Who hid My Corpse!-Chapter 106 - : Fifteen The baseline is always being lowered

Chapter 106: Fifteen The baseline is always being lowered

“Termination” Overload.

The violent whirring of machinery slowly ceased, but Ocot, who should have been wholly dead, was not yet completely lifeless. Even with his heart pierced, he still lay twitching on the ground, his life force terrifyingly tenacious.

Gerard walked to Ocot’s side, said nothing, just silently watched him.

The spark of life in Ocot’s eyes had scattered completely, and it was only his body still convulsing, like a lizard’s tail severed from its being.

“Such a formidable life force,” Bai Wei’s voice echoed in Gerard’s mind.

“It’s because he stitched pollutants into his flesh,” Gerard wasn’t stingy with his explanation. He lifted his hand, pointing at the wound in Ocot’s opened chest where one could see the flesh still writhing as if attempting to close the gash, “Such wounds are not fatal for the pollutants, so the polluted part tries to recover, but for humans, it is fatal. So his human part is already dead, but the polluted flesh refuses to acknowledge this fact.”

...

Gerard had seen too much of such scenes before: those contaminated people all ended up like this, unable to find peace even in death.

That’s why being tainted was the last thing the Night Star Knights wanted to end up as—given the slightest sign, they would rather destroy their bodies than be desecrated and played with after death, turning into real monsters.

And this fellow in front of him had actually planted pollutants in his body willingly.

At this thought, Gerard felt an indescribable surge of anger.

Lyra… When exactly did it change into this?

“Why didn’t you just kill him directly?” Bai Wei inquired, “Won’t you get more out of him by asking questions?”

“People who are polluted are not to be trusted.” Gerard bent down to inspect Ocot’s corpse, “The tainted often pretend to be untainted, then employ various means to drag the unpolluted into the Abyss. Their voices are massive sources of pollution, ones you cannot listen to.”

At this point, Gerard paused, a strange flash crossing his face.

After all, he’d just been subjected to a more direct form of pollution than voice: Ocot had released the source of pollution into his mind. Anyone in that situation would’ve had no choice but to go mad on the spot, yet he…

But was he really completely unharmed?

In his mind, Gerard again heard Bai Wei’s astonishment.

“Ah, even in such a state, the corpse refuses to die, truly an astonishing life force.”

Gerard couldn’t help thinking of an entity that could still speak perfectly well here despite only having a finger and an eyeball left, a rare urge to quip rising in his heart, but he held back.

“The information I want from him can be found directly on his person.”

Gerard searched through Ocot’s clothes and quickly found an emblem and an identity booklet, both prominently marked with “IV.”

Seeing this symbol, Gerard’s mind flashed with a face imprinted in his memory, one familiar yet strange, and he fell into silence.

“What’s the matter?” Bai Wei asked.

“This is the Fourth District emblem,” Gerard murmured, “I know the Bishop of the Fourth District, at least I did as an acquaintance ten years ago.”

“I see,” Bai Wei said with a smile, “So you’re somewhat in denial that the person manipulating all this from behind the scenes could be an old acquaintance? Tsk, then perhaps you should consider the brighter side—what if this is just a coincidence, and the Bishop you know has no knowledge of these events?”

Gerard flipped open Ocot’s ID booklet, which recorded his name and his job—an Administrative Assistant.

“This position allows for direct contact with the Bishop,” Gerard noted, “I find it hard to believe that the one I know so well would have such weak control over the lower levels; that would be an insult to him.”

“So, you’d rather believe he’s a cunning villain than accept he could just be an incompetent fool set up as a figurehead?” Bai Wei said with a laugh, “Maybe that’s also a form of understanding.”

Gerard remained silent for a while before saying, “Perhaps I never knew him as well as I thought, or maybe… ten years have changed too much.”

“Yes, after all, even you no longer abide by all the rules,” said Bai Wei with a smile that wasn’t quite a smile. “Previously, you initiated the ‘Overload’ state, but it wasn’t just to fight the pollutants as you claimed… rather, it was also to remove those old ‘locks’ from your body, right?”

Gerard’s face remained expressionless.

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“That Mechanician who maintained your body didn’t tend to the ‘locks’ within, which is consistent with his final words to you,” Bai Wei continued leisurely. “He hoped you would leave Lyra and break free from these locks.”

After hearing Bai Wei’s words, Gerard said nothing and didn’t question how Bai Wei knew everything. It was as if he had tacitly agreed to Bai Wei’s speculation.

But Bai Wei hadn’t finished speaking.

The crux of Gerard unlocking the locks was… he had once again breached the rules set by Lyra.

The most direct reason for this was the new deal Bai Wei had offered him earlier.

Tonight’s battle made Gerard realize that he couldn’t continue on this path while shackled.

So, he had to either unlock his own shackles or… continue relying on Bai Wei’s power.

And Gerard had chosen the former.

Since it was a breach of the rules either way, Gerard decided to trust himself; he always harbored the greatest wariness towards Bai Wei.

But Bai Wei wasn’t worried about such a change. After all, this morning, Gerard was determined never to make a second deal with Bai Wei, but by evening, everything had changed dramatically.

A person’s bottom line is always being lowered, and there’s plenty of time left, isn’t there?

At that moment, a clamor came from afar, along with beams of light shining from the gear car’s tracks.

The belated Skeleton Corps had finally caught up to this place.

It seemed the day was over.

Bai Wei was thinking of rest when something caught the corner of his eye.

It seemed as if something was wriggling under the bridge that led to the Fifth Zone.

Bai Wei immediately cast his “Gaze” in that direction and uttered a somewhat surprised “Oh.”

“What is it?” Gerard heard and asked.

“It’s nothing,” Bai Wei said with a faint smile instead of giving a direct answer. “I’m just curious how you’re going to explain tonight’s events to your comrades.”

“There’s nothing much to explain; the evidence is already here.”

Gerard looked towards the tracks, where several lights soon shone upon him.

“Hey there! This is the Skeleton Corps! I order you to drop your weapons and shut down your metal drive!”

Gerard slowly raised his hands, and it wasn’t long before Kude and Chamos appeared before him.

“Behind me is vital evidence,” Gerard said calmly.

“Behind you?” Chamos frowned deeply. “What nonsense are you talking about? There’s nothing behind you!”

Gerard was stunned for a moment, then sharply turned his head.

Behind him, apart from a pool of blood, there really was nothing. This made him instinctively look up towards the water surface under the bridge.

Beneath the pitch-black water, a tentacle churned, slowly dragging the corpse of Ocot, whose eyes were still wide open in death, into the endless Abyss.