"A facet of her true ability?" Elysia and the others were still pondering it, but Dr. Mei had already caught on. "Are you saying this is one manifestation of her true ability?"
"Looks like I'm not very suited to telling riddles." Ai Yue sighed. "Aponia's true ability is even more outrageous than 'Discipline'—she can see other people's 'fates.'"
"What is that supposed to mean?" Elysia froze for a moment. "Could it be some kind of ability to foresee the future?"
"Probably. She was very vague about it, and I never completely understood it either." Ai Yue sighed. "Simply put, everyone's fate appears as a tangible entity in her eyes. 'Discipline' is essentially just the means she uses in an attempt to interfere with other people's fates."
"Is this an innate ability?" Dr. Mei pondered, then rejected her own idea. "No. If she could truly see other people's fates, she shouldn't have tried to gather and treat patients infected with Honkai Energy."
"Based on both her own account and my personal speculation..." Ai Yue nodded and continued, "Aponia probably awakened her ability only after treating those patients, due to excessive exposure to Honkai Energy."
"Contact with Honkai Energy caused her to awaken her ability?" Elysia suddenly said. "Wait, when you put it that way, why does it sound a little like..."
"The Fused Warrior Project, right?" Ai Yue smiled. "By combining human genes with Honkai Beast genes, humans can gain immense power and special abilities. It's very similar, isn't it?"
"No wonder you were so confident. Aponia's resistance to Honkai Energy should be among the highest in humanity." Dr. Mei finally looked enlightened, but she soon frowned again. "But can merely coming into contact with Honkai Energy really awaken such a powerful ability?"
Ai Yue could only respond with a smile.
He couldn't exactly say that he was confident in Aponia because he had seen the script and knew she wouldn't die here, so he had inferred the process from the outcome, could he?
As for whether Aponia's ability truly originated from Honkai Energy—at least, this explanation was easier for others to believe than "she was born with it."
In any case, no one had ever been able to understand the true source of Aponia's ability, so this couldn't really be considered a lie.
"But there's one more thing," Elysia asked. "Why did you say that Aponia dying at this point would be a good thing?"
"Because seeing other people's fates isn't always a good thing." Ai Yue spoke meaningfully. "Especially when you try to change the tragedies in someone else's fate, only to discover that you're powerless. In that case, this ability becomes a curse, bringing even greater calamity."
This was Ai Yue's assessment based on what would have happened originally. When fate couldn't be changed, the harder Aponia tried to do something, the more likely she was to trigger disasters that couldn't be undone.
Of course, there were exceptions to everything.
Ai Yue glanced at Elysia before lowering his head again.
Aponia couldn't see everyone's fate, either. At least for now, the fates of two and a half people were blank to her.
The first was Aponia herself. As the saying went, a doctor couldn't heal herself. Although Aponia could see other people's fates when she came into contact with them, this ability couldn't be used on herself.
Otherwise, she might have become even more extreme.
The second was Elysia. The reason seemed to be related to her special identity, and this was probably also why Discipline had no effect on her.
As for the last half-person, that was Ai Yue himself.
According to Aponia, she could see only an extremely vague and fragmentary fate surrounding Ai Yue. Unlike with other people, she couldn't glimpse the whole picture, as if an incomparably distant gulf lay between her and Ai Yue.
Ai Yue wasn't sure whether this was because he was a transmigrator or because the mysterious system could obscure the workings of heaven, but at least it did him no harm.
After all, if Aponia could clearly see his fate, that would mean he still couldn't surpass the future this world originally held. And being unable to surpass the world's own fate meant he couldn't change that despairing ending.
For Ai Yue, that was the one thing he absolutely couldn't accept.
Chapter Fourteen: Are You Sure This Is Evolution?
Perhaps the topic Ai Yue had brought up was too bizarre. After he finished speaking, the meeting room fell silent for a moment.
"Um, I don't really understand any of what you're talking about," Pardofelis finally broke the silence. "But the Fused Warrior surgery sounds pretty important. Shouldn't we go take a look?"
"I..." Dr. Mei came back to herself and was about to speak when the sound of an alarm interrupted her. She glanced at her phone and gave an apologetic look. "Sorry, my break is over. I still have work to do this afternoon."
As an important member of Moth to Fire, Dr. Mei clearly had pitifully little private time.
"I'll be taking my leave as well." Sakura rose to her feet. "I have a mission tonight and need to go back to prepare. I won't be able to accompany you any further."
"It's all right. I'm still here, aren't I?" Elysia said with a smile after the two of them left. "The Fused Warrior surgery is highly confidential, so we can't observe it. But I know roughly where it's being performed. Perhaps we can wait there?"
"The procedure is very short?" Ai Yue asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't a surgery like this take a long time?"
The Fused Warrior surgery was something he had never learned about. However, based on his impression of surgery from his previous life, Ai Yue felt that an operation like this should take at least eight or nine hours.
"Short. Extremely short." Elysia's voice suddenly lowered. "So short that it can be over the moment two different genes come into contact."
Ai Yue froze, then understood.
That was right. Human beings and Honkai Beasts—how could combining the genes of two entirely different lifeforms be a delicate operation performed bit by bit?
The violent reaction produced when the genes fused was enough to kill a mentally sound adult on the spot. If they didn't finish as quickly as possible, then even if the two sets of genes successfully fused, the subject could still die on the operating table from the intense pain and torment.
Thus, by the time the group reached the medical department with Elysia's authority, Aponia was already lying quietly in a hospital bed.
"See? I told you it would be fine." Ai Yue let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, then smiled. "Now the big shots upstairs are going to have a fit."
To be honest, once he realized that the Fused Warrior surgery was far more dangerous than he had imagined, Ai Yue had genuinely begun to worry. He was afraid that his arrival might affect the original timeline and cause something to happen to Aponia, who should have successfully become a Fused Warrior.
Fortunately, the future truly wasn't so easy to influence.
"The surgery went unbelievably smoothly. I'm getting curious myself."
Along with a deliberately affected voice, a woman with long green hair and a white lab coat entered the room. "Elysia, where did you find such a little...cough, such an excellent specimen?"
When she saw the two strangers in the ward, she immediately replaced the slightly frivolous word.
Clearly, she still wanted to maintain her image in front of outsiders. As for what this behavior was for...
"Mobius, long time no see!" Elysia immediately went up to greet her. She pulled Mobius over to Ai Yue and Pardofelis. "Ai Yue, Little Pardo, let me introduce you. This is Dr. Mobius, one of the founding-level members of Moth to Fire. She's also in charge of the Fused Warrior surgery!"
"Hello there." Mobius smiled at the two of them, then let her gaze rest on Ai Yue. "You're Ai Yue? Mei has mentioned you. You seem to be very talented."
"Hello, Dr. Mobius." Ai Yue smiled and greeted her as well, but didn't make any physical contact with Mobius. At the same time, he tugged Pardofelis a little farther back. "I was specially recruited by Dr. Mei. I just reported for duty today."
Pardofelis might be deceived by Mobius's gentle and amiable appearance, but Ai Yue, who understood Moth to Fire far better than most, knew that this person had fundamentally crossed the boundaries of humanity long ago and become something anomalous.
Especially after undergoing the Fused Warrior surgery herself and becoming the third Fused Warrior, her values had shifted in a way that was difficult to correct, and that deviation continued to worsen.
In her eyes, people like them couldn't be considered fellow humans. They were merely white mice with research value.
"Don't look at me like that." Mobius seemed to notice Ai Yue's wariness, and her expression grew slightly colder, though she still forced herself to smile. "Whatever. We'll have plenty of chances to meet in the future. I have things to do, so I won't keep you."
With that, Mobius drifted away, as if she had really only come over to say hello.
"Oh my, is Mobius getting cuter and cuter?" Elysia sighed as she watched Mobius's back. Only after Mobius disappeared beyond the ward door did she turn to Ai Yue and Pardofelis. "Still, be extra careful when dealing with her. Mobius is very cute, but if you underestimate her because of that, you'll fall right into her trap."
"Cute? What's cute about her?" Pardofelis rubbed her arms. "I was trembling the moment I saw her! I don't know why, but my instincts told me to stay as far away from her as possible!"
"Mhm, that's one way to handle it." Elysia smiled. "Then whenever Little Pardo sees her in the future, cover your ears and run as far away as you can!"
Ai Yue was about to speak, but suddenly shut his mouth.
He lowered his head and met a pair of misty eyes.
"What's wrong? Where are you running off to?" Aponia's weak yet calm voice rang out. "You seem to be discussing something dangerous."
"Oh, Aponia, you're finally awake?" Elysia came over in delight. "You secretly asked to undergo Fused Warrior surgery without telling us. You're really brave!"
"Because if I hadn't done this..." Aponia focused her gaze on Ai Yue. "You would definitely have stopped me, wouldn't you?"
"Hmph." Ai Yue neither confirmed nor denied it. He merely asked, "Are you satisfied?"
"Did strengthening my ability through the Fused Warrior surgery let you see clearly?"
Aponia didn't answer. She only looked toward Pardofelis.
In her field of vision, clear threads extended from the girl hiding behind Ai Yue, running straight upward.
The nun then turned her head toward Elysia, but Elysia's body was completely bare. No matter how much Aponia concentrated, she couldn't find even the slightest thread.
Finally, she focused her attention on Ai Yue.
Then she found nothing at all.
Aponia: ?
Chapter Fifteen: Sorry, I'm Using Cheats
Aponia blinked, thinking that she was simply too weak after the surgery.
So she looked at Ai Yue again, but still saw nothing.
"What's wrong?" Ai Yue also noticed her reaction. "Is there something wrong with your eyes?"
"I don't know." Aponia answered doubtfully, then asked Ai Yue in return, "Did you do anything during the time we were apart?"
Ai Yue thought for a moment. "Nothing at all. I haven't even eaten."
"Speaking of which, it is time to eat." Elysia seemed to remember only then. "Oh dear, at this hour, the cafeteria's signature dishes are probably all sold out already, aren't they?"
"Elysia, take Pardo to eat first." Ai Yue immediately continued, "I'll stay here and...keep Aponia company."
There were some things he couldn't let too many people hear for the time being.
Elysia immediately understood and nodded. Although Pardofelis still didn't quite understand what was going on, she obediently followed Elysia out of the ward without asking any questions.
Only after the ward door had been closed from the outside did Ai Yue slowly speak. "What did you see?"
It wasn't difficult to tell from Aponia's movements that she had seen something unexpected in Ai Yue when using her ability to glimpse fate, which was why she had made that expression.
"I didn't see anything." Aponia wore a complicated expression. "I can't see your thread anymore."
"You can't see it anymore?" Ai Yue froze. "Is it the same as Elysia's case?"
"Yes." Aponia observed Ai Yue's expression and suddenly said, "But you don't seem surprised."
Ai Yue was more than unsurprised. He was practically breathing a sigh of relief.
"Because theoretically speaking, this is what should happen." With no one else around, Ai Yue was much more uninhibited. "I told you on the very first day we met that I'm the Savior. How could the Savior's fate be so easily glimpsed?"
"But why could I see it before?" Aponia forced herself to sit up, and with Ai Yue's support, she rose into a seated position. "I can feel that my ability was strengthened after the Fused Warrior surgery."
Aponia's gaze passed over Ai Yue and settled outside the window. In her field of vision, countless densely packed threads grew from the ground toward the sky, breaking off at a certain height.
Previously, she had needed to see a specific person at close range before she could make out their fate. Now, she could even see the threads of fate themselves directly, without needing to observe their host.
There was no doubt that this was an immense enhancement. But why had this enhancement instead caused a regression in Ai Yue?
Clearly, this change couldn't be explained with a simple "Savior."
"Don't dwell on it. Your observations of me were never accurate before, anyway." Seeing Aponia frown deeply, Ai Yue consoled her. "Not being able to see it is actually a good thing."
Ai Yue naturally had his own guesses, but they involved his most important secret, so it was obviously impossible for him to tell Aponia.
As he had said before, Ai Yue wasn't a native of this world. He was a transmigrator.
If the moment he transmigrated into this world was viewed as a fork in fate, then two different fates should actually exist within him.
One was Ai Yue's original fate.
The second was the fate of this world, which he had begun trying to change after obtaining the system.
Before this, Aponia might have been able to see only the first fate. It was only after the Fused Warrior surgery strengthened the talent she had originally possessed that she was able to see through that thin layer of fate and witness the real Ai Yue as he was now.
This also explained why Aponia had previously been able to see only some vague and broken fragments. Ai Yue's original fate had long since been shattered, so anyone observing him naturally couldn't see the whole picture.
But the current Ai Yue was both a transmigrator and protected by the system. With Aponia's ability, there was naturally nothing she could see.
"If I had still harbored doubts about you before, then now this has confirmed your identity in its own way." Aponia sighed, seemingly having truly accepted Ai Yue's identity as the "Savior." "But what about Miss Elysia? Could two Saviors appear in the world at the same time?"
"Who knows? Perhaps the heavens thought this world would be too difficult to save, so they sent several Saviors." Ai Yue smiled without answering directly. "Instead of worrying about other people, you should think more about yourself. Are you feeling uncomfortable anywhere?"
"I'm a little dizzy, and slightly nauseous." Aponia answered honestly. "Could you pour me a glass of water?"
Ai Yue glanced at her, then got up and walked toward the water dispenser in the corner of the ward.
Behind him, Aponia continued, "I thought this would help you."
"Didn't we agree before that you would discuss it with me whenever you made a decision?" Ai Yue didn't turn around. "You still don't have a clear understanding of how special you are."
"Because I knew you wouldn't agree if I discussed it with you." Aponia continued, "You're the kind of person who, if he could handle everything alone, would never let anyone else take even one percent of the risk."
"Yes, I do have that tendency." Ai Yue returned with the water and handed the cup to Aponia. "But do you think I don't want you to take the risk?"
Aponia held the cup against her chest and blinked. "Isn't that it?"
"All right, that is part of it." Ai Yue scratched his head, not denying it. "But more importantly, Aponia, I told you before that your ability isn't necessarily a good thing in some respects. If you use it improperly, it will plunge many people into disaster."
"Why?" Aponia frowned and looked at Ai Yue. "I've always wondered about this. Mr. Ai Yue, you seem to understand me better than I understand myself. You seem to know a great deal about this talent of mine."
Ai Yue fell silent.
Was he supposed to tell her that the fate she saw couldn't be changed at all by that so-called "Discipline" of hers?
For someone who could "foresee the future," that would be far too cruel.
"In any case, I want you to promise me one thing." Ai Yue ultimately didn't answer Aponia's question. "Unless it's necessary or a matter of self-defense, I hope you'll try not to use 'Discipline' on ordinary people."
Before you continue