The previous line of words was deleted from the screen, and another line of words appeared: “Why aren’t you willing to tell me the exact location of End Year City?”
Lawton thought for a few seconds and decided to tell the truth. “End Year City is my home. I don’t want to harm it in any way.”
Two hands appeared on the screen, and they clapped.
“Well said!” The two words emitted a golden glow as they popped out one after another.
“Then, can you tell me which Kalendaria you believe in?” A new question came one after another.
This wasn’t anything to hide, so Lawton replied solemnly, “The great Arbiter of Fate.”
“The End will belong to the Arbiter of Fate!” The words on the screen expressed their excitement with an exclamation mark.
“You also believe in the Arbiter of Fate?” Lawton was delighted but also a little worried.
Different denominations might not have a harmonious relationship due to their different understanding of the scriptures.
“That’s right, that’s right,” replied Room 131’s owner in text.
Lawton rationally didn’t ask which faction the other party was from. He nodded happily and said, “So we are fellow believers. What do you want from End Year City?”
The words on the screen quickly changed. “I want to know something.”
“Ask. As long as it doesn’t affect End Year City’s safety and doesn’t blaspheme the Kalendaria, I can answer you.” Lawton seized the opportunity and said, “However, you have to promise that if the information I provide is of certain value, you will let go of the restrictions and restrain your memories to facilitate my exploration of your psychological trauma in search of the New World’s door.”
“No problem.” Room 131’s owner was rather straightforward. Following that, new words formed a new question: “Does anything strange happen in End Year City?”
Lawton thought for a moment and said, “Everything is normal. At least, there’s nothing especially strange in my impression.”
“Don’t you have the Heartless disease?” The words on the screen were dyed white as if they were expressing shock.
Lawton’s consciousness was divided into two—one was outside, and the other was inside. His thoughts weren’t that agile, so he was a little stunned by this question. After a few seconds, he replied, “It’d be strange if there’s no Heartless disease. Is there anywhere in the Ashlands that’s without the Heartless disease? There will always be some cases every year.”
“That’s true.” Room 131’s owner agreed with this explanation.
Where do you come from? Aren’t you aware of such general knowledge? Lawton couldn’t help but criticize inwardly.
Considering the other party’s mental state, he felt that it was meaningless to argue with the ill.
“Is there really nothing strange?” the owner of Room 131 asked in text again.
Upon seeing that the other party was very concerned about this matter, Lawton felt that his answer might be considered valuable in this regard. Therefore, he didn’t repeat the answer firmly and instead asked, “Can you give me a few examples of the strange situations you mentioned?”
After a brief pause, the words on the screen changed. “For example, large numbers of people dying inexplicably. For example, having many people mysteriously disappear every year. For example, someone going crazy from time to time—it’s not because they suffered trauma or the price they paid for exploring the Mind Room.”
Lawton seriously went through his memories over the years and hesitantly said, “These three situations don’t exist in our End Year City; I’m sure of this. But…”
“But what?” The words on the screen were very cooperative.
“However, the probability of someone in a certain position going crazy is rather high,” Lawton silently exhaled.
“Which position?” The words on the screen popped up one after another.
Lawton replied with a solemn expression, “Grand Elder.”
“Does he believe in the Arbiter of Fate?” Room 131’s owner seemed to be typing rapidly.
“End Year City’s Grand Elder must be a believer of the Arbiter of Fate,” Lawton gave an affirmative answer. He then said, “From the establishment of End Year City until now, there have been a total of six Grand Elders. Apart from the current one, one of the remaining five entered the New World, one died from an injury during an expedition, and a total of three went mad.”
“The probability of going crazy is 60%?” the words on the screen asked in confirmation.
Nobody knew what would happen to the current Great Elder, so he was temporarily excluded.
Lawton nodded. “That’s why I said that it’s a little abnormal. Our explanation is that the Grand Elder often pays attention to the deity by being too close to the Kalendaria. It’s very easy for him to go crazy if he can’t enter the New World before exceeding a certain time limit.”
“That’s right. People who come into contact with the Kalendarium often are either scared to death or go crazy.” Room 131’s owner seemed to have this deeply imprinted in his mind.
The words on the screen continued changing. “What happened to the three crazy ones in the end?”
“One ended his life a few days after going crazy. The other brought too much of a threat, so we jointly eliminated him. The other escaped End Year City while we weren’t paying attention, but he probably didn’t live long,” Lawton replied truthfully.
“Why?” the owner of Room 131 asked in text.
“It wasn’t long after the end-of-year Mass; Icefield was in its coldest and most unsuitable season for human survival.” Lawton had a deep impression of this matter.
“What’s that Grand Elder’s name, and what does he look like?” The words on the screen changed.
Lawton didn’t hide anything. “His name is Qin Ke. He was only 49 years old when he went crazy. As for his looks…”
Lawton tried to show the image of Qin Ke in his memories in the deep darkness.
The next second, the light on the screen skyrocketed, illuminating the pattern he had conjured.
Qin Ke was a man; his shoulder-length hair was half-white. He was about 1.7 meters tall and wore a black robe. The skin on his face was slightly dry and wrinkled. His eyes seemed to be sunken because he was of mixed blood, making him look rather serious.
“What did those crazy Grand Elders say or do after they went crazy?” Room 131’s owner deleted the original question and typed new words.
“Some shouted that they wanted to kill all of us and took action, some said that the end of the world wasn’t over, and some wanted us to commit suicide to purge the land…” Lawton said as he recalled.
The crazy words sounded meaningful, but there was no substantial content. The blinking lights on the screen didn’t form any other words.
Finally, Lawton said, “After Grand Elder Qin Ke went crazy, he seemed to become another person; he even changed his name. On the surface, he seemed to have suffered Destiny Connection, but we eliminated this possibility after inspection.”
“What name did he change to?” The words on the screen finally did something.
Lawton truthfully said, “He called himself Du Heng.”