A Knight's Journey Begins in Faiz

Jiang Yang didn't care about saving face anymore; he just wanted to shower her with compliments. After all, she couldn't just kill him for praising her, could she? People say you don't hit a smiling face; we have to follow the rules in life.

Hanagata smiled, finding the young man before him quite interesting.

"I've heard about you from Soga, so I'd like to talk to you about some things and ask you to help me with some questions."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Yang immediately patted his chest in affirmation.

"Hey, you should have said so earlier. If you wanted to see me, you could have just passed on the message. There was no need for you to come all the way here in person."

"Alright, alright, just be normal. I'm not here to cause you any trouble."

Although Jiang Yang's tone made him feel comfortable, that wasn't his purpose in coming to see Jiang Yang.

"Ahem, so, what do you want to ask?"

The two changed locations.

"I'll get straight to the point: who exactly are you, what are your goals, why did you contact Truth and the others, why do you know about the Faiz Explosive Device, why do you know where I'm hiding, and why do you know about King Orphnoch?"

A long list of questions gave Jiang Yang a headache. It felt just like facing one exam question after another during the college entrance examination.

"Wait, wait, wait, there are too many questions. Who I am is not important. What is important is that my goal is the same as yours."

"Oh?"

"Destroy King Orphnoch."

Flower-shaped lips upturned.

"How could you think my goal is to destroy King Orphnoch? Don't you know I am also an Orphnoch?"

Jiang Yang nodded; how could he not know such a thing?

"That's easy to tell. If your goal is to support the birth of the king, you wouldn't hand over the belt meant to protect the king to the students of Meteor Academy."

Flower-shaped eyes narrowed slightly.

The fact that the belt was used to protect the king was known only to a very small number of Orphnochs; others, even if they knew of its existence, did not understand its purpose. They might even have believed it was used to resist the Orphnochs.

That is indeed the case in a certain sense.

Not all Orphnochs desire the birth of a king, and the belt also serves to prevent these Orphnochs from causing trouble.

"Let me be frank. I have my own ways of knowing these things, that's not important. What's important is that I also don't want a king to be born. Not only that, I don't want the current situation to continue to deteriorate."

"The situation is worsening?"

Hanagata has just emerged from underground, and there are some things he hasn't learned yet, though there are some things he already knows.

Jiang Yang nodded.

"In recent days, the Orphnochs have become increasingly active. Now, the existence of the Orphnochs is no longer just an urban legend; many people know about their existence. If things go as expected, humanity has also begun to study the Orphnochs. It's estimated that they will discover the Orphnochs' fatal weakness soon."

“Tell me your fatal weakness.”

"Lifespan, the current Orphnoch is more accurately described as a special life form somewhere between a human and an Orphnoch. It possesses the ability to transform between the two forms, and is therefore incomplete."

Based on my speculation, due to its incomplete nature, each time an Orphnoch switches between human and Orphnoch forms, it consumes life force. The more frequently an Orphnoch uses its power, the faster its life force is depleted, which results in a very short lifespan for the Orphnoch.

Jiang Yang's current goal is to obtain Hua Xing's help, so he no longer hides the information he knows.

"Go on."

"The king of Orphnoch will appear among the children who have survived the brink of death, and the king born will grant the Orphnoch eternity."

Hanagata's originally kind face suddenly broke down. Jiang Yang's words had already explained everything; he knew everything, including the experiments he had done at Meteor Academy in the past.

"It seems you really do know everything. Aren't you afraid I'll silence you if you reveal all this?"

Scared! Who says I'm not scared? I'm scared to death. If I could, I would never want to meet you alone.

"Some things just have to be done by someone, don't they?"

"Well said, someone has to do it. So tell me how to do it."

"Well, I'm just saying, and you can just listen."

Hanagata had been planning this for who knows how long, and Jiang Yang didn't think he could change his plans, but he still had to say what needed to be said.

"I think the first thing to address is the relationship between humans and Orphnochs. Orphnochs are formed from the death of humans. Although the probability is very low, as long as someone dies, there is a possibility that an Orphnoch will appear. In a sense, Orphnochs are also human, only their life form is quite special."

"Of course, the premise is that this Orphnoch doesn't become obsessed with power and turn into a killing machine. So I was thinking, is it possible to create a law to restrain the Orphnochs and prevent them from using their power indiscriminately? If they don't use the power of the Orphnochs, they are no different from ordinary people."

"Of course, I can't do that. Whether you want to do it or not is up to you. And then, the Orphnoch king must never be born."

"Oh why?"

Hanagata had an expression of great interest on his face.

"There are several reasons. First, the birth of an Orphnoch king requires nourishment, and countless Orphnochs are consumed as food. Second, the way the Orphnoch king grants eternity is by removing the human components from the Orphnoch's body, making them unable to transform back into humans and turning them into pure monsters, thus gaining eternity."

"Compared to eternity, becoming a monster is just a matter of being a monster, and besides, that's not really a disadvantage, is it?"

"Humans think the same way. Once the Orphnochs become pure monsters, they can attack without any psychological burden. They are also trying to separate the Orphnoch human components from the Orphnoch components."

"Humanity……"

"Humans are not weak. Perhaps a single human being is no match for an Orphnoch, but if war breaks out, humanity will be the one to win in the end."

Of course, this is on the premise of not entering the Hell Line, the Vanished Heaven. Heaven disappears, humanity is destroyed, and what remains is only Hell. A Hell that no longer belongs to humanity.

"Perhaps you've heard from Kusaka that I have a belt here. Humans are not powerless against the Orphnochs."

Jiang Yang believed that as long as the people in this world researched it, they could also make their own belts. At the very least, they could make a G3, and who knows, with a breakthrough, they might even make a G3-X. Perhaps in the end, they could even reach the level of Shaida.

Just think about it.

"I've said what I needed to say. I have a question that I hope to get answered."

"What."

"Is there a way to separate the king from the person being possessed? I mean, to get the king out of that body, or is it possible to kill the king without harming the vessel?"

Upon hearing this, Hanagata frowned, pondered for a moment, and then shook his head.

"That's impossible. The birth of a king is irreversible. Once a king appears, the vessel is just a vessel. Even if it can retain consciousness for a period of time, it's just a disguise before the king grows up. However, this is also the best opportunity to eliminate the king. As long as the vessel dies, the king will naturally be destroyed as well."