenyu raised his head after flipping through a stack of documents.
"Accidents can happen at any time, so you can't let your guard down." He answered succinctly.
"I understand."
"Also, this is the countermeasures team office, you shouldn't come in."
"But I'm worried about you..."
The young man showed a bitter face - the joint mission a year ago almost caused him to lose his master, and he did not want to see his beloved senior being carried back covered in blood again.
Seeing that the master's eyes were beginning to look like frozen beams, the curly-haired young man was excited and said wisely: "And - and, you see, Satsuki is here too! She is only a witness to the first case, and it is not considered a mission. Get involved!”
The young man turned his head when he heard this.
"Senior, I have sorted out your law enforcement records this week."
The girl looked about sixteen or seventeen years old. Different from the curly-haired boy wearing an executive uniform, although she is also young, her uniform is already the unique white color of the Investigation Department. She straightened her waist and looked up at the person she had admired for many years seriously.
"Your combat equipment has also been inspected. What else can I do for you?"
The purple-haired investigator laughed and shook his head, "Thank you, you've done enough." After being together for so long, she had long since given up on stopping the girl's perpetual motion-like series of spontaneous offers of help - it's okay if she didn't succeed. Success means that she needs to spend ten times more energy to convince the other person that "I'm really not bored of you."
"I won't mention it in advance - are you practicing the fighting style I taught you last time?"
"Yes, of course!" Satsuki's expression became more tense, "I have trained according to your requirements every day."
"How well do you master it?"
"..."
Seeing that the girl looked hesitant and might yell something like "I'm not asking for punishment" in the next second, Investigator Xingyu interrupted her thoughts with a familiar smile and said, "It's my fault. , I should have made it clearer. Let’s do it this way – after the task at hand is over, how about we make an appointment to practice alone?”
"Grateful, grateful!"
The girl's raised voice showed a hint of joy that was being restrained. She took a step forward, looked into the eyes of the person she admired, and spoke in a solemn tone, as if she was making an oath, but the content of her words was already messed up, "I can't repay your kindness. I... will treat you well!"
The senior who declared that he wanted to be "treated well" suddenly laughed.
She raised her hand and touched the girl's head affectionately.
"The premise is that you have to take good care of yourself first."
Satsuki, who was always cold and unpretentious towards others, lowered his head slightly, with an inconspicuous blush on his cheeks. When the sharp-eyed curly-haired boy saw the two intern girls peeking outside the door, they covered their faces and staggered away, seeming to be muttering strange words like "boyfriend power."
"Master, what is boyfriend power?" The young man asked with his eyes wide open and without any distractions.
"..."
The silver-haired young man who watched the whole process didn't want to answer, so he could only sigh in his heart, feeling deeply that he had one more thing to worry about.
(Six · Want to come)
The sun moves westward. The bright sunlight in the afternoon was blocked by clouds, making the entire sky white.
There are still six hours and thirty-five minutes left before the original planned operation time.
The ajar door was suddenly pushed open. The intelligence officer rushed into the office out of breath. He didn't even bother to tie his loose shoelaces, and almost fell down at the door with garlic under his feet.
"The frontline reconnaissance team sent a report - there are signs of group transfer at base number 031, 'Fortress'!"
The huge office fell silent for a moment.
Investigator Shenyu stood up abruptly, as if a storm was surging in his ice-blue pupils.
