Pardofelis had experienced many terrors since childhood: the reeking tongue of a wild dog licking her face in a garbage pile, almost starving to death on the streets when she couldn't find food, nearly getting caught while still new at stealing… These could all be called Pardofelis's psychological traumas.
But compared to the fear of being lifted single-handedly by this "person" and stared at with those almost inhuman eyes, those life threats, long-faded in memory, were insignificant.
It felt as if he could tear her in half with just a look, scattering her warm organs and blood across the floor.
Pardofelis was about to say something, but Lin's fingers lightly pressed a few points on her neck, preventing her from making a sound.
No way, is this guy going crazy again?
Lin's scattered pupils made it impossible to tell if he was conscious. Pardofelis defaulted that Lin was in his most abnormal mental state when he was hurting people.
But this time, Lin was indeed awake.
After subduing Pardofelis, he recognized her by her vague silhouette and hair color. The reason he didn't let go and kept Pardofelis silent was another matter.
"…" He listened intently for any movement outside the room. His fingers loosened slightly to allow Pardofelis to breathe, and he quietly made a shushing gesture to her.
Lin's precision and breadth of information capture were greatly diminished now. Not only was he without his helmet, but his mental state severely interfered with his ability to synthesize information. It could be said that he was no different from an ordinary person, only able to use simple hearing to judge the situation outside.
Someone was monitoring this house. Lin had detected it before Pardofelis returned, which was why he acted against the person who entered the room.
He didn't know how long he could stay conscious. The corrosion in his body was already stinging. Soon, he would be dragged back into the ocean of memory by hallucinations, so some things had to be communicated in advance.
After a long wait, Lin looked with his barely-seeing eyes at Pardofelis, who was covering her mouth and nose and behaving, "Your name is Pardofelis, correct?"
"You remember?" Pardofelis was surprised that Lin actually remembered her name. Was he conscious during those times?
Lin nodded, "I occasionally hear things."
"Who exactly are you? Why are you here? And why do you have a gun on you?" Pardofelis urgently asked the questions that had been pressing on her heart for over a month.
"My name is Lin. I can't explain the other things clearly to you…" Lin clutched his head and fell backward, stumbling into the wheelchair. He gasped for air, lowered his head, and said to Pardofelis, "Please help me do one thing: drive away the person monitoring us before I wake up again. I will tell you… what you want to know…"
"Don't go to sleep! I just asked casually; I didn't intend to find out the truth. Can we switch the reward? Like money, money, or money? Lin? Bro? Bro Lin! Don't fall asleep!"
Pardofelis looked tearfully at Lin, who had reverted to the silent, vacant patient.
Someone monitoring them?Seriously, asking her to go fight is overestimating her a bit, isn't it?
Pardofelis only learned today that someone was monitoring them, and a cold sweat broke out. Recalling that the man had said he had a way of knowing if Pardofelis had done what she was supposed to, she snapped back to reality, realizing this was the man's method.
Wait, had she already become entangled in something she shouldn't have? This was none of her business, was it?
The girl thought long and hard, finally giving Lin a resentful look, and made up her mind.
A person only lives once; might as well pull off something big! Consider it repayment for saving me last time!
"Hua, are you alright?"
Himeko tried to call out to the distracted Hua. The latter jolted back to attention and nodded to Himeko, "Mm…"
"Don't force yourself. This is an extraordinary time. We don't need to be doing anything. If you want to rest, then rest," Himeko sighed helplessly when she saw Hua's state.
After the missing Lin was considered a major suspect, the headquarters began an investigation into Squad Seven. The Captain's severe injury and disappearance, the headquarters' suspicion and speculation, all had a profound impact and an immeasurable blow to the two members of Squad Seven.
Himeko hadn't expected Seele, whom she thought would be the most distressed, to be very composed, while Immer and Hua both became dispirited.
"No, Captain Himeko, the culprit has not been caught. I have an obligation to assist with the investigation." Hua understood Himeko's concern, but she also had her own persistence. "The Captain often told me to think about my future goals, but everything now hasn't been overcome yet. How can I envision the future?"
If they became weak, then Lin's teachings to them would have been meaningless, wouldn't they?
Hua didn't want Lin's existence to be rendered meaningless, even in the slightest. She had to prove that Lin had never betrayed them, and everything he told them was meaningful.
Currently, Squad Seven existed in name only. A team of just two people was meaningless, but Fire MOTH was stretched thin, having to deal with the aftermath of the 5th Eruption while also trying to find the traitor within the headquarters. Thus, the two-person squad without a captain temporarily existed in this strange form.
"I had prepared some gifts too…" Dystopia, who had been silent, said disappointedly. "I wish we could all get together one more time. I wanted to give everyone gifts…"
Immer, who was working on a communicator in the corner, stopped her fingers at this point, silent.
It wasn't just Squad Seven. The people from the last gathering had all been affected more or less by the 5th Eruption. Kosma was still in Ato's squad. Kevin was the chief investigator for this assassination. Lin, the link between Squad Five and Squad Seven, was gone, and even Elysia had disappeared.
All of this came so suddenly, without warning.
"It's alright. There will definitely be a chance to gather again."
Just then, Seele's voice appeared at the door. Everyone looked over and saw a succulent, roasted suckling pig.
Seele's smiling, pretty face appeared next to the pig's head. She clapped her hands and smiled, "Until Lin returns, let me cook and host a dinner party for everyone. I secretly learned a few tricks from Lin."
This unexpected situation startled everyone present. Seele set the fragrant roasted suckling pig, which was half her height, onto the conference table and clapped her hands, laughing,
"Lin will always return to us, so don't worry. I believe he will definitely come back this time too."
She clenched her fist.
"I… believe him."
"That's really… not bad."
Himeko swallowed the crispy, non-greasy roasted pork in disbelief.
"Did you learn this from Lin?"
"I did." Seeing that everyone seemed to have returned to their former selves, Seele smiled. "Lin told me that when slaughtering an animal, you need to bleed it first, and when you move to butcher it, you must be quick and decisive, without hesitation, and also…"
"Don't let the blood splash on yourself."