It Was All a Misunderstanding

"OK."

The water droplets sliding down the rim of the cup reflected the calm helmeted man in the light, his upright posture looking out of place here.

"..."

"..."

They said they were going to talk about something, but Sakura herself didn't know where to start. She just impulsively asked Lin to stay.

The reason she put on headphones and immersed herself in her personal space here is because she lacks a sense of belonging to the Moth Chaser and simply cannot fit in with these people.

But when she was next to Lin, she felt inexplicably at ease. Even without words, they had an unspoken understanding.

However, Sakura understood that Rin still loathed her.

She understands better than anyone else.

Please enjoy your meal.

The wine was pushed in front of Lin, seemingly taking into account male tastes, so it looked more intense in color, probably due to a different proportion.

Lin took the wine glass and placed it beside him.

After the ice melts, Lin will finish his drink and leave. It seems that this is all the time she has left to spend with him.

Even Lin, who has many friends in the Moth Chaser group, feels a greater sense of belonging than Lin does. It's impossible for him to stop his schedule for today just for her.

If you have something to say, it's best to say it now.

"What kind of music do you like to listen to?" To her surprise, Lin spoke first, turning to look at the headphones hanging around her neck.

Sakura hesitated for a moment, glanced around to make sure no one was paying attention to them, and then whispered a word.

"..."

Although Sakura couldn't see Lin's expression, she sensed that he seemed quite surprised.

"... a very interesting hobby."

"Ahem... That's what Rin actually said too."

Perhaps it was this simple conversation that made Sakura less reserved, because she turned the tables and asked, "Do you have any favorite songs?"

"Have."

What type?

"The Song of Eden".

"..."

Is it the "Eden" type?

Sakura now understood why Lin was there. Her feelings were complicated, but this complicated feeling only made her feel bad and did nothing to help her.

So she composed herself and prepared to leave.

"Would you like to take a walk around the artificial lake?"

At that moment, Lin said something that stunned Sakura.

Perhaps it was the effects of the alcohol, or perhaps some other inexplicable reason, but Sakura felt a tightness in her chest and a burning sensation on her face under the moonlight of the transparent dome.

Why did Lin choose this place?

Tonight, besides the dance hall, the artificial lake area is the most crowded.

Or rather... there are the most people in pairs.

It was supposed to be a relaxing night, and the atmosphere was quite intimate. The sounds of their sweet nothings reached Sakura's overly sensitive ears, causing her to bury her head even lower, almost to the point of hunching over.

However, when a cold, stern-looking helmeted man, whose presence seemed to be accompanied by hail as he passed by, arrived, all the ambiguous and tender atmosphere was cleaved in two.

His mere presence in the sight of those couples was enough to send chills down their spines.

Sakura watched, both amused and exasperated, as those people hurried away as if they had seen a ghost.

"Why did we come here?" Sakura swallowed hard. She felt her words might have a hidden meaning, but then she thought about Lin's invitation, which also seemed to have a hidden meaning... No, her accepting it was also...

Once you start, you can't stop overthinking.

As the artificial wind gently blew, Sakura heard the clatter of pebbles and the soft sound of lake water hitting the shore.

"You don't seem to fit in there."

"Forehead..."

Lin noticed her unusual behavior so quickly, which surprised Sakura, who hadn't talked much.

"You fought me here the first time you came to headquarters, so I think you should be quite familiar with this place." Lin's cold words left Ying unsure of what to say.

She couldn't help but feel a little annoyed at herself for not knowing how to speak. Even though Lin was trying his best to take care of her, she still...

"I... don't hate you."

Lin's sudden words caused Ying's brain to freeze for a few seconds.

She first stared blankly at the surface of the lake, then turned to Lin's head, and then the muscles in her face twitched.

She didn't know what kind of expression to wear.

Why did Lin so easily figure out what she was thinking?

"I might be a little slow to understand what others are thinking, but there's a tacit understanding between us, and I can guess what you're thinking," Lin quickly explained. "If what I'm saying is true, you don't need to feel indebted to me, and I don't dislike you either."

"But... but..." The usually composed Sakura stammered, gesturing wildly as her face quickly flushed crimson; she even felt as if her face was burning.

No, that can't be right... Lin only said he didn't dislike her, so why... why is she now...?

Her mind was a complete mess; she had no idea what she was thinking.

"And some of the thoughts you have about me, such as about reproduction..."

"Wait! Don't, don't say that, Lin, wait a minute..."

Sakura covered her head and shook it violently, wishing she could shake her brain right out of her skull.

After catching her breath and calming down, Sakura was finally able to organize her thoughts and speak, "How did you know? I... am I that obvious?"

"You called me just now, and I thought your behavior was a bit strange, so I re-analyzed all your previous actions and words, and came to a conclusion. Because I had some previous experiences to draw upon, I..."

"..."

Sakura suddenly turned her head and stared at him intently.

"Then, what do you think? As for me... a despicable and filthy killer who hurt you and failed your expectations."

To me, you are just Sakura.

Lin nodded and spoke calmly.

"You are just Sakura."

Chapter 119 It's all a misunderstanding

"You seem really busy today..." Elysia followed closely beside Lin, her eyes darting around him. "You're meeting this and that, you're quite popular."

"If I were popular, I wouldn't need to go looking for them myself." Lin's interactions with Elysia are more frequent, perhaps because he has been constantly being chased around by Elysia ever since he joined the Firemoth.

"Gulp... I was supposed to wait for you to come to me?"

"... That's not what I meant either."

Lin didn't really want to stay here any longer. A lot had happened today, but not a little either. The important thing was that his thoughts had changed.

Now he needs to find out two things.

First, there is the issue of his consciousness. Although no abnormalities were found through long-term observation, a certain aspect of his consciousness deteriorated after the Hypervariable Surgery.

Being able to observe Parallel World... whether real or not, is an extremely dangerous thing. If his consciousness could wander off to some other place at any time, his original body would lose control. If this happened in battle, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Moreover, was he really just... "observing" while he was unconscious?

The bright red blood streaming down my forehead and the pain still lingered in my mind.

Second... this is a "doubt" that belongs to him alone.

That is, there is a question about the Star Invasion and the Seventh Honkai Eruption that cannot be explained.

Since a high-threat alien civilization like Xingcai can invade Earth while simultaneously causing Honkai, it means that Honkai will not be suspended simply because a civilization is threatened by other external forces.

When the Herrscher of Reason from the Previous Civilization returned to this world, the Seventh Herrscher was still born, which shows that multiple Herrscher can exist.

Given the latent presence of the Fourth Herrscher, the highly anthropomorphic nature of the Sixth Herrscher, and the multiple existences of the Seventh Herrscher, could we speculate that Herrscher may have already been born among humanity?

This inference is unlikely and has several flaws, but it is not entirely impossible.

Following this line of reasoning, if it's true that Herrscher exists lurking among humanity, then there are two possibilities: First, the Herrscher is plotting something to annihilate humanity; second...

The girl's smiling face as she parted is still vivid in my mind.

"..."

Both of these matters are of utmost importance, and if possible, Lin does not intend to waste any more time at the ball.

But...

"What's wrong? Still thinking about what happened backstage?" Elysia covered her mouth and grinned mischievously, while Lin remained silent.

"Never mind... I'm already very satisfied with today, so I won't disturb your reminiscing."

Elysia waved her hand and left, like a little crab that had eaten its fill.

Lin stood in the crowd, at a distance of only two steps, yet seemingly an insurmountable chasm, silently gazing at Kevin.

Just like they were a few years ago before they left Tenyu Academy.

"... Do you need me to introduce you?" Kevin asked Lin.

He was naturally referring to Su, who was standing to the side.

"No need." Lin had known Su for a long time, but he might not know that the Moth Chaser soldier who stopped him from going to the sealed-off area was Lin.

Su hesitated, unsure whether he should greet Lin and introduce himself, but the current atmosphere seemed to prevent him from intervening in their conversation, especially since Mei Du was just sitting and watching from the sidelines.

Who are you going to see later?

"Hua, Immer, Vill-V..."

Are there many? Actually, not many. Prometheus was watching him silently from the side. Including Prometheus, he had basically seen almost everyone he could meet.

But this was somewhat unexpected for Kevin.

However, it was just an "accident".

"Remember when we said we were going to go to Eden's concert?" I don't know who said it, maybe Lin, maybe Kevin.

Their unified response to this statement was silence.

Kevin seemed to finally sigh, "There are no tickets this time."

Lin glanced at the bewildered Su and nodded gently.

"Hahaha... Lin, do you know what? I watched you swimming around the venue, so busy." Vill-V hadn't changed much. She chose a spot that suited her interest in magic and then performed magic for free for the others. She finished her performance just as Lin and Prometheus walked over together.

"Smack."

She flipped her top hat, but instead of rabbits or doves jumping out, more than a dozen balloons floated out and burst in the air, each one releasing a dove.

"..." This kind of bizarre magic trick is indeed unexpected. Just the fact that some balloons are set up before the pigeons fly out is enough to break the old routine of magic performances.

Even though everyone already knew that magic is a combination of technique and props, people were still curious about how that ordinary top hat she usually wore could hold so many balloons, and how she managed to stuff pigeons into those balloons.

"Merciàtous. (Thank you everyone.)"

Vill-V playfully raised a finger to her lips and smiled at the onlookers, uttered a sentence in French, then put her hat back on her head and walked towards Lin.

Vill-V was still playing with a deck of cards, glancing at Lin with interest. "I thought you would forget about your old friend, but it turns out I'm the grand finale."

"... I have no intention of putting it in order."

"I know, I know, you just find whoever you see anyway." Thanks to her incredibly logical thinking, Vill-V didn't care about any of this. "You've had one girl after another by your side, and now it's finally my turn?"