同章对照

“It can’t be them.”

Ryan searched inside his car’s trunk, finally putting his hands on his secret weapons: his coil gun, and a bag of flour. “What do you know of Leo Hargraves’ Carnival, my feline friend?”

“That they’re wandering heroes fighting marauders, warlords, dangerous Genomes, and Psychos,” Atom Cat replied, his back against the car. “They help communities pro bono, then move on. They’re modern knight errant, not assassins.”

“That’s true,” Ryan conceded. Which was partly why he respected them as a group, even after the problems they caused him. “But they’re also pragmatic knights. When they fight, they don’t pull their punches. They hit hard and fast, and unlike most Genomes, they actually use small unit tactics.”

“You speak as if you fought them.”

“I did.” And they gave him his fair share of resets, especially in his early loops. “I was present when they killed Bloodstream four years ago and got caught in the crossfire. Now, usually, I love being in the middle of interesting things, but that day cost me something dear to me.”

“Something, or someone?”

Sharp cat.

It had been the day Ryan had drunk his Elixir, which he did to survive that disaster in the first place. He couldn’t fully control his save point back then, and he ended up trapped in a suboptimal route.

One which separated him from Len.

As the thought crossed his mind, Ryan glanced at the Mediterranean Sea, the rising dawn refracting on its waters. As it turned out, the assassin had established their base in a ship graveyard between Rust Town and the old harbor. The supertanker he had seen on the shores was only the first of an army.

Metal husks of tankers, boats, and even aircrafts were lined up on a sandy shore, rusted by saltwater. Barnacles had made their home on the belly of ships and airbus planes alike, with small alleys between each steel corpse. The IP signal came from an isolated garage nearby, a metal hangar partly built inside a cruise ship. Probably some kind of chop shop, scavenging the husks and selling back parts.

Rainy, toxic clouds appeared north, though strangely, they moved against the wind and towards the harbor. Was it the doing of Dynamis, blowing the pollution away from Rust Town?

Atom Cat crossed his arms, remembering something. “Dad once told me that he fought their original line-up years ago, before he and Mom adopted Narcinia. Augustus was still establishing his powerbase back then. He killed half of the Carnival’s members and drove off the rest.”

Well, they had returned to finish the job. Better late than never.

“But I never heard anything about a glass manipulator.”

“They have a lot of turnover, so this may be a new recruit,” Ryan replied. Considering the invisibility and the fact they often killed through bombs or mundane means, such a Genome could credibly fly under the radar. Especially if all witnesses end up dead. “I can’t move the car closer or carry anything with screens. I’m pretty sure they can detect and control glass over a vast radius.”

“How vast?”

“I don’t know,” Ryan replied, tossing his cell phone to the backseat, alongside all electronic devices. He only kept the nuclear bomb and the rabbit plushie. “They may even know we are here already.”

“Alright, then I will stay near the car, and if you don’t send a sign within half an hour, I will call Wyvern for help,” Atom Cat decided. “What about your mask’s goggles?”

“Silly, they aren’t made of glass!” Ryan replied. “They’re alien stuff!”

“Right, and that… is that flour?” Atom Cat frowned at Ryan’s toys. “Do you want to bake them a cake?”

“They will never see it coming.”

Atom Cat smiled thinly. “I know you won’t listen, but please don’t do anything stupid.”

“Don’t worry, I have more lives than your nine ones,” Ryan replied, packing his stuff and moving to the garage.

Though, he would be lying if the situation didn’t make him uneasy. The Carnival’s members were powerful Genomes, and that assassin had killed him twice already. A wrong move might result in another reset, and their previous history made him tense up.

As he reached the locked door, Ryan realized now would be the perfect time for a stealth mission. But he was pretty sure it was useless, and he never had the patience for them.

Instead, he shot the lock with his coil gun, the electromagnetic projectile going straight through the steel. “No country for old men!” he shouted, entering the garage weapon raised.

Unlike the movie, no one welcomed him with a shotgun past the door. In fact, the garage didn’t hold any car, engine, or ship parts.

Instead, it housed several computer servers.

Dozens of them in total, clearly jury-rigged and linked to an autonomous electric generator. Two air conditioners worked to cool them down while wires went through a hole in the ground, probably linking the system to Dynamis’ underground cables. A massive desk with a single chair stood in the middle, surrounded by screens.

Also, Ryan noticed that he could see the ship graveyard through the windows easily enough, yet he had seen none of these servers from the outside. There was definitely an optical trick at work.

Yeah, this wasn’t a recent development. They must have spent weeks, if not months, setting up this safe house.

Ryan approached the computer, currently displaying a boring screensaver on five different screens. It seemed he had busted the operation while the mysterious assassin had gotten away.

Or so they wanted him to think.

Without warning, the courier froze time, opened the bag of flour, and rotated on himself. He sprayed the white powder in every direction, on the screens, windows, servers, and the corners.

A humanoid torso appeared right behind him, standing in a corner with a partially visible sword raised.

Here you are.

The flour had hit some kind of invisible armor, so Ryan took the time to draw ‘kill me, I’m a perv’ on the chest. As time resumed, the figure froze as they found itself with a coil gun pointed to their head. “Caught you, Invisiboy!” Ryan couldn’t help but gloat, “Or is it Invisigirl? I can never tell.”

“I will move faster than your finger on the trigger,” Invisiboy replied, his voice muffled by his strange suit.

“Are we playing Lucky Luke? I can draw faster than my shadow… faster than time even!”

“I don’t think you actually stop time, Cesare Sabino, you only give the illusion of it,” he replied, absolutely calm. “Or is it Ryan Romano now?”

“Ryan,” the courier replied. He tried to identify the voice, but the suit muffled it too much. “I don’t think we met though, Mr. Carnival.”

The figure let out a sigh of frustration at being identified. “We did. Though you didn’t know I existed back then.”

“Ah, I wondered if you were a new recruit or an invisible ace,” Ryan mused. That explained a lot of his organization’s success if the Carnival had a hidden operative of his caliber. “What should I call you, then?”

Realizing that a fight wouldn’t break out unless he started it, the mysterious Genome became fully visible. His entire body was coated in bright blue glass, from head to toe; the substance prevented Ryan from seeing anything. The armor was completely shapeless, the face round like a featureless doll. It made the vigilante look rather eerie.

Ryan realized that this man mimicked invisibility by somehow bending the light around his armor, perhaps using the same process used in lenticular technologies. The courier could barely fathom the sheer control needed to pull that off, although that trick didn’t protect him from smoke or rain.

This was some powerful Orange Genome.

“You may call me the Shroud.” The glass man tilted his head to the side. “And if you haven’t shot me in your ‘frozen time,’ I assume you want to tal—”

Ryan threw the flour bag at his face.

Invisiboy stood in silence, the paper bag falling off his helmet and onto the ground; his face now looked like that of a clown with all the powder.

“That was highly immature,” the assassin said, dusting the flour off his helmet.

Well, he killed Ryan twice; the courier had earned the right to be petty. “Don’t blame me if I keep my weapon drawn,” the time-manipulator said since his current host’s sword remained ever threatening. “You’ve been assassinating a lot of people lately, and killing you is still on the table.”

“You and Il Migliore have nothing to fear from us,” the man replied, crossing his arms. “Our current targets are the Augusti and the Meta.”

“Oh, then I assume you must have hacked into Dynamis by accident.”

“Only to root out the infiltrators in your company’s midst,” the Genome scoffed. “To be honest, I’m surprised you even managed to track me down. I was very careful not to leave a trace.”

Ryan wasn’t in the mood to enlighten him, especially after he killed the courier twice. “Why did you kill Zanbato and his fellows at the docks?”

“Is that anger in your voice? Your concern surprises me.” The glass Genome walked towards the screens, ignoring the gun pointed at his head, and sat on the chair. “As far as I know, the two of you haven’t even interacted.”

“Maybe I did. And maybe so far, I didn’t see anything that justified killing him. Heck, he’s pretty low in the hierarchy as far as I know.”

The man joined his hands, the posture reminding Ryan of Enrique Manada. “Do you know what they were shipping at the docks?”

“Candies?”

“Chemicals destined to the Augusti’s fortress-lab on Ischia island, which produces their Bliss,” Shroud corrected him. “The drug is then shipped through boats and submarines to local distributors all over Italy, Spain, France, Turkey, Libya… a drug which is incredibly addictive and that Augustus uses to subvert communities, even as they struggle to recover from the Wars.”

“Your point?”

“No matter their friendly neighborhood gangster publicity, the Augusti do far more harm than good,” the Genome declared. “And even if he killed no one personally, by protecting this shipment, Zanbato indirectly supported an organization causing almost twenty-thousand deaths each year, with three thousand in New Rome alone.”

“So if I understand right,” Ryan coughed, “You will reduce violence by committing more violence?”

On some level, the vigilante seemed to recognize the hypocrisy involved, because he hung back in his chair, thoughtful. Ryan couldn’t see his body language with the armor on, but he seemed conflicted.

“I don’t like it,” he admitted. “I really, really don’t. I would prefer to talk it out, or put criminals in jail. No matter what people say, you never get used to killing. Even my teammates within the Carnival frown on what I’m doing.”

Ryan wondered if the whole Carnival had infiltrated the city, or if this Shroud was just the vanguard, preparing the ground for his teammates. The Genome suspected he wasn't the only operative in New Rome; he couldn't have done so much damage alone. “I smell a but.”

“But the situation has degraded to a point that things will only get worse if we do nothing. The Augusti’s Capos can attempt to murder someone in broad daylight and walk out with a pat on the back. There is no government to keep them in jail, and Dynamis is too afraid of Augustus to truly take action.”

He had a point, but there was a glaring flaw in his argument. “Well, good luck trying to kill the invincible man then. It’s not like everyone has tried for years without any progress.”

“Augustus may call himself a god, but he is still only a man, and an aging one at that. He cannot peddle his drug in the street or exact tribute alone. He needs infrastructures, soldiers, and money to exert his influence; take away his subjects, and a king is simply a man wearing a crown. We may not be able to defeat Augustus, but we can destroy the Augusti.”

“Why now though?” Ryan asked, his gut telling him something was missing. “Things have been somewhat peaceful and Augustus sits on his ass. Why act now?”

The glass man said nothing for a few seconds, clearly considering whether or not to divulge any information. Eventually, he did. “You must have seen it already,” Shroud pointed out. “There is a war brewing between this city’s factions. A disaster that may spark a new round of Genome Wars and further devastation, if it is not prevented.”

“Ah, so you’re pursuing your Perfect Run too?”

“A perfect run?” Much to Ryan’s delight, Shroud seemed to understand the reference. “You could say that, but there is no perfect ending, Quicksave. Only the best for a certain group of people.”

How could it be that the only person who understood video game slang was the guy who had him killed? There was no justice in this world. “And if there is a non-murderous alternative to bring down the Augusti?”

“Do you have one?” Shroud asked, sounding a little hopeful. “Because I’m drawing a blank here.”

“Not this time,” Ryan replied. “But I will find it, I promise.”

Shroud observed him in silence for a few seconds. To his credit, he seemed open to the idea. “Well, in the unlikely case you do find a way to cripple the Augusti’s operations without killing anyone, then… yes, I will take it.”

Good. At least he wasn’t some Punisher immune to diplomacy attempts. Ryan could already see the perfect path to Len, and how to defuse the situation.

“Otherwise, I will ask you not to reveal the existence of this place or my presence in New Rome,” the vigilante explained. “We have nothing against you or Il Migliore; in fact, I would be happy to cooperate towards making New Rome a better place, once your team is purged of its saboteurs. Though, if you switch sides to the Augusti or the Meta, expect us to come to blows. You are simply too powerful a Genome not to be taken out early.”

Ryan remained silent for a moment, as everything became clear. “I don’t know whether I should feel flattered or furious.”

“You considered joining them?” The Genome sounded only curious, but something in his tone betrayed an undercurrent of tension.

“Naaaaah!” Ryan lied. Well, he would never join the Meta, but still. “But I wonder why you are okay with hitting the Augusti and not Dynamis.”

“In spite of their faults, Dynamis does try to rebuild a somewhat functional society,” Shroud grudgingly admitted. “The company has systemic corruption issues, as Rust Town can attest, but it is a stabilizing force in Europe and it can be reformed once Hector Manada retires. I can’t say the same for the Augusti, and let’s not talk about the Meta.”

The vigilante observed Ryan closely. “Thank you, by the way.”

“For what, your whiteness?”

The Genome seemed vaguely amused by the jab, but remained focused on the matter at hand. “For saving that orphanage. I was only informed of the attack after it was already over, and I wouldn’t have made it in time. I didn’t expect you to turn your powers to a positive end, but I’m glad you did. Frankly, I worried you might follow in Bloodstream’s footsteps, or hunt us down in revenge.”

“He was sick and his death was only mercy,” Ryan replied. “It’s separating me from Len that I can never forget.”

The glass man said absolutely nothing, a tense silence stretching between them.

Ryan pressed the gun against that man’s helmet. “You know where she is.”

“I do.” To his credit, the Genome sounded incredibly calm and confident for someone with a weapon pointed at them. “I mapped every faction in this city before starting the operation. Although in her case, the problem isn’t knowing her location, but reaching it.”

“Where is she?”

The Genome didn’t answer directly, pondering his words. “She never contacted you, in all these years.”

“She couldn’t,” Ryan replied. “She didn’t know I survived, because of you guys.”

“You were never subtle in your stunts, nor shy about spreading your true name. I don’t believe for a second that she never heard of you in four years.”

The courier’s finger twitched, nearly pulling the trigger. “What are you implying?”

“The obvious. That she never contacted you because she didn’t want to. And I think deep down, you understand that this is the only logical explanation.”

Ryan glared behind his mask. “You know nothing.”

He considered what to do with this information. The Carnival was clearly operating in New Rome as a fourth faction; they were the hidden route. However, his focus was finding Len, and he already saw a path towards her. The assassin was the biggest hurdle towards reaching her, and now, he knew the perfect way to defuse the situation.

He could see it already. The Perfect Run towards Len.

“You were followed.”

Ryan blinked at Shroud, drawn out of his reverie. “Plait-il?”

“You were followed.” Shroud glanced at the window, a rain downpour hitting it from outside. Sick, yellow-green water corroding the glass on touch, and which attacked even the metal walls.

No. Not water.

Acid.

Impossible, he had been careful when driving or using his phone. Unless...

“The DNA tracker,” Ryan realized.

He knew he should have read the fine print!

An explosion echoed outside, telling Ryan that Atom Cat was currently fighting for his life. Without a word, Shroud turned invisible, all the flour on his armor falling to the side of his desk; he must have altered the glass layers to shrug it off.

Ryan raised his weapon and prepared to rush through the door when he heard a loud noise from above him. Something was on the roof, crawling towards his location.

Without warning, a wire tentacle broke through the garage’s ceiling and aimed for Ryan’s head.

“不可能是他们。”

瑞恩在汽车后备箱里一阵翻找，终于摸到了自己的秘密武器：一把线圈枪，还有一袋面粉。“关于利奥·哈格雷夫斯的嘉年华，你知道多少，我的猫科朋友？”

“只知道他们是一群四处漂泊的英雄，专门对付劫掠者、军阀、危险的基因者和疯魔。”原子猫背靠着车答道，“他们免费帮助各地社区，然后继续上路。他们是现代的游侠骑士，不是刺客。”

“没错。”瑞恩承认。这也是他敬重这个团体的部分原因，哪怕他们给他惹过那么多麻烦。“但他们也是讲求实际的骑士。打起来从不留手，下手又狠又快。而且跟大多数基因者不一样，他们真的会运用小队战术。”

“听你这口气，好像跟他们打过。”

“是打过。”他们还害他重置了不少次，尤其是在早期的循环里。“四年前他们杀死血流的时候，我就在场，被卷进了双方的交火。一般来说，我很喜欢凑热闹，不过那一天，我失去了很珍贵的东西。”

“是东西，还是人？”

好敏锐的猫。

瑞恩就是在那天喝下灵药的，本意正是为了从那场灾难中活下来。当时他还无法完全掌控自己的存档点，结果被困在了一条不够理想的路线里。

一条让他与蕾恩失散的路线。

想到这里，瑞恩望了一眼地中海，初升的晨光映在海面上。原来，那名刺客把基地设在了锈镇与老港口之间的一处船舶坟场。他先前在岸边见过的超级油轮，不过是这支大军的排头兵。

油轮、船只，甚至飞机的金属残骸排列在沙滩上，被海水侵蚀得锈迹斑斑。船底和空客飞机的机腹都成了藤壶的家，每一具钢铁尸骸之间都留有狭窄的通道。那个IP地址的信号来自附近一间孤零零的车库——一座半嵌在游轮内部的金属棚屋。大概是个拆解作坊，靠搜刮残骸、倒卖零件为生。

北面出现了含雨的毒云，奇怪的是，它们正逆风朝港口移动。是迪纳米斯干的吗，把污染物从锈镇吹走？

原子猫抱起双臂，想起了什么。“爸爸有一次告诉我，他多年前跟嘉年华最初的那批成员交过手，那还是他和妈妈收养纳尔西妮娅之前的事。当时奥古斯都还在建立自己的势力。他杀了嘉年华一半的成员，把剩下的人赶跑了。”

好吧，他们如今是回来完成当年的任务了。迟到总比不到好。

“但我从没听说过他们有谁能操纵玻璃。”

“他们的人员更替很频繁，所以这位可能是新招募的。”瑞恩答道。考虑到对方能隐形，又经常用炸弹或普通手段杀人，这样的基因者确实可能一直不为人知。尤其是在目击者全都死光的情况下。“车不能再往前开了，我也不能带任何有屏幕的东西。我基本可以肯定，对方能感知并控制很大范围内的玻璃。”

“多大？”

“不知道。”瑞恩把手机和所有电子设备一起扔到后座上，只留下核弹和兔子毛绒玩具。“说不定对方已经知道我们来了。”

“好，那我就待在车旁边。如果半小时内你还没给我信号，我就叫双足飞龙来帮忙。”原子猫做出了决定，“你面具上的护目镜呢？”

“笨蛋，那又不是玻璃做的！”瑞恩答道，“那可是外星材料！”

“行吧，那这个……这是面粉？”原子猫皱着眉头看向瑞恩的玩具，“你要给对方烤个蛋糕吗？”

“保管对方料不到。”

原子猫勉强笑了笑。“我知道你不会听，但还是请你别干蠢事。”

“放心，我的命可不止你那九条。”瑞恩收拾好东西，朝车库走去。

不过，要说他心里不忐忑，那肯定是假的。嘉年华的成员都是强大的基因者，而那名刺客已经杀过他两次了。一步走错，可能就要再次重置，何况双方过去的恩怨也让他绷紧了神经。

来到锁着的门前，瑞恩意识到，现在正是来一场潜行任务的绝佳时机。但他很确定那是白费工夫，而且他向来没那个耐心。

于是，他用线圈枪朝门锁开了一枪，电磁加速的弹丸径直穿透了钢铁。“老无所依！”他大喊着，端枪走进车库。

跟电影里不一样，门后没人拿霰弹枪迎接他。事实上，这间车库里既没有汽车，也没有发动机或船舶零件。

里面放的是计算机服务器。

总共有几十台，显然是临时拼凑起来的，全都接在一台独立发电机上。两台空调不停地为它们降温，线缆穿过地上的孔洞，大概把这套系统接入了迪纳米斯的地下电缆。一张硕大的办公桌摆在正中，只有一把椅子，四周环绕着屏幕。

另外，瑞恩发现自己能清清楚楚地透过窗户看见船舶坟场，可刚才从外面往里看时，他却没看到任何服务器。这里肯定动用了某种光学障眼法。

没错，这可不是最近才弄出来的。对方布置这座安全屋，少说也花了几个星期，甚至可能是几个月。

瑞恩走到电脑前，五块屏幕上此刻都显示着无聊的屏保。看来他捣毁了行动据点，却让神秘刺客逃走了。

至少，对方想让他这么以为。

快递员毫无预兆地暂停了时间，打开面粉袋，原地转了一圈。他把白色粉末撒向四面八方，屏幕、窗户、服务器，还有各个角落，无一遗漏。

一截人形躯干就在他身后显现出来，站在角落里，手中举着一柄只露出部分轮廓的剑。

原来你在这儿。

面粉撒在了某种隐形盔甲上，于是瑞恩特意花了点时间，在胸口写下“杀了我，我是变态”。时间恢复流动时，那道身影发现一把线圈枪正指着自己的脑袋，顿时僵住了。“抓到你了，隐形小子！”瑞恩忍不住得意起来，“还是该叫隐形姑娘？我一直分不清。”

“我的动作会比你扣扳机的手指更快。”隐形小子答道，古怪的盔甲把他的声音闷在里面。

“咱们这是在玩幸运的卢克吗？我拔枪比自己的影子还快……甚至比时间都快！”

“我不认为你真的暂停了时间，切萨雷·萨比诺。你只是制造出了那种假象。”他回答得无比平静，“还是说，你现在叫瑞恩·罗马诺？”

“瑞恩。”快递员答道。他试着辨认对方的声音，但盔甲把声音遮得太严实了。“不过，我不记得咱们见过，嘉年华先生。”

身份被识破，那人懊恼地叹了口气。“我们见过。只是那时你不知道我的存在。”

“啊，我还在想，你到底是新人，还是一张隐形的王牌呢。”瑞恩若有所思。嘉年华要是藏着这么一位干员，那他们的许多战绩就说得通了。“那么，我该怎么称呼你？”

意识到只要自己不先动手，这一架就打不起来，神秘的基因者彻底显出了身形。他从头到脚都裹在亮蓝色的玻璃中，这层材质让瑞恩完全看不见里面的人。盔甲毫无形体特征，脸部圆滚滚的，像个没有五官的人偶，让这个义警显得颇为诡异。

瑞恩明白了，这个人以某种方式扭曲盔甲周围的光线，模拟出隐形的效果，或许运用了与柱状透镜技术相同的原理。要做到这一点，所需的控制力之精细，快递员几乎难以想象。不过，这一招也没法让他躲过烟雾或雨水。

这是个强得可怕的橙系基因者。

“你可以叫我裹尸布。”玻璃人把头歪向一侧。“既然你没在所谓的‘暂停时间’里朝我开枪，我猜你是想谈——”

瑞恩把面粉袋砸在了他脸上。

隐形小子一声不吭地站着，纸袋从头盔上滑落，掉在地上。他脸上沾满面粉，现在看起来像个小丑。

“这可真够幼稚的。”刺客一边说，一边掸去头盔上的面粉。

哼，他可是杀了瑞恩两次。快递员完全有资格小肚鸡肠一回。“别怪我不收枪。”时间操纵者说道，毕竟这位临时东道主手里的剑仍然威胁十足。“你最近暗杀了不少人，我还没排除杀掉你的选项。”

“你和至优者都不必担心我们。”那人抱起双臂，“我们眼下的目标是奥古斯蒂和超能帮。”

“哦，那你黑进迪纳米斯，想必纯属意外了。”

“那只是为了揪出混在你们公司里的渗透者。”基因者嗤道，“说实话，你居然能追查到这里，我很意外。我已经非常小心，没有留下任何痕迹。”

瑞恩没心情给他答疑解惑，尤其是在被他杀过两次之后。“你为什么要杀死码头上的斩马刀和他的同伴？”

“听这语气，你是在生气？你居然会在意，倒让我意外。”玻璃基因者无视了指着自己脑袋的枪，走到屏幕前，坐进椅子里。“据我所知，你们两个根本没有过交集。”

“也许有过呢。而且到目前为止，我还没看出他做了什么该死的事。说真的，据我所知，他在组织里的地位相当低。”

那人双手交握，这姿势让瑞恩想起了恩里克·马纳达。“你知道他们在码头运的是什么吗？”

“糖果？”

“化学品，要送到奥古斯蒂在伊斯基亚岛上的要塞实验室。他们的极乐就是在那里生产的。”裹尸布纠正道，“之后，毒品会通过船只和潜艇，运往意大利、西班牙、法国、土耳其、利比亚各地的分销商手里……这种毒品的成瘾性极其强烈。各地社区还在挣扎着从战争中恢复，奥古斯都却用它来瓦解这些社区。”

“所以你想说什么？”

“不管奥古斯蒂怎么把自己宣传成友善亲切的邻家黑帮，他们造成的伤害都远远大于贡献。”基因者断言，“就算斩马刀没有亲手杀人，他保护这批货物，也是在间接支持一个每年造成近两万人死亡的组织，光新罗马就占了三千人。”

“所以，如果我没理解错，”瑞恩咳了一声，“你打算制造更多暴力，以此减少暴力？”

这位义警似乎多少也意识到了其中的虚伪，因为他靠回椅背，沉思起来。隔着盔甲，瑞恩看不清他的肢体语言，但他似乎很矛盾。

“我不喜欢这样。”他承认，“真的，一点都不喜欢。我更愿意靠谈判解决，或者把罪犯关进监狱。不管别人怎么说，杀人这种事是永远也习惯不了的。就连嘉年华里的队友，也不赞成我现在的做法。”

瑞恩不禁猜想，是整个嘉年华都潜入了这座城市，还是只有裹尸布在打前站，为队友做准备。他怀疑新罗马不止这一个干员；光凭一人之力，不可能造成这么大的破坏。“我闻到了‘但是’的味道。”

“但是，局势已经恶化到这个地步，我们若是什么都不做，情况只会更糟。奥古斯蒂的头目可以在光天化日之下行凶未遂，事后却只是被人拍拍肩膀，就能走人。没有政府能把他们关在牢里，迪纳米斯又太害怕奥古斯都，不敢真正采取行动。”

他说得有道理，但这套论点存在一个明显的漏洞。“好吧，那你就试着杀掉那个无敌的家伙吧，祝你好运。毕竟又不是人人都试了好多年，结果毫无进展。”

“奥古斯都或许自称为神，但他终究只是个人，而且正在衰老。他不可能独自沿街贩毒，也没法一个人收取贡金。他需要设施、士兵和金钱来施加影响；没了臣民，国王就只是个戴着王冠的人。我们或许无法击败奥古斯都，但我们可以摧毁奥古斯蒂。”

“可为什么是现在？”瑞恩问，直觉告诉他，还缺了些什么。“眼下还算太平，奥古斯都也一直窝着没动。为什么要在这个时候下手？”

玻璃人沉默了几秒，显然在权衡是否该透露情报。最终，他还是说了。“你应该已经看出来了。”裹尸布指出，“这座城市的各方势力之间正在酝酿一场战争。如果不加以阻止，这场灾难可能引发新一轮基因者战争，带来更大的浩劫。”

“啊，所以你也在追求自己的完美通关？”

“完美通关？”令瑞恩欣喜的是，裹尸布似乎听懂了这个说法。“可以这么说，但世上没有完美结局，快存。只有对某一群人而言最好的结局。”

为什么唯一听得懂电子游戏行话的人，偏偏是那个曾经杀过他的家伙？这世界简直没有天理。“要是有一种不用杀人就能扳倒奥古斯蒂的办法呢？”

“你有吗？”裹尸布问，听上去还带着一点期待。“因为我实在想不出来。”

“这次没有。”瑞恩答道，“但我会找到的，我保证。”

裹尸布默默打量了他几秒。值得肯定的是，他似乎并不排斥这个想法。“好吧，虽然可能性不大，但如果你真的找到一种不用杀人就能瘫痪奥古斯蒂运作的办法，那……是的，我会采用。”

很好。至少他不是那种根本不吃外交这一套的惩罚者。瑞恩已经看见了通往蕾恩的完美路线，也看见了化解局面的办法。

“除此之外，我得请你不要透露这个地方的存在，也不要告诉别人我在新罗马。”义警解释道，“我们与你和至优者都没有过节。事实上，等你们清除了队伍里的破坏分子，我很乐意与你们合作，把新罗马变得更好。不过，如果你转投奥古斯蒂或超能帮，就做好与我们交手的准备。你这个基因者实在太强了，我们不能不趁早除掉你。”

瑞恩沉默了片刻，一切都明白了。“我都不知道该受宠若惊，还是该火冒三丈。”

“你考虑过加入他们？”这名基因者听起来只是好奇，但语气里仍透出了一丝紧张。

“才——没——有！”瑞恩撒谎道。好吧，他肯定不会加入超能帮，但那是另一回事。“不过我很好奇，为什么你觉得可以对奥古斯蒂下手，却不对付迪纳米斯？”

“迪纳米斯尽管有种种缺陷，但确实在努力重建一个多少能运转起来的社会。”裹尸布勉强承认，“这家公司存在系统性的腐败问题，锈镇就是明证。但它也是欧洲的一股稳定力量，而且等埃克托·马纳达退休后，它仍然可以改革。奥古斯蒂就不一样了，超能帮更不用说。”

义警仔细打量着瑞恩。“顺便说一句，谢谢你。”

“谢我什么，白面殿下？”

这个揶揄似乎让基因者觉得有点好笑，但他仍然专注于眼前的正事。“谢谢你救了那家孤儿院。我直到袭击结束后才得到消息，根本来不及赶到。我没想到你会把能力用在正道上，但很高兴你这么做了。坦白说，我曾担心你会步血流的后尘，或者追杀我们报仇。”

“他病了，死对他来说不过是种解脱。”瑞恩答道，“我永远也忘不了的，是你们害我和蕾恩失散。”

玻璃人一言不发，两人之间的沉默绷得越来越紧。

瑞恩把枪口抵在了他的头盔上。“你知道她在哪儿。”

“知道。”不得不说，对一个被枪指着的人而言，这名基因者的语气镇定自信得惊人。“行动开始前，我就摸清了这座城市的每一股势力。不过，她那边的难点不在于知道她的位置，而在于怎么抵达那里。”

“她在哪儿？”

基因者没有直接回答，而是斟酌着措辞。“这么多年，她一次也没联系过你。”

“她没法联系。”瑞恩答道，“都是因为你们，她才不知道我还活着。”

“你闹出的动静从来不小，也从不介意让人知道你的真名。要说这四年来她从没听说过你，我一秒钟都不信。”

快递员的手指抽动了一下，险些扣下扳机。“你在暗示什么？”

“显而易见的事实。她从来不联系你，是因为她不想。而且我想，你心底其实也明白，这是唯一合理的解释。”

瑞恩在面具后怒目瞪着他。“你什么都不懂。”

他思量着该如何利用这些情报。很明显，嘉年华正作为第四股势力在新罗马活动；他们就是隐藏路线。不过，他的重心是找到蕾恩，而他已经看见了通往她身边的路。这名刺客是他抵达她身边最大的障碍，如今，他已经知道化解局面的完美办法了。

他已经能看见了。通往蕾恩的完美通关。

“你被跟踪了。”

瑞恩被打断了思绪，望着裹尸布眨了眨眼。“您说什么？”

“你被跟踪了。”裹尸布望向窗户，倾盆大雨正从外面拍打着玻璃。透着病态黄绿色的雨水一沾上玻璃便开始腐蚀，连金属墙壁也未能幸免。

不。那不是水。

是酸。

不可能，他开车和使用手机时都很小心。除非……

“DNA追踪器。”瑞恩恍然大悟。

他就知道自己该看看那些小字条款！

外面响起一声爆炸，瑞恩知道，原子猫正在拼命。裹尸布一言不发地隐去了身形，盔甲上的面粉全都落在了办公桌旁；他一定是改变了玻璃层的结构，把面粉抖落了下来。

瑞恩举起武器，正要冲出门去，忽然听见头顶传来一声巨响。有个东西在屋顶上，正朝他的位置爬来。

毫无预兆地，一条线缆触手破开车库的天花板，直取瑞恩的脑袋。