Cha Cha sat behind the bar in Glanka, her hands in her somewhat messy hair, looking anxious. "How could he die?" With that, she ducked behind the flickering lenses again.

A wave of terror engulfed Jacob. He realized that something was not right. Clay Ann is certainly an outlaw who licks blood from the knife's edge, but the successive unnatural deaths are enough to make people nervous.

"Inexplicable...... It's inexplicable! Cha Cha muttered to herself, and suddenly shouted into the air.

"Xiaowen! Xiaowen! ”

"What's wrong, boss?" A lazy voice rang out in the air.

"Show me where Clay Ann was before he died."

"Okay...... Wow, sir, he's a dead man who doesn't like to travel much. Look at these circles—"

"He's been in the city all the time?" Cha Cha said in astonishment, "But shouldn't he go to Valley City?" ”

"Where did he go?" Jacob couldn't help but ask.

A three-dimensional map was projected into the air in front of them.

"Ann has been lurking in Lan Yaoshen's residence since that day, which is this house located on Panshan Road." Xiaowen told them, "For some reason, the target has been staying in the city and has no intention of returning to the countryside." But Ann's behavior was even stranger - he waited in place for more than ten days without sending any message back. I guess he must have discovered something, and in order not to be robbed of his merits, he wanted to take a shortcut from Zuoshan Street, which leads to Moorbai's company, to report to you, but he was killed by the enemy when he passed through Heizi Hutong. Cause and effect. He added this sentence out of nowhere.

"I want to know who you learned these weird reasoning from." Cha Cha had a gloomy face, "How do you know it's an enemy?" ”

"Who wants the life of old Clay? It's nothing more than those people who were deceived by him and went bankrupt, he has always been cautious and cautious, and it is impossible for him to get killed in two quarrels, right? ”

"If he's in a hurry to come back, why not take the car?" Jacob said.

"That's right." Cha Cha was also wondering, "Why didn't he take a flying car......

"Could he be on the run?" After a dull ten seconds, Cha Cha suddenly said.

"I didn't think about that possibility." Xiaowen seemed stunned for a moment, "Boss, you know that Ann has always had an opinion about me-"

Cha Cha ignored him. "He thinks he'll be found just by taking a car." She grabbed Jacob's arm suddenly, "He must have seen something, Jacob." ”

"He was discovered by Lan Yaoshen." Jacob said.

"Holy shit." Cha Cha held her chin with one hand and looked up at Jacob, "Lan Yaoshen found out, and he has to die?" ”

Jacob was scared. Whispering in the quiet of the car fills the air with an eerie atmosphere, and they discuss a topic that cannot be thought about.

"You've dragged us into trouble, Cha Cha."

"What do you mean?" Cha Cha asked sensitively.

"I said you shouldn't have ordered Ann to go and find people."

"Are you blaming me?" Cha Cha suddenly pointed at him solemnly. "Hey, he spent his last few days in the hotel in three time zones a day for you, and now he's dead, because of you, not because of me. Do you think I am to blame for his death? ”

Jacob raised an eyebrow.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter who dies." Cha Cha waved her hand sadly, "I'm sorry, I'm in a bit of a bad mood." ”

Jacob didn't know what to say for a moment. Cha Cha never said "I'm sorry" to anyone, at least he hadn't heard it.

At this time, the car stopped at Cha Cha's house. Cha Cha dragged his heavy steps towards the living room, but stopped in front of the arched door.

"Maybe you're not safe here, Jacob. It's the same for you and it's the same for me. ”

On a morning in the second time zone, Jacob sat on the edge of the terrace thinking about Clay Ann and death. A purple electromagnetic storm blows in the distance beyond the canopy of the thermostatic zone, and holographic televisions on the streets scroll with the news of the delayed operation of intercity buses. The bad weather has made him calmer, and perhaps he is really responsible for Clay Ann's death. Sometimes the lack of motivation is not an excuse to shirk.

Jacob learns to think like an adult, and then realizes that Cha Cha has just been evicted. He suddenly felt that Chacha Luke was not interesting, so he decided to leave here. However, when he changed his clothes, he found that he could not open the door.

"You're not allowed to pass." Said the robot steward.

"What do you mean?" Jacob shouted, "I'm Jacob Lan!" ”

"I know." The machine steward said, "Jacob Lan is not allowed to pass. ”

"You're not letting me out?" Jacob got angry, and he grabbed a stone cup in the tea parlor: "You're not afraid that I will smash you?" ”

"You're not allowed to pass." The butler repeated.

Jacob sat down on the slightly wild-style sofa in the living room. Cha Cha is always so domineering, someone should really give her some color to see.

When Cha Cha returned from the company, Jacob went back to the room without saying a word. For a moment, he could feel Cha Cha standing at the door, and after a long moment, he hesitated to knock on the door.

"Jacob." Cha Cha exclaimed, "Want to talk?" ”

"I don't want to."

The door opened automatically. Cha Cha stood at the door with a paper bag.

"It's a pineapple pie." "I've wanted to eat this for a long time, and I haven't been able to spare it — they only sell it in three time zones," she said. ”

Jacob didn't pick up. He quickly stood up and prepared to go out.

"Hey." Cha Cha stood in his way, "You have to learn to accept, Jacob, you only have a week to grow up." ”

"It's not up to you to decide when I'll grow up."

"There's no one to take care of you, you idiot." Cha Cha's tone was filled with hurtful contempt, "I'm not going to pay for your willfulness - if you feel wronged, you have to endure it first." I repeat, Clay died because of you, you have to accept it, and live with the bonds. ”

"I didn't want that thief to track down Lan Yaoshen!" Jacob couldn't help but shout, "I didn't want you to take me in either—you—standing there like everything was my fault—you're fucking damning, Cha Cha, I've had enough of you." After saying that, he broke down the door without looking back.

Pineapple pies are scattered all over the place.

Chacha Luke's image became more and more hateful in his eyes. He always felt that Cha Cha raised him as a pet, just to watch jokes. In that case, why listen to her?

When he came to his senses, he was already in front of the cemetery.

He didn't know why he was making this trip. The sweet smell of the air made him feel guilty, but he didn't bring anything he could dig into.

What's more, Grandpa Lan's tomb has long been compacted, how can he have superfluous thoughts?

Something rustled around him. After making sure it was just a leaf, Jacob began to scrutinize the square slate in the meadow, where it lay like a strange piece of white chocolate. It is inscribed with the epitaph "I fought for independence".

Countless secrets watched him under the dirt.

Jacob seemed to have returned to that early morning, and Grandpa Lan waved his hand towards heaven in a short dream, which really seemed to be relief.

In the golden age of Grandpa Lan's life, someone put a baby where only he could find it. That's all Jacob knows about his origins. He always thought that there were many, many years left, and one day, when Grandpa Lan was getting older and his tense nerves relaxed, maybe he would tell himself where he was born and whose child it was.

"Will you tell me?" Jacob asked the white slate, "I know you raised me as your own child, but you're sorry for me." Because you weren't going to tell me at all. ”

I thought that there would be no secrets in this era, but about who he was and about the sins in Lan Yaoshen's mouth, maybe it would become an eternal mystery.

What is the sin of fighting for independence? Grandpa Lan has a serious face and a tough style, and people call him "the shield of the group", and he is the hero of Moorbai. Jacob was proud of him.

He sat on the grass for a while, the night breeze was cool, and the stars were creeping up into the sky on the dark side of Saturn, and he was enchanted by the spectacular celestial phenomena. Why had I never noticed that the sky in Moorbay was so beautiful before?

Jacob thought a lot under the stars. One moment rejoicing at the free life that he had arrived ahead of schedule, and the next he absurdly remembered the scandal of a boy and a girl at the system language school. The school is not far away, and the students in Time Zone 2 are worrying about their reddening lights, and six blocks away, the familiar scenery is already the end of the world.

An unnatural dry cough brought Jacob back to his senses, Cha Cha Luke was eating a pear behind him, and Cobra was standing under a nearby tree with two shovels.

"Hey, how are you—" Before he could finish speaking, Cha Cha threw over a bag. He'd just seen the contents of the bag.

"ID card?" Jacob asked suspiciously, "Grandpa Lan's?" ”

"Clay Ann's." Cha Cha said, taking another bite of the pear, and looking away. "He died so badly that I couldn't sleep."

After a moment of silence, Jacob looked at the shovel that Cha Cha was carrying.

"What's that for?"

Cha Cha motioned for the cobra to put the shovel on the ground, and there was a "clang".

"I'm going to summon Clay Ann back, and if you miss Lanchuva so much, let's go with you."

"Really?"

"The choice is yours." Cha Cha said seriously.

Jacob stared at the tombstone for a moment.

"No need." He said, "Let's go." ”

A time zone has passed, and Cha Cha's studio has changed a group of people, I don't know if it's because these people are not so lively, or because Cha Cha's return makes people feel strange, in short, the room has become surprisingly quiet, and everyone is watching them.

"Who is in charge of this time zone?" Chacha asked, "Oh, I remembered, Mitsui!" Mitsui! ”

The middle-aged man with "Shoichi Mitsui" written on the badge came up to them and bowed neatly to Chacha.

Cha Cha with a gloomy face ordered him to install Clay Ann's ID card into the odd drive.

"Now? But—"

"I have something very important." Cha Cha told him, "Just put this on me the way you handled No. 48." ”

For a moment, Jacob thought they didn't want to do it, but Mitsui took the bag under the watchful eyes of everyone. Cha Cha picked a comfortable sofa facing the screen and sat down, watching the picture gradually emerge from the humidified air.

It seemed to be a cold cave, a pale body curled up in a wet niche that seemed to be the womb that gave birth to it.

The body moved, then tore open the translucent substance and burst out of the cocoon.

Chacha watched everything in front of her with interest, but Jacob was so shocked that he couldn't close his mouth.

Clay Ann grabbed the cobweb-like substance from her face and smiled off the screen.

"How do you feel when you see him laughing?" Chacha asked Mitsui softly.

"To tell you the truth, when No. 48 first looked at us, a girl fainted on the spot. But he only seems to be able to perceive us through the screen in the moment of birth. ”

"How do you feel, I ask?" Cha Cha raised her voice slightly, and the air in the studio seemed to freeze. Jacob glanced at her, Cha Cha was scared, and he was shocked to find out. The people in this room are afraid of Cha Cha, and what is Cha Cha afraid of?

"Feeling...... Something is angry. Mitsui's voice trembled slightly. What's the power...... on top. It got angry. ”

Chacha stared at Mitsui for a while, and her mood seemed to calm down a bit. "I've never seen this cave." She lifted the hair that was blocking her eyes, leaned her face close to the screen and said, "Which area of Rasheng is this?" ”

"We don't think this place belongs to the developed area, but it definitely belongs to the Rasheng world, because all the parameters are the same. We can only understand that this is the deep underground of Rasheng's world, and the magnificent scenery ahead is unprecedented. ”

At this point, Clay Ann began to walk without saying a word. He walked fast and seemed to know where to go. Cha Cha stared at his back, and Jacob couldn't see what his serious expression meant.

The sound of Clay's footsteps echoed through the room, so real. I didn't kill him. Somewhere in Jacob's heart was relieved.

I don't know how long it took, but the end of the cave shone with a golden light.

Jacob and Cha Cha took a big breath at the same time, and in the eyes of the decoders around them, the reaction of the two of them was not at all surprising.

What a magnificent space it was! Clay Ann stood on top of the cliff at the entrance of the cave, a huge cavern carved out by the forces of nature through the ages, with endless darkness above and beneath his feet. The walls of the cave glow with a warm orange glow, but there is still no end in sight. Behind the warm mist, a dozen behemoths loomed into view, and by the faint light they could see several of them as thrones hanging in the air, and the creatures sitting on them were huge in size and in unspeakable weird postures. Fortunately, they remained motionless, as if they had been dead for a long time.

"Are these statues?" Cha Cha asked tremblingly.

"We think so." Mitsui replied, "It seems to be some kind of natural altar, and if I remember correctly, Number 48 didn't come out of this hole, the throne he was facing was empty." This is the exit of the procedurally generated Rashomon in the Rashon world. Superintendent, please come up with a name for this place. ”

"Name?" Cha Cha looked at Jacob hesitantly: "What do you think is a good name?" ”

Jacob shook his head. "I don't have that talent. But since they were born here...... he suddenly remembered the dream of the morning when Grandpa Lan left, "How about calling it the 'Cave of the Dead'?" ”

"Good idea." Cha Cha snapped her fingers, "But your 'hole' is too earthy, so let's call it 'The Palace of the Dead'." ”

Clay Ann in the Temple of the Dead looked out of the screen.

"What is he looking at?" Jacob asked curiously.

"Something must have caught his eye on the roof of the cave. We speculate that it was the angle we were in that caused the illusion that he was looking at us. ”

"How do I communicate with him?" Cha Cha asked.

"There is a deserted altar in the north, called 'The Ruins of the Netherlands.'" Mitsui replied, "That's where No. 48 came out." ”

"But how-"

"We don't know, Director." Mitsui said respectfully, his voice even a little scared, "After the birth of No. 48 in the Temple of the Dead, there were people in three time zones watching him all the time. But he stood at the entrance of the cave, as if praying to the empty throne in front of him—after the three time zones had passed, and just as we began to think that there was no need for continued surveillance, he suddenly appeared on the ground of Rasheng's world. ”

"Didn't anyone see how he got up?" Cha Cha said irritably.

"Nope." Mitsui admitted, "We approached No. 48 to ask about it, and he just said he didn't remember. ”

"What about surveillance?"

"The holographic screen is just a blurry light source in the monitoring device, and the screen recording system is not turned on."

"Turn on all available monitoring systems. I want you to keep an eye on him from now on. Cha Cha pointed to Clay Ann on the screen, "Until you see how this guy got up." ”