What the Geo Archon Said Was Right

"Alright, I roughly understand the cause and effect. So, can you tell me why you taught Griseo that sentence?" Kosma looked at Zhu Yufeng with a resentful expression.

(When Mingming talked to Qianjie and Su, it was so... cool. Why did the art style become so strange after I changed it? What's with 'Roar, Kosma'? It sounds like I 'Artificial Collapse... It doesn't look like a Heroes at all. I can't let Griseo see this...)

"I think it's because you lack confidence and hesitate when you speak," Kevin said. "Besides, it's not surprising that Feng would say such things. Although he is the leader of the Fallen Angel and Heroes admired by everyone, he does have another side."

Kevin felt he had a lot to say about this information. After all, in his past life, he and Zhu Yufeng were brothers who had gone through thick and thin together. Putting aside everything else, he had spent more time with Zhu Yufeng than Elysia had with him.

Elysia glanced at Kevin. She... she did only find out about Zhu Yufeng's mischievous side after they met, but there was nothing she could do about it...

"... We made a promise, and I will always watch over you until you become the Heroes you want to be..."

Perhaps for this reason, she always saw Zhu Yufeng as a "Heroes," and was never able to get close to him. No one is a natural Heroes; he was once a boy, and because he was moved by the story of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, and because he could not let go of his own fate, he took on the responsibility of saving the world.

"That's what we think too. Amo, you can't always expect others to guess what you want to say just by looking at your expression, right? We even spent a long time reading the book that Sister Elysia wrote before we learned how to read your expression." Pardo also said that, after all, in order to get goods, it is also very important to learn how to understand the psychology of "customers". Although Pardo's literacy is not very high, she can understand Elysia's writing in a simple and easy-to-understand way. After studying it carefully for a while, she learned to understand Kosma's expression.

"I..." Kosma opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but then fell silent.

(Some things can be said, and some things can't be said or should be phrased differently. I'm doing this to appear more composed, and also to avoid making a fool of myself due to some oversight...)

"Look, here we go again," Kevin said, squinting.

"Ahem... Well... Astaroth, Maple, are you really so comfortable letting her Artificial Collapse?" Kosma chose to change the subject. "I remember when Astaroth triggered the Artificial Collapse, I was still in self-exile at the time. I only heard later that you quelled it."

"I know that, right?" Elysia said. She could indeed answer that because Astaroth's ability was extremely dangerous. At the time, Artificial Collapse was called "super-transformation". It was only after Mobius personally tried it that it was named "Artificial Collapse". At that time, the only Fallen Angel Squad who could cause artificial Artificial Collapse were Beelzebub and Abaddon. As for Zhu Yufeng ... although there was no record, this guy definitely knew how to Artificial Collapse a long time ago.

Lilith.

"At that time, the entire Fire Moth was on high alert, and the council was already preparing to send Kevin to suppress Astaroth," Elysia recalled.

"I received orders from the enemy to kill them immediately if the situation changes," Kevin said. "However, Feng found Astaroth before I did. When I arrived, Astaroth was already asleep in Feng's arms."

"If I had been there, I wouldn't have wanted this child to die like that either," Elysia said, looking at Zhu Yufeng. "So I watched the whole thing. Feng had Beifengge suppress all the fleeing soldiers, and he reached out his hand to the collapsing Astaroth, saying to her, 'I've brought you a new storybook. It's time to go home.'"

"And then... that's how it ended?" Kosma's eyes widened. This was somewhat surreal, wasn't it?

(Even I, who later became accustomed to fighting through Artificial Collapse, felt somewhat unable to suppress the berserk nature of the Vishnu Hypervariable Factor within me when Artificial Collapse. Astaroth... at such a young age, she can already control the Hypervariable Factor within her?)

"Yes, the scene was quite beautiful back then," Elysia said. "The monster covered in thorns shaped like a martial arts weapon shed its shell and turned into a seven-colored butterfly-winged elf. Then she reached out her hand to Maple and turned back into human form."

"As expected of Brother Yu Feng." Pardo's mouth dropped open. "When we encounter a monster like that, our first reaction is definitely to run away."

Zhu Yufeng glanced at Pardo and then said, "I think it's necessary to reiterate that Artificial Collapse is not a difficult task for the Fallen Angel Squad. Although Astaroth's Artificial Collapse occurred relatively early, several people, including myself, had already tried it before her. Moreover, I believe that Astaroth is a child and there is nothing to be afraid of."

"Speaking of which, I've never seen you in your Artificial Collapse before." Elysia looked at Mobius. "As a participant in the Project: Ascend to Divinity, you should have seen me, Mobius? Isn't your Artificial Collapse quite something?"

After a moment of silence, Mobius said, "Yu Feng is Artificial Collapse... If we don't consider his future form, his human-made Artificial Collapse can be roughly divided into two states: the Karmic Demon state and the Fallen Angel state. The Fallen Angel state is a further development of the Karmic Demon state. I'm used to describing this development as 'feathered'... Of the Thirteen Fallen Angels, besides Yu Feng, the only one who can become a feathered being is Lilith. Astaroth isn't even a feathered being; she just changes according to the external environment."

Elysia: "..."

A phased, Artificial Collapse? Feather? Lilith can do it too?! What to do? She's bewildered, but Zhu Yufeng definitely can't transform into a human right now...

"To me, Artificial Collapse is just a means of combat." Zhu Yufeng said after checking the time. "Hmm... it's getting late. Tomorrow, Mobius, you still have to get up and train as usual. You can't give up your normal routine. Klein, if she doesn't want to get up, just tell me and deduct a week's worth of instant noodles from her."

Mobius: "..."

Can't she just take a day off? Tsk, she needs to find a chance to get herself a Hypervariable Surgery. Wouldn't directly modifying her body be much faster? What's the point of exercising?

Elysia looked at Mobius's angry but speechless expression, then glanced at Zhu Yufeng, lost in thought.

"Is it already this time?" Sakura, who hadn't said much and had been just standing in the background, said, "Sorry, I'll be going now."

I was so engrossed in listening to Feng talk about his past that I lost track of time...

"Ah, Mei also texted me, asking me to come to her lab first thing tomorrow morning..." Kevin glanced at his phone, his expression turning somewhat resigned. "Well, there's nothing I can do, I have to leave early too..."

"Kevin, you've been spending more time with Mei lately, aren't you happy?" Zhu Yufeng asked Kevin, squinting. "Isn't it a good thing that Mei has become more proactive?"

Kevin put his hand on Zhu Yufeng's shoulder. "This is a big deal, but I don't understand any of the experiments she's going to do. Although she taught me, I... I don't understand..."

They were supposed to be in the lab together, which could have been a date, but Mei just left him to do the experiment alone. He didn't know how to do it, so he could only do whatever Mei told him to do and hand her whatever she asked for... Everyone says to ask if you don't understand, but Mei wouldn't explain and would just give up. If she did explain, his CPU would burn out.

My mind was filled with questions like, "Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?"

It hurts, it hurts so much.

When Zhu Yufeng passed by the laboratory and saw the document, it was in this situation.

"Hurry, let Lilith save May..." Kevin said, "Hasn't she passed the review yet?"

In her previous life, Lilith had a good relationship with Mei. She would teach Mei how to make Valentine's Day chocolates, tell Mei how to dress up, and even help Mei figure out how to get along with her, and even ask Mei to make time for a date with her...

It's easy to go from frugality to extravagance, but difficult to go from extravagance to frugality. Although Elysia can do it, she is still not as good as Lilith.

The question is, why hasn't Lilith returned yet?

Elysia: "..."

She hardened her fists. In her previous life, she had also talked to Mei about dressing up, and she had given Mei advice on her date with Kevin. In this life, she also told Mei to keep a close eye on Kevin. On Valentine's Day, she even dragged Mei to make acrylics together, but she couldn't convince Mei. In the end, Mei still made bio-weapons... After all, it was her first time trying to make acrylics to give as gifts!

You're co-writing Kevin, and while your relationship with Mei is heating up, you're still trying to get me to ship this couple, right?

Pardo: "..."

Boss Kevin is still Boss Kevin... Nothing can stop him from bringing Brother Yu Feng and Sister Lilith together... Hmm, I wonder if Sister Daisy will have a chance to come back for the celebration banquet in a few days. It'll be a bit difficult to find an opportunity if I'm alone...

If Lilith had already returned by then, things would have been even more complicated...

"If it were just Lilith alone, her arrangements would be quicker, but... now we also need to consider the placement of her sister and Mostima. Mostima herself isn't exactly clean, so it will take them some time to deal with these issues," Zhu Yufeng said.

"It should be within the next few days..." Kevin sighed deeply and left after Sakura left.

The remaining people didn't stay long either, and they all chose to leave together.

That evening, after Zhu Yufeng finished washing up, he saw a message from Elysia on his phone, as well as a photo from Lilith. Ever since that mission, Lilith had been relentlessly sending him one or two selfies every day. Elysia had seen them countless times; at first, she was a little annoyed, but later she became numb to it...

"Feng, is Mobius considered family now?"

Zhu Yufeng paused for a moment, then thought for a second and replied, "Why would you ask that?"

"Well... when I heard you say you treat the other Fallen Angel as family, you had some thoughts about it, didn't you?"

"After all, those you treated as family, except for Lilith, have no memories of their previous lives. And you, as a person from another world, valued them so much, yet in the Tragedy of Binding, it was because of me that the Fallen Angel Squad was almost completely wiped out."

Zhu Yufeng looked at Elysia's message and replied without hesitation, "I said it wasn't your fault. Even if I had negative feelings towards you because of it, besides, if we have to say, wasn't I also responsible for insisting on interrupting the mission and returning? It's all in the past. Now we start over. Although we've forgotten our past journey together, they are still alive and well, and we will meet again someday. So there's no need to keep worrying about it, Elysia."

Moreover, "family" is just a general term. He treats Kevin as a brother, at least more so than those two bastards Beelzebub and Nahamah. Does that mean Kevin is also his family? It seems strange no matter how you look at it.

"Because I also want to be your family!"

"After all, Lilith is also a Fallen Angel, so she's your family too, right? Why can't I be? o(≧口≦)o"

Zhu Yufeng stared at the screen, stunned for a long time. This...is something to care about? Where does this unwarranted competitive mentality come from? How come that Rock King from next door keeps bringing up his words so many times? And why does this topic feel so strange...?

He thought for a moment and replied, "I don't think this needs to be taken seriously, because to me, the Fallen Angel Squad is a group of people who have been abandoned by the world or who have actively abandoned the world, sticking together for warmth. We are all people who are isolated from the world for various reasons, so we have a kind of family-like feeling."

Birds of a feather flock together; this perfectly describes this group of monsters.

After a while, Elysia replied, "That makes sense. Now that you and I are both natural Herrscher, we are the same kind of beings. Can I be considered your family?"

Zhu Yufeng replied, "If that's how you think, then that's true."

"Speaking of which, whose cooking skills are better, mine or Lilith's?"

Zhu Yufeng's eye twitched. What kind of deadly question was this? Generally speaking, the only one who could rival Lilith's skills was Hundred Flavors Vill-V, but that was based on Hundred Flavors's specialized genius. For Elysia to compare with Lilith in this way... Although Elysia's skills were not bad either, Lilith had studied and received professional training.

This... it's time again, just as the Emperor predicted...

Should he tell the truth?

Zhu Yufeng was still pondering how to reply when Elysia's message came again, "Forget it, seeing how long you've been hesitating and not replying, I already know the result. Humph, you have absolutely no idea how to coax a girl. o(≧口≦)o"

Zhu Yufeng replied quickly, "Friendly reminder, although I'm no longer at zero in Lilith's emotional intelligence test, I haven't passed either."

"..."

Elysia replied with an ellipsis, which was quite unusual for her.

Elysia's room.

Elysia tossed her phone aside, buried herself in her pillow, and after lying there for a while, punched the pillow a few times. "Feng, do you have to be so straightforward! Besides, I didn't even see the results of the assessment in my previous life!"

Lilith's emotional intelligence test... How come she remembered that Lilith initially did this to teach Feng how to pursue her? Later on, it was definitely an abuse of power, using the guise of assessment and training to get close to Feng!

No, she wants it too!