A Sky That Lost Its Color / The Path to Being Human

I don't know when it started, but being unable to control one's own destiny has become a synonym for growing up.

From the moment a fetus begins to move in its mother's womb, a person's life begins with a sense of helplessness, and the cry that symbolizes the birth of life becomes a synonym for the beginning of suffering.

The shadow cast by time behind us seems to reveal only the struggles and pain within it.

When they begin to face the future positively, it is not in order to reach a future they can freely choose.

They simply cannot return to the past when they were not in control of their own destiny.

"Congratulations to us, our dream has come true."

After finishing a ten-and-a-half-hour surgery, Mebius washed her hands, gave some instructions to the nurses, and walked out of the operating room, where she bumped into Mobius, who had come out a little earlier and was waiting for her.

She didn't seem to be waiting intentionally; her expression showed some surprise when she saw May come out. But May could still tell that Mobius was waiting for her, perhaps because he hadn't expected her to come out so quickly.

"This is not a dream, at least not for you and me." May seemed oblivious to the sarcasm in Mobius's words and shook her head. "We are just carrying out the necessary means to keep humanity alive."

"Including sacrificing your friends and boyfriend?"

"This is their choice, and we respect their choice."

Us...

Yes, us.

Mobius herself didn't know why she stopped Mebius.

"After Kevin wakes up, he will go to the front line. From now on, he is humanity's last line of defense and humanity's savior. What we need to do next is to perfect the Hypervariable Surgery and then expand the defense line."

Mei has a lot of things to do; she can't stay by Kevin's side.

Even if he wakes up, he will probably feel lost and confused about his condition.

Time pushed them forward, but they no longer had the time... nor the means to embrace each other.

"Lin, from now on, please keep going. No matter what setbacks you encounter, please keep hope in your heart."

"Eri is right, miracles do exist, and they can happen for important people. After all... look..."

"I am the miracle that you and 'he' have awakened."

Lin's consciousness rose from the vast ocean. He still remembered the excruciating pain that almost annihilated him before he sank into darkness. Things that contradicted him were integrated into his body. Everything was destroyed, rebuilt, and destroyed again. In such a brutal way, the human part of the gambling beast suppressed the Honkai Beast part, thus completing the rebirth.

Lost in his own confusion, he heard a voice, which appeared only briefly before disappearing.

Continuing to drift in the Black Sea, waiting... for the moment of awakening.

"... You can sleep a little longer. Thanks to you, your good friend who had the surgery has already rushed to the front line. As a failed product, it's better not to cause yourself any more trouble."

Mobius's face appeared above his open eyes.

Her pretty face, expressionless, was both familiar and strange.

Lin noticed his own "abnormality".

"That's why I said...you should stop making things harder for yourself. It's an accident that you're still alive." Mobius turned his head to the side. "Close your eyes and get some more sleep."

Lin gazed at her softly contoured profile. "Did my surgery... fail?"

"If it hadn't failed, you would be on a transport plane to Australia right now."

At this moment, Lin recalled the scene he had seen while he was unconscious last time.

The side effects of the Hypervariable Surgery that Mobius, the one with snake eyes, was talking about...

"Did anything happen to Kevin after his surgery?"

"The Honkai Beast Parvati that Kevin fused with gave him the ability to control ice and snow comparable to the Fifth Herrscher, but the price was that the temperature around his body dropped to minus thirty degrees Celsius."

Mobius downplayed the exaggerated claims.

Minus thirty degrees Celsius—a temperature at which getting too close would result in frostbite—meant Kevin could no longer get too close to anyone else.

This also includes Mei.

"... Although I had expected it, you still asked Kevin first, as expected."

Mobius wearily took off his coat, leaving him in only a cool short-sleeved shirt and skirt. He then sat on the bed, took off his shoes, and coldly nudged Lin, saying, "Move a little further in."

Lin obediently moved his body, but before he could even lie flat on his side, Mobius crawled into the blankets and filled the remaining space on the bed with his body.

Lin was completely enveloped in her embrace. He wanted to pull himself out a little further, but Mobius also moved closer to him. As he backed away, she arched forward, until there was nowhere left to retreat. Only then did she feel at ease and rest her head next to him, closing her eyes.

Her breathing was even and steady, indicating that she hadn't had much sleep in the past few days, so she fell asleep quickly.

Just as she told Lin: "Take another nap."

They seemed to need no more words. Lin gazed at her face, and after a while, he closed his eyes as well.

Unbeknownst to him, under the covers, Mobius's hand was digging into his arm as if he wanted to tear off a piece of flesh.

Kolin had no reaction to this and was unaware that Mobius had done so.

After he fell asleep, Mobius opened his eyes again, his pale blue pupils reflecting Lin's sleeping face.

This was the first time she had seen Lin Zhen's face, but it didn't evoke any surprise in her.

It was as if she had always known that he was like this.

Lin's surgery failed; his current body is neither that of Flame-Chaser nor an ordinary human.

He didn't acquire the terrifying physical attributes of Flame-Chaser, nor did he possess the miraculous abilities of Kevin, which were practically identical to those of Herrscher. All he gained was "damage."

Lin lost his sense of touch, smell and taste.

The damage Wasak's DNA left in his body, like Kevin's hypothermia, is an irreversible mark that cannot be restored, even by replacing the corresponding organs or nerves.

In other words, Lin, as a human being, is no longer complete.

He cannot taste anything, smell anything, or feel anything when touched by others.

Moreover, even those who haven't completely lost their vision are still missing a portion of it.

Now, the world in Lin's eyes has become an empty, colorless black and white; he can no longer see the hair color in the photos.

If Kevin has lost the right to embrace others, then Lin has lost the meaning of embracing others.

The light in Mobius's pupils went out.

Just like the eyes of Lin that she saw when Lin opened his eyes.

Slowly, like a porcupine afraid of hurting anyone, she reached out her hand towards Lin's face...

Chapter Ninety-Four: The Path of Being Human

The girl walked into the dusty room. The dust kicked up by her footsteps made her cover her mouth and nose, and she fanned the dust from the room, which hadn't been visited for several years.

The rooms at the Moth of Fire headquarters are all laid out similarly, but each person can adjust them according to their own preferences. The owner of this room is clearly someone who doesn't care much about the accommodation.

A chaotic, unorganized environment; mountains of clothes and lab coats; fast food packaging boxes...

After a member of the Fire Moth is killed, the room is redistributed to a new person. However, for some members who made significant contributions to the Fire Moth, their rooms are preserved exactly as they were, sterilized to maintain their final appearance, as a memorial to them by others.

The girl randomly opened a drawer, inside which was a diary.

She took it out and flipped through it casually before finding a familiar name.

Forest.

The girl flipped to the very beginning of the diary, starting from where this person entered the Moth of Fire. It was clear that he didn't have time to write in his diary most of the time, only writing down bits and pieces of what he considered important.

He provided many advanced technologies for the Fire Moth during his lifetime, and he made most of Lin's equipment.

After meeting Lin, the focus of the narrative gradually shifted to Lin. He wrote in his diary, feeling both guilty and sentimental, that he might have been using Lin as a substitute for his deceased best friend. That complex emotion made the girl pause.

"If anyone can represent those of us who cannot move forward, then I think it is only Lin."

"Humans are born as wingless birds that yearn to fly, so what I need to do is to give them wings."

The final record ends abruptly; this person's significant contribution is stored so inconspicuously in this small diary.

No one has checked into this room yet, so the furnishings are exactly as they were before I left, but they will probably be replaced soon.

The girl could sense a certain emotion lingering in the room, which she could intuitively feel from the various decorations and items left behind.

She rushed to the bedside, lifted the blanket, lay down, and covered herself with it, closing her eyes to experience the feeling of the original owner resting here.

A short while later, she opened her eyes and looked at the photo frame on the bedside table.

One person stands out in the photos within the frame; he is present in every frame.

Admiration? Worship? Dilemma?

The girl couldn't describe the man's feelings, because there was an untouchable barrier between the man and the man in the photograph.

But more than her feelings for Lin, the girl was interested in her emotional journey.

Lin appears in every photo, but the overall content of each photo is completely different, from the initial group photo to the later photo of her and Lin, and finally to the photo where only Lin is in it.

As the content of the photos changed, what she saw in her heart also changed.

It is becoming increasingly narrow-minded and increasingly extreme.

Did this person finally find peace?

The girl guessed, and then put the photo back in the distance.

According to the database, the girl found the right place.

The property left behind by a man who betrayed and died was taken over by the Moths of Fire. They did not have the capacity to distinguish which of the man's belongings were useful, so they sealed them all away in a certain place.

She walked in, and without needing to reach for the light switch, the light above her head suddenly turned on.

After circling around those ambiguous objects, she curiously picked up a book. Its bright red and purple cover looked quite old, and the content was a clichéd urban fantasy novel, which didn't quite match the taste she displayed in other things.

However, if you look closely, you can actually find some entertainment items that are considered tacky, which are placed together with items that may contain secrets, and this is really eye-catching.

Is this considered failing to distinguish between refined and vulgar tastes?

The girl had a rough idea of what he was thinking. He wasn't unaware of how vulgar these things were, but he didn't care whether they were noble or base, elegant or common. He just wanted to view them all equally.

"Wack."

Even a young girl couldn't help but comment on him.

Despite a life marked by bias, they are unwilling to acknowledge the different natures that humans perceive in different things.

Contradictions best describe him; whether he's a good person or a bad person... seems as meaningless as commenting on the value of these books.

Several months later, the girl returned to this room, which was exactly the same as before she left. This was one of that person's characteristics.

The house was so clean and simple that you couldn't tell anyone lived there. He used the most basic things and lived a simple life. Even taking a shower only took three minutes... That's probably what people who know him would think.

But in reality, Lin would also place a potted plant in the corner of the room, and the refrigerator would be filled with all kinds of ingredients. Every day, she would cook different delicious dishes with fish and meat to satisfy her appetite. After taking a bath, she would soak in the bathtub for about ten minutes...

Living a life misunderstood by others, that person has probably always lived like this.

The girl didn't actually look at the room too closely; this time, she was able to look around to her heart's content in this empty room.

Aside from the usual, largely unchanged arrangement, the girl noticed that one of the drawers was locked.

Lin has no secrets. He has always been open and honest with others, and how others interpret him is none of his business.

So it's quite novel that Lin has things that are locked.

The girl touched the keyhole, and then a key appeared in her hand. She inserted it, turned it, and opened the lock.

The contents inside were somewhat unexpected.

Two broken sword hilts, a beret, a coin, a pistol... and some other useless things were piled together, it was impossible to tell who they belonged to, and it was unknown where Lin had found them.

However, it is clear that Lin is carefully preserving these items that have lost their owner and value. These things are of great significance to him, which is why he carefully locks them in the drawer.