Chapter 148

"Ai Yue, what are you daydreaming about?"

Mobius, noticing Ai Yue's distraction, couldn't help but ask, "Where to next?"

After giving them a brief tour of the place, Vill-V left. After all, as the chief engineer, her job was not easy, and it was already quite difficult for her to spare some time. The rest was up to Ai Yue and the others to make their own plans.

The New Canghai City is still under construction. There are no natural tourist attractions, let alone any man-made ones. Therefore, after a brief visit, it is basically not worth visiting.

If we don't leave now, we'll have to consider where to stay overnight.

Although Vill-V could solve their accommodation problem, Ai Yue and his group had their own methods and didn't necessarily have to stay in the city.

"How about we go to the beach?"

Ai Yue thought for a moment, "Let's camp on the beach tonight."

Although it seemed that there was no longer any point in staying in New Canghai City, Ai Yue did not intend to leave in such a hurry. After all, one of the purposes of his trip was to slow down his life, and if he continued to rush, it would be putting the cart before the horse.

Besides, traveling doesn't necessarily mean visiting tourist attractions.

"Anything is fine."

Mobius naturally had no objection to this, "But are you sure you want to go to the beach now? It's only noon."

"Then let's move around freely for now,"

Ai Yue nodded. "We can find another place to meet up tonight."

Pardofelis and the others quickly learned of Ai Yue's arrangements. The cat-eared girl, who had long been curious about the city, quickly disappeared and disappeared somewhere. Although Hua was not as impulsive as Pardofelis, she also left in one direction, clearly having her own goal.

Even Aponia headed toward a corner of the city—she had learned from Vill-V that although the city was not yet completed, it was already protected by the outer walls, so many residents from surrounding settlements had moved here.

As for Aponia, she naturally wanted to visit and see how the people living here were doing.

So only Ai Yue and Mobius remained present.

"Don't you have anywhere you want to go?"

Ai Yue looked at Mobius, who didn't seem to have any intention of leaving, and couldn't help but ask a question.

"I don't have any memorable past here,"

Mobius seemed indifferent. "When I came here to look for Sesha's sample, this place was just a ruin. Now you can't see anything. Otherwise, I could have gone to check the traces I left behind."

Ai Yue couldn't help but chuckle, "Those kinds of things aren't really that interesting, are they?"

"So there's nothing that requires free time."

Mobius blinked, then quickly steered the conversation back to Ai Yue, "As for you, I thought this trip to Shenzhou would be a chance to see what your hometown looks like. Aren't you planning to go back and take a look?"

"For me, I can't go back to my hometown, so I might as well look forward."

Ai Yue glanced at the workers he could vaguely see in the distance, then smiled and said, "Instead of looking back on the past, let's think about what else we can do."

As Vill-V just explained, many of the workers here are recruited from ordinary people in the neighborhood, and their workload is only about 10% of the overall project. The rest is all done by drones. Although it may seem that the workers are slowing down the project, it has a special significance.

Besides work-for-relief programs, involving ordinary people in the construction of their future homes can alleviate their fear and anxiety about the future. As a sturdy Fortress City gradually takes shape in their hands, perhaps they will have the courage to face the unknown tomorrow.

Although Ai Yue never questioned the victory over the Honkai, this confidence obviously could not inspire everyone in the world. Even though Divine Tone Project had done its best to preserve the lower limit of human spiritual development, it was still difficult to completely dispel people's pessimism when facing such a terrifying enemy as the Honkai.

Ai Yue had naturally anticipated such a thing. One of the purposes of the Fortress City project was to encourage more people. However, before that, all his ideas were based on virtual models in the laboratory.

Being able to witness this scene firsthand and feel the impact of my actions on ordinary people is truly a unique experience.

"How?"

Mobius also noticed something from Ai Yue's expression. "You're not going to say something like you feel like the burden on your shoulders has become heavier, are you?"

"Not at all, it's just that for the first time I have a clearer understanding of the responsibilities I've taken on."

Ai Yue raised his chin, a faint hint of smugness on his face. "How could the burden on my shoulders possibly become heavier?"

Mobius stared at Ai Yue in front of him, slightly lost in thought.

She suddenly remembered that she had tried to use the Fused Warrior Formula to make things difficult for him in the laboratory, but he had solved the problem with ease. Ai Yue had that same expression on his face back then.

That was the first time Mobius's worldview was challenged like never before, and it marked the beginning of her self-esteem being repeatedly rubbed into the ground.

Looking back now, I wonder if I had already...

"Watch your face!"

Mobius quickly pulled himself out of his jumbled thoughts and deliberately rolled his eyes at Ai Yue. "So, where to now?"

"Just... taking a casual stroll?"

Ai Yue scratched his head, unsure of what to do. "Do you want to see the sea?"

He suddenly realized that this was the first time he had ever felt so relaxed since he came into this world.

"Didn't you get enough of the Star of Light in Australia? Then next time you should just move it to the sea."

Mobius shook his head. "Like you said, let's take a walk around here."

What Ai Yue didn't know was that Mobius rarely spent a day so leisurely.

So the two of them strolled leisurely through the empty city, aimlessly walking along the streets.

9

Chapter Nine: I have no dreams, but...

As it turns out, not everyone is suited to a leisurely, slow-paced lifestyle.

At least Ai Yue and Mobius, who are used to being busy, couldn't keep up after walking for less than ten minutes.

"I think we should go to the beach first?"

Finally, Mobius spoke first, her face full of unease, even her fingers were unconsciously twitching, "I guess I'm still... not very suited to this slow pace."

The unconscious movements of her fingers were not nervous twitches at all, but rather a direct reflection of her desire to conduct experiments.

"Then you go first, and send me the location once you've chosen it."

Ai Yue was not surprised by this; he had noticed ten minutes earlier that Mobius was a little distracted. "I'll wander around some more."

The reason Ai Yue was able to remain calm was not because he was more adapted to this kind of life Mobius, but because he had already entered working mode and was thinking about ways to improve this Fortress City.

Therefore, he planned to wait until Mobius left before discussing it with Vill-V.

In a normal relationship, such a cold response from the other would likely have caused a fight between the two. Fortunately, neither Ai Yue nor Mobius were normal people and were already used to this kind of interaction. Therefore, Mobius did not hesitate and turned to leave.

She also had a simple set of experimental equipment hidden on her person, and with a new idea in mind, she was determined to put it into practice, otherwise she wouldn't be able to sleep tonight.

Meanwhile, Hua finally arrived at his destination.

In order to lay a good foundation for the New Canghai City, Shenzhou cleared a piece of land in the ruins of the original Canghai City for the construction of the New Canghai City. Fortunately, Hua's school was not in this area, so she still had the opportunity to trace the traces she had left behind.

At this moment, she stood in front of her former teaching building, looking at the collapsed building with only half a floor remaining, recalling the past she had experienced here.

By chance, she met a lively girl here and became friends with her. Thanks to the girl, she was able to enjoy a short but happy period of campus life.

But all of that is now too far away from her, so far that she can't even remember the name of her first friend.

It's only been a few years. Even for an elderly person, such a short time is enough to clearly remember some things, let alone for a young person like her.

Hua, however, was not bothered by this and had even accepted the fact that this was a side effect of the "Divine Tone Project" that she had never mentioned to anyone.

Of course, this didn't happen at the beginning; it was something I discovered while trying it out on my own during the last operational plan.

At first, Hua thought she had made a mistake, but she soon discovered that, apart from some of her memories becoming blurred, everything else perfectly matched Doctor Ai Yue's vision for the Divine Tone Project.

Perhaps this is the price that must be paid to gain power. Didn't the Fused Warrior also give up a part of themselves and merge with the Honkai Beast to gain powerful strength?

For this reason, Hua has not told anyone about this matter yet; this is one of the few decisions she has made on her own.

If Doctor Ai Yue knew about this, he would definitely suspend the progress of Divine Tone Project and only restart it after ensuring that everything is foolproof.

But I can't keep waiting like this, I can't stay like this forever, unable to do anything.

So she has to...

Hua stood there in front of the teaching building, staring blankly at the ruins before him.

"Hey, Hua, what are your dreams?"

Suddenly, a vibrant voice echoed in her mind, followed by a scene that appeared in her mind.

He was lying side by side on the grass with a girl whose face was already blurred, and they suddenly started talking about dreams.

What was my answer at that time?

Hua frowned, unable to recall the details.

She started walking, bypassing the teaching building, and heading towards the dormitory, trying to recall more things. Perhaps only in this way could she remember her answer to that question.

The dormitory building looked slightly better than the teaching building, but Hua could no longer tell from the ruins where the dormitory where he had lived for half a year was located.

Fortunately, the scene did stimulate her memory to some extent, so much so that more and more information was flooding into her mind.

She recalled that her friend once thought she would inherit the family martial arts school and continue to run it because "that's the kind of person you are."

"That's why I thought you would inherit the family's martial arts school—you're the kind of person who will do whatever others tell you to do."

The girl's voice became clearer, "If someone tells you 'take this road,' then you will do it."

"But that path is your life."

Is that so?

Hua finally began to examine herself. Was she just someone who followed the crowd and echoed what others said?

More and more memories seemed to flood her mind, making Hua gasp for breath, as if the memories were bringing her heavy pressure and making her mind increasingly blurry.

So Hua started running.

She ran aimlessly forward, over the ruins of the school, over the broken fences, and over the fragmented streets.

This is her usual way of relieving stress. While running, she can temporarily forget many things, which is perfect for dealing with the current situation.

After running for an unknown amount of time, Hua Cai finally stopped. Her physical abilities were now beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Even without becoming Fused Warrior, the changes brought about by the Divine Tone Project were not limited to the mental aspect.

So when she found herself running from the ruins of the school to the ruins of the airport, she wasn't too surprised; she just struggled for a moment about how to get back.

Just then, she glanced in the direction of the city.

Although night had not yet fallen, the city walls of New Canghai City were already so thick that they could be described as blotting out the sun, blocking out most of the light and making everything in front of us look somewhat blurry.

It felt somewhat familiar.

Hua frowned slightly, suddenly remembering that on the day she returned home, when she heard the alarm at the airport and was protected by the soldiers who rushed to her Moth to Fire, it seemed to be a similar scene.

What was I doing at that time?

Hua racked his brains and finally remembered that at that time he was trying to look up the airport's security forces and rushing towards the city.

Was someone asking me to do this? But at the time I was just a student. Even if I had practiced a few moves of martial arts passed down in my family, how could I possibly make any difference?

However, it did seem like someone was talking at the time.

Hua closed his eyes and finally heard a voice from the depths of his heart that he had never heard before.

"I'm going to save my friend."

She suddenly opened her eyes, and everything in front of her seemed to surge in that instant.

10

Chapter 10 could not lock onto the target.

These are my current thoughts.

In Vill-V's office, Ai Yue organized his ideas and then told them to her. After thinking about it for a moment and finding nothing missing, he nodded. "However, some things may not be so easy to implement. If you encounter any problems, come to me."

"So you knew, Doctor Ai Yue?"

"You just barge in and make a bunch of demands without any explanation. Do you know how much trouble that will cause us?" Vill-V said in a distinctly odd tone.

Ai Yue didn't even raise an eyebrow. "The funding will be increased by an additional ten percent."

"Okay!"

Vill-V immediately sat up straight, and even pulled out paper and pen from somewhere. "What else do you need? Just let me know!"

The funding for the "Fortress City Project" is actually unlimited, and the so-called 10% increase is simply not true. Therefore, Ai Yue's words actually refer to other projects in Vill-V.