Birthday Gift

"A person's life intersects with countless others, sometimes separating, sometimes walking together… Those who once walked with you will always leave their mark on your actions and thoughts, no matter how much you refuse to admit it."

Outside the window, a ray of morning light spilled into the room, falling onto the book in the silver-haired youth's hands. The youth closed the thick book, placed a bookmark at his current reading spot, and then put it on his writing desk.

He walked to the window, gazing at the rising, not-yet-blinding sun, and murmured, "Another new morning has arrived…"

No matter how dark or desperate humanity's civilization became, the sun would still rise.

"Today… is Elysia's birthday." This thought inexplicably popped into his mind.

Elysia's birthday… He remembered the gift Elysia had given him before, which he had asked Kevin to return. He felt he no longer had the right to accept gifts from Elysia.

Their relationship, even if not a complete break, would hardly return to what it was before, right?

He didn't hate Elysia, because it was natural for her to do what she did. Moreover, if only Elysia had thought that way, she wouldn't have been able to act on it. But for both emotional and logical reasons, he couldn't face Elysia, the initiator of that event, with a clear conscience.

So… he chose to return Elysia's gift.

He had considered whether to give Elysia a gift to show that he didn't hate her. But Lilith was gone, and he worried that his gift to Elysia might make her misunderstand that he disliked her. He really lacked confidence in his own taste.

And… it all circled back to the initial point: he didn't know what kind of face he should use to face Elysia.

Hate? He didn't hate her.

Resignation? He couldn't let go.

Zhu Yufeng lowered her head and looked at the passing soldiers outside the window. Some had grim expressions, while others had vacant eyes.

They had lost hope for victory and were living each day like mindless zombies.

"It's no wonder Aponia placed restrictions on them," Zhu Yufeng thought. At first, he hadn't understood why Aponia had done it, but now, having witnessed the situation firsthand, he somewhat understood Aponia's helplessness.

"At least one should live with hope. Days without hope are painful, a meaningless struggle for survival."

He recalled a line he had read in a famous book in this world. He felt it was very fitting for the current situation. Speaking of which, in which book had he read it?

An answer quickly surfaced in his mind:

End of Time

Speaking of which, his mind had become a bit strange lately. How to put it… it wasn't that negative effects had appeared, but rather, he had become smarter? His brain's information processing speed had become abnormally fast. Sometimes, Zhu Yufeng even felt as if he had evolved a second brain or something, allowing him to multitask.

"Is it because of the Chimera Project… Because I'm going to become a god, I'm gradually becoming less human, both physically and mentally?" Zhu Yufeng murmured to himself. "Never mind, thinking about this is meaningless. After all, the ultimate goal of everything is to defeat Honkai. The process itself is not important."

Zhu Yufeng shifted his gaze back to his room. After using Vishnu's characteristics to devour other Fallen Angels, the side effects of the hyper-mutation surgery could no longer be suppressed by Mobius's medication alone. Mobius had promised him that she would develop new medication.

He said, "No need. This level of pain is still within my tolerance. There's no need to spend time on this. Time for humanity is running out."

At that moment, Mobius's eyes seemed to change. It was the first time he had seen something else in the eyes of this mad scientist-like doctor.

"As you wish," Mobius said before moving on to her next experiment.

This pain was actually not that bad. It allowed him to stay consciously aware that he was still alive. Besides making him unable to sleep, everything else was fine.

After all, with his non-human physical quality, he no longer needed to worry about sleep deprivation causing any physical illnesses. The only thing to worry about was mental fatigue.

So, for the past few months, he had found another way to relax his mind: reading. Immersing his spirit in the sea of books allowed him to detach his attention from the pain. Wasn't that better than tossing and turning sleeplessly?

Perhaps he would occasionally try to clear his mind, to think of nothing. He could maintain this state for a long time.

Today, he planned to visit the three cities currently inhabited by humans, to take one last look at the final remnants of human civilization.

He had already decided to abandon the humans in these three cities. No, to be precise, after the tragedy of the Herrscher of Binding, he had given up on the possibility of humanity's civilization being saved.

If they couldn't defeat Finality, having more people was meaningless. In the previous world line, Kevin, with all his might, combined with the self-destructive full power release of the Moon Throne, had only managed to buy humanity a mere twelve hours. Even with him added now, what difference could it make?

He would discuss it with Vill-V the Wicked later.

To be honest, within Fire Moth, the only people he trusted now were Mobius and Vill-V the Wicked. As for Kevin and Mei… it wasn't that he didn't trust them, but rather, as a hero and a leader respectively, they were not suited to bear such profound darkness and sin.

"The despicable shall be buried by me; the light shall extend towards the future because of you… I remember, Otto said that, didn't he?" Zhu Yufeng thought aimlessly.

Was it because death was near that past events were so easily brought to clarity?

He knew his own body well. They said Fusion Warriors had lifespans far exceeding humans, but his remaining lifespan was probably comparable to that of a frail old person.

If he lived another year, it would be a testament to his resilience.

In reality, only a few more months remained until Finality's arrival. It was more or less the same. At least he would live to see the final battle.

Over-appropriating the authority of gods and stepping onto the ladder of divinity came at a price.

The morning sun streamed into the room through the curtains. The flawless girl awoke from her sleep, got up, measured her weight, dressed, and then pulled open the curtains.

"A new day has arrived. I must continue to work hard today, Elysia~" she said to herself as usual.

Then, as if remembering something, she walked to her desk, looked at the calendar, and tapped her head, saying, "Oh dear, it's your birthday today! How could you almost forget this? Hmm… I wonder what kind of gift my dear Eden will give me this time~ And Feng…"

Her words suddenly stopped. The smile on her face faded at that moment. She looked at the carefully wrapped, unopened gift box placed on her nightstand.

Just over a month ago, the gift she had given him was returned for the first time.

He hadn't even opened it.

Elysia walked to the nightstand and picked up the gift.

She didn't know what was wrong with her. When Kevin brought the gift back to her, her heart felt as if it had been pierced by something sharp.

This was the first time he had ever refused her.

"After all, it hasn't been that long since the Herrscher of Binding... the Eleventh Herrscher incident. Feng hasn't come out of it yet, so it's normal... We can still..." she thought for a moment, then said comfortingly, "We can still be friends..."

Can we?

She asked herself.

What had she done?

She had killed Lilith.

She had killed his lover.

She remembered when Kevin returned the gift to her, he had said: "Elysia, I know you meant no harm. I know you wanted to help Feng, but if you truly want to help him, I hope you do nothing. That would be enough."

Do nothing...

But what could she do? She couldn't even see Feng. What could she do?

She had always believed she was Feng's good friend. She had always believed Feng was her good friend.

So why did it turn out this way?

She didn't understand. If he hated her, if he resented her, he could have cursed her to her face to vent his emotions, or chosen to ignore her to show they were done. Why was he avoiding her? He would see anyone but her.

She was starting to not understand herself either. She realized she seemed to have changed somehow.

"I remember at the beginning of the year, he promised me that the gift he'd give me this year would be no less than Eden's... He's never broken a promise..." Elysia murmured.

He once again entered a human city, standing on the bustling street.

He looked up at the giant screen on the tall building. Unsurprisingly, it was broadcasting Kevin's achievements, assuring people not to worry, that humanity would ultimately triumph over Honkai.

He scoffed inwardly.

Humanity would indeed triumph over Honkai, but not now, and certainly not by them.

"Even if we only have our last three cities left, these three cities are untouchable by Honkai! We still have our hero Kevin, leading the Fourteen Heroes of Fire Moth, warriors who have experienced countless battles..."

Speaking of which, only a few in the Thirteen Heroes of Fire Moth were actually capable, right? Even if you added him...

And even if you said that...

Zhu Yufeng shifted her gaze to a corner of the city. Besides the original residents, there were refugees who had fled from other places. A city's capacity was limited, so they could only survive in this corner of the city, waiting for Fire Moth's material distribution.

Zhu Yufeng watched them, huddled together in the corner, leaning against the wall for warmth. She stood there for a moment before leaving.

He wouldn't feel sad about it, nor was there any need to.

"Andrew, where did you run off to again?" a woman's voice rang out, her voice filled with fatigue.

Zhu Yufeng looked towards the mother and son.

The mother crouched down to wipe the dust from the boy's face, scolding him, "Look at you, getting all dirty again. What have you been doing these past few days?"

"I was preparing a birthday gift for Alina!" the boy said righteously. "Her birthday is coming up soon. I want to get a job myself and buy her a gift with my own money."

"At a time like this, you're still thinking about buying gifts."

"But she's my sister. I'm her brother, and she's been looking forward to my birthday gift this year for a long time. I'm her brother, I have to take care of her."

Zhu Yufeng withdrew her gaze and walked in another direction. While this scene might seem heartwarming to others, in reality... it was just that.

It was likely that the little girl named Alina wouldn't even live to see her birthday pass before the city was gone. Or, to be more grim, perhaps she would be gone on her birthday itself.

Ah, birthday gifts again.

He remembered promising Elysia at the beginning of the year that the gift he'd give her this time would be no less than Eden's...

Even like this...

Kevin and Mei both said Elysia meant no harm, it was just that their starting points were different.

Griseo said she hoped he could reconcile with Elysia.

Pardo said to look forward.

Should he forgive Elysia? Why should he forgive her when she did nothing wrong? He only hated himself for losing that race against time.

"You did nothing wrong either. You've already done your best. You've worked hard enough, take a break." A voice echoed in his mind again.

"It seems I'm truly exhausted. Even I think I need to rest..." Zhu Yufeng sighed inwardly.

But if the string in his heart loosened, he might never wake up again.

It wasn't time to rest yet. Don't underestimate my willpower that has endured this long! he shouted in his heart.

When Zhu Yufeng came to his senses, he was standing in front of a tailor shop. He didn't even know why he had come here.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, a design sketch for a piece of clothing appeared in his mind. He definitely didn't know how to do this...

Did he learn everything by studying with Lilith for so long?

It seemed... not impossible...

Sometimes, inspiration that comes in a flash of insight can be no less than that of a professional designer. After all, one percent inspiration is the key to success.

He stopped, thought for a moment, and since he was already here, why not... give it a try?

Elysia sat by her bed, lost in thought as she looked at the gift she hadn't been able to give.

I haven't seen Feng all day today...

According to Phyllis, Feng went to the three remaining human settlements today, so... could it be that he was actually picking out a gift for himself?

"That's... probably not possible," she said with a wry smile.

She didn't even believe that possibility herself...

So... it's this late, why aren't you sleeping yet?

It's probably because she still believes he'll keep his promise, that he's preparing a gift, which is why he hasn't shown up until now.

Elysia quietly watched the minute hand of the clock slowly turn, and the hour hand pass by one number after another.

When the clock announced that the day had already passed, Elysia momentarily wanted to turn the clock hands back, but she knew that was just self-deception.

She sighed softly and turned off the light.

Outside the door, Zhu Yufeng held a long dress that the tailors had rushed to make. Looking at the time on his watch, which declared the day had passed, he sighed and chose to return the way he came.

He still didn't have the courage.