Return / Will You Learn to Accept It?

In a small room, there are a few small windows, outside which is a blue sky and a sea of white clouds.

"Is this... Dusk Street... outside...?"

"Um."

His eyes widened involuntarily, and then he smiled.

"So beautiful... Aponia ... Sister... and Daniela and the others..."

"They... didn't come."

"Then next time... we must come together... Daniela will definitely like... this place..."

"Um."

"I'm so sleepy... Teacher... I..."

"Go to sleep."

He smiled and closed his eyes.

It will not open its eyes again.

The sanatorium on Dusk Street was reduced to ruins overnight, and the Nun disappeared, causing an unusual uproar on this turbulent street.

But soon, this uproar was replaced by another new piece of news.

Somewhere on Dusk Street, a new sanatorium appeared out of nowhere. Surprisingly, the sanatorium, which was originally a residential house, was full of children. Some of them recognized the children as those from the original sanatorium.

One of the little girls, Daniela, became Nun. Although she was young, she gently and patiently helped everyone who came to her for help, and took homeless children back to the nursing home, teaching them to read, write and cook.

Despite suffering from a serious illness, she remained optimistic and strong, an attitude that inspired many who had given up hope.

For some reason, she would occasionally glance at an Ultraman mask hanging in the sanatorium.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Return

She heard a surging in the darkness.

The air was thick with the scent of sin, the words of turmoil, and the cries of anguish.

If hell truly exists in this world, then this is probably what they're referring to.

This place holds the world's most wicked sinners, and those who imprisoned them claim to be the guardians of humanity.

After a month of "staying" there, she realized what kind of place it was.

"..."

When she woke up, the man wearing a helmet was already standing in front of the railing, looking down at her through the railing.

It's very similar to that night, except this time there's no intoxicatingly white moonlight.

"... Long time no see, Lin."

Aponia's expression showed no hatred or anger; she was unusually calm, her long, flowing hair piled on her right side, and her eyes held only indifference.

She underwent thirteen interrogations in a month, but the Moth of Fire could not get the information it wanted from her, while she had already understood the current situation.

Lin, a soldier of the Firemoth, came to Dusk Street to investigate Aponia and the sanatorium in order to investigate a rebellion that involved most of the Firemoths. The person who had donated funds was the mastermind behind the rebellion.

Whether he contacted her or stayed in the sanatorium, it was all to investigate whether she was an external accomplice in his betrayal.

Then, with conclusive evidence of a large number of Honkai Sickness gathered, Lin and another Firemoth soldier cleared the source of infection and arrested the "mastermind" Aponia.

She was as naive and ridiculous as a little girl who fell for the trick.

"You have one last chance," Lin announced in an unquestionable tone.

"..."

He explained the "rules" to Aponia in a businesslike manner. "As long as you tell what you know, you can go back to your original life without knowing anything."

Aponia leaned against the cold wall and asked calmly, "Lin... how is the sanatorium...?"

"... The source of infection has been completely eliminated."

Aponia's eyes were so clear that it was hard to believe she had endured a month of torment in the Deepest Place. She gazed at Lin, who no longer wore that comical mask, but instead wore a stern, cold helmet. All the tenderness he had once shown had vanished.

"... Lin, do you know? During this time, I've questioned several people around me about why they came here, and they all told me they are innocent," Aponia said softly from the corner. "Without exception."

"Every criminal will say that he was wrongfully imprisoned."

"Yes... so from the moment you locked me up here, you had already condemned me."

"..."

"How is Chrono...?"

"He's fine."

Lin glanced at his watch, then reached into his pocket and pressed something.

"Click".

He then quickened his pace slightly and said, "Your Hypervariable Surgery will take place in one day."

"Super-transformation... surgery?"

"A type of surgery that makes people less human has a 97% mortality rate. So far, 130 people have undergone the surgery, but only four were successful and only five survived."

In other words, this is a "death penalty" in another sense.

Since we can't get Aponia to reveal the information, we can either make her die forever keeping a secret that may or may not exist, or we can make her serve the Firemoth in another way.

This is the idea of High Council at Moth Chaser.

Aponia understood what it meant, but her eyes remained completely unmoved.

"You have ten minutes to leave here. Follow the route I'm telling you to the end, then change your clothes. I'll take you away shortly."

"... Why?"

"..."

"Lin, you said other people also underwent this surgery, right? Why did you insist on saving me?"

"Because they did it voluntarily, while you were forced."

Aponia smiled and shook her head, "Then I'll volunteer to undergo this surgery."

This time it was Lin's turn. "Why?"

"Because this may be my destiny." Aponia said no more. "Goodbye, Lin."

Lin heard the alternation of breathing. He thought for a moment, then reached into his pocket and turned off the device.

"... Do you believe in fate?"

"Um."

I don't believe it.

"You really have a lot of free time. Now you even have a hobby of providing psychological counseling to death row inmates?"

The green-haired girl, whom he hadn't seen in a long time, was now facing away from him, fiddling with the instruments on the table.

As the saying goes, "A scholar should be viewed with new eyes after three days of separation." Lin and Mobius had not seen each other for two whole months, but he did not expect that the changes in Mobius were greater than he had imagined.

Mobius's appearance has deteriorated.

Even though Mobius has a youthful appearance that doesn't match her age, and looks at least five years younger than her actual age, she can still be identified as a woman around twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

Now, however, she looks like a girl who is only about eighteen years old and has just come of age.

Her height may not have changed much, but her figure has shrunk a bit. This may be a very subjective opinion, but Lin could tell that she did look a few years younger.

Rejuvenation? No, Lin already knew the truth before he arrived, so he understood that this was actually a side effect of Mobius's Hypervariable Surgery —perhaps the benefits of this "side effect" outweighed the drawbacks.

Yes, Mobius Elysia's Hypervariable Surgery was successful, Mebius secretly underwent the Hypervariable Surgery on himself, becoming the third Flame-Chaser before Sakura.

The Honkai Beast gene she used was that of the re-emerging Judgment-class Honkai Beast Shesa, a giant Honkai serpent with abnormal vitality, two cores, and the ability to feign death and molt.

Having observed the future in Parallel World, it seems that we are now seeing its prototype.

"What's wrong? Are you overwhelmed by my 'perfection'?" Mobius turned his head slowly and gently, like an ancient woman half-concealing her face, a smile playing on his lips. "This is the 'beauty' of living things, how delightful it is."

"... Didn't you change your clothes?"

"..."

Lin's abrupt words interrupted her allure. He pointed to Mobius's chest, and she looked down to see the slightly loose-fitting top.

Since my height hasn't changed, I don't need to change my clothes, but some details have changed.

That's why Mobius sometimes disliked Lin's meticulous observation skills; he was even more sensitive to makeup and dressing than the two idiots who were also women.

She opened her mouth coldly. "Has your personality changed since you came back after being away for so long?"

Chapter Twenty-Six: Will You Learn to Accept It?

"Those who fail the Hypervariable Surgery either die or become mindless Honkai Beast. Only you survived intact. So, you are somewhat special."

Mobius sat on the workbench, blew on the steam from his coffee, and gave Lin a cold laugh.

"Forty people attempted to fuse with the Wasak gene, including you. None of them succeeded, and none of them survived like you."

"Suddenly, the higher-ups have become interested in you, wanting to know at least how you survived... Heh..."

Mobius's smile is chilling—many would say that—and she often looks at people as if they were lab Lab Rat or... corpses on an operating table.

But seeing that Lin remained unmoved, she lost interest in frightening him. She snorted disdainfully, "But unfortunately, all the evidence points to you being just lucky. After all, with a 97% mortality rate, the only explanation for a few survivors is good luck."

"...the same as you?"

Mobius raised an eyebrow and smirked. "Guess."

"..."

The atmosphere in the office was somewhat heavy. Mobius continued, "Then there are the side effects of the surgery. We still don't understand the exact mechanism behind the side effects. Kevin, Sakura, and I all have the original Honkai Beast characteristics: low temperature, beast ears, molting... But your side effects are very likely just that the surgery failed and damaged your original organs."

"And the last one?"

"What?"

Lin counted the number of people and asked, "What are the side effects of Elysia?"

"..."

Mobius suddenly fell silent, and his expression turned extremely ugly.

"... Is it serious?"

"Yes, it's serious." Mobius forced a smile. "According to her, she's lost some weight."

"Did you need something?"

Mei was still as busy as ever. Lin seemed to have never seen her idle. Was it possible that people in the position of Head of Research and Development were destined to be busy from morning till night?

But she was much more at ease than her predecessor. She turned around, smiled at Lin who was standing behind her, and pointed to the coffee that had been brewed on the table.

It seems she had already guessed that Lin would come looking for her.

"Sometimes I really miss our high school days. Back then, when you came to see me, you would usually just chat with me casually, instead of having a long face and waiting for me to guess your purpose." Mei picked up a cup of hot cocoa and took a sip. She spoke first, "The Poisoned Cocoon is about to regenerate again."

This was expected. Lin temporarily joined the Poisoned Cocoon only to alleviate personnel pressure. Now that the Fire Moth is back on track, the reorganization of the Poisoned Cocoon is a foregone conclusion.

"After this mission, both I and others believe that you are not suitable for the Poisoned Cocoon, so you will be reassigned to a normal team."

"... Did you end this mission early?" Lin's somber voice came from inside the helmet.

"I didn't issue this mission in the first place, and I certainly didn't assign Sakura to end your mission prematurely."

Mei's smile was serene and lingering.

"Then... I'd like to ask you to do something for me."

"Hmm... Lin, how long has it been since you last begged me?"

This might go back to high school—but that doesn't matter.

Mei's eyes seemed to see through people's hearts and see their true thoughts. She lowered her head and sipped her coffee slowly, then said leisurely, "You don't need to worry about that man named Chrono. We are studying the video of his fight with Ying. As a 'human,' he was able to injure Flame-Chaser and has strange abilities and energy. His value determines that he will not be easily discarded."