Chapter 123 The Cycle (Part 5)

White, the agent who was utterly exhausted by the cycle, showed a rare enthusiasm today and offered to treat the two agents to a good meal.

Mia and Elsa had no choice but to accept it very reluctantly.

The restaurant was very close to the flight deck, and it was packed with people by noon. White rarely used favors to treat people to meals; he wasn't like Irencel, and he didn't know how to socialize with women.

Inviting someone to dinner in the Barrier is no easy task. First, you must have a reservation voucher, and second, you must dine on time as indicated on the voucher.

The meal ticket stated that the dining time was from 11:00 AM to 2:00 PM, and the time had long passed, but White still hadn't arrived.

"Let's double-check the plan before he arrives, Aisha."

Mia was worried that Elsa wouldn't remember, so she checked it several times.

Just then, White arrived, dressed neatly. He looked like a young man, with a pair of large, bright red knees covered in golden hair. His nose looked as if it had been painted, and he wore flat-toed boots that jingled as he walked steadily.

He had undoubtedly prepared a surprise for everyone: the best seats, a platform where they could enjoy the sea of ​​clouds.

Everyone found a seat and sat down. White sat down too and popped a piece of chewing gum into his mouth.

The stunning snow-capped mountains were clearly visible before our eyes, and the roads and rooftops of the houses became extremely smooth. The sunlight crept stealthily up the northern mountain range and became the brightest star in the sky.

The fortresses drove north.

White thought quietly, his mind working slowly, and it took him a long time to come up with a statement: "I'm in trouble."

Mia pretended not to hear and asked White to be more specific.

White suddenly revealed a nostalgic side, a face that only appeared when he was in trouble. He said, "In the first year of the Great Reboot, I joined the Holy Alliance. In the following two years, I only participated in three missions, all of which ended in failure. All three missions were related to the Old City."

"The old city?"

"Have you heard of Hyperion? An ancient city with a long history. Legend has it that one day, half of the city disappeared. In fact, it flew into the sky with the help of external forces. That's the origin of the name 'Sky City'."

"So, this place where we eat is...?"

"The Alliance discovered the barrier, which was modified by engineers to make it more suitable for reincarnated people to live in. We call it the New City. But the Sky City also has another part, the Old City. The three operations I participated in were missions to investigate the Old City. Rein was in charge. We successfully discovered the Old City and obtained additional intelligence."

"Then why is it said that the mission failed?"

"The mission was originally successful, but only the four people who carried out the mission knew about the old city incident: me, Rein, and..."

"Those two high-ranking officials whose brains were eaten."

"Oh, as expected of an investigator, that's right. Apart from me, the other three have all been promoted to high positions."

"You haven't explained why you failed yet."

"After the mission was completed, the Alliance was informed that the Old City did not exist. Since it did not exist, it was considered a failure."

Why hide it?

“If we don’t keep it a secret, all three of them will die.”

"What else did the three of you discover?"

"A brain-eating creature lives in the old city. All three of them have been infected. That thing is like a time bomb. First, it takes over a person's brain and makes them the host. What's even more terrifying is that it actually has its own thoughts. It's an intelligent being. It forbids us from revealing the information, otherwise..."

"But you were not infected."

"No, I was infected before, but that thing left later."

"He's still the same old fickle guy!"

"Don't underestimate it. That's because it was dormant back then. A few months ago, this guy fully awoke and brought troublesome subordinates. Wizards, you've dealt with wizards many times before, haven't you? It's the leader of the wizard race. Sky City was originally wizard territory. The alliance took over this place while the leader was sleeping."

"So, you don't want us to continue investigating the cave."

"Yes, the mirror is the connecting channel between the old city and the new city. It was through the mirror that we found the old city."

"White, I want to ask you, why do you dare to say this now, but not before?"

"Because that's the root of the trouble. I'm trapped in a vicious cycle. No matter what I say or do, it resets the next day. Every day is the same, over and over again."

"Since it will be reset the next day, it's pointless for you to say anything, and there's nothing we can do to help you."

"No! There must be a way! How will we know if we don't try?"

"Why are you so sure the curse was caused by that thing?"

"Because I can see things that others can't see every night—wizards and their leaders. Why am I the only one who can see them? Think about it carefully."

"Okay, how can we help you?"

"I will lead you into the obelisk."

"Obelisk?"

"There are three entrances to the new city and the old city: two in the caves and one in the obelisk. However, the entrance to the obelisk is different; it leads directly to the chief's lair."

“I can consider it.”

"There's no time left! We only have twelve hours!"

“I never said I would help you, because you weren’t going to finish what you were saying.”

I've said everything!

"What are you afraid of? Since time will reset the next day, why don't you finish your sentence?"

White suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter, the echo reverberating in all directions. When the laughter stopped, lunch was almost over.

“Irenshere isn’t the kind of person who would kill to achieve his goals. We also don’t know why Richie died. The intelligence team’s files were lost. There were three copies in total. Ryan asked me to steal the first one, which was the report about Old City. But we don’t know how Irenshere knew about Old City. There’s only one possibility: Richie told him. If this whole thing gets out, the entire alliance will know about Old City, and Ryan will lose his mind.”

"So, you and Ryan are going to frame Irenshere."

“That was the initial plan, but Erenshere is an extremely clever agent with many faces. He used two other secret documents to blackmail me and Ryan. If he dies, those two documents will also be made public.”

"One is the threatening letter we've seen, but what about the other one?"

"The other document is a request from Renn, signed by Renn himself. It mentions Leviathan, and the leader of the wizards is, unsurprisingly, one of the Leviathans. He knows that the Alliance wants to kill Leviathan, and he threatens Renn, demanding that the request be withdrawn."

"Does that include satellite launches?"

"Yes, because satellites can also locate the old city, which is a technology that gives him a headache."

"He wants to erase all memories of the old city."

"He is also a monster who can control his mind at will."

"What do you and Ryan call him? Brain Eater?"

“We never called him the Mind Eater. In fact, he did have a name, something like Mora.”

"..."

"What's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"It's nothing. If it's Mora, we'll definitely help her out."

"Oh, that's wonderful! Although I don't know what happened between you, you are indeed my only hope of breaking the curse."

When to take action?

"Shouldn't we notify the other two partners?"

“Lisa and Billis? No need, you’ve already met them both.”

When did this happen?

"Great detectives always wait until everything is clear before revealing the answer."