Chapter 94

Before Kalpas spoke, Ai Yue had many ideas about his needs.

For example, requests to increase the college's funding, expand the college's size, or even just small things like installing new equipment in the kitchen.

But he really didn't expect Kalpas to say such a thing.

Aponia wanted to say something, but she controlled herself in the end. She glanced at Ai Yue and then waited quietly to the side.

As the first person to take in Kalpas, Aponia was well aware that he had always had an extremely strong tendency towards self-destruction. She didn't know what Kalpas had experienced before Twilight Street, but judging from the circumstances when she first found him, it probably wasn't anything good.

Aponia certainly wanted to save Kalpas from such extreme emotions, but without knowing the root cause of his inner turmoil, she had no way to help. The one who truly saved Kalpas was actually Ai Yue.

Although Ai Yue met Kalpas much later Aponia, he seemed to understand Kalpas very well. With his help, Kalpas has almost emerged from the shadows of the past. Although he still refuses to take off his mask and still speaks ill of Aponia, he can at least communicate normally with others, which is something that was unimaginable before.

Therefore, it seems that there is no room for me to intervene in the matter between the two of them.

Why would you have such a thought?

After a moment of silence, Ai Yue finally spoke, "I thought you were quite satisfied with life here."

"This place is very nice."

As she said this, Kalpas's eyes softened slightly. "It's really good, I like it very much."

"Then why leave?"

Ai Yue simply put down his chopsticks. "If you find the cafeteria too tiring, I can arrange for you to work in the Logistics Department."

"No, quite the opposite, the work in the cafeteria is too easy."

Kalpas shook his head. "Besides, that's not the key point."

"The key point is that they don't actually need me here."

Upon hearing this, Ai Yue recalled that Kalpas had said something similar before Morning Sun Academy was officially established.

It's not that this place needs him, but that he needs this place.

"That's not necessarily a bad thing, is it?"

After figuring this out, Ai Yue roughly understood what Kalpas meant. "We don't really need you here."

"No, you need it."

Kalpas said decisively, "A while ago, a pretty strong guy came to the academy."

Ai Yue was stunned for a moment, then realized that Kalpas was probably referring to Hen.

The training school for new Fused Warrior is actually located at the Morning Sun Academy, but the two do not interfere with each other on a daily basis, so ordinary students and staff are unaware of what is happening on the other side.

But since Kalpas used "quite strong" to describe Hen, it means either he sensed the other's power, or the two had already fought.

"I heard from him that you're short-staffed right now, is that right?"

Seeing that Ai Yue remained Kalpas, Qian Jie said, "In that case, it is clear that the Moth to Fire needs me more."

Ai Yue wanted to say something more, but he noticed that Aponia gave him a look that stopped him from continuing to advise Kalpas.

"Okay, I'll consider your application."

So Ai Yue changed his mind, saying, "If you haven't changed your mind in a month, I will come to pick you up in person."

"Thanks."

Kalpas nodded and repeated, "Thank you."

These two identical sentences seemed to contain different emotions, but before Ai Yue could think about them in detail, Kalpas left the private room ahead of time.

"I thought you would persuade him to stay."

Only then did Ai Yue look at Aponia, "Why did you stop me?"

"I didn't want to get involved, but you don't seem to understand Kalpas's feelings."

"He wants to repay you," Aponia said.

"I can tell that he doesn't actually want to leave here; he made this choice for other reasons."

Ai Yue shook his head. "But actually, I don't need him to repay me."

"That's why I said you don't understand Kalpas's feelings."

Aponia looked him in the eyes. "Just because the rescuer asks for nothing in return, does that mean the person he saves can take it all for granted?"

Ai Yue was stunned for a moment.

"Repaying kindness is a matter of course."

Aponia said, "I know you don't need anything in return, and we may not be able to really help you, but how can we find peace of mind if we don't repay the kindness we've shown you?"

Ai Yue was silent for a moment, then sighed and said, "It was my oversight."

Perhaps it was because he had been spending too much time alone lately that Ai Yue's ability to understand other people's feelings had become dulled.

Repaying kindness is not only an explanation to others, but also an explanation to oneself.

He always wanted the people around him to live the life they wanted, but did he neglect their own thoughts in doing so?

At the same time, Ai Yue also remembered many other things.

Kalpas once said that he still had a score to settle with the Honkai. Obviously, his anger did not gradually subside because the children were saved. On the contrary, it rose even higher because of the rampage of the Honkai.

He probably won't be at ease until he can completely defeat the Honkai.

"It's good that you understand."

Aponia smiled as well, "Although Kalpas is not good with words, he is very perceptive. If you really refuse to let him return to the Poison Cocoon, I am worried that he may choose to leave without saying goodbye and fight against the Honkai in his own way."

"It's certainly not impossible."

Recalling Kalpas's personality as portrayed in the original storyline, Ai Yue nodded. "Thank you for reminding me."

Aponia smiled and shook her head, "That's only natural. I am your nun."

Don't say that.

Ai Yue scratched his head. "Belonging to me or something, that sounds pretty strange."

"Yeah?"

Aponia's smile became somewhat subtle. "But that's not what you said last night."

"No, no! Don't talk nonsense!"

Ai Yue quickly rushed over and covered her mouth, afraid that someone might overhear and spread these nonsense words.

Aponia looked at the somewhat flustered Ai Yue and her smile became even wider.

From the conversation just now, she could sense that Ai Yue's mentality was gradually becoming less human and more detached, and that he was no longer able to understand the feelings of others, which was one manifestation of this.

It's as if Ai Yue's humanity is gradually fading.

Although no matter what Ai Yue looks like, it won't affect her feelings, she still prefers the Ai Yue she sees now.

38

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Of course, this is the time to pet a cat!

Are you leaving?

After finishing their meal, Ai Yue and Aponia returned to her office together, where the Teleportation Gate to the Star of Light Experiment Base was installed.

Aponia looked at Ai Yue, clearly still somewhat reluctant to part with him.

"Yeah, I have a lot on my plate, so it's hard to find a moment to relax."

Ai Yue smiled and reached out to brush a strand of hair behind Aponia's ear. "But I'll probably be coming here often in the future."

Aponia paused for a moment, then smiled gently, "That's wonderful."

Ai Yue returned the smile, then turned and left.

After returning to the Star of Light, his smile gradually faded, and he finally revealed a somewhat serious expression.

Aponia's words were very cryptic, but that doesn't mean Ai Yue wasn't aware of his own changes.

He reflected on it and realized that he had been spending a lot of time alone in the lab lately, greatly reducing his contact with other people, which led to this situation.

However, even though that's what I said, I was still a little reluctant to put down my work. After all, if the Stigmata Project could produce results sooner, it might greatly improve the overall combat power of humanity.

It's difficult to ask for help with this, because the only person who might be able to help is Mobius, and if she finds out that Kevin has a clue to the evolution of all humanity hidden within him, then Kevin is in big trouble.

For the sake of all humanity, let's just compromise a little.

Ai Yue scratched his head, intending to call Kevin over to draw another tube of fresh blood.

Looking at it this way, it seems I haven't let him off the hook either.

Unfortunately, Kevin is currently on a mission abroad and cannot leave for the time being.

"Task?"

Ai Yue asked with some surprise, "Weren't you assigned to headquarters to protect Dr. Mei? What urgent mission could possibly require your involvement?"

He casually asked Prometheus to pull up the global Honkai Energy fluctuation distribution map over the past 48 hours, but he didn't find any region with dangerous peak data that required Kevin's intervention.

"It's not an emergency mission, Mei just needs to go out, so I'm just going with her."

Kevin asked, "It's a matter for the United Nations. There's a meeting that May needs to attend, and we don't know how long it will take."

The United Nations is a place where leaders from various countries bicker and argue. Even small meetings can take a long time. If it's a large meeting involving global affairs, it can take several days to resolve anything.

Kevin took advantage of the break during the meeting to answer Ai Yue's call.

Considering the recent revelation by the United Nations of the truth about the disaster to the world, and the emergence of the Moth to Fire phenomenon, Ai Yue, though not directly inquiring about the scale of Kevin's meeting, was able to deduce the general situation.

"Alright, I understand. You focus on protecting Dr. Mei."

Thinking of this, Ai Yue didn't say anything more. "The Brahma Project isn't in a hurry... Have you experienced any unusual symptoms since you returned yesterday?"

"No, everything is normal."

Kevin replied, "I was a little sleepy after I got back yesterday. I don't know if it's related to the surgery."

Of course it's related. With so much blood drawn, even a Fused Warrior couldn't be completely unaffected.

"Well, it should just be a minor side effect of the surgery. Let's continue to observe it."

Ai Yue awkwardly changed the subject, "By the way, did you talk to Dr. Mei about the important matter?"

"I said it..."

Kevin's voice involuntarily lowered considerably when the topic was brought up, "And then I was kicked out to sleep..."

"Look at how pathetic you are!"

Ai Yue said with exasperation, "How can you be the head of the family if you keep going like this? You need to step up!"

"That's true, but..."

Kevin stopped mid-sentence. "I have to go now. The meeting has to continue. I'll hang up now."

Ai Yue couldn't help but sigh, and could only postpone the Stigmata Project for the time being.

However, this gave him more time to think. Coupled with the warning he received from Aponia, Ai Yue began to reflect on whether the simultaneous appearance of the Herrscher of Rock and the Herrscher of Domination had made him too tense lately.

Thinking of this, Ai Yue couldn't help but dial another number.

"Hello?"

Pardofelis's voice came from the other end of the receiver. "This is Pardo's Shop. How can I help you?"

"Commissary?"

Ai Yue paused for a moment, then couldn't help but laugh, "Do you sell cat food here?"

Pardofelis's voice seemed to possess some kind of magic, instantly putting Ai Yue at ease.

It felt like we were back on the Twilight Street, basking in the sun together on the rooftop.

"Brother Yue?"

Pardofelis paused for a moment, her tone immediately becoming flustered, "Um, well, I was just joking..."

She was clearly well aware that, theoretically, such things were not allowed to be done behind closed doors within the Moth to Fire.

"What's there to be nervous about? I'm not here to investigate you."