Chapter 140

"A new plan?"

Cosmo finally snapped out of his reverie. "What new plan?"

"Stigmata Project".

Seeing that the other party had taken the bait, Ai Yue quietly switched to another report, "This is a brand new power born from the human body, which can enable Fused Warrior to break through their original limits. If it can be combined with 'Mutated Weapon', unexpected miracles can be created."

"Really?"

Cosmo looked puzzled. "But why haven't I heard of this before?"

"Because this is a new project, it has only recently yielded satisfactory results."

Seeing that the other party was somewhat interested, Ai Yue pressed his advantage, "If you are willing to participate, I can provide the best solutions and materials for free!"

"You need to understand that once this project is truly mature, it will be extended to all Fused Warrior. At that time, those who want to participate will need to queue up according to their years of service and contribution points,"

Ai Yue said in a very enticing voice, "But if you participate now, you can get ahead of Kevin and the others!"

"I agree!"

This was an irresistible temptation for Cosmo, so he nodded without hesitation. "Doctor Ai Yue, when shall we begin?"

The guinea pig is finally here!

"No rush."

Seeing that the other party had finally taken the bait, Ai Yue revealed a leisurely expression, "I will tell you when the time is right."

As they were talking, the other life support pod also responded. Ai Yue looked down and couldn't help but smile, "Perfect timing, Desdrobia has also woken up. Why don't you two go on vacation first?"

Seeing Ai Yue's meaningful expression, Cosmo couldn't help but give a slightly embarrassed, silly smile before turning to help the girl who was about to step out of the life support pod.

Seeing the young couple embracing, Ai Yue couldn't help but shake his head.

After confirming that several people would wake up after a certain amount of time, Ai Yue turned and walked towards Aponia's private ward.

118

Chapter 118 Who exactly is on Twilight Street?

Although she has not shown her face, Aponia has actually been staying here ever since Pardofelis restarted the Star of Light experimental base, using her abilities to help Kevin and the others complete their combat plans through remote assistance.

However, because she had previously expended a lot of power, she was also impacted by the Herrscher authority during the final battle, and thus fell into a coma.

However, her current condition cannot be simply described as "coma".

When Ai Yue entered the ward, he saw Aponia eerily floating on the bed, looking as if she were possessed by a ghost.

Meanwhile, Mobius was trying something out. She seemed to want to place some devices on Aponia to obtain data on her current state and analyze Aponia situation. However, the devices would bounce back the moment Mobius let go, as if Aponia was resisting something.

"You've arrived?"

Without turning his head, Mobius said, "Then she's yours. I have no other choice."

She wasn't worried about mistaking someone, because currently only Mobius and Ai Yue were allowed to enter this ward.

This isn't a matter of permissions, but rather a much stranger problem—anyone who tries to enter the house is interfered with by some kind of mental force, subconsciously believing "there are no rooms here," and therefore unable to enter at all.

Even Su, who was also Mental Perception Fused Warrior, could only slightly resist this interference, but under these circumstances, he obviously could not help Aponia's situation.

So far, only Mobius and Ai Yue have remained unaffected.

"Aponia seems to have protected herself with her mental strength,"

When Ai Yue approached, Mobius continued, "I can sense a special force field around her, repelling anything that gets close."

"Based on my understanding of Aponia, this is probably not about protecting oneself."

Ai Yue shook his head. "On the contrary, it's very likely to be to protect others."

He could sense that the power released by Aponia had formed a peculiar "shell" that sealed her inside.

This "shell" cannot be broken from the outside, even if she regains consciousness, she cannot leave it.

Clearly, this wasn't meant to protect her from others, but rather to trap herself—if Ai Yue and the others couldn't break it, then Aponia would remain in this state forever until the end of her life.

"You mean, she's afraid her abilities will go out of control after she falls into a coma?"

Mobius instantly understood Ai Yue's meaning, "But she's never had a situation where her abilities went out of control before, has she?"

"Because there has never been the Eleventh Herrscher before."

Ai Yue shrugged. "Leave this to me. You go and rest."

Clearly, what was about to happen was not suitable for anyone else to be present.

Upon hearing this, Mobius merely glanced at Ai Yue before turning and leaving.

Before leaving, she whispered, "After this is all over, you have to explain things to me properly."

The exact extent of this "explanation" is probably only known to Mobius himself.

Ai Yue smiled as he watched Mobius leave the ward, before his expression gradually calmed down.

Ai Yue speculated that the reason why Aponia was in this state was related to the "Absolute Silence Domain" released by the Eleventh Herrscher.

That pure white barrier was the ultimate manifestation of the Eleventh Herrscher's power. What it could eliminate was not just simple energy, but even spiritual power could not be spared.

This might be due to the new power that the Herrscher learned from the cores of those spiritual attributes, or it could be due to the Authority of Binding being pushed to its limit, which could originally cause damage to spiritual power. But whichever the possibility is, it means that Aponia suffered a heavy blow when she was caught off guard.

In this situation, she would probably be unable to accurately control her power, and any thought that arises could cause her mental power to overflow uncontrollably.

That's why Aponia imposed such self-restrictions.

"But isn't that a bit too extreme?"

Ai Yue said in a low voice, "If I'm helpless about this, what will you do, Aponia?"

He took out the reclaimed Eighth Herrscher Core, held it in his hand, and then activated the permissions within it.

After becoming a "half-step Herrscher", Ai Yue became more adept at controlling the Herrscher Core. Under these circumstances, he was no longer limited to the most basic control, but was able to exert some deeper control.

For example, he can now use the power of the Herrscher of Consciousness to probe into the mental realm of the other party without breaking the barrier set up by Aponia herself.

Before freeing the opponent, he must first determine Aponia's condition. If the opponent's injuries are still severe, then rashly breaking through this shell would not be a good thing.

Thus, Ai Yue carefully controlled his power, "squeezing" his spirit into Aponia's barrier, and tried to find the consciousness hidden within it.

Soon, the scene before his eyes gradually changed.

It was a success.

Seeing this, Ai Yue couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.

As he watched the surrounding environment gradually distort, transforming from a clean and tidy ward into something else entirely, Ai Yue understood that he was about to come into contact with Aponia's consciousness.

The means by which psychic beings restrict themselves is, of course, primarily through illusions.

As long as this illusion is broken, or rather, if Aponia is pulled out of the illusion, then the barrier set up by the other party will collapse.

Oh, so this is it.

As the surrounding scenery gradually stabilized, Ai Yue recognized the place.

The streets were in disarray, the houses were half-collapsed, the pedestrians on the street exchanged indifferent and wary glances, and the roof of a church could be vaguely seen in the distance.

This used to be Twilight Street —the place where Aponia lived for over twenty years.

It's not surprising, after all, this is her hometown, although it has completely changed now.

But is there anything good about life here that makes Aponia so nostalgic?

Ai Yue scratched his head and then walked towards the church spire.

He could pinpoint Aponia's location without even having to think.

119

Chapter 119 Now it's 20 minus 5.

The church on Twilight Street, though no one knows which god it is dedicated to, remains a place for people to pray and seek spiritual comfort.

Not to mention that the monks here truly possess humanistic compassion, and despite their precarious circumstances, they still took in many homeless children and patients.

Therefore, in the cold and indifferent environment of Twilight Street, this place unexpectedly retains a touch of warmth.

Even the wealthy residents here occasionally donate food and necessities to the church to demonstrate their generosity or to seek spiritual peace.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue couldn't help but smile.

He remembered that when Pardofelis was young and naive, she once sneaked into the church to try to steal some food, but she was caught red-handed and got a lecture. That seemed to be one of the few times she had been humiliated.

However, it was precisely because of this experience that Pardofelis would later occasionally share some of the stolen goods with the church, as a way of making amends for her mistake.

I wonder if the Twilight Street that Aponia recreates will feature this famous thief.

Ai Yue observed the surrounding scenery and unknowingly arrived at the church entrance.

As he walked along, he discovered that the scene of this Twilight Street was incredibly detailed and frighteningly precise, with all sorts of details being reproduced exactly as they appeared.

Although he has not yet seen the full picture of this settlement, Ai Yue guessed that other places might be similar.

Even many of the passersby he saw on the street were exactly the same as those in Ai Yue's memory—not to mention many of them whose names he couldn't recall.

This means that Twilight Street has always been preserved in Aponia's memory, and only a mental ability user of Aponia's level could do something so exaggerated.

Perhaps only Aponia would have such a deep memory of this place. If you were to ask Pardofelis, she would probably only be able to recall a few places where she used to sunbathe.

Oh, perhaps she still remembers where I live?

As Ai Yue pondered this, he knocked on the church door.

A moment later, the door was opened from the inside, and a middle-aged woman dressed in a nun's habit, with a kind face, appeared in front of Ai Yue with a gentle smile, "Sir, please come in."

She didn't ask Ai Yue's purpose for coming, but instead invited him in directly, as if she already knew Ai Yue purpose.

This surprised Ai Yue, who had made some preparations.

He entered this place by relying on the power of Herrscher, making him an outsider who was out of place. Logically speaking, this illusion should have rejected him, as evidenced by the wary looks he received from passersby along the way.

To this end, Ai Yue specially used his spiritual powers to create a small gold bar, so that he could knock on the church door under the guise of a donation.

It seems that the result is no longer needed.

But then again, I've never seen this nun before—is there really such a person on Twilight Street?

"May I ask how this gentleman should be addressed?"

After Ai Yue entered, the nun continued to ask, "Did you come here seeking refuge, to pray, or for something else?"

"Just call me Ai Yue."

Ai Yue nodded. "I came here to... offer a prayer."

He initially wanted to say Aponia's name directly, but then worried that doing so might trigger some special mechanism, so he changed his mind in the end.

"I see."

The nun nodded and pointed to the statue directly in front of the church. "As long as you pray to the Lord, whatever you ask for will surely be granted."

It was only at this moment that Ai Yue focused his attention on the church's statues—and then he almost choked on his own saliva.

It was a man dressed in a long white robe. He had no extra equipment on him, and even his facial features were not depicted, but he wore glasses and had this hairstyle—wasn't that him?!

Aponia, you don't even spare your own memories?

Ai Yue was not unaware that his image in Aponia's mind was actually quite special, but encountering such a situation in this context still surprised him.

However, does this mean that Aponia here actually remembers everything clearly?

Ai Yue wanted to ask something more, but the nun had already quietly left. So he could only pretend to pray and bow his head to his statue.

How can this be achieved? Should I ask myself?

There's no problem, anyway, this is something he has to solve on his own.

After waiting for a long time, Ai Yue still didn't see the nun reappear. Seeing that no one was around, he simply walked towards the side door of the church.

If everything here is exactly the same as in reality, then he is actually quite familiar with this church.

Ai Yue quickly arrived at the church's backyard through the side door. This area connects the church and the monastery, and beyond the courtyard lies the place where the nuns take in children and the sick.

However, perhaps because this was just an illusion, Ai Yue did not sense any fluctuations in Honkai Energy.