Awakening

"Lin's equipment?"

Hen was incredulous when he saw that sentence was clearly written on it, "You're not telling me that they think someone like Lin could pick up a weapon, kill someone, and then run away?"

"Lin wouldn't do such a thing," Kevin said firmly. "But this happened after Lin went missing, and Lin participated in the battle while seriously injured, so some people think that Lin is fully capable of doing it."

"..."

"I will find it."

Whether it's the murderer or Lin—

This is all for a better tomorrow!

null

Chapter Twenty-Five: Awakening

"So that's how it is..."

Mei looked at the motionless "Lin" and couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. It seemed that her guess was correct. This was the reason why Lin would give this imprint to her and why he had never given the imprint to anyone else before.

Since the method of combat is chosen based on the target of the enemy, Lin himself is undoubtedly not in "Lin's" target selection judgment, as evidenced by his appearance and stopping "Lin" last time.

Seeing that "Lin" was no longer moving, she couldn't help but laugh; this time, he was a real sculpture...

So, have we won?

Mei tentatively asked, "'Lin'?"

Lin remained motionless, the viewing window on his helmet silently glowing as he peered into the outside world.

Mei went straight to the question that mattered most to him, "What is that space in the Imaginary Tree where you can see Lin's past?"

"... Those are 'chaotic memories' separated from the 'body'." Lin slowly and clearly stated the information.

"Chaotic memories..." Mei chewed on the words, which meant that all the memories from that place were separated from Lin?

Mei had suspected this from the very beginning, after all, there was another person in the Imaginary Tree who could also separate memories, namely Hua. The strange memory space was very similar to Hua's ability to separate memories using Feather of Dust.

Ke Lin doesn't seem to be troubled by memories like Hua, at least not like Hua who needs to clear his memories regularly.

After thinking about this, Mei asked "Lin" again. "What is the reason for Lin's memory separation?"

Half a second after he finished speaking, "Lin" explained in detail, "By separating the memories that interfere with normal thinking, we can combine the original memories normally and achieve the prerequisite for the 'Ash Project'."

"Ash Project"?

Mei was taken aback and immediately thought of Kevin's "Stigmata Project".

"What is Ash Project..."

"Sizzle..."

Before she could finish her question, "Lin's" figure flickered and disappeared without a trace. Mei looked behind her alertly, but there was nothing else in the boundless space.

Mei for a moment and realized that she had probably triggered the keyword. If the Ash Project was a "secret" known to everyone in the Imaginary Tree, then everyone except outsiders should know what the project was. Or, to put it more extremely, only Lin knew what the Ash Project was, but he couldn't let others know, so this program was set on "Lin".

With a sigh, Mei felt a deep sense of regret. There were still many questions she wanted to ask, and it seemed she had been too hasty.

Then the anchor point behind her activated again. Mei walked towards the anchor point and, after experiencing that unusual feeling once more, opened her eyes.

"Here it is..."

The scene before her was not the one she had entered from, but another place that Mei had seen before and was wary of.

Mobius's laboratory.

"Hehehe... Lab Rat, you've finally come out. Now it's time for our game."

Greedy snake eyes lurked in the shadows.

Lin stood in front of a shelf filled with file folders. He casually pulled one out, glanced at the number on it, and put it back.

"The first draft of the 'Stigmata Project'..."

A hand reached out from behind him, grabbed the corner of the file he had put back, and took it out under his gaze.

Elysia playfully stuck her tongue out at Lin, who had turned around, and said, "Hey Lin, don't be so stingy. You were always so open and honest when we shared information before."

"... Remember to put it back after you're done reading." Lin didn't say anything, just gave a reminder, and then continued searching for what he needed in the massive amount of files.

"Is this what you asked Pardo to collect?" Elysia looked at the busy Lin with curiosity. Even he was busy for a long time when faced with so much information.

"No, this was originally an intelligence gathering room. Most of the information can be found here," Lin replied while taking out a file folder. "I had Pardo collect scattered information. Those 'secrets' are not as easy to find as this; they are quite private."

Pardo is a master at finding things. She can go to most parts of Imaginary Tree, find some little-known paths, and even send unaffected Canned Food into 'that place' that Pardo doesn't want to go to to find what he needs.

Knowing that Elysia was about to ask him what he was looking for, Lin said calmly in advance, "I'm looking for what happened to the Moth of Fire when I was in Dusk Street."

Why didn't you ask me?

"... You also left the Moth of Fire at that time."

"Then why not ask Kevin?"

"..." Lin felt that if he continued to speak, he would get caught up in the conversation. He pulled out a copy of "The First Herrscher Research Report," flipped through a few pages, and then replied, "Kevin didn't tell me everything."

Lin believed Kevin wouldn't lie to her, but Kevin indeed didn't tell Lin everything that happened back then.

Kevin had his own considerations. After the events that affected the future of the Firemoth and even the future of the Previous Civilization, even if Lin and Kevin switched sides, he would not reveal everything to Kevin.

But now, there's no need to worry. The Imaginary Tree is where the memories of the Thirteen Heroes are stored, and he'll surely be able to find the records of that event somewhere.

Hua also didn't know the full picture of the incident. Rather, only those involved knew the details. As for the outcome, Lin had witnessed it firsthand.

Elysia smiled mysteriously, and Lin saw it but said nothing.

"Found it."

After searching around again, Lin found the record of the "Cleansing Incident" among the many file folders. He opened it, flipped to the last page, saw the results, nodded, and turned to Elysia, saying, "Want me to read it to you?"

"OK."

Elysia sat down on the steps, stretched lazily, and nodded to Lin.

Pardo returned to her residence quietly and quickly. She saw the pale yellow light shining through the window from afar, which reassured her a lot.

Before she knew it, this place had become so familiar that she would lower her guard considerably just by looking at it.

The sanatorium has been thoroughly investigated. Let's send that guy there tomorrow and see how it goes. If they can't cure him, we can just sneak him out again.

Even Pardo herself didn't realize that taking care of Lin had become an indispensable part of her life.

As she opened the door, a wave of warm air rushed in. Pardo, feeling a bit constrained, bent her arms and took a step...

"Bang!"

A strong hand grabbed her by the neck, lifted her up, and then the door slammed shut.

That unfocused eye was pressed against her right eye.

New Year's Eve Special: Nun and Hypnosis Part 1

"Hypnosis APP?"

Lin, who was leaving school to the beat of the dismissal bell, was about to send a message to Su from the neighboring school that he and Kevin were going to the arcade together when he glanced at the table and saw an unfamiliar icon that he had never seen before.

A pink app shaped like an eye, it looks like the kind of software a boy would open late at night.

Have you installed this app yourself?

Lin stood among the passing students, pondering for a while, but couldn't remember when he had installed this thing. So he assumed it was junk software he had accidentally downloaded and prepared to uninstall it directly.

This kind of software definitely contains viruses.

"Lin!" Just as he was pressing and holding the icon to uninstall, a powerful slap landed on his back, causing him to spit out a mouthful of saliva and almost tumble down the stairs.

"What are you standing here for? Go play your game!"

The carefree white-haired youth intimately wrapped his arms around Lin's neck and looked at his phone screen without any hesitation.

"Kevin, out of the three of us, you're the only one with a girlfriend." Lin Shen took a breath, resisting the urge to throw this guy off the building. "And you never spend time with your girlfriend unless it's absolutely necessary. Are you advocating Platonic love?"

"Um, I don't understand any of the academic conferences Mei attends. Every time I go with her, I just stand outside. She said I shouldn't go anymore, and we should save time by doing our own things and meeting up when we're both free..."

"... You two are really bizarre to a certain extent."

Kevin, seemingly unconcerned, pointed at Lin's phone and said, "Hey, stop talking about that. What is this? Hypnosis APP? Haha, you've been watching too much [beep]?"

"Hmph, with my looks, do I need that?" Lin curled his lip in disdain, glancing contemptuously at Kevin. "Isn't getting a girlfriend as easily as a piece of cake?"

However, Kevin didn't care about any of that. Taking advantage of Lin's inattention, he pressed a button and said, "Hey, I'll order."

"Hey! What if there's a virus?"

The app on the desktop was opened, and Lin hurriedly looked back at the phone screen, but when he turned his gaze back, the opened software had already closed automatically, and Lin had not seen any of its contents.

"Phew... thank goodness, it's probably just a system incompatibility." Lin Song breathed a sigh of relief, then scolded Kevin, "If my phone had any problems, you'd better kneel down and apologize to me."

"..."

"Hmm? Why aren't you saying anything?"

Quiet Kevin is not a good Kevin. Lin knew this well and immediately noticed that something was wrong with Kevin. He turned around in confusion and saw a pair of round eyes.

Kevin stood blankly on the stairs, his hands hanging limply at the hem of his clothes, his whole body stiff, like a soldier under orders from his superior.

"... Spinning around?"

Kevin turned around.

"Go on a date with your girlfriend. After you see her, the hypnosis will be lifted so you can forget this memory, but you will still carry out this command."

"Yes," Kevin replied stiffly, turning to start walking uphill.

"OK, I understand."

Lin's lips curled up, and a number of dark thoughts immediately arose in his mind. He then called Su to inform her that today's event had been canceled.

"Then, it's time to choose the first prey."

Lin's lips twitched back, revealing a terrifying and wicked smile.

On the tram home, Lin stood amidst the bustling crowd, looking around and searching for a suitable "prey".

His eyesight was exceptionally sharp; by observing the reflections from the car doors, handles, and nameplates, he could make out the appearance of everyone around him within seconds, and thus he quickly locked onto a prey.

The pretty girl seemed to be chatting with a friend on her phone, completely unaware that Lin was quietly approaching her from the side.

Before long, they were within arm's reach, a distance that would make it easy for Lin to take action.

But Lin didn't act immediately. He needed an opportunity. Soon, the tram would pull into the station, and as its speed decreased, the inertia would cause the people on the tram to lose their balance. That moment would be the best time to make his move.

Lin silently counted down the time, watching the station entrance getting closer and closer. Then, as the countdown reached zero and the tram's voice announcement uttered its first word, he grabbed the overhead handle without hesitation and opened the Hypnosis APP with his other hand.

Then it was handed to the girl...

The greasy middle-aged man behind him had this on his face.

Before the uncle could even utter a sound, he was hypnotized by Lin. He put down the pig's trotter that had been sticking out towards the girl's buttocks, and stood there with a pair of round eyes that didn't match his temperament. He didn't break free from the hypnosis until the tram pulled into the station and Lin led him off the tram.

Lin watched the bewildered girl carry her schoolbag away into the distance, then chuckled and looked back at the pervert on the tram.

This app is so much fun!

He led the greasy middle-aged man to a deserted corner, stomped the man's head on the floor, and arrogantly asked while fiddling with his fingers, "How many times have you molested girls on the tram?"

"Eleven times." The hypnotized uncle remained expressionless even as he was being trampled underfoot, answering honestly.

"From today onward, you must do 110 good deeds every month, and from now on, turn over a new leaf and become a good person."

"Yes."

"Very good. Once you leave the station, the hypnosis will be lifted and you will forget this memory, but you will still carry out orders. Now get out of here."

"Yes."