A Comedy of Errors / Something... Unexpected?

"That's quite a lot of bad luck. I've rarely seen you healthy since I've known you. You always seem to have some kind of injury or illness." Himiko chuckled, then took out another bottle of beer, her beautiful fingernails resting on the can's pull tab. "So, what brings you here? The Squad Five only has two wounded members left. You don't have any missions scheduled, do you?"

"I just... came to see you."

"..."

Himiko slightly surprised, as could be seen from the pause in her finger movements, but she quickly chuckled softly and patted the spot next to her.

Lin walked over confidently and sat down on the other side of the small table.

"Have a drink with me."

"Good."

Neither Lin nor Himiko said much. Himiko knew that Lin only came to see her and he wouldn't bring up anything because he wasn't sure what might offend her.

Lin also knew that Himiko of alcohol meant that she would tell him what she wanted to say in a little while, and all he had to do was listen.

The two drank their cold beer in silence, one can after another, until all the remaining beer cans were empty on the ground.

Himiko tossed aside the empty jar, propped her pale cheek, which was flushed with an unhealthy red, with one hand, and said leisurely, "Did you... see the gift she gave you?"

Lin put down the wine jug and nodded listlessly. "Mm."

What is it?

"Hollowcase."

At this moment, Himiko noticed that the holster on Hayashi's waist had been replaced with a new one. The matte leather had a great texture, and it was clear that the person who chose it had put a lot of thought into it.

"... Is that so? That's good."

"This was given to me by Dessidobia, wasn't it?"

"..." Himiko's fingers stiffened for a moment, her lazy eyes looking at Lin. "How did you know?"

"Because the soul does not understand me."

Many people's impression of Lin is limited to his frequent missions, his aloof attitude, and his unchanging helmet, as if these are all he has and his life has no room for anything else.

Those who truly know Lin will notice that he also has some ordinary hobbies, such as reading novels and maintaining handguns, and he doesn't hide these things from others.

Dessidobia would occasionally mention wanting to give gifts to others, so she often observed and inquired about the hobbies and habits of the people around her, making a record of them so she could choose gifts later. It wasn't difficult for her to discover Lin's little hobbies.

And the soul...

Just as the phantom said that day, he and Soul didn't really understand each other. She was just following a blind impression. If she were to give a gift, she would give a new pistol instead of a holster, because she didn't understand what meaning that seemingly obsolete pistol had for Lin.

Dessidobia discovered this, which is why she chose to have Soul deliver the gift, hoping to win Soul's favor with Lin.

"I don't understand...yes..." Himiko chuckled self-deprecatingly, "I don't understand you either."

"..."

"By the way, do you know I asked Hua what she wanted to do after the Honkai ended?"

"Um."

"I also asked Soul this question during the time you disappeared."

Himiko her face, as if to blindfold herself and stop breathing.

"She said with a smile..."

"Have no idea."

At this time, after two months of silence, the members of Firemoth, who had finished most of their work, began to become active again on the internal network of Firemoth.

The topic discussed in one of the posts was a popular topic that was trending a few years ago.

The true face beneath someone's helmet.

"After that helmeted man came back, he was often seen walking around the gym and outside his room without a helmet, just with his face wrapped in bandages."

"Speaking of which, wasn't there a betting scheme a few years ago? What was the final result of that betting scheme?"

"Oh, the organizer of the last betting game withdrew from it. It's said that everyone who chose the correct answer had already sacrificed themselves, so they returned all the bets. However, they still didn't reveal the correct answer."

"Really?... Hey, I heard that the helmeted people took off their helmets during the Sixth Honkai War, and some people saw it, right?"

"It seems like that's the case. Can anyone who saw this reply to the post? What does he look like? Is it really true that there's nothing under his helmet?"

"Hmm... Even if we saw him, we wouldn't be able to be sure it was him. After all, his signature is his helmet. Without the helmet, no one could connect him with it."

"Who said that? I saw him today with only bandages on, but I still recognized him at a glance. That aura doesn't lie. It's just... I don't know if it's just my imagination, but the outline of his face under the bandages... is kind of handsome."

"Haha, you must be joking."

"I'm not lying to you. If you don't believe me, come to headquarters and see for yourself. Besides, he seems different from before. Last time, someone mistook his back and greeted him, and he actually responded. You know, before, he would just walk away without even glancing at him."

"Hey, you don't mean to say he went from a cool, helmeted guy to a masked pretty boy, do you? There's no such thing as someone changing their personality that quickly. He used to be someone who didn't want to get close to anyone. So how about we start a bet on whether he'll start dating someone?"

"Okay, I'll bet he won't."

"You little brat."

Chapter Twelve: A Mistake

"Doctor, what brings you here?"

"My dear Klein, can't I come to you unless I need something?"

Klein was clearly at a loss for words in the face of Mobius's teasing, but she was already quite adept at dealing with it by standing there like a wooden statue, so she stood there stiffly, neither speaking nor responding.

"Alright, stop making that frozen-up face. One person is enough." The person Mobius was referring to was clearly someone who claimed to entrust everything to her but was mostly useless. "Actually, I wanted you to send something to that liquid nitrogen guy."

"Is it for Mr. Lin?"

"You don't need to be so respectful to that guy. You're not even that respectful to me." Mobius said with a hint of displeasure. "Doctor" was, of course, a respectful title, but Klein's tone clearly showed more respect for Lin.

Rather, it's more accurate to say that Klein respected all those who dared to dedicate themselves, and Lin was just one of them.

"Forehead..."

"Forget it, there's no point in talking to you about this. I don't even know whether to say you're likable or annoying. Anyway, the thing is there. Let's take it to him in a bit."

Mobius pointed to the syringe on the table, the morbidly green liquid clearly her doing.

"Interested? Would you like to hear what it is?"

Mobius was quite pleased with Klein's curious gaze, and a rare warm smile appeared on her lips, "That guy Lin has been using a system called Neural Connection to connect with Artificial Intelligence and mechanical systems for a long time, but the human nervous system is the most fragile part of the human body. As long as there is a little disorder, it will cause the Honkai of the entire senses."

"For example, the byproducts that arose while I was researching that vial."

Mobius picked up a syringe containing a similarly green liquid from the table beside her. Her attitude towards this syringe was rather subtle. "This drug causes minor disturbances in the cranial nerves after injection, resulting in a difference between the sound produced by the vocal organs and the intended expression that the person cannot perceive, for example..."

"If someone wants to say, 'I hate you,' then after injecting this drug, what they say might be 'I like you,' 'Don't hate me,' 'I'm sorry,' or even more bizarre things. But in the speaker's mind, they have clearly expressed their meaning."

Klein noticed the eager look in Mobius's eyes and shuddered. To prevent her from putting her desires into practice on herself, Klein decided to change the subject. "Is the medicine you're going to give Mr. Lin also this kind?"

"How could that be? He had used some of the medicines I concocted before, which were also related to the nervous system. So this time I concocted one with the opposite effect for him to try, to see if I could get rid of the side effects of those medicines."

"Aftereffects..."

This term was not unfamiliar to Klein, who had been engaged in research for a long time. The fact that the term "sequelae" was used indicated that the symptoms were quite obvious and persistent, so Lin may now be experiencing some symptoms similar to the illness.

"He occasionally experiences excessive nervous excitement, which increases his thinking speed, but it also causes neurasthenia, insomnia, and weakness. This is likely a dual symptom caused by the medication and the Neural Connection. This medication is meant to alleviate his aftereffects."

Mobius would explain things to Klein in great detail, which allowed Klein to quickly understand what Mobius had done.

She found Klein's reactions quite amusing; even when persecuting others, Klein didn't show any fear, something neither the Danzhu sisters could do.

"Okay, I understand..." For example, right now, Klein could tell that the "potion" that Mobius had given Lin before was probably not a good thing, but she was paying more attention to the treatment drugs that Mobius was now prescribing to Lin.

But... let her interpret it however she wants.

Mobius nodded in satisfaction. "Then we'll take it over in a bit... By the way, where's the data sheet I asked you to give me yesterday?"

"Um... I was just working on it, Doctor, and you called me in..."

Mobius covered his forehead and said helplessly, "Never mind, you go and finish that first."

Klein realized that the data sheet was indeed nearing completion, so he nodded and left the office to finish it at his desk.

After two hours of relentless typing without a break, her back ached from all the work. She finally finished typing the data spreadsheet, then sighed and looked at the long schedule of work ahead, feeling that even two separate tasks wouldn't be enough.

As for Danzhu and Cangxuan? It would be good enough if they didn't drag us down...

Just then, Danzhu was about to head to her office with the report that Mobius had requested Klein called out to her, "Wait a minute, Danzhu."

"What's wrong, Senior Sister Klein?" Danzhu stopped curiously and looked at the busy short-haired girl.

"Please give this to the doctor, and while you're at it, please take the syringe off the doctor's desk."

Klein wanted to buy a cup of milk tea during this break, so she asked Danzhu to do something for her.

"No problem! Leave it to me!"

Danzhu, who had always been asking Klein for help, immediately agreed to help her senior sister when she heard her request. After all, one has to be grateful for a favor, and no matter how shameless she was, Klein had helped her revise reports and data so many times, she couldn't just keep praising him from behind...

"Okay..."

Klein stepped out the door, stretched, and seemed to have forgotten something. But after thinking about it carefully, she couldn't think of anything wrong, so she quickly walked to the headquarters cafeteria to buy milk tea.

Doctor's, Danzhu's, Cangxuan's, my own... Should I add some pearl jelly today?

Then, on the way, she happened to run into Lin again.

"Mr. Lin?"

Lin stopped and looked at Klein. He remembered this assistant who had the same hair color as Mobius. From Mobius's words, he could tell that she admired her assistant.

"What's the matter?"

"Nothing, I just came out to buy something... Are you heading to the lab?"

"Yes, I have my monthly physical examinations done in your lab."

"Oh, perfect timing. When you go later, go find Danzhu and get the medicine Doctor Mobius gave you. It's for treating nerve damage."

"..."

Treatment for nerve damage?

Lin didn't think much of it and nodded.

Syringe... syringe...

Danzhu searched through the cluttered items on the table and quickly found two syringes.

They're exactly the same, so they must be the same medicine. Just pick one at random.

Danzhu happily took the syringe and walked out the door.

I'll make up for it at 4 PM tomorrow.

null

Chapter Thirteen: Some... unexpected surprises?

That's strange.

It's very strange.

Lin's gaze followed a person who greeted him. After hesitating for half a second, he nodded slightly in response.

The other person... made a fist gesture with a strange expression.

If Lin is not mistaken, then it should be an expression of "yay!"

"..."

He looked away and brushed past the person he had never greeted before.

Lin has a fairly clear understanding of himself. He said before the Third Honkai War that he was a real freak. Even though many people have commented that his attitude towards things has changed recently, he still hasn't left the category of freak.

But lately, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but there seem to be more people passing by this weirdo greeting him or giving him a friendly smile...?

Lin dared not say he knew the people at headquarters very well, but based on his years of observation, he found that the connections between people were not that close. Many people joined the Moth Chaser because they hated the Honkai, and these people were often the first to die. So, whether for their own good or for the good of others, they would try not to invest their emotions in interpersonal relationships.