The One Who Stands Against Us / Adaptation

This is like preparing for...

"The burial items..." the girl said softly.

Whether it was a gift from someone or something he sought out himself, anything that represented someone, whether big or small, light or heavy, left a deep mark on Lin's heart over time.

The girl felt a little awkward because Lin hadn't prepared anything to represent himself; he hadn't considered his own needs when thinking about other people's burials.

However, she quickly came to terms with it.

Lin probably doesn't need it. Even if he is unknown after death, he won't have any objections.

That's just the kind of person he is; she knows him very well.

So the girl smiled, put something inside, closed the drawer, and left.

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Confrontation

Mobius slept soundly, probably the most comfortable sleep he'd had in recent months.

Lin's body should have been angular and strong, but it was surprisingly soft, as gentle as a pillow when you pressed against it.

She didn't feel she owed anyone anything, and Lin didn't think she and Mei had done anything wrong. It's just that now, whether it's Xingcai or the Seventh Herrscher, someone has already taken care of it, so he doesn't need to do anything anymore. He just needs to forget everything else and get some sleep.

Just like the bird that can fly the farthest needs to rest, let's just call her selfish. Let Kevin and that person do it this time, anyway, she's always been considered a selfish person.

Then I'll just be a selfish person, since I'm not like Lin who persisted even when misunderstood...

No the same...

Mobius awoke with a start, her eyes snapping open to reveal an empty space beside her in her pale blue pupils.

"Forest?"

Mobius rarely called Lin by his name directly, usually addressing him as "he," "you," or "hey." But this time, she instinctively called out his name, searching around for any trace of him.

However, there was complete silence.

Selfish One will not attract the attention of Selfless One, that's all.

The girl's cheerful steps stopped just ahead of the finish line, and her long, dark blue hair fell straight down behind her.

Someone blocked their way.

"Are you alright now? Your body?" The girl shook her head slightly and asked the man who was silently fastening the buckle on his helmet.

"Click".

Lin was certain that he had put on his helmet after he heard the helmet buckle lock properly.

He was now unsure whether the actions outside his field of vision were proceeding as he intended; none of the clothes on his body, the shoes on his feet, or the helmet on his head gave him a sense of reality.

He didn't even feel like he was in a "body".

For many people, losing their sense of touch might mean not being able to stand up. Without the feeling of touching the ground, they don't know how much strength it would take to walk upright, and every step feels like walking on air.

A more apt analogy is that his body was "blind".

This is incredibly dangerous for both combat and daily life. You don't know if you're injured and can't judge the extent of your injuries. Your old habits are also formatted as your sense of touch disappears, and you can only rely on your intuition to imitate your old movements.

The system inside the helmet can compensate for some of the inability to assess his physical condition, but in any case, Lin can't return to his previous state for the time being.

Lin lowered his hands, which were hanging at his sides when he wasn't exerting force. This helped him understand his body and decide on his next move.

Lin stared at the black-and-white screen, devoid of any other colors, and smirked, "Why are you here?"

"I've come to retrieve my things," the girl replied without hesitation.

The atmosphere froze? No, the girl was still smiling. She looked completely different from the doll-like girl who was even less human than Prometheus a few months ago. Her lively and cheerful smile made her even more radiant.

"... I have investigated and found out that you are not a member of the Firemoth. Now, I am going to expel you."

"Yes, I am not a member of the Firemoth, I am Herrscher."

She said with a cheerful smile.

"I'm going to take back my Herrscher Core and then destroy humanity. You cripple, can you get out of my way now?"

Unlike her humble requests to Kevin and Kosma, the girl spoke rudely and disrespectfully to Lin.

"Aren't you going to stop him?"

Einstein looked at the two people confronting each other in the video and asked Mei, who was organizing the data on the Hypervariable Surgery.

"According to your plan, she should be the one to destroy Xingcai's ships, right?"

Mei stopped and stared at the scene on the screen. "It's okay, Lin is no match for her now."

A person who has consumed a great deal of energy in the Hypervariable Surgery and lost the senses that are crucial to combat will not be a match for Herrscher, even if that Herrscher does not have full powers.

"You really trust her that much? This isn't like you, Doctor Mei. Normally, you would have let Kevin capture her for research, instead of letting her play tricks and 'fake her death' to get back to headquarters on Kevin's transport plane, and believing that she would help humanity after retrieving the Herrscher Core."

"... Doctor Einstein, I think you have some misunderstandings about me. I am a person who prides himself on rationality."

Mei took her fogged-up glasses off her nose and wiped them. So many years have passed, and despite the countless ways the Fire Moth could cure nearsightedness, she still wore these glasses.

She didn't think the glasses were anything special; she just wanted to remind herself that she was still an ordinary human being.

"Rationality is not about being cold-blooded, selfish, or profit-driven. Rather, I would only act when rational judgment requires being cold-blooded, selfish, or profit-driven." Mei's glasses reflected an eerie light in the screen's glow. "The evidence was presented to me, my inferences were consistent with the evidence, and so I made my own judgment. That is rationality."

"It is almost impossible for Herrscher like her to appear, almost impossible for her to regain her humanity over a long period of time, and almost impossible for Herrscher consciousness to decide to help humanity. But it is only 'almost,' meaning that such a possibility exists. Then the evidence proved that she was the verifier of that probability that is infinitely close to zero after the decimal point."

"So she's a Herrscher has regained her humanity and intends to help humanity. I think there's nothing wrong with letting her deal with an enemy that humanity can't yet face."

May's words left Einstein speechless.

Lin Cong showed his face, while Mei often smiled politely, but Einstein felt that the latter was more indifferent than the former.

It's as if Mei is actually in another place, talking to her through a communication device that looks like a human, and the "things" inadvertently revealed between the lines are chilling.

Einstein observed Lin and Kevin's surgery from beginning to end, and even with her strong mental fortitude, she couldn't help but feel nauseous several times during the procedure.

It wasn't some theoretically supported evolutionary surgery at all; it was a horrific experiment that brutally shoved monsters into human bodies and gambled on what would happen next.

For those who have undergone the Hypervariable Surgery, life and death have lost their meaning.

This woman could push her friends and partners onto the operating table without batting an eye. After seeing Lin's surgery fail, she immediately proceeded with the next surgery without even blinking.

Now, she has sent the Herrscher to eliminate humanity's enemies.

Calling it madness is probably an understatement to describe Mei.

Chapter Ninety-Six Adaptation

The weapon that appeared in the girl's hand was no longer the "gentle" thing she used when fighting Kevin and the others.

Just by standing there, holding a strangely shaped light blade in each hand, she was telling Lin that if he didn't move aside, she wouldn't be polite.

So, what was Lin's answer?

"Bass."

Lin flicked out the folding blade in his hand, forming a long, one-handed sword.

"You should save your breath. Why don't you move aside? I won't do anything to you after I take the core." The girl pouted and muttered, "Anyway, leaving you to be the last one to kill won't make any difference."

"..."

Lin didn't say anything.

He understood that from now on, the girl would not tell him any truth, and his words would not shake her resolve.

From the first day they met, they knew they were so similar and had such a deep understanding.

There was a time when Kevin told Kevin that he couldn't be like Kevin, fighting only for those around him; he couldn't ignore humanity as a whole and choose individuals.

No matter how special or important those individuals were to him, Lin couldn't do it.

That's why he witnessed humanity's victories time and time again, and the departure and change of those around him time and time again.

No matter how much you pretend to have changed, you can't change your true core.

However, Himiko's Herrscherification made it impossible for Lin to avoid the wailing from the depths of his heart in any way.

Choose humanity, or choose the people around you.

Lin has another option.

"I will use the core of the Herrscher of Reason. My consciousness has entered the Herrscher Core before, and the form of my consciousness has changed. I can use the powers of the Herrscher. Before I am transformed into Herrscher consciousness, I will use the Previous Civilization technology information in the core to reproduce weapons and destroy the Starry Sky's ship."

"Then I will immediately commit suicide to prevent Herrscherification."

Lin spoke calmly, and his words made the girl's fingers tremble slightly.

"What are you saying? Only I can use the Herrscher Core."

"I wasn't talking to you."

That's right, Lin didn't say those things to the girl.

He was speaking to Mei, who was standing behind the screen.

The girl realized what Lin meant and stopped smiling.

The Moth of Fire uniform on her body gradually disappeared, and the gorgeous long dress and crown-like decorations she wore when she first met Lin appeared on her body.

The sense of familiarity that Lin felt when he first met the girl actually came from the image of the Herrscher of Reason that he saw during the battle between the Previous Civilization and the Herrscher of Reason Previous Civilization the simulated accident.

Looking back now, the girl and the Herrscher of Reason from the Previous Civilization had certain similarities in appearance and clothing, which is why he felt Déjà vu.

As the girl removed her final disguise, the Honkai Energy within her gradually began to emerge.

Lin cannot defeat her.

The girl's body is actually a combination of compatibility, plasticity, and hardness, and Lin's weapon alone could not possibly harm her. Even at the Shenzhou Branch, Kevin could not hurt her, and that was only because she faked her own death.

Moreover, there are factors such as the technology of the Previous Civilization and Lin's physical condition.

But Lin has already seen enough of the difference between humans and Herrscher.

It's always the same, and now... nothing's different either.

Two figures charged from different directions and then collided with a loud crash!

Kevin didn't sit in his seat, but instead walked around the cabin in a small area.

Once he sits down, the low temperature on his body spreads uncontrollably, and the only way he can try to control the leaking cold air is by walking to increase his concentration.

This is not some kind of "ability".

Unlike the Herrscher's power, which comes entirely from the Herrscher Core, Kevin's control over ice and snow from Parvati is an ability, but what caused his body temperature and the surrounding temperature to drop to minus thirty degrees Celsius was "damage".

After he woke up, the other caregivers told him about his physical problems, and Kevin, after learning that his body had suffered irreversible damage, inquired about Lin's condition.

Kevin followed Lin immediately after his surgery, without even giving Lin a chance to see him, and began his own Hypervariable Surgery.

After learning about Lin's situation from them, Kevin remained silent for a long time before finally embarking on his journey to Australia without saying a word.

He was going to kill Lin's former captain, just like he killed Lin's wife.

That person has already sacrificed too much; for the sake of "humanity," what he has given far exceeds everything he himself possesses.

Therefore, it would be too cruel to ask him to continue killing those who were once of great significance to him.

Kevin stopped at the window, and in the blink of an eye, a layer of blurry icy fog covered the glass. He reached out to wipe it, but only a thicker layer of ice condensed.

His hand froze in mid-air before limply lowering itself.

However, the layer of icy mist quickly melted away.

A voice came through the walkie-talkie. "Kevin, you have reached within fifty kilometers of the Seventh Herrscher."

"Ah."

Kevin coldly placed his hand over the glass, which was dampened by the melted water stains.

"I know."

As he withdrew his hand, the water turned back into ice.