Live for Me / You Are the Embodiment of My Ideal

"What's wrong? Are you afraid? There's no need to be ashamed of your desire to survive. Since ancient times, humanity has pursued immortality. It's an instinct etched into the genes of every living thing."

"But I advise you to accept it sooner rather than later. I don't want to be left with a failed product whose mind has become fragile."

Lin closed his eyes and pondered for a moment. His tone did not change in the slightest as he said in his usual calm voice, "I understand."

"..."

"..."

"You..." Doctor Mobius narrowed her eyes, seemingly trying to see the panic hidden beneath Lin's composure.

But no matter how she looked, she could not find any despair in him, because it had never been there to begin with.

"Hmph... Right. Someone who could endure that kind of surgery probably doesn't fear death all that much." Mobius snorted coldly. Her previously pleasant mood plummeted, and after jabbing Lin with a mocking remark, she turned to leave.

Elysia turned back and waved at Lin before hurrying after her.

Walking to Mobius's side, she asked with a grin, "Doctor Mobius~ What exactly is the agreement between you and Lin? I'm so curious~"

"Why don't you ask him directly?" Mobius shot her an annoyed look.

"Lin would definitely just play dumb and refuse to say anything. Please, my dear Mobius, tell me something interesting already." Elysia's eyes sparkled as if she were about to pounce on Mobius. "Could it be something... unspeakable?"

"You're so annoying." Mobius was thoroughly sick of Elysia's pitiful pleas. She had lost count of how many times she had seen Elysia put on that lovable expression, and every time, it made her uncomfortable on both a psychological and physical level.

So she simply crossed her arms and said coldly to Elysia, "It's simple. I'll give him a little help, and then he'll give me everything."

"'A little help'... I remember Lin's medical report said that two toxins destroyed his pain nerves. One matched the toxin of the Judgment-class Honkai Beast Sessha, while the other was an unknown artificially synthesized toxin. Doctor Mobius, isn't that a little..."

The implication behind Elysia's words was obvious.

"He should be thanking me." Mobius was utterly dismissive.

Beep beep. A message arrived on Mobius's communicator.

Mobius picked it up and looked at it, her expression turning strange.

"What is it?"

"No, nothing... It's from that guy in the Repair Pod." Mobius read the contents in a peculiar tone.

"'Thank you.'"

For Me

"..."

"..."

They looked at each other in silence.

The people of MOTH had long grown accustomed to Lin's aloofness and few words, but Kevin still needed time to adjust.

Lin looked at the MOTH uniform Kevin was wearing.

Kevin, meanwhile, looked at Lin, who resembled a specimen soaked in Formalin.

After a long silence, Kevin sighed softly, lowered his head, and said quietly, "Lin, I joined MOTH."

"I can see that."

"...Are you angry?"

Only after coming to MOTH did Kevin understand that Lin had been doing these things all along, and why he had hidden the truth from him and Mei: to protect them.

But now, Mei had joined MOTH, and Kevin had voluntarily followed her. Their decision was practically equivalent to rendering all of Lin's efforts meaningless.

"No." His voice sounded slightly distorted through the intercom.

"All right... Lin, are you really okay?"

"I'm fine. I'll probably be out of here tomorrow and transferred to a regular ward."

The matter of Lin being corroded by Honkai Energy had not been made public. His fame had soared after the campaign against the Third Herrscher, and MOTH needed something to boost morale, so it deliberately promoted him as a human hero.

Lin had been indifferent upon learning this. In a sense, he had tacitly accepted what MOTH was doing.

But it was not that he had no objections. He simply felt that it was meaningless.

If someone was a hero, then sooner or later, he would become humanity's guide. By comparison, a soldier pushed along by the tides of the era would not become that meaningless hero, no matter how perfectly he was packaged.

"All right, Lin. I'll come see you again tomorrow. I'll bring Mei too... Forget it, she's been really busy lately... Don't worry, I'll come see you. Once you're better, I'll give you an Eden album!" The white-haired boy had gone through the Third Honkai War and still managed to wear a strong, cheerful smile. The heavy stone in Lin's heart finally fell, and he responded with a nod.

Lin watched Kevin's retreating figure.

Humans were very strange creatures.

What destroyed their minds was often not sudden disasters or terrifying catastrophes. Those usually only made people more united, stronger, and more powerful.

Instead, it was the tiny things that accumulated unnoticed.

Like soil erosion, grains of sand being swept away. The change did not happen overnight, but by the time one noticed it, it was already irreversible.

Lin slowly moved beneath the lights in his wheelchair. Before long, he found the room number he was looking for. He knocked on the door, then pushed it open and entered.

The gray-haired girl stood listlessly beside the bed. Upon hearing the knock, she had intended to get up and open the door, but Lin entered before she could.

Lin glanced around the fully equipped but barely used room, then looked at Hua's tattered uniform, which she had not changed out of.

"You are..."

Lin was currently wrapped in bandages from head to toe. To prevent his newly grown skin from being damaged, necessary protection had been placed over his body, but his mummy-like appearance kept Hua from recognizing him at first.

Fortunately, once Hua saw Lin's sharp eyes, which looked capable of firing laser beams, she guessed who he was.

"Ever since arriving here, you haven't stepped outside. Apart from the necessary food, you eat nothing else, nor have you accepted the conditions for returning to society." Lin repeated what others had told him before he came, gave her some time to think, then said, "I'll put it bluntly: MOTH won't raise a pig that only eats and sleeps."

Hua's long eyelashes trembled.

"I know you're confused right now. Most people in MOTH have had similar experiences, but that doesn't mean we'll let you stay here until you figure things out. In fact, I came here to provide psychological counseling, and my attitude has always been the same: leave or stay."

Lin threw those somewhat cruel words at Hua.

He was forcing Hua to make a choice. He could see that she was someone who did not know how to act without a goal, someone commonly described as having no mind of her own. Such people usually needed others to help them make decisions, but Lin was giving her a choice rather than choosing for her. No matter how cruel it was, she had to face reality.

"Leave... stay..." Hua murmured blankly.

"Your father died in the Third Honkai War. I'm sorry for your loss. If you want to return to normal society, MOTH will make arrangements for you. You can go anywhere, or even travel... Though severely affected areas are out of the question."

Leave?

That might be a good choice. She still knew nothing about any of this. MOTH did not lack one person like her, and she could find a new purpose in life during the rest of her days.

Perhaps Hua would thank Lin for giving her the power to choose one day.

But right now...

"I..." Hua clutched her head in pain, leaning against the wall as she murmured, "Please tell me what I should do..."

"What you should do is your business, not mine."

"But I don't know... You said I should live for myself, but I can't do it..."

Live for others.

Hua had always lived that way.

Lin suddenly felt that the suffering girl before him overlapped with himself.

Hua clenched her fists as though she were putting all the strength in her body into this question. Gritting her teeth, she said, "Please tell me. What are those things, and what is the goal I need to pursue?"

"...Are you prepared?"

"Most of the time, people cannot prepare themselves."

Just like those who had died in the Honkai, her father and her friends. Their lives had been erased from this world as though by an eraser, vanishing suddenly and without a trace.

She wanted to pull herself together, but it sounded more like a plea. "If this is what I need to devote my life to, then please tell me. You saved me. You gave me a new life."

"..."

Lin was rarely silent for reasons other than not wanting to speak. He studied the girl's expression: fragile, breakable, like a work of art.

As he had said, MOTH would never lack people like her.

Yet all along, it was precisely people like these who, carrying hatred for the Honkai, walked onto the front lines and died on the battlefield.

No matter what perspective they began from, they died for humanity. Even their hatred ultimately became compassion that kept the flame of life alive.

So he opened his mouth.

"MOTH, an organization that fights the Honkai."

Lin's introduction was brief and forceful. This was also the only definition he gave MOTH.

"I am a soldier of MOTH, and you will become a member of MOTH too. But I hope you won't become a soldier. I hope you become a warrior."

"And..."

At that moment, Lin recalled the voice he had heard then.

"If you don't know who to live for, then live for me."

You Are the Embodiment of My Ideal

The aftermath of the Third Honkai War continued to worsen. Radiating outward from Changkong City, scattered Honkai Energy caused localized small-scale Honkai outbreaks in other regions. Based on the experience from the only three Honkai outbreaks so far, post-disaster work required considerable attention. A moment of carelessness could allow a minor Honkai outbreak to develop into a major one.

Furthermore, MOTH suffered its greatest loss of combat personnel during the battle against the Third Herrscher, so it began recruiting new members and reorganizing squads. Everyone was busy beyond belief.

Of course, the loudest and most fiercely arguing people these past few days were the various research departments.

The corpse of the Honkai's third apostle was undoubtedly the most valuable trophy of this disaster. Humanity knew far too little about the Honkai, while Herrschers were its most concrete manifestation, so every researcher put aside their half-finished work to gather and discuss the Third Herrscher.

There was only one exception: Mobius.

She disdained a group of people gathering together to argue endlessly over trivial matters. In her view, councils were the crystallization of human stupidity. A crowd of ignorant, conservative fools was still just a crowd of fools. Zhuge Liang would still be Zhuge Liang even if he stood alone.

Besides, Mobius had no intention of taking part in research that was already outdated in her eyes, nor would she permit anyone else to interfere with her own research. She would obtain the Third Herrscher's corpse sooner or later.

Besides that, there was another department that was quite busy as well.

"I thought you'd be bedridden for ten days or half a month." Delta, with heavy dark circles beneath his eyes, handed over a bottle of cold coffee. Lin shook his head in refusal, but Delta did not mind. He merely shrugged, opened it himself, and took a sip.

After listening drowsily to that noisy crowd for a while, he had lost interest. Compared to theoretical matters, he preferred practical work, so he had slipped back to the research department to continue his development.

Lin leaned back in his wheelchair. From the instant he entered, his gaze had remained fixed on one particular spot.

The massive humanoid machine had undergone a complete transformation compared to before. Its formerly thick, somewhat bloated armor had been drastically streamlined. The sleek body made its lines far more graceful and no longer so harsh, while the previously exposed Cluster Missiles had been optimized and concealed beneath the outer armor.

TT-079 Modified, the follow-up upgraded model to the original experimental Titan. It was the second unit built after Lin requested greater mobility. Unlike the original experimental Titan, the second unit had been designed for actual combat, though it was currently less than thirty percent complete.

"Originally, we wanted to turn the piloted Titan into a humanoid arsenal, so we just crammed in everything it could carry. But considering your combat style and the overlap with the future AI Titan development direction, we adjusted the armaments."

Delta liked seeing Lin so engrossed the most. Most others came only to collect something and leave, making this place feel like some tasteless weapon shop. Whether or not he was interested, Lin would patiently listen to Delta finish explaining, making him the perfect companion for someone as talkative as Delta.

Delta took two sips of coffee, wiped the dark stain from the corner of his mouth, and pointed to the weapon packs displayed in the distance. "The Titan itself isn't equipped with too many weapons. It only has a large-caliber Particle Gun and miniature Cluster Missiles mounted on its shoulders. Of course, you can also tear Honkai Beasts apart with your bare hands. I'm quite confident in the adjustments to the Titan's wrist output."

"Before every mission, you can swap out weapon packs according to the operation's needs. Once equipped, you can use the corresponding Burst Core. The Sword Pack and Artillery Pack are complete so far, and there's also a Floating Cannon Pack in development. Unfortunately, the antigravity propulsion system has hit a bottleneck. It'll take quite some time to make it work."

"I'm really looking forward to seeing what kind of spectacle it'll be when that information-processing ability of yours uses Floating Cannons. After all, AI can never react as flexibly as humans can."

Lin stared at the Titan's remaining exposed metal skeleton and nodded almost imperceptibly.

He understood Delta fairly well. As long as Delta put his passion into something, there would definitely be results, and he would take it to the extreme.

Even after introducing the Titan, Delta did not show the slightest fatigue. He drained his coffee in one gulp, then, still wanting more, walked over to the storage bay from last time and pulled out a... katana?

Most of the hilt was made from matte gray-blue metal. The sea-blue blade extending from the front emitted a visible chill. It was longer than the previous High-frequency Cutting Blade, the full length of an ordinary katana. Judging from its design, it was not another experimental product, but a finished one.

"The High-frequency Cutting Blade was already broken when we went to recover it. What a shame. That was one of my proudest works."

"..." Lin recalled the High-frequency Cutting Blade he had lost during the battle and lowered his head somewhat guiltily. "Sorry."

"You actually apologize too? You always go out fully equipped and return with nothing but a pile of scrap. The logistics department has cursed both you and me bloody." Thinking of that scene, Delta scratched his head in frustration. This had not happened just once or twice. No matter how he explained that this was simply Lin's combat style, all he got was another scolding.

"..."

"Haha, don't worry about it. Let's get back to the point." Delta rubbed his dark circles, gathered his spirits, and displayed the blade for Lin with a satisfied expression. "I call this blade the Plasma Shadow Show. It was developed at the same time as the High-frequency Cutting Blade, but only recently completed."

"Don't get too close. If you accidentally freeze that newly grown skin of yours, I won't take responsibility."

Delta took out a sheath also made from metal components and slid the Plasma Shadow Show inside. Only then did the cold air recede.