Little Firefly

Although he had already known from the game that Firefly had been a weapon from the moment of her birth, and that everything before she joined the Stellar Hunters had been tragic.

Those had only been written descriptions, though. They were nowhere near as shocking as receiving Firefly's memories and experiencing them firsthand. The Swarm that blotted out the sky, the countless comrades who had died before her eyes... Firefly had endured far too much.

From the day she was born, this girl had fought and slaughtered the Swarm. She had been born as a weapon—and a disposable one at that. Her fate had been to die fighting the Swarm, burning away her life and vanishing as a flicker of fire on the battlefield. Her life had contained only battle and slaughter. Only at the very end had she come to understand the meaning of life.

Just then, the silver-haired girl's eyelids trembled slightly before she opened her beautiful, peculiar eyes—blue above and pink below.

Firefly gazed at the boy before her. Countless unfamiliar memories surged through her mind, striking her brain and filling her once-innocent self with knowledge she should never have possessed.

Liu Xing's expression stiffened. Invading someone else's mental space and unintentionally obtaining their memories was far too rude. Now that the owner had awakened, he could not help falling into an awkward situation.

Especially since she was Firefly—his 2D wife. All he could do was force an awkward smile and explain, "S-sorry. You know, it was beyond my control. I had no choice just now."

Firefly was the Scorching Knight. She had killed countless bugs and was ruthless in battle. She could crush his pitiful spirit body with a single finger.

He was merely an ordinary person, while Firefly was a Pathstrider. This was also Firefly's mental space—her home ground. If she truly wanted to kill him, he was definitely dead.

Firefly fell silent for a while, quietly absorbing the memories in her mind. Then she stood up and instinctively raised a hand before her chest. Looking at Liu Xing, she revealed a serene smile and softly said, "Hello. I am of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry, Firefly Mark IV, AR-26710."

Then she tilted her head, her smile seeming amused. "And also your 2D wife, Firefly."

"Boom!"

Those words struck Liu Xing like a bolt from the blue, leaving him utterly stunned. He stiffly tugged at the corner of his mouth and asked in a dry voice, "You too...?"

Firefly nodded. "That's right. I know everything now, babe."

Liu Xing clutched his heart, his lips twitching. She was way too good at this! Firefly from before joining the Stellar Hunters could not possibly have known so much. He was now certain that Firefly had received his memories.

"You don't blame me? For changing your original fate?"

Liu Xing spoke bitterly.

Firefly shook her head and smiled. "This isn't your fault. Besides, it may not necessarily be a bad thing. In my original fate, I might not have survived anyway."

Liu Xing fell silent. Given miHoYo's habits, they really might have killed Firefly off.

"What's done cannot be undone. I don't blame you. On the contrary, your memories have given me a great deal and helped me understand many things."

Firefly wore a gentle smile that soothed the heart.

At least, Liu Xing stood there in a daze for several seconds. His 2D wife was right before him, looking at him with a smiling gaze, making him feel as though he were in a dream.

"Well? Do I look better in person, or as a 2D character?"

With one hand before her chest, Firefly waved the other in front of Liu Xing's eyes. Her eyes curved into crescents.

Liu Xing blankly replied, "As long as it's you, you're beautiful."

The moment the words left his mouth, the scene fell silent. Only after quite a while did Liu Xing come back to himself. He gave an embarrassed laugh and said, "Um, I'll go outside and take a look first."

With that, Liu Xing fled Firefly's mental space as though escaping for his life.

"Hehe."

Watching Liu Xing's retreating figure, Firefly covered her mouth and giggled. Yet on closer inspection, one could still see that her earlobes had turned faintly red.

After leaving Firefly's mental space, Liu Xing stared wide-eyed at the silver-haired little girl before him, who looked only three or four years old. He muttered, "Can someone tell me where my fair-skinned, beautiful, understanding, perfectly proportioned Firefly went?"

Firefly could not help glaring at Liu Xing. Though he was praising her, she could not feel happy about it in the slightest.

She looked at her tiny arms and legs, on the verge of tears, and felt like life had lost all meaning. She had been born with the body of a teenage girl and had never experienced childhood, leaving her somewhat at a loss.

"It should be because of this space. It reverted your body to childhood."

Liu Xing thoughtfully looked toward the pitch-black space beyond the starlight. At this point, he could no longer feel that pulling sensation. Presumably, they had escaped that vortex-like environment.

And Firefly's bodily change was undoubtedly connected to that vortex-like space.

Seeing Firefly's little face scrunched up in distress, Liu Xing smiled and comforted her. "It's all right, Firefly. At least this should alleviate your Entropickness."

Firefly was a member of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry. Every Iron Cavalry soldier was a genetically engineered infant. To prevent the Republic's most powerful weapons from falling into the hands of others, the Glamothians had added a "safeguard" to the soldiers' genetic engineering: Entropickness. Those afflicted by this illness suffered irreversible chronic physical disintegration, meaning they were slowly disappearing. Yet this "disappearance" was difficult even for others to notice. They could still run, jump, and speak with others, only always a little slower than everyone else—and then slower and slower, until the outlines of themselves and the entire world became blurred beyond recognition, until reality and dreams could no longer be distinguished because both had become equally fragmented.

That was why every member of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry was disposable. Their lives were limited, and Firefly was no exception. Though she had been reborn, undergone transformation, and broken through the limits of the Glamoth Iron Cavalry, Entropickness still remained with her.

But now, Firefly's body had reverted to childhood for unknown reasons, which meant her lifespan had been extended. At the very least, she would not need to worry about vanishing from before Liu Xing due to Entropickness anytime soon.

Firefly nodded. She wanted to live—to live freely. Her body becoming smaller was a good thing to her, because with her original body, she did not know how many more years she could have endured.

Liu Xing crouched down and looked at the silver-haired little girl before him. Smiling, he said, "Firefly, if I'm still alive when we reach the end of this journey, then we'll look for a way to cure Entropickness together. The world is so vast, and the universe so boundless. There must be a way."

Before awakening her sense of self, Firefly's heart had contained only slaughter and battle. But after awakening—and receiving Liu Xing's memories—Firefly's will to survive was now at its peak.

"Mm. I won't give up, and neither will you. I'll help you find a way to rebuild your physical body."

Seeing the serious look on Firefly's little face, Liu Xing chuckled. Little Firefly was adorable too!