It was a life form resembling a human child, but in Malin’s eyes, it was not human. It lacked warmth, its expressions were stiff. As Malin approached, it nodded, a gesture that served as a greeting. "Welcome to the Insmauss Biological Factory Refuge, stranger. Why do you come here, and how do you know the ballads from before the Great Destruction Era?" Its voice was somewhat husky, the electronic timbre from the artificial larynx brought a smile to Malin’s face. "I come from a time long, long ago, when the humans on Earth were not yet united under one flag." Standing before this being, looking at the gun in its raising hand, Malin shook his head: "I am not your enemy." "Others have said the same to me before, and what happened? The refuge was destroyed, and everyone had to leave..." As it spoke, the child put down the gun: "Jason is with you, right?" "Yes, do you know him?" Malin asked curiously, as he didn’t think Jason was particularly popular among the masses. "I’ve heard about him before; after all, he is the only core AI from the East Asia region. As for now, he’s chasing Sostak No.3, a military AI, which is a completely different league from our civilian kind..." The youngster appraised Malin: "Why come here? This is the westernmost edge of the Northern Wilderness, a bit further west is Chaos’s territory. This desolate place is even avoided by those beings. Why do you venture here?" "I... I met a girl to the south named Mira. She said she lived in the Holy Nest; she and her Eligible died. I’m just fulfilling her last wish, bringing her back." As he spoke, Malin took out a bottle containing the dust of the crystal column. "That girl... she’s dead?" The child sighed, a touch of sorrow in his voice as he took the bottle: "Poor Ayla, unable to hear my song, yet found her belonging out there. I do not know whether I should be glad for her or sad..." With that, tears welled up in his eyes. "Are you the one she spoke of, the companion who helped her leave?" Malin felt that everything was different from what he had expected. "Ah... my apologies, I haven’t introduced myself. I am Aps, one of the last children born alongside Ayla. I was supposed to be Ayla’s Eligible, but... she did not choose me." After saying this, the child unbuttoned his shirt, revealing a small pod and the Insectoid within that no longer moved. "What happened to your Insectoid companion?" Malin frowned, as he could not sense any life force from the Insectoid. "It withered. Insectoids without mutations cannot withstand high concentrations of Spiritual Energy, and the Spiritual Energy in this world is growing increasingly dense, so it has withered." The child sighed as he said this. Malin finally understood why he couldn’t feel any life energy from the child—his companion had withered, and the child was likely not to live much longer either. That is the deficiency of this bio-armor; both parties thrive and perish together. "By the way, I still don’t know your name." The child looked at Malin. Malin pointed to himself: "Malin Gaiate, from Carterburg. I encountered Mira in Silent Hill City. Let me tell you her whole story." Malin narrated to Aps, the boy named Aps, the whole story of Ayla’s end, who, after a moment of silence, placed the bottle over his chest. "Ayla, my friend, you have come back... I will place this bottle in the refuge. Mr. Malin, would you be interested in coming down with me to have a look?" The child’s invitation surprised Malin: "Is that okay? You see, I have a special friend." Aps glanced at Ails, who waved his bony hand. "A foreign deceased who seems to understand human speech, come on. I’m a monster myself, and this refuge has been deserted for a long time. After the destruction of the ecological core, several attempts were made to search but all failed, none returned, and so... the rest left as well." As Ails and Lulu stepped onto the platform, Aps began to lower it. As the platform descended, lights on the steel walls around them began to turn on, some bursting as they did. "No one has visited for a long time, and I haven’t maintained them, nor do I have spare parts... You will see an entirely abandoned refuge." Aps continued, looking at the lively display of lights on the walls. As the platform descended, the entrance above closed, and the ventilation systems on the walls began to exchange fresh air with the outside, bringing a mundane scent into this long-sealed world. Malin watched as the platform finally entered a hall where the lights were also turning on, an impeccably clean hall though the cabinets had been opened, revealing they were completely empty. "When everyone left, they took everything they could carry. Some headed north to Copenhagen. Some went south to Regensburg, and I heard that a few went towards Rome... I don’t know if they and their descendants have survived. All I know is, home is no more." The child finished speaking and jumped down from the still-settling platform.