Untouchable

"Unpalatable ······"

Ilan muttered quietly, her face full of misery as she pressed the contents of her cheeks into her esophagus, her eyes closed, feeling the subtle smoothness of the food cutting her throat.

"It's super unpalatable."

As he spoke, he adopted a strategy to minimize the trio of suffering to solve the battle. Specifically, the fat and protein in the bowl are stuffed in the mouth, supplemented with water, and swallowed without chewing.

"Ahhh This is beyond the definition of eating, right? Or is the punishment more precise? In other words, this has stimulated the body's self-defense mechanism, which means that the body believes that it is a harmful substance. This half-baked, delicate texture hides raw meat that is completely unburned under the carbonized surface, and slides in the mouth as if it were a living thing when chewed. That's right, one can't help but think of those charred corpses on the battlefield. I thought they were dead, but when the boots stepped on it, the carb layer on the surface was rubbed off, and the bright red raw flesh was underneath, and then there was the recruit's nightmare———— the charcoal began to open its mouth and exhale pain. Wrong! Is this what you want to express?! Hearing the ancients, there is a sense of painting into words, calligraphy has a deep sense of the soul, and now you only use a piece of steak to make the diners think of the tragedy of the battlefield, the flesh and blood are blurred; Take a bite, as if you have lived and died once; The process of swallowing is as if communicating with the deceased. Yes! Your Excellency's cooking skills have reached the point of connecting ghosts and gods, even if it is said that it has opened up two worlds! Can you give me another piece? ”

As soon as the words fell, Ilan, who had already been ready, tilted his head to dodge the oncoming steak with sauce, which snapped against the living room door and slowly slid down.

"Ah, Saki Shiko is going to be angry, she's a person with a habit of cleanliness." Ilan shook her head, pity the maid in the house.

"Die!" The woman was busy in front of the stove without looking back, gritting her teeth and dropping this sentence.

"Everyone has their own things that they are good at and what they are not good at." Ilan said with a grin. "Just leave the cooking to Saki Shiko."

“······”

Silently, Karen put her share of carbide on a plate, placed it across the table, and cut off a large piece and stuffed it into her mouth as if to prove something.

His face changed rapidly, he forcibly chewed a few times, and finally surrendered after holding it for five seconds, covering his mouth and rushing into the bathroom.

When she returned, the girl was surprised to find that Ilan had already eaten her share. With a calm expression, he was elegantly wiping the corners of his mouth with a napkin, and only the exposed green tendons on his neck proved that he was suffering greatly.

Karen sighed softly and poured him a glass of milk to rinse his mouth. Silently opened the refrigerator and prepared to get some oatmeal, and deal with the past tonight. Yu Guang saw Bai Mao's relieved expression after holding the quilt with both hands and drinking it all.

Clever guys.

Clumsy gentleness······

His mother... You should be happy, right?

He was called stupid by him, and when he turned around, he had already cleaned up all her messes. Holding her arms, she was angry, waiting for her next silly thing.

"How's it going?"

Karen sat across from him and asked in a low voice.

"It's nothing important, I might be busy again in the future." Ilan shrugged.

"Another war?"

"Pretty much." Bai Mao didn't want to talk about this topic more, for fear that Karen would ask her about the battle formation or something like that. "Ah, by the way, you seem to have gone to Lelouch to sue me?"

“······”

"You don't know that kind of medicine will turn into a vegetative state if you take it too much."

"Hmm."

But there's no way.

Under the same roof, she has long been clear about the abnormality of Bai Mao's body.

It's obviously a double bed, and I've done that kind of thing many times. But at night, this guy will still sneak into the living room like a thief, curled up on the sofa or carpet and sleep alone.

He didn't want to be seen as weak.

Not even yourself.

··· Nothing can be done.

Whether it's fighting, cooking, or cleaning, you'll only add to the mess.

Taking 10,000 steps back, claiming to be the most despised woman at home before, it can't relieve him even a little bit of pressure.

Useless warriors.

Useless woman.

What the hell am I doing······

"Menstruation?"

Seeing that she hadn't spoken for a long time, Yilan leaned over and asked.

"Die."

"I'm counting my fingers, it's supposed to be the past few days."

"Are you a **?" Karen violently pushed the white-haired head away.

"I can help you massage Zusanli."

Ilan said with a sincere look on her face, reaching out to grab the girl's leg.

"Let's play."

What went wrong?

Of course, it's not marriage, and it's hard to say it's love, so much like some kind of tacit understanding.

He doesn't need to be in love.

No, it should be said that he has no way to fall in love.

A person is attracted only in the process of getting to know another person, and his talent allows him to gain insight into the other person's strengths and weaknesses in a short period of time, and the most suitable position.

Under the same roof, but separated by a door.

"I slept."

"Where's a good night kiss?"

Ilan asked in vain.

"Twenty bucks."

"Is it a discount for swiping a card?"

"Good night."

In any case, after more than a year of endless quarrels with herself, Kalian's poisonous tongue skill has indeed increased significantly.

With that, the girl silently walked into the bedroom.

As always, the door is hidden.

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Shut up······

Ilan commanded coldly to the voice in his head.

He knew he was lying on the couch in the living room, and the buzzing voices in his head were part of a dream.

As usual, he knew he was dreaming.

The words stand out in the noisy background, if there is nothing but unusually clear, like a whisper.

【··· Does it hurt... 】

Fuck off······

【··· Where does it hurt... 】

I don't care about you! I need sleep!

[Is that so... 】

Woman's voice.

Very familiar...

Mother?

The body cannot move.

This is the first time that I have been trapped in a nightmare and cannot wake up by will.

Are there complications caused by headaches during the day?

If it gets worse...

【··· You should take care of yourself... 】

Shut up... You're not her... You don't even count as my memory, she wouldn't say such things to me... You're just clutter from the electrical signals in my brain... Get out of my brain.

【··· What are you afraid of... 】

It's really... I'm going crazy too, this meaningless cacophony conversation.

[Ahh It hasn't changed at all, even back then, you haven't heard a word from anyone... It's always been like this... What you want to do, what you need, what you hope for... Your plan, your power, your world... Your future... 】

So what.

I don't care what other people think of me.

I don't care what kind of world other people want.

Even if it's your mother? 】

······

[Even if it's your mother... You never put yourself in the position of the object... She's my mother's 'not' I'm her child... Even if you want to be gentle with others, you will eventually impose your will on the other person... 】

······

I don't see the difference.

[Right... That's the root of your power... But... It's also the reason why you can never be happy... 】

[Do you know what is the most ridiculous? 】

[You will never change for the sake of the person you love... And you... In order to destroy the person you hate... Turning yourself into this... 】

······

[You don't understand human beings... You can't be one of them... 】

······

【··· What are you afraid of? 】

······

【··· Loneliness... Right? 】

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

At two o'clock in the morning, Ilan was woken up from the couch by someone's crisp blow to the head.

Radially grabbing the opponent's collar, the dagger in his hand had already pressed against the opponent's throat, and his consciousness gradually cleared up while subduing the man.

"It's painful, senior sister."

Ilan muttered as she let go of Karen's collar.

"At least it's not life-threatening." Karene rubbed her strangled throat and threw the phone on his stomach. "ZERO IS LOOKING FOR YOU."

"Yes, I'll take a shower."

With that, he put on his headset and walked to the bathroom.

"You're talking in your sleep." Karen curled up on the couch and rubbed her sleepy eyes.

Ilan stopped abruptly.

"Did you hear that?"

"Do you want to kill your mouth?"

"I'll think about it."

Elan smiled and pressed the communication button on the headset.

"Say... Hmmm... Got it..."

————————————————————————————————————————————————————— Shinjuku Underground Headquarters, which has undoubtedly become the largest underground project in the world after a year of non-stop expansion, has an alloy door in the lowest floor that requires iris verification to enter.

Ilan held his left eye close to the scanner, and the green light swept over him, allowing him to go along. After another five seconds, the complex mechanism was finally unlocked, and the half-meter-thick iron door slowly opened.

"Do you need me to go down with you?"

Lelouxiu, who had been leaning against the door and not speaking, saw Ilan's trembling fists and spoke.

"I'll be fine myself."

"I'll ask again, is it really not necessary?"

"Can they still eat me?" Ilan Qiang laughed.

"Nope." Lelouch turned and looked at him deeply. "No, I'm afraid you're going to eat them, literally."

Ilan shrugged. As soon as he took a step, he was stopped by Lelouch raising his hand.

"Kill them, it's over. I don't care about them at all... But you... They don't deserve it. ”

"Brother Huang..." Ilan interrupted him faintly. "It's getting late, let's go back and rest."

—————————————————————————————————————————————————————

With each step down, the strange viscosity in the air became more and more cloudy, and I couldn't breathe well, and my throat became greasy.

Disgusting.

At such a deep depth, the temperature is maintained above 30 degrees Celsius all year round, and the underground riverbed passes through the flowstone formations, and the water droplets drip from the top, and there are no drainage facilities, and the potholed ground is covered with small puddles.

The air, the humidity, the temperature, combined with the protein crumbs in some of the decay, is undoubtedly a haven for bacteria, a carnival of diseases.

No sound could penetrate such a deep crust into this room, and in this absolutely quiet space, one would be tormented by the sound of one's own heartbeat, the sound of blood flowing through the veins hitting the eardrums, and even the sound of muscles rubbing against each other.

This is perhaps the closest thing to hell in the world.

Today, there are nine new guests.

Li Xingke is a trustworthy person.

But why dig such a dungeon here?

Because... For some people, death is not a punishment at all.

··· For some... Death is a mercy.

"Well, this should be our first meeting. I wouldn't say I'd love to see you, but I'm really, really, really looking forward to this day day and night, so if I'm going to be a little uh... I hope you will understand.

Ah, right.

That thing over there, although it doesn't look like it, was once a human being, Gao Hai, remember? Your colleagues.

So... I don't know what you see me thinking, but I must remind you that whatever happens in the future, you have to keep it in your mind.

I, Jiang Yi, this person standing in front of you, is your work.

I am the inheritance you planted eighteen years ago.

I am the result of that decision and the reason why you are in the situation you are in.

Destiny is really magical, isn't it? I mean, well... Look at us, who would have thought?

I know that you do not believe in retribution, and neither do I. I'm just a little curious, when you are at the peak of your life, will you feel a little uneasy, will you think that maybe one day, this qiē will happen?

Okay, I'm not going to take you too long. Believe me, I'm going to be in the same room with you as much as I am worse than you.

Next, you probably think I'm going to have someone chop you up alive, maybe I'll do it myself, but... Well, I've figured it out that you don't just need physical pain.

We can think of this as a classroom, a space for re-education. Take advantage of this opportunity to completely transform the meaning of life in the process of struggling, help each other, and face difficulties together.

Eventually, the one who is the best of you, the one whose original self has died completely, I will give him a chance to start over.

I'm helping you.

You will understand, no matter how long it takes.

Okay... Let's get started now, and I'll give you some of your tasks for today.

There's a bandage, a spoon, hemostatic spray, antibiotics, and I'll be back later. As you can see, the sanitary conditions here are not encouraging.

See that wall clock?

The next time the pointer goes to twelve, I need to keep one eye on the steps of the room.

I don't care whose it is.

The rules are simple, if you don't meet the requirements, you won't eat.

Violence is allowed, but you have to take into account that if someone dies because of it, the next time the parts will be divided among the remaining nine people, right? So be cautious when making your choice.

By the way, that spoon, I advise you not to try it to dig tunnels or anything. It's all around with granite, and if you accidentally break it, you'll have to use your fingers or teeth... Hmmm... You know.

That's it, you guys get busy first.

————————————————————————————————————————————————————

"The last one to survive..."

Lelouch remained leaning against the door until Ilan came out.

"Huh?"

"You're not going to let him go."

"Probably."

"Feeling better?"

"On the contrary, it's even worse."

"And what's the point of doing that?"

"It's not a 'need,' it's a 'need.'"

"I don't see the need."

Ilan shrugged.

"You... It's still that Elan, right? Lelouch asked after a long silence.

"Huh?" Ilan smirked. "What are you talking about?"

"You know."

"Looks like Karen would ask."

“······”

"What you're trying to say is, 'I probably don't know anyone who did such a horrible thing,' right?"

“······”

"Now, has the royal brother ever done anything to hurt my mother?"

“··· No. ”

"Then you have nothing to worry about."

Patting Lelouch on the shoulder, Ilan left the iron door that exuded a demonic aura.

A nerve deep in the brain is still tingling, perhaps because it has been stimulated underneath, and I can't sleep tonight.

He hated the voice.

It's not that I hate the other person's chatter about the meaning of life with me, but I hate situations that I can't control.

He couldn't shut up that voice.

Wandering aimlessly around the base, inspecting the preparation of the soldiers before the expedition, gradually, I was attracted by a faint sound of motors to the R&D room next to the hangar.

Lloyd was wearing goggles and directing several white coats to wrestle with a bundle of wires, while he himself typed out lines of code in front of the computer from time to time, trying to optimize the signal processing priority of the bus.

Behind them stood a slender white mech held in the center by a bracket.

Pure white, without a hint of variegation. It appears to be nearly complete, with only a few parts of the joints that are not covered by armor exposed, and black electrical muscles can be seen attached to the bone joints.

Porcelain is like this, glowing in the light, but not too dazzling. If you look closely, the surface of the armor is actually covered with tiny cracks, like broken porcelain in white porcelain. There are few edges and corners in the body, and the areas that are easy to be bombed are treated with angles and arcs, and the whole body is like a handicraft.

"The Earl."

Ilan walked in and greeted each other.

"Yo! Your Highness, you're here!"

Ilan raised his hand to avoid the other party's politeness, and Lloyd Mari stood upright, waiting for his boss to ask.

"Thank you, I've been busy until now, how long will it take to be practical."

"Soon, in a month or two, it will take His Highness to try it a few times in person. But it will take half a year to collect and fine-tune the number on the battlefield after that, and after that, it will be her peak. ”

"Hmm."

Ilan crossed his arms and looked at the 'beautiful' body that could no longer be described as 'handsome', 'deterrent', and 'domineering'.

"Wouldn't it be a little too pretty? Hmmm... For example, this livery. ”

"Livery?" Lloyd frowned and asked with some confusion. "It's bare metal."

"Not painted?"

"It's not finalized yet."

"What's the deal with that broken pattern and reflection?"

"Ahh This one! Lloyd snapped his fingers and laughed proudly. I haven't introduced it to His Highness yet! This is TLSP011... Oh no, it's the new 'Ceramic Armor' that Saladin will use. It is 37 percent lighter than the lightest metal armor of the same size and thickness, but it is more protective. Each piece is made of 40 layers of special porcelain stacked and fired, and those broken lines are formed during the cooling process, only on the surface of the zài, without affecting the performance. Unlike metal armor, ceramics will shatter to break up kinetic energy when encountering live ammunition, and live ammunition of 20 caliber can shatter up to ten layers, but special ammunition above 30 can still break armor. Another advantage here is ceramic, due to its extremely rigidity, even if the armor is shattered, the extremely hard armor-piercing bullet such as the tungsten core bullet will itself shatter into countless small metal fragments, which is no longer enough to penetrate the inner armor when it reaches the enveloping cockpit. ”

After that, he pushed his glasses, and his excitement was overflowing.

There is no budget for the research and development of this machine, or rather, Ilan wrote him a blank check————I don't care about the money, you can do it."

It was the first time in his life that he had ever experienced it.

Even in Britannia, working under the second prince, the budget had to be obtained for him by Shunaisel, and it was impossible for him to come by temperament.

Ceramic armor! What concept?!

Why don't you say stick it up with gold nuggets?!

Unfortunately, his current employer did not understand the difficulties of firing a piece of specialty ceramics and their superior properties.

"So if you get shot, you will be broken?" Ilan asked blankly.

"Well, of course you can say that... But, uh... The pistol should still be unbreakable. ”

"So after a battle, the mech will become like a vase that fell from the twenty floors and stuck back?"

"If you get a lot of shots, it will look like that... It looks..."

A layer of cold sweat broke out on Lloyd's forehead.

"But 'the skin doesn't get into the flesh'?"

"Yes."

"Hmm." Ilan nodded. "Very good."

Anyway, the body doesn't hurt, and Ilan doesn't care about appearance.

"Exactly! Your Highness! As you say! Lloyd breathed a sigh of relief and wiped the cold sweat from his head with his sleeve.

"By the way, what's the matter with that reflection?"

Ilan raised his chin and asked.

In his memory, whether it is special or ordinary ceramics, they are matte before they are glazed.

"That's a good question!"

Royd puffed out his chest again.

"It's the finest hardened coating after plating, and it's as hard as diamond. Its surface smoothness is between 18 and 20 K, which is 20 times that of the smoothest mirror, which can be said to be the limit that human technology can reach. Flies have to split when they stand on it..."

"Dustproof!" Ilan clapped his hands and made a sudden realization.

Lloyd stumbled, blucked himself up and patiently explained.

"That's just one of the side benefits, the biggest two are the other. The first is bulletproof, increasing the smooth range is to increase the probability of ricocheting, and increasing the hardness is to make the live bullet shatter or deform at the first time when it touches the surface, dispersing kinetic energy. Second, and most importantly..."

Lloyd cleared his throat to indicate that the point was coming.

"Your Highness must know that the future development direction of weapons is the gradual withdrawal of live ammunition and the mastery of energy weapons. Then the corresponding means of defense, in addition to the energy shield, is the simplest..."

"Mirror!"

"That's right, Your Highness!" Lloyd hurriedly cheered and said you're smart. "But ordinary mirrors are useless, they should not be smooth enough to reach the zero threshold of reflection. To do this, we need absolute smoothness, which is why we use water instead of sandpaper for polishing. Of course, there is no absolute thing in the world, no matter how smooth the plating is, it can only reflect the vast majority of the energy weapon, and the remaining small amount of energy will still act as heat energy on the ceramic, but..."

Lloyd said the highlights, and forgot to pretend to be a grandson, and raised a finger to shake it in front of Ilan, and an associate professor lectured to the students.

"But! The most famous advantages of ceramics...

"Heat-resistant!" Ilan was very kind of to the other party and rushed to say it.

"That's right! Your Highness, if you were piloting this aircraft during the Ten Day War a year ago, you would have been able to eat a whole cannon from Gawain, even if it was Gawain's main cannon power, unscathed! ”

"Count Lloyd, you are indeed a genius!"

"Hehehehe."

The Earl of Pudding waved his hand to indicate what it was.

What he didn't tell Ilan was the cost of developing this armor, as well as the cost of stealth.

As Bai Mao asked, this armor is fragile, and it is almost certain that it must be replaced in one battle. If special muscles are a bottomless pit that burns money, then this armor is a black hole that absorbs gold.

In addition to the world's third level, only Japan, a country with Mt. Fuji, can afford to raise such a body.

Elan and Lloyd stood side by side in the distance, admiring the work of art burned with banknotes while sighing in contentment. At that moment, Ilan noticed a man on his lap looking uneasily.

"Miss Cecil?"

Ilan dismissed Lloyd and smiled and beckoned to her.

The girl looked hesitant and walked over with small steps.

"What's the matter?"

"No... Nothing..." Cecil replied in a whisper.

"Relationship problems? And the Earl? ”

"No!"

"Funding?"

"It's not."

"Hmmm..." Ilan nodded thoughtfully. "'It's not'... Miss Cecil, you know, lying is also learned. 'No' means 'there is'. ”

“··· I..."

"Let's talk about it, the employee's problem is my problem."

"I just... That, Mr. Lloyd's emotional intelligence is not high, and he doesn't know anything except the machine..." Cecil said suddenly.

"yes, I noticed, so what."

"So sometimes he may not be able to hear what His Highness is trying to say."

"Ahh Elan immediately understood. "The plot in your mind is that I am knocking on the side, but the Earl thinks I am praising him, and at last I am angry... That's it... Anyway, have you been so worried about it this year? ”

"I'm sorry."

"Don't worry." Ilan laughed. "The Count is very clever, and if he 'wants to understand,' he will surely understand."

It's not that he's pretending to be confused, Lloyd, he's actually a rare and extremely smart person, he's just too obsessed with his hobbies to pay attention to those people's sophistication.

He deliberately made himself not understand.

"Hmmm..."

"Anything else?" Ilan looked at her as if she was still on her mind.

“··· No. ”

"Ah, who is EQ?" Elan sneered. "You should say 'no' at this time, right?"

The girl was amused, too, but for a second her smile dimmed again.

"Your Highness really loves to laugh."

"Everybody says that."

"But... No, as it should be this time, I don't see what His Highness is thinking. ”

"Would you like to have some tea?"

Cecil sighed quietly.

"I don't know what you're thinking."

"I don't see that Miss Cecil cares so much about me." Elan teased.

"No, I... I'm afraid of you. ”

"Ah, after all..."

"Just like today." Cecil's voice grew quieter. "Obviously... Very angry, very... Sad look... Why do you force yourself to laugh out loud..."

······

Woman··· Do they all have superpowers······

Karen, too, said that she didn't understand, but she did see more than anyone else.

What kind of person am I, maybe... She knows better than I do.

"Miss Cecil."

"Yes."

"If you had the opportunity to change me, what would you like me to be?"

"Huh?!" Cecil was frightened by a spirit.

"I'm not kidding."

——————————————————————————————————————————————————

Back in the dormitory, Ilan found Karen still curled up on the couch, wrapped in a blanket, staring blankly at the Black Knights promotional video on TV———— which is currently the only TV show in Japan.

"Didn't you sleep? It's almost morning. ”

"Hmm."

"Waiting for me?" Ilan sat up and fell on Karen's leg very naturally. "I was moved."

He was about to find a more comfortable position, but was impatiently pushed away by Karen.

"Less self-inflicted and more affectionate."

"Shy love."

Ilan tried to sleep on her lap with a dead face, but the girl's will to resist was very strong. Seeing Kalian's fierce appearance, Yilan didn't use any more strength, and leaned on the girl's shoulder.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing... Belch. ”

Ilan remembered Cecil's trembling advice, and swallowed back the perfunctory words as soon as he said them.

"Personal vendettas, already... There is no impact on the future. ”

"Hmmm... That's good. Karene muttered.

[It's not that complicated, whether it's a good thing, a bad thing, a happy thing, a sad thing, as long as you can say it... 】

"Hey, don't lean over here."

Karin shook her shoulders and tried to get rid of the head.

"Why don't I think you're especially unkind to see me today?" Ilan made a pitiful appearance and came to the girl,

"Fuck off." Karen commanded in a low voice.

"Hmm~~~"

Ilan raised her eyebrows suspiciously, leaned over to the girl's neck and asked carefully, closed her eyes and savored it, and finally came to a conclusion.

"Ahhh Really, menstrual periods. ”

"You're a dog?" Like all women going through this phase, Karen's mood is very irritable right now.

"I'll just say, how could I be wrong about the date I calculated. Senior sister is so healthy, there's no reason to be disordered, right? ”

"You have three seconds left before you and I make up our minds to die with you."

"Okay, okay, nothing to be embarrassed about."

Ilan comforted, and couldn't help but pull her into his arms, fixed the struggling girl with his left arm, and pressed her abdomen with his right hand.

After a moment of stalemate, Karen gradually gave up her resistance, and her stiff body slowly relaxed.

"Are you better?" Ilan asked softly.

“··· Well. ”

Mixed feelings.

No one had ever treated her like this, and she didn't know how to respond. The word 'thank you' is never a word for 'thank you' between the two, but more like a boring provocation or a play on words.

Ahhh Speaking of which, the man's hands are really big. Heat too, completely different from your own hands.

Don't know what to say.

"Did you take your medicine?"

After brewing for a long time, Karen expressed her doubts.

"Nope."

"Oh..." Karene didn't press any further.

"It's just that I suddenly think Kalian is really amazing."

"I'm not miserable enough to be praised by you for something like this."

"I mean really." Ilan adjusted the angle so that the girl could lean more comfortably. "I can tolerate even this, Kalian, really, really, really."

Give up the pride of the warriors.

As a woman, cooking, cleaning.

Give up her sense of justice.

knew that he was a bad guy and didn't have a good heart for Japan, but he still chose to be with the devil.

She didn't even ask herself to make any changes for her.

I've always been forgiven by her.

Amazing guys.