CH 38.3

Lin Yi’s facial expression fades – or more precisely, all signs of emotional fluctuation are fading from Lin Yi, leaving behind a pure, unidentifiable white——Tranquil.

The sign of the passionate, easily-read man is no longer visible. Nor is the man that one saw as complex and scheming. There is simply nothing to read.

“Looks like he’s right.” Jiang Yiyi has his answer now, “undercover agents like you are all loyal to a fault.”

Lin Yi remains silent on the bed, all his extraneous thoughts erased——A state he is most familiar with, an ending expected in cold solitude.

Their fate.

“I did not save you so that you could kill yourself.” Jiang Yiyi looks up and down Lin Yi, “now that I’ve saved you, in exchange, your life is now mine.”

“I’m afraid I cannot do so.” Lin Yi watches the source of the majority of his fear——Jiang Yiyi——Calmly, as he has kept all his emotions at bay, “you may take it back.”

Jiang Yiyi is fascinated by this foolishly stubborn loyalty——Mostly because, his impression of Lin Yi has been a young man that is quite the realist and pragmatist, rather than a mule that will end his own life at another’s order.

“I have a question. Why are you willing to die without question?” Jiang Yiyi asks, genuinely curious, “I have seen you always doing your best to stay alive.”

Lin Yi glances at Lunatic next to them, “he can also die if you order him to.”

Jiang Yiyi can’t help but chuckle at the statement.

“He’s not like you.”

Lunatic’s gaze shifts slightly.

While he has resolved to die, and has made peace with himself, his nature as a spy and sensitivity to information makes him ask, almost like a reflexive reaction, “how so?”

Jiang Yiyi answers quite casually, “he’s just like you.”

Like him? What?

While Lin Yi’s mind is churning, he notices Lunatic’s thumb twitching slightly without apparent cause.

An instinctive reaction that cannot be suppressed.

Suddenly, he knows what Jiang Yiyi was talking about.

Lunatic is undercover here?!

Lin Yi’s forced emotionlessness finally cracks——Well, true, the appearance and subsequent reappearance of Lunatic is questionable, but… like, he’s certifiably insane!

Questionable as his state may be, no one can possibly suspect him of being a spy of all things.

The shocking news makes him disregard his entire death wish for a second to ask more questions.

“Why are you keeping him around if you knew?”

Jiang Yiyi is amused by the naïveté of the question, “why not? I am keeping you around already.”

Suddenly, Lunatic’s thumb stops twitching.

Lin Yi thinks for a few seconds, and finds himself with an urge to debate, “I’m not the same. My purpose here is not you.”

The way Jiang Yiyi is looking at him right now reminds him of when Jiang Yiyi displays towering intellect over him.

“Let’s say you successfully completed your mission. What do you think your next assignment would have been?”

Lin Yi remains still on the bed for seconds as he understands the logic inherent in Jiang Yiyi’s words. Say that he completes the mission on Black Glove is, then naturally, his next target could only have been Jiang Yiyi——Especially when no one else is as suited as he is.

“Then… Why save me?”

“Because, if you did just up and died, it’d be quite the shame.”

Lin Yi still does not understand Jiang Yiyi’s thoughts, but he can certainly feel the veracity of what it means when Jiang Yiyi is ‘quite forgiving’ towards them.

“Regrettable.” Lin Yi says under his breath, after a while.

Jiang Yiyi lifts a brow, knowing what he means——It is regrettable, but he will still choose loyalty – choose death.

“I find nothing regrettable.”

Jiang Yiyi glances at Lunatic.

Lunatic nods in silence, looking at Lin Yi.

“You still don’t understand me well enough.”

Jiang Yiyi rises to leave, only his words remain.

Lin Yi knows Lunatic is here to keep him from committing suicide. What he does not know is what Jiang Yiyi meant by that.

When watching Jiang Yiyi leave, Lin Yi’s heart is slowly speeding up——His instincts tell him, that Jiang Yiyi will top their imagination once again.

Just like the deepest impression they have of Jiang Yiyi, all that he thinks about will become reality that no one can stop.

Author’s notes:

Noticed some questions in the comments.

Was Magician interrupting Ye Wang deliberately? Yes.

Is hostility against the protagonist forbidden? No.

There is no immediate repercussion for holding hostility. It is only truly dangerous when labelled an ‘enemy,’ the reason being 【I do not have living enemies】

Magician hails from the fifth floor, here to observe the new prisoner heading down soon, Jiang Yiyi.

Lunatic is a spy with a new mission——I thought this was obvious, since we established he worked for Starfleet a long time ago.

In other words, military, obeying orders is their natural duty——Obviously, he couldn’t just lash out and take revenge whenever, without orders.

As for why Starfleet wanted Lunatic by Jiang Yiyi’s side, and why Lin Yi is definitely going to be assigned to Jiang Yiyi after Black Glove——For one simple reason. Refer to the last paragraph of Chapter 24

【The existence of Extraordinaries are kept secret, but it is only an open secret to those in the know.

Extraordinaries may be insane, but they are also geniuses. They are the next step in human evolution. They hold the keys to more power.

Everyone will be moved by their existence – more than one have actually tried to capitalise on that.】

It should be clear that they simply want in on the fifth floor by riding along Jiang Yiyi’s trip.

Recall that this whole debacle on the fourth floor started due to the ‘info’ allegedly about the bottom floor of Stargaol.

Obviously, having men directly retrieving information first-hand is better than a source of dubious credibility.

They simply did not have a chance to reach the fifth floor, which Jiang Yiyi now provides.

Still, Lin Yi’s mission has failed, and his identity as a double agent exposed, his situation is different.

Death only awaits a spy busted while in enemy territory. To their organisation, they are no longer an asset——And their enemies will be happy to take whatever information they can pry out of his mouth.

Therefore, to prevent both betrayals and other possibilities, organisations will generally order spies who are exposed to immediately terminate themselves.