Iceland Has No McDonald's, Date

Su Qing'an removed her hand from his head and said:

Let's go to Iceland.

"Dating?"

"Let's go eat McDonald's's."

Fu Hua thought about it and felt that there was still no difference; whatever the two of them did when they went out together could be considered a date.

She stated:

That's dating.

Prometheus, who was listening in, felt something was amiss.

Although the commotion caused by the Eighth Herrscher's abilities seems insignificant now that the source has been resolved, and the two of them don't really care where they go, going to Iceland doesn't feel like Mr. Su's usual style.

Moreover, the core of the Eighth Herrscher is still in his pocket.

The illusion that Su Qing'an was neglecting his duties was beginning to arise within the intelligent module.

Fu Hua remembered that someone had no particular interest in McDonald's's, and was the type who would McDonald's's three times, then turn around and buy groceries to cook at home.

So she asked:

Why do we need to eat that?

The boy was very serious:

I promise you.

The little girl thought for a moment, and after confirming that she had no recollection of it, asked:

"When?"

"In a dream."

Fu Hua pinched his cheek and complained:

"How strange, is this some kind of ancient love confession?"

Su Qing'an gave a very informative reply, delivered in a declarative tone and with a detached expression:

"In the dream created by the Eighth Herrscher, Hua and I were married for a year."

"Why?"

The girl's eyes widened slightly. She felt she had missed many important scenes. Even though less than half an hour had passed, Master Su had spent a whole year in her dream with another version of herself, and they had even gotten married?

Damn it, I just can't be honest and happy at all.

Her emotions were inexplicably strange and hard to describe; they were a mixture of joy and sorrow, confusion and sweetness, and a sense of disorientation. This subtle, ambiguous state made it difficult to determine what emotion to adopt in response.

A storm has erupted in Fu Hua's mind, with countless inexplicable mini-dramas and all sorts of strange plots clashing wildly in her Sea of consciousness.

Just before her thoughts were about to veer into more adult territory, Su Qing'an said nonchalantly:

"I was just kidding, I'm not married."

"?"

The girl tilted her head, nonchalantly kicked his shin, a hint of annoyance in her voice. She glanced at the drifting clouds outside the window, pursed her lips, and said:

"Su Qing'an is rotten to the core."

The boy felt that the other person's vocabulary seemed to have improved compared to a year ago, but it was still at a kindergarten level and there was still a lot of room for improvement.

He added:

"Although we're not married, we dated for a year."

The young girl nodded, indicating that there was nothing to be ashamed of; they were already talking about it.

Although it hasn't been that long, it's not something to envy, probably.

She asked:

"Then what?"

Su Qing'an started making things up:

"Then, before the dream ended, on our way to McDonald's's, you childishly said that next time we met, you wanted two toys from the kids' meal and a strawberry sundae."

Fu Hua thought for a moment and commented:

"A string of lies."

The boy's expression remained calm and composed, his heartbeat and limbs controlled flawlessly in State of Still Water. After a moment's thought, he felt his acting was fine and that he could still improve, and said:

"Hua, I didn't lie."

Fu Hua glanced at the Little Feather sleeping soundly in the Mind Lake and said quietly:

"When Xiao Xi returned, the Soul Link had restored itself."

Su Qing'an remained silent for a while, realizing that she had indeed forgotten something crucial.

With Soul Link, the key to being caught lying lies not in body language or facial expressions, but solely in emotions.

I guess the pleasure from successfully fooling the other party before made him a little expectant this time, which is why he got caught.

Hateful.

So what's the truth?

He answered honestly:

"Apart from a few details, there's no difference."

"Dishonest people have to clean Tiāntiān." She couldn't think of any other useful punishment.

Su Qing'an decided to involve innocent bystanders:

"I'll have Prometheus direct the intelligent robots to clean it properly."

Prometheus: "?"

It decided to keep the harsh reality that McDonald's's in Iceland a secret from Su Qing'an.

While the two continued arguing, Lin Xinchán, sitting in the driver's seat, had already turned the vehicle around and headed towards Iceland.

I'd better finish this weird mission as soon as possible, get Hua off on her date, and then I can go home and do something more respectable.

Although that was her plan, she inexplicably recalled an incident at the dinner table where her father complained about how he had encountered couples who disagreed and had to change their destinations several times while driving a taxi. She realized that she was indeed no different from a taxi driver.

Therefore, Lin Xinchán began to silently pray that the two would not change their minds halfway through.

Vatnajökull Glacier National Park.

Although it's called a park, the area it represents actually covers 8% of the entire island of Iceland.

Lin Xinchán, expressionless, escorted the two to this location, offered a congratulatory message for their marriage, and then boarded the plane to return to Australia to continue his standby duties.

What greeted their eyes was pure natural scenery, with angelica and bay bean growing densely, Arctic foxes roaming freely, crisscrossing ice tongues and fjords, and traces of ancient volcanic activity everywhere.

The boundless view was so vast that it made the sky appear somewhat ancient.

Everything was fine, the only problem was that the taxi driver didn't take them to the McDonald's's, which was a bit unprofessional.

This wasn't Su Qing'an's first time in Iceland; in fact, he had been in the island's capital less than three hours earlier.

But unlike last time when I was filled with anger and hatred, the existence of dreams allowed my consciousness to be cleansed. The many worries and sorrows did not dissipate, and the knots in my heart and the past could not be completely untied, but they could no longer interfere with my emotions and mood.

The year-long illusion of physical existence has given rise to a greater sense of novelty, and the impressions left by a journey with completely different purposes and moods are naturally also different.

The girl crouched down and touched the weathered rock formations with her fingertips. She felt the coldness, gazed into the distance at the undulating glaciers and rocky landscape, her blue eyes distant, and whispered:

"In such an environment, humans always seem to unconsciously feel very small."

Su Qing'an thought for a moment and then uttered the title of a novel that had absolutely nothing to do with Iceland:

"Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World"

Fu Hua looked up at him, displaying her willingness to ask questions when she didn't understand:

What is that?

"A novel, though it has nothing to do with Iceland, feels like it perfectly captures the impression one gets from this place."

She answered honestly:

"I haven't read it, but the name sounds somewhat fitting."

This place is desolate and bitterly cold, yet it is also so beautiful and vast that it would be natural to describe it directly using the title of this novel.

The boy's arm first encircled her slender waist, and after a soft struggle from her, it wrapped around her legs, pulling her into a princess carry. Looking at the girl's slightly flushed face and adorable, wandering gaze, he smiled gently and whispered:

"Let's go see the scenery."

She tried to maintain her composure, reached out and hugged his neck, gently rubbing it to give herself a sense of security, and said:

"... good."

Obviously, someone who can't fly has absolutely no reason to refuse.

Meanwhile, Prometheus silently instructed the McDonald's revive within a certain period, and to include toys from two kids' meals.

As a calm and rational artificial intelligence, it naturally doesn't have the strange template of eating dog food and shipping couples.

The fundamental reason for this is that Su Qing'an's authority within the Moth to Fire was elevated to the highest level within her capabilities after Mei gained complete control.

Even to anyone, including those at High Command who initially viewed the other party as a destabilizing factor, granting this permission was perfectly justified.

For beings who have essentially saved the world, nearly burned themselves out, yet remain utterly without desire, the only way they can repay them is by fulfilling their insignificant needs at the appropriate time.

This is not Equivalent Exchange, nor even a transaction.

Giving all the McDonald's's in the world to Su Qing'an would be meaningless.

Rather, what truly holds value in this crumbling world?

If civilization collapses and society Honkai, all the once-glorious fruits will wither and die.

Everyone understands that the humans who are still fighting bravely today are completely different from the warriors of the past.

This is not a war between humans, but a war between human civilization itself and its Honkai.

Perhaps it is precisely because of this that the determination and reasons for those warriors' advance appear unprecedentedly noble and pure.

Two weeks later, Greenland.

Since that bizarre coma incident, the town's residents have returned to their normal lives.

While the outside world remains in turmoil as efforts are made to lure out the Honkai Cultist, this place, which should be most affected, seems to be unaffected.

The missionaries only spent less than half a day here, so it's unlikely that all the residents have problems. However, the fact that the victims' deaths seem to have been erased from existence in this town suggests that everyone's cognition and memories have been altered.

For this reason, the evidence they can provide is of little reference value.

Given the small number of residents here, the Moth to Fire will likely be replaced by mechanical soldiers after a while.

The young man named Andrew could hardly forget the nun's figure; the burning desires and delusions in his heart that day felt like inescapable karmic obstacles.

Even if the purity of a young girl's character and moral values were to cleanse her of these desires, as time passed, her physical desires would only grow stronger and more uncontrollable as she moved away.

And for some reason, his desires were directed solely at the departing nun, while he passively lost interest in other women in the secular world.

This makes it impossible for any substitute to replace the karmic obstacles in one's heart.

Clearly, the power of [bewitchment] still possesses terrifying effects, preventing this young man, who was already seen as bait by the missionaries, from receiving the relief he deserved after the former's death.

And whenever one is entangled by desires and delusions to the point that it affects their normal life.

Andrew would then kneel down like a devout saint, just as he is now.

Bathed in the rare Antarctic sunlight, he closed his eyes, grasped the crucifix given to him by the nun, and felt the warm touch of flesh against his skin, allowing the restlessness in his heart to slowly subside and ushering in an unprecedented peace.

Since Sister Flora left the town, Andrew's wellspring of positive emotions seemed to have completely dried up, and he had to admit that he might need to see a therapist.

But even such thoughts were forcibly erased from the subconscious mind.

Holding the cross and praying to God has been the only time the young man has been able to find inner joy and ease lately. At these times, all the troubles of the world seem to have nothing to do with him. He only needs to focus his attention on the cross, and happiness and joy will come to him, embracing him to the clouds.

But today seems different from usual.

[Open your eyes.]

A message, like a divine revelation, was born from within.

Andrew opened his eyes in a daze, opened his clasped hands, and lowered his gaze to the cross in his hands.

Cracks appeared on the surface of the material, which was becoming increasingly unlike metal, with barely visible threads interwoven within them, and the temperature was rising even higher under the sunlight.

Thump, thump, thump.

The subtle vibrations felt like a heartbeat, causing the skin to tremble involuntarily.

Splash, splash, splash.

The sound of the babbling brook gradually grew louder and louder, drifting gently into my ears.

Accompanied by an even more unspeakable smacking sound, an eyeball slowly squeezed out. Its shape was no longer round due to the constraints of its original frame, but it did not seem to be in pain at all. On the contrary, the moment it saw the light of day again, it narrowed into a crescent-shaped line, looking quite pleased.

The black and white pupils rolled around for a moment, but in the instant the young man's pupils trembled, they naturally split into two smaller pupils, which wriggled side by side, curving together at Andrew in an eerie arc.

But this is still not the end; what follows will evoke genuine fear and nausea even in those who don't have trypophobia.

As they blinked, the eyeballs continued to split into every corner of the cross, creating a dense, tiny array of eyeballs, like bubbles, whether on the front, back, or even the sides and edges.

They blinked and moved about, each one seemingly a solitary individual, occasionally squinting in a winding arc according to its own will...

Andrew was delirious, with fear and the desire to discard it being the first thoughts that arose, but the power of [bewitchment] regarded it as a divine revelation, leaving the young man with no choice but to continue staring at this scene that seemed to exist only in purgatory.

His face was pale, and his skin was so close to the eyes that were wriggling on the back of the cross that it gave him a smooth and sticky sensation.

The young man's broad joints trembled, but he could only manage such a small movement. An even colder force restrained his entire body, making it difficult for him to move, so that he remained in his original posture, just like the devout saint gazing at the statue in the church.

This was an incredibly bizarre situation, he thought during a moment of mental blankness.

Give me freedom.

The familiar voice was so sweet and alluring, like an apple just picked from the Garden of Eden.

Andrew's voice sounded like that of a thirsty traveler; he felt he couldn't straighten his tongue, let alone utter clear words.

"Sister Flora...?"

Although this is the intended meaning, the statements made in reality are often ambiguous and unclear.

His lips twitched for a moment, then he chose to remain silent.

The young man vaguely understood that this monster disguised as a nun didn't seem to want him to reveal any information about her.

Recalling the large-scale coma incident a while ago, and the troops stationed nearby recently.

Andrew, with his normal IQ, could hardly help but connect these details to the situation; his expression grew increasingly grim, and a sense of incongruity fully surfaced at that moment.

The young man instantly realized just how irrational and abnormal his past behavior and thoughts had been.

Can this monster alter consciousness or cognition?

Understanding this point is meaningless; rather, the missionary delighted in appreciating the despair and terror the boy would feel upon learning the truth, and thus deliberately steered his thinking towards this conclusion.

Countless pairs of eyes observed the human's emotions and facial expressions, all narrowing their eyes in amused smiles, and the ethereal voice once again entered the ears:

Andrew, give me your freedom.

It was still the same sweet voice as before, but Andrew's pupils involuntarily contracted, sweat dripped down his face, his heart pounded harder, and his blood circulation accelerated to the point that his face turned red, a sight that pleased the missionary immensely.

He certainly understood the real reason for the missionaries' revival at this moment.

The cruise ship delivering supplies will arrive in Greenland today.

Although residents are strictly prohibited from leaving this place using this method, the size of the cross allows them to easily blend in and reach other countries, thus deceiving all surveillance and detection.

The only thing that made Andrew subconsciously feel fortunate was that the residents of this town were restricted in their personal freedom and could not take a single step outside of this area, so he did not have the qualifications or ability to become an accomplice in getting them onto the cruise ship.

[Are you thinking that because you can't get out, you can't give me freedom?]

[What a good child! I felt your concern for me.]

The fragmented words were as chilling as a cold wind, making one feel as if they were in an ice cellar.

At this point, Andrew realized that the nun he had once dreamed of meeting had completely taken control of him.

The possibility of him escaping is zero.

The handover of supplies went smoothly, and the huge cruise ship completed its mission within the stipulated time. It will then pass through the remaining countries in the Antarctic Circle, following a circular route.

At that time, a silver cross was left on the deck by someone.

Bathed in the sea breeze, it will eventually be picked up by someone...