In the underground safe house in Freiburg, the three of them, Lin Jie, spent two days trying to piece together a complete truth that could explain everything from the contradictory, fragnted clues buried under the dust of history.
Yet they failed;
there was still too little information.
The core mber whom Karl called the "Mysterious ntor" was like a ghost erased from the official history of I.A.R.C., leaving no trace to follow except for that bullet casing.
All their speculations, whether it was "Internal Cleansing" or a "secret mission," ultimately fell apart due to the lack of core evidence.
Finally, Lin Jie decisively and forcefully terminated this endless "brainstorming session."
The discussion was on the verge of dragging the trio's exhausted minds into an even deeper mire.
"We are now like three ants trying to study a distant star with a magnifying glass."
At the tal table strewn with ssy drafts and docuntary materials, he concluded in a tone that was weary yet lucid.
"All we can see is the faint point of light emitted by that star."
"But we can never know what violent changes are occurring within that star, or why it appeared in that patch of starry sky where it never belonged."
His gaze swept over his two equally exhausted partners.
"The answer to this riddle is not in Freiburg, nor in any archive we can currently access."
"It might be in Geneva, perhaps in so long-forgotten corner, but it is definitely not sothing we can easily touch right now."
"Continuing with aningless speculation here will only trap us in the 'cocoon' we've built for ourselves."
He stood up and walked to the quiet corner where Lina's remains were placed.
"Before we go searching for that bigger answer, there is a smaller, yet more important thing we must complete first."
His voice grew low, carrying a solemn, ritualistic weight.
"We must first send a little girl who has been lost for decades... ho."
Lin Jie's words instantly awakened his two companions, who were troubled by the enormous mystery. They realized that in their pursuit of the grand secret concerning the Association's history, they had forgotten the original purpose of this "Root-Seeking" operation.
To nd a regret filled with sorrow and remorse.
...
Three days later, Heidelberg.
This university town remained tranquil and serene, the waters of the Neckar River dyed a flowing gold under the afterglow of the setting sun.
On the ancient stone bridge, couples nestled together, whispering softly.
On the Philosopher's Walk, white-haired old professors leaned on their canes, engaged in a philosophical stroll discussing Kant and Hegel.
In this ideal land seemingly forgotten by ti, a small, private funeral was quietly taking place in a beautiful public cetery atop the hill, overlooking the entire old town of Heidelberg.
Professor Hermann Schmidt, this respectable old scholar, upon receiving the brief encrypted telegram ssage sent by Lin Jie, had mobilized all his connections and influence.
He managed to complete all the necessary official and unofficial procedures for this special "joint burial" in the shortest possible ti.
He also personally contacted the law firm in London responsible for managing Karl's estate.
Under the pretense of "the soul yearning for its holand," he had the Cartographer's empty cenotaph, which contained only a few pieces of his clothing from his lifeti, moved from the crowded public cetery in London to his true hotown.
Now, in the quietest corner of the cetery, personally chosen by Professor Schmidt, a new tomb, polished from black marble, awaited its occupants in silence.
Beside the tomb stood four n dressed in black mourning attire, their expressions solemn.
There was no pastor, no eulogy, no cumberso religious rituals.
Only the gentle evening breeze from the Neckar Valley, like the softest requiem, brushed against the hem of everyone's clothes.
Lin Jie personally placed Lina's remains, wrapped in his coat, into the tomb.
Then, he gently placed a small mahogany box, airlifted from London, beside the small set of bones.
The box contained Karl's favorite hunting suit from his lifeti and several sketchbooks.
The scene was like a weary elder brother, finally returning ho after a long, lonely, thorny journey, coming back to his beloved sister's side.
He was ready to share with her an undisturbed, peaceful, eternal sleep.
After the tomb was slowly covered by the heavy stone slab, Lin Jie took out a set of engraving chisels and a hamr he had prepared specifically for carving the headstone.
He did not use the generic, prefabricated epitaph prepared by the craftsn.
He simply knelt on one knee before the still-warm, brand-new black marble headstone, and with focused, reverent strokes, carved it himself, one cut at a ti.
He deeply engraved onto it the sentence filled with longing and fantasy that he had seen on the title page of Karl's final diary.
"Die Geschwister sind hier wieder vereint und beobachten das Funkeln der Sterne."
(Brother and sister are reunited here, watching the stars twinkle.)
Every letter was imbued with his highest respect for this "spiritual ntor" he had never t.
Every stroke carried his final consolation for that tragic past.
As he carved the final period.
The last ray of the setting sun pierced through the clouds, like a spotlight, illuminating the newly born golden inscription.
In that instant, Lin Jie felt the regret and obsession from Karl that had been weighing on his heart finally dissipate with the evening breeze.
He had fulfilled the promise in his heart.
He had drawn a period for this great pioneer—one that was decades late, but ultimately complete.
The funeral was over.
Professor Schmidt, this sentintal old scholar, was already in tears. He embraced Lin Jie tightly.
William and Julian stood quietly to the side. Although they did not share the profound "connection" Lin Jie had with Karl.
As witnesses and guardians of this "funeral" journey, they too felt a sense of emotion that transcended life and death from this ceremony of human radiance.
As the team of four prepared to turn and leave this cetery that had now found peace, Lin Jie's footsteps suddenly halted.
His dark eyes, which had just regained calm from the emotional baptism, snapped sharply toward the direction of the woods at the cetery's edge, where it connected with the dense Black Forest!
Just as he turned a mont ago, the corner of his eye had keenly caught sothing that shouldn't have been there.
A tall, blurry figure of a man, blending into the tree shadows!
That figure stood silently beneath a massive oak tree dozens of ters away.
He wore an old-fashioned, dark-colored, long travel coat.
He did not move, nor did he make a sound.
He was simply watching them from afar, silently.
More precisely, he was watching the new headstone that Lin Jie had just personally engraved with the epitaph.
But from his gaze, Lin Jie sensed no malice.
"What's wrong? Lin?"
Julian noticed his anomaly and followed his gaze toward that patch of woods.
"Is there... sothing there?"
However.
When Lin Jie focused all his attention in that direction, trying to see the blurry figure more clearly.
That figure vanished without a sound into the deep woods shrouded by the dusk shadows, as if it had never appeared.
Leaving behind only a few oak leaves, blown down by the evening breeze, slowly spinning in the air.
"..."
Lin Jie stood silently in place for a long ti without speaking.
His heart, however, beat uncontrollably in his chest.
What was that? Was it a hallucination born from his excessive ntal exhaustion?
Or was it... soone who knew Karl?
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