It seemed that a century had passed before Albert finally spat out the smoke ring and slowly spoke again. "It hurts so much to say that," he said. ”

"Hurt?" Ed smiled, "Hurt whom?" You? Or is she? ”

Albert shook his head with his eyes closed and waved his hand at Ed with a hint of exhaustion. Then he sat up straight, his arms resting on the table, his head moving closer to Eddard's side. He looked like he was finally going to have to say something to Eddard seriously.

"I don't remember exactly when I first saw Eligi and the wolf...... It was many years ago. He said, looking at Ed calmly, biting his cigar, and recalling, "But I remember the scene when we met, and I remember it very clearly - two children, a pair of little dolls with fur that had not yet grown up, huddled together and hiding in the innermost corner of the container, covered in dirt, and barely able to tell what their skin color was. Eliki ...... Hold the little wolf tightly in his arms - yes, just like in the photo, but the hug is much more important, almost like trying to strangle the little wolf. ”

Albert gestured with his two hands, somewhat exaggeratedly mimicking the movements of Eliki in his memory, and grinned twice at the corners of his mouth.

"What impressed me was their eyes." He whispered, "They thought they were going to die. The other kids, crying, running and running everything, but they didn't. They didn't do anything, they just cowered there and looked at us with their eyes...... I don't know if it's because the whole body is still clean, but their eyes look big, as if they are about to fall out. ”

At this, Albert paused, his eyes lowered slightly, and his fingers crossed against his chin.

"I gave them some water," he said, "not too much — not much." You know, they can't stop if you give too much, it's not good for them. I saw Eliqi's little hand shaking violently as she took the bottle, swallowing hard. Then she put the mouth of the bottle to the mouth of the little wolf and poured it hard into him. The kid didn't even have the strength to resist at that time. After giving the wolf a drink, she gave herself a drink...... I watched her drink and watched her cry as she drank. He gestured with his hand to his face, "I shouldn't have noticed her crying, she didn't cry at all." But the tears washed away a bit of mud from her face, and she made two strokes, which looked quite obvious. ”

“……”

"I wasn't as good as I am now, but it was a bit of an impact. I used some connections to keep these two people on my side. As for why, maybe I didn't know at the time. I just looked at the two of them...... Being able to feel a power deep within myself that made me aware of something I wasn't aware of before. If such a small, humble, and miserable life is still struggling to survive, then compared with the so-called pain and so-called difficulties I have encountered, what can be counted, and what qualifications and shame do I have to complain and grieve...... To cover the old wound in his arms back and forth, Ai Ai kept howling? The corners of Albert's mouth twitched, then he smiled suddenly, "Of course, this may just be a bit of a high-sounding whitewash I found for myself." I guess I just feel comfortable looking at people who are worse than me. ”

"Maybe it is." Ed nodded expressionlessly.

"They followed me for a long, long, long time. I know their story, and I once offered to avenge them by removing this little parasite hiding in Belvedere. But each time they refused, and even asked me to help as a cover to prevent the other forces in the underworld from discovering the Belvedere problem. They wanted revenge with their own hands, and they had been preparing for this for a long time. Albert took the cigar from his mouth, dusted the butt from the ashtray, and let out a puff of smoke, "You were wrong about one thing. The only thing I can do to help the wolf is to call you over and get you out of the city. And the rest - the rest of the work was done by him and Eliki for an unknown amount of time, without receiving any help from me. In the original plan, Jules and Emily would never know at whose hands they died until they died. ”

"The original plan?"

"The wolf is dying." Albert waved his cigar in his hand and said casually, "The doctor said he had about a year to live." So he didn't wait, and at the same time made a change to the plan. He wanted to make his death even more ...... Well, 'like him' a little. These are his exact words. ”

"But let me spoil it."

"Eliki is grateful for that." Albert looked at Ed and made a small gesture in the direction of the door, "You may not feel it, but I can see that she has fundamentally changed from the last time she did to you." Even if it's just to extend death back for a short time, she appreciates what you've done for her little uncle. You—and the female detective. ”

“……”

"So, that's it." Albert slapped the table with both palms, made a small sound, and the whole person bit his cigar and fell back, leaned back on his high-backed leather chair, took a deep breath, and looked at Ed, "Next, what do you want - to knock a lot of money from me, or to chew the root of your ears with your little lover in the bureau?" ”

Ed didn't answer right away. He sat in his seat, tilting his head to look at the man in front of him who had always given him a great sense of oppression. There weren't many things that could make Ed feel oppressed, and the man across from him undoubtedly had that momentum. He's a man of "the other world", and a giant of that world, one of the real high-ups who stands in Stuttgard, by some means, at the top of the pyramid of the Metropolis in the sky. The people he comes into contact with every day, the scenery he can see, and the questions he has to think about are probably things that Ed can't even think of. But now—now, Ed sees something in him, something ...... It's commonplace, but it's not so common for someone like him. At this moment, he is no longer a giant, no longer a gangster, but just an ordinary person, an ordinary person who is worried, concerned, and worried about who he cares about.

Ed didn't say it, but in his heart it felt a little fresh and interesting.

"I don't know." He said, shrugging his shoulders, "I've never blackmailed anyone, so I don't know what to do." But I think you should have more experience in this area, maybe you can teach me? ”

"You want me to teach you how to blackmail me?" Albert raised an eyebrow on one side.

"No, I just want you to answer me one question. In fact, this question has been bothering me for a long time, and that is - why would anyone want to pay someone to blackmail them? They obviously can't buy anything, but they are just stupidly willing to pay for it, sometimes more than once. Obviously, I can promise you now, and then I can regret it later, go against the terms that I have negotiated before, and make other additional demands on you, anyway, the chips are always in my hands, and they will always be in my hands if I want to. ”

"Fear, Mr. Eddard. Fear. Albert looked down at his own thumb, "When we're willing to do something we don't want to do, there's only one reason, and that's fear, the fear of something worse that will happen if we don't do it." We're afraid that something will happen when we can stop it from happening, so even if it's just a pushback, we'll do it. That's the power of fear. And often today's fears are far stronger than tomorrow's fears. ”

"That's true." Ed said dryly.

"As for whether I'm worried about what I've paid for flying out of my hands again......" Albert continued to stare at his fingers as if there was a little man in pants dancing in circles, and it had turned the hundredth and fiftieth lap, "I won't tell you, Mr. Ed, and you won't want to know. But I think you should be able to guess what I'm going to do. ”

"I guess it."

"If you think your little detective girlfriend can keep you, then you can just try." Albert looked up, took the cigar from between his mouth, dusted the ash in the ashtray, and then bit back into his mouth, "I'll bury you, and bury her with you." You can guess which of you will be on it at that time. ”

Ed shook his head. "Dropped, Albert." For the first time, he called the man in front of him by name, and there was no respect at all, "You better keep this set to scare the people you can scare." You have a way to clean me up, and I have a way to deal with you. I've fought more terrible enemies. Threats don't mean anything to me. ”

“……”

"If you don't want the police to get information out of my mouth, then you'd better plug my mouth with something."

"What exactly do you want?" Albert asked a little gloomily, his tone revealing impatience.

Ed propped his elbows on the desk, rubbed his chin, and a thoughtful look on his face, then suddenly stretched out his finger and pointed in the direction of Albert's mouth.

"How's that?" He said, "Anything else?" ”