Witch’s Night: Chapter 80 Ms. Lana
Just like most current ability users had little concept of the Witch of Absolute Death, the current Twelve Saints were equally clueless about the existence of “malice.”
The Saint’s notes, when mentioning “malice,” were written in a very complex manner, with hints of fear and helplessness, but mostly unconcealable despair.
But why despair, and to what extent?
The Twelve Saints had no idea.
Even though the current Miss Luo Yan was suspected of having a strong connection to “malice,” even possibly being an incarnation of “malice,” the Twelve Saints didn’t have a concrete understanding.
On the contrary, the Primordial Demons that Miss Luo Yan casually mentioned were the current nightmare of the Twelve Saints and humanity.
Luo Yan, during her final confrontation with Mrs. Natalie in Ghost Town, had already established her self-identity and was no longer troubled by questions like “Who am I, who is Luo Yan?”
The Yan City war and the subsequent Lannister incident both contributed to Luo Yan’s gradual transformation.
Especially when facing the Primordial Demon—the Witch of Envy—neither her powerful words nor the later divine whispers could drag Luo Yan into the whirlpool of her subconscious.
It wasn’t until this moment that the first Calamity Tide, stirred up by the Gods, was truly declared over.
However, even so, Luo Yan’s existence was still quite special. The two Bishops in the Church of the End Gods were aware of her special nature, and Illusion noticed it even earlier than everyone else.
The journey to Noah was the end of this short trip, and the peak of the Holy Mountain was the final destination.
“Lord Noah is here… He’s at the entrance.”
Shadow sensed a strong, familiar aura and immediately whispered to Luo Yan, her expression a bit nervous. After all, she was about to meet her boss.
Luo Yan, following Shadow’s instructions, reluctantly covered her beautiful face with a thin black veil, which Shadow carried with her.
According to Shadow, as long as she wore this and didn’t say a word, she would be considered an expert.
Although this theory was a bit far-fetched, coming from Shadow, it seemed… understandable.
They didn’t leave the library, just went to the first-floor hall.
Under these circumstances, Shadow didn’t dare to let Luo Yan wander around the Sanctuary. This wasn’t New Noah, but the ruins of Old Noah, extremely close to where the “Witch of Absolute Death” was sealed.
The well-preserved library’s first-floor hall was neat and orderly, but its vast emptiness made it seem particularly eerie.
The librarian who appeared at the hall’s bar counter before didn’t reappear, and Luo Yan hadn’t mentioned “her” existence to Shadow, only occasionally glancing over there.
Amidst Shadow’s rarely seen nervous expression and Luo Yan’s expectant and curious gaze, a mechanical female voice echoed through the hall,
“Identity verification.”
“Verification passed.”
“Welcome back, Mr. Haxton.”
Haxton?
Luo Yan was slightly startled. Wasn’t that the name of the laboratory upstairs?
And the owner of the laboratory… also seemed to be called Haxton.
“Is this Lord Noah’s real name?”
Shadow’s surprised expression showed that she also didn’t know this, and like Luo Yan, she also thought of the laboratory upstairs.
“Yes… Shadow, this is my name.”
A stooped figure appeared at the entrance, accompanied by a weak, raspy voice.
Luo Yan and Shadow looked closely and saw a frail old man standing at the doorway.
A severe hunchback prevented him from straightening his back, and his gray hair, wrinkles, and age spots were a startling sight, a heavy air of decline surrounding him.
Luo Yan had only seen this kind of appearance on one person before.
—Mister Nine.
The First Saint, Noah, before her eyes, like Mister Nine back then, was nearing the end of his life.
He was only a hair’s breadth away from death.
“So, this is Miss Luo Yan.” Noah shuffled towards them, his cloudy eyes fixed on Luo Yan’s face, and only after reaching her did he sigh, “Similar, yet not.”
“Greetings, Lord Noah.”
Shadow respectfully performed the junior’s salute of Dragon City. Although she was currently working in Noah (was it inappropriate to use “working” to describe a Saint?), she was from Dragon City, and her actions still carried some Eastern customs.
“We are both Saints, there’s no need for this.” Noah nodded to Shadow and said slowly, then looked at Luo Yan, “Hello, I am Noah, the First Saint… and also Haxton.”
Seeing Luo Yan’s unconcealable confusion, a faint smile appeared on the corner of Noah’s mouth. He slowly turned around, looked at this ancient legacy from the Old Era with his hands behind his back, and said,
“It seems, Miss Luo Yan, you know very well what Haxton means…”
“There’s a Haxton Laboratory upstairs, its owner known as Dr. Haxton… Lord Noah, this shouldn’t be a coincidence, right?”
Luo Yan asked softly, but she didn’t expect to get an answer from Noah.
Firstly, no one in the New Era could understand Old Era script—even the Twelve Saints couldn’t, let alone other people. If they could, they wouldn’t even be unable to translate a laboratory name.
Secondly… Luo Yan saw a flicker of fear in Noah’s eyes.
Just as Shadow said, even though he knew very well that Luo Yan wasn’t Absolute Death, seeing her identical appearance to the Witch of Absolute Death still inevitably caused some fear.
Especially for the Saints who had been on the front lines, sealing the Witch of Absolute Death, because they were near her, their memories weren’t completely erased, and the lingering fear was even greater than that of ordinary people.
But unexpectedly, after a moment of silence, Noah said softly,
“It’s not a coincidence. My Haxton, is the Haxton of this laboratory, the Dr. Haxton mentioned by the Saint… He is my ancestor.”
After the Old Era’s destruction, a large number of displaced humans survived and, after countless casualties and disasters, finally gained a foothold and entered the New Era.
Almost all existing humans could trace their ancestry back to the Old Era, but few could trace it as clearly as Noah.
Without waiting for Luo Yan to ask further, Noah continued,
“There aren’t any records left about the Haxton Laboratory, not even for me, a descendant of its founder. If you want to learn more from me… I apologize, I can’t help you.”
He paused, glanced back at Luo Yan, and said, “However, the only thing I know is that the Haxton Laboratory wasn’t just a single laboratory.
“According to the records passed down orally by my father, there were at least a hundred laboratories named Haxton in the Old Era, scattered all over the world—but there probably aren’t many left now.”
To be more precise, Haxton Laboratory was a research organization, similar to a company.
And the “Luo Yan” who wrote the resignation letter had worked in this research organization, as a Level 2 researcher.
However… no one knew what level a Level 2 researcher actually was.
“I personally opened this library.” Noah walked a few steps, reached the bar counter, and said with emotion, “Back then, the system administrator wasn’t completely broken, and I could still summon her, the intelligent personality known as ‘Lana’…”
He touched the bar counter, his cloudy eyes filled with memories.
Noah hadn’t left the white temple for hundreds of years. He had thought he would stay in that place without a sky until the end of his life.
But unexpectedly, after learning about Mister Nine’s death, he found the courage to face the truth.
“‘Lana’?”
Luo Yan couldn’t help but ask.
After entering the library, she had indeed seen a graceful, light blue figure, like some kind of projection.
…Wasn’t she still there?
Luo Yan originally thought this was another secret about herself, but it turned out that Noah already knew.
“Yes, ‘Ms. Lana,’ that’s what we called her, she was the virtual personality of the library system administrator.” Noah sighed,
“Our exploration of this library back then almost entirely relied on Ms. Lana’s help. Since Ms. Lana became dormant, we haven’t been able to make any further progress… The technological heights of the Old Era are still insurmountable to this day.”
“Why did she become dormant?”
Shadow asked curiously.
When she became a Saint, Noah had already been in the white temple for a long time.
Shadow had very little contact with this renowned First Saint and had never heard any stories about Lord Noah before, so she couldn’t help but be captivated.
“Perhaps because… her energy was also exhausted.” Noah said with a wry smile, “When we explored the six libraries, at least three hundred years had passed since the Old Era… She persisted for three hundred years, just to wait for our arrival.
“Perhaps at that time, she was already on the verge of collapse, if it weren’t for preserving the last crystals of human civilization…”
A lonely artificial intelligence, watching over a future without hope, just to wait for the return of those who could awaken it.
This story sounded tragic, making one’s heart ache and bringing tears to their eyes.
Even Shadow, who was usually quite goofy, couldn’t help but want to wipe her eyes after hearing this story.
“But…” Luo Yan hesitated for a moment. “Is there a possibility… that she’s actually still there…”
“Impossible.” Noah shook his head and placed his hand on the bar counter. “If Ms. Lana were still there, as long as we called her, she would respond.
“But after Ms. Lana became dormant back then, we called countless times, but not once did we succeed.”
“Uh… how do you call her?”
Luo Yan always felt something was strange.
“Just call ‘Ms. Lana’.” Noah replied.
“Ms. Lana?”
Luo Yan called out tentatively.
“Miss Luo Yan, this kind of attempt…”
Before Noah could finish, a light blue figure instantly appeared beside him. The artificial intelligence known as “Lana” looked at Luo Yan and nodded,
“I am here.”
“……?”
Shadow and Noah stared at Luo Yan in shock, then at Ms. Lana, dumbfounded.
“Wasn’t she… dormant?”
Shadow asked, her face flushed.
“I… I remember she was dormant.” Noah blushed. “Ms. Lana, may I ask…”
“Apologies, you do not have access authorization.”
Ms. Lana refused coldly.
“…”
This was awkward.
After boasting for so long, only to find that he didn’t even have access authorization, Noah opened his mouth, momentarily speechless.
At this time, Luo Yan had a sudden idea and asked, “Ms. Lana, can I check all the access records for you?”
“Yes.”
Ms. Lana nodded, and a flowing light screen unfolded as her ancient database began to operate.
Under Noah and Shadow’s puzzled gazes, Luo Yan explained,
“Didn’t Lord Noah say that Ms. Lana became dormant for some unknown reason? I want to see if there’s a problem with the access records.”
“Query complete.” Ms. Lana said, “Please take a look, Researcher Luo Yan.”
A large table appeared before Luo Yan. Noah and Shadow couldn’t understand what was written inside because it was in Old Era script—the library system hadn’t been updated in the New Era, so the default language was naturally the Old Era language.
As she read, Luo Yan’s expression turned strange, and she looked up and asked,
“Lord Noah, you just said… you personally opened the library back then?”
“Uh… that should be correct.”
This had always been considered one of his achievements, but Noah was now uncertain.
“But your name isn’t in the access records,” Luo Yan’s expression became even stranger. “To be precise, all access records belong to the same person.”
“Who?”
Noah and Shadow asked in unison.
“…Me.”
Luo Yan sighed.
Before the two Saints could question her, Luo Yan turned to Ms. Lana and said,
“Voice report of the access records.”
“Yes.” Ms. Lana said in her usual mechanical voice, “23:50:30, March 18, 5431 AD, visitor: Researcher Luo Yan, access level: Special Highest Authorization.”
“21:32:16, March 18, 5431 AD, visitor: Researcher Luo Yan, access level: Special Highest Authorization.”
“…”
As the voice records were read out, from just now, to hundreds of years ago, to times close to the end of the Old Era, until all records stopped due to the loss of the Old Era database, all entries were “Researcher Luo Yan.”
“This… how is this possible!” Noah was shocked. He looked at Luo Yan and murmured, “Could it be that you are as old as the Saint, or that the Saint is you… no, impossible.”
Others might think this, but Noah had seen the Saint with his own eyes.
The Saint didn’t erase all memories about her. Noah still couldn’t forget the Saint’s appearance; it was firmly imprinted in the depths of his subconscious.
