Overturned Tower

"As expected, it is you...'sheath'."

Russell murmured softly.

He could feel from the words that the heart of the "sheath" was nothingness.

It was a small space for holding the sword.If the matching sword is broken, the sheath will also lose all value.

Or put it another way...

[Sheath] itself is a kind of "container".

He is so similar to Russell in this respect—what they exhibit is not their own.It is the hero's shell shaped by everyone's impressions, a shining and gorgeous scabbard full of gems.But he is just a "sheath", and the sword stored in it is not him.

He obviously has the deeds of a great man and the power of a hero, but he only has a cowardly mortal heart; he obviously wanted to seek death at first, but instead he completed a difficult task that is almost impossible.

He is not really a strong man, because he does not have a heart that belongs to a strong man, and he does not have the tenacious will to face difficulties and obstacles without regret like a "natural hero"; but he is by no means what he said. Such a humble and incompetent person... can bear such a cruel and painful transformation, and even lose his human appearance, which is a painful test in itself; and defeating or even killing the undead dragon can undoubtedly It can be called a "great cause".

From the perspective of a third person, what a silent and powerful person this is!

But when he spoke, he could only feel the trembling soul from his unshakable voice, and taste the fear and inferiority that had never gone away since childhood.

The boy who gave up his life and fell from a tall building... Although after that, he underwent plastic surgery to modify his appearance and make his appearance look firm and stable, but his heart did not change much.

To this day, he is still the boy he used to be.

He is neither good nor evil.

He's not good, but he's not bad either.

But this is undoubtedly even more pathetic... because what he denies is not only what Alice has done for him, his friends and the organization's trust in him, but also his own life.

This man's soul has already become fragmented like the halo on his head.

... wait.

Thinking of this, Russell's heart suddenly moved.

He suddenly felt a sense of disobedience.

Just before, when he and Delphinium saw the "sheath" on the street...he clearly felt that it was an extremely dangerous man.

He just looked at it from a distance, and he could feel a compelling sharpness—that is the decisiveness that only a person who has let go of everything and is ready to give up everything and swing the final sword will have.

It should be like a comet hitting the moon and a white rainbow penetrating the sun.Longing for a magnificent death, silent and heavy, dangerous and deadly man.

And Delphinium confirmed his heart at that time...

It is a soul that has almost no "love" in its heart, only a certain ideal, a certain path, and a certain dream, and is willing to sacrifice everything for it.

He was completely different from the decadent and powerless man in front of Russell.

Even, when he was sitting there quietly, there was still a compelling force; when he just stood up and sealed the deer head, there was still a kind of unshakable determination.But after he began to tell the story of the past, that feeling suddenly faded and disappeared without a trace.

Russell raised an eyebrow.

He could feel that what the man said was not a lie - he still had the ability to recognize lies.

But why, the sense of disobedience he felt from the sheath was so strong?

"...Since that's the case."

Russell said slowly: "Why did you come here on purpose?

"From the land, you tried everything possible to return to the empty island; you killed a group of mercenaries in front of me, and then rushed to the side of the deer head in front of me - not to go to my home to talk with me, but to go to Baba Inside the other tower, and sealed the head of the deer before talking to me. You know, this is a top-secret place where even I don't know the real location.

"You have wasted so much effort, I don't think it's just to stab the head of the deer.

"After listening to what the deer head said, you finally started to do it; before talking to me, you specially sealed her eyes and ears, and blocked her tongue. Because you have something you don't want her to hear, yes Bar."

Looking at the silent sheath, Russell said slowly: "Then let's talk.

"'Since that's the case, what is the only historical copy that you burned in the church that year?'...You probably hope that I will ask you this after listening to it? Then I will really ask.

"Now it's up to you again. The answer, what is it?"

The sheath "watched" Russell and was silent for a long time.

Then, he sighed slowly.

"How did you find out?"

"Your emotions are indeed well controlled, and there are no loopholes in your words. The problem is your motives.

"In the final analysis, how can a truly desperate and decadent person have such action power. Even when my mother passed away, you didn't come back. Such a you, in order to let me 'don't see the answer to despair', and Came back on a special trip to stop me?

"You even explained to me the transformation you received and your record of killing the undead dragon. You don't look like you are waiting to die...Mr. Sheath."

Russell narrowed his eyes: "Since you don't want to say it directly, let me guess first.

"Did this world once have a brilliant civilization that could even touch the starry sky. But in the end, under the interference of foreign civilizations or some kind of internal crisis, it chose to self-seal?

"The head of the deer said very clearly that the 'Ash Dome' can be opened by ourselves. It is impossible for a prisoner to hold the key to his own cell; but the dragon is still restricting the development of civilization and technology, so it It doesn't feel like a shelter either.

"You also said that this world is like a prisoner who has been sentenced to death and is in the final probation period...Let's not say that there is no death penalty in this era. What you mean is that the death of this world is already doomed, And not now - so what you call a 'death sentence' is a future of resource depletion.

"The dragons are constantly restricting aerospace technology and guarding the false 'gray dome' above the sky. This means that the dragons believe that we can leave this planet alone. They believe in our motivation and ability, so they specially Many restrictions have to be imposed; but at the same time, the giant dragons are maintaining the order of the world and trying to repair the damaged world. This shows that they do not have killing intent, but are still trying to maintain the foundation of civilization.

"In summary……"

Russell said slowly: "This is not a cell for death row prisoners, nor is it a shelter for avoiding disasters.

"—but an isolation ward that's never going to be opened, is it?"

Chapter 43 "Shell" and "Core"

Russell believed delphinium's words very much, and at the same time believed in his own judgment.

According to the delphinium, the sheath has "purple thorns" in its heart.It means he has some kind of strong love.But this kind of love is not directed to a real entity, or person, but to something illusory.

And Russell felt the determination to never look back from him, but at the same time he had a hollow and empty heart.

So what if all this is true?

He has a love for a certain path and career in his heart, and this kind of love can even make him abandon his wife and children, and even his own dignity and humanity; he is ready to sacrifice everything, but at the same time he But there is a growing void in my heart that cannot be filled.

He was deeply aware of the meaninglessness of everything he did, but at the same time he had to do it.

He is preventing Russell from getting closer to the truth, just like a dragon prevents scientists from approaching the sky...

Looking at the sheath that suddenly fell silent, Russell began to approach him slowly.

He took a step forward and said softly: "The situation is now very clear.

"The so-called elves are part of the ancient people. They transformed themselves into elves in order to use 'fate' to seal specific demons and use them as batteries to store the power of miracles. This is an extremely long-term plan.

"The reason why other elves are transformed also comes from a kind of 'special talent etching device'. People who are good enough will be transformed into elves, and they will be given a long lifespan to reserve talents. This is also a kind of Very long term 'reserve'.

"—Based on the means, the purpose can be reversed.

"The name-calling elves are 'the forerunners, caretakers and guardians of human beings'. But in their actions, there is no care and protection at all; and in the land age, there is no need for elves to protect them to avoid disasters.

"Compared to 'the elves have abandoned their responsibilities', can I understand that...their mission has not yet begun?"

Hearing this, Shea's complexion suddenly changed.

Even because of his lack of eyes, he couldn't see the specific expression on his face.

However, from the details of his other facial features, Russell could clearly perceive the astonishment in his heart.

Russell secretly sighed in his heart.

Because he realized that his speculation might be correct.

"The lone copy of history that you burned was about dragons, soul relatives, and the secrets of Year Zero. So here comes the question...

"According to the research of the Tower of Babel, the predecessor of the Cyber ​​Church was first born in 452. Why do they have the secret about the 'zero year'? Why does the Tower of Babel affirm that they and the Mage Tower must have that kind of secret record?

"The answer is very simple, because these things were not secrets in the past...Only what everyone experienced can not become a secret. Because history has not been banned at that time, because the truth has not been forgotten.

"And what is it that everyone will know after year zero and before 452 years?

"——is the reason for the birth of soul relatives.

"Whether it is Happy Island or other empty islands, the research of test-tube babies is being banned. To be precise, it is banning the research of artificial humans based on test-tube babies. And I once knew an old scholar who used his own created A large number of copies... The characteristic is that all individuals will eventually have spiritual relatives, and the spiritual relatives are not necessarily the same as themselves. This means that human beings will begin to become spiritual relatives after they recognize themselves, which is a kind of gene-independent underlying mechanism.

"Flower Touch once said to me that human beings need soul relatives to resist something; while elves lose their soul relatives and have a solid and unchanging soul. At first, I thought elf transformation was a sequela after the soul relatives recovered. ', or in other words, spiritualization is incomplete elfization..."

But after learning the secret of the "key and lock" from the malt wine side, another speculation was born in Russell's mind.

The reason why the binding sheath is here...

"In ancient times, both dragons and elves could kill people. The only difference is that in the land era, there were laws. It was a law made by humans, and dragons were only executors.

"I already know that the dragon is some kind of huge mechanical creation, a kind of great artificial intelligence like a god. 'Can't kill people' should be the operating logic engraved in their bottom layer... that is, 'They can't hurt humans, You can't stand by and watch human beings in danger. That's why dragons don't kill people, and they don't allow elves, even high-ranking elves, to kill people. That's why today's Sky Island has such an outrageous no-killing principle.

"So, suppose there is some kind of crisis—humanity must be killed in order to save humanity. How will the dragon execute it?"

Russell asked softly.

He's just speculating.But feeling the sudden turbulence in the heart of the sheath... Russell realized that he really guessed right.

"The so-called 'spiritual relative' is a kind of temporary protection. His only purpose is to make human beings 'no longer human beings'. The elves have the ethnic characteristics of elves, and have the language and culture of elves, which is also in the It is different from human beings. The reason for everything is that there is a certain kind of spiritual plague at the bottom of the human spirit... a plague that will take effect as long as it is a pure human being.

"It may change the mind of humans, it may turn humans into monsters or kill humans... I don't know what it will bring, but 'spiritualization' is probably the way ancient humans used to circumvent it.

"Before the elves were producing psykers in batches, their purpose should be to solidify the demons... To put it simply, they were 'packaging' the resources on this planet.

"The solution a person chooses when encountering difficulties can reveal the person's inner being to a certain extent. When the elves face the problem of 'lack of resources', their response is not to open the gray dome, nor to solve or postpone it through technological means. This kind of crisis does not even have the idea of ​​promoting technology at all. Instead, it is extremely unified to think about the outrageous solution of 'reducing population'.

"This actually shows that they have at least heard the words 'reducing population'. That's why this kind of weird decision-making will become their means subconsciously.

"The characteristic of elves is that their spirit remains unchanged while they live long; and the selection criteria for elves are usually scholars, followed by elites in various industries.

"Their essence is 'specimen of civilization'. The name elves also claim that they are 'the forerunners, caretakers and guardians of human beings'...

"Since this is the case, I am afraid that there is only one final answer."

Russell looked at the sheath that was fixed in place like a puppet, and read out the secret hidden in his heart: "What the dragon really wants is to kill all the 'spiritualized' humans, and fundamentally undo the evil spirits that make you feel like a puppet." Human beings are no longer plagues of the human mind. Then they leave this resource-depleted planet with the human gene pool, more than 1 'demons' on this planet, and one-thousandth of the total population of 'elves'.

"Those elves are the crew. They can survive on the ship for an extremely long time without worrying about the corruption of the spirit and the inheritance of the 'intermediate generation' born on the ship... They are long-lived and patient, but at the same time Lack of learning ability, cross-domain curiosity, and lack of fertility are obviously functional genes specially tailored for space travel. With these elves, civilization can be reorganized in an instant.

"And the 'miracle power' reserved by the 84 named elves is to solve all the difficulties that may be encountered in the long space voyage and the reorganization of civilization. What they guard is the gene pool of human beings; they guard the They are the fire that continues the civilization; they are the forerunners, because they are the end of the old civilization and the founder of the new civilization. They are superior to humans, as if they don't care about them, because the elves know... All humans are mortal. They Will not kill humans with their own hands, so they let the world fall into destruction..."

Looking at the sheath, Russell asked softly: "There is only one question now. The giant dragon specifically forbids humans to study aerospace technology... Then, where is the 'ship' that can take all the elves?"

"...Didn't you already guess it?"

Sheath exhaled slowly.

He closed his eyes and said in a low voice, "The 'Dragon' is the ship...carrying all human specimens."

"...and you actually killed a dragon?"

"Yes, the mage lied to me. They didn't want us to leave. It wasn't the humans themselves that were the problem, but the 'core' of the planet. That was what gave the humans on this planet their psychic potential, and The existence that brought us destruction. It came from the thing sealed in the lock in the depths of the dream world... It is the egg shell that gave birth to the 'God'. We must escape this planet, this is from the '0 year' The things that were researched and the decisions made, and the establishment of Gray Vault was long before that. But the number of people that the ship can carry is extremely limited, and even the elves cannot carry all of them..."

This man, whose soul was already empty and ready to die, but who was as empty as an empty shell, showed a decadent and desperate expression when he heard the words: "In order to save the world, I personally destroyed one of the Arks of Salvation. This means that So, in the future, one seventh of the world's people will die because of me.

"Everything the Tower of Babel has done, everything I have sacrificed... means nothing. We were wrong. There is no way this world can be saved... All we can do in the end is die.

"And all I can do is stop you."

Chapter 44 Alice's Vision

Russell sighed deeply, closed his eyes slightly, and said softly:

"I can actually understand you, really. It must be very hard to play someone else's ideal role wholeheartedly."

How could he not be the sheath of today?

Isolated, bullied, despised, forgotten... longing for love but no one to love, longing for light but not finding light.

The only way to put on a hypocritical smiley mask is to keep pretending and evading.

They are also trusted by others, they also have trustworthy friends and descendants, and they are also loved by others—not the love for the mask, but the love for the inner core under the mask.

How much is the difference between them?

How much difference can it make?

Apart from the difference in inborn talents, and the fact that Russell holds the memory of another world...there must be more fundamental differences between the two.

"Because of my understanding of you, I can confirm...we are completely different."

Russell was very convinced that even if he became a sheath, even if he faced the situation he once faced, he would never become the empty and desperate man he is now.