Normal and Abnormal / Rain

She was met with silence, not even a sparse ovation.

"Vill-V ... I don't think anyone would want to blow up a building." Eden spoke up to ease the awkward silence, "Any other magic tricks?"

"There are still many living people."

"And what is that?"

"Cut people up with a chainsaw..."

"Alright, that concludes the magic segment."

Eden successfully prevented a magic show on Chinese New Year's Eve from having ketchup splatter everywhere.

Before one side was finished, another one appeared. Kevin, clutching a handful of ice cream that looked as hard as a rock and was radiating cold air, asked the others, "Aren't you going to eat ice cream?"

However, not only did no one else, but everyone around him also tacitly avoided getting close.

"Give me one!" At this moment, Chrono appeared in the wrong place at the wrong time and did the wrong thing. He grabbed an ice cream from Kevin's hand, raised his mask slightly, and revealed his chin.

Pardo, who was eating candy, swallowed the candy wrapper when she saw this. "Chrono Brother going to take off his mask?"

Chrono stuck out his tongue to lick the smooth side of the ice cream, and Kevin, unusually, looked at him expectantly, waiting for his thoughts after eating it.

"Huh?"

A strange and confused sound came from Chrono's throat.

He stiffly tugged at the ice cream stick, then made a "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sound.

"Oh no, his tongue is stuck!"

"Waaaaah!"

Kevin went to pour hot water to thaw Chrono's tongue, but before he could even bring the hot water to Chrono, it all turned into ice water.

Another flurry of activity ensued.

"I feel like I'm gradually getting used to life here."

Seeing this, Hua smiled at the man sitting in the corner, puffing on his pipe.

"... And you?" The man blew out a puff of wispy white mist, glanced at Hua, and looked at the glasses on her face as he asked, "Weren't you going on a trip?"

"Me? Did I say that?"

"..."

"I'm sorry, Lin."

"There's no need to apologize. It's just starting over. Things are different now. We have a chance to start over." The man pointed his pipe at Kevin, who had a cold face. "You can learn from Kevin."

"Starting over? How easy is that?" Hua couldn't help but smile bitterly. "Ice and snow can melt, but the frost in people's hearts cannot be melted by mere sunshine."

"Haven't you started speaking in a more literary way yourself?"

"I'm sorry, this was not my intention..."

"There's no need to apologize." The man repeated, putting down his pipe and placing his hand on his mask. "I could have discarded this mask, but I'm used to covering my face. Compared to you, I'm quite inferior."

"Why talk about these things during the New Year? It's not easy for everyone to get together, so wouldn't it be nice to watch some magic shows, eat some ice cream, and set off some fireworks?" Elysia walked up behind Lin in her slippers and said reproachfully to the two of them.

"It feels so good to be home~" She stretched happily and then collapsed onto the sofa, sinking halfway into it. She struggled helplessly, "Waaah, Lin, pull me up..."

Sakura couldn't help but laugh out loud, and even the pink fox on her neck giggled.

"Can't you get up by yourself? Or have you gotten too fat to get up?" Mobius, wearing an apron and carrying dishes out of the kitchen, rolled his eyes in annoyance. He placed the strangely colored dishes on the table with one hand and grabbed Elysia by the back of her collar with the other, lifting her up. "So heavy... You must have gotten fat."

Elysia patted her lower abdomen and swallowed hard. "How could that be? I weighed myself when I went to get my clothes today!"

"That's a problem with the scale."

The man asked Mobius, who was still arguing with Elysia, "How is Sue?"

"Him?" Mobius's dissatisfaction deepened. "I don't understand why you guys would allow me to cook with a sick person? He has a hard time just standing, let alone cooking. Plus, with Kosma supporting him, the kitchen is practically overflowing."

Griseo had been drawing on paper the whole time, raised her little head. "Aunt Mobius, do you need any help?"

"It's my sister," Mobius said. "Anyone will do. Just get that patient out of here. You can come instead; you're the best cook."

She called out to the man who was smoking, and he nodded and prepared to put his pipe away and go to the kitchen. But before he could stand up, the other two men got up first.

Sakura tossed the fox to Pardo, who had been eyeing it with longing, and stood up, saying, "I'll go. Lin usually takes care of cooking, so let's rest for a while today."

"I'll join you too, three people should be enough." Aponia also stood up with her eyes lowered.

"..." Mobius stared at them, and after a while, he managed to utter a single word, "Okay."

It was drizzling, and after a hearty meal, the already noisy mansion became even more chaotic. Several people with poor drinking habits ran around the house, trying to get others to drink with them. Only the man sat properly in the courtyard, enjoying his sake in the rain.

The cool rainwater fell into the cup, rippling the surface of the wine, but he didn't mind and drank it all in one gulp.

"This must be what the people of Shenzhou call the New Year's atmosphere." Elysia picked up another glass of wine on the table, her cheeks as sweet as melting brown sugar in the intoxication. She took small sips, letting her lips touch the clear wine. "When everyone gets together to play, even the Nian Beast will be scared away."

"That's not what I meant..." The man wanted to correct Elysia, but he stopped halfway through his sentence and didn't continue. "The Nian Beast ... maybe we can go and look for it."

"Hehe, that's in Shenzhou, right? Would you like to go and see Shenzhou?"

"We haven't been to Mount Taixu that Hua mentioned yet. Let's go and check it out after the New Year."

"Great, shall we all go together?"

"Eden has a job, Sue isn't fully recovered, Kevin ..."

"But didn't everyone come back today without prior arrangement? No matter what our identities are, we're all just partners. As long as Lin tells everyone he wants to go out and have fun, he'll definitely get everyone's approval."

A raindrop landed on the side of the mask and slowly slid down.

"Really?... Let's go together then."

"Whoosh!"

Pardo lit the fireworks, and a beam of light rose from the darkness, exploding into vibrant colors above the man's head.

His long hair coiled on the ground like an inky black scroll. Under the light, the shadows were dispelled, as if the radiance had fallen on the top of the bamboo forest, casting countless dappled light spots.

My hair has grown long without me even realizing it.

But there's no need to cut it shorter anymore.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Normal and Abnormal

"Forehead..."

Every bone in his body was groaning, as if deep weariness was rooted beneath his shattering skull.

Hun clung to the swaying chair, her consciousness fading away in the unstable transport plane. Every minute, she had to look up to make sure she was still conscious.

The air conditioner was whirring at full blast, and even though the cabin was filled with filtered, warm oxygen and the temperature gauge showed a room temperature that enveloped her, she couldn't feel any warmth at all.

It felt as if I had fallen into an icy river, where the endless cold froze my soul.

The speaker, who looked like half a human pig, noticed her unusual behavior while holding a cigarette. He lowered his finger and asked teasingly, "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing." Soul grabbed the oxygen delivery tube, took a few deep breaths, and said in a low voice, "It's nothing compared to Lin's condition. It's just one of the symptoms of Honkai Energy erosion."

"Compared to Lin? He's actually not bad. In the years since the Third Honkai War, at least tens of millions of ordinary people have died from Honkai Sickness. They don't have the treatment for the Fire Moths, but they don't even live for two years." The Speaker flicked away the burnt-out ash.

"..."

"Don't look at me like that. I'm just telling the truth. You always arbitrarily label Lin as tragic, as if he's the most miserable one in this cruel world. But I can understand you. After losing your loved ones, you have a morbid protective instinct towards him. It's just a post-traumatic stress disorder." The speaker sneered. "But for Lin, he never feels that he is pitiful in any way. Your pity is a bit superfluous."

Hun covered his head and muttered, "What's the use of saying all this now..."

"It's really no use, but they're all dying people, so they have to say something honest, right?" The speaker couldn't help but laugh out loud. "Me too, me too."

His cheerful laughter after his failure made Hun both annoyed and curious.

"The same? I've said it so many times, we're not the same..."

"I know you want to say that we are not the same kind of people, but I just want to say that we are all normal people."

The speaker's laughter faded, and the light in his eyes dimmed as he leaned back in his chair. "Even if a bad person does one good deed, they can't still be considered a good person, but can't a bad person do one good deed...?"

Hun hung her head silently, no longer able to hear what the speaker was saying.

Are we going out?

Vill-V stopped working and asked the mechanical girl with a single ponytail who was picking up the helmet.

"I have completed the protection agreement. Doctor, please take care of yourself from now on." Prometheus held his helmet in one hand and bowed to Vill-V, who was sitting on the workbench. "Please wait until I return to assist you with the rest of the work."

"You can still work even when Lin's helmet stops functioning. The black box inside the helmet is connected to your main system, so you can know all the information he had before he took off the helmet."

"He was wearing a helmet before he went missing."

Vill-V's casual words did not elicit any expression from Prometheus. She never showed any emotion, or rather, whether she had any emotions at all was an unknown.

However, she kept her head down and didn't say anything.

"You told me that your system was interfered with when Lin disappeared, so you don't know how Lin disappeared, but judging from the current situation... you've reached an agreement with the person who took Lin away, haven't you?" Vill-V yawned and put down the wrench in her hand.

"I cannot interfere with the operation of my own system," Prometheus said monotonously.

"In the agreement Mei set up for you, protecting Lin is the highest priority. So if you judge that the other party does not intend to harm Lin, you can organize a complete set of logic to convince your own system principles."

"... Are you going to scrap me?"

"Oh? You admitted it so quickly? I thought you would deny it to the death." Vill-V tilted her head and smiled. "Don't worry, I'm just surprised by how well you've completed your personality."

"With more than half of the High Council dead at headquarters, there's a 98% chance you'll scrap me, so..."

"Hey, wait a minute. Even if I want to scrap you, I have to get Mei and Lin's consent first. Besides, in my opinion, the outcome and process of this matter are not as we see them. Einstein's reasoning is not wrong. She did simulate the general outline of the whole event, but she still overlooked some details."

Vill-V picked up a screw and said to Prometheus with a smile, "Just like this screw, it may look insignificant, but it is crucial to a work."

"..."

"The key information that Einstein knew was told to her by May. May did not lie about this, but she probably only told a part of it. It's the same principle as what you just said about 'not being able to interfere with the system's operation."

"There are no lies, but the truth is incomplete."

"Mei already knew who the murderer was through your system, but at the same time, that person didn't hide it from Mei. Instead, they used you to convey a message."

"He will purge the High Council, including himself, and after that, there will be a redistribution of power. With Mobius's support, Mebius will have the opportunity to implement his plan, in exchange for her not participating in this event."

"This is the main condition. I suspect there is another additional condition, which is Lin."

"The reason you and Mei let him take Lin away is because you want him to spend his last days peacefully. Before that, Mei probably investigated his background and had a lot of trust in his ability to keep his promise."

"And May did not participate at all. She only conducted an initial, symbolic investigation of the scene before leaving everything to Kevin."

Vill-V clasped her hands together and chuckled, "In the end, once the balance of power is broken, she no longer needs to abide by their treaty, guide Einstein to discover the truth, and act quickly to wrap up this incident, establish her authority, and pave the way for gaining greater influence in the future."

"You'll be staying by my and Einstein's side the whole time, probably because May instructed you to monitor our progress in cracking the case."

After listening to Vill-V's elaborate conspiracy theory, Prometheus neither admitted nor denied it; she was completely stunned, staring blankly at Vill-V.

"At this point, I will not comment on whether Mei did the right thing or not. She would do anything for humanity, which is no different from those High Council."

"But... even you, even she, wouldn't you have a little bit of selfishness in your heart?"

"Vill-V said softly."

"Are we... not normal, Dr. Vill-V?"

"No, you are normal. You are just like a normal human being, more human than most people."

Chapter Sixty-Three Rain

"Here, Lin, this is for you."

The shop owner handed him a bottle of drink, but Ling, who was packing up to finish his shift, glanced at it but didn't take it.

"Haha, it won't be deducted from your salary, it's on you." The boss laughed heartily and forcefully shoved the drink into his hand.

"..." Zero was in charge of the front desk checkout, so he could tell at a glance that this drink was one of the most expensive beverages.

"When you came for the job, I asked about your family situation. You told me you were an orphan, right?" The boss also opened a bottle of beverage. In his shop, you can drink whatever you want. He is warm, straightforward, generous, and treats his employees well. He has a good reputation. "Tell me if you have any difficulties. I also suffered a lot when I was young. I know you have it tough."

"I'm fine."