Elysia: Why Is Mobius Here?

Zhu Yufeng sensed that something was wrong.

Has Elysia been appearing around him a little too frequently these past few days? He sees her during his morning exercise, during training, and even during his nighttime run... Does she really have nothing better to do?

Incidentally, he was simply trapped under the rubble and didn't suffer any broken bones from the debris... but he did lose a lot of blood due to cuts from the rubble.

The conclusion was that he was discharged from the hospital soon and entered the Fire Moth training camp here.

This recent situation is abnormal because he believes that he and Elysia are not that close at this stage. No matter how enthusiastic or outgoing Elysia is, she wouldn't be like that with a boy, right? He's not like Kevin, who's naturally gifted.

"Could it be... that Elysia was also reborn?"

Such a thought popped into Zhu Yufeng's mind, but if that were the case, then it was even more wrong.

In the later stages of the fight against the Honkai, he and Elysia had become estranged, and he didn't even attend the formation of the Fourteen Schicksal Fire Chaser. Yes, because of him, the Fire Moth's leadership approved the proposal to form the Fourteen Heroes of Fire Chaser. In the previous era, the predecessor of the Fourteen Schicksal of Fire Chaser was the Thirteen Fallen Angels he led. Originally, the leadership decided that he would be the leader, but he pushed the position to Elysia, Elysia pushed it to Kevin the next day... Getting back to the point, if Elysia is a reborn person, why is she so enthusiastic towards him?

Zhu Yufeng thought for a long time before recalling the only invitation Elysia had sent him before the Final Banquet. Although he had forgotten most of the details of the story and only remembered the general outline, he still knew why Elysia hadn't sent invitations to the other Flame-Chasers. Therefore, he interpreted Elysia's sending of this invitation as a sign of distrust, feeling that Elysia wasn't treating him the same way she treated the other Flame-Chasers, which bothered him. Furthermore, since he had just recovered and needed to make final adjustments before the Finality, he chose to have Kevin take the invitation back to Elysia, imitating Elysia 'Mei that he absolutely trusted Elysia and didn't need the invitation, before heading to Mobius's laboratory for the final stage of the "Project: Ascend to Divinity."

Could it be... that he misunderstood Elysia's meaning?

"At that time, was she the only one among everyone who wanted to make sure I attended that banquet?" Zhu Yufeng muttered to himself, then dismissed the idea. That was impossible; how could Elysia like a single human individual?

But... if the lie is true...

His attitude towards Elysia during that time, and his final refusal to keep the appointment... must have really hurt her, right?

Zhu Yufeng sat up in bed, quickly washed up, and prepared to go for his morning exercise. Just as he opened the door to his dormitory, he saw what appeared to be Elysia had just passed by.

Elysia greeted him, "Hi~ Good morning, Maple! I slept in a little today, thinking I wouldn't see you, but it turns out you also woke up a little late~"

"Ah... that's quite a coincidence, Miss Elysia." Zhu Yufeng replied with a smile, but in his heart, he kept wondering, could Elysia really be interested in him? Or was this just a coincidence?

Coincidentally, they share the same sleep schedule, both have a habit of exercising, and today he just overthought things and ended up Elysia in late...

Is it really that much of a coincidence?

No, his original schedule wasn't like this. It was adjusted later based on Elysia's schedule, and he carried that schedule with him after his rebirth... Oh well, today might just be a coincidence.

So what were you thinking about all that time you were agonizing over?

Having "figured it out," Zhu Yufeng dismissed the whole thing as a coincidence and didn't delve any deeper. However, he remained cautious about the possibility that Elysia might also have been reborn. After all... the current situation was somewhat different from the last one. What he didn't know was that Elysia was waiting for him to come out before pretending to pass by.

While he harbored doubts, Elysia also had her own: had Zhu Yufeng truly been reborn? In her memory, during the initial time she spent with him, his eyes would brighten whenever he saw her. But now... his reaction was truly indifferent, just like... back then.

If Zhu Yufeng were also reborn, would I really still have hope?

She recalled that when she proposed establishing the Fourteen Schicksal of Chasing Fire and making him the leader, he simply and readily gave the position to her, refusing even to be the deputy leader.

Even though he himself was the leader of the Thirteen Fallen Angels, the strongest Fusion Warrior squad of the Fire Moth... she often wondered if it was because of her that he refused to become the leader.

While Elysia was struggling with her thoughts, another person approached Zhu Yufeng, and the sound of her talking to Zhu Yufeng brought Elysia back to her senses.

When Elysia saw the green-haired woman, she almost didn't recognize her, but she immediately realized that the woman talking to Zhu Yufeng was Mobius.

But why is Mobius here? She shouldn't be here.

Could it be... that she was also reborn?

Elysia decided to first find a way to add a topic of conversation, and then try to get some information out of Mobius.

"Because I am the only survivor of this small-scale Honkai, they suspect that I have an extraordinary resistance to Honkai Energy, so they hope that I can join your laboratory?" Zhu Yufeng frowned and briefly repeated the purpose that Mobius had explained to him. "But, Dr. Mobius, why me?"

He does have an exceptionally strong resistance to Honkai Energy, but that's only relative to ordinary people. His Honkai Energy resistance isn't as abnormal as Kevin's, and it's not even as good as the later Kosma from the Fire Moth.

What puzzled him now was that Mobius hadn't approached him last time, and although Mobius's reasons now seemed reasonable, something just didn't feel right.

Mobius glanced at Elysia, who was quietly leaning closer to join the conversation, and then said, "It was Elysia submitted the report to me, which aroused my curiosity about you."

Elysia was bewildered. What report had she submitted? How come she didn't know about it?

Zhu Yufeng understood. So that's how it is. Then it's not so hard to understand why Elysia had been getting close to him these past few days. He understood observation.

Elysia quickly realized that Mobius was lying through his teeth and implying that she, like him, had been reborn.

She decided to go along with what Mobius was saying, "Yes, I didn't expect Dr. Mobius to act so quickly. It seems you care about me quite a bit~"

"Who's lying to you!" Mobius rolled his eyes and continued to lie through his teeth to fool Zhu Yufeng. "Your report only caught my attention. I came here after a detailed analysis of the possibilities." The detailed analysis referred to the reasons he had thought of for a long time on the plane to fool Zhu Yufeng, as well as his analysis of how he would answer in various situations.

"Logical..." Zhu Yufeng murmured. Although everything made sense, the initial problem remained unresolved. Why was the Present situation unfolding differently than in his previous life? The root of it all lay in Elysia's unusually enthusiastic attitude towards him...

If it is still the case that Elysia is also a reincarnated person, then perhaps Elysia did this because she believes that her behavior in her previous life needs to be changed?

"It's unnecessary." That's what he thought. His approach was the most suitable for humanity and the best way to fight against the Honkai. No matter how much Elysia wanted him to experience the true feelings between humans this time, he would not change his mind.

In his previous life, he brutally suppressed all armed forces opposing the Fire Moth, killing all rebels regardless of age. It was in this way that he ensured the Fire Moth were the only voice against the Honkai.

In the original timeline, when the Finality came, only 30,000 humans survived. In his previous life, he left behind 100,000 elite humans whom he had selected, and made Fourteen Schicksal, a total of 10 of whom survived to the next generation.

Therefore, he did not think he had done anything wrong.

This is Zhu Yufeng. At his core, he is an extremely arrogant person. He is more obsessed than anyone else with fighting against the Honkai, and he stubbornly believes that he is right.

He was never stingy with gentleness towards his friends, but he never showed mercy to his enemies.

There is actually a fundamental reason for this: he is not a person from this world; he is a player who views the previous text through tinted glasses.

He met the Thirteen Heroes of Fire Moth, who were even more real than those in the game, and even forged deep friendships with Kevin and most of the Flame-Chasers, but... that was all. He only knew the members of his own squad; he had hardly interacted with anyone else outside the game.

The Present, an opportunity to do better than in his previous life is presented to him. How could he refuse it?

"Then I'll leave it to Dr. Mobius." Zhu Yufeng extended his hand, and Dr. Mobius returned the handshake with a triumphant smile.

Now that Zhu Yufeng's consent has been obtained, the remaining procedures are much simpler. She will take Zhu Yufeng back to the Fire Moth to conduct special training in conjunction with her experiments.

It would be even better if his will to resist the Honkai was less intense.

While Zhu Yufeng was handling the formalities with Klein, Elysia and Mobius had some time alone together.

Elysia spoke first, "Mobius, you've been reborn too, haven't you?"

"Heh... I'm afraid it's not just me. I only realized how serious things were after I arrived at the scene. Besides you and me, Yu Feng has also been reborn." Mobius stared at Elysia and said, "Do you know what this means? It not only means that Kevin and the others also have a high chance of being reborn, but it also means that Yu Feng might be even more obsessive than in his previous life!"

Elysia remained silent.

"Given your behavior, he has very likely already deduced that you have also been reborn. The best course of action for you is to be more discreet and dispel his suspicions," Mobius said calmly.

"Why? If that's the case, can't we just be honest with him? Let's start over, fight again, and strive for a better future," Elysia said.

Mobius looked at Elysia speechlessly. "Elysia, do you have some misunderstanding about Yu Feng? Well, that's true, after all, he spent more time with me later, so you don't know him like this."

Elysia looked puzzled. She had always thought that Zhu Yufeng's obsessive behavior in the later stages of his transformation was because no one understood him and because he was too lonely.

Actually, she wasn't wrong. The problem was, it wasn't that no one understood him; it was that he rejected everyone!

Mobius sighed deeply, explaining wearily, "Yu Feng is too stubborn. Think about it, if it weren't for Yu Feng in the previous life, how severe would the disasters caused by each Honkai have been? They would have been far more serious than we remember. Yu Feng himself knows this, and precisely because he knows this, he's even less likely to change his thoughts and actions. If he knew that we were also reborn, he would only demand that we act according to his ideas and beliefs, otherwise we would still part ways in the end."

Elysia was taken aback, somewhat at a loss, because this side of Zhu Yufeng that Mobius described was indeed one she didn't know. For a moment, she didn't know what to do.

"The most effective way the Present is to make him believe that only you and he have been reborn, since he has trusted you from the beginning," Mobius said. "He will still accommodate you because he has always been this way, but that won't change his mind. What we need to do is slowly and silently change him. Do you mean what I mean?"

"I understand," Elysia said softly. "You're right, Mobius, I was too hasty..." She understood that it wasn't just the world that needed redemption, but also the lonely traveler who had gone astray.

But this made her feel even more sorry for the stubborn boy, because he had always been fighting against the Honkai alone, and no one had been able to save him.

Mobius looked in the direction Zhu Yufeng had left and said softly, "He's a child. Even with his stubbornness, he's still a child. He doesn't owe the world anything, and he never asks the world for anything in return... He shouldn't have become the Present this."

In her previous life, she was too engrossed in pursuing the infinite, so much so that by the time she realized it all, it was too late. But the Present, they have more time and more opportunities to slowly redeem this lonely boy.

Moreover, she also had her own selfish motives. Mobius glanced at Elysia; this time, she wanted to be with the person standing next to him.