The Buried Past

After everyone else had left, Mobius looked at Elysia, seemingly deep in thought.

Elysia asked, somewhat puzzled, "Mobius, why are you looking at me like that?"

Mobius withdrew his gaze and said calmly, "Actually, there was another more important issue just now, which is that besides Maple and Lilith, Elysia, you also have a problem."

"Huh?" Elysia was taken aback. Was there a problem with her? What was the problem?

Vill-V reacted quickly, after all, she and Mobius were scientific geniuses among the Flame-Chasers. She immediately understood the meaning behind Mobius's words. Elysia explained, "Because the survivors after the world's opening, apart from you, are all people who survived the Finality battle, and you are the most special one."

Elysia lowered her eyes and thought for a moment, then quickly understood what Vill-V meant. As the Origin Herrscher, she had released her powers after the [The Final Banquet] and returned to the origin of Honkai. Afterwards, Vill-V also told her that it was like a drop of water returning to the ocean, and she might not even be able to maintain her own identity.

If the world of Honkai opens and everyone is in chaos, then how did Zhu Yufeng manage to manipulate the Honkai origin without even having any recollection of it, separating Elysia who had already returned to Honkai?

When she came to this conclusion, Elysia almost doubted that she was a fake, but she quickly dismissed it, because Zhu Yufeng could not possibly know her feelings for him, or her thoughts at the time. If he had known, the two of them would not have ended up not seeing each other in the last night.

"While my example may differ from the actual situation, it roughly answers the question Mobius is asking," Vill-V said. "If a drop of water that has returned to the ocean is separated again, is it still the same drop of water?"

"From our perspective, this is difficult because no one can turn back time. But if Yu Feng's power is truly as we imagine, a power based entirely on the concept of time, then it wouldn't be difficult for him to do this. But in doing so, he's even closer to the concept of the Finality," Mobius said. "Also, if you still retained individual consciousness at that time, do you still remember the situation?"

Elysia paused for a moment before replying, "If that's how you think about it, then I might have indeed retained my consciousness as an individual during the Honkai. I have memories of that time, but they're blurry, like a dream... so I've never really paid much attention to them..."

"What did you dream about?" Mobius asked.

Elysia looked at Mobius for a long while before whispering, "I dreamt of a world without him. I can't remember the details now, but I remember it was a world without him..."

So the first thing she did after she died was to dig out the guy who was buried under the rubble to make sure he was still alive.

If Mobius hadn't brought it up, she would have always considered it a dream she had after she woke up, because she quickly forgot about it after waking up, only knowing that she didn't want to go to him and didn't want to see the world without him.

Now that I think about it, could the story in that dream be the story that Feng mentioned to her that he knew?

And there's something strange about it. She once dreamed about the last gift Zhu Yufeng didn't give her. If you really want to talk about it, it's quite mysterious. Logically speaking, there's no way she could know what gift Zhu Yufeng would give her, but not only did she dream about it, she also knew that he stood in front of her door for a long time.

"Without him, isn't this world just the story of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers he never participated in?" Vill-V said.

"Alright, I got it." Mobius mentally noted down yet another conjecture that needed verification, then his gaze fell on Vill-V's ear, which was still wearing a miniature earpiece. "After that, nothing else happened, Vill-V. You're probably still eavesdropping on Yu Feng, right? He and Lilith shouldn't be exchanging anything, right?"

"Oh, that?" Vill-V replied. "Mostima invited him and Lilith to the house of her and Lilith's Sister. From what I've heard so far, it seems that Lilith's sister has put Yu Feng and Lilith on Lilith's whitelist because she believes that Yu Feng and Lilith like each other and will become parents in the future. Right now, it seems that Lilith has gone to cook."

"Speaking of which, Mei seems to support Lilith and Feng now. Although she didn't say much, the apologetic look she gave me was the general idea. No matter how you look at it, it's inseparable from Kevin." Elysia said with narrowed eyes. She can cook too, and she'll try to find a way to get Feng some late-night snacks tonight.

"At least we don't have to worry about Lilith and Yu Feng getting involved in anything." Mobius waved his hand. "There's nothing more for you to do here. You can leave."

"That's a really heartless thing to say," Elysia said, hands on her hips, looking at Mobius. "But I believe that Dr. Mobius's heart is always softer than you make it out to be!"

Mobius's eye twitched, but he said without flinching, "Elysia, don't push your luck! I have other experiments to do here. What are you doing here as an irrelevant person?"

"Hey, don't always talk to me like that. Everyone in the Fire Moth misunderstands you because of it," Elysia continued, trying to tease Mobius. "How about I bring you a super cute pink dress next time? That way, people will think Dr. Mobius is so adorable and approachable today~"

Mobius's face darkened. "Elysia! Stop stuffing pink dresses into my closet! I don't like pink! Not at all!"

Vill-V looked away. In the memories of any of her personalities, Mobius was always completely at Elysia's mercy. And Elysia wasn't wrong; at least Mobius genuinely respected Elysia. With anyone else, Mobius wouldn't have been so "polite." Of course, this also included the fact that Mobius was completely powerless against Elysia...

After the "The Final Banquet," all of Elysia's medical reports were destroyed by Mobius. The Fire Moth left behind only the legend of the Thirteenth Herrscher. Some even speculated that Mobius hid the Thirteenth Divine Key. But in reality, Mobius simply didn't want anyone to know that Elysia had been a Herrscher from the very beginning.

The participants and those in the know colluded to weave a lie, or perhaps they simply followed their own instincts, believing that Elysia was, and remained, a human until the very end.

After Elysia and Vill-V left, Mobius sent a message to Zhu Yufeng.

On the other side.

Looking at Lilith chopping vegetables in the kitchen and Gianna washing vegetables while standing on a stool, Mostima said with a complicated expression, "Maybe in a few years at most, she will find out what really happened back then."

Gianna is intelligent; sooner or later she will find out what a gun is, how Adams died, and what it meant when Lilith pointed a gun at her. But she loves her sister so much; can she really accept that cruel truth?

"I've always believed that there's always a way out," Zhu Yufeng said, arms crossed. "It's certainly not wrong to plan ahead, but who can say for sure about things like this? She'll have to accept it sooner or later; a lie is still a lie."

"At least Lilith won't do anything to Gianna for the time being, which is good news, I suppose," Mostima said with a wry smile.

Zhu Yufeng noticed his phone vibrate in his pocket. He took it out and saw it was a message from Mobius.

After reading the message from Mobius, Zhu Yufeng looked at Lilith in the kitchen and gave her a thoughtful expression.

Suddenly, Lilith turned around, squinted at Zhu Yufeng, and said, "Hey Feng, it's one thing that Mostima can't cook, but you can, right? Are you just going to stand there like that?"

"Can't you handle this all by yourself?" Zhu Yufeng tilted her head.

Lilith: "..."

Seeing Lilith's "you know what I'm going to say" expression, Zhu Yufeng shrugged helplessly and went to the kitchen to help Lilith out. He knew exactly what Lilith was up to. Look at the scene in the kitchen now, doesn't it look like a family of three?

Mostima looked around and felt completely out of place standing there, someone who couldn't cook...

Now let's talk about the other people.

Kosma had barely taken a few steps out of Mobius's laboratory when he saw Disaster standing not far away, chatting with Rovoc. When she saw him come out, Disaster waved to him. Kosma reached out his hand, hesitated for a moment, and then put it down, nodding to Disaster instead.

Pardo squinted and said, "Amo... wouldn't it be better if you showed a little more enthusiasm?"

Kosma thought for a moment, then finally said, "This is how I interact with Disaster right now, but it will gradually change... maybe?"

Well, Kosma was still somewhat concerned about his image in the eyes of others. This wasn't the first time that Pardo had given him a "So this is what you're like, Amo" look. Sakura and Kevin's eyes would occasionally turn teasing. It seemed that his image had only remained intact in Hua's presence.

(Would it be better to act a bit more mature? The male Flame-Chasers among the Fourteen Schicksal, except for Qianjie, are all very composed. Even Su maintains a calm demeanor most of the time, and I can't fall behind...)

Seeing Kosma and Disaster together, Kevin sighed inwardly. If only Maple could be as easy to manage as Kosma and Disaster. Sigh, the Feng-Lilith Faction ship still had a long way to go. But now he had Mei's help! Mei and Lilith had been communicating quite a bit lately, and although she hadn't explicitly stated her position, Kevin knew that Mei was now on his side!

The day when I can eat plums without having to be rushed to the hospital for emergency treatment is almost here!

He didn't linger, but instead went in the opposite direction from the others. Everyone knew he was looking for Mei, since Kevin usually only went to find Mei after the mission was over, unless he was called away by Mobius as soon as he returned.

"Sakura-nee, are you still going home to stay with Rin-nee?" Pardo asked Sakura.

Sakura nodded. "So, what are your plans with Hua?"

"We don't have any plans for the time being..." Pardo scratched her head. "Mobius said this time seems to be very important, but we don't think it's anything special. After all, even if Yu Feng becomes the Finality, he will still be Brother Yu Feng. Because back then, he was always fighting alongside us. If we do it all over again, wouldn't he still be Brother Yu Feng? Whether it's Brother Yu Feng or Sister Elysia, they have always been our companions."

Hua didn't speak; she simply nodded silently in agreement with Pardo's opinion.

"No, it's not the same..." Sakura shook her head, but seeing the confusion in Pardo and Hua's eyes, she didn't explain further. She simply said, "Never mind, it's fine if you all think that way. By the way, if you don't have any plans for the future, how about coming back to my house with me?"

Pardo and Hua exchanged a glance, and Pardo spoke first, "Of course we can! Speaking of which, Sakura-nee, can I play games with Rin-nee? I'll keep track of the time!"

Sakura nodded somewhat helplessly. "Of course, I'm not some strict parent..."

Hua hesitated for a moment, then said, "I guess I'll... not play with kids? I'm not very good at playing with children, and I don't know what to do if I play with them..."

"Hua, don't always be like this!" Pardo pushed Hua towards the door. "Come on, come on, it's not like everyone doesn't want to be your friend. Aren't you bored meditating alone in the dorm?"

"You'll get used to it." Hua wanted to say that to Pardo, but in the end she chose to acquiesce. During this time, everyone was trying to get her to accept more things from the outside world. Himiko also keeping in touch with her. In addition to asking her every day if she wanted to join the Far East Branch, she often told her to communicate more with the people around her and not to always remain silent.

Looking at the two girls in front of her, Sakura sighed softly in her heart.

As one of the weaker fighters among the Fourteen Schicksal, Pardo was only assigned the task of sending Prometheus into the "Gate" during the Finality battle. She was unaware of and could not understand anything else. Hua, on the other hand, only cared about completing her own mission and did not care about anything else. Therefore, apart from matters related to the Kindling Project, Hua knew very little about other information.

Unlike Ke Ying, who was among the top fighters in the Flame-Chasers and one of the original nine Fusion Warriors, Zhi Yu had a lot to say about her, though not as much as Kevin and Su Zhi Yu.

She certainly believed in Zhu Yufeng's stance, but... if Zhu Yufeng really did what Mobius predicted, it meant that to end the Honkai, they had to defeat the Finality, whether it was the one born from the Cocoon of Finality or the one right beside them now.

"However, if it really comes to that, Mobius and Vill-V must have a way, right?" Sakura thought to herself.