On the Ark.

The red-haired woman also heard what Nian said and couldn't help but shake her head.

Lin Ye wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt that the red-haired woman seemed to be showing him a kind of "disappointed" attitude.

"You really have a leisurely life." Before Lin Ye could think further, the red-haired woman spoke slowly, her voice extremely cold, "Are you here on vacation?"

"Of course not." Lin Ye sat up straight, ignoring Nian sitting next to him who was struggling with what to eat, and tried to get straight to the point, "You're the one who contacted me, right? What happened to Mostima?"

The red-haired woman didn't speak immediately because the waiter had already been called over by Nian.

After Nian placed his order, the waiter served tea to all three of them.

The red-haired woman picked up her teacup, took a sip of the weak tea, and then spoke in a calm tone: "You did not keep our agreement."

"An agreement?" Lin Ye didn't react immediately. "What agreement?"

"You think you can just pretend you don't know?" the red-haired woman said coldly. "Exusiai came back the next day. Although she tried her best to act like it had nothing to do with you, please don't take me for a fool."

...So Exusiai has already been exposed? That's too fast! She just assured Lin Ye that she wouldn't make a mistake.

Lin Ye was speechless, but he was unwilling to take the blame, so he said, "I didn't tell Exusiai. Exusiai knew on her own. Besides, this wasn't an agreement between us. You didn't even discuss it with me; you just informed me unilaterally."

The red-haired woman said with a sneer, "What's the point of your sophistry?"

“I’m not making excuses,” Lin Ye said. “Exusiai was just an accident, and I didn’t want to tell her, but since she already knows, there’s no point in dwelling on it. Now I just want to know, what happened to Mostima, why did you send me to Laterano? And, most importantly right now… who are you?”

While speaking, Lin Ye kept his eyes fixed on the red-haired woman's eyes.

It's often said that the eyes are the windows to the soul, and psychologists can easily discern what someone is thinking from their gaze. While Lin Ye couldn't do that—after all, he wasn't a professional psychologist—he knew that doing so could create a certain amount of psychological pressure on the other person, thus giving him some initiative in the conversation.

Unfortunately, the red-haired woman wasn't buying it.

She said methodically, "Who I am is not important, what is important is Mostima."

"But at the very least, I should know how to address you, right?"

"Call me? Tsk, always taking things so seriously." The redhead shook her head, then glanced at the table and said, "Just call me Diana."

Diana?

Lin Ye subconsciously looked in the direction the red-haired woman was looking and saw an open magazine on the table. The magazine contained an interview with a print model named Diana. He immediately understood: "Is this the name you just came up with?"

“Yes,” Diana readily agreed. “You don’t just want a title, do you?”

"But this isn't your real name..."

“You just want a title, not my real name,” Diana said calmly. “Now that we have a title, can we turn the conversation to Mostima? Or is it that you care more about me than about Mostima?”

Seeing that Diana had already said that, Lin Ye had nothing more to say. Although he really wanted to know what Diana was, since she was unwilling, he couldn't force her. Based on their current interactions, Diana's attitude towards him wasn't great, but she didn't seem like an enemy.

If they were enemies, there would be no need to tell Lin Ye directly that his name was made up.

“Alright.” Lin Ye nodded and said, “Now can you tell me what’s wrong with Mostima?”

Diana looked at Lin Ye, remained silent for about five seconds, and then asked, "Do you have Mostima's gun with you?"

Lin Ye hesitated for a moment before nodding: "I'll keep it with me."

"show me."

Lin Ye took out the Guardian Gun that Mostima had given him from his pocket and handed it to Diana.

Diana took it, her fingers gently rubbing the guard gun as if sensing something. After a long while, she sighed.

“If I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes, I still wouldn’t believe that Mostima would give a gun to someone like you.” Diana returned the Guardian Gun to Lin Ye.

Lin Ye took it back, then said, somewhat speechless, "Are you saying I'm terrible?"

"You're very ordinary."

“Yes, I’m very ordinary,” Lin Ye said. “I’m just an ordinary person.”

“That’s it,” Diana said. “Mostima is no ordinary person. Although she stopped using her Guardian Gun a long time ago, it still means everything to her. She entrusted her past to you, but you are just an ordinary person who knows nothing about it.”

Lin Ye took a deep breath and then asked, "So what exactly happened? Mostima didn't tell me anything."

“Of course she wouldn’t tell you,” Diana shook her head and said. “She came back this time to deal with all of this on her own.”

"Solve all of this?"

“Yes, I’ll sort all this out and then come find you,” Diana said dismissively. “It’s just like those silly heroines in novels who would do anything for love.”

Chapter 629 Mostima's Crime

A foolish female protagonist who disregards everything for love?

Lin Ye felt that this description sounded strange on him... Hmm? It didn't seem to describe him at all.

Then it's alright.

Wait, is this describing Mostima? That makes even less sense. In Lin Ye's mind, Mostima has always been the mature and wise type. How could she possibly be associated with the silly female lead?

Just as he was about to refute Diana, Nian, who had been sitting quietly next to him watching the drama unfold, was drawn to the word "female lead" and immediately looked up, asking with great interest, "Female lead? What female lead? Are you making a movie? If so, come find me, I'm a professional actress!"

Lin Ye said irritably, "It's not filming, it has nothing to do with you, just keep eating your melon."

Nian said "Oh" and lowered her head to continue eating her melon.

Lin Ye looked at Diana again and asked, "What exactly happened?"

“Don’t you know anything?” Diana asked.

What should I know?

"Didn't Mostima tell you anything?"

“She just told me that she had to go back to Lateran to take care of some things.”

Diana clicked her tongue softly, her tone tinged with disdain, and then said, "That does seem like Mostima's style, always bearing everything on her own. But since you know nothing, I have no choice but to take back what I said earlier. Mostima doesn't seem like a foolish female lead; you're more suited for the role."

Lin Ye felt extremely frustrated, not understanding why the topic had shifted back to this. Although he wanted to refute Diana, he felt that arguing about this topic was pointless. If this were a novel, it would definitely be the author padding the word count. So he chose to hold back. So what if she's a silly female lead? Even the silliest female lead is still the protagonist.

"This is a secret that Lateran has kept for centuries." Finally, after a long string of sarcasm and build-up, Diana finally got to the point. "Originally, outsiders would have absolutely no chance of knowing this. Even among Laterans, only a minority knew. For example, Exusiai couldn't possibly know, but you are different. Although you are an outsider, you have the identity of a Mostima Righteous, so you have the right to know."

"Are you referring to Mostima's identity?" Lin Ye realized that what was about to be said was crucial, and he couldn't help but become serious. "A fallen angel?"

Diana asked, "How much do you know about fallen angels?"

“Well… I don’t really know much about it,” Lin Ye said. “But apart from Mostima, I haven’t seen another fallen angel.”

“That’s natural,” Diana said calmly, “because Mostima is the only living fallen angel in Laterano.”

Lin Ye's heart skipped a beat.

"What exactly happened?" Lin Ye asked.

Diana did not answer immediately, but instead asked, "Do you believe in the existence of supernatural beings?"

A supernatural existence?

Lin Ye thought to himself, "Of course I believe that. Besides, this world itself is an unnatural existence, isn't it?" However, the "natural" that Diana spoke of must be based on this world, so what was Diana referring to?

“Legendary beings,” Diana said slowly. “For example, the true god of Kalan, passed down by word of mouth in Sherag, and the four divine beasts recorded in the ancient Eastern kingdoms.”

Is Kalan the True God?

Mythical beasts from ancient Eastern countries?

Lin Ye thought to himself, "I not only believe it, I've also seen it, and you've seen it too. Look... isn't this the one sitting in front of you eating melon seeds?"

He glanced at Nian subconsciously, but she didn't react at all, continuing to calmly enjoy her melon. The words "Four Divine Beasts" clearly didn't arouse her interest as much as the word "actor."

"I..." Lin Ye took a deep breath, trying his best not to let Diana see through his act, before saying, "I believe you."

However, Lin Ye was overthinking it; Diana obviously wouldn't consider that possibility.

“If you believe that, then it’s much easier to explain,” Diana said softly. “'Abomination,' that’s its name. It existed before Lateran was even founded.”

"Hatred?" Lin Ye asked. "Is that the name of a divine beast?"

“A divine beast?” Diana shook her head and said, “How could that be? That’s a demon, the most powerful demon, with the power to destroy Laterano.”

"A demon?" Lin Ye nodded thoughtfully. "What does that have to do with Mostima?"

"Because 'hatred' is in Mostima's body."

Lin Ye's hand trembled, and he almost knocked over the teacup on the table.

"Don't be too surprised, and don't make a sound." As if she had already guessed Lin Ye's reaction, Diana's tone remained calm. "Don't forget what I just told you. This matter is one of the most confidential in Laterano. If it gets out, it will cause unnecessary panic."

"Yes, I understand." Lin Ye calmed down a bit, although he still felt the matter was far-fetched. "You mean, Mostima is the jinchūriki of 'Abomination'?"

"A jinchūriki?" Diana frowned slightly. "What does that mean?"

"Uh, it doesn't mean anything." Lin Ye shook his head. "I was just saying it offhand."

If Lin Ye wasn't entirely sure he hadn't traveled through time twice, he would probably have thought he had arrived in another world.

"The most powerful demon..." Lin Ye asked, "So Mostima's demon horns were brought about by abomination?"

Diana nodded.

“But why Mostima?” Lin Ye asked. “She volunteered to become a human sacrifice… I mean, she volunteered to imprison that demon with her body?”

Diana was silent for a moment, then shook her head.

“In Lateran, only angels who commit the most heinous crimes are punished by being made vessels to imprison demons,” Diana said softly. “They lay down their guardian guns, are given the power of locks and keys, and are destined to be with demons for life… This is punishment, the most severe punishment Lateran can give.”

"Punishment? Extreme evil?" Lin Ye hadn't expected such words to be used to describe Mostima, and couldn't help but ask, "What crime did she commit that warrants this treatment?"

Diana did not answer immediately, but turned to look at Nian.

Lin Ye said, "She won't tell anyone."

“You too,” Diana said. “You must promise me you won’t tell anyone, especially Exusiai.”

Lin Ye raised his hand and said very seriously, "I promise you."

Diana was still hesitant, but since she had already brought Lin Ye here, she was clearly prepared to tell him everything.

"In Lateran, the greatest sin is... the slaughter of one's own people."

"Slaughtering one's own people?"

“Yes,” Diana said softly, “Mostima killed… Exusiai’s sister.”

……