### *Chapter 43: The Taxi Driver*
"Arrived... cash, or card..."
The taxi driver slowly, haltingly repeated the same words. His head swiveled 180 degrees, his entire face staring directly at Ye Lan in the back seat.
The face, once hidden by a cap, was now clearly visible to Ye Lan. The driver's head had completely turned into a steering wheel, and his hands, gripping the taxi's actual steering wheel, were two large horns.
A Distortion. Ye Lan didn't know whether to call his luck good or bad. He had just hailed a random taxi on the street and ended up with a Distorted taxi driver.
However, the threat level of this Distorted taxi driver was certainly not comparable to the Pianist. At most, it was probably only at the Urban Myth level.
Although his physical mutation was quite advanced, he could still perform his job normally and collect fares from passengers. In other words, his degree of Distortion was lower than imagined, and the emotion that caused him to Distort was likely of a minor kind.
Ye Lan thought for a moment, then took a wad of the largest denomination of An from his large backpack and stuffed it into the taxi driver's hand. The driver, whose head had turned into a steering wheel, counted the bills with his non-existent eyes and horn-like hands, then returned the excess amount to Ye Lan.
Seeing the driver's Distortion lessen slightly after accepting the fare, Ye Lan asked him, "Speaking of which, sir, you've been very quiet this whole trip. Is something on your mind?"
For the Distortion Detective, Moses, the process of resolving a Distortion had four points: 1. Cause, 2. Explanation, 3. Understanding, and 4. Identification.
These four steps were what Ye Lan now intended to replicate on the Distorted taxi driver. The first step was to confirm the reason for his Distortion by combining various clues.
"I... I didn't get paid. Those... customers... they ran off without paying... The company... the company is going to fire me."
So, that was the reason. For a Distortion with a low threat level and degree of Distortion like this driver, simply asking them what happened could basically reveal the cause.
"Oh~ so that's what it's about. Some nasty customers skipped the fare, so your company threatened to fire you. Geez, that company is really awful."
Ye Lan began to try the second step, which was to explain the cause and effect to the Distorted person. The third step was to make them understand the reason for their own Distortion.
"Ah... yes, yes, damn customers... damn company..."
The horns that the Distorted driver's hands had turned into emitted an angry roar that could shatter an ordinary person's eardrums. But to Ye Lan, who could withstand the roar, the driver's words were so slow they were almost comical.
"I say, sir, even if you encountered something like this, you don't have to lock the doors and stare at a good customer like me for payment, do you? Look, customers who skip the fare are in the minority, right? Treating a customer like me, who actively asks you how much I need to pay, like a thief, isn't that inappropriate?"
The final step was to make the Distorted person identify when and in what form their Distortion would occur. Success in this process could, to some extent, resolve the Distortion.
"...This... I was afraid you would run away. If I don't get the money again, the company will really fire me," the driver continued, his head gradually returning to normal.
But Moses's method could ultimately only alleviate, not eradicate. Because the door of the heart had not opened for her, she could not fundamentally correct the target's Distortion.
But for people before the complete release of the Seed of Light, seeing that non-existent door of the heart was indeed somewhat difficult.
Although the appearance of Distortion was unrelated to whether the Seed of Light was fully released, and was only related to Carmen, who lived on in another form mixed in with the light.
The official novel Leviathan recorded many of Carmen's ramblings. These words completely debunked the old theory that Distortion was caused by the incomplete Seed of Light.
For Carmen, Distortion was what she hoped for. As long as the people of the City learned to "love themselves," they would become what she hoped for in her heart. And the outward expression of "loving oneself" was to express it with one's body, which was Distortion.
And E.G.O. only came into being because of Ayin's integration. In his view, people should not lose their proper appearance. "We must fight, but because we are human, not with sensibility, but with rationality... We must maintain a human appearance and fight in the most human-like way, through clothing and tools."
This was Carmen quoting Ayin's original words, and it was also his hope for the people of the City. Because of his thoughts, the Seed of Light project could be developed in a new form, bringing the hope called E.G.O. to the people of the City.
So, back to the matter of the door of the heart. Before the complete release of the Seed of Light, it was very difficult for that door to be shown to others. Even if one manifested power by obtaining a part of the light, they still couldn't completely expose their heart to others.
But for Ye Lan, who held the "One Ring," pushing open the door of another's heart was not so difficult. Just as one uses a delicate tool to dredge treasures from another's mind, Ye Lan could also use his ring to delicately open that door of the heart.
Pushing open the great door, the Distorted taxi driver was waiting in the chaos. As long as he defeated it, crushed it, he could make the Distorted person truly remember the memory they shouldn't have forgotten in their heart, and in turn, gain the courage to face everything from it.
Summoning a suit of [Frost Splinter], the king, enveloped in winter clothes stitched from ice and snow, holding a spear formed from icicles, walked into the arena that was this inner space.
The Distorted driver released a deafening sound wave from the horns that were his hands, then was frozen into ice shards on the ground by the cold air scattering around Ye Lan.
The heart, sealed by grief and tears, would even freeze sound. Endless frost shot out from the spear in Ye Lan's hand towards the Distorted driver, turning him into an ice sculpture as well.
Using HE-class E.G.O. equipment to attack an enemy of only Urban Myth level was a bit of an overkill. Ye Lan confirmed this once again.
Soon, Ye Lan, who had been driven out of the driver's heart, came to his senses in the taxi. And the driver had also returned to his normal appearance.
"I remember now. I wasn't worried about some fare from a nasty customer..."
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