Chapter 196

"Of course... ah,"

Hua had just reached out her hand, but suddenly pulled it back. "But I can't dance..."

"It's okay, I'll teach you."

Eden simply grabbed Hua's hand and led her toward the dance floor, saying, "Besides, if we don't hurry, someone's going to lose their temper."

Watching the two people spinning like tops, Hua couldn't help but smile helplessly.

It seems that every time Doctor Ai Yue and Elysia get together, they become a little... childish.

Taking advantage of Eden's appearance on stage and the distraction he drew attention, Ai Yue was finally able to escape from Elysia's clutches. The two quietly left the party through the exit at the back of the dance floor and went to the rooftop.

"You almost killed me."

Ai Yue, carrying the drinks he'd snatched from the party, let out a long sigh. "That last part hardly counts as dance anymore. What kind of decent person keeps spinning around like that while dancing?!"

"But it's so much fun!"

Elysia recalled what had just happened and couldn't help but laugh so hard she almost fell over. "You've finally learned to dance this time, so you won't have any excuses next time, right?"

"There's going to be a next time?"

Ai Yue couldn't help but cover his face, "The glorious image I've built up over the years is going to be completely ruined. I will definitely not show my face in public again anytime soon!"

"Oh dear, this little incident won't damage your reputation for wisdom and prowess in everyone's eyes,"

Elysia patted his shoulder, "No matter what, can it be more outrageous and dangerous than Kevin's last drunken rampage?"

Recalling Kevin's drunken outburst in public last time, Ai Yue couldn't help but laugh, "That's true."

Because of that incident, Kevin continued to operate fully armed at the Moth to Fire headquarters until the Eleventh Herrscher incident occurred.

The two chatted about all sorts of things, their topics becoming increasingly tangential and their words more and more casual. This casual conversation gradually came to an end, and the atmosphere became silent.

But this silence was different from the deathly stillness in the orphanage. Ai Yue leaned against the railing, looking up at the black night sky and scattered starlight, listening to Elysia's soft and even breathing beside him, and felt that this silence was not so bad.

A true friend is someone you can be with without feeling awkward, even if you don't talk to them.

Although there was no reason, he believed that Elysia must be thinking the same thing at that moment.

After a moment, this tacit silence was broken once again by Elysia: "I'm sorry."

"Nothing,"

Despite the seemingly random apology, Ai Yue was able to discern what Elysia was referring to. "Everyone has their negative moments. Even the sun doesn't shine gently on everyone forever."

"That being said, I'm still very sorry to everyone."

Like Ai Yue, Elysia looked up at the night sky. "After calming down, I realized that Mother Celine was right."

"If I hadn't been stopped in time, I would have hurt a lot of people, wouldn't I? I was thinking of everyone, but it led to this result. Fate is really hard to bear."

"That's right."

Ai Yue smiled and stretched his hand out to the night sky, as if trying to grasp something. "But unfortunately, I am above fate, so just believe in me."

"Then I'll leave it to you?"

Elysia couldn't help but turn her head to look at Ai Yue's arrogant expression, a smile appearing in her eyes, "My dear savior."

"You can rest assured."

Ai Yue casually waved his hand, as if he were an emperor issuing orders, "It's just Cocoon of Finality, watch me nip it in the bud!"

After saying that, he suddenly remembered something, and then stood up straight again. "It's about time, we should go back."

"That's true. It's not easy for everyone's idol to come all this way; it would be too boring if they just danced and left."

Elysia followed behind him, "Speaking of which, you started dancing in the first place so that everyone would have the courage to approach you?"

"I'm surprised you still remember that,"

Ai Yue glanced back at her, but then gave her a mysterious smile. "However, I'm not talking about this party."

As he spoke, he took out his glasses again and put them on, as if to confirm something.

"Huh?"

Elysia was taken aback for a moment, then seemed to realize something and showed a somewhat surprised expression, "Could it be?"

Ai Yue quickly resolved her confusion—after passing through the Teleportation Gate, the two appeared in the central hall of the Star of Light.

And many familiar faces had been waiting here for a long time.

"You're so slow, Elysia."

The first to speak was Mobius. She looked at the two people standing side by side, then at the large screen beside them, and couldn't help but reveal a subtle smile, "Oh, isn't this the King of Dance of Shenzhou? It's an honor to have you here. I'm so sorry for not welcoming you sooner."

"What 'Shenzhou Dance'..."

Ai Yue followed her gaze and was immediately shocked. "No, who took this picture?!"

What was playing on the big screen was the entire process of Ai Yue and Elysia dancing—most outrageous of all, there were at least ten different shots of the same content, including surveillance footage.

"These things are all over the Moth to Fire's intranet now,"

Not far away, Vill-V laughed heartily, "I never thought you'd be in such a sorry state!"

As she spoke, she raised her glass in a toast to Elysia: "Elysia, well done, well done!"

"Right? I think so too,"

Elysia smoothly joined the conversation, walking over to the makeshift bar. "My dear Eden, what have you prepared today?"

Although Eden entered later than the two, he returned to the Star of Light earlier than them. He was standing behind the bar, pushing a glass of pink liquid that had been prepared in advance in front of Elysia: "Pink Sun, I think you will like it."

Beside her stood Hua, still wearing that white suit. The girl's expression was somewhat awkward at this moment—because she was the one who had mixed that drink.

Despite Eden's guidance, the girl was clearly still somewhat insecure.

Meanwhile, Kevin gave Ai Yue a familiar smile—a smug, gossipy smile, "That last spin was amazing."

Dr. Mei was standing to the side, did not speak, but nodded silently to show her support for her lover.

"Haha, it's good to be young!"

Hen, whom we hadn't seen in a long time, also appeared at the party with his wife Blanca, a nostalgic smile on his face. "We were stars at the ball back in the day!"

Blanca could only respond to her husband's boasting with a helpless sigh.

Meanwhile, in the dessert area not far away, Cosmo and Desdrobia were awkwardly taking care of Griseo, while Sakura was helping her younger sister Rin choose her favorite desserts.

In a corner of the hall, Pardofelis had already quietly drifted off to sleep, still holding a plate piled high with pastries in her arms. A moment later, Kalpas walked in carrying a huge platter. Seeing that everyone had arrived, he announced that the banquet had officially begun.

Ai Yue watched everything unfold before him, a smug smile spreading across his face that was hard for others to comprehend.

Aponia then quietly appeared beside him and asked softly, "How are you feeling?"

Ai Yue thought for a moment, then his smile widened, "That's awesome!"

Chapter 74, let's repeat: it's time to speed things up.

Everyone was happy that night—except for Ai Yue.

Of course, Ai Yue was initially very happy. Despite the torment of the twelfth generation of Herrscher, he still managed to save so many people through his own efforts (and the system's) and allowed countless people who would have died in the original timeline to live to this day. How could he not be happy?

So, in a moment of excitement, he picked up his wine glass, intending to indulge himself in something unusual.

And then... that was it.

When he regained consciousness, Ai Yue was lying in his bed. He sat up despite a severe headache, a helpless expression on his face. "I thought I wouldn't get drunk after becoming Fused Warrior."

It turns out that Fused Warrior are not immune to alcohol. While physical enhancements may greatly improve tolerance, problems will still arise if the dosage exceeds the limit.

Recalling the way those people acted last night, as if they wanted to empty Eden's wine cabinet and then drink it all up, Ai Yue couldn't help but shudder.

He was indeed a bit arrogant, saying things like "Just because I don't usually drink doesn't mean I can't hold my liquor" and "You guys combined couldn't outdrink me," but there was no need for him to do that, was there?

If someone hadn't stopped them, Ai Yue really doubted they would have just pulled out ethanol.

At the same time, Ai's voice came from the side. "Doctor Ai Yue, you're finally awake. You've been asleep for twelve hours, thirty-three minutes, and sixteen seconds."

"You?"

Ai Yue paused for a moment, then lifted the blanket, revealing a subtle expression.

The eight-year-old Mobius was currently curled up in bed, fast asleep—of all the people who had given him drinks last night, this guy was the most boisterous.

"Never mind, let her sleep."

Ai Yue pulled the covers back up and got out of bed. "How is everyone else?"

"Most of them have already left; only Elysia and Aponia remain in the central hall."

Ai said, "Want to hear what they're talking about?"

"It would be more straightforward to just go directly there."

Ai Yue walked straight out of the house. "By the way, help me draft a transfer order to transfer Cosmo and Desdrobia's team to Shenzhou."

Although each region now has sizable Fused Warrior squads, drone swarms, and virtual Honkai Beast legions to maintain order, these can only be used as regular combat forces and lack the ability to launch offensive attacks. Once a powerful enemy that regular combat forces cannot defeat appears, top-tier experts must be employed to resolve the situation.

Therefore, Elysia's departure from Shenzhou means that Shenzhou has a gap in top-tier combat power. Fortunately, with Ai's swarm in Australia, there is no longer a need for an additional Fused Warrior squad. It is the most appropriate thing to send them there to fill the gap.

"It was written and uploaded a long time ago. The United Earth Government has approved it. Cosmo and Desdrobia should have arrived at the Shenzhou branch by now."

Ai responded, "Hua went back to help them complete the handover process; otherwise, she actually wanted to stay and take care of you."

Ai Yue had already verbally explained this matter before the party yesterday, and with Ai Yi's current "performance," she was naturally able to handle it properly long ago.

"So fast?"

Ai Yue paused for a moment, then looked thoughtful. "Yeah, we missed that kid last night!"

Although he did have a really tough time yesterday, Ai Yue still dragged a lot of people down with him, thinking, "If I'm having a bad time, you're all going to suffer too."

However, because Cosmo was taciturn and rarely spoke, he didn't really "take care" of him.

But that doesn't mean Cosmo was innocent yesterday—he didn't say anything, but he certainly brought a lot of wine.

Just you wait, I'll make things difficult for you later!

"You hold a grudge a little,"

A hint of helplessness crept into Ai's voice, "But you obviously have too many important things to worry about right now, don't you?"

Upon hearing the words "important matters," Ai Yue couldn't help but show a frustrated expression. "Yeah, even though we've taken down so many Herrscher, the troublesome things on our hands are only increasing. It's really a headache."

Ai Yue had thought that after dealing with the Herrscher of Aberration, he could usher in a rare period of peace. However, in the short month or so since the Herrscher's death was confirmed, the concentration of Honkai Energy worldwide has increased instead of decreased.

Nowadays, small-scale Honkai Beast have basically disappeared. Whenever traces of Honkai Beast are detected, it is invariably a medium-sized Honkai Beast of more than five hundred.

Fortunately, 95 percent of the world's population has already moved to Fortress City, and the remaining population is already in the relocation plan, so there have been no problems for the time being.

However, Ai Yue knew very well that if Honkai a war of attrition against the Honkai, humanity would inevitably lose in the end. Neither the defensive durability of the Fortress City nor the supply of resources could be sustained for long. Once a region was Honkai Beast, it would likely trigger a chain reaction that would cause the entire human defense line to collapse.

More importantly, no one is sure if there is a limit to the increase in Honkai Energy concentration. If there is no limit, then as time goes by, one day, Judgment-class Honkai Beast will appear all over the world.

In addition to the abnormality that appeared on Elysia, Ai Yue had a bad feeling—if the Cocoon of Finality really had self-awareness, was it getting a little anxious now?

Although in a war of words, whoever gets angry first loses, in a war concerning the life and death of a race, a breach in the enemy's defenses often means that the other side will resort to even more unscrupulous means.

This means that Ai Yue must resolve the issues surrounding Elysia before the Cocoon of Finality truly takes action, or he must be able to provide human civilization with a more powerful weapon to bridge the growing gap between humans and Honkai Beast.

While he was pondering, Ai Yue had already arrived at the central hall. Elysia and Aponia were still talking about something. When they saw him appear, they immediately waved to him. "Finally awake?"

"Yes, she's finally awake,"

Ai Yue found a seat and sat down. "Luckily, you two are still able to stay sober."

"Because you drank most of the alcohol last night,"

Elysia said with a smile, "So we actually drank very little."

"Don't even mention it, those guys, I'll get my revenge sooner or later."

Ai Yue waved his hand, his voice laced with rage, "I've already drawn up the list, and nobody's getting away!"

"That's scary!"

Elysia immediately showed a frightened expression and quietly moved closer to Aponia, "I never knew Ai Yue had this side to him."

"It's nothing, he was just saying it."

Aponia, however, seemed unfazed, shaking her head with a smile, "He'll forget about it soon enough."