Collapse 3, the opening made the Yingjies regret for life

She seemed to recall the other party's dazzling demeanor on the stage, with an inexplicable light in her eyes, and murmured: "That big sister is really confident, she can stir up the atmosphere on and off the stage by herself, wonderful Wave after wave of performances, as if there is no end, always firmly attracts the audience's attention, and she always maintains a look of ease, as if everything is under control... really dazzling."

Looking at Patuo's endless aftertaste, Lie said lightly: "It seems that Patuo really enjoys her performance... So, what is the reason why Patuo went to see the performance? Or did she see it inadvertently when passing by, Then accidentally fell into it?"

Hearing this, Patuo's expression froze immediately, and cold sweat began to ooze from her forehead. She wanted to get away with it, but in the end she didn't have the courage to deceive Lie, she showed a flattering smile, and confessed honestly: "...didn't I see you?" A group of people stared blankly around there, and they didn’t even notice my existence, so I temporarily thought of fishing in troubled waters, but I didn’t expect that I would also stare blankly in the end hehe.”

At the end, she seemed to think of something, and hurriedly added: "But! Boss Lie, don't worry, I will only pick specific targets to attack! Absolutely, absolutely, absolutely have no intention of attacking poor people!"

Lie shook his head calmly, waved his hands and said, "There's no need to be so flustered... I believe in you, and I don't mean to question you, I'm just curious about it. Is her performance really that wonderful?"

Pa Duo nodded immediately, and replied with a very serious expression: "Really! I use myself as a guarantee! How exciting is this big sister's performance... Even if she said that the performance is free, she will still be there after the curtain call. Some viewers left money to show their approval, but this is Twilight Street!"

Lie was suddenly stunned, then fell into deep thought, and murmured: "That is really exciting... If only the children could see it too, they will be very happy, now that the nursing home has a thousand catastrophes to join , the manpower and work arrangements have been relaxed a lot, I will discuss it with Aponia later, and see if I can take the children to see it."

After that, he turned his attention to Paduo again: "By the way, Padoo, did the magician say how long his tour will last?"

Patuo was stunned for a moment, then lowered her head in shame: "Ah... I'm sorry, Boss Lie, I didn't ask about this."

Lie didn't care, and replied casually: "That's it... Then I'll go to Aponia to discuss it later, Patuo, have you finished eating the dried seafood I gave you last time? I dried it again recently Some, and this time there are jerky and cured meat... The recipe was figured out by Alponia and I, the children in the nursing home and Qian Jie liked it very much, I hope you will like it too."

Patuo hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no need, Boss Lie! I haven't finished eating the ones you gave me last time! And I haven't gained much recently, so why not..."

Lie interrupted forcefully: "Take it if you tell me, I'm not a snobbish person, these are just gifts for expressing my heart... However, I heard that girls seem to prefer delicate jewelry , if you like it, I’ll see if I can get it next time, or squeeze some out for you with my bare hands.”

The more Lie said this, the more ashamed Paduo felt, and he said urgently: "Boss Lie! Really don't need it! You don't have to be so nice to me, I'm just a little thief doing work for a living, no It's worth Boss Lie's attention!"

"What's so worthless?" Lie asked back as a matter of course, then looked straight into Patuo's eyes, and said stubbornly, "On the contrary, I think that with such trivial things, you can make a good friend like Patuo , simply don’t make too much money.”

"!!!"

Sincerity is the best weapon to defeat inferiority complex. Lie's sincere words completely stunned Patuo. She suddenly felt that something touched her heartstrings. Her nose couldn't help feeling a little sore, and there seemed to be tears in her eyes... It has been many years since she was born and now she has struggled to survive. Except for the cats and cats who have long been regarded as relatives by her, this is the first time that the girl has experienced the feeling of being valued from outsiders.

——And, this person is also his own savior.

——Not only has a good personality, but also looks super good-looking.

Seeing that she was silent, Lie thought she was still hesitating. In order to completely dispel her worries, he said softly, "Just treat it as a normal communication between friends. There's no need to take it to heart."

"Woo~ Boss Lie! You are so kind to me!"

The embankment collapsed emotionally, and Patuo could no longer control himself, and threw himself into Lie's arms with tears in his eyes.

Facing Pado, who had a sudden temperament change, Lie felt question marks all over his head, but he still caught Pado firmly, and asked tentatively: "Did someone bully you? Or did you say you were wronged? I need to come forward." Help you find your way back?"

Patuo tearfully said: "Wuwu...no...no one bullies me...I just feel that Boss Lie is so kind to me, so I'm touched...Can you let me just hug you for a while, Boss Lie? "

How could Lie refuse such a simple and easy request? He recalled the experience of comforting a crying child in the past, while gently stopping Patuo's thin back to caress, he said in a soft tone as much as possible: "Of course you can." ...It's just, is it really okay, Patuo? Or don't be a thief in the future, stay in the nursing home, don't worry, we can afford it and we are willing to support you, as long as you don't dislike it... Oh, if you really feel conscientious It's hard to be safe, just help out with cleaning up the sundries, coaxing the children and other tasks within one's ability."

At the end, he added another sentence while the iron was hot: "Don't worry, no one here will hate or dislike you, everyone is very good..."

Unexpectedly, Patuo cried even louder: "Wow...!!!"

Chapter 55: Taboos in Nursing Homes

"Boss Lie, you are so kind to me! No one has ever treated me so kindly!"

Faced with Pa Duo who was crying louder and louder, Lie rarely fell into a state of panic, and finally took a lot of effort to calm down the other party's emotions.

Looking at Patuo who was holding back his tears but still couldn't help sobbing, Mr. Lie had a strange illusion that he had unintentionally bullied the other party. He couldn't help replaying the conversation just now in his mind, but still Feeling confused... So, why on earth is Patuo crying?

As if seeing Lie's confusion and worry, Patuo took a deep breath, wiped away the tears on his face, and said with red eyes: "Boss Lie, don't worry about me, I'm fine, I just lost control of my emotions for a while, Just slow down..."

Lie nodded, and asked earnestly: "If you feel uncomfortable, remember to tell me that the equipment in the nursing home can still be used."

This time Patuo didn't refuse again, but responded softly: "Okay, Boss Lie!"

It seemed that Pa Duo's voice was a little hoarse, and Lie took the initiative to say: "Your voice is a little hoarse, you must have just cried, you sit and rest, I'll get you some warm water."

After all, he didn't wait for Patuo to react, and ran away like oil on the soles of his feet, leaving Patuo squatting on the spot and blinking blindly.

——Brother Lie should be worried that my throat is dry, that's why he ran so fast.

——Boss Lie, you are so gentle!

——Hey hey, I'm so lucky to meet the boss Lie himself!

Thinking of this, Patuo suddenly felt extremely happy, and a happy smirk appeared on his face involuntarily.

When Lie returned again, he not only had a large glass of warm water in his hand, but also a large cloth bag containing three glass jars.

Lie gently put down the cloth bag, and then stepped forward to pass the warm water over. Patuo took the glass of warm water carefully as if treating some fragile treasure, said "thank you" softly, and then acted like a kitten Generally, sip the warm water in the cup in small sips.

Then, Lie took out the three glass jars from the cloth bag, placed them in front of Patuo, and introduced them to her one by one: "These three glass jars contain dried seafood, dried meat and cured meat. I don't know Which one does Patuo prefer, so I’ll just give you some of each, and you can take it back to taste, and tell me which one suits you better when you come over next time, and I’ll prepare a little more for you.”

Pa Duo felt warm in his heart, and smiled coquettishly: "Hey hey, don't worry, Boss Lie, I've never been picky eaters!"

Lie nodded and said: "It is a good thing not to be picky about food, but Aponia told me that it is also a good thing to pursue better food when there is a choice. The nursing home may be lacking in other aspects, but food is still sufficient Yes, you don’t have to worry, just choose what you like to eat.”

"Ah."

Pa Duo was not polite to Lie, and he agreed directly - since Lie has already regarded himself as a good friend, then he should not refuse his kindness again, so as not to make people feel too old and hurt the precious camaraderie.

For the time being, she kept all of Lie's kindness to her in her heart, and when the other party needed her in the future, or had a chance, it would not be too late for her to repay her.

——Although under normal circumstances, only Lie can help her.

In this way, Patuo was looking for such and such reasons in his heart to persuade his conscience, while accepting Lie's gift frankly, with a faint smile on his face.

Seeing that Patuo no longer refused, Lie tidied up the glass jars and put them back in the cloth bag, then mentioned a place that Patuo could see at a glance, and enjoined: "Okay, I still have something to discuss with Alponia, so I won't continue Excuse me for your lunch break, I will put the things here, just remember to bring them when you wake up later, and, is there enough water?"

"Enough is enough! Boss Lie, go get busy and leave me alone."

After all, Pa Duo quickly drank the remaining warm water in the cup, then raised his hand to wipe the water stains around his mouth, and handed back the empty cup.

Lie took the water glass, and couldn't help asking again: "...Does it really not need to prepare a clean room for you? Are you really comfortable sleeping in the warehouse like this?"

Patuo scratched the back of his head, and said with a naive smile: "Hey, to tell you the truth, I'm used to sleeping in this warehouse, but I'm not used to sleeping in a big bed."

"Well, as long as you like it, it's not too late to tell me when there is a need for this."

Now that Pa Duo said so, Lie naturally wouldn't impose his thoughts on her, and finally asked her to remember to bring the bag of things when she left again, and then said goodbye to her.

After leaving the warehouse, Lie walked straight towards the chapel. At this time, Aponia usually prayed in the chapel.

……

in the chapel.

"No! Absolutely not!"

After Lie explained the purpose of coming to Aponia, the always gentle and jade-like Aponia raised her voice in a rare way, with a strong and decisive tone in her tone, and even the expression on her face became serious, with a look of no emotion at all. It looks like it's negotiable.

Lie asked in puzzlement, "Why?"

"..."

Faced with fierce questions, Aponia just kept silent, her lips were tightly pressed, and complex expressions flashed in her eyes, as if she was engaged in a fierce psychological struggle.

But she still couldn't answer a word.

Lie thought for a moment, then asked again: "Apolonia, you have been hiding something from me about the children, right?"

Aponia struggled more intensely, a look of pain flashed in her eyes, she shook her head and denied tremblingly: "No, I didn't."

Lie sighed: "Look, I'm lying again, don't think I can't see it, I just respect your idea and don't point it out directly... And you don't have to be like this, if you think I'm not trustworthy, you Just tell me some secrets that you don't want me to know, and I won't break the casserole and ask the end."

Aponia suddenly said loudly: "That's not the case! I absolutely trust Lie 100%!"

Lie asked: "Then why do you still keep it from me? Even if this matter is very difficult, isn't it better for two people to think together than one person?"

Without waiting for Aponia to reply, he clenched his small fist again, with a look of reminiscence on his face, and muttered to himself: "I have already lost one time without any precaution... Although I don't understand anything, But my heart tells me that it doesn't want to experience a similar or the same tragedy again, even if the result will be shattered, it is better to be prepared from the beginning - at least I have fought hard, not just With the benefit of hindsight."

"..."

Hearing this, Alponia couldn't help closing her eyes, and took a deep breath, her face immediately showed a look of relief, maybe this answer has been struggled for a long time, maybe this answer only took a moment Enlightenment.

She lightly opened her cherry lips, and faintly spit out a term that made Lie inexplicably strange and familiar:

"Gate Line."

Aponia opened her eyes, and her whole body seemed to be exhausted, revealing a deep tiredness that could not be concealed, as if telling this secret had exhausted all her energy.

She pinched the center of her eyebrows and said slowly: "Before the adults left, I overheard some things, one of which was about these poor children..."

Suddenly, Aponiya and Lie met each other's eyes, and said clearly, "I heard, the adults said..."

"These children are related to the experiment on the Gate Line."

Chapter 56: Gate Line and Saotome Research Institute

"These children are related to the experiment on the Gate Line."

—Gate Line?what is that?

——Also, why do I feel both familiar and unfamiliar with this term, and even feel nostalgic in my heart?

——As if, from the beginning of birth, I had an unbroken relationship with it.

The inexplicable emotions that suddenly surged into his heart made Lie feel very confused, but no matter how hard he tried to think, he could only get infinite blankness and bursts of disobedience. His soul felt familiar and close to this term, but But I couldn't find any impressions and memories related to it in my mind, it was so weird and distorted to the extreme.

Lie couldn't figure it out anyway, so he simply asked, "Aponia, what is the Gate Line?"

Aponia shook her head lightly, and said shyly, "I don't really know what the Gate Line is, but based on what the adults said, it can be deduced that this is a very, very, very dangerous thing beyond people's imagination..."

Speaking of this, a look of reminiscence appeared in her eyes, she silently recalled and sorted out the memories at that time, and organized the language to tell Lie slowly: "That day, I wanted to discuss something with the dean, but I accidentally discovered The secret room of the nursing home, and then I heard the voices of adults coming out intermittently from inside. I didn't think of eavesdropping at first, but because I heard it was about the children in the nursing home, I couldn't help but hide in the dark and listen to the corner , As a result, I heard a lot of unknown secrets."

"I didn't hear the first part, but the following content is roughly like this... I heard them say that these children were the subjects of a human experiment related to the Gate Line. It is said that the experiment failed in the end, although the children did not There is no serious problem, but there is a very small amount of Gait line left on them, and the adults have also lost a lot of staff due to the experimental accident, so that the entire project team has come to a standstill."

She paused, and there was a trace of repressed anger in her tone, as if she was indignant at the tragic fate of the children being reduced to human experiment subjects: "They also said that it was because a certain big man hid the truth for his own ambition. According to the underground experiment organized by the above privately, the concentration of the Gate line broke through the limit value for a moment due to the failure, which was detected by the observation of the people above, so the incident came to light. To get rid of the relationship, all evidence needs to be destroyed..."

At this point, the anger in her voice could no longer be suppressed, her fists were clenched tightly, trembling faintly, her usually gentle and watery face showed a rare look of anger, as if she was extremely angry, she gritted her teeth and said in a low voice: "And we need The destroyed evidence naturally also includes the children who survived as failed products."

She closed her eyes in pain, took another deep breath, and her full chest suddenly rose and fell violently, just like her turbulent mood. When she opened her eyes again, they were already dark and gloomy, and she said in a trembling voice: " In order not to let the investigation team above see the clues, they are not even willing to leave the children with a whole body, so that the innocent people will be wiped out completely - because the remaining Gatelines on the children will be detected by the investigation team, but If you want the Gate Line to disappear completely, you can only use a more high-energy and dense Gate Line to destroy it."

"And what is even more infuriating is that some of them felt uneasy about this and raised objections. Although they naturally drew rebuttals, the reason for rebuttals was not out of helpless self-preservation or selfish desire to stay out of the matter. It's because—even if they don't do this, the people above will choose the same way, even if the remaining Geter lines on the children can be basically concluded as harmless, but in order to ensure that the secret of the Geter lines is hidden, they Regardless of the cost and consequences, all possible exposure factors will be extinguished, even if the conscience is wiped out and the innocent are killed... Moreover, the adults also said that the higher-ups may take the children away out of the idea of ​​waste utilization, and carry out medical treatment on them. The crueler and more painful human experiments are not as good as they do it themselves and give the children a good time."

Although it is already a memory of the past, and it is far away from the present, every time she thinks of it, Aponia still feels angry and resentful. She cannot understand or forgive all these crimes, especially for innocent children. They had infinite sympathy, which strengthened their determination to intervene...

But how humble and weak she is, even if she tried her best, she could barely save the lives of the children. Everything, the culprit who treats sentient beings as discarded string dolls that can be manipulated at will... She doesn't even have the qualifications to touch these sinners, let alone accountability and punishment.

Thinking of this, Aponia suddenly felt a deep sense of powerlessness, couldn't help but let out a long sigh, and murmured wearily: "I don't understand why they can take it for granted to despise the lives of innocent people and treat them as wanton Toys... How dare they, how do they feel that they have this qualification...Obviously, everyone is the same, a member of all living beings."

I never thought that such an astonishing secret was hidden in this small sanatorium, and even if it was eavesdropping, Aponia knew too much...

Lie hesitated for a moment, then said softly: "...These information must not all be eavesdropped by Aponia."

"That's right." Aponia didn't evade any words, and admitted it directly, with no waves on her face, and said calmly, "I used the power of the commandments, but I don't regret it, because only in this way can I get closer to the incident the truth to protect the children.”

"The lord's departure and the priest's suicide, isn't it..."

Aponia shook her head lightly and interrupted: "I did use the commandment on the adults, but I just got the information from them, and then let them forget everything about the children... including the follow-up investigation team, too. In the same way, I did not take their lives. As for the death of the priest, I regret...

Speaking of the priest's death, Aponia couldn't help but pause for a moment, a trace of guilt flashed in his eyes, and even his tone slowed down a bit: "Although the priest is not really innocent, he can't bear to hurt the child and the people who saw this scene." However, because he was powerless to stop all of this, and at the same time tried to persuade everyone to no avail, he finally chose to die as a martyr because he was overwhelmed by guilt... What he did was very secretive and straightforward, and everyone was kept in the dark by him , When the body was found, it was already the next day... I failed to save him."

Lie quickly sorted out and digested the huge amount of information, nodded and said: "So that's why you forbid the children to go out, and want to reduce the risk of exposure as much as possible, right?"

Aponia nodded sadly: "Yes, I also learned a secret information from them... This island itself hides a research institute that they must try their best to cover up, and even this Twilight Street is just One of the smoke bombs they created to cover up the truth, if the value of the research institute is not too great and may cause unknown dangers, I am afraid they will directly annihilate the entire island, and let the truth disappear with the island. "

Lie grasped the point at once, and asked directly, with an inexplicably eager tone: "...Then, have you found out where this institute is and what is it called?"

"Maybe the level is not enough, and they don't know where it is, but I remember the name..."

Aponia lowered her head and pondered for a moment, then slowly said a name that made Lie inexplicably palpitate:

"It seems to be called... the Saotome Institute?"

Chapter 57: To me, you (you) are more important

"It seems to be called... the Saotome Institute?"

——Saotome Research Institute.

Lie repeated the name in his heart. For some reason, he felt that something inexplicable in the depths of his soul suddenly became looser, and even more strange senses of déjà vu began to emerge in his heart. And familiarity, as if...

As if he was supposed to know about this place long ago.

Before Lie could recover, some vague memory fragments also began to slowly come to mind, turning into various fleeting unknown images, they flashed past like a lantern, Lie even Before they had time to burn them into memory, they disappeared without a trace, leaving only scattered impressions like illusions.

But this was enough to attract strong attention. He kept thinking hard, trying to piece together those scattered and fragmented impressions and string them together into clues.

However, what is disappointing is that all his efforts and attempts have been in vain. There is no correlation or law to speak of these sporadic fragments of impressions. Can't do it.

The only thing that can be confirmed is that this place must have an unknown origin and connection with him.