The Observer / The Lie of Truth

"I'm just giving you a choice, not making the choice for you." Lin patiently repeated what he had said before. He had no right to decide other people's paths. "If you choose to join, then in order to maintain normalcy, the Fire Moth will allow you to continue to operate in the outside world, but it will definitely have an impact on your career."

"Hehe... It seems Mr. Lin still hasn't understood. What I meant was the impact of joining the Moth of Fire on 'me,' neither on the outside world nor on my career. It was simply the impact on me personally."

Slowly, the rich aroma of the red wine began to waft out. Eden poured the wine from the decanter into the glass, not too much, not too little, just the right amount that looked comfortable.

"If I choose to join the Firemoth, it means I am ready to fight for humanity, and I will inevitably begin to develop towards you and become one of the soldiers you mentioned."

"But I think there is still something that only I can do now, as the singer Eden."

Lin understood what Eden wanted to say. She picked up the wine glass, letting the deep red liquid dab onto her rosy lips, and savored the aroma of the wine in small sips.

"... So you don't want to join the Firemoth?"

"I will probably step into that field in the future, but for now, I beg you, let me keep this memory and continue to work as a singer."

In short, it's a plea for leniency—does it mean they want to remain in the know without joining the group?

It's true that the Fire Moth needs to consider many factors before it can accommodate this great figure. So it's only because Lin is so fair in making the choice that anyone else would probably tell Eden to stay out of this matter without any explanation.

Lin closed his eyes and pondered for a while. When the red wine in the Eden Glass was empty, he opened his eyes—

"Can you guarantee that the information about the Fire-Chasing Moth will not be leaked?"

"Yes, I can guarantee that as the singer I am most proud of."

"Here is some relevant information. You can also call this number if you want to contact me." Lin handed her the paper documents.

Eden smiled. It seemed she hadn't misjudged him. This person, who appeared cold and aloof, was surprisingly understanding.

"Mr. Lin, I will be holding a concert in Australia soon. If you'd like, please come and listen."

A concert ticket was handed to Lin.

He looked down at the beautifully printed ticket.

It felt like stepping back in time.

Chapter Eighty: The Observer

"You're dreaming too much."

After explaining the situation to Mobius online, her first words were a merciless mockery.

"Trying to treat dreams as reality, are you still a high school student who hasn't graduated from the cringeworthy phase of secretly admiring your crush?"

"..." Lin couldn't even find the right words to respond to her scathing sarcasm for a moment.

"Forget it, you wouldn't understand any of that technical knowledge anyway." After venting his frustration, Mobius switched to normal conversation. "So what you're wondering about is the series of hallucinations you had while you were in a deep coma. Tell me about them."

Lin thought for a moment, then remembered the key phrase. "Do you know what 'Hypervariable Surgery' is?"

"... Where did you find out? Did May tell you?" Mobius's tone suddenly changed.

"I learned this word from the 'conversations between you and me' that I saw while I was in a coma."

"..."

Mobius's abrupt silence lasted for a few seconds during the communication; she seemed to be searching for something, no longer acting as if it were nothing.

After a short while, she spoke again, this time her voice was much more serious. "The Hypervariable Surgery is the surgery in the Flame-Chaser project that transforms humans into Flame-Chaser. This name is still classified, and only a group of people in charge of the Flame-Chaser Project know it."

Clearly, from the moment Lin learned of this name, whether by accident or something else, the whole matter was not simple.

"The space your consciousness entered is very similar to the crevice space of the previous Phase Transfer Device. I have a hypothesis." Mobius pulled up the relevant information on the computer. "That is, what your consciousness saw while you were unconscious was the scene of the 'Quantum Sea'."

"..."

"I am more familiar with the concepts of the Quantum Sea than with Vill-V, Einstein and May. I have only come into contact with some basic ones. But the most widely accepted conjecture, which was also proposed by Einstein, is that Parallel World exist inside the Quantum Sea, and the timelines between these Parallel World are not synchronized."

Does this mean that he actually saw Lin and Mobius in another world where time progressed differently in the Quantum Sea?

"I speculate that your consciousness has existed in different dimensions such as the Herrscher Core, the interdimensional space, and reality, which caused your consciousness to change and make you able to observe Parallel World. However, this is basically impossible for one person's consciousness alone. There must be something else that allows your consciousness to observe Parallel World..."

Mobius's tone gradually became more fervent.

What allows him to observe things in Parallel World?

Lin could only think of the core of the Second Herrscher, but he had never come into contact with that Herrscher Core.

"Forget it, let's talk about it when you get back. Anyway, you should be back soon." Mobius suppressed his restless research desire and leaned back comfortably in his chair. "Your mission is complete, and you still need to replace limbs, right? Seriously, are you really treating yourself like a building block toy?"

"No... I don't plan to come back yet."

"... What? Why?"

"I'm going to a concert."

"..."

Mobius stared blankly at the communicator in her hand, unable to understand what Lin meant from his language.

A concert...?

"Eden's concert was going to be held in Australia, and I happened to run into her. She gave me a ticket."

"... So you're not even going to use your hands anymore, and you're just going to wait there for the concert?"

"Um."

Lin Chengshi responded, and then, in order to make his words more convincing, he slowly explained, "I have been a fan of Eden's songs for a long time. I was listening to her songs when she first debuted."

"..."

"..."

"Hehehe... I see..." Mobius suddenly laughed, her voice coming through the communicator with great penetrating power, "That's right, it seems I wasn't wrong, you're just a high school student who hasn't graduated from the chuunibyou of having a crush on your white moonlight."

"... Don't worry, I'll be back after the concert."

"I'm worried about you, you Chariot-class Honkai Beast. It's none of my business if you die in Australia."

"Beep----"

The call was disconnected.

Lin gathered his thoughts. From Mobius's words, it was highly likely that he had seen a scene from Parallel World, but what caused it remained to be studied.

The Hypervariable Surgery, the surgery that turns humans into Flame-Chaser, provided three pieces of information from what he saw.

First, Hypervariable Surgery has side effects.

Second, Lin underwent Hypervariable Surgery.

Third, Su's Hypervariable Surgery had just been completed at that time.

Lin had promised Mobius that he would be the first to participate in the Flame-Chaser project, so it was expected that he would undergo the Hypervariable Surgery.

However, the Hypervariable Surgery has side effects, as does Su's Hypervariable Surgery...

Lin frowned, pondering the words he had overheard.

Mobius's attitude was very different from now. Back then... she seemed angry and resentful towards Lin. Did he do something to cause such a big change in her attitude?

Finally, since what he saw was Parallel World of the Quantum Sea, then... who was that person?

As he emerged from his deep coma, someone forced their way into that space and saw Lin.

Before long, Lin came up with an unbelievable conjecture.

"Observers of the Quantum Sea..."

Since Parallel World exist within the Quantum Sea, it is possible that some people in these Parallel World, like him, are able to observe the Quantum Sea, or may even exist within the Quantum Sea themselves.

The oppressive feeling was as if it wanted to crush him. It was impossible that he had just happened to observe Parallel World like him. That person was able to track him to that space and was far more familiar with the Quantum Sea than they were, who were still only theoretically accustomed to it.

Moreover, that person was looking for Lin with blatant malice.

Are there enemies even in the Quantum Sea?

Lin thought for a moment, then dialed another person's number.

"Doctor Einstein, I have some questions for you."

"Number 1, although I think some things don't need to be repeated, and apart from Lin, very few people can change your way of thinking."

Vill-V looked at the mechanical girl in front of her, her joints moving, with a subtle expression.

"But you really don't need to join the battle yourself; your job is just to provide support for Lin."

"... Dr Vill-V, don't you want people to try out the new weapon?"

After a few seconds of silence, Vill-V slammed her hand on the table and said, "... Then I'm still very interested."

Chapter 81 The Lies of Truth

At that time, when we looked back, we saw the future.

"Finally solved..."

Himiko in a chair on the transport plane, and just as she was about to reach for her beer as usual, she heard whispers outside the plane.

"Sigh, at least we made it through this mission safely. Working under that woman was truly terrifying."

"After all, it's Himiko brought down two teams' members... It's certainly a cause for concern."

"Isn't that right? Look at her, she's never serious. She drinks after finishing her missions and only acts like a big shot in front of us. So what if she joined the Firemoth a few years earlier..."

"Hey... have you seen her? I think I just saw someone get on the transport plane..."

The sound of hurried footsteps faded into the distance.

Himiko stiffly put down her beer.

Killing two teams' members? What are those brats saying?

Lin and the others... aren't they still alive...?

She suddenly woke up, patted her face, and told herself not to overthink it. Anyway, these whispers would always come, so she just had to focus on doing her own thing.

She picked up the beer again, stuck her fingernail under the pull tab, and gently pulled...

"Pop".

The pull ring broke.

"..."

The beer can shattered on the ground, and the bright yellow liquid, accompanied by foam, spilled out of the broken can, gradually covering the ground beneath our feet.

Her loose hair spread out like vines, and she buried her head in her hands, an indescribable sense of fatigue overwhelming her.

"What am I doing...?"

Lin was seriously injured again. Although he was not in mortal danger, he and Ying needed to be sent to headquarters for a period of treatment.

The reason for all this was her misjudgment, which led her to entrust the task of defeating the Emperor-class Honkai Beast to them.

This has happened three times already. Will she kill her teammates again...?

Are you feeling better?

"..."

"What's wrong?"

"No..."

Sakura, who wasn't good with words, found it hard to describe how she felt. A person who had lost an arm was asking her, someone who wasn't seriously injured, if she was feeling better...

It's not that Sakura is completely unharmed; half of her body was burned, and her disability level is no less than Lin's. However, she was able to complete the entire treatment process at the Branch 19, while Lin still needed to return to headquarters.

Lin was used to Ying's indifference; their interactions were generally businesslike and required little further explanation.

"Currently, all the Emperor-class Honkai Beast have been defeated, and the growth rate has slowed down." Lin glanced at the Honkai Beast defeat status of various regions in his helmet and explained, "We don't need to take on any additional tasks for the time being."

"Learn."