Four Split Personalities

[Don’t speak, or else I’ll tear your mouth off when we get back.]

Motan first mentally responded to the comment through the connection between Dragon/Turtle, then with a normal facial expression, he greeted the two new faces in front of him, briefly introducing himself and Wang Badan, seemingly without anything amiss.

But!

It was only on the surface that there didn’t seem to be anything amiss. In fact, Motan’s heart was already churning like a tempest, solely because of that girl named Pomegranate, and her very first words, "My name is Pomegranate, an edge person, hello."

Even though Pomegranate later changed her self-introduction to being a Future Person under Autumn Moon’s reproach, that earlier statement didn’t seem to be just a slip of the tongue. Although it appeared that the young girl who was their group leader took it as such...

But Motan knew, or to be exact, he had indeed heard of the concept of "edge people."

The time was three years ago, the place, a quirky shop in a marketplace in City B.

Motan clearly remembered that when he entered the shop called Magic Supplies, intending to find the Les brothers to shoot the breeze and chat the day away, he did not see them immediately. In less than two seconds, he vaguely heard a voice from upstairs saying "Lately, those edge people are getting increasingly down-to-earth. That guy who was exorcising demons at the old power plant yesterday actually used something directly from our shop..."

The next instant, Ferry Les’s voice abruptly ended, and then he came downstairs with Joe Les, who was carrying a big box of something. Both of their eyes were fixed unblinkingly on Motan.

"Whoa, I was just about to call you guys."

Yawning, Motan put down his phone, which he had been holding to his ear, and looked at the brothers with a smug smile: "Leaving nobody downstairs, aren’t you afraid of attracting thieves? Tsk tsk, say no more, hurry up and treat me to some fun stuff as a lesson, lest next time you two are messing around upstairs and someone empties the shop."

Ferry was initially stunned, then chuckled and tossed a handful of candies to Motan from the box Joe was holding: "That makes sense."

"Burp Candy again? Isn’t that a bit stingy?"

Motan curled his lip and pocketed the Burp Candy, which he had secretly tested countless times, and sat down sulking in front of the Magic Supplies cabinet.

Joe, who had come down with Ferry, casually tossed the box into a corner, then turned to Motan and gently wagged his index finger, smiling, "The fact that we’re willing to put up with your outrageous extortion just goes to show we’re quite generous."

"By the way, buddy."

Ferry lazily leaned against the cabinet next to Motan, raised an eyebrow and said: "We’re not into orthopedics, much less that kind of messing around, and even our types when it comes to girls are different."

Without saying, a Motan in Chaotic Neutral mood grinned and said with a pleasant smile: "But I think, the girls who fall for you guys, no matter if they’re after looks or personality, are likely to fancy the other one just the same."

"Ha-ha, although from various perspectives we do indeed look very alike..."

Ferry exaggeratedly shook his head, shrugged, and said: "But in the end, Joe is Joe and I am I. If she can’t tell us apart, she can’t truly be said to love us."

"Mum’s the exception; I believe she loves us, just a bit careless."

Joe pulled a face and then casually glanced at Motan, asking offhandedly, "You didn’t hear any noise just now, did you?"

As soon as he finished speaking, Motan’s previously placid expression changed dramatically!

"Hey... hey, hey, hey..."

He abruptly stood up, took a step back towards the door, and both his expression and voice stiffened, "You two... weren’t really upstairs just now..."

"Upstairs we were just testing a new product, Burp Candy."

Ferry smirked, shrugged, and said: "So you can let go of that dangerous thought."

"Scared me..."

Motan let out a sigh of relief and cursed as he sat back down.

For the next two hours, he chatted with the Les brothers as usual, and during this process, scammed a few pieces of unfinished Burp Candy that would make one burp madly while farting continuously, until the sunset when he left the two and went to the market to consolidate the blood pressure of a few bosses before heading home.

For the next three days, Motan acted very normally.

Until the fourth night, armed with three homemade flashbangs, two police batons, a Nepalese Kukri Knife, a powerful flashlight, and half a bottle of homemade chloroform spray, he professionally avoided the vast majority of surveillance cameras along the way and after a full five and a half hours, finally sneaked into the sole old power plant in City B.

"I’ve heard something interesting..."

Walking through the coal yard and around the chimney, Motan silently flashed into the boiler room, his eyes sparkling with excitement, looking around innocently with his flashlight.

He was wearing a very loose casual coat, with all his gear hidden in the specially modified lining, appearing harmless, not at all like someone with a purpose.

This was actually quite logical, after all, this power plant which was abandoned half a year ago was not some military stronghold. Although hardly anyone would visit for fun, it was indeed not a place off-limits to the public, as all the valuable stuff like boilers, circulatory pumps, burners, and steam turbines had all been removed at the time of abandonment, leaving no fear of thieves.