Chapter 194

Celine said with certainty, turning her head to look at Elysia, "Because your smile isn't as cute as it used to be today."

Elysia's expression stiffened for a moment, then she quietly lowered her head, avoiding Celine's gaze. "You must be mistaken, Mother Celine."

"Mom can't be wrong."

Celine's tone remained gentle, "How could a mother misjudge her own daughter?"

Silence fell over the room for a moment, but Celine did not press for further questions and simply waited quietly.

After a moment, Elysia slowly said, "Mother Celine, I may have to go on another trip this time."

"Yeah,"

Celine paused for a moment, then said, "It sounds like it's going to be a long journey."

"Well, so, so I probably won't be able to come back to see you often anymore,"

Elysia quietly raised her head, "Don't be mad at me, okay?"

"How could that be? Mom will always support you."

Celine smiled and shook her head. "But have you told your friends about this?"

"This..."

Elysia hesitated for a moment, then shook her head. "No."

"I see."

Celine for a moment, then said, "Elysia, perhaps you think that some things can only be resolved this way, but you're not alone anymore, are you?"

"Making a decision so hastily might hurt many people who love you."

Celine's tone remained as gentle as ever, but she had unconsciously gripped Elysia's hand tightly.

She was afraid, afraid of losing her child.

"I understand, Mother Celine."

After a moment, Elysia suddenly smiled and said, "Actually, there's no rush to travel. Maybe I won't set off for a long time."

"Until then, I will still come to see you often."

After saying that, Elysia cleverly steered the conversation to something else, and Celine didn't dwell on the matter. The two chatted until the sun was about to set, when Elysia said goodbye, explaining that she had an event to attend Celine evening.

As soon as the girl stepped out of the orphanage, she noticed something and looked to her right. There, a figure was leaning against the wall, seemingly waiting for something.

Upon seeing the other person's face clearly, Elysia couldn't help but show a somewhat surprised expression. "... Ai Yue?"

Without his glasses or the white lab coat that seemed to never have been changed, Ai Yue appeared before Elysia in a casual outfit, wearing a baseball cap. He didn't look like the world's best scientist at all, but rather like a student you could see anywhere on a basketball court.

The contrast was so striking that Elysia almost didn't recognize her at first glance.

"Your reaction is as if you don't recognize me at all,"

Ai Yue looked at her with a subtle expression. "Or perhaps you didn't expect me to be here?"

How did you find your way here?

After the initial surprise subsided, Elysia revealed a curious expression, "I thought I was well concealed."

"It is indeed quite hidden, but unfortunately the earth is only so big."

Ai Yue shrugged. "I've looked through all the places you might go, and it's clear you haven't broken out of your original social circle yet."

"I was just about to do that, but you beat me to it."

Elysia feigned disappointment and said, "Oh dear, I should have been more decisive."

"It's a pity you don't have a chance."

Ai Yue held out a hand. "Alright, now come back with me. Everyone's waiting for you."

Elysia looked at Ai Yue's outstretched hand and then grasped it.

But she took the initiative and suddenly pulled Ai Yue along, and they started running in the street.

"Hello!"

Caught off guard, Ai Yue was pulled back by Elysia and stumbled. "Where are we going?"

"Go home and visit!"

Elysia laughed and said, "My real home isn't in this city!"

The two of them ran through the streets and alleys, heading out of the city amidst the complicated gazes of passersby.

It wasn't until they arrived at an abandoned town that Elysia finally slowed down. With a nostalgic look, she walked into the town from the entrance and strolled along the only main road, introducing everything around her to Ai Yue as if it were a treasure trove of knowledge.

"This is the blacksmith's shop. Sometimes Uncle Kirill would make us some interesting little gadgets. That's the general store. When I was little, I thought it contained all the delicious food in the world. Oh, and the bookstore. That's my favorite place because it has endless stories..."

Finally, she pulled Ai Yue to stand at the entrance of a slightly dilapidated courtyard. "This is where I used to live."

With that, she finally let go of Ai Yue's hand, took two steps into the courtyard first, and then turned back to Ai Yue, gesturing for him to enter. "Welcome! This is the first time I've brought a friend home!"

Ai Yue looked at Elysia with a helpless expression, but in the end, he chose to cooperate with her. "Then I'll take my leave."

Crossing the courtyard, you arrive at a two-story building. Although it is covered in dust, it is neat and tidy. It is clear that the people who lived here cleaned everything up before leaving, as if they would return here one day to start a new life.

Although neither of them was affected by the outside temperature, Elysia still lit the fire in the fireplace. The flames spread light and warmth to every corner of the room, making it feel like a real "home".

Elysia sat in front of the fireplace, gazing absently at the flickering flames.

Ai Yue sat down next to her, both facing the fireplace. Although he had many questions to ask, looking at the quiet Elysia, he decided to wait a little longer.

"When we were little, we would play around the fireplace like this, waiting for Mother Celine to come home."

After a moment, Elysia slowly spoke, "Everyone was very nervous back then, but every time Mother Celine came home, she would try to bring back some novel things as gifts, so every day everyone would look at the door with anticipation, waiting for the familiar footsteps to be heard."

"Although I have access to countless times more things now that I'm older than I was as a child, I still like that period of my life the most when I look back."

"But in the end, you still chose to say goodbye to that kind of life,"

Ai Yue said, "Because of that examination, right?"

After the "Stars Fell to Earth" incident, the predecessor organization of the Moth to Fire finally located the fallen object around the town. However, after searching and checking for a long time, they failed to find anything suspicious. This behavior made Elysia wary, and she then chose to leave the area.

"Yes, after all, I'm not a real human being; I fell from the sky."

Facing Ai Yue, Elysia appeared quite calm, saying, "What if I end up hurting everyone if I stay here? Besides, the outside world is indeed very attractive to me."

"So, is it the same reason this time?"

Ai Yue stopped beating around the bush and asked directly, "Do you really think that simply running away will solve the problem this time?"

Elysia looked at Ai Yue and couldn't help but sigh, "Ai Yue, you're really impatient. It's rare to have such a cute girl telling you her story, such a romantic atmosphere, can't you be a little more patient?"

Ai Yue didn't speak, but just stared silently at Elysia.

"Okay, okay, stop staring at me like that."

Faced with Ai Yue's gaze, Elysia finally gave in, "I admit, this is just running away... but what else can I do?"

The smile on her face gradually faded, replaced by a hint of sadness. "Am I supposed to say goodbye to you all, saying things like 'Next time we meet, we'll be enemies'?"

"I don't understand what you're saying."

Ai Yue frowned. "You've already made up your mind without even trying anything? You're really underestimating me."

Ai Yue's biggest complaint about Elysia's behavior was that even though Elysia was so desperate that she felt she could no longer rely on anyone, he should have been the exception—but she didn't even contact him before making the decision, which hurt Ai Yue deeply.

But he soon realized that he might have been underthinking things.

Ai Yue initially believed that Elysia's negativity stemmed from her inability to recover from the Herrscher of Aberration incident. She felt that the Herrscher's ability to cause such immense destruction was entirely due to her, and therefore, to prevent such a thing from happening again, she decided to distance herself from human civilization.

But judging from Elysia's behavior, things don't seem to be like that.

After all, if the concern was simply about a repeat of the Herrscher of Aberration incident, then no one would make the assumption that "the next time we meet, we'll be enemies"—unless things have changed without Ai Yue's knowledge.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue couldn't help but look at Elysia again. "What happened to you during this time?"

Elysia was taken aback for a moment, then gave a helpless smile: You're really perceptive, Ai Yue.

She didn't say anything more, but instead took out her mobile device and sent a coordinate to Ai Yue.

Without Ai Yue needing to speak, Ai Yi immediately commanded the drone swarm closest to the coordinates to set off and conduct reconnaissance at the location.

Neither of them spoke while they waited.

Just a few minutes later, the investigation yielded results—in the wilderness at the coordinates, there was a trace of being ravaged by violent energy. Judging from the remaining energy traces, Honkai Energy burst with a peak value comparable to that of Herrscher had occurred here.

Looking at the investigation results, Ai Yue was at a loss for words.

Chapter 72 Who do you think you are!

Faced with this result, Ai Yue remained silent for a long time until the silence in the room almost solidified before Elysia took the initiative to break the cold atmosphere.

"See, this is the reason."

Elysia was still smiling, but the joy in her smile was gone. "So I can't..."

Ai Yue interrupted her, saying, "Ai Yi, clean up the scene, delete the results of this investigation, and all related records and traces."

Then, he took out an exquisite object the size of a pocket watch from his pocket and threw it on the ground.

The next second, accompanied by a mechanical turning sound, the pocket watch-like object instantly unfolded, transforming into a small radar supported on the ground. At the same time, an invisible wave spread out in all directions from it, eventually enveloping the entire room.

"What's this?"

Elysia was immediately drawn to what Ai Yue had thrown out and asked with some curiosity.

"A small shielding device that can block all current human detection methods, including Aponia's telepathy."

Ai Yue said expressionlessly, while turning off the mobile device he used to communicate with Ai Yi and tossing it aside, "So what happens next is known only to the two of us."

Are you planning to cover for me?

Elysia immediately understood Ai Yue's intention and shook her head. "My dear Savior, you can't do such a thing, can you?"

"Whether I can do it or not is my decision."

Ai Yue said calmly, "Moreover, this is not about covering up, but simply about someone who made a mistake trying to make amends."

Before Elysia could respond, Ai Yue continued, "When did this situation first begin?"

Elysia wanted to persuade Ai Yue to give up this idea, but looking into his eyes, for some reason, the words got stuck in her throat and she couldn't say them.

Was it because of Mother Celine's advice? Or because of Ai Yue's resolute attitude? Or perhaps... even I myself am unwilling to take that step?

"More than a month ago."

After a moment of silence, Elysia finally spoke, "If the time of your later report is correct, then it was around the same time that the Herrscher of Aberration confirmed her death."

"In that case, there shouldn't have been any loss of control at the beginning, right?"

Ai Yue didn't say anything like "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" Instead, he started analyzing, "Or rather, didn't you realize at the beginning that this was a sign of things getting out of control?"

"Well, at first, I just felt like I would get distracted."

Elysia nodded. "Sometimes I would suddenly space out for a few seconds, or when I was talking to someone or working, I would suddenly forget what I was doing. So at first I thought it was just a side effect of being too tired recently, and I didn't pay much attention to it."

"Was it only a little over a month between this situation and it truly getting out of control?"

Ai Yue frowned. "What other changes occurred in between?"

"Actually, there are no more obvious signs, but the time spent spacing out will gradually increase. If no one disturbs me, it can last up to four or five minutes."

Elysia said, "The real change happened a few days ago."

Recalling what happened, Elysia couldn't even maintain a fake smile, and her mood became depressed. "That day, I was discussing the details of the party with my friends, but after a sudden lapse in concentration, when I looked at them again, I felt a kind of... malice from the bottom of my heart."

When talking about this, Elysia's voice even began to tremble. "I wanted to say vicious things to deny their ideas, I wanted to use my authority to suppress their plans, and I even wanted to... kill them."

After saying these words, Elysia was silent for a moment before continuing, "After realizing that I had a problem, I found an excuse to run away and found a deserted place. And then... that's what you saw."

"What else?"

Ai Yue simply waited quietly for Elysia's emotions to calm down before speaking, "After that, did your absent-mindedness worsen?"

"Not yet, and even in the days following the loss of control, the situation eased somewhat."

Elysia shook her head. "But I can sense that this is just the beginning."

She looked up at the ceiling, her gaze seemingly trying to pierce through the building's walls and reach into the universe. "Something is calling to me, infecting me—perhaps that's what you call the 'Cocoon of Finality'?"

Ai Yue looked at Elysia, then sighed helplessly, "That's it?"