Chapter 83: The Origin (Part 2)
Chapter 83: The Origin (Part 2)
So the Cleanup Bureau had been aware of the Happiness Apartment all along? But according to their records, he was the first to discover this place. So, did that person find it and not report it, or...
After pondering over the manager lady's words, Lyon cautiously asked, "When you say 'help,' do you mean some ordinary assistance, or the kind of fundamental 'help' that turned you two into what you are now?"
"Of course, it's the most fundamental kind."
The most fundamental kind... So, this Happiness Apartment was actually 'created' by someone from the Cleanup Bureau?
But... How is that possible?
Lyon's eyebrows furrowed unconsciously as he recalled the 'common knowledge' shared by the Red-Haired Bureau Chief and Senior Emma.
For anomalies, 'manufacturing' and 'forging' are two entirely different concepts.
The anomalies 'created' by the Cleanup Bureau are mostly like the Bull Director; they take the remains of anomalies after cleanup missions, forge them, retain their core abilities, and modify them into controllable anomalies. Essentially, they transform uncontrollable existing anomalies into manageable ones.
However, if the manager lady's statement and his understanding were correct, this Happiness Apartment—this Soul Residence—was created from nothing!
This was such an important matter that he had to ask about it! But...
"Anna..."
"You two talk first."
After receiving Lyon's pleading gaze, the frail girl, though curious, smiled in understanding and walked into the inner room.
"It's been unusually cold lately. I'll go check on Melanie and the others to see if they've kicked off their blankets and caught a cold."
"Thanks for your trouble..."
Not wanting his family to be too deeply involved with the 'underwater world,' Lyon heaved a sigh of relief after Anna entered the inner room and closed the door. With a serious expression, he asked:
"If possible, could you tell me how that person 'helped' you become what you are now?"
"What's wrong?"
Noticing Lyon's sudden seriousness, the manager lady seemed to sense something amiss. Her expression became hesitant as she asked:
"Young man, tell me honestly, is there a rule in your bureau that forbids helping us become what we are now?"
"It's not so much that it's forbidden, but more that it's simply impossible..."
After describing the difficulty of such an act in simple terms that she could understand, Lyon, seeing the manager lady's slightly worried expression, reassured her:
"Don't worry. You don't worry, you don't have to worry about that person being punished. This ability to create anomalies is something I've never heard of before, and there are no related regulations in the bureau.
Moreover, it's been almost a hundred years since you became anomalies, and although the people in our Cleanup Bureau have much stronger bodies than ordinary folks, most of our lifespans are similar to that of regular people. That person from back then is most likely no longer around.
Also, because this involves the creation of anomalies, this matter is incredibly important. If possible, I'd like you to describe it in as much detail as you can."
"I see..."
Upon hearing that it wouldn't bring any trouble to her 'benefactor,' the manager lady heaved a sigh of relief. After a moment of recollection, she hesitantly began:
"There's not much I can't tell you. We don't know much ourselves... Well... The predecessor of this apartment was a shelter that my husband and I rebuilt using our own property. You should have already found that out, right?"
"Yes."
After Lyon nodded, the manager lady touched her white curly hair and continued her calm recollection:
"My hair wasn't originally white. It turned white strand by strand after a severe illness.
That illness brought constant pain, and I had to rely on excessive amounts of sleeping pills and painkillers to get through it. I could only stay awake for three or four hours a day, and even during those three hours, I'd vomit and have diarrhea due to the drug reactions...
Sigh... Although I didn't want to leave my husband, I was truly done with living. I was ready to apply to convert the shelter into a municipal facility and then stop taking the medication and die."
After calmly explaining the origin of her hair, the manager lady's gaze hardened, and her voice turned cold as she continued:
"I submitted that application over thirty times, and my husband, with his lame leg, went to the municipal office two or three hundred times. But the answer we always got was to wait.
That's when I knew the municipal office probably didn't want to take over. Once we two old folks passed away, the people staying in the shelter would surely face a terrible fate.
The manager lady spoke with a face full of resentment, "At the time, the property of the Shelter was under my name, and the old man, due to some past incidents, was not eligible to inherit the property. So, I really couldn't afford to die, and I had to tough it out, buying some time to help the people in the Shelter find other options.
In the end, although we successfully sent some people away, most of the residents in the Shelter were incapable of labor, and we still couldn't find another place for them. Moreover, my physical condition was already deteriorating.
The old man told me that in the last month, my heart stopped beating three times, and the number of times my breathing suddenly stopped was countless. Even though I managed to stay alive, I eventually reached my limit bit by bit..."
Heart stopping... Did she survive even that?
Listening to the manager lady's past experiences, Lyon recalled the words he had heard from the Red-Haired Bureau Chief. Although it might not have been the most appropriate moment, he remembered them.
Only the extreme will be remembered, only the obsessed dare to charge forward, and only madness can understand greatness.
Or perhaps, regardless of positive or negative, only the most extreme and intense things can leave an imprint on this world.
...
"But I really didn't want to die, and I dared not die."
Unaware of Lyon's thoughts, the manager lady, recalling those painful days, spoke with a somewhat grim expression, "On the last day, except for occasionally opening my eyes, my heartbeat and breathing had completely stopped. I was almost a pure dead person, and my soul had even briefly left my body, allowing me to see my own appearance on the hospital bed...
But in the end, I forced my soul back! I was just unwilling! I wanted to know why, why it was possible to save so many people with just a signature, but why was there no one willing to step forward and approve my application!"
After taking a few hurried breaths, the manager lady's expression softened slightly. She held the hand of the strong old man who had quietly returned and was standing behind her, supporting her. She lowered her voice and continued, "But although my soul returned, my body had indeed died completely. The old man, who had prepared for this, called the person in charge of preparing the body for burial."
Hmm... I don't remember it very clearly, but the embalmer was a young man. Aside from his naturally downturned mouth corners, making him look like he was crying, he was actually quite ordinary-looking. However, his eyes were bright, and it seemed like he could see things others couldn't.
His eyes saw directly through my soul, which was still lingering, and he asked me in surprise why I insisted on staying until now and didn't want to leave."
A young man with a natural crying face and bright eyes?
Lyon carefully noted these features, intending to ask the Red-Haired Bureau Chief about them tomorrow. He softly inquired, "So, that person was..."
"Yes, it was him."
After receiving an affirmative answer, the manager lady spoke with a complex expression, "He asked me if I had any last wishes, but at that time, my heart was filled with hatred. I wished I could immediately turn into a crazed evil spirit and kill everyone in the City Hall. So, I yelled at him for a while.
But after listening to my reasons, the young man didn't pay attention to me. Instead, he asked the old man if he wanted to see me one more time, but the price was immediate death."
The manager lady paused for a moment and then squeezed the strong old man's hand tightly. Her eyes softened as she continued, "The old man didn't agree right away. Instead, he asked the young man with the natural crying face if he wanted to see more than just one side of me. What would he have to pay for that?" After hearing his question, the young man was a little surprised, but after thinking about it, he told the old man that in addition to seeing one side, he could also let the old man's soul stay with mine forever.
But because my soul had endured years of torment and was much stronger and more resilient than his, if we bound our souls together, the old man would lose most of his humanity and wisdom, becoming a mere subordinate to my soul..."
So... he agreed to that?
Lyon blinked, feeling both touched and speechless as he looked at the strong old man who was holding the manager lady's hand with one hand while stealthily reaching for the large scissors with the other.
"Don't move!"
Having already noticed the old man's movements, Lyon squeezed his hand tightly, making him behave. The manager lady apologized, "Don't worry, I'm watching him. He won't be able to cut you."
"Ah... it's fine, it's fine."
Lyon secretly touched the pendant on his chest, ensuring he could react in time. He couldn't help but ask, "And then? Were your souls bound together and placed in this apartment?"
"Almost."
Upon hearing this, the manager lady's expression dimmed slightly, and her voice carried a hint of dejection as she said, "But we didn't have the strength we have now from the start. Back then, not only could we not eat and drink like living people, but we couldn't even speak to the people inside."
"Until the shelter was taken back by the city hall, and everyone inside was forcibly driven out by the police department, we could only barely manifest a bit of our figures during the darkest hours of the night."
Hearing this, Leon nodded and, after a moment of thought, asked, "So, you gradually became stronger over time?"
"No... We became like this because of an accident."
After hearing Leon's question, the manager lady silently turned her head away, burying her face in the strong old man's embrace. Her voice was muffled as she narrated, "There was an orphan who was driven out of the shelter. In the middle of the night, he tried to climb over the wall, almost falling off. My husband and I were worried, so we briefly manifested our forms to catch him."
"That child probably sensed something and was startled, screaming and running away. But he couldn't resist coming back several times. We... We might still be here, and the news spread among those who were driven out."
The manager lady clenched her hands in deep regret, her body trembling as she said, "Then... Many of the children heard the news and came back with hope, wanting to see us one last time. We also... We appeared a few more times."
"After some people saw us, more and more returned, even those who had already found a way out and were sent away early came back from other counties."
"But... But... Most of them froze to death during that first winter after being driven out. They were all so weak... So the number of people who could come back kept decreasing..."
"..."
"So, most of them froze to death during that first winter after being expelled?"
At this point, Leon's eyes grew slightly watery, and he couldn't help but recall the related archives he had read before.
There were about a hundred people expelled from the shelter, and most of them, lacking the ability to work, didn't survive the winter. They froze to death near Happiness Apartment.
However, when their cold, stiff bodies were discovered, most of them had smiles on their faces. This incident even made the news, and a few clippings were preserved in the archives.
Leon had initially thought that their smiles were due to hallucinations before freezing to death, but now it seemed that their smiles were genuine.
"My condolences..."
Seeing the manager lady burying her face in the strong old man's embrace, clearly crying silently, Leon felt a bit regretful for asking these questions. He pursed his lips, unsure of what to say for a moment. Meanwhile, the strong old man, who was gently patting the manager lady's back, spoke up.
"One hundred and three."
After uttering this number without expression, the strong old man rarely spoke more than a few words, his voice hoarse as he said softly, "I received their final thoughts and longings."
"..."
So... The reason you two can be like living people now is because of the one hundred and three people who froze to death after being driven out of Happiness Apartment that year, along with the many others who once lived in this building. They genuinely believed that you were still here..."
Understanding his words, Leon looked at the manager lady, who had started to cry quietly. Feeling a bit at a loss, he clenched his fist and quickly changed the subject, "What about the young man with the crying face? Did he come back after that?"
"He came back... Once."
After wiping her tears against the strong old man's embrace, the manager lady spoke softly, "After that winter, about three years passed before he came to see us again.
When he saw our situation, he was pleasantly surprised and said that our 'progress' exceeded his imagination. He asked what we had been doing these years and why we became stronger so quickly, wondering if we had killed those we hated.
But after hearing our explanation, he seemed a bit disappointed and asked why we weren't thinking about revenge. Then he never came back... Oh, right!"
The manager lady struggled to recall and said uncertainly, "We also asked about his situation. We asked if he was still working as an undertaker, and he said he had stopped doing that job and joined the Cleanup Bureau as a clerk or something... Do you have that position in your bureau?"
(End of Chapter)
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