Volume Six: What She Lost, What I Gained - Chapter 582: Welcome Back

I turned my attention back to the naked woman in front of me.

Haoyue was sitting upright on the large white bed, completely naked, her curvaceous, fair body fully exposed before me, even her strange parts were on full display.

Well, that's certainly not my interest... uh... well, not entirely? At least I know it's very impolite, but an investigation is necessary. Neumann helped transfer all the assets of the Extra Weapon to my name, and the first thing I did when I regained my strength was to help Haoyue rebuild her body.

But whether it can be considered a success or not, I'm not sure.

So they asked Neumann for help.

She was sitting next to Haoyue, staring intently at her. I knew she was looking at a large amount of data reflecting Haoyue's physical condition. Her face remained expressionless, but her eyes were very serious, which made me nervous.

And what about Haoyue? "..."

Her beautiful black eyes were slightly narrowed, her lips were tightly closed, and her long, flowing hair cascaded over her snow-white skin; she was truly breathtakingly beautiful.

But even such beauty fades with age, so fleeting.

Ever since Haoyue returned from the other dimension... well, how should I put it, her demeanor has changed slightly.

Although I was prepared from the start to face the clichéd scenario of "having been lonely for decades and completely changing her personality, becoming either gloomy and depressed, disillusioned with life, indifferent to everything, or something else entirely," and I kept thinking about how to correct her, I seem to have overthought it.

For nearly seventy years, Haoyue forced herself to remain in a state of hibernation for most of the time, or rather, an extremely long version of dreamless hibernation... no, even more so.

A person in a vegetative state.

This description is probably more accurate.

Each time I fall asleep, I rely solely on Yuyue to sustain myself. Apart from maintaining the minimum organ functions necessary for life, almost everything else completely ceases, much like the "frozen in a freezer for hundreds of years" trope often seen in science fiction movies. When I wake up, I am exactly the same as before I fell asleep.

Sure enough, Haoyue didn't just sit there and wait to die. She was probably also afraid of the possible changes in her mind after decades of loneliness, so she came up with this way of coping.

Even so, she was awake for a total of about twenty years, because there is a limit to living in that state. If she didn't wake up periodically to adjust herself, her body would collapse after a few times, especially in the empty alternate dimension.

Twenty years is shorter than Robinson Crusoe's twenty-eight years on a desert island. Is this neither a long nor a short period of time enough to change a person?

The former Haoyue was ethereal and refined, with a captivating charm hidden within her allure, and an indescribable sense of mystery. Now... she has gained a touch of "depth," like a pond reflecting the moon growing into a lake reflecting the starry sky. The restless elements hidden in her personality, the rarely expressed obsessions and madness, have all become the sand and gravel in the lake, pressed to the bottom by the calm water.

More "quiet," more "deep," yet also more "turbulent undercurrents"—that's probably how I feel about her now.

Seemingly sensing my thoughts, Haoyue looked up and smiled gently at me.

My heart skipped a beat.

The night clouds danced lightly in the breeze, revealing the bright white moon hidden behind them—this scene seemed to appear before my eyes.

"... Bright Moon?"

"What's wrong, Xiao Ye?"

Her smile grew even more beautiful, but it no longer contained the burning passion of love; it held something deeper...

The warmth of family? The harmony of an old married couple? The satisfaction of finally reaping the rewards after overcoming hardships? No, it's hard to tell the difference.

But she's still alive, still in front of me, still smiling at me, and that's enough.

"Xiao Ye?"

"... No, it's nothing, I'm just... glad you're safe."

"... Thank you, me too. I've experienced despair and hope again so many times. It's so good to see you again."

She gently hugged her chest with both hands.

"Do you remember, Xiao Ye, what the Count of Monte Cristo said?"

The Count of Monte Cristo?

"Have you forgotten? The famous novel from your hometown that you told me about before, and the classic lines from its main characters."

She closed her eyes, as if recalling something.

"In life, only those who have experienced extreme misfortune—"

"'Only by not giving up hope can one achieve ultimate happiness'... Yes, I remember telling you that."

Edmund's words to Maximilian, who was so grief-stricken by Valentina's death that he contemplated suicide, helped him persevere through a month of misfortune, and Maximilian ultimately did find happiness—a scene I still remember vividly.

"Right? In this alternate dimension, as long as I'm awake, I keep repeating this phrase in my mind while thinking of you. Just like that, I feel like I can... see a glimmer of hope, persevere in my loneliness, and see the day I escape from here... It's incredible, isn't it?"

"Yes..."

As the saying goes, fortune and misfortune are interdependent; misfortune and happiness are relative. The more heart-wrenching the misfortune, the greater the happiness that follows after overcoming it.

While this isn't an ironclad rule, it's possible that after overcoming misfortune with great difficulty, even greater misfortune may follow.

What awaits me next—good fortune or misfortune?

"Hey, wait a minute, Haoyue, you just said 'thinking about you guys in my heart while constantly repeating,' 'you guys'?"

"Well!"

Haoyue was startled, then her gaze flickered for a moment to the person next to me before she turned her face away. However, I could see that her ears, which were peeking out from her cascade of hair, were bright red.

"Hey, Qipao Woman, why are you blushing...?"

Xiao Wu, who was next to me, frowned, though her voice was a little teasing.

"I... I'm not blushing! It's just that I couldn't control my blood and energy because I was too close to Xiao Ye!"

"Who would believe that!"

"Then tell me, why am I blushing?!"

Haoyue turned and glared at Xiao Wu with astonishing force. Although her expression was full of anger, her face was also red, and it was probably not from anger.

"Uh... why...?"

Xiao Wu scratched her head, thinking for a moment--

"Although it's just my wild imagination... but... uh... when you were trapped, did you think of me besides Ye?"

"... This is something you should just keep to yourself, don't... don't say it out loud... I'm telling you beforehand! I only think about you occasionally when I think, 'If that super-healing, idiotic delinquent girl were here, we wouldn't have to worry about food,' okay? Don't get me wrong, okay? It's definitely not because I'm bored from not being able to bicker and fight with you, okay? Really!"

"You're rambling on and on, it just sounds like you're trying to hide something! Ugh, can you stop looking at me like that, it feels... a little awkward..."

"I already told you my blushing was all Xiao Ye's fault! And it was you too, not just your face but your neck was red too!"

"Huh? What are you talking about? I--Eh!?" Xiao Wu immediately looked in the mirror, paused for a moment, then froze. "I, I just... it's hot... no, no... right! It's Ye! I just couldn't control my blood and energy because I was too close to her!"

"Right? It's all Xiao Ye's fault!"

"Yes! It's all Ye's fault!"

Is it my fault? Believe me or not, I'll stuff an octopus-shaped Blood Beast into your panties!