Chapter 97

The distant bell tolled three times, slow and lingering.

The woman in black held a low metal can, her back to the slanting golden sunset, silent.

Mu Lin exhaled, his gaze slowly tracing the drifting white mist.

Perhaps because of the bell, the cold wind, dormant all day, stirred awake.

The white mist, moments ago lazily scattered, was instantly shattered by the sudden gale.

The woman sighed, carefully placing the metal can at the center of the rented window.

Gently closing the window's door, she reached out and touched that ordinary name one last time.

Where her fingers met it, there was a faint, piercing cold that stabbed through the heart.

"Why is it so noisy outside?" Haiji turned and asked her companion softly.

The fierce wind howled, carrying faint shouts from a distant crowd.

"The church next door must be holding some big funeral."

Unlike the cheap Public Cemetery where they stood, the Church cemetery nearby was the true resting place of honor.

"Funeral?" Haiji frowned; as her thoughts turned, the remote data network delivered the needed information to her vision: "MaxTac… fallen officers… NCPD squad…"

"The Incident 118 and Incident 120…" Mu Lin added softly.

First the Kang Tao Robots went berserk, then came the serial murders; in just a few days, the sky over Night City filled with countless wandering, innocent spirits.

"The NCPD's entire special squad wiped out, MaxTac's primary hunters one destroyed and one crippled…" Haiji walked on, speaking calmly: "Giving these people a funeral isn't unreasonable."

Mu Lin glanced back at the Public Cemeteries, each shaped like storage cabinets, and shook his head without comment.

"Don't let the loss of loved ones cloud your judgment…" he whispered to Haiji's back, "Isn't that what you told me?"

"Knowing the truth changes nothing—we still lack the authority to intervene…" Haiji halted, turning to look at him, "Even as senior Agents of Net Watch, to the powerful, we're merely dogs with sharper teeth."

"We're just ordinary people… not saviors… " She paused, then continued, "I don't believe gods exist in this world…"

"Why not?"

"If gods existed, why has this sinful, blasphemous world never faced any punishment?" Haiji sneered, her eyes icy.

Mu Lin said nothing, only nodded slightly.

The cold wind roared freely, as if agreeing with her.

The bell swayed indifferently, slowly striking the fourth tone.

"Time's up," Yahweh said softly as he stepped from the vehicle.

He raised both arms steadily, offering support for the two girls beside him.

"So many people…" Hita clung to her boyfriend's right arm, glancing around subtly.

"Most are Company employees…" Lucy gently gripped the long sleeve of Yahweh's left arm, adding softly, "Pure outsiders like us are a tiny minority."

Yahweh scanned the noisy, crowded crowd; most pale faces lacked sorrow, more like puppets on strings, their expressions stiff as if crudely carved with a knife.

"Just theater," he whispered to Hita, delivering his final judgment on the grand funeral.

Lucy furrowed her elegant brows and sighed deeply.

"Yahweh, slow down—I'm dying of foot pain…" She tugged his sleeve several times before he finally responded.

"Sorry…" Yahweh turned and offered her an apologetic smile, slowing his pace.

"With this crowd, you should've held her hand already…" Hita glanced at Lucy's swaying high heels and pinched her boyfriend's arm lightly as a reminder.

Yahweh looked at Lucy; seeing no refusal, he politely extended his left arm.

Lucy released the now-wrinkled sleeve and slowly wrapped her arm around his warm one.

The crowd flowed like a stream toward the Church's narrow entrance.

Yahweh protected the two girls, walking slowly at the rear of the throng.

The gale scattered the clouded sky; sunlight poured freely, gilding their path in radiant gold.

Only after the three entered slowly did the Church's heavy wooden doors close slowly behind them.

True to its status as Night City's largest Church, even though most present held no faith, the towering dome still evoked an inexplicable reverence.

"I've never been to a Church before…" Lucy tilted her head, her gaze instinctively chasing the dreamlike beams of light piercing the stained glass.

"Lucy, see that massive Organ?" Hita rested her head on Yahweh's shoulder and whispered to Lucy.

Lucy followed her words, gazing up at the silent, majestic instrument atop the Church.

Perhaps this was the last lingering spark of holiness left from the old days, in an age of scarce faith.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the tuning of the Organ cut her off.

"Close your eyes," Yahweh said softly, to both Hita and Lucy.

Trustingly closing their eyes, both waited silently for their lingering doubts to be answered.

The next instant, the Organ began to sing, playing the familiar movement: "Piano Sonata No. 2 in B-flat Minor."

The entire grand Church became the resonant chamber of the Organ's song.

And they stood within it, drifting freely in an ocean of notes that shook the soul and struck deep into the heart.

Without Yahweh needing to speak, Hita and Lucy had already solved the question that had just risen in their minds.

That shattering movement could truly be "seen"—its golden light flowing through it—only with eyes closed.

Yahweh closed his eyes too, but his mind did not focus on the magnificent music.

Because of those beside him, he did appreciate music; if conditions allowed, he would gladly savor it fully.

Unfortunately, a few annoying rats were always scheming in the shadows.

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"Everything's proceeding smoothly…" A man in full black, hidden among the crowd, whispered into his comm, reporting to someone.

Beneath his dark glasses, his tiny eyes glowed crimson, fixed unblinkingly on the several slender coffins placed at the Church's center.

"I saw the Lamb open the first of the Seven Seals..." He bowed his head, facing away from the brilliant light streaming down from the Church's dome, and with the voice on the other end of the phone, prepared to welcome the Rider who conquers and will conquer, riding forth on a white horse to bring the final judgment of plague upon this world.