Chapter 30: The Unspeakable Answer

Lu Xiao had been growing impatient.

Hearing the Doctor's question, he immediately stepped forward.

"So, friend! I have several questions! Can you answer them for me?"

The human face on the mirror offered a smile.

"Of course! Happy to be of service!"

Lu Xiao rubbed his hands together.

"My first question!"

"Is this world my original world?"

"What is the cost to answer this question?"

The human face hummed thoughtfully.

"A fragment of your fingernail?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao paused, then fell into silence.

"Do you feel this price is too high?" the human face asked tentatively.

Lu Xiao's expression was unreadable, his lifeless fish-eyes fixed on the mirror's surface.

The Doctor adjusted his monocle, lost in thought.

The atmosphere grew intensely strange.

The human face spoke again, hesitantly.

"Maybe we can ....."

Before it could finish, Lu Xiao had already ripped the thumbnail from his finger and tossed it toward the mirror.

The human face caught the fragment, still smeared with flesh and blood, in its mouth.

"The answer to your question is: Yes."

Hearing this answer, Lu Xiao was stunned.

This was different from what he had expected.

He had originally believed this world was a parallel version of his original one.

But the Omniscient Mirror's response overturned all his previous theories.

For a moment, he was silent.

The human face continued.

"Do you have any other questions?"

The Doctor nudged Lu Xiao, snapping him out of his thoughts.

"Oh! Yes!"

"What is the Early Modern Era? What is the Medieval Era? What is the Ancient Era? And what is the cost for these questions?" Lu Xiao asked rapidly, several questions at once.

The human face paused.

"Technically, that is three questions."

It immediately corrected itself.

"But, since they are all historical questions, I can treat them as one."

"The cost remains a fragment of your fingernail."

Lu Xiao nodded, again without hesitation pulling off another nail fragment and tossing it over.

After swallowing the fragment, the human face began its explanation.

"Let's start with the Early Modern Era."

"The Early Modern Era refers to the century immediately preceding The Age of Cataclysm."

Hearing this, Lu Xiao looked like he wanted to interrupt.

Noticing this, the human face hurriedly added.

"The Early Modern Era ended approximately 1300 years ago."

"1300 years?" Lu Xiao exclaimed in surprise.

"Yes. The Age of Cataclysm lasted 1089 years. Adding the duration of the Innovation Era that followed brings the total to exactly 1300 years."

The human face hesitated for a moment before adding.

"This part of the answer is a complimentary gift."

Hearing this, Lu Xiao muttered to himself.

"Impossible! That's impossible!"

At this point, the Doctor turned to another assistant.

"Take all of them for a Class-F memory wipe."

The assistant nodded, then led all the staff out of the containment room.

The Doctor then produced a device resembling a remote control.

He pressed a button on it, then turned his attention back to Lu Xiao and the mirror.

Now, only Lu Xiao, the Doctor and the Omniscient Mirror remained in the room.

Even the monitoring systems had been temporarily severed.

This meant that everything happening in the containment room during this time would be known only to them. 

The Omniscient Mirror, of course, didn't count as a person.

Lu Xiao's expression was frantic.

The Doctor adjusted his monocle, seemingly deep in thought himself.

A long time passed before Lu Xiao calmed down.

"Continue what you were saying," he said.

The human face in the mirror made a nodding motion.

"The Medieval Era refers to the period from over 3300 years ago to about 1800 years ago."

"The Ancient Era is the era preceding the Medieval Age."

Lu Xiao quickly calculated in his mind.

"According to this, the Medieval Era refers to what we would call the Middle Ages."

He wasn't very familiar with this period of history, only knowing a rough timeframe.

The human face spoke carefully.

"Do you have any other questions?"

Lu Xiao nodded.

"I want to know the method to resolve the curse inside me."

Hearing Lu Xiao's words, the human face paused, then its voice became sharp.

"You call 'that' a curse?"

Its tone was full of disbelief.

Lu Xiao nodded.

"My friend, the Prison Doctor, told me it was a curse."

The human face's tone grew agitated.

"He has no idea what that thing actually is!"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao's expression darkened.

"Are you doubting my friend's medical expertise?"

The human face immediately recoiled, then pursed its lips.

"Actually... calling it a curse isn't entirely wrong."

Hearing this, Lu Xiao narrowed his eyes.

"So, what is the cost for this answer?"

Instantly, the human face showed a look of extreme difficulty.

"This answer...!"

Its speech became hesitant and evasive.

Lu Xiao stared at it with those lifeless fish-eyes.

"You don't know?"

Hearing this, the human face on the mirror shook its head frantically.

"It's not that I don't know... It's just that the cost for this answer is far too heavy."

"To know how to resolve the curse within you, the price would be the sacrifice of the entire present world!"

For a moment, even the Doctor, who was listening in, was dumbfounded.

Plop!

His monocle fell to the floor, the lens shattering into pieces.

Lu Xiao frowned.

"Why is that?"

"Why does resolving my curse require such a tremendous cost?"

The human face hurriedly explained.

"Because the magnitude of the impact the answer would have on the world is directly proportional to the cost required! The cost must have an equal impact on the world!"

The Doctor adjusted the monocle that was no longer on his face.

"So, if S292 resolves the curse within him, the entire present world would be destroyed as a consequence?"

The human face in the mirror made a nodding motion.

"Why?" Lu Xiao's voice rose, becoming shrill.

The human face shook its head wildly.

"I cannot say!"

The Doctor patted Lu Xiao's shoulder, speaking calmly.

"Don't panic. Didn't S069 say that there might be a way to resolve the curse within you here in the present world?"

"Don't you trust S069's medical skills?"

Hearing this, Lu Xiao's emotions began to slowly calm down.

"Right! The Prison Doctor said there is a solution in the present world!"

"Right! There must be a way!"

Lu Xiao continuously brainwashed himself. These words were like a sliver of dawn in the darkness, or his only lifeline.

As for sacrificing the entire present world for the answer, Lu Xiao didn't even consider it, he rejected the idea outright.

Watching Lu Xiao reinforce this psychological suggestion, the Doctor let out a long sigh of relief.

If Lu Xiao had chosen to obtain the answer, the Asylum would have had to reassess his containment level.

Given the nature of such a choice, it likely would have resulted in immediate termination.

The reason for wanting to protect Lu Xiao was his significant research value.

"Do you have any other questions?" the human face asked.

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