When Rivals Meet... Huh?

"Feng, this is..." Hen looked at Zhu Yufeng with some surprise. It seemed that this girl and Zhu Yufeng knew each other. Moreover, how come their clothes matched so well? Judging from Elysia's expression, did she also know this girl?

"Welcome to the Fire Moth, Lilith." After only a moment's hesitation, Zhu Yufeng extended his hand to Lilith.

Lilith immediately gave her a hug. "From today onwards, we are officially comrades-in-arms!"

Elysia's eye twitched.

Hen was also a bit confused and wanted to ask Zhu Yufeng and Elysia what was going on, but neither of them seemed able to answer the question. He could only look at Kevin, who had just walked over with Mei. Kevin and Zhu Yufeng usually had a good relationship, so Kevin should know something...

Kevin looked at Lilith and nodded. "Hmm, not bad. The twin stars shining brightly in the night, this outfit looks perfect."

"Kevin, what is the relationship between this young lady and Feng?" Hen asked Kevin. He remembered that there was no information about this girl in Feng's personal profile. Of course, this was because such information was not very important in the information needed by the Fire Moth, so it didn't matter whether it was there or not... Hen was more inclined to believe that she met Feng during a mission or vacation.

"That's a long story," Kevin then recounted the tale he had made up.

After listening, Hen seemed thoughtful. In short, Lilith knew Feng earlier than Alicia? However, judging from Kevin's story, it seems Lilith developed a longing for the world Feng described, which is why she had special feelings for him? Feng probably didn't have such thoughts, after all, there were quite a few pretty girls in the Fire Moth, and some even sent love letters to Zhu Yufeng, but he rejected them all.

Besides, haven't we seen enough instances of children losing due to unforeseen circumstances?

He will always support Elysia!

"Hey Lilith, haven't you been hugging me for too long?" Elysia said, squinting. "And I told you beforehand that I'm Maple's first dance partner tonight."

"What does it matter?" Lilith's lips curled into a mischievous smile. "Given my relationship with Feng, what's wrong with hugging a little longer?"

Holy crap? This girl's appearance is almost on par with Elysia's. What did Miss say? What special relationship does she have with Kaede?

"Damn it!! I want a childhood sweetheart like that too!" A soldier who had spoken to Kevin that morning wailed, clutching his head.

His shout made everyone realize what was happening, and their gazes toward Zhu Yufeng became somewhat strange. What a guy! He has such a beautiful childhood sweetheart, and he even joined the Fire Moth as Elysia's second-in-command?

A group of people instantly conjured up this scenario in their minds:

She had always secretly loved her childhood friend, a girl who disappeared during a Honkai and was never heard from again. It turned out her childhood friend had actually been rescued by another beautiful girl, and she fell in love with her at first sight. For her sake, she joined the Fire Moth. By chance, the girl came into contact with the Honkai and met her childhood friend again. However, she discovered another girl beside her childhood friend, and unwilling to accept this, she too chose to join the Fire Moth ...

What kind of dramatic love story is this? Feng, you're a truly heinous man!

"Childhood sweethearts?" Lilith was slightly taken aback. When did she and Feng become childhood sweethearts? She and Feng were once inseparable. Why would she need something like that?

"Kevin's editor," Zhu Yufeng explained softly, a dark expression on his face. "Alright, Lilith, can't you just shut up a bit?"

"I refuse~" Lilith said with a laugh, "This is quite interesting, then from now on I'll be your childhood friend Lilith ~ the Present I can only rely on you, so you have to take responsibility for me~"

Lilith spoke the last sentence a little louder, just loud enough for the people around her to hear in the noisy environment, and the crowd instantly erupted again.

"Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!" an older soldier exclaimed. "This move forces Feng to take responsibility and familiarize herself with the Fire Moth. Even if Elysia the Present closer to Feng, she will eventually close the gap in their relationship. Brilliant, absolutely brilliant!"

"Green plums never give up!" someone said.

Upon hearing this, Elysia silently considered the possibility of her transforming into the Present of Origin Herrscher and turning Kevin into a meteor. Of course, it was just a thought; she could even comfort herself by thinking that at least Lilith hadn't kissed Feng in front of everyone, right? After all, doing so would cause Feng considerable trouble. Although Lilith was outrageous, she certainly wouldn't do anything that would cause Feng trouble. So, in that case, Lilith the Present Fire Moth wouldn't have much of an advantage, would it?

"Well, isn't this enough for us friends to catch up?" Elysia said. "Lilith, Maple is usually very busy, but he's also my friend. If he wants to get to know the Fire Moth, I can help him too~"

"I see." Lilith smiled and nodded, releasing her grip on Zhu Yufeng. "Then please continue to guide me, Elysia- senpai?"

Elysia smiled and corrected, "Using 'senpai' is too formal, just call me Elysia ~"

"Oh dear, but you joined the Fire Moth earlier than me, shouldn't I call you senior?" Lilith leaned close to Elysia with a "good girl" look on her face. "I should thank you for taking care of Maple all this time."

You've already gotten into character so quickly, haven't you?

Elysia thought to herself, then said, "No, rather than saying I took care of Feng, it's more accurate to say that I received a lot of care from Feng."

"What kind of people would Feng take care of? But for a pretty girl like Elysia- senpai, it's not impossible." Lilith said with a smile, "There's still some time before the ball starts. Could I bother you for a while and hear some stories from Feng during this time?"

"Of course, no problem! I'm happy to share anything related to Maple too~" Elysia said with a smile.

Watching the two leave, Hen walked up to Zhu Yufeng and teased him with a low laugh, "Feng... I didn't expect you to keep this so well hidden. I've never heard you mention having such a childhood sweetheart before."

To be honest, Lilith's beauty is truly comparable to Elysia's, yet Zhu Yufeng has never mentioned it to anyone except Kevin. This suggests that Zhu Yufeng may not have much affection for Lilith, perhaps only seeing her as a younger sister. Moreover, Zhu Yufeng clearly joined the Fire Moth because of Elysia. Regardless of whether it was love at first sight, their relationship the Present more than friends but more than lovers. It can be said that Zhu Yufeng's feelings for Elysia are genuine, not just based on her appearance.

Judging by appearances alone, Lilith clearly has deep feelings for Zhu Yufeng, while Zhu Yufeng's expression towards Lilith is full of helplessness. What does this say? It means that Lilith truly loves Zhu Yufeng!

He, Hen, will never waver in his stance of loving Feng Party!

Zhu Yufeng glanced at Kevin, who was giving her a thumbs-up, and said with narrowed eyes, "Yeah... he is indeed a rather troublesome childhood friend..."

In the previous life, Lilith had never given him any headaches. However, in this new life, several girls around him were interested in him. It would be strange if Lilith's troublesome personality didn't cause him any trouble.

"What do you think will happen when she gets along with Elysia?" Hen teased again.

"They'll be fine. I even think they could be best friends if it weren't for me." Zhu Yufeng shrugged. Since Elysia and Lilith were whispering to each other, he had nothing else to do, so he went to eat.

"Sister Ying, do you think we should give Kevin some extra training or something in the future?" Pardo asked Ying blankly.

Sakura paused for a moment, then said somewhat uncertainly, "Even I... I'm afraid it's hard to say I can definitely beat Kevin right now... In the entire Fire Moth Clan, the only one who could easily defeat Kevin is probably Elysia, right? As for Maple, she should be able to too... But I can give it a try..."

Pardo, holding the back of her head and squinting, complained, "Sister Lilith was already powerful enough, and Boss Kevin even created opportunities for her. But I think Sister Vill-V and Mobius will probably never be done with Boss Kevin again."

Sakura remained noncommittal upon hearing this. She was still pondering whether she should spar with Kevin. After all, when she assassinated Mei, Kevin had stopped her but was also injured. Now, both she and Kevin were stronger than they were back then, but she didn't know their current strength.

Xila's doubtful expression was still etched in her mind. She had decided after her rebirth that it was her turn to protect Kaede this time, but given the current situation, she felt that she couldn't protect him either.

After Feng revealed his true identity to everyone that day, Ying also thought a lot. Just to change the imperfect ending of a story, he challenged fate alone in this unfamiliar world, shouldering responsibilities that were not his own, stubbornly and presumptuously trying to save them in the story...

Sakura knew very well how stubborn Zhu Yufeng was. She also knew that he could have chosen to stand by and watch, but he embarked on this path of no return. If he couldn't change the final outcome, then Zhu Yufeng's fate as a person would remain unchanged...

No one would take what he did for granted.

So that very day she went to find Mobius, wanting to discuss the issue of the Hypervariable Surgery with her. Even though Yaksha hadn't appeared yet, she was willing to accept the Hypervariable Factor of other Honkai Beast, even if it might bring some unknown side effects... She needed to become stronger in order to lead that traveler from another world away from that road of no return.

However, Mobius rejected her, telling her that as an active Fire Moth warrior, her identity was different from Xila's. If she completed the Fusion Warrior surgery, it would be difficult to hide it from others, which would lead to an upgrade of the Honkai's military, and the Restraint would likely appear ahead of schedule. In that case, they would face an unknown war, and they could not afford to gamble with that future.

"If you really want to protect him, then watching him from a distance for now is just as good. After Xila can't always be following Yu Feng around openly. She has her own things to do," Mobius said.

Later, she went to see Vill-V again because the Herrscher Core of the Third Herrscher was in the Spiral Workshop, and she wanted to know the progress of the Seven Thunders of Purification. Vill-V's answer to her was surprisingly consistent with that of Mobius, which showed that the two of them had discussed it beforehand.

The manifestations of Honkai will evolve along with technological advancements, from natural disasters at the beginning to the emergence of Emperor-class and even End-of-Law Honkai Beast, and then to the birth of Herrscher. No one can predict what kind of enemy they will face if the technology tree climbs too high.

While Sakura was still pondering, Pardo said again, "By the way, where did Amo go? We haven't seen him at all since the banquet started."

The entrance to the banquet hall.

Kosma, dressed in a formal suit, leaned against the wall. When he saw Disaster rushing over, he stood up and said, "... You've finally arrived."

"Phew... After all, banquets like this are rare..." Disaster said, panting. "Alright, back in South America, Lilith helped Hua and me a little, but at the speed we were dealing with those things, we probably wouldn't have made it to this banquet... However, Lilith seems even colder than Feng. She really only helped us out of the blue, and as for those refugees... she didn't even give them a second glance..."

(This is Lilith... She can't persuade Feng, and might even lead him to the abyss. There's still no news about Michael, I can't find him... I can only hope Kevin can perform well and let Elysia and Lilith fight for a while longer.)

"Hey Amo, you weren't waiting for me here all this time, were you?" Disaster said with a hint of teasing.

"Yes." Kosma nodded very quietly.

(Because I believe you will definitely come back, even if it's just a second before the ball ends... I want to walk into the banquet hall with you and fulfill the promise I couldn't keep in my past life... I won't let tragedy happen again. In the end, we can definitely turn this imperfect story into the one we want it to be.)

Disaster paused for a moment, then smiled and said, "Amo, you're becoming more and more frank."

"Let's go." Kosma extended his hand to Disaster.

On the other side.

"I didn't expect you to arrive so quickly. Have you resolved the issues regarding your sister and Mostima's accommodations?" Elysia took a glass of juice from the bar. "What kind of drink do you like?"

"It might not have been that fast. Although Disaster is more adaptable than Hua, she's still too slow at handling things. If Gianna and Mostima's accommodations weren't settled, I wouldn't have been able to get here. So, I just helped her out." Lilith said casually, while asking the bartender for bartending tools and starting to mix her own drinks.

"You really know a lot of things," Elysia said, watching Lilith skillfully mix drinks.

"I believe you can do it too if you study it professionally like I have, so it's no big deal," Lilith said. "However, I didn't expect Kevin to come up with such an interesting identity for me. It seems that my efforts to get closer to Mela weren't in vain."

"So, you really did participate in the design of this outfit I'm wearing now?"

"Well, you don't need to worry about that. I did participate, but some of the design concepts were Feng's own ideas. I just did the design within the framework Feng provided," Lilith said with a shrug.

Elysia took a sip of her juice and then said, "Well, I should still thank you. I quite like this dress."

"That's just how you are, always so full of goodwill towards this boring world." Lilith shook her head. "How should I be considered your rival in love? When you were talking to me before, you could have said that I was an acquaintance of Feng's. After all, friends and acquaintances are different concepts, but they can be used at the same time."

"Because I don't think it's necessary," Elysia said. "Even... you and Feng might have reached the level of close friends... After being reborn, I realized that Feng carried so many responsibilities that weren't his, and I realized... there was once someone who loved me so passionately. I want to rekindle this relationship, but that doesn't mean I will reject other people."

"That's why I can't hate you. After all, no matter how much I hate you, you'll always smile and continue to treat the world with enthusiasm, radiating your True Self ... I have no interest in that kind of thing." Lilith mixed a drink and placed it in front of Elysia. "Want to try it? It's a drink I tried myself, called 'Maple'."

Elysia picked up her glass, took a small sip, and said, "Bitter, with a hint of coolness, and... a faint, almost imperceptible passion of his... Is that how you understand Feng? That's not wrong... Can you teach me later?"

"Of course," Lilith continued mixing the drinks.

There was no trace of rivalry between the two; instead, they chatted harmoniously like old friends.