Amidst the fine drizzle, the sedan's front wheels wobbled left and right, like the inevitable hesitation before a person makes a decision.
But this state didn't last long. It quickly swung around, turned back, its headlights piercing the darkness, driving resolutely towards another source of light.
The two cars following it—one originally intended as Michael's [Official Michael's] own vehicle, the other carrying two aides—braked abruptly, stunned, when they saw his car suddenly turn around. Only after confirming via radio did they accept the "turn around" command.
Returning to the villa gate, the lights inside were still blazing brightly. Michael [Official Michael] abruptly pushed open the car door. The cool midsummer night breeze and the light rain poured into the car together.
The driver frantically searched for an umbrella, but Michael [Official Michael] himself, seemingly soulless, paid no heed to the wind and rain outside, stepping directly into it.
"Sir!" Before the car even stopped, an aide from the rear car pushed open his door, opened an umbrella as black as the night, and rushed to Michael's [Official Michael's] side.
"Sir, what happened?"
His fluffy golden hair was already soaked through, plastered distinctly to his scalp. Water streamed down the strands onto his forehead, then followed gravity's pull, tracing paths across his eye sockets and cheekbones, converging at his chin before repeating the rain's inevitable fate of falling to the ground.
Countless raindrops shattered themselves on the stone slabs, part of their remains rising as a hazy mist, not only blurring the light and shadow but also drawing out the earthy smell from beneath the stones.
Michael [Official Michael] stood silently under the umbrella for a long time. The car's engine wasn't quiet; especially considering the occupants were likely MANTIS, it was impossible they hadn't noticed his return.
So, perhaps there was no need for hesitation anymore.
Michael [Official Michael] turned his head. The villa's light swept across his profile, reflecting off his rain-slicked cheek with the appropriate luster of a frosted mirror.
"Wait here for me for a moment. I suddenly remembered I have something more to say to the two Commissioners."
He forced a smile he believed looked relieved, though it completely contradicted his inner turmoil. He could feel his heart leaping nervously in his chest. If not for the annoying rain, the aide standing beside him would surely have heard the sound.
He knew full well he was no saint, that his hands were far from clean. No, to be precise, he had participated in almost every illicit act his colleagues, currently feasting back at City Hall, had committed.
If a fair and just judgment were rendered, his culpability wouldn't be reduced by a single bit—the judge and jury surely wouldn't grant leniency just because he anonymously donated half his embezzled funds. However, a few aides, like the one before him, were fiercely loyal precisely because of this, seeing him as a rare good person among the corrupt officials.
A good person? He once wanted to be a good person too...
But in this environment, refusing to go along meant being ostracized by colleagues. Not indulging subordinates meant no one would execute his orders. Not bribing superiors meant his accomplishments and occasional beneficial suggestions for the populace would never be recognized.
If it came to trial, he desperately wanted to use these points as his defense, but he knew they wouldn't move the judge, wouldn't move the jury, wouldn't move the people whose rations he'd skimmed, wouldn't move those who had starved or worked themselves to death due to lack of resources.
And that Commissioner already knew everything about him. What would he do?
Michael [Official Michael] didn't know, didn't dare to think.
Perhaps they just wanted to use him, have him point out the illicit evidence against the various City Officials in the American Branch, then bundle them all up, him included, and send them to court.
Or perhaps he could be spared as a tainted witness, given a lighter sentence. But some inexplicable stirring in his heart sparked an irrational thought—
Yes, he didn't want pity, didn't want leniency. He wanted judgment; he craved death.
Because he had already betrayed himself.
Not himself as a member of the bureaucracy, but himself as the City Official of Third New Heaven City, himself as a servant, himself as a resident of the slums, and himself... as a human being.
Wasn't this the ultimate reason he chose to return here?
He had betrayed everything in his past to join the ranks of the bureaucrats. So, if he betrayed this group of bureaucrats now, in a sense, wouldn't that mean returning to the position his former self should have occupied?
As for leniency or a lighter sentence, that wasn't what he sought. He yearned for the guillotine, the gallows, but... he hoped that when he faced judgment, it wouldn't be solely as a law-breaking official, but as... a "human" still possessing a shred of conscience salvaged from the past.
Or perhaps, this was all just his sentimental wishful thinking.
Regardless, at this point, there was no room left for retreat.
"Levi." He suddenly whispered the name of the young aide before him.
"Your orders, Sir?"
"From this moment on, you're dismissed."
"Uh?" The young man initially thought he'd misheard.
"Is there a problem? Aides aren't recruited or paid by City Hall, but hired personally by each City Official. Therefore, my dismissing you is perfectly legal and reasonable."
"No, no... I'm not questioning that, just... why?" The umbrella slipped powerlessly from the young man's hand. He clutched his head, unsure what he had done wrong to make the City Official he so admired fire him.
"I'll be blunt. I'm not as upright as you perceive me to be. You think the assets I donate each month come from my family and personal income? No, they're skimmed from relief supplies, excess demobilization funds, and various 'tributes' from subordinates."
Levi's thin frame began to tremble. Understandably so; the midsummer night's wind and rain were biting, and his thin clothing offered little protection against the encroaching chill.
"Leave. You're fundamentally unsuited for survival in this system. Months have passed, and you haven't even questioned the source of your superior's vast wealth, nor can you accept the reality.
"I remember when I first met you, you said your dream was to write a chronicle of civilization? Listen to me, that initial dream of yours, that is where you belong."
Having poured out his heart in one go, regardless of whether the young aide understood, he resolutely turned, strode quickly to the villa's grand entrance, and placed both hands on the magnificent golden doors.
Before he could even exert force, the doors swung inward automatically.
"As expected... waiting for me?"
The doors closed again. Two filthy, dirty footprints marked the pristine white tiles. More water dripped from his hair and clothes, quickly forming a small puddle.
Dr. Akagi [Mei] held a document, but Michael [Official Michael] was certain her gaze wasn't focused on it. Instead, she stared blankly at some meaningless point in space. Even hearing someone enter the villa only caused her pupils to tremble slightly; she didn't even lift her eyes to observe.
Kaspar [Michael] sat sprawled on the sofa, legs apart, body leaning forward, holding a game controller, playing a game on the huge TV screen.
Strange. If Michael [Official Michael] remembered correctly, this villa shouldn't have been equipped with game controllers.
Perhaps it was part of their luggage.
"Yo? You're finally back." "Kaspar" tossed the controller casually onto the coffee table. The TV screen quickly lost its color, turning gray.
A suppressed, exaggerated female voice boomed from the speakers—
"YOU HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED."
"..."
Though no one moved, the speaker's volume knob turned itself down, muting the sound.
"Yawn—tch!" "Kaspar" stretched lazily. His movement seemed languid, but the same pressure Michael [Official Michael] had faced hours earlier at the airport descended upon his shoulders again. He had to clench his jaw tightly just to stand upright.
Despite this, the unbearable weight forced his head down, leaving him silently staring at his own feet.
"Michael." Amidst rustling sounds, Michael [Official Michael] heard Kaspar call his name.
But his next words sent a chill down his spine, nearly making him collapse to his knees on the spot—
"That's a good name... same as mine. Wouldn't you agree, Mei?"
"That's a question better suited for Elysia to answer."
The weight crushing Michael's [Official Michael's] shoulders suddenly vanished. He quickly looked up.
The man previously calling himself "Kaspar" reached up and rubbed his cheeks vigorously. The unsettling scars rapidly disappeared, his silver-white hair deepened towards gray, finally transforming completely into the appearance of another person.
A man no City Official would fail to recognize—the First Herrscher, Michael.
And the woman known as "Dr. Akagi," she put down her document, undid the hair coiled atop her head, removed the blue colored contacts. Then, Michael pointed at her, and her snow-white hair instantly dyed itself a deep violet.
Thus, this woman's appearance also became unmistakably clear—Dr. Mei.
"Is... is this real, or the influence of psychic power?" As an ordinary person, he couldn't tell. But logically, since he had willingly returned here, indirectly signaling his stance, they naturally wouldn't need to resort to other methods.
Meaning, standing before him now were the nominal number one and number two figures of the entire current human civilization.
At this thought, Michael [Official Michael] instinctively bowed his head even lower, afraid his gaze might displease his "superiors."
"Honestly, I really didn't expect this. I thought it would take more effort, a gradual approach. I didn't expect that just a little psychological suggestion, and you... you just..." The final word seemed stuck. Michael [Duplicate Michael] wracked his brain for a long time but couldn't find a suitable term to describe it.
So, he could only offer an awkward smile. Of course, Michael [Official Michael], preoccupied with staring at the floor, couldn't see it.
"Regardless, it's good that you were willing to come back." Mei chuckled softly. "Since that's the case, Michael, City Official of Third New Heaven City, you rushed back here so hastily. Do you have some urgent matter to report?"
"I..." He pinched his thigh hard, yet still hesitated, unable to speak.
Just moments ago, he had made up his mind countless times...
Irrationally, he recalled learning so-called noble etiquette, being taken to a small room for private tutoring by the teacher because he occasionally displayed eating habits from his slum upbringing.
Suddenly, another question occurred to him—among the people he brought, could someone be colluding with the other City Officials?
No, there definitely was!
In that case, hadn't they already reported his abnormality to the other officials?!!
"Don't worry. One of your subordinates did try to text your colleagues, but unfortunately for them, I jammed the electromagnetic signals in this area long ago."
"I..." Michael [Official Michael] felt his back heat up, static electricity crackling everywhere. Fortunately, the worst hadn't happened.
He tried to empty his mind, letting his thoughts drift in other bizarre directions—Hey, right, adding their ages together, aren't they just slightly older than me?
"I want to take you to see... the real situation."
"The real situation?"
"Yes, several of us City Officials planned it long ago... basically, creating some superficial projects to deal with HQ's special envoys..."
"Like how schools always make students do a surprise clean-up before the inspection team arrives?" Michael [Duplicate Michael] shrugged, suddenly interjecting.
"Yes... yes... The city's production zones will implement adjusted schedules starting tomorrow daytime, reducing immigrant workers' hours to ten, while local residents work twelve. Male workers under fourteen and female workers under eighteen will all be given leave. Material distribution will also strictly follow standards... But to ensure production capacity, all workers must work overtime tonight, completing as much of tomorrow's production tasks in advance as possible."
"Then what if we continue our inspection the day after tomorrow? Third New Heaven City alone has over fifteen million immigrants from various continents. The city's scale and population dwarf most major international metropolises from before the Honkai. For such a city, even if we lingered for a month inspecting, it wouldn't be unreasonable, right?"
"So... that's why we arranged for you two to stay in the coastal villa area..." His voice trailed off here, as he himself had executed this plan and even spun a half-truth to Michael [Duplicate Michael] about it.
"On one hand, it's far from the industrial zones, and with the waves and sea breeze, the noise from night shifts in the industrial areas is minimized, making it difficult for you to notice even if they work overtime every night... On the other hand, within the city... the lower districts really don't have any decent hotels. Those that exist are cheap lodgings for... that kind of purpose. The upper districts have plenty of high-end hotels, but... how could we directly reveal the upper districts to you..."
"Heh!" Michael [Official Michael] heard a cold chuckle, followed by Michael's [Duplicate Michael's] voice:
"Then let me add another point for you—the coastal villa area is the lowest elevation zone in all of Third New Heaven City, and has significant elevation changes. Here, we can only imagine the city's neon lights through the dark clouds above. Meanwhile, you just need to implement some lighting restrictions in the upper districts to make us overlook them, correct?"
"Yes... yes..."
After he said this, the scene instantly froze. About half a minute passed before a shadow appeared in Michael's [Official Michael's] line of sight.
He looked up. Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei were standing right in front of him.
"Let's go. What are you standing there for?" Michael [Duplicate Michael] raised an eyebrow. "Didn't you just say you wanted to show us the real situation? Let's go."
"Oh! Oh! Right!"
The closed villa doors swung open again. Michael [Official Michael] rushed out first. Behind him, Michael [Duplicate Michael] and Mei followed more elegantly, each holding an umbrella.
"Levi? You haven't left?" The young aide was still standing alone in the wind and rain, holding an umbrella. His oversized suit flapped in the wind, making him look like he could be blown over at any moment.
Hearing Michael's [Official Michael's] voice, the young aide hesitantly looked up. He wanted to leave too, but in this place, far from the city center, far from City Hall, where could he go alone? Steal a car and drive back? Or find a villa to stay in first?
Michael [Official Michael] also realized his mistake. His mind truly had been a mess earlier, blurting out all those things to this upright and naive aide.
"This... Levi, are you... willing to accept one last task from me?"
Levi looked at Michael [Official Michael] with a complicated expression. After hesitating for a few seconds, he nodded.
"Take the car back to City Hall immediately. Tell the other City Officials that the two Commissioners insisted I play some games with them, and I probably won't be back tonight. Tell them to make themselves comfortable there."
"I..." Which car do I take back?
He was about to ask when he saw a man about his age walking over. He looked somewhat familiar, but he couldn't quite place him... Wait! Wasn't that Commissioner Kaspar? How did he change his appearance like that?
"Just take the car we came in. This driver seems reliable enough."
"You are..."
"The First Herrscher, Michael."
"Mmph!"
"Want to shake hands?" Michael [Duplicate Michael] smiled at him. But against the backdrop of the villa's harsh lights, this genuine smile vanished into the boundless darkness. Levi blinked, only able to see the man's clear silhouette and blurry features.
He hesitantly extended his hand and lightly touched the "Herrscher's" hand before quickly pulling back.