Binding Approaches

"Is this what you obtained from the Sea of Quantum?" Mobius frowned as he played the recorded words of Vita, one hand under his chin.

"This is a huge undertaking..." Vill-V said, looking at the various data collected in the quantum bubble in Su's Sea of Quantum. "If this really is the language of Venus, deciphering the language of a civilization we haven't encountered before, with only this one sentence, is still quite difficult, not to mention..."

Vill-V shifted her gaze to Zhu Yufeng, then quickly looked away, continuing, "It's not impossible that Vita deliberately used some trick to blur this audio. Of course, if the Cocoon of Finality has thoughts, it's also possible that it intervened."

Mobius didn't miss Vill-V's gaze. She also glanced at Zhu Yufeng, revealing a thoughtful expression. After thinking for a moment, she said, "Besides, while you were trying to find the boundary bubble related to the intrinsic boundary in the Sea of Quantum, we also had some news on our side."

"Hmm? What news?" Zhu Yufeng looked at Mobius.

"It's a piece of news that's hard to say whether it's good or bad. Just like the Tenth Herrscher appeared ahead of schedule, the Eleventh Herrscher, the Herrscher of Binding, has also appeared." Mobius said, lowering his eyes, "The candidate is indeed still Michael..."

"What? The Herrscher of Binding has already appeared?" Zhu Yufeng was somewhat surprised. The Herrscher of Binding appeared much earlier than the previous one, right? The Tenth Herrscher event had only just ended less than half a year ago, and the appearance of the Tenth Herrscher was also presumed to be about a month after the end of the Ninth Herrscher event, when people began to become the Tenth Herrscher.

"Fortunately, just like SEELE did back then, when Michael was chosen to become the unawakened Herrscher of Binding, she had already contacted us. Although you'll have to ask her yourself how she realized she had become Herrscher," Vill-V said with a shrug. "However, based on the results of the scan that Mobius and I have conducted on the Herrscher Core within Michael, her Herrscher Core ... appears to be in an incomplete state."

"You mean, there might be a third Herrscher of Binding, or a second Herrscher of Binding, existing or appearing?" Lilith asked.

"That's possible, though I'd prefer it to be because she hasn't fully developed into a Herrscher yet, which is why her Herrscher Core isn't complete... Speaking of which, we haven't even been able to find the last Thousandth Herrscher the Present, and the Present the Herrscher of Binding has appeared. I really don't know if this situation is good or bad." Mobius sighed softly. "And there aren't too many Herrschers within the Present Fire Moth..."

Zhu Yufeng knew what Mobius was referring to: the situation regarding the operation against Ugar that had been raised at the recent Mebius meeting. Now that the existence of the Herrscher of Finality was a foregone conclusion for the Fire Moth, the existence of Ugar became very intriguing. And on this issue, Mebius's viewpoint had remained unchanged:

Honkai and Herrscher have always been enemies of humanity.

"Aren't you really going to consider talking things out with Mei?" Zhu Yufeng asked.

"Given May's personality, I still don't recommend explaining these things to her too soon," Mobius said calmly. "Changing May's mind isn't something that can be solved simply by explaining things to her. You understand that, right?"

Zhu Yufeng looked away. Well, Mei was an absolutely rational person who, apart from Kevin, never showed any emotional side. However, after the high-level executives of Fire Moth suffered a setback, almost everyone agreed that Mei should become the leader of Fire Moth.

Mei is really... too rational.

Aside from her relationship with Kevin, which makes her seem like a person, Mei is almost like a robot in other situations... If you tell Mei that you are Herrscher, she might not say anything on the surface, but she will definitely take the time to make some backup plans or something.

As for why Zhu Yufeng knew this, it was probably because of what Mei told him after he was injured by the Honkai Energy blast in his previous life...

Of all the Fire Moth, if we were to say who most wished to die after the Tragedy of Binding, it would probably be Mei...

She frankly told herself that she didn't trust him, and that she knew about leaving the Honkai Energy chaff bombs undestroyed, and that the ultimate purpose of all this was to guard against him.

This was a rational judgment made by May. In fact, when Kevin was trying to save her, May did try earnestly with Mobius to save her life. This was due to May's pitifully little emotionality. Moreover, it was not out of May's trust in herself, but because May saw Kevin's trust in her, which is why she trusted him.

Since Mei chose to talk to him alone, Zhu Yufeng couldn't really guess what Mei was thinking at the time. In any case, he didn't blame Mei at all, because rationally speaking, Mei's idea was correct. He had almost lost everything in the Tragedy of Binding, and in everyone's eyes, he had broken ties with Elysia. At that time, he was like a human nuclear bomb without any protection. No one could guarantee that he wouldn't choose to betray humanity out of resentment.

Honestly, if I weren't a transmigrator, but a native of this world who truly didn't know what would happen next, I might have actually chosen to betray humanity after witnessing the Tragedy of Binding.

Therefore, Zhu Yufeng had no intention of blaming Mei for this incident. On the contrary, he felt that as a leader, Mei should indeed consider these things.

The Present to the topic, even if I confessed to May that I am Herrscher, and Kevin vouched for me afterwards, would May really believe me? Or how much would she believe me?

Even Zhu Yufeng herself didn't believe what she was saying... Mei had already developed some unpleasant, misguided thoughts about her relationship with Kevin, and she might even be wondering if she had deceived Kevin as well...

With the addition of the Tenth Herrscher incident, everyone has become overly sensitive about the Herrscher identity. Therefore, now is not the right time for Mei to explain everything. If we don't tell Mei, and she's the Present busy dealing with Ugar, wouldn't that be a waste of resources...?

"Or perhaps we could consider guiding Mei's thinking?" Elysia said. "Don't you all say that the authority of the Finality is related to time? Then Mei's research on Ugar's special abilities could indeed be used in the final the War of Finality, right?"

"That's true, but the most troublesome part is guiding Mei's thinking without making her suspect our intentions," Mobius said, pressing his temples. "However, before the War of Finality, we definitely need to make everything clear to Mei."

"How is Michael doing the Present?" Zhu Yufeng asked again.

"Her condition is stable, which is somewhat different from SEELE," Mobius replied. "However, as Vill-V said, based on the information we've gathered so far, the Herrscher Core within her is incomplete, exhibiting a fragmented state. We can't determine whether this is because she hasn't fully become Herrscher, or because... there really will be a second Herrscher of Binding ... In short, at this stage, we plan to closely observe Michael and extract the Herrscher Core. This will definitely happen soon, but not in the immediate future."

"I understand..." Zhu Yufeng lowered his eyes. Even now, the mention of the Herrscher of Binding inevitably stirs up considerable waves in his heart...

Suddenly someone gently grasped his hand, and then Elysia's soft voice sounded beside him, "It's alright, Maple. This time, we will definitely not repeat the same mistakes. We... will face it together."

Zhu Yufeng looked into Elysia's eyes, remained silent for a long while, and then nodded.

Mobius's eye twitched slightly, then she looked away. Considering that the Eleventh Herrscher's matter was indeed a grudge between these two people, she... decided to remain silent for the time being.

Zhu Yufeng then looked at Vill-V: "Vill-V, you just said that I need to ask her myself about why Michael noticed the changes in his body?"

"Yes, that's what she said. She insisted that you talk to her alone," Vill-V said. "Other than that, she wouldn't say anything else. But I guess... it's probably nothing too important. Maybe the girl feels that you haven't been spending enough time with her lately and wants to get more of your attention?"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Don't say things in such a weird way!

Mobius gave Vill-V a strange look, then looked away and said, "Who knows? Maybe she feels it's necessary to give you some advice, or maybe she wants to give you some sermons or something."

Zhu Yufeng looked at Vill-V, then at Mobius, and said, "I understand. I'll go talk to Michael the Present."

Elysia looked at Zhu Yufeng, released her grip on his hand, indicating that she would let him go. At the same time, she looked at Mobius and Vill-V with an inquiring gaze. She felt that the two of them must have noticed something, which was why they didn't seem to be very happy about what Michael was going to say to Zhu Yufeng.

Based on Elysia's understanding of Michael, the situation described by Vill-V is definitely not the case. As for Michael's feelings for herself and Maple... to be honest, although she is on the track, she can't really be said to be very enthusiastic. At most, she will banter with Seele during tea parties.

Michael did this not without reason. Of all the people currently on the track, Michael is the most special one, or rather, the one who evokes the most complex emotions in Zhu Yufeng.

After all, it was Michael herself who admitted to Zhu Yufeng that the Tragedy of Binding was orchestrated by her own will; in other words, she could even be considered Zhu Yufeng's enemy...

Michael probably understood this as well, so regarding her relationship with Zhu Yufeng, although Michael never hid her feelings for Zhu Yufeng, she never actively tried to win Zhu Yufeng over or anything like that, maintaining a relatively appropriate distance.

This distance, at least for Zhu Yufeng, is within an acceptable range.

Elysia looked at Lilith again, who noticed her gaze and gave her a cryptic smile.

Elysia: "..."

I have this feeling that I've been kept in the dark by everyone again...

Regarding Vita's words, Elysia was still unsure whether Zhu Yufeng had understood them, but the Present because of Lilith's interruption, she couldn't be sure anymore.

Although this incident made her feel somewhat discouraged, there was one thing she had to admit: Lilith had a clearer understanding of some of Zhu Yufeng's little habits than she did. Back then, when Zhu Yufeng said he couldn't understand either, she only subconsciously felt that something was amiss and had some doubts. But Lilith... if Zhu Yufeng was really lying, then Lilith would definitely know it better than she did.

Even though a long time has passed since her rebirth, Elysia is still unsure about Zhu Yufeng's alleged lying. Zhu Yufeng never lies to her, so even though she has this suspicion the Present, she can't immediately confirm whether he is lying or not.

In addition, although she also noticed some clues, such as Zhu Yufeng's strange expression after hearing Vita say that sentence, she could not be sure that he understood it. She could only say that the emotions contained in that expression were very complicated, like doubt and like thinking... In short, it would also be reasonable to explain that he did not understand it either.

Elysia can confirm at present is that Zhu Yufeng most likely knows something but has decided to keep it from her. When she asked Zhu Yufeng to confirm his true thoughts, Zhu Yufeng avoided direct eye contact by pressing his forehead. This may be a habit he has when he has a headache, or it may be that he did this on purpose to cover something up.

And the person who knows this situation best is undoubtedly Lilith ...

"But if Feng really is hiding something from me, Lilith definitely won't tell me either..." Elysia thought, lowering her eyes.

Assuming Feng truly understood, why wouldn't he tell me? Why did he insist on keeping it from me? Considering the strange words that had repeatedly appeared before, all the answers pointed to the "The Tragedy of Binding" and the "The Final Banquet."

It must be related to these two items...

Elysia recalled what Zhu Yufeng had said to her before she came over, "No matter what those words ultimately mean, I will keep my initial promise to you."

The initial promise... was that the two agreed to redeem each other.