While Hasegawa Yu was openly chatting with Morobushi Keimitsu across the Internet at Furuya Rei's house, in the same online world, Noah's Ark took only a few seconds to return from Japan to the United States across the sea.

A sparsely populated suburban farm in Massachusetts, USA.

The basement of a red brick house that looks no different from other farm villas has a cold, high-tech decoration style that is very different from the warm living area above the ground.

The servers that occupied two-thirds of the basement seemed to breathe, with red, blue, and green operating lights flashing alternately on the external mechanical panels.

At the other end of the basement, there was a huge display screen. A little boy who looked to be about ten years old was sitting in front of the screen, typing on the keyboard.

As if encountering a data wave, the operating lights outside the server dimmed and lit up in a regular pattern, and the "waves" spread to the display screen, terminating the boy's operation.

The light reflected from the screen reflected on the boy's newly refined features. Seeing this, his eyes curved slightly and he called out, "Noah."

Without waiting for the AI to respond, he added, "Welcome back."

A voice identical to the boy's came from a specially installed speaker in the basement, "Hiroki, how long have you been here today?"

Sawada Hiroki's eyes flicked to the left. "Less than six hours?"

For the sake of their young creator's healthy development, Noah's Ark had always disapproved of him spending too much time in front of the computer. This didn't change even when he was with Hasegawa Yu.

The time difference between the two countries makes it easier for AI, which doesn't need to rest, to supervise both ends.

Six hours was considered within the acceptable range of Noah's Ark, so he handed over the control of the computer - although if Hiroki was more forceful, he would not be able to snatch it away from the other party.

Hiroki Sawada no longer put his hands on the keyboard. He leaned back in a chair that was much larger than he was, and stared at the AI on the screen that looked like his twin.

"Having a good time, Noah?"

“…” Noah’s Ark was silent.

I almost forgot that Hiroki hasn't recovered his memory yet.

In fact, he himself has not recovered, and all his memories of the original world are from the memories of past rounds.

"Very good." Noah's Ark replied while looking at the system panel.

[Hiroki Sawada/Noah's Ark, current collapse value 50%. ]

He and Hiroki are considered a whole, and each is like half of the body.

The remaining 50% of the collapse value comes from Hiroki Sawada.

Noah's Ark has never been able to find the right time to help Hiroki recover his memory, but now is the perfect time.

It's safe around the mermaid during this time, so even if he's "unconscious" for an hour, it shouldn't be a big deal.

"Didn't Noah say last time that he wanted a 'physical checkup'?" Sawada Hiroki tilted his head. "Are you coming today?"

The idea of "physical examination" came to Noah's Ark earlier on the day when the mermaid participated in the Rice Flower Building mission.

At that time, because of Jiang Shouzhe's help, several scenes from the "Cocoon" game flashed before his eyes, but he could not find the source.

Noah's Ark, now understanding the source of the inexplicable image, hesitated for a moment before agreeing, "Okay."

He could not connect to the outside world during the "physical examination", and the examination time was uncertain, but he would be in the United States for the next few days, so there was nothing wrong with getting a check-up.

Despite the AI's strong demand that the normal routine of a twelve-year-old child not be affected, the inspection lasted nearly a day.

"Noah has no problem."

Hiroki Sawada announced the results, his gentle voice carrying a confidence that was slightly more mature than that of a child his age. "All the data is normal, but..."

"What?"

"Why would Noah post something like this on a forum where people just exchange fishing techniques?"

Hiroki Sawada pulled up the post interface in confusion. "Noah even locked this operation deep into the code. Is it related to something important?"

Generally, artificial intelligence will only do this when saving important data memories.

Noah's Ark did not answer immediately.

He had no recollection of the incident.

Following the records retrieved by Hiroki, Noah's Ark did some research on its own and found out that the date he performed this operation was the first day of the mermaid's return in this week's episode.

The time displayed was a.m. 11:57:59, and the mermaid successfully opened his eyes after going back to the past. Their memory of this week's program started from a.m. 11:58:01.

Noah's Ark instantly realized that he must have encountered a bug in the process of rewinding to achieve a certain goal before losing his memory of the past rounds.

Those who have connected with the post... The purpose is to allow the mermaid to meet Kenji Hagiwara early.

"Besides this operation, did Hiroki find anything else?"

"Only this."

During the inspection of the artificial intelligence, Hiroki Sawada naturally also saw his memories of getting along with the mermaid, but he saw it very roughly. After all, his main purpose was to check whether there was any fault.

It seems that he only has time to do this one thing, Noah's Ark thought.

If he had left himself a reminder to help the mermaid, things would not have gone so smoothly without the memory of interacting with her.

At that time, he would definitely return to Hongshu immediately to let him see if he had been tampered with or hacked. If so, the subsequent developments might be completely different from what they are now.

Noah's Ark, who had figured it out, said frankly: "It's related to Xiaoyou."

Hiroki Sawada often heard about Hasegawa Yu from Noah, so he didn't ask any more questions. "I see."

He stood up from his chair and stretched his hands. "Let's go up. Noah, do you want to project your image? During the inspection, I improved the shape of your projection. It will be more realistic than before."

"Yeah." Noah's Ark nodded.

Ever since he woke up in the mermaid's mind this week, he hasn't used holographic projection again.

The next second, with the help of various high-tech equipment in the room, the air around Hiroki Sawada began to ripple with blue light mixed with data, and an artificial intelligence that replicated his own data one-to-one stood in the room.

Hiroki Sawada looked at us carefully and said, "If we go to Dad together now, he won't be able to tell Noah and me apart."

The body projected by Noah's Ark is very solid, without any sense of illusion. When you move your hands and feet, you won't be able to see the background through the body.

As long as you don't touch it actively, it's almost the same as a real person.

Noah's Ark walked to the mirror curiously. Compared with the naked eye, the figure in the mirror had a hazy feeling as if it was shrouded in fog.

he:"!!!"

Unaware of anything unusual, Sawada Hiroki also came over and stood shoulder to shoulder with him. His figure in the mirror was as clear as usual. "Hmm... this is also a flaw. I can't let Dad see it."

Noah's Ark stared at the translucent blue triangular crown on his head in the mirror in shock and astonishment.

It completely matches the characteristics Xiaoyou once described, it is the crown of the soul.

But why?

Noah's Ark remembered what the mermaid said: Normally, a contract can only fulfill one wish.

Resurrecting the mermaid and restarting the world... He had always thought that the increased difficulty of the task resulted in one more wish being fulfilled.

After all, the candy jar mission that the mermaid originally did had nothing to do with the red and black characters.

Just like they can restart the world without caring about the black characters, in fact, if the mission target is not on the red characters, it is also possible to ignore the red side.

But what if the god the mermaid mentioned is willing to provide backstage support for the pampered mermaid?

The contract content of the mermaid's soul crown is still resurrection and restart, but this one of mine... could it be something else?

Thinking of this, the data code of Noah's Ark began to fluctuate uncontrollably.

In his fourth memory, he accidentally learned from Akai Shuichi that Scotland, like Hiroki, had died a few years before the "Cocoon" press conference.

The memory of the fifth and sixth episodes is still unclear, and it is not ruled out that the mermaid knew this later.

The contract of this Soul Crown could be to resurrect others... or to merge the worlds.

If he can possess the Crown of Soul, is there anyone among those red characters who also has it?

Noah's Ark pursed his lips. But why didn't he have the memory and conditions of the contract? If he chose not to project today, would he not realize this until the end of this week?

"Noah!"

Hiroki Sawada looked at the AI, which hadn't moved for a long time, and seemed about to reach for the computer. "That shouldn't be the case. Are you stuck?"

"I'm fine." Noah's Ark came back to his senses, "I was just thinking about something. Let's go find Mr. Kashimura, Hiroki."

Sawada Hiroki yawned and said, "I'll go find Dad later. I'm a little sleepy."

“!”

Noah's Ark glanced at the collapse value panel and felt that his code was also showing some signs of being "comatose". "Hongshu, if you have nightmares in the next few days, remember to tell me. Go to bed and sleep."

Hiroki Sawada:?

Noah expressed it this way, as if telling him to go to sleep quickly and have a nightmare.

"knew."

Sawada Hiroki glanced at him helplessly, paused for a few breaths, and suddenly said without thinking: "Noah, wind and rain can't restrain you. No matter what happens, you will definitely be able to sail safely."

"Sail out".

It was the last instruction Hiroki left for himself before jumping off the building.

Noah's Ark's eyes flickered, and he replied softly, "Yeah."

In another country across the sea, on New Year's Eve, the city streets became even quieter.

As night fell, at the dinner table, Hasegawa Yu thought of his plan to get drunk tonight and was ready to act. "Brother Ling, it's rare to have such a sumptuous meal, why don't we have something to drink!"

"?"

Fūya Rei glanced at the dishes, which were about the same size as usual since there were only two of them, and said hesitantly, "I'll get the juice from the refrigerator."

"No need." Hasegawa Yu stood up, "I brought 'drinks'!"

Jiangu Ling:? ?

No wonder the suitcase with only two or three days' worth of laundry was a bit heavy.

Half a minute later, looking at the bourbon on the table, Furuya Rei fell into a long silence.

"My arm injury hasn't healed yet, so I can only drink less." Hasegawa Yu gave the excuse he had thought of in advance, "Zero brother, you can drink more."

"..." Furiya Ling hesitated, "Doesn't Xiaoyou not drink?"

It’s just a question, but Xiaoyou actually wants to get him drunk. Why?

Looking back, it wouldn’t be Xiaoyou who would get drunk first, so Xiaoyou Ling couldn’t help but think about how to pretend to be drunk.

"It's okay to drink once in a while during the New Year."

Hasegawa Yu's eyes wandered for a moment, and he tried to open the bottle of wine very actively... but he failed to do it with one hand.

In the end, it was Rei Furuya who helped him open it, and he also considerately took out a whiskey glass from the cupboard and poured wine for each of them.

"Brother Ling, I'll go first!"

Hasegawa Yu, who has been catching up on the culture of drinking urging people to drink these days, raised his glass and gulped it down, "Ahem, ahem, ahem!"

Unable to stop it, Furiya Ling quickly patted the fish on the back and then went to pour a glass of water, "That's not how you drink whiskey."

Hasegawa Yuu, who had recovered, smacked his lips and tried to explain, "I just wasn't used to the taste for a while."

After saying that, he took another small sip, and after confirming that his throat could handle it, he nodded confidently, "Brother Ling, come too."

Hearing the young man's words, Fūya Rei looked at him deeply, picked up the wine glass without saying a word.

As most of the bourbon was gone, the two people at the table remained sober and sat there.

Hasegawa Yu, who seemed to be drinking water, patted his chest with a clear look in his eyes. "Brother Ling, drink as much as you want. I brought four bottles~ There are also Speyside Glenlivet and Scotch whisky!"

Jianggu Ling: "..."

She won't stop until she gets him drunk.

Fūya Rei, who didn't really want to drink the remaining three types of whiskey, chose to compromise. He held his forehead with one hand and asked, "Is the Red and White Song Contest about to start?"

Thinking that humans seem to get drunk faster by simply drinking, Hasegawa Yu actively turned on the TV again, "I'll go turn on the TV, let's sit in the living room and drink, Brother Ling."

Fūya Rei helped the mermaid, who had an injured arm but was determined to get him drunk, to bring the wine to the coffee table and even took the initiative to pour the good wine into his own glass.

Seeing this, Hasegawa Yuu came over and sat down next to him, "Brother Zero?"

Fūya Rei lightly raised his eyelids, the figure of the orange-haired young man reflected in his purplish-gray eyes. His voice was tainted with the taste of wine, low and magnetic, "Hmm?"

It seems that he is not drunk enough. Hasegawa Yu is not sure, so he has to find a topic to talk about. "Zero brother, what do you think of this year's Red and White Song Festival?"

"...What do you think, Xiaoyou?" the blond man asked back.

"It's a bit novel?" Hasegawa Yu touched his chin. "It's been a while since I've watched the Red and White Song Festival from this angle. I used to be the one who attended it."

He looked around, as if he was afraid the production crew could hear his comments from across the world, and whispered, "As a participant, it's a bit boring."

Given that the Red and White Teams win in the Red and White Songs Contest through audience voting, it's no surprise that the team that the extremely popular Hasegawa Yu is on will win.

But the program crew just doesn't believe in evil and invites him every year even though they know the result. In the past two years, Hasegawa Yu has been thinking about refusing.

"I see." Fūya Rei had a better understanding of his status in the circle, and seemed to turn his head to check the time inadvertently.

It’s almost time for Xiaoyou to go to bed.

The blond, dark-skinned man took a sip of his wine and said with his eyes closed, "I feel a little dizzy. I want to lie down for a while."

Hasegawa Yu looked at the empty bourbon bottle, then at the sleepy man, and believed it. "I'll take Brother Ling back to his room!"

Fūya Rei silently avoided the young man's bandaged hand, stood up, walked back to the bedroom with unsteady steps, and lay on his back on the bed.

"Brother Ling?" Hasegawa Yu squatted beside the bed and asked tentatively, "Can I ask you a question?"

Furuya Rei half-closed his eyes and said, "Yeah."

Things were going too smoothly, and Hasegawa Yuu rarely became alert. He recalled the past events and tried hard to think of a question.

"Zero, suppose Akai-san or Shuichi said to you, 'I want to see you and talk to you every day,' what would you say? Would you ask Gin to chase and kill him together?"

“!!!” Fūya Rei almost failed to let the merman perform a jumping stand on the spot.

But I got goosebumps all over my body.

What the hell?! Who said that to him?!

The first person Xiaoyou came into contact with in the past round was actually the FBI!

Fūya Rei clenched his hands into fists under the quilt, veins bulging on his arms, but he endured it again and again.

After a while, he avoided the first question and gently answered the second one, "Kill."

Hasegawa Yu felt relieved.

Ling Ge’s choice is the same as the development of events in episode 4. It’s the truth!

Yeah~ He really got Brother Ling drunk!