Memories

After obtaining his legal status, Russell Hill threw himself into his work, devoting all his energy to the investigation.

He began interviewing one Abrodi soldier after another.

"You're asking about the recorder? Yes, the conference room did have recorders, but they were all damaged by electrical surges during the battle... Where did they go? Of course, they were discarded. Where were they discarded? Naturally, in the resource recovery chamber... But I doubt you'll find one that hasn't been thrown into the recovery chamber and can still be restored to show past images... Well, if you want to go, go ahead, I won't stop you, I just think you're wasting your time."

"I'm Kinnard, a member of the mecha unit. Yes, I was nearby when the conference room incident happened. I was with Crestwell... No, I didn't see it, I only saw Captain Jeram coming out of there, shooting at us, with a fierce look... It was that blood-red kind, I never thought someone's gaze could become so terrifying."

"You're asking if anyone survived then? Yes, some did, about seven or eight people... Later? They all died, except for Reno, they all died... The environment was too harsh at the time, and everyone was injured... Yes, Reno was injured too, he was the only one who survived."

"I was a member of the Original Scarab, responsible for guarding the Zero Target at the time... Yes, Reno took the Zero Target from me, it was in a large box... The box was big, about two meters high... No, I didn't know it was a sacred object at the time... It was tightly sealed, nothing could be seen..."

"Yes, I was responsible for receiving Captain Reno, I'm pretty sure no one approached the box at the time, no one did anything to it, besides, we didn't know what it was, just that it was a sphere of light... Yes, a sphere of light... How did I know? Because the box broke."

"Because the box broke..."

Sitting on the bed, Russell Hill listened repeatedly to this sentence, lost in deep thought.

After a while, he connected to the terminal, requested full-frequency communication, and Claire's face appeared on the screen. He said, "Miss Jia, I have a few questions to ask you."

"I'm in the medical bay."

"No, no, just a few simple questions, I can ask them here directly."

"Okay, go ahead."

"You have received all the information about the Edward Hospital and the Tianhe Four Research Base. I would like to ask if there were any energy impact tests conducted during the experiments conducted by the Federal Government on the sacred objects?"

After thinking for a moment, Claire replied, "Yes, I remember there were over a thousand impact tests conducted, including pulse wave tests, high-energy particle flow tests, laser impacts, and other energy impact tests. Do you think Captain Jeram's incident is related to this?"

"When Captain Reno carried the sacred object back to the Abrodi, he encountered a lot of attacks. From the information I have obtained, at least one of these attacks caused damage to the box containing the sacred object. From your expert perspective, do you think it's possible that this could cause a leakage of energy from the sacred object? Is it possible that this could affect Captain Jeram and others' sanity?"

Claire replied, "First, I'm not an expert on sacred objects; I am a starship pilot and a field medic. Second, it's indeed possible that this could cause a leakage of energy from the sacred object, but the known cases of energy leakage from sacred objects have killed or transformed humans, not caused them to betray their allegiance."

"A change in mentality can also be considered a form of transformation."

"In fact, after learning about the sacred objects, Reno and I also had such speculations. But in the research data, we did not find any evidence of sacred objects altering human mentality. And if Captain Jeram and other officers were affected by the leakage of the sacred object, then why weren't Reno and others affected?"

"You're right, so I want to talk to Reno."

"No problem, Reno said you can see him during the jump."

"Only during the jump?"

"He's the leader of the Free Spirit, he's busy. So you'd better seize the opportunity, and it's best to complete the investigation before the jump ends."

"...I see."

Half an hour later, in a coffee shop in the leisure cabin.

Reno sat in front of Hill, leisurely sipping his coffee. "This is the first time you've sat in front of me and made me not dislike you so much."

"It seems that my previous relentless pursuit has left a deep psychological shadow on you," Hill laughed, "So, Captain Reno, if I ask you to recall what happened on the day of the meeting and anything else you can remember, it shouldn't be considered offensive, and you should cooperate fully, right?"

Reno nodded, "In fact, I've been waiting for you to come and ask me these questions, I just didn't expect you to be so patient to come to me now. Where do you want to start?"

"Let's start with the rupture of the box. Do you remember that memory?"

"Of course. It was when I was about to return to the Abrodi..."

A trace of memory appeared on Reno's face, and before his eyes appeared the intense scenes of battle. He piloted the Silver Wing Angel, shuttling through the gunfire of the Celestials, with energy beams flashing everywhere. The energy radiation from the sacred object was like a bonfire in the dark night, attracting attacks from all the Celestials and Xenoc. Even though his piloting skills were already very good at the time, it was difficult to evade so many attacks. One energy beam after another exploded on him, and the huge shockwave energy almost tore him apart. The energy shock feedback from the system made Reno, who was mainly operating with a control array system, feel unbearable.

Despite this, he gritted his teeth and rushed towards Abrodi, with only one thought in his mind — to complete the mission.

It was at that moment that a Celestial energy cannon shot came flying.

The twelve-centimeter-diameter energy blast hit the Silver Wing Angel's large mech energy shield, unexpectedly piercing through the energy armor, followed by a bright flash that nearly blinded Reno's eyes.

"What kind of attack is that? High-energy particle stream? Or ion impact?" Hill asked.

"Beta ray cannon."

Hill frowned, "As far as I know, the impact energy of a beta ray cannon does not emit intense flashes."

"Yes, the ray cannon pierced through the energy shield, and the dispersed energy traveled along the mech's body, and then this intense light appeared."

"Are you saying this light wasn't caused by the ray cannon?"

"I'm saying I don't know how it was generated."

"Go on."

"After that, I entered the cabin shortly, I got out of the mech, my whole body was in great pain."

"In great pain?"

"Yes, in great pain."

"What caused the pain? Injury?"

Reno thought for a moment, shaking his head, "No, I wasn't injured, but it hurt."

"Are you sure you felt a lot of pain? What kind of pain was it?"

Reno fell into memory, and after a while, he said, "Now that you ask, I do remember. It was a strange feeling. It came from every part of the body, as if every part of your body was injured, but you couldn't find the injured spot, but it didn't last long."

"How long did it last?"

"About ten seconds after I got out."

"What did you do after you got out of the mech?"

Reno shrugged, "I picked up the box and headed to the conference room, where Captain Jeram was waiting for me."

Hill's face became serious, "Alone?"

"Yes."

"But I heard the box was very large, how did you carry it alone?"

"The box wasn't that big at first," Reno replied, "I carried the box to the conference room, where Captain Jeram and others were already waiting for me. He was happy to see the box at first, but became nervous when he saw the hole in the box. He said the Zero Target couldn't be exposed, so..."

"So what?" Hill asked eagerly.

Reno fell into memory.

His voice became low, his gaze gradually deepened, as if he had traveled through time and returned to that distant memory. He murmured, "So he decided to transfer the Zero Target to another large box. He said the contents inside couldn't be seen by others, so he had to do it alone. And then..."

Reno seemed to be struggling with a mental block, and remembering became difficult.

"Then he took it to the side hall?" Hill couldn't help but ask.

Reno's spirits lifted, and he exclaimed, "Yes, he went into the side hall to deal with that box."

"And then?"

"I saw a beam of light coming out from there, like an ocean of light, engulfing me." Reno looked at Hill, "And then I don't remember anything."