Old Affairs

Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng, who had been silent for a long time. Judging from his expression, he seemed to be still pondering why Lilith knew things she shouldn't have known.

This is not a gaming community.

Zhu Yufeng kept thinking about what Lilith said. Anyone would have said the same thing; some veterans of the Fire Moth would say similar things when educating new recruits. But it was different when Lilith said it.

"Each of us truly exists in this world."

"We were once at odds, there are no secrets between us."

It's quite strange that Lilith perished in the Tragedy of Binding, possessed memories of her previous life, even though Lilith was important to him...

To put it bluntly, Zhu Yufeng felt that, in the past, his relationship with people like Kosma from the Thirteen Heroes of Fire Moth, or Su, Hua, and Aponia, was not as close as with Xila and others, and he didn't have much interaction with them.

Kosma had always had opinions about the Fallen Angel Squad's style. Hua, being a nobody, didn't like to associate with others. Although Su was Kevin's best friend, as the head of the research lab for the Fire Moth, he didn't have much contact with her. After all, back then, she always went to Mobius when she needed something.

As for Aponia, that's even more complicated.

His interactions with Aponia were extremely rare. Zhu Yufeng only remembered that he brought Aponia to the Fire Moth during the Dusk Street incident, and their conversation after the Final Banquet.

Or perhaps Aponia attempted to impose a set of Discipline on all the Fallen Angel, which was later broken by Rovoc and Admiralty.

So this doesn't explain why Lilith is so special. If the Thirteen Flame-Chasers are destined Heroes on the stage, it's normal for them to retain their memories. So why is Lilith...?

Or did Lilith replace Griseo? Because Griseo the Present quite young, and ordinary children's memories are difficult to retain from before the age of three.

My powers have been confirmed to be time-related, but how exactly do they operate? What are the underlying principles?

Like the Companion Honkai Beast Yuga the Present and doesn't even know where it is, its ability is most directly manifested in the simple and brutal Reset Spacetime.

Therefore, in the data on the Fire Moth, Yuga has always been the most dangerous Judgment-class Honkai Beast.

"Are you still thinking about Lilith?" Elysia asked.

"I can't help but feel annoyed." Zhu Yufeng frowned. "Lilith basically wouldn't tell me those meaningless lies, and she also said there's no secret between us..."

"Is it possible that she used Feather Dust on you?" Elysia speculated. "After all, as Key of Consciousness, Feather Dust can also be used to access memories."

Zhu Yufeng shook his head and said, "Impossible. I'm completely immune to Feather Dust, just like you tried to use Feather Dust to get information out of Kevin..."

"When did I ever use Feather Dust to trick Kevin into telling me anything?" Elysia asked, puzzled. "After Feather Dust was created, the thing I most wanted to do with it was... to trick you into telling me something..."

Zhu Yufeng fell silent, letting slip that it was Elysia from the Elysian Realm. But why was Elysia trying to trick him into revealing information back then?

Under Zhu Yufeng's gaze, Elysia shifted her look to the window and whispered, "Who told Lilith to call you out to tell on me back then? I didn't even see the ending... I just wanted to ask you, why did you agree to her..."

Then Elysia suddenly remembered something, and squinted at Zhu Yufeng: "Could it be that, without your involvement, I used Feather Dust on Kevin in the story?"

"... It was you in the Elysian Realm who tried more than once to use Feather Dust to find out the whereabouts of the Thirteenth Divine Key from Kevin," Zhu Yufeng said in a low voice. "You... you just wanted to know if it was pretty."

"But, the Thirteenth Herrscher ..." Elysia subconsciously wanted to say that it was Zhu Yufeng, but she stopped herself, because she quickly understood what Zhu Yufeng meant: in the story he was not involved in, the Thirteenth Herrscher was herself.

She was at a loss for words, because it was something she was capable of doing. Before the "The Final Banquet," she had even told Mei that her Divine Key had to be the most beautiful and best-looking.

And... she wanted to give the last thing she could leave in this room to Feng.

Zhu Yufeng sighed softly. He often thought that a girl like this could only end up like that, even though he knew the bleak future was coming from the very first time they met...

She loved humanity so earnestly and passionately, and was willing to give her heart to everyone, but in the end...

The woman we see in the game is nothing more than the last vestige of her memory as she journeys to the Elysian Realm.

This is the reason why he has persevered and never wavered in this strange yet familiar world after truly meeting and getting to know Elysia.

She was the first act of kindness this world showed to itself.

Not because she is the True Self of Flame-Chasers, not because she is the Origin Herrscher, but simply because she is Elysia.

She deserves to see the blossoming of post-modern civilization; she deserves to welcome the new tomorrow.

Otto could be selfish and give up everything for Kallen; he had done so before... But fate repeatedly declared its invincibility to him, and he had once had "family" like the Fallen Angel Squad in this world...

Yes, family.

That's what he thought.

He was a traveler from beyond the mortal realm. The Fallen Angel were sinners not recognized by the mortal realm. They banded together for warmth under Lilith's rule, but now, only he and Lilith remembered the past.

To be honest, Zhu Yufeng himself didn't think Lilith would have almost Thirteen Fallen Angels; this was all due to the silent understanding he and Lilith had developed over nearly ten years.

It was his intention.

Although Kevin is his best friend, a best friend is still just a best friend, and family cannot wait for him.

As for Pardo... she could be considered half family. The other Fallen Angel also liked this cat quite a bit, except for Lilith, who probably never had much affection for anyone else.

In the previous chapter, he always kept himself separate from other Flame-Chasers, but in this chapter, almost all the Flame-Chasers took the initiative to come to him.

However, he was probably also a stubborn and incurable person. When he was alone at night, he would always think of that journey of chasing fire that belonged to him and the other Fallen Angel, and this memory would constantly hinder him from getting close to the other Flame-Chasers.

Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng and guessed what he was thinking. It was probably another story he hadn't been a part of.

He probably always had this feeling about himself and others in the past... Even the Present, who dares to say he doesn't have this feeling?

But if she does that, she won't be able to keep him.

If he continues to act solely to change the ending of that story, he will always find it difficult to form any close connection with himself or others, and he may one day, on the day when the ending of that story is truly changed, return to his own world.

"But your story is already inseparable from ours. The story you foresaw will never happen again. It's because we met you, and the moment you decided to get involved, that this story began to change." Elysia reached out and took Zhu Yufeng's hand, whispering, "This is your story and ours, and from now on, no matter what happens, I will be by your side, so..."

You too... please stay by my side and don't leave, okay?

Elysia wanted to say that, but she hesitated when the words were on the tip of her tongue. She really couldn't be as frank as Lilith.

"I will go through this with you all again, I will go through this with you all." Zhu Yufeng said, looking into Elysia's eyes, "I will not leave you again, because we promised each other that we would face this together this time."

Elysia hummed in agreement and nodded gently. "Don't go back on your word, okay? I'll cry, I really will cry!"

"Alright, that's about enough about what we wanted to discuss regarding Lilith. Go on now," Zhu Yufeng said.

Mentioning Lilith, Elysia felt a headache coming on again. She truly felt she couldn't do anything about Lilith. In terms of chemistry with Feng, she wasn't as good as Lilith; in terms of the amount of time they spent together, she still wasn't as good as Lilith; and in terms of mutual understanding, she probably still wasn't as good as Lilith...

I thought that knowing Feng's identity and his story before they met would give me an advantage when facing Lilith, but it seems that Lilith found out about me through some special means.

Lilith said there were no secrets between her and Maple...

Elysia looked up at Zhu Yufeng: "What have you and Lilith talked about? Does this count as something about her?"

After a moment of silence, Zhu Yufeng said, "There are too many to list. You can ask them."

Elysia thought for a moment and said, "How does Lilith spend her days?"

People usually make a wish on Sundays, right? Given Lilith's personality, her wish will definitely be to manipulate Kaede again!

Curiosity, pure curiosity!

"She should... be someone who doesn't live more than a day, or rather, she's somewhat special?" Zhu Yufeng suddenly realized he should have kept quiet and left earlier...

Elysia observed Zhu Yufeng's expression. Goodness, there's something Feng doesn't want her to know!

Stare...

Zhu Yufeng's eye twitched, and she said helplessly, "Every time it's her birthday, she'll go on a mission with me alone a few days before... She said this is enough as a birthday gift."

Elysia: "..."

Going on a mission alone... just the two of you, a man and a woman alone... isn't that just another kind of date?

Moreover, she doesn't seem to be able to learn this, because she likes excitement and birthdays are something to celebrate. Even if she didn't think about it, her good Eden would definitely help her organize it. However, before Eden joined the Fire Moth, she did organize it herself.

Hmm... If not on the same day, then later is fine, right?

"You two haven't posted anything yet?" Elysia whispered.

Zhu Yufeng rolled her eyes. "Do you expect me to have something going on with Lilith?"

"Of course I don't want that!" Elysia thought to herself. She just wondered if Lilith had gone too far and backfired, causing her and Maple to end up with nothing.

No, it's likely that Feng still liked her back then. Even though he had let go, he definitely still cared about her! So Lilith probably wanted to use this method to get Feng used to their way of interacting, and then, without him realizing it...

"Anything else? What else have you done together?" Elysia continued to ask.

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Why do I feel like I'm being audited and investigated?

What have we done together...?

Zhu Yufeng thought about it carefully. He figured that bringing up that matter would probably calm Elysia down for a while, although he might get into even more trouble afterward...

Forget it, let's not say it out loud. Elysia might actually learn that trick, and even if she doesn't, there's a one in a thousand chance that Vill-V, who's eavesdropping right now, will...

So Zhu Yufeng said, "No, that's all."

"Really?" Elysia asked Zhu Yufeng with suspicion.

"Probably, there are too many similar things, I can't think of them all right now." Zhu Yufeng shrugged.

Elysia: "..."

Well done, as expected of Lilith.

Seeing that Elysia finally stopped asking questions, Zhu Yufeng breathed a sigh of relief.

He dared to say that when he was on a mission in the Far East, during that time he went to a hot spring, Lilith really dared to come right in. Xila and the others were tricked by Lilith into going to another hot spring, Xila Nahamah and the others didn't dare to go against Lilith at all.

So at that moment, he thought it was Nahamah and the others who had come, but when he turned around, he saw Lilith...

Fortunately, although Lilith was playing with fire, she always kept a good balance and didn't go too far. Even when they were soaking in a hot spring together, they maintained a proper distance.

There was no mention of needing to clean themselves or anything like that; they just had a few drinks together and chatted normally.

Aside from the time she drugged herself in an attempt to get to base, Lilith is usually quite sensible.

When they arrived at the original room, Kevin was still talking to Sakura and the others about some things he had learned about Lilith and Zhu Yufeng. However, Elysia actually knew about these things as well; in fact, they were the kind of things that anyone could find out by paying a little attention.

However, this did not stop Elysia from wanting to bury Kevin.

Seeing Fu Hua listening intently to Kevin's speech, Zhu Yufeng suddenly had a flash of inspiration. Feather Dust's hypnosis was ineffective against him, but Feather Dust's Zeroth Power could bind the user's consciousness to the target's. In the game, after Fu Hua was backstabbed by Otto, she was bound to Kiana through Feather Dust's Zeroth Power.

If Lilith had done that back then, she would indeed have had the opportunity to access her own memories...

He looked at Hua and asked, "Hua, before the Eleventh Law incident, did Lilith borrow Feather Dust from you?"