An Invitation to a Dream

"An interesting and reasonable conjecture." Mei thought for a while and agreed with Mobius's conjecture.

The essence of one's own teacher's ghost form should be consciousness, but it is unknown whether its mode of existence is "projection" or "original body".

If we follow the previously hypothesized higher-dimensional hypothesis, then it should be a projection; if the higher-dimensional hypothesis is not valid, then it is the ontology... Well, they can't prove the higher-dimensional hypothesis either.

Mei regained her composure and said, "Dr. Mobius, I'm entrusting Elysia to you. Make sure you wake Elysia up as soon as possible."

"Then it's better to let her sleep until she wakes up naturally..." Mobius kicked Elysia again. "She might be too exhausted from the mental battle. If that's the case, it's best to let her get a good night's sleep. I don't recommend using any coercive measures."

It's quite rare to see this guy lying on the ground... Hmm, looking at it this way, isn't he quite pleasing to the eye when he's not making a fuss?

Looking at Elysia's sleeping face, Mobius felt a pang of pity and couldn't help but say something kind to Elysia.

After a brief silence, Mei nodded. Because her teacher was gone, Mei had to admit that she was a little confused and subconsciously felt that Elysia must be related to Liu Bai.

"Alright, I was just being too concerned. Let her rest well. But I'll have to ask you to put the mental Fusion Warrior on the agenda. See if you can use a mental Fusion Warrior to penetrate into Aili's mind and awaken her gently."

Chapter 421 The Invitation of Dreams

"Is that guy still not awake?" Mei suddenly asked in front of the operating room door.

Another week has passed since the day of the Eighth Herrscher's subjugation, and the Companion Honkai Beast Mayuri has also been subjugated. The surgeries for Aponia and Sue will both be performed today.

"No," Eden replied in a cold voice.

Mei nodded slightly, seemingly feeling downcast because her teacher's disappearance had made even the usually kind and composed superstar feel a little depressed.

"I really envy that guy for being able to sleep so soundly."

Liu Bai's disappearance caused a huge uproar throughout the entire Moth Chasers to Fire.

My pillar of support is gone... I feel more mentally exhausted this week than I have in the previous month.

This week, Mei had to take over some of Liu Bai's work. She originally thought the heaviest task would be exploring the Sea of Quanta with Vil-V, but after a week, Mei suddenly found that the most tiring task was actually mediating interpersonal relationships.

While the relationship wouldn't necessarily Honkai without Liu Bai, some people have clearly become more "isolated".

For example, Mobius, and then there's herself, and further down the list are Kalpas Aponia.

After Liu Bai's passing, these women suddenly realized that they weren't as sociable as usual. Although there were no problems with command and coordination, this incident undoubtedly made Mei realize that after Liu Bai's death, the relationship among the people around her had changed from "family" to "group".

"It's good to let Aili rest," Eden said softly. "With Liu Bai gone, the Moth Chasers to Fire will have to rely on you."

"...I know."

Mei nodded slightly.

"That is precisely why the Moth Chasers to Fire urgently needs to expand its combat strength."

Previously, there was no need to rush when Liu Bai was around. As long as the secondary battlefield could hold, it was fine. After the decapitation was completed on the main battlefield, they could simply turn back to provide support. But now, without Liu Bai, the combat power for the decapitation might not be enough.

This is why Sue and Aponia's Hypermutation Surgery were scheduled for today.

On one hand, they need to awaken Elysia, their strongest fighter; on the other hand, the Fusion Warrior themselves have an urgent need.

"Do you urgently need to expand your combat strength..." Eden nodded thoughtfully. "What do you think of me?"

"Not good at all," Mei replied without hesitation. "Eden, you should just focus on being a great star."

"I've already retired."

"That won't work either. If all else fails, you can make a comeback." Mei seemed to have no room for negotiation on this matter.

This left Eden quite helpless.

"The situation isn't so dire that you need to go to the battlefield." Although Mei doesn't usually like Eden, it doesn't affect her sense of responsibility.

Their own teacher just left, and they're already pushing Eden onto the battlefield?

Even if Mei didn't agree with Eden's status as his future teacher's wife, she wouldn't have done this.

This decision requires either his teacher's approval, or Eden to make a scene and threaten suicide; otherwise, there's no room for discussion.

Seeing this, Eden knew he couldn't persuade Mei, so he could only remain silent.

"Are you two alright?" Hua, who was standing nearby, seemed to have overheard the argument between the two and looked over with concern.

"It's nothing." Mei glanced at Hua. "By the way, Senior Sister, why don't you also prepare to become Fusion Warrior?"

"I will do my best." Hua's answer was brief, but it reassured Mei.

Honestly, if we hadn't been unable to find a suitable Honkai Beast, my senior sister would have become Fusion Warrior long ago, given her qualifications.

Other qualified candidates... are probably only Kosma and Kalpas left?

The situation with Kalpas is a bit strange, but Kosma should definitely be able to become Fusion Warrior, and that needs to be put on the agenda.

Mei stared at the white ceiling of the corridor, silently planning for the future.

The future... is unpredictable.

"Liu Bai, what's for lunch today?!"

"... Aili, why are you so concerned about what to eat in the spiritual world? Shouldn't you be more worried about what's happening outside?"

"Does the fact that I'm not experiencing any problems mean that everything outside is normal?" Elysia, wearing a white dress, lifted her skirt, gesturing for Liu Bai to see if the dress looked good on her.

"I can only say that nothing major happened..."

Liu Bai's expression was strange.

"I have a feeling that if I suddenly leave, everyone in the Moth Chasers to Fire will be in a state of chaos. We can only hope that Mei can keep them calm."

(That's completely undeniable.)

Elysia tried her best to keep her expression normal.

(But... I can't bring myself to say that the idiot Eighth Herrscher climbed up the anchor and killed herself.)

"Speaking of which, it's been a week already, why can't we find any trace of the Eighth Herrscher?"

"Perhaps they were moved by our pure love?" Elysia explained, scratching her face.

"Don't say such strange things." Liu Bai looked at Elysia with some helplessness. "I think the Eighth Herrscher might have encountered some kind of accident..."

"Well, it's not impossible."

Elysia felt increasingly guilty.

Although she had a wonderful week of time alone with her boyfriend, after calming down and thinking about it, she realized that things might really go wrong outside.

(But the Eighth Herrscher is dead, so there shouldn't be any problems, right? Mobius didn't use any forced awakening measures on me...)

With the source of the crisis dead and no one coming to call her for a week, and her own bodily functions not having any problems, Elysia genuinely didn't think anything major could have happened outside.

Besides, it's only been a week!

(However, in Liu Bai's eyes, it was indeed quite worrying that no one had called him for a week... Well, although it was a pity, it was still...)

"Alright, alright! What do you think of this outfit, Liu Bai?"

Elysia lifted her skirt and twirled in front of Liu Bai like a princess.

"Hmm... something conventional would be suitable?" Liu Bai stroked his chin and thought for a moment, but then came to his senses. "No, Aili, don't change the subject... no, Aili, do you know something else?"

Elysia's fleeting guilt did not escape Liu Bai's notice.

"Do you know something about the Eighth Herrscher? Did you take care of him yourself when I wasn't looking?"

Elysia's attitude was so relaxed and carefree. After discovering that Elysia was somewhat guilty about the Eighth Herrscher, Liu Bai realized almost without thinking that the Eighth Herrscher might have already been killed.

And Elysia knows about this.

"Aili? What Aili?" Elysia feigned ignorance. "Oh ho ho! Since things have come to this, I'll just say it directly, she is the Eighth Herrscher! That super invincible beautiful girl named Elysia has already been defeated by her!"

"The acting was too exaggerated."

Liu Bai sat in the chair with his arms crossed, increasingly convinced of his own deduction.

"Besides, who would call an enemy a super invincible beautiful girl? At the very least, she should be called a pink fat woman, right?"

"Where did that vicious nickname come from! That... cough cough, that super... beautiful girl Aili- chan only weighs 5.53 kilograms. Does she have to be insulted like that in your human world?"

"... Aili, I feel like you're insulting my intelligence."

Liu Bai looked helplessly at Elysia, who was standing with her hands on her hips pretending to be the Eighth Herrscher.

"Can't you trust Liu Bai a little bit? Anyway, the ending will be the hero defeating the demon king." Elysia couldn't hold back anymore, and her face turned into a pouty and coquettish expression.

"I can't believe a thing of the sort," Liu Bai sighed. "But judging from your appearance, there's probably nothing wrong outside. What about the Eighth Herrscher?"

"She's dead." Elysia turned her head to the side.

"When? You went to fight him one-on-one?"

"...When I first came in." Elysia was getting more and more guilty, so she just blurted out everything, "It had nothing to do with me. It was the Eighth Herrscher climbed up the anchor that was linked to Liu Bai's body. When she reached the top—at least the top that I observed—she suddenly exploded with a sneeze."

"What do you mean by 'achoo'... oh, that."

Although Liu Bai wouldn't deliberately remember sneezing, which was rare for him, he still had a vague impression of it.

"That means the Eighth Herrscher is dead, and the source of the crisis has been eliminated."

Liu Bai's expression relaxed a little. What he feared most was that the Eighth Herrscher would bypass him and attack someone else.

If he's already dead, then there's no need to worry too much.

As for the fact that the Eighth Herrscher could observe the Anchor, upon closer examination, it is quite reasonable. After all, even Feather of the Wind can observe itself, so it is not surprising that the fully realized Herrscher of Sentience can observe the Anchor after entering the Contractor's mind.

But why did that guy dare to climb up that thing?

"Perhaps it's because he also sensed your higher-dimensional true form, Liu Bai?"

Seeing that Liu Bai wasn't going to criticize her, Elysia's expression relaxed.

"Liu Bai, you probably don't realize it, do you? To someone completely unaware, you and the contractor Anchor are like steps to an audience with 'gods.' Although the Eighth Herrscher was a bit reckless, it's actually understandable... And after entering the spiritual world, he probably discovered my identity as well."

"In other words..."

"He probably sees you as a god on the Honkai side," Elysia added.

Both she and Liu Bai had rather strange expressions at that moment.

After all, this whole thing was quite funny.

"... Alright, let's leave it at that, respect the dead."

Liu Bai genuinely felt that this way of dying was quite foolish.

You Herrscher... Oh, okay, Herrscher actually acknowledge that the Honkai have a higher level of existence, since their power does indeed have a higher source. However, as far as Liu Bai knows, it seems that only Sirin and Otto have truly sensed that part...

"Now it's time to talk about you, Aili."

"Eh? I just wanted to spend some time alone with Liu Bai and kiss you."

Elysia is once again feeling guilty.

"I only decided to have some alone time with my partner after confirming that the Eighth Herrscher was dead! Besides, my body functions are still perfectly normal, I'm still receiving nutrients on time, and no one is calling me, so I'll definitely be fine! You have to trust Mei-chan's abilities, right?"

"Some things cannot be summarized so simply."

Liu Bai wanted to explain to Aili that some things were not so easy to handle, but thinking about it carefully... although she wasn't very good at it, surely nothing bad would happen in a week?

"Couldn't you have left them a message?"

"That romantic getaway for the two of them will be ruined! Not to mention anyone else, Mobius would definitely not agree to something like that!"

"You knew it would be a hot spring bath..." Liu Bai said helplessly.

To say that Elysia was acting recklessly wouldn't be an exaggeration, since Elysia only came up with the idea of a private time for the two of them after confirming that the danger had passed.

But it's not like they were just messing around; they took him, their pillar of support, away without saying a word, and without letting anyone else know...

"If I hadn't found out, how long were you planning to keep it a secret, Aili?"

"Hmm... after fulfilling my wish?" Elysia thought for a moment, then looked embarrassed. "Actually, it hasn't been that long... probably around today?"

"I see..." Liu Bai thought for a moment. Since they had already gone through so much trouble, it wouldn't make a difference if Aili fulfilled one more wish. "Then, tell me your wish?"

"... By the way, Liu Bai, do you know what Hua's dream is?"

Instead of answering Liu Bai directly, Elysia changed the subject to Hua.

Liu Bai was clearly a little confused. "Hua's wish... I really don't know."