"Ahem... excuse me." Shu coughed lightly, then gently placed his hand on Sirin's shoulder... no, he moved Joyce's hand away and then placed his own on Sirin's shoulder.
"Can you tell big brother where this place is first?" Shu offered Sirin a warm smile, his voice deliberately softened.
A flicker of subtle disdain crossed Joyce's face.
Hey, brothers and sisters, can you believe this guy was arguing and yelling at me just two minutes ago? How can he switch to this cutesy act so seamlessly?
With that thought, Joyce also squatted down, whispering softly in Sirin's ear, "Little sister~ Can you tell big... sister, what time it is right now?"
Shu felt no disdain, only his pupils quaking.
My god, that cutesy voice! Joyce, what on earth have you been watching?!
The two voices, one sweet, one gentle, truly eased a lot of Sirin's tension and fear. Only then did she open her eyes fully in front of Shu and Joyce.
"Are you really good people?"
Joyce nodded without hesitation. Shu paused for a moment, then, pinching his nose, also nodded.
Yes, I'm a good person. Everyone says so.
Sirin thought for a moment, frowning. "Alright then... This is Grandpa John's Tower of Babylon... As for the time... it's 2006."
John? Who's that?
Shu frowned, while Joyce's face turned slightly grim.
John was the leader of the group that left Future City, and also the main target of their current investigation...
2006... John and his group were expelled from Future City in 2000. After that, they came to Siberia and built this Tower of Babylon?
There was a gap of over a dozen years... During those years, in this tower...
Shu's attention, however, was entirely elsewhere.
2006... Bronya hadn't entered Cocolia's orphanage yet. Does the Bronya of now even exist as the renowned mercenary—the Ural Silver Wolf?
Don't say a six-year-old couldn't achieve such a feat. There was a line in Honkai Impact 3rd that Shu remembered vividly:
This is Siberia. The scouts here learn how to use a gun before they learn how to use a spoon.
No, wait, Bronya shouldn't have mentioned the Tower of Babylon, so he should...
...The Herrscher of Memory!
Shu suddenly remembered. Babylon, like Depascal, was a place forgotten by the world.
But that wasn't the issue now. Just knowing the current timeframe was enough.
Shu was certain they hadn't traveled through time. It was more likely that, because of that black wall, they had arrived in a bubble universe that mirrored their own world, or perhaps they were still in an illusion...
While the two were lost in thought and Sirin was looking for a chance to escape, a tall figure appeared around the corner.
Sirin's eyes instantly lit up. Ignoring Shu and Joyce beside her, she immediately yelled out.
"Grandpa John!"
The two tensed up, quickly looking behind them.
At the corner of the metal corridor, a balding middle-aged man in a long white coat and small round glasses looked up from the documents in his hand, towards them.
Hide? Too late!
Just as Shu was wondering how to talk to the man and explain that he wasn't, in fact, a kidnapper, the not-so-kind-looking middle-aged man smiled and waved at Sirin.
"Well, if it isn't Sirin! Good morning... Why are you out for a stroll so early by yourself?"
Sirin was dumbfounded. She looked at John in disbelief, then at the two large figures beside her.
Grandpa John, did you put on the wrong glasses when you left this morning?!
Seeing Sirin about to say something more, the two, who had already reacted, weren't about to give her the chance. They immediately decided to embrace their roles as Demon Lord and Demon Lord's assistant—a hand over the mouth and a forced nod, a one-stop service.
John looked at Sirin with some confusion, then bent down and walked over, placing the back of his hand on Sirin's forehead. "Not sick..."
Shu, contorting himself into an awkward position to avoid John: I'm not okay, my back hurts.
Joyce, whose back didn't hurt: Shut up, just cover her mouth and don't let Sirin speak.
Sirin's mouth was covered by two overlapping hands. She could only plead with her eyes.
But Shu could clearly sense that a lot of Sirin's fear had already dissipated.
True... after all, seeing two "kidnappers" in such a sorry state would somewhat lessen those emotions.
Fortunately, John seemed to be in a hurry and didn't pursue the matter further. After withdrawing his hand, his gaze returned to the documents he held.
"Sorry, I don't have time to walk with you now. I still have several things to take care of..."
With that, John walked around the dream-shattered Sirin and the two "kidnappers" moving relative to her, heading straight for the end of the corridor.
As Sirin struggled to catch her breath, the two sighed in relief. Exchanging a glance, they were about to take Sirin back to the previous room.
"Oh, by the way," John suddenly turned back as he rounded the corner.
The two, who had just bundled Sirin up, quickly put her down again. Shu even hastily smoothed out Sirin's wrinkled clothes.
The three of them stared intently at John, waiting silently for him to finish.
"You have an experiment this afternoon. Don't eat too much at noon; you might throw up."
Shu keenly observed Sirin's eyes dim for an instant. The strength of her struggles vanished, along with the fear in her heart.
Replacing it was a faint sadness.
After saying this, John left. Shu and Joyce waited for nearly a minute this time before preparing to leave.
Shu swept Sirin up in a princess carry and quickly hurried back to the room they had run out of.
Along the way, Sirin didn't struggle, merely lying quietly in Shu's arms, allowing herself to be carried back into the room by the two of them.
Joyce closed the door behind them. Shu, his arms aching, put Sirin down and shook them out, then was pulled to the door by Joyce.
"I feel something's not right..." Joyce whispered in Shu's ear. "The situation here is different from what I imagined..."
"It's different from what I imagined too," Shu nodded in agreement, looking around. "I thought Sirin and these children would be crammed a dozen or so into cold, barred rooms with only a single iron slab bed."
Joyce fell silent for a moment.
"What you're describing is called a concentration camp."