Luo Shengmeng has no feelings today

So, where is the Sanhuamao Kinnosuke who was worried about by Akutagawa Ryunosuke now?

Yesterday afternoon, 10 minutes before the end of the white whale battle.

Kinnosuke—or a man whose real name is Natsume Soseki, who has the ability to turn himself into a cat, is now meeting a friend he hasn't seen for a long time in a human form.

The location is a quiet coffee shop overlooking the sea.

On the remote table in the open air on the second floor, two people sat facing each other, and the dusk shrouded the city in a layer of golden red.

"Long time no see, Mr. Natsume."

"Long time no see, Mr. Erfang."

He wears a light gray sweater, a brown British windbreaker, and a black round hat. His hair is also black, white, and orange, which is exactly the same color as a three-colored cat. He has two mustaches on his face. He looks roughly Natsume Soseki, who was in the middle age, leaned on a crutch with both hands, and replied with a gentle expression.

In front of him was a middle-aged man about his age, named Er Fang Shi.

But compared to Mr. Natsume, who is as polite and polite as a British gentleman, he looked much more embarrassed during the two parties. His unshaven face was not shaved at all, his messy hair was brushed back casually, his expression was decadent, his eyes were dark, and the whole He seemed to be in a low spirit, and the shirt on his body was also wrinkled, the top two buttons were unbuttoned, and the hem was tucked into the trousers casually, with a corner exposed, and the official document in his hand The bag is also very old.

On the outside, they look exactly the same as the most ordinary unemployed uncles at the bottom of Japan. Walking on the street probably won't attract anyone's attention.

He is incompatible with Natsume Soseki.

However, it was such a person in front of him that Natsume Soseki called "Mr."

There is no doubt that this is meant with respect.

"It seems that I haven't been back for many years... Yokohama has changed so much."

When the two parties held the briefcase in their arms, they murmured hoarsely.

"Yeah, it's much more peaceful now... The chaos of 20 years ago has rarely happened."

"That's great. As expected of Mr. Natsume. Sure enough, if it were you, you would definitely be able to make this city better."

"It's not my credit." Natsume Soseki smiled: "I'm just contributing to the flames in the dark. It's other organizations that really protect the city and maintain the law and order of the city."

"They are the existence that cultivated the seeds of peace, and Mr. Natsume is the source of bringing the seeds... This is not something that can be described in just [just] two words."

When the two parties laughed hoarsely, they shook their heads: "I have seen Yokohama 20 years ago, and I know it well. When I return to Yokohama this time, looking at everything now, I can't help but think——If Ori and I were born Just a little later."

Natsume Soseki didn't speak any more.

"Forget it, it's useless to say these things."

Erfang scratched his messy hair, opened the document number in his arms, and took out the small machine inside.

Very delicate machinery, like a small box that is only half the size of a palm. I can’t tell what kind of material it is, but the material is extremely hard. I don’t know what kind of energy it runs on, and I don’t know what the principle is, because it can’t be disassembled. From the style Look, it's hard to imagine that this is a machine from decades ago.

Correct.

This is what the second party got from a foreign man wearing a suit and hat, over 30 meters tall, who looked extremely dangerous about 1.9 years ago.

Two rows of numbers are displayed on the screen.

[-1 0.0143]

[-1 0.0956]

"Here, what you want."

With a soft click, the decadent man put the machine in his hand on the table and handed it to Natsume Soseki.

"Take it."

Natsume Soseki picked it up, looked at the number on it, and sighed after a while: "Is it really for me?"

"Ah... because you need this, right? Or, you think someone needs this more than me." Erfang Shi lit a cigarette and held it in his mouth. He looked in the direction of the sea and his eyes were empty: "It doesn't matter You can do whatever you want with this thing, anyway, it’s useless to me... I, I’ve already given up. "

The decadent man covered his face, but his voice was very calm, as if he was overwhelmed and numb to despair, he murmured.

"Mr. Natsume, it's been 24 years, 24 years! No, for me, it's far more than this time, ah, I can't count it... Sorry, I lost control of my emotions, but I really Yes, I really can't take it anymore."

"No matter how I do it, no matter how I research it, I can't save my emotions."

"Even if you have the ability to travel through time, nothing...can't be changed."

……

During the two parties, a rare time-traveling supernatural power user, 54 years old this year.

Unlike Akutagawa Ryunosuke, he can only travel through the timeline of his own world.

When he was 20 years old, his lover Anri Saori was involved in a Yokohama gang shootout and died on the spot. When the two parties could not accept this fact, they awakened supernatural powers that year.

Ability to travel through time.

As if God favored him, he with [time] in his name possessed this kind of supernatural power, which almost made him see hope.

I want to go back to the past and save my lover back.

The awakening of such abilities at such a point in time made the 20-year-old Er Fangshi excitedly think that this was a miracle befalling him.

however--

This is the beginning of the nightmare.

His lover Anli Sasori would die on that day no matter what.

Being involved in a gun battle, dying in a car accident, accidentally falling from a building, exploding... There are various reasons, anyway, he must die on that day.

After the despair of the two parties, they began to study the world line theory frantically.

And this display of two lines of numbers, regardless of shape, material or display screen, is exquisite as if it came from the future. When it came time to growl, something a man handed him.

——That was an extremely dangerous man.

He is obviously a foreigner, tall, wearing a black top hat with a yellow chinstrap, and a rare yellow shirt under the black suit. Half of his face is covered by the shadow of the brim of the hat, and the barely exposed eyeballs are quite black. With the slightest shine.

The moment the two parties looked at each other, it seemed that the whole body and mind were cold.

[I see, you are... a person who travels through time. ]

[Do you want to save this woman? ]

[...Hmph, is this reincarnation?What a wonderful thing, never mind... Hey, take this. ]

[If the second number can be changed... you may be able to succeed. ]

When he said these words inexplicably, and handed this thing to the two parties inexplicably.

Before the two parties recovered and wanted to ask something, the man in the suit had already walked away, and at the corner of the intersection, he met another man who was much shorter and slender, who was wearing a windbreaker and couldn't see his face clearly. He left the spot and didn't pay him any more attention.

When the second party didn't know what it was at the time, he didn't take this machine seriously.

Until he brought this machine back...!

The time travel of the two parties is to travel to the past self, and it is the same when returning, but a memory will be superimposed. Therefore, logically speaking, it is impossible to bring back [items] from the past.

But this machine happened to break through time and space with him.

This is enough to prove the special nature of this machine.

In years of research, Erfangshi has gradually figured out how to use it.

The two lines of numbers above:

[-1 0.0143]

[-1 0.0956]

Refers to the world line coordinates of the start and end points.

The first line is the initial starting point, the initial world line coordinates.

And the coordinates of the world branch line born after continuous activities and actions that are completely different from the original world line, resulting in differences between the future and the original world, are the numbers in the second row.

0.0143 is the world coordinates of the machine obtained by the second party, and 0.0956 is the development of the world changed by his efforts over the years.

He still doesn’t understand the meaning of the first number 1 before the horizontal bar, but the point is the decimal number at the back. According to the words of the man who handed over the machine to the second party, if he wants to save Oori, he must completely break away from this world line , go to a completely new parallel world where Xuri is not dead, that is... let the decimal change reach 1.

This is what the foreign man said: [If the second number can be changed...you might be able to succeed. ] The real meaning of this sentence.

But it is too difficult.

From 20 to 54 years old.

The number changed during the second party is only 0.0813, not even a change of 0.1.

During the period, the number of crossings is tens of thousands, which is innumerable.

He... was already tired, and the rest of his lifespan could no longer support him.

Compared with physical fatigue, a more collapsed mentality can destroy a man's will.

How much he loves Xuri, and how desperate he is when he witnesses her death countless times.

At this time, Mr. Natsume proposed to take away this machine, which may be a chance for relief for Er Fangshi.

"I'm surprised that you would offer to take this machine, Natsume-san."

After delivering the things to his old friend, the decadent and tired man said with a hoarse smile, "After all, you were the last person who didn't want me to continue using this ability."

"I also think this way now. Life should not be attached to the past."

Natsume Soseki shook his head helplessly, with the connivance of the elders in his eyes: "But, there is no way, there are always some people who are too paranoid by nature and can't let go. I can't justify it. I can't interfere with my own thoughts This kind of person is not only useless, but also kills feelings, you are the best example, because you don't want me to disturb you, so you simply moved away from Mr. Erfang in Yokohama."

The decadent man smiled wryly, "Sorry."

"No, it's my fault. I was young back then, and the way I persuaded you may have been a little too extreme."

"It's none of your business, it's because I can't let it go... If I had let it go back then, I might not be like this now."

After the second party finished speaking, there was a long silence, "...the person you want to deliver this thing to...is the same as me?"

"No." Natsume just denied it, and then hesitated for a while uncertainly: "It should be different."

"That child... wants to find someone who doesn't exist in this world."

The gentle and gentle Mr. Natsume looked at the numbers on the machine while talking, and roughly understood what the number 1 at the beginning of [0.0143-1] meant.

That's the sign of... the world.

All the parallel worlds are gathered together to form a big world with a serial number of 1. After traveling through a different world, another world with an unrelated development process will be marked with a different serial number.

When the two parties have never left this supernatural world, naturally, they have never seen the number at the beginning change.

Natsume Soseki gently rubbed the screen with his hands: Who was it that handed over this machine to the second party?He didn't know, he hadn't had a clue for so long.

"Ah, I see...is it a different world?"

After listening to Er Fangshi, he understood it almost instantly. He covered his face and laughed a few times: "There are all kinds of things like supernatural powers."

After laughing, the man finally raised a smile that could be seen, and he wished from the bottom of his heart:

"If you just want to meet, he should be more likely to be successful than me, ah, I hope Mr. Natsume, the person you want to help is luckier than me... After all, this kind of ability related to time travel is right For people like us who love, it's a curse."

"If luck is not enough, life for us is just a hell of endless reincarnation."

Natsume Soseki sighed, looking at his friend who was already quite old.

"It's not too late to start a new life now, Er Fang."

"No, I can't stop."

Er Fangshi shook his head, "Even if I no longer have any hope of saving her, I still can't stop."

"...If I stop, I have no reason to continue living."

The decadent man stood up, muttered the last sentence, picked up the briefcase and left without hesitation.

"So, even if it is the hell of endless reincarnation, I can no longer escape."

at the same time.

The white whale fell from the sky into the sea of ​​the harbor, and an astonishing sound erupted. The splash and roar of water resounded around, and countless people began to gather there to watch.

The particularly inconspicuous figure of Er Fang Shi disappeared into the crowd without attracting anyone's attention.

Natsume Soseki took a sip of his cold coffee, and looked in the direction where the white whale fell.

Everything was as he had imagined.

Because he noticed the departure of the members of the group, Natsume Soseki, who acted secretly, used his contacts to speculate the plan of the group. More often, as an observer, he looked at the plans of the detective agency and the mafia, and felt that he was not safe enough. I think he wanted to quietly disclose the information about the departure of the members of the group to Akutagawa Ryunosuke... But the child seemed to be one step ahead, and I don't know who it was from—a little guess, but since it was the same as what he wanted to do , then don't care about it-get the information.

Therefore, it is enough for Natsume Soseki to just hide.

He knew Akutagawa's character too well.

They don't care about species at all, they are their own people when they are their own people, and cats are no exception.

As long as the Sanhuamao Kinnosuke is missing and stays in Yokohama, then Ryunosuke Akutagawa will definitely become suspicious after learning the information about the withdrawal of the members of the group, and then go to the white whale to observe the situation in order to protect it. If the members sent by the detective agency If it can't be stopped, Akutagawa will definitely take action, and will never let the white whale fall in the city center.

It may be true to use this word to describe it. Putting Yokohama at the top of everything, Natsume Soseki has always been fighting for the city of Yokohama, and it is the ideal of this old gentleman to protect Yokohama no matter what.

Black and white gray, this is the color of human beings.

Even so, the time spent at Akutagawa's house these years is definitely not fake, and the feelings like relatives are definitely not fake.

Indeed, Mr. Natsume has not appreciated and cared about a person so much for a long time.

Every time I saw the child quietly hiding the wound, I couldn't help being angry, because I didn't know if the other party could accept his true identity and kept the cat shape, but because of this, I couldn't communicate with the other party in words.

Mr. Natsume has no wife and no children, but he seems to have raised a child at this age.

With a complex expression, he sighed slowly, and put the machine he got in his pocket—it was since he learned about Akutagawa's concealment from Akutagawa's diary, letters, wounds and other information a few months ago , just want to get something.

Compared to Erfang, who struggled until the age of 54 and was already desperate but unable to escape, Akutagawa, who just wanted to meet [teacher] again, may be a little more hopeful, at least not to make himself scarred.

He had been in contact with the two parties for a long time, but this guy refused to answer his phone for a long time, and finally got in touch, but he was stuck at [this time] again.

It would have been a good thing for the combination to lose.

However, Natsume Soseki knew Akutagawa too well.

He was a gentle but paranoid young man who held vengeance extremely. It was almost impossible to involve that child without being retaliated against.

"That fellow Mori Ogai..."

Exhaling a breath, he muttered the name of the mafia leader angrily, Mr. Natsume Soseki was a little distressed.

"Although I want to hit that guy's head with the crutch, I'm angry if I'm angry. I can't watch him die. I won't allow him to miss three moments, even if they themselves are fighting among themselves."

"But Ryunosuke...he is a good boy, and I can't bear to wrong him."

"...This is really a troublesome thing."