What had started out as casual banter between two men just killing time gradually drifted into silence.
Because of the secrets he shared with Karen, Neo also thought of the finger sealed within the cat's tail at Karen's house.
As they spoke, the conversation had subtly shifted, taking on a tone that was at once sacred, taboo, and leaving both of them feeling somewhat unsettled.
In Karen's mind, the memory surfaced of the moment he underwent purification in the performance hall of Allen Manor to officially become a servant of the gods. The Finger of Light had touched the space between his brows and uttered the words:
"Order, come forth and face me."
The atmosphere in the private room instantly grew heavy.
Neo picked up the bottle of red wine and took a large swig, as if drinking beer.
Both men were well aware of the mythological lore. The relationship between the God of Light and the God of Order was a subject understood by the entire ecclesiastical community, yet fraught with controversy.
"Could it really be like that?" Neo asked.
Karen pressed his lips together and smiled. "I thought you steered the conversation this way on purpose."
Neo shook his head. "And I thought you did."
"Two little ants doing something utterly coincidental at a particular moment—what could that possibly amount to?"
Neo pointed a finger at himself, then at Karen. "Can two little ants really be this coincidental?"
"It is meaningless," Karen said.
"Right, meaningless," Neo agreed. "Yet this sudden hush makes me feel as though I've experienced history itself. Whether true or false, reminiscing about it brings a certain pleasure."
"Would you search for the truth of it, if given the chance?"
"I'm too lazy." Neo tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling. "I probably wouldn't bother. People who enjoy archaeological research are usually the quiet, patient type who can settle their minds. I know I'm not that kind of person."
"True enough." Karen picked up the pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, pulled one out, and reached for the lighter. Neo beat him to it, flicking the flame to life. Karen leaned in and lit the cigarette.
After blowing out a smoke ring, Karen pressed the cigarette into the ashtray, stubbing it out.
The corner of Neo's eye twitched. "You clearly haven't lived through days when you lacked the coupons to buy smokes."
Karen was about to retort when he suddenly realized these were point coupon cigarettes that Ventura had brought back for him from the hotel. He promptly conceded, "My mistake."
With that, whether to change the subject or dispel the heavy mood, Karen looked at the woman kneeling before him. He extended his hand, and a Chain of Order shot forward, touching her.
Karen closed his eyes.
When he opened them again, he was inside a collapsing, dissolving mental space. A woman sat there, unable to stand, for the lower half of her body had already melted away.
"Save me..."
It was an instinctual cry for help, like that of a helpless victim sinking into a swamp, about to be swallowed whole.
"I cannot save you," Karen answered. Things had already reached an irreversible point; there was nothing he could do now, just as Neo had told him earlier.
"Then please look after my children. My children are at..."
"I will not look after your children. Please be quiet."
There were far too many pitiful souls in this world, impossible to save them all. Some people tried to save them one by one, giving themselves no rest; Karen's view was that since there were too many to save anyway, he was free to be selective.
"Please... avenge me..."
"Very well," Karen agreed.
Then Karen's chain touched her. Her soul dissolved swiftly, finding release—after all, what she needed most right now was a clean end.
Immediately afterward, as he watched the drifting soul power before him, Karen felt an itch inside his heart. In particular, the Chain of Order trembled faintly, as if struggling to suppress a primal urge.
Karen drew a deep breath, reining in the craving that felt almost like nicotine addiction, and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, he was back on the couch in the private room.
The bodies of both the man and the woman had begun to dissolve, gradually turning to liquid. Before long, nothing would remain except two soaked sets of clothes.
The scent of musk drifted through the air, crisp and pleasant.
Neo chuckled. "They really care about customer experience, spicing up the 'dish' with perfume beforehand."
Karen nodded.
The two men sat there in silence, watching with their own eyes as the two people before them melted into puddles of water. The two circles on the floor began to rotate, revealing a row of small holes that sucked away all the liquefied remains.
"How does it feel?" Neo asked.
"I don't know how to describe it. I've experienced war, killed plenty of people, and witnessed natural disasters, but I find I still can't bring myself to treat human life like a discarded piece of clothing."
"I know what you mean." Neo stood up. "But that isn't a contradiction. Sometimes, the more you experience out in the world, the clearer you become about the tasks in your own hands."
Karen rose as well, remarking, "How did your thinking suddenly ascend to such philosophical heights?"
"You know, I was never worried that you'd change. You're much younger than me, and changing as you grow is the most natural thing in the world; it would be abnormal not to. I was only worried that after going out, experiencing things, and seeing the world, you might change a bit too fast. I've seen plenty of people who glance out a window from a rooftop and immediately assume the people sitting in the room below are entrapped, foolish beasts—convincing themselves they alone possess independent thought."
"Off topic."
Neo tapped his forehead. "This is from the memory of Philias lecturing. I thought borrowing it here was quite fitting—at least somewhat relevant."
"All right. When you have time, transcribe it and lend it to me."
"I'm already drenched in Light. If I transcribe these Light doctrines on top of that, even I'll start wondering if I'm a missionary of Light. If my identity ever gets exposed, when they sentence me, I'll look far more accomplished and thorough than any genuine Light infiltrator."
"I thought you could exercise restraint."
"Verbally, I always exercise restraint. Oh right, I heard from your manservant that you have a habit of keeping notes? Lend them to me sometime when you're free. I feel like I need something to cleanse myself recently. Being too clean and sunny isn't good—I really don't want to end up like a light bulb. *Click*—whether I blind anyone else or not, I'll be blinded first."
"Then you'll have to trade Mr. Philias's doctrinal interpretations for them. I know very well that many of my previous ideas were flawed, and I'm currently recalibrating, but I'm worried about overcorrecting and swinging from one extreme to another."
"Fair enough. I'll transcribe them, but no sharing them outside. My gut tells me the Light remnants are currently suppressed to a tipping point. Perhaps all they lack is a new ideological manifesto."
"The same goes for my notes. If they leaked and got discovered, the two of us would be branded apostates."
"All right, let's get moving."
Neo opened the door and walked out with Karen. Attendants were waiting outside, and the woman soon approached to ask about their "dining experience."
"Not bad. That fellow Vicolai didn't lie to us."
Neo took back his card and a receipt from the woman, shoved them casually into his pocket, and rubbed the corners of his eyes with a yawn.
Taking the elevator up and exiting the cinema, the two men tacitly took a circuitous route through the streets. Once certain they had shaken off any possible surveillance or tails, Neo stopped in front of a trash bin, kicked it, and cursed:
"What highway robbery! Ten thousand point coupons each, and twenty-four thousand point coupons blown in one go!"
"Why twenty-four thousand?"
"Because of a twenty-percent tea and service fee!"
Hearing this, Karen immediately chimed in, "Highway robbery indeed."
"That was a steep cost. When I bring our men over tomorrow, I'll make sure to recoup the loss properly."
"I wish the Section Chief smooth success in advance."
"It has to be smooth. That card works like a credit card—I have to pay it back."
"Now we just wait for news from Alfred."
"Yes. If everything is confirmed as expected, I won't contact you, so as not to disrupt your headspace. There's something you need to start working on right now, since you chose Mr. Pavaro as the whistleblower."
"Pavaro's last testament."
"Exactly. Write it well. It doesn't need flowery prose, but it must be realistic and deeply emotional. You'll be the one reading it at the trial, so it has to move people."
"A tall order, but I'll do my best."
"Mm. I'm going to set up a scene of body disposal and destroyed evidence. You need to give me some of Mr. Pavaro's personal effects."
"Oh, I have something here."
Karen took out his wallet and extracted a photograph of Dora and Doreen together. "Found this on Mr. Pavaro a long time ago. I kept it as a memento."
"This is perfect. I'll have the fire burn away the edges, leaving behind the smiling faces of his two daughters."
"I have always had complete faith in your talent for fabricating evidence, Section Chief."
Back on Snake Island, the way Neo had cut himself to stage the scene had shown Karen what true professionalism looked like.
Neo shrugged. "Time was originally tight, but you can't argue with evidence this abundant."
"Indeed."
"Then let's split up for now."
"All right. I'll head back to write the testament."
Karen drove back to the funeral parlor. Stepping into the courtyard, he saw Vic sitting on a bench reading a newspaper.
"Captain, you're back. Everyone else had left, and the apartment was so lonely, so I came over to check things out. At least it's a bit livelier here, haha."
Vic stood up, greeting Karen with great politeness.
"Tomorrow morning at six, come have breakfast here, then accompany me on an outing."
"Yes, Captain!"
Karen prepared to head to his master bedroom, then stopped as something occurred to him. "Where did you take my cat and dog this morning?"
"To the point coupon store. We bought some coffee and flour."
"Voluntarily?"
"Yes, absolutely."
"Then it won't be reimbursed."
"Understood, Captain."
Vic smiled. After Karen walked away, he bit his lower lip and dabbed at the tears welling at the corners of his eyes with his fingertips.
Karen pushed open the door and stepped into the master bedroom. He saw Purr savoring coffee, a muffler wrapped around her neck, looking intensely solemn.
Karen suspected Purr had never looked that solemn even when gazing upon the portraits of her family ancestors.
"You need to wear a scarf just to drink coffee?"
"Do you know how expensive this coffee is? Normally, even if the radio sprite's antenna malfunctioned and he lost his mind enough to buy it for me, I wouldn't dare spend your hard-earned point coupons like that. We really lucked out this time—this Vic fellow wanted to blend in with the group, so he spared no expense in treating me to win favor. Though when paying at the point coupon store, I think he must have caught a cold. He was shivering the whole time."
"Rasma helped shield Mink Street after all. Is that how you treat his student?"
"He only did that to pacify Diss, because he knew what it would mean once Diss woke up. As for treating his student... his student was already being suppressed because of him! Aren't we helping him take off in his career? Strictly speaking, Rasma owes us a favor. Right, dumb dog?"
"Woof."
"Speaking of which, Karen, have you noticed? The dumb dog doesn't even dare bark with any backbone in front of you anymore."
"Probably getting old."
Kevin: "..."
"Um, don't you feel like you've forgotten something? Like something you promised before, which should be done now but hasn't been done yet..."
Hearing Purr say this, Kevin slowly raised his head, eyes filled with anticipation.
Yet right after saying that, Purr realized something and blurted out:
"Wait a minute, aren't you supposed to be ripping stockings over at Allen Manor right now, meow?"
"Work-related matters..."
Karen gave Purr a brief summary of what had happened today.
"Oh, then work takes priority." Purr immediately turned to console Kevin. "We'll wait a few more days then. Our Karen has to arrest people tomorrow morning, and breaking your seal tonight would affect his condition. Understand?"
Kevin nodded vigorously, wagging his tail with delight.
"Right, Karen, are you going to write Mr. Pavaro's last testament later? Do you need the renowned contemporary woman of letters, Poir Allen, to ghostwrite it for you?"
"Do you want me to submit a testament covered in cat paw prints as evidence?"
"I just wanted to share your burden."
"All right, thank you. Seeing you sit at home sipping coffee is relaxing enough for me."
"Why, meow?"
"Because if every member of a family is busy, they sometimes lose sight of why they're working so hard. Seeing someone at home enjoying life amidst all the toil makes you feel that your hard work is worth it."
"Do you say things like that to Eunice all the time? My great-great-great-grandniece definitely wouldn't stand a chance against that mouth of yours."
*Thunk.*
Purr clutched her head, complaining indignantly, "Why'd you hit me again?!"
"Keep drinking your coffee. I'm going to write the testament."
Karen went to the washroom to splash water on his face, then entered the study and sat down. He took out paper and pen, preparing to draft the testament.
After sitting idly for a while without finding the right state of mind, Karen stood up and retrieved Mr. Pavaro's old work notebook from between the bookshelves, along with the once-precious investigation records regarding Jurist Qihe.
Then, Karen began to reread the words.
Without realizing it, the night deepened into the small hours.
*Knock, knock, knock...*
A knock sounded at the door.
Karen was startled, feeling beads of sweat dripping from the tip of his nose.
From outside, Madame Laike asked, "Mr. Karen, should I prepare a late-night snack for you?"
Karen lowered his voice. "No need, my dear."
Silence fell outside the door. Only after a long while did the sound of Madame Laike's departing footsteps echo away.
Karen lifted the water glass from the desk and took several deep gulps. Just a moment ago, he seemed to have slipped back to when he had first moved into the Allen Apartments and encountered that case.
No, strictly speaking, sitting here now, he could empathize even more deeply with Mr. Pavaro's frame of mind.
"So... you were afraid, too."
Karen muttered to himself, picked up the pen, and officially began to write the testament:
"I am guilty, for I have begun to fear. This emotion caused me to doubt my faith deeply, which then turned to shame and disgrace, and finally left me sitting numbly before my desk for a very long time.
Then, a scene surfaced in my mind:
He stood before me, smiling, and told me his grandfather was a bishop.
I was infuriated.
Did the great God of Order cast Ankara into the maw of the ferocious beast just so we, his believers, could utter such words proudly and without a shred of shame?
..."
By the time the testament was finished, dawn was already breaking.
Karen placed the letter into a blank envelope, picked it up, and walked into the master bedroom.
Purr was still sound asleep in bed.
Karen reached out and gently nudged her. She naturally reached out a padded paw to clasp his hand, leaning her face against it like a pillow.
"Wake up."
Purr slowly opened her eyes, glanced around, and said, "Ooh, meow... is it morning already?"
"Do me a favor." Karen placed the envelope before Purr. "Control the heat and scorch this to look aged—not too old, but clearly written recently."
"You sure ask for a lot." Purr rubbed her eyes and sat up.
"We can't have anyone touching this testament and finding the ink still wet. I trust your mastery over fire."
"Woof, woof."
Kevin, also woken up, padded over with his bald head to chime in.
"All right, leave it to me."
Purr rubbed her paws together. Soon, a tiny flame appeared, dancing and wobbling around the envelope.
"There, that should do it."
Karen inspected the envelope, took out the letter inside to look over it, and nodded in satisfaction.
Purr beckoned with a padded paw, and the cute little flame floated in front of Karen.
"Oh, Captain Karen, do you need me to light a cigarette for you?"
Karen blew a breath at the flame, extinguishing it.
"All right, go back to sleep. I'm heading out."
"Then let me see our little Karen off."
Purr leaped off the bed and clambered deftly onto Karen's shoulder, settling down.
Karen pushed open the bedroom door and stepped outside. The morning sunlight poured down, washing over him and seemingly dissolving all the exhaustion from a sleepless night.
As Karen strode forward, Purr raised her paw and proclaimed on his behalf:
"From this moment on, the Whip of Order in Yorktown enters a new era!"
Chapter 499