Substitutes are not a problem

Chapter78

Time is like quicksand in the hand, it always passes by little by little inadvertently, a year seems to be very long and short.

And a year later, on the first anniversary of Zhongye joining the Port Mafia, the assassination king Paul Verlaine from France set off the first storm of the year.

This assassination of the king was a big trauma to the Port Mafia, which damaged many outstanding members and even valuable people with supernatural abilities, and was also targeted by the Supernatural Secret Service Department representing the government department.

And when the incident finally settled——

In the port mafia headquarters, in the living room on the floor that belonged exclusively to the leader and his wife, Yuan curled up on the sofa in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows a little sleepily, quietly flipping through the book in his hand.

Outside the window, the sun is just right.

It is rare to be able to be idle, or rather, to be idle.After this assassination of the king, the port mafia was under the special attention of the government.

Even organizations from Europe have to come to conduct follow-up investigation negotiations.The port mafia now has to keep a low profile and be honest for a while, secretly accumulating strength bit by bit.

"Madam Yuan..."

After knocking on the door and getting the answer, Zhongyuan Zhong also walked in.

A 16-year-old boy, compared to a year ago when he first joined the Port Mafia.

Although he still has the innocence of a teenager, he has obviously matured a lot, especially after experiencing the baptism of the storm just now.

Chuya Zhongyuan still has the scent of thread on his body, and he just came back from the cemetery.

Yuan's gaze also moved away from the page in his hand, and looked at the boy in front of him: "My bunch of blue hyacinths, have you taken them for me?"

"Hmm..." Zhong Yuanzhong also nodded.

That bouquet of flowers could be regarded as her sacrifice to the surgeon.She didn't go to the grave with Zhong Yuan Zhong Ye, she thought, this child must have a lot of things to say to his little friends from the Banner Club alone.

She still remembered that day, the orange-haired boy who was always sharp and full of life energy stumbled to her, his whole spirit and soul seemed to be exhausted.

I begged her to help put together the fragmented bodies of his fellow Five Banners members so that they could go to another world intact.

However, the assassin's technique was too harsh, and those body parts were so broken that even she couldn't put them together.

She and the boy worked hard to collect and assemble the unrecognizable parts for eight hours, but they still failed.

The young man remained calm and silent throughout the whole process, neither shed tears nor cried out in grief. He just said before setting off to seek revenge from Verlaine——

[The mafia never spares those who kill their family members. 】【1】

As rookies in the organization who had the potential to compete for the position of cadres, she had more or less contact with the five young people in the Banner Club.And the person she is most familiar with is naturally the surgeon who once worked together in the medical department.

So, when she learned that Zhongyuan Zhongye was going to visit their graves today, she asked him to bring her a bouquet of flowers for the surgeon as well.

The doctor who wanted to achieve the goal of saving 200 million lives ended up regretting it.That being the case, she would offer him a bouquet of blue hyacinths.

The blue hyacinth whose flower language is life.

"Do you have any plans for today?" Putting the book in his hand aside, Yuan stood up from the sofa.

"I'll go to the port to see Shirase off in a while. That guy is leaving for London today. Then, go entertain those investigators from England with Dazai."

Zhong Yuan Zhong also said while looking up at the clock hanging on the wall, "Departure in about an hour."

"Then, there is still time to eat a piece of cake." Yuan pointed to the open kitchen over there, and said with a smile, "I just baked a strawberry cake, let's have afternoon tea together."

Strawberry cake is a dessert that both of them like very much.

"For hot drinks, would Chuya like coffee or black tea?"

"Coffee is good."

……

Today's weather is very good, like a clear sky after a storm, the sunlight coming in through the floor-to-ceiling windows, and the temperature is just right.

After chatting for a while, Yuan lightly sipped the coffee in his cup, and changed the topic slightly: "Actually, Chuya can completely leave the port mafia now."

"Huh?" Zhong Yuanzhong was also taken aback, but didn't react for a while.

"Isn't one of the very important reasons why Zhongye joined the port mafia in the first place, that he wanted to be promoted to a cadre as soon as possible, and to gain access to the materials collected by Lantang about Huang Ba's spit?

Chuya must have always been very clear in his heart that those materials are the chief's weapon to check and balance you and ensure that you will not betray.And now, those data don't mean much to you anymore. "

Yuan said slowly, if she and Mori Ogai are one, then this is the first time they have talked about it openly with Nakahara Chuya.

Instead of being tacit like in the past year: "And the Chinese are also very strong. In terms of combat effectiveness, it is no exaggeration to say that they are the strongest mafia in the entire port. If you really want to leave, we don't have many Method."

After hearing this, Zhong Yuanzhong, who lowered his head slightly, was silent for a moment, and finally raised his head, with a bright and relieved smile on his face, just like his tone at the moment: "Where can I go, the port mafia is not Is it my home?"

After saying such warm words, the 16-year-old boy always felt that he couldn't save face for a while, so he hurriedly drank a few sips of coffee to cover himself.However, he, who has always been thin-skinned, was betrayed by the blush on his cheeks.

Perhaps his original intentions when he chose to join the Port Mafia were a bit complicated. There was a desire to check the information of the barbarians, and he was also convinced by what the leader said at the beginning, but now...

He wants to stay here because he already has a real sense of belonging here.

This is where he belongs.

But at this moment, Yuan was dazed because of the boy's words.

She seems to be the same way.

In the beginning, she chose to join the port mafia, the most direct and fundamental purpose was to use the port mafia as her own umbrella, and get herself out of that organization before Mr. Tsushima fell completely.

And the stronger the port mafia, the better protection she'll get.Since the interests of each other are in the same direction, she will naturally do her best for the port mafia.

Moreover, this time, she made the choice for herself, and she was no longer just a string puppet that was manipulated by various forces at will because her brain still had some value.

From the killing of the previous leader to the present, in the past two years, she has taken every job of the Port Mafia seriously, tried her best to maximize the interests of the Port Mafia, and treated every trustworthy member of the Port Mafia with her heart .

Perhaps unconsciously, the port mafia is no longer just a tool for her to protect her, but has become her home.

What's more, there are not many people in this world that she cares about, and these few people are almost all here.

Therefore, today's port mafia is also her home.

"Actually... They secretly helped me investigate my life experience without telling the leader. Mrs. Yuan knew about it and acquiesced."

Zhong Yuanzhong also spoke suddenly, with a smile in his eyes and a little embarrassed: "The pianist and the public relations officer are the direct subordinates of Mrs. Yuan, let alone the surgeon... Even the surgeon took advantage of the opportunity to go to the west to go on a mission. , to get clues about my life experience from the medical records kept in that village, that mission was originally led by Mrs. Yuan."

Now that the other party already knew about it, Yuan naturally didn’t have to deny it, and smiled and said: “Well, at that time, in that village in the west, the surgeon I caught carrying out secret operations was quite frightened.

The Banner Society was originally ordered by the leader to monitor whether Zhongye knew the secret of his life experience, but in the end, he also secretly investigated the information of his life experience. You must know that the first of the three rules of the port mafia is to absolutely obey the orders of the leader.

So, I told the surgeon at the time... Then you guys should investigate carefully. If you are discovered, I will deal with it from the leader.But, hush... let's keep this matter as a secret between us, in case Rintaro really gets angry with me. "

Of course, the last remark was a joke, she knew that Lin Taro would not be really angry with her because of this level of things, not yet.

Moreover, maybe, Hayashi Taro already knew about this matter that Qihui secretly messed up, and chose to let it go by pretending to be deaf and dumb.

After all, it is not the best policy to use the Huangba vomit information collected by Lan Tang to put the Central Plains in shackles.

The real best strategy is to make Zhongyuan Zhong also willing to stay in the port mafia from the bottom of his heart, and Zhongyuan Zhong is also a person who attaches great importance to emotions, so the best shackles are emotions.

For example, the companionship given to Zhongye in the Central Plains by those young people from the Banner Club.How could Mr. Mori Ogai, who is good at figuring out and manipulating people's hearts, not think of this.

"Yeah!" Zhong Yuanzhong couldn't help but burst out laughing, but still nodded his head seriously, "I won't say anything."

Of course he also thought it was just a joke, he didn't believe that the leader would really be willing to get angry with Mrs. Yuan.

In formal occasions, Mrs. Yuan will definitely give the leader enough face, but in informal occasions.

In his opinion, the leader is absolutely obedient to Mrs. Yuan, and has never lost his temper in front of Mrs. Yuan.

The two looked at each other and smiled, and tacitly raised the coffee cups in their hands together, indicating that they had reached a consensus.

When the afternoon tea was coming to an end, Yuan finally said slowly: "The principle of artificial supernatural lifeforms is achieved by transplanting primitive cells into singularity lifeforms, which makes them in the flesh? Physically, there is no difference from human beings, and even I can't test and distinguish from the perspective of medicine and biology... Sorry, Chuya, I still can't help you answer the question of who you are."

When this incident finally came to an end, while she was helping Nakahara Nakaya to treat his wounds, she also used the most advanced equipment imported from overseas by the port mafia to conduct a detailed and comprehensive inspection on him, but she still couldn't come up with an answer. .

Of course, she hoped to help this young man find evidence that he was a human being.

After hearing the test results that Yuan told him, Nakahara really felt a little pity in his heart. He knew that in terms of bioengineering, Yuan can be said to be one of the top scientists in Japan. If you can't come to a conclusion...

However, this is a pity, and it is really just a little bit.

"It's okay, these are not important anymore." Zhongyuan Zhong also said relievedly, there was no daze in the cobalt blue eyes, some just believed in his firmness, "I know very well that I am now Who, that's enough, I am me."

Yuan felt that he was infected by the determination of the boy in an instant.

【Who am I? 】This question, which has been pondered by philosophers in the East and the West for thousands of years, has not been able to come up with a convincing answer to everyone. It seems to be an eternal unsolved mystery.

However, maybe this question is very simple and not that complicated, and the result of the dialectic of a sophisticated and logical mind may not be correct.

Everything lies in the belief in oneself in the bottom of my heart.

"Yes, middle is middle."

Yuan felt that this was a good answer to the question of who I am, so he took one of Nakahara Chuya's hands and looked at the wrist: "Chuya, do you still remember how this injury happened?" something?"

There is a small wound on the wrist, if you don't look carefully, you might miss it.And the wound was black and looked like a stab wound again.

Zhongyuan Zhong also looked down at the small wound on his wrist, and shook his head in confusion. He really didn't remember how the wound came about: "I don't remember...Is there any problem?"

"No, it's nothing." Yuan shrugged, with a very ordinary expression on his face, as if he was just chatting casually, "I just saw this small wound when I was checking your body, and I was a little curious... Ah, the time is almost the same Now, Chuya, you should go."

After such a reminder, Nakahara Zhongya looked at the clock hanging on the wall, and the minute hand turned around so quickly.

"Then, I'll go first!" Nakahara Zhongya hurriedly stood up, and put the hat that had just been put aside back on top of his head.

"Go quickly, be careful on the road." Yuan was still sitting where he was, quietly watching the young man who was about to leave in a hurry, and smiled and told him, "Remember to go home early."

The last entrustment corresponds to what the young man said earlier [isn’t the port mafia my family].

The boy who just turned around trembled slightly, and after a short silence, after melting these words in his heart and engraving them into his bones and blood, when he turned his head again, the smile on his face was as wanton, fierce and sincere as ever:

"Ok!"

……

Port Mafia Headquarters, the deepest underground isolation chamber—

"What are you doing?"

Verlaine, who was sitting on the rattan chair, asked lightly, without any emotion in his tone.

At this moment, he no longer has any interest in the outside world, and everything doesn't matter to him.

"It's nothing, it's just that when I sorted out Rimbaud's relics. In addition to the official documents related to the interests of the port mafia, I also found some completely personal items...I think it's better for you to keep these personal relics."

While speaking, Yuan gently shook some pages that he had sorted out in his hand.

Hearing Rimbaud's name, Verlaine's lifeless face finally had a wave, and he looked at the pages.

Yuan handed over the paper and said, "They are all poems he wrote in his spare time. If he is not a spy, he is actually very suitable to be a poet... Once, one winter, I A member of the research team went to a laboratory in France to do collaborative research.

I remember that winter in Paris, it snowed heavily. According to Parisians, it was the biggest snowfall in Paris in the past 20 years.

In the snow, in a cafe on the banks of the Seine, I saw a man with long black hair who refused to take off his coat even in a warm room, and was still shivering from the cold at the table by the fireplace.

Yes, that man is so afraid of the cold, that winter in Paris must have been difficult for him... However, when he looked at the blond man beside him, his eyes were so warm and tolerant. "

"So it turns out that you were a member of the scientific research group that the French government ordered us to spy on at that time."

Verlaine said this, but his eyes were always looking down at Rimbaud's relics.

These are the poems left by Rimbaud.

"At that time, I was just an insignificant assistant in that team, so you naturally wouldn't pay too much attention to it."

Yuan smiled, the handover of the relics was completed, and she planned to leave, so I left this space alone for him to savor these poems quietly, "I won't bother you, take your time... Also, Zhongye is now Your mental state is recovering well, don't worry."

Verlaine was still looking down at the text on the top page, looking at the first poem he entered bit by bit.

It was his familiar handwriting, extremely familiar handwriting.

[Use my strength to pursue what I want.Break free from the complicated shackles of the world, and go to the starry sky with pure heart. 】【2】

There is also a line of comments below -

【This poem is dedicated to the blond old friend who always flashes in my vague memory, maybe my best friend. 】

The hand holding the poem manuscript tightened unconsciously. The light in the underground isolation room was dim, making the expression on the blond man's face dim, and it was unclear whether there would be tears on his cheeks.

It was Rimbaud who first rescued him from the faun and gave him the freedom to live.

In the end, Rimbaud is still the one who understands his confusion and explains to him what freedom is.

Rimbaud...

"can you do me a favor."

Yuan, who had already turned around and was about to leave, stopped when he heard the man's voice behind him: "What's the matter?"

The man said slowly: "Can you give me some books, some paper, and a few pens... Anyway, the time is long and boring for me now, so why not just write poetry."

He wanted to respond to Rimbaud with poetry.

Flesh dies eventually, just as tangible things perish.And those words that entrust their hearts and emotions may never dissipate.

Now, Rimbaud, did you hear this belated response?

……

A few days later, the chief's office——

"Ah, ah, I finally sent those distinguished guests from Europe away."

Just a moment ago, Mori Ogai, who had maintained the image of a calm, elegant, mysterious and unpredictable leader in front of people, now, as soon as he entered the office, he instantly became a decadent middle-aged social animal man who was overwhelmed by work.

He slumped in the office chair without any image, and then pulled his wife over, hugged him and sat on his lap, put his arms around his wife's waist, buried his head in her arms, looking for comfort like a bird Rubbing and rubbing like a big black cat: "Next, PortMafia may have to hold back for a while... just right, Yuan, let's take a rare vacation, go out and find a quiet place for a good vacation, just the two of us indivual!"

After sending away the official investigators from Europe who were investigating the assassination of the king, without letting those people notice anything, the storm caused by Verlaine's arrival finally came to an end.

At this moment, Gen, who was hugged and sitting on Mori Owai's lap, still focused on the document in his hand, and freed his other hand to stroke the man's thinning black hair like a cat:

"Uh, uh, okay, go on vacation."

"It's so perfunctory, Gen..." Mori Ogai complained, and at the moment, buried in his wife's chest, he couldn't help feeling a bit adultish, biting the bow tied on the collar of Kai Kai's shirt with his teeth, "What document are you looking at, so focused... This document is more attractive than me..."

Just when the man had already gnawed on his neck, Yuan pulled the man's head out of his arms, and put the document in his hand in front of his eyes: "Here, take a look."

"What document..." Although he muttered dissatisfiedly, after seeing the content of the document, Mori Ogai was still taken aback, "When did you start thinking of investigating these?"

Putting away the unwholesome expression, the expression on his face regained the secretive and unfathomable expression of being a port mafia.

"During the comprehensive physical examination of Zhongya, I saw a small black wound on his wrist that looked like a stab wound. I was a little concerned, so I checked it and found that the black wound was due to carbon elements.

Judging from the size and shape of the wound, it is very likely that it was stabbed by the lead of a pencil.

You know, the reactivity of carbon is very low. If the lead of a pencil is pierced into the human body and the tip is broken inside the human body, the carbon will not react with other elements in the body and change, and will remain in the body for a long time. in vivo. "

Yuan explained that this was also the reason why she asked Nakahara Chuya about the wound at afternoon tea a few days ago: "I asked Chuya, and he said he didn't remember how the injury came about. You know , Zhongye's gravity ability can block most of the attacks that hit him. When I checked him, I noticed that he had large and small wounds, or he was injured by a powerful offensive ability, such as Like Verlaine, it was either due to some unsuspecting accidents.

For example, he was attacked and stabbed by members of the sheep that time.Therefore, this small wound on the wrist is a bit unusual... Perhaps, this is the original evidence of Zhongya's true identity in the certificate. "

Browsing through the information that Minato has investigated so far, Mori Ogai frowned meaningfully, and said with a smile, "Should I tell Chuya-kun these things now?"

"No, not yet. After all, the target person has retired for many years, it is difficult to track and lock, and it is still not 100% sure that this couple is the person you are looking for... If you give hope, but finally find that you are still disappointed, it would be too cruel You can't let that child be happy in vain."

Regarding the continued investigation of Nakahara Chuya's life experience, Minamoto did it without telling Nakahara Chuya. Now that child has finally come out of this incident and is more sure of himself as a human being, it's good, isn't it? .

As for this investigation, if one day it is confirmed that it is correct, it will be regarded as a surprise.

As a gift for celebration, it is perfect: "Chuya will be a cadre sooner or later, if it is him, he will definitely be able to do it... At that time, give him this as a gift to congratulate him on being promoted to a cadre .”

She had already prepared a gift for him to celebrate his promotion to a cadre.

It's just that, by then, she had no chance to hand this gift to him in person.

Of course, that was a long time later.

"Okay, let's put aside the children's affairs first."

Mori Ogai stretched out his left index finger and gently pressed it against Gen's lips, his purple eyes narrowed slightly, showing even more temptation in the dark office: "Now, it's time for adults."