"It's not your line yet, Elysia." Mobius finally caught Elysia's slip. "That line belongs to Mei."
"Oh, is that so?" Elysia said, sounding surprised. "Was that what I wrote in your script?"
Hen couldn't help laughing. "Elysia, don't tell me you never read the script you wrote yourself?"
"I... I wrote it myself, so of course I memorized it all!" Although the candlelight in the room was hazy and no one could see her clearly, everyone could imagine Elysia's flushed, defensive expression. "You must have been looking at the script before the revisions. Mine is the final version!"
Amid everyone's laughter and teasing, Kevin finally couldn't stop himself from curling his lips into a faint smile.
He recalled the peaceful life he had once led. Back then, he had still been a student, and he, too, had worn a carefree smile.
It felt wonderful to experience such a feeling again.
With that thought flashing through his mind, Kevin silently made his wish, then lowered his head and blew out all the candles.
The next second, the lights came back on, and everyone applauded Kevin. Hen picked up the cake knife, cut the largest piece, and handed it to Kevin. "Come on, Kevin. You're the guest of honor today, so you get the biggest piece!"
Kevin accepted the cake with a smile, but merely held it in his hands. The instant it touched him, the cake began to stiffen and solidify. Soon, the moisture that seeped out condensed into a layer of white frost on its surface.
It was difficult for him to enjoy food like a normal person, but on such a happy occasion, there was no need to spoil everyone's mood.
The birthday party wasn't very long. After the cake was divided, it was already nearing its end. After all, everyone had their own work to do, and it was already rare enough for them to gather so neatly.
Hen was the first to leave. As a married man with a wife and daughter, he had family waiting for him at home.
Mobius followed soon after, though the fact that she had been willing to come at all had already exceeded everyone's expectations.
Desdrobia and Cosmo said their farewells next. They still had other training sessions that evening.
Sakura left without a sound. She merely said goodbye to Elysia, and Ai Yue didn't even notice when she had disappeared.
In the end, only Kevin, Mei, Elysia, and Ai Yue remained.
As the owner of the house, Elysia naturally couldn't leave. Kevin and Mei intended to help her tidy up the room before going, and it was only then that Ai Yue set down the plate he had cleaned completely and stood up.
He wasn't planning to leave, however. Instead, he took a beautifully wrapped box from his pocket and pushed it toward Kevin. "Your birthday present, Kevin."
"Thank you." Kevin stood and took the box. Looking at Ai Yue, he faintly realized what he meant. "Do you want me to open it now?"
Ai Yue had waited until almost everyone had left before taking out the gift. There was clearly a special reason for that.
Only after Ai Yue nodded did Kevin unwrap it. Inside was a tube of dark-red liquid.
Even when it came into contact with Kevin's body temperature of minus thirty degrees, the liquid did not freeze. It continued to flow inside the container.
"I've temporarily named it 'Salvation Fire.'" After giving it a rather clichéd name, Ai Yue smiled at Kevin. "As for its effect, you'll understand after drinking it. So, what do you think? Dare to drink it?"
"What exactly is that? Why are you being so mysterious?" Elysia looked curiously at the tube of liquid. "Could it be some kind of super-strong liquor, the sort that makes you sleep for a whole day after one sip?"
Mei, who was standing nearby, seemed to have guessed something. Her eyes widened slightly, her face filled with complicated emotions.
It was an expression of disbelief, yet also one that wanted to believe.
Kevin did not hesitate for long. On one hand, he was confident that ordinary things could not threaten him. On the other, he trusted Ai Yue.
He believed that Ai Yue, as the inventor of the Honkai Energy Absorber, was a like-minded companion.
Kevin casually opened the cap, then downed the red liquid in one gulp. The scorching liquid was like a flame, sliding down from his tongue and seeming to set his body ablaze.
Kevin showed no reaction, however, because he was very familiar with this sensation. He had once tried all kinds of strong liquor, simply hoping to experience a moment of warmth.
That feeling usually vanished in an instant, like the match a little girl used to yearn for a better life—
No, that wasn't right!
A moment later, Kevin staggered to his feet and reached for the buttons at his formal collar. "So... so hot..."
Elysia stared at Ai Yue in astonishment.
How could someone whose body temperature was fixed at minus thirty degrees feel hot?
Unless—unless his body temperature was rising!
Chapter Forty: So What's the Bad News?
Kevin's body temperature was indeed rising, and it was rising rapidly.
The normal human body temperature was around thirty-seven degrees. Because of the influence of Honkai Beast genes, Kevin's body temperature was fixed at minus thirty degrees—a difference of nearly seventy degrees. If he had not been a Fused Warrior with an exceptionally powerful constitution, the mere process of warming up would have burned his internal organs to ash.
Even though Kevin's body could withstand the damage caused by such a temperature increase, the process was still a form of torture for him.
Even Ai Yue, the creator of Salvation Fire, frowned as he watched from the side. Although he believed Kevin wouldn't be defeated by something like this, seeing Kevin's face contorted and his entire body trembling as he resisted the torment of the rising temperature still made Ai Yue break into a cold sweat for him.
But this was already the best version he could obtain after repeated simulations. The alternatives either raised the temperature faster and higher, or worked too slowly, causing the medicine's duration to be drastically reduced and rendering it useless.
Fortunately, Kevin himself had no complaints about the torment. Although the veins at his temples bulged and his entire face twisted into a ferocious expression from the intense pain, Kevin slowly began to smile.
He could clearly feel his body temperature gradually returning to the normal human range. Even if this was merely a dream, it meant he could embrace the person he loved tightly within that dream.
How could that not fill him with joy?
Five minutes later, the violent temperature increase finally ended. Kevin collapsed backward from exhaustion, only to be caught in Mei's arms as she rushed forward. The two of them fell onto the sofa together.
"Mei!" Kevin instinctively tried to retreat, but he was weak at that moment and could barely move. "Wait..."
"It's all right now. It's all right!" Mei held Kevin tightly, feeling the warmth of her lover that she had not experienced for so long. Tears streamed down her face. "You don't have to be afraid anymore. You won't hurt me anymore!"
Only then did Kevin feel the sweat that had originally been frozen begin to melt, nearly flooding his entire face. He struggled to raise his arm and wrapped it around Mei in return. "I..."
He opened and closed his mouth, but for a moment, he didn't know what to say.
Kevin had dreamed of this scene countless times: dreaming that he had become a normal person again, embracing Mei tightly as they lay there together, talking about all the ordinary things they had never had the chance to say, then doing nothing at all until they woke.
But when the beautiful dream became reality, he found himself somewhat tongue-tied.
He clearly hadn't been like this before. In the past, he had been the best at making Mei laugh.
Come on, remember, Kevin. Think about how you used to do it!
The little couple, immersed in their world of two, did not notice Ai Yue standing to the side with a gratified look in his eyes.
So good. So good. JPG
Reversing tragedy and making up for regrets—wasn't that exactly what he had wanted to do after transmigrating into this world?
At that moment, he felt someone gently pat his shoulder. When he turned around, he found Elysia looking at him, her eyes sparkling.
"Shall we go outside first?" Elysia moved closer and whispered into Ai Yue's ear. Her breath tickled his ear. "Let's leave this place to the two of them."
Ai Yue naturally had no reason to refuse. The two of them quietly left the house one after another, gently closed the door, and stood guard outside for the time being.
"This is the first time I've seen Mei lose her composure so badly." Elysia smiled. "But even crying, Mei is still adorable, don't you think?"
Ai Yue shrugged without offering an opinion.
"I still have to thank you, Ai Yue." Elysia continued, "I'm certain this is the best birthday present Kevin has ever received."
At that, she suddenly looked enlightened. "Ah, come to think of it, is that why you asked Mei to free up as much time as possible earlier?"
"That's right. Mei was part of the present too." Ai Yue smiled. "Otherwise, this birthday party wouldn't have been perfect, would it?"
"You're so mean~" Elysia covered her mouth as she laughed, her eyes curving into crescents. "But I like that about you!"
Ai Yue's harmless prank was precisely a sign that he was willing to take the initiative to draw closer to others. There were countless scholars in the Moth to Fire who had grown increasingly isolated as they walked further down the path of research, eventually almost giving up on communicating with others. As a result, misunderstandings that could have been resolved only grew more serious.
In Elysia's eyes, such barriers clearly should not exist. It was just that there were some things even she found difficult to resolve.
After waiting outside for a while, the door opened. Mei poked her flushed face out from inside. "Um, why don't you come in?"
"Then we'll be troubling you?" Elysia teased Mei as she walked inside. "Kevin, are you all right?"
"I'm fine." Kevin forced himself upright on the sofa, wearing a rare smile. "I haven't felt this good in a very long time... Thank you, Ai Yue."
"It was just a by-product of my research. I'm glad it was useful." Ai Yue nodded, pulled over a chair, and sat down. "But I have one bad piece of news and one good piece of news. Which do you want to hear first?"
Mei sat beside Kevin and took his hand. The two exchanged a glance and said in unison, "The bad news."
"The bad news is that the effect of this medicine isn't permanent." Ai Yue said, "As for how it works... forget it, we'll skip that part. In short, the medicine only lasts for three hours. Once that time passes, Kevin's body temperature will drop back to minus thirty degrees."
Based on the gene samples he had obtained from Kevin, Ai Yue had determined that the main reason Kevin's body temperature was so low was that, after the genes of the Honkai Beast Parvati had been incorporated, they had interfered with the part of the human nervous system responsible for regulating body temperature. As a result, the nerves judged Kevin's normal body temperature to be minus thirty degrees.
The principle behind Salvation Fire was actually fairly simple. It used the genes of another Honkai Beast with a higher body temperature to create a temporary Hypervariable Factor, allowing Kevin's body to reassess his normal temperature.
"Three hours?" Kevin looked surprised. "That long?"
Ai Yue: "Huh?"
"I thought maintaining an effect like this for an hour would already be impressive." Mei laughed from the side. "We had already prepared ourselves mentally, but... Doctor Ai Yue, that can't really count as bad news."
"All right. Being content with what you have is a good thing too." Ai Yue shook his head and stopped commenting on the two hopeless people. "Then the second piece of good news is—"
He took a flat metal medicine case from his pocket and showed the three of them the ten tubes inside. "There's still quite a lot of this stuff."
Chapter Forty-One: If You Want It, Then I'll Give It to You
"There are this many?"
Looking at the ten tubes Ai Yue had displayed, even Mei couldn't help showing surprise. "Is the success rate of this thing really that high?"
She was reminded of the "one-hundred-percent success rate" Hypervariable Factor Ai Yue had made before.
"Failing is actually pretty difficult, and each batch produces a lot." Ai Yue shrugged. "This outfit can't hold much, so the rest are in Mobius's laboratory."
His own laboratory was already crammed full with a supercomputer, leaving no room for other equipment. That was why he had borrowed Mobius's place to make this stuff.
Moreover, unlike the unlucky Herrscher of Ice, who had been killed instantly upon appearing, the Herrscher of Flame had rampaged across the Australian continent for a long time. Honkai Beasts with similar attributes could be found everywhere in Australia, so there was no shortage of related genes. The cost of making this stuff was low as well.
If not for the fact that each use of Salvation Fire required enduring the torment of seeming to leap into an alchemical furnace, Kevin could practically have treated it like water.
"All right, all right, stop wasting time here." Seeing Mei's scholarly instincts begin to act up again, with every sign that she was about to discuss things with Ai Yue until dawn, Elysia hurriedly stepped in and interrupted them. "Mei, take Kevin to rest. Make sure you cherish this rare time, okay?"
The implication in her words could not have been more obvious. The two people who understood it immediately flushed red.
"Um." Kevin stood up, feeling his body recover from the pain. "We should clean this place up first, then..."
"There are less than three hours left. You still want to waste time in a place like this?" Ai Yue ruthlessly pushed Kevin toward the door. "Don't waste my medicine, all right? Even if it was cheap, it still cost money!"
After pushing the two of them outside, Ai Yue and Elysia exchanged a glance and helplessly shook their heads.
"What a fussy old married couple." Ai Yue smiled. "All right, I'll help you clean this place up, then I'm going home too."
"Thank you, Ai Yue." Elysia suddenly stood in front of him and spoke in a serious, formal tone. "Thank you. Truly."
"What's with that?" Ai Yue frowned. "It feels like you don't see me as a friend. You see me as a doctor you hired to treat Kevin."
"Oh, that's not what I meant." Elysia immediately returned to her usual lively self. "How should I put it... I really like everyone. Precisely because of that, I've always felt sad about Kevin and Mei."
"Every time I see them wanting to draw close but being forced to keep their distance, I think..." A rare hint of gloom appeared on Elysia's face. "If I had been the first person to undergo the Fused Warrior surgery, would they have avoided becoming like this?"
"Don't torment yourself with things that have already passed." Ai Yue thought for a moment, then decided to offer some comfort. "Would the situation really have been fundamentally resolved just by replacing Kevin with you? It would merely mean sacrificing someone else."
"That's why I have to thank you." Elysia spoke softly. "Thank you for giving this trolley problem a perfect solution."
"This is nothing yet. It's only a temporary medicine." Ai Yue shook his head. "Actually, Kevin's problem can be solved once and for all. It's just still somewhat far off, so I didn't mention it."
"Really?" Elysia's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! You're amazing, Ai Yue!"
After saying that, she fell into thought and grew silent.
Ai Yue didn't pay much attention. He turned around and began removing the decorations hanging on the walls.
Although only two people were left to clean up, simply taking down the decorations was much easier than putting them up. Before long, the two of them had restored the living room to its original state.
"All right, I should get going too." Ai Yue picked up several garbage bags. "See you next time."
"Ah, wait!" Elysia finally spoke again. She stood in front of Ai Yue as though she had made some sort of decision.
Under Ai Yue's surprised gaze, she cut off a strand of hair beside her face, wrapped it in paper, and handed it to him.
"You wanted this very badly, didn't you?" Elysia said with a smile. "Surprised? Your expression was very obvious back then. I noticed it immediately."
"Was it?" Ai Yue felt slightly awkward at having his thoughts exposed to his face. "Well, it was just for some kind of research purpose..."
"I know." Elysia nodded, wearing a smile different from her usual one. "That's why I decided to take the initiative. It's a little strange to give my own hair as a present, but since this is what you wanted, you definitely won't mind, right?"
"Of course not." Ai Yue accepted the paper-wrapped hair and placed it in his pocket. "I won't betray this trust."
To be honest, Ai Yue had not expected his actions that day to earn Elysia's trust. It was truly an unexpected delight.
But precisely because of that, he understood very clearly that Elysia had taken an enormous risk by doing this. Therefore, although neither of them had said anything outright, he still made his own promise.
"I believe you." Elysia nodded, then added, "But if you don't manage to research anything special, don't be disappointed, okay?"
"Don't worry." Ai Yue lowered his head and looked at the floating words "Rare" above the pocket. With a double meaning, he said, "I won't be disappointed."
Before you continue