Fate's "Compromise"

"Kevin or Elysia, which one do you think it is, Aponia?"

Zhu Yufeng looked at Aponia and said this.

"I foresaw Kevin's final fate long ago; he would leave alone." Aponia said, looking at Zhu Yufeng. "As he walked towards his end, he gradually lost all his companions, and his beloved... If this is your fate, Feng..."

"The Fallen Angel took on Flame-Chasers's fate, thus ensuring the continuation of the future..." Zhu Yufeng shifted his gaze to the operating room. "If I want to change everyone's fate, then someone has to take on their original fate. If you think about it that way, it seems that fate isn't so stubborn after all."

"Maple, this is no joke. You're gambling with your life," Aponia said softly. "You shouldn't be doing this..."

"No, it was just the possibility you mentioned that inspired me." Zhu Yufeng lowered his eyes. "What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again... If everything is ultimately unchangeable, then before the old and new generations alternate, Elysia will still sacrifice herself, just like in her previous life, to create possibilities for the next era. I finally understand... The time for her return has come. The daughter of God bids farewell to the world she loves with deep longing, and with wings she returns to the heavens..."

Aponia's expression shifted. "Maple, you mean..."

"If that day eventually comes..." Zhu Yufeng looked down at his hands and said, "What would happen if, when she is about to leave this world, her wings were clipped?"

Aponia looked at Zhu Yufeng without saying a word.

"What has been will be again; the Origin of things cannot be changed; what has been done will be done again; someone must leave behind a seed of hope called humanity for the next generation. Heh..." Zhu Yufeng chuckled softly, "Is that so..."

"Maple," Aponia said, "You... don't need to be so pessimistic. Even though you and I think that Mostima has taken on the fate that belongs to Mobius and Sakura in this incident, we can't rule out the possibility that it's just a coincidence."

"This is not pessimism, Aponia," Zhu Yufeng said, looking at Aponia. "This is a necessary preparation. From another perspective, isn't this a case of fate bowing down to me? It has admitted its defeat and has no choice but to compromise with me."

Aponia frowned slightly. "But such a 'compromise'..."

"We can't always have the best expectations, because we have no way out. The Honkai can fail countless times, but humanity... can only fail once. We can only fail once," Zhu Yufeng said. "The Present, Mobius and Vill-V haven't figured out the true reason and mechanism of time reversal. We don't even know if we'll have another chance. Of course, for me, no matter how many times, I will not change my choice. I want to save Elysia and reverse everyone's original fate..."

Since I was once a captain, I would naturally, like that guy in the Sea of Quantum, grab that person's hand no matter how many times.

Even if he were to be destroyed a thousand or ten thousand times in the War of Finality, he would swear to protect those he loved, trusted, and whose companions loved and trusted him... his family.

"Fate cannot make me bow down. The so-called drama of the gods is nothing but a bunch of fancy garbage used to deceive people's eyes." Zhu Yufeng continued, "But I have always known in my heart that resisting fate comes at a price, and I am enough to make fate agree to the price I pay and bow down to me."

Aponia looked at Zhu Yufeng, and for a moment she seemed to see the cold, aloof Lucifer from her previous life, the one who seemed untouched by anything in the world, but...

No, he was no longer alone as he was in his previous life. He had Fallen Angel and Flame-Chasers by his side. Although he would still make the same choices as in his previous life, this time, he made the same choices again for everyone.

"After all... that's what I promised Elysia, that I would save her from her fate and prevent her from leaving this world she so longs for." Zhu Yufeng's lips curled into a slight smile. "That's what I promised myself too."

Aponia lowered her eyes, knowing that the man before her was more stubborn and less likely to listen to advice than anyone else.

But...

She remembered the initial wish of everyone she met on Dusk Street when they first met that person: to save the person who was now deeply mired in the quagmire of fate.

This man was more arrogant than anyone else, so arrogant that he believed he could save everyone, yet he was also more clear-headed than anyone else, so clear-headed about the final outcome he would face.

Fate is not immutable; when He began to bow to the rebellious Fallen Angel, His defeat and the Fallen Angel's success were already proven.

This arrogant guy... does he really not know that no one will take everything he does for granted? Or has he become so arrogant that he doesn't care at all about the feelings that others might have for his efforts?

Aponia looked at the young man before her. All she could see the Present was that his fate was about to be destroyed once again. This was the price he was paying to his destiny, and this was his unwavering will.

"But you will not be alone again..." Aponia whispered. She had never looked forward to a miracle as much as the Present, hoping that fate would be reversed as it had in her previous life. But she also knew very well that this miracle was in the hands of all the Flame-Chasers.

"Call..."

Zhu Yufeng let out a long sigh, as if a weight had been lifted from his heart. He said to Aponia, "I still have to thank you for being willing to talk to me about these things. I feel like I've finally... gained some enlightenment?"

Aponia smiled wryly. This so-called talk and "enlightenment" has really only made you more delusional, hasn't it?

But she didn't speak. She was never good with words, and she knew very well that if she wanted the person in front of her to change and truly let go of everything he carried, it would only be after everything had settled down and everyone was welcoming the new dawn. Only then would he truly let go of everything, and Lucifer would disappear from that moment on.

Unfortunately, she was neither a genius like Mobius and Vill-V, nor a warrior like Kevin and Qianjie. All she could do for him was to keep their conversation today and not tell anyone else about it. He didn't want anyone else to bear the burden of this fate.

"By the way, Aponia, about what we said today... um, can you keep it a secret for me?" Zhu Yufeng said. "Although these are all just our guesses, this topic is still a bit too much for Elysia and the others. Of course, we don't want such a day to come, but we have to be prepared for it."

"Of course, Maple, I won't tell anyone else about this," Aponia said softly.

"I'm sorry, Aponia, I didn't want everyone to know about this rather heavy topic, but... I still have to trouble you to keep it to yourself with me," Zhu Yufeng said apologetically.

Aponia gently shook her head. She had long been accustomed to the life-and-death separations brought by fate, making her the perfect subject for this discussion. As for the others... even the seemingly most positive and hopeful Elysia harbored deep doubts about the unknown future. Mobius and Vill-V were the same; they had been tirelessly striving to change that shattered future. And then there were Kevin, Kosma, and others...

Although no one usually talks about it, their determination to save the Fallen Angel in front of them is unquestionable.

Zhu Yufeng shifted his gaze back to the operating room. Come to think of it, Mostima underwent Fusion Warrior surgery to save her life due to severe Honkai Energy Corrosion. Could this also be considered her bearing the fate of Griseo? But Mostima didn't have parents to lose. If her blood-related parents had died, Mostima would most likely have waved a flag and said, "Well done..."

My thoughts drifted back to myself. If that day ever comes, and I'm unable to pull the trigger that will determine my fate, who should I ask to pull it...?

Let me write this down first.

Mobius Laboratory.

"Doctor, based on the current statistics of Herrscher Core collected by our warriors, including those collected by Kevin and his team in Afiyanga, and those collected by Sakura and Maple during their missions, there are a total of 999 Herrscher Core," Klein said, holding the report in her hand. "Now, all the Herrscher Core have been moved to the Spiral Workshop. After Vill-V's repeated confirmation, there are indeed 999 cores. According to Dr. Mei's suggestion, we can now use the Tenth Herrscher Core to create Divine Key, and then use the Divine Key as a medium to further search for suitable candidates for the Fusion Warrior surgery."

"999?" Danzhu exclaimed in surprise. "That's outrageous! Although I initially thought there would be a lot of Herrscher this time, this is just too many! This... could there still be Herrscher..."

Cangxuan reached out and covered Danzhu Zhu's mouth. So much time had passed, yet his little sister still hadn't made any progress in this area. She just said whatever came to mind. Was this the kind of thing she was talking about?

"999? Are you sure?" Mobius frowned. "Didn't the Herrscher Core get destroyed during the battle between Qianjie and Immer?"

"Uh... Doctor, you should have known this a long time ago. The Herrscher Core Immer were among the first batch we collected," Klein said. "Regarding this somewhat coincidental number, we have all counted them repeatedly, Dr. Mei was also present. It is indeed 999."

But one star is missing from this collection...

"I understand..." Mobius said with a slight frown. "I will go with Vill-V to confirm the development of the Divine Key later. By the way, Klein, have you been feeling unwell lately?"

"Me? Hmm... I don't feel unwell anywhere?" Klein blinked, wondering why Dr. Mobius suddenly asked her this, but she was somewhat used to it. Ever since Maple arrived with the Fire Moth, Dr. Mobius hadn't been as fond of working overtime as before... cough cough, the Doctor never really liked working overtime anyway, and when he did, it was always by himself...

In short, the professor started taking time off from time to time, and occasionally he would take me and Feng and the others out to relax and unwind...

At first, I wasn't used to it. I realized that apart from experiments and writing reports, I wasn't very interested in other things and didn't have any particular hobbies. So when the doctoral students designated a break time, I didn't know what to do.

Fortunately, Rovoc was with her at the time, so she observed what Rovoc did during his breaks and then tried to imitate him. As for why she didn't learn from Danzhu, who was always slacking off, Klein said that she couldn't understand some of Danzhu's hobbies at all. On the contrary, Rovoc was somewhat similar to her.

Speaking of this, instead of worrying about his own genitals, the Doctor should worry more about how to further develop his relationship with Kaede. Lilith even has a child now—although it wasn't a natural birth and not many people know about it, but this is really not good for him and his senior Blanca.

If this continues, Dr. A, who already had little advantage, will have even less. After all, everyone else has learned to cook, while Dr. A is still waiting for Kaede to bring him food...

If it weren't for the fact that the Doctor has been really busy lately, it seems like Senior Blanca would have rolled up her sleeves and prepared to personally teach the Doctor how to cook.

Mobius looked up. Had Klein been thinking something strange just now? There was a strange, familiar, and unsettling feeling about him.

This girl is definitely thinking about her relationship with Yu Feng again. It's just cooking, right? She can make instant noodles, so she can cook! Besides, who else gets to have Yu Feng bring them food like this? She's winning way too much, okay?

Forget it, I'm a magnanimous person, I won't hold it against her.

Since Klein is not acting abnormally, where did the missing Herrscher Core go? Although the role of a Thousandth Herrscher is limited, if the remaining Thousandth Herrscher were to betray us at the crucial moment of the War of Finality, that would be a real problem for us.

Or is this the butterfly effect brought about by constantly altering the trajectory of their fate since their rebirth? Knowing that there are a Thousandth Herrscher, and that there is only one remaining, it will cause these reborn individuals to constantly doubt those around them, while those around them will remain wary of others, just as they were in their previous lives...

Tsk...

However, regardless of the circumstances, the losses and impact of this attack by Thousandth Herrscher are not as great as in the previous life. The morale of the people has not been broken. In the previous life, the Thousandth Herrscher were able to break the morale of the people not only because of the influence of suspicion, but also because of the repeated blows to human morale by the previous Herrscher.

"We need to come up with a solution as soon as possible and find the remaining individual..."

Lionel's office.

"999 Herrscher Core?" Lionel stared at the report that had just been handed to him, lost in thought. "Just one short. Is it to make the remaining Herrschers suspicious of each other? That's quite in line with the Herrscher's style this time... Of course, when making it public, they should have announced 1,000. As for the other warriors who know the truth... if they can't keep their mouths shut, they must be kept quiet."

"I didn't expect that although there were many Herrscher this time, they were much weaker than I thought." Beifengge sat on the sofa next to her with her legs crossed, filing her nails with nail clippers. "They can't even beat you. You're really weak."

And, as expected of Kaede's daughter, she casually destroyed a Tenth Herrscher. I'll have to go check on her after work...

Lionel placed the report into the shredder beside him and said expressionlessly, "I am, after all, a soldier of the Mu Continent and have been to the front lines many times. Even if I am far inferior to you Fusion Warrior, dealing with a Tenth Herrscher is still not a big problem."

"I thought you'd been sitting in the office for so long and all you'd gained was fat." Beifengge continued filing her nails, while also wondering if she should bring a gift that girls would like when she went to the store.

Lionel's eye twitched, and a "well" shape appeared on his forehead. "Don't lump me in with those guys who just talk the talk but don't walk the walk in the office."