Westminster Bank

He suddenly looked at Baron. "Baron, my friend, do you even know if you’re still you?"

Then he laughed again. "Of course not. There are plenty of other possibilities starting with C, like Kemp, Carter... And for names, you have Catherine, Carmen..."

’Mr. C... Dissociative Identity Disorder... No, this is probably about me, but not me... It’s about my original self.’

Baron suddenly remembered Yelena accurately writing his past-life name in her diary.

If Zhou Yike was truly just another personality, why did he have such clear memories of the future in the East?

But if he wasn’t, why did Yelena accurately state his past-life name, one he had never mentioned to anyone?

Baron then thought of that mysterious original self. Even though fragments of that person’s memories remained in his mind, they were all hazy and mostly concerned trivial matters. The truly core information was all in the diary.

Besides, he couldn’t rule out the possibility that the diary was intentionally guiding him, especially now that he knew he had another personality, "Zhou Yike."

’This world is just too treacherous.’

Baron didn’t reply. Instead, he put away the notebook and said to Jack, "We’re going to Buckingham Palace next. The Dragon Subway is too dangerous; it’s probably been cordoned off by now. Is there another way to get to the Inner Side?"

"Let me think... The Celestial Horse in Ireland... that’s too far. The carriage in Edinburgh... we might not be able to get tickets... I’ve got it! We can go to London and take Westminster Bank’s private elevator!"

"An elevator?"

"It goes directly to the Westminster Bank on the Inner Side. Commissioners with sufficient clearance can request to have it activated."

"Aren’t you a D Level Commissioner?"

"I’ll be C Level soon. Besides, don’t you have temporary commissioner clearance?"

"It’s only A Level."

"A Level is enough to apply."

.........

「London, Westminster Bank European Headquarters, Administrative Office.」

Jack asked the administrative manager with a look of confusion, "Why was the elevator request denied? Even if an application from an A Level Commissioner is going to be rejected, it shouldn’t be this fast, right?"

The administrative manager was an impassive middle-aged man. He pushed up his glasses. "There is no file for a Commissioner ’L’ in the personnel database."

"But this is a Black Card... The rules state that anyone who has this card and knows the password should be afforded the same privileges as a formal commissioner. You should know that."

"But that doesn’t follow procedure."

"See the color of this guy’s pupils? L, give him a look. See that? Glimpse of the Mysterious Crystal. And this Gentiana Pattern Ring, see it? S Level! Is that still not enough to prove his identity?"

’After following Jack’s instructions and putting on a show, Baron had the sudden thought that he was like a wilted vegetable at the market that nobody wanted to buy. Jack, meanwhile, was the market stall lady whose sole job was to haggle with customers and offload this sad-looking vegetable for a good price.’

The administrative manager said, "According to the rules..."

"Rules, rules! Do you even know what the rules are really for..."

The administrative manager stated impassively, "Article 312 of the *Westminster Bank Commissioner Code of Conduct*: ’All commissioners applying to use the ’smuggling elevator’ must present their commissioner card and corresponding file data...’"

"..."

Jack fell silent. ’This guy actually memorized the rulebook.’

’Smuggling elevator? What a fitting name.’ That’s what caught Baron’s attention.

After a moment of silence, Jack said, "Damn, since when has Westminster had this rule? I remember back in the day..."

"It’s a new rule for commissioners, passed at the most recent board meeting. It was proposed by the Director of the Eastern District, who believes that adding necessary procedures will improve administrative accuracy."

"So to hell with efficiency, right? Just pile all the pressure on the staff."

After muttering a few words, Jack told Baron to give him some British Pounds. Baron handed over a hundred. Jack lowered his voice. "This isn’t even enough to pave the way."

’Pave the way? Is he talking about a bribe?’

Baron grumbled inwardly, but getting things done was more important, so he handed over another hundred. In any case, he wasn’t exactly short on cash at the moment.

Jack accepted the two hundred British Pounds with satisfaction, peeled off twenty, and stuffed it into the manager’s hand. He flashed a fawning smile, like a stray dog begging for scraps. "Manager... I’d be grateful if you could just bend the rules a little for us..."

Baron, who had witnessed the entire exchange: "..."

’That’s a pretty ruthless scam.’

The administrative manager said coolly, "Commissioner Jack, the administrative board is currently deliberating on your potential promotion to C Level Commissioner..."

Jack instantly stood ramrod straight. Seeing this, Baron figured it was a lost cause and tugged Jack’s arm to leave.

Just then, a somewhat playful female voice came from behind them:

"Use my Black Card."

A woman shrouded head to toe in black gauze, her face completely obscured, appeared beside them. She slapped her commissioner card down on the administrative manager’s desk. "Use my card to request the smuggling elevator."

The administrative manager sized up the woman, who was dressed in black like a dark swan. His gaze lingered for a moment on her emerald-green pupils before he said, "According to the new regulations, the approval process for an A Level Commissioner’s request could take one to two hours..."

"I’m an S Level Commissioner."

"S Level..."

The administrative manager’s perpetually impassive expression finally wavered. After telling the woman to "please wait a moment," he went to process the request to activate the elevator.

’S Level?’

Baron was stunned to encounter an S Level Commissioner here, and even more shocked that she chose to help him.

Jack said, "My thanks to this... lady from the Middle East."

He was making a rough guess based on her attire.

"Just call me Kasha." The female commissioner smiled meaningfully. "After all, I earned a good amount of Gold from this Mr. L here."

"A good amount of Gold?"

The two of them instantly recalled the events of Baron’s S Level evaluation and containment mission.

Jack said, "Don’t tell me you’re the one who..."

One of the two S Level Commissioners who had anonymously placed a bet on Baron.

Kasha made a "shushing" gesture. Her face was still covered by the veil, making her expression impossible to read. "Some things are best understood without being said aloud."

Baron, however, just stared quietly at the emerald eyes visible above Kasha’s veil. He knew it was impolite, but he felt as though he had seen this woman named "Kasha" somewhere before.

Jack understood.

Just then, the administrative manager returned, but this time he was followed by an entourage. Leading them was a man of about fifty, sharply dressed in a suit. He had his hair slicked back and an unidentifiable brand of cigar clamped in his mouth, giving him the distinct air of new money.

Baron’s intuition told him something was wrong. He was about to tell Jack to bolt, but he saw that Jack had already... no, he hadn’t escaped. He was blocked at the office door, a hulking bodyguard holding him by the collar. Jack still wore that same fawning smile.

"Director Malozov! What brings you all the way to London? Let me guess, it must still be snowing up a storm in Moscow."

’Moscow... Director Malozov...’ The two clues clicked together in Baron’s mind, and he instantly recalled the "accident" he had caused in Moscow during his containment assessment, with the help of the Illusory Cocoon.

’Karma sure works fast,’ Baron thought with a groan.

The administrative manager said to Kasha, "Your transit permit has been processed... but this Mr. L still can’t leave."

"Why?" Kasha asked. "As an S Level Commissioner, don’t I even have the authority to escort someone out?"

She gestured with the Black Card in her hand.

The administrative manager said, "This Mr. L is suspected of being involved in the Moscow treasury vault robbery..."

The Moscow treasury vault robbery... Kasha didn’t know anything about this.

She gave Baron a deep look. "But I don’t think this gentleman seems like the type to do something like that."

’Sorry to disappoint you,’ Baron thought.

Director Malozov sized up Baron, his expression like that of an arrogant rhino. "You’re L? I heard Howard gave you an S Level rating for your interview and containment. You don’t look like much."

Baron didn’t say a word, because Jack, still dangling in the bodyguard’s grip, was signaling for him to keep quiet.

............