CM-000 (Continued)

After seeing that string of numbers, Lin snapped out of his daze.

CM-000...

This number...

Lin had a certain impression of both the woman and the number, but he couldn't remember where he had seen them before.

"Forest?"

Elysia's voice came from the entrance, causing Lin to look up and see her peeking out with a curious expression.

"Are you alone? I thought you and Eden had been chatting for so long and hadn't come out yet."

"... It's nothing, she left first." Lin shook his head. It seemed that he still had to discuss this matter with Mobius, as he had no way of determining its seriousness or whether it posed any harm.

"I see..."

Lin noticed that Elysia's eyes were furtively scanning the surroundings, and he immediately realized something was wrong, so he turned to leave.

"Let's go outside..."

"Wait a minute, Lin."

Elysia blocked the doorway.

Can I ask you to do something?

She clicked the door shut and locked it from the inside.

"It was such a nostalgic performance. It felt like we were back in high school, sneaking out of class to go to Eden's concert. I never thought I'd be able to hear Miss Eden's voice again at Moth of the Flame."

Su smiled and turned her head to the man beside her, who was completely covered in a cold-weather suit.

Kevin calmly observed everything in the ballroom without replying.

Mei simply smiled and remained silent.

"... Can you tell me what you've been through all these years?" Su sighed quietly.

"Su, back then, Mei wasn't supposed to go to the concert; it was Lin." Kevin didn't answer, but continued Su's previous words coldly, "Do you remember? I told you that."

"Yes, Lin is another friend of yours, he..." Actually, Sue had already heard about Lin's story from Spasi.

"He's also a moth chasing the flame now. I was just thinking that if the four of us listened to Eden's song together here, maybe we could fulfill a wish I had back then."

"But he didn't come over."

"So, the past is meaningless now, Sue. Try to accept the present first."

Mobius Special: Drunken Charm

The corridor lights weren't very bright, my heart was pounding, my breathing was rapid, and I couldn't see the path ahead clearly; everything in front of me was blurry.

Einstein's theory of relativity seemed to be validated in her case. A path that used to feel incredibly long when walking alone now felt ridiculously short, and she had reached the end before she even realized it.

She began to resent herself for leaving the ball with him. If she had stayed, would he have stayed with her?

Then she realized how embarrassing her thoughts were. These were things she would never have dared to even think about, yet now they were blatantly appearing in her mind.

It's all his fault!

Mobius glared at the helmeted man who walked to the lab door and started taking out his ID card to open it, her teeth itching with rage. She blamed all the strange changes in her mindset that hadn't changed in decades on Lin.

If he weren't always fully armed, she would have bitten his neck right now and vented her anger.

"What's wrong?" Perhaps it was because Mobius's gaze was too intense, Lin, who had just taken out his ID card, stopped in mid-air and turned around to ask.

"Nothing--"

The deliberately drawn-out tone made Lin stare at her silently. After a while, he put away his ID card but did not open the door.

"... Are you angry?" Lin asked tentatively.

"What, do I look like I'm very happy?" Mobius tossed his long hair and sneered, "Or is it that after you lost your color vision, you can't even see other people's expressions?"

Mobius regretted his words as soon as they were spoken.

She didn't actually intend to poke at Lin's sore spot; rather, she herself was even less willing to bring it up than Lin. However, her long-standing habit of being assertive and sarcastic made it impossible for her to stop herself from speaking.

The atmosphere immediately turned cold, and an awkward feeling spread between the two.

Mobius stared stiffly as Lin withdrew her gaze, picked up the identity card again, and prepared to return to the ballroom after sending her back to the laboratory.

"Wait a moment."

The hand that was about to swipe the card froze in mid-air.

"I have somewhere I want to go, so I won't go back to the lab for now." Mobius grabbed Lin's sleeve and said in a barely audible voice, "Stay with me for a bit."

"..."

Lin's gaze gradually shifted from Mobius's hand to her lowered head, her unseen expression hidden in the shadows of her hair.

The hand that held on tightly seemed to be saying, "Please."

But Lin is still the same Lin who can't refuse others.

Saying I have places I want to go is less accurate than saying I'm open to going anywhere except the lab.

Mobius walked aimlessly, and Lin followed silently. Mobius didn't know how to start a conversation, and Lin didn't want to either.

The ambiguous atmosphere at the ball was swept away, as if they had returned to the time when they first met.

Indifference, alienation, and silence.

"... Are you angry?"

Lin's words were originally his own, but now Mobius is using them.

But compared to Mobius's subconscious sarcasm, Lin was much more straightforward. "No."

However, it was precisely this overly direct way of speaking that left Mobius, who had been the one being questioned, at a loss for how to respond.

Of course, Mobius has Mobius own privileges, which are based on her identity as "Doctor Mobius".

For example... use another topic to shift the focus of what was just said, and no matter how awkward it is, Lin will accept it.

"We were interrupted by Danzhu and the others just now, shall we try again now?"

"... What?" Lin's question was clearly a rhetorical question in response to Mobius's outrageous statement.

"I'll continue with that experiment now."

Just when Mobius thought Lin would agree to her without hesitation as before, Lin turned around, and the scrutinizing gaze coming from inside the helmet made her tense up instantly.

"You... you really did this to conduct an experiment?"

"Huh..."

Lin's sudden sensitivity startled Mobius.

"Last time you told me to rinse my mouth before the experiment and we discussed the details of the experiment. Why didn't you do that just now? And now too?" Lin's sharp eyes kept sweeping across Mobius's tense face.

"I... I was careless."

"Impossible, Mobius would never be careless in his experiments."

Mobius's feelings were very complicated at this moment. Hearing Lin's unequivocal praise, she didn't know whether to be happy or...

"Also, since just now your heart rate has been more than twice as high as usual, your hormone secretion has accelerated, and your hormone levels have risen." Lin loudly announced the physical data of Mobius that he could easily see with his helmet. What he couldn't see was that with each word he spoke, Mobius's cold face melted a little, and a beautiful blush gradually crept up her face.

"After you said that at the lab entrance, it remained..."

"I understand! I'll tell you! You just wait here!"

Mobius roared in despair, and then Lin froze when he saw her face.

Mobius's expression was unfamiliar.

He had only ever seen something similar on the face of a ghost...

The green-haired professor walked away, heading towards the dance hall.

Lin stood there, completely bewildered, waiting for her to return.

Not long after, less than ten minutes later, Lin heard footsteps again.

This time, however, the originally sharp sound of high heels turned into a slightly chaotic sound, and when he looked up, he saw Mobius supporting himself against the wall, walking towards him little by little.

On the screen, Lin saw the reason why Mobius was unsteady on his feet.

The blood alcohol content was significantly higher than when I left.

But even with that alcohol content, it shouldn't be enough to get this drunk, right? She only drank about 500 milliliters of beer in such a short time, why...?

Before Lin could figure it out, Mobius had already leaned in and grabbed Lin by the neck.

"Hiccup... I, I said... You give me now... hiccup... Listen..." Mobius stared at the blue screen with drunken, hazy eyes.

"... I'll take you back to rest."

"No!" Mobius suddenly shook her head, smacking her lips as she shouted in the silent corridor, "You...want to hear...then I...hiccup...tell you!"

"I hate you! From the moment we met... our ideologies have always clashed! I hate the way you live! I hate that you'd give everything to me for someone else! I hate that you're still so steadfast even after being hurt so much! I hate everything about you! I hate you as a person! Lin!"

"..."

A childlike expression appeared on her mature and beautiful face, her eyes filled with tears, as she hysterically uttered words that silenced Lin.

"Do you understand...?"

"I know..."

Just as Lin was about to nod, an even more intense voice pierced his heart.

"Do you know I'm an idiot?! An idiot who always says hurtful things, an idiot who can't be honest with others, and can't be honest with myself!" Her slender fingers caressed Lin's neck. "You were saying the same thing just now!"

"Want to know what this idiot is up to now?" she said with a silly grin. Lin, who couldn't smell anything, felt a strong aroma of alcohol and fragrance fill his nostrils.

Lin heard the sound of the buckle on his helmet being unlocked.

The next second, his helmet was ripped off, and a young girl's face came close.

He can't feel it, but he can see it.

He was so close that he could see her fair neck and slender body beneath her white coat.

He tried to push her away, but she held the back of his head tightly. Afraid of hurting her if he used too much force, Lin could only let go and let her hug him.

Even though she couldn't feel that softness, her increasingly difficult breathing and her almost frantic demands were not fake at all.

After a long while, their lips parted... Her face was flushed, and she was breathing heavily.

"This time... I wasn't lying."

She moved closer once again.

Her blue eyes were misty and alluring, like rich wine.

But upon closer inspection, I felt so clear-headed...

Sakura Special - For You

"Wait a minute, Lin."

The flickering lights, the glasses full of wine, and the reflections of a banquet on the marble floor.

Lin turned around and saw Ying holding a glass, the orange-yellow liquid inside flowing over the exquisitely cut ice cubes. Her expression was different from usual, as if she had gained a certain unwavering determination.

"Is there anything else?" Lin, who was originally going to the stage, stopped and, after seeing Ying's expression, thought for a moment and came back.

Sakura breathed a sigh of relief when she saw him walk back, "I want to talk to you... is that okay?"

"What do you want to talk about?"

"Anything is fine." Sakura smiled gently, as if she were an ordinary girl, not an assassin or a warrior of the Flame-Chasing Moth. "Thank you for the drink. May I order something to drink with you?"

Lin remained silent for a long while, and only when Ying's heart was pounding in her throat did he nod.

Sakura turned to the bartender and said, "Please make another one of the same."