Awakening, Then Falling Asleep / The Deceived One's Sorrow

"But I know you understand this too. What you want to ask me for is another person you brought back, that Nun."

Lin remained silent. He knew he didn't need to explain; Mei would understand and would lay everything out in the open.

"A month of interrogation yielded no intelligence. Even the most loyal soldiers had already confessed. So either her willpower far exceeds our imagination, or... she is just an ordinary person who knows nothing."

"You've been away for a month and a half and have had close contact with her. I believe you can testify that she is indeed just an ordinary person... but obviously, others won't let you testify."

"I know you're wondering why your mission ended early without you being informed. It's because your relationship with the Speaker was exposed."

"..."

This news made Lin slightly surprised, and he raised his head. His relationship with the speaker should have been completely buried with the speaker's death, but why...?

He suddenly thought of something, staring at Mei, who smiled and said, "That's right. One of the researchers who conducted the experiment on you has been found. While you were on your mission, the Fire Moth was also searching the world for any remaining forces of the Chairman, trying to completely eliminate the possibility of a second betrayal."

"And once your information is discovered, you become a target of surveillance."

"The reason you can still stand here instead of being locked in the Deepest Place is due to both your performance in the previous Honkai operation and the fact that you did not disobey the orders of the Fire Moth in this mission."

So that's how it is... because he, too, is someone who isn't trusted...

"That girl will be on the operating table tomorrow. You can't make me cancel the surgery. This isn't something I can decide on my own." Mei's eyes turned cold, filled with helplessness and some indescribable emotions. "Lin, you're in a dangerous situation right now, so you'd better not do anything that will trigger the nerves of those already sensitive people."

"... What is the success rate of the surgery?" Lin asked, letting out a breath.

"The mortality rate of the surgery is as high as 97%, that is an indisputable fact..." Mei said coldly, "However, those who succeed in the surgery have extremely high Honkai Energy Adaptability, and that Nun's Honkai Energy Adaptability has also been tested and is of a very high type."

As early as at the sanatorium, Lin had already noticed that the fact that Chrono and Aponia could not be infected with Honkai Sickness in an environment with high Honkai Energy concentration indicated that their Honkai Energy Adaptability and resistance were far beyond that of ordinary people.

"Lin, there are some things you can't change, so it's better to learn to accept them sooner rather than later."

The silence between Mei and Lin began the moment the words were spoken.

However, Mei quickly broke the deadlock again. She smiled at Lin and said, "By the way, Lin, I need you to test something for me."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Awakening, Then Sleep

Qianqi spent a relaxing day in the Research and Development Department, then returned to her room, yawned, and prepared to wash up and go to bed.

Her main job is the maintenance of Prometheus Unit 2 and the research and development of Artificial Intelligence for the Prometheus series. However, recently the Research and Development Department has been focusing on the Divine Key, so Artificial Intelligence has been temporarily put on hold. She is happy to be free and can go to the toilet every day with a salary, and no one cares about her.

"I feel like I've forgotten something lately..." Qianqi stood in front of the bathroom mirror, staring at her reflection. Her long hair, loosened from her hair tie, cascaded down. She frowned, thinking, "Lin Ye is back safe and sound, so what could I have forgotten?"

Suddenly, she saw a flash of dark red deep within her pupils in the mirror.

"What..."

Just as she approached the mirror to take a closer look, she shuddered, then her tense body relaxed, and she closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes again, dark red had completely filled all the colors in her vision.

Qianqi coldly raised her hand and examined her body, then let out a heavy sigh.

"Three months... these guys are really tough to deal with." "Qianqi" pinched her chin and looked at herself in the mirror. "In these three months, the number of Flame-Chaser has increased to four. There are already four monsters like Kevin, and then there's that guy Lin. Looks like we'll have to try a different approach..."

That's right, the person who awakened in this body is the personality of the Eighth Herrscher. After being defeated by Lin, she went through a three-month hibernation period before waking up again and replacing the original Qianqi personality that she had created.

At this moment, she was thinking about how to use a meticulous plan to bypass the Flame-Chaser and Lin.

The Flame-Chaser are actually alright; their mental strength may not be as high as their physical strength. The key issue is Lin, this mutated anomaly in terms of mental strength, who is a thorn in his side.

"Wait... have I been conducting Artificial Intelligence research during this time...? Heh..."

A plan quickly took shape in her mind, and her mouth stretched to her ears, revealing a terrifying smile.

Before her smile could fade, she caught a glimpse of a figure materializing behind her in the mirror. Her pupils contracted, and before she could turn around, she was grabbed by the back of the head and slammed onto the mirror!

"Bang!"

His face was slammed hard against the mirror, but the mirror remained completely undamaged.

Just as the Eighth Herrscher was wondering, she then discovered that there was another "Qianqi" behind her.

No, what was captured was her consciousness!

The Eighth Herrscher gritted her teeth and forced herself to turn her head, only to see a completely unfamiliar face.

A woman, with silver hair and eyes...

"You!"

She recognized him when she saw those eyes!

The next moment, a clash of consciousness erupted in the cramped bathroom!

"Splash..."

"Uh..." Qianqi woke up groggily, and the cold water splashed on her face jolted her awake.

How did she fall asleep in front of the tap while washing her face?

"Ouch... my head hurts so much, did I catch a cold?"

Qianqi covered her head, stood up uncomfortably, and walked out of the bathroom, leaning against the wall, thinking that she had caught a cold after falling asleep in the cold water.

She walked straight through the silver-haired woman's body, and as if sensing something, she looked back, but saw nothing.

After she left, the woman also covered her head and knelt down on the ground, breathing heavily.

The fully ascended Herrscher of Reason is indeed too powerful on the level of consciousness; even her sneak attack could only force the Herrscher of Reason into slumber again.

Of course, part of the reason is that she doesn't belong to this Parallel World. If she could interfere with Parallel World at will, she wouldn't...

"As expected, seeing it only once left too little information; Thousand Worlds Assumption can't continuously locate this world." Her body dimmed, a sign that she was about to leave this world. "Three months...?"

In the last second before leaving, she "looked" in a certain direction.

Lin stopped in his tracks and turned sharply to look at the empty space behind him.

A familiar feeling— the Herrscher he'd met in Parallel World, the one who had been hunting him down, was now watching him!

Hatred, anger, resentment... all the negative emotions were transmitted to him through this gaze!

Who exactly is she? Why does she harbor such deep hatred for him? Someone she overlooked in the past? Someone she might meet in the future?

Just as Lin was preparing to deal with the pursuit, the gaze disappeared.

And in the very last moment, as the view disappeared, a tiny, faint trace of complex emotion, mixed in with those negative emotions, was conveyed.

It was as if it had been deliberately hidden, not wanting him to know, yet it was so conspicuous, even if it was only a little bit, it was like a bright light in the night sky.

"What's wrong?"

Mei pressed the stop button, severing the connection device on Lin's body.

"...No, it's nothing." Lin shook his head solemnly. He felt that this matter needed to be discussed with someone, but Mei was not a suitable candidate.

He doesn't know May's attitude right now. She's getting too close to people in the upper echelons. Mobius said that the upper echelons are very interested in him now, and this might only further pique their curiosity.

Their curiosity often leads to experiments and injuries or fatalities.

After sorting everything out in a flash, Lin was somewhat surprised. He realized that he seemed to be deliberately hiding some things from the Fire Moth. In the past, he would have told everything without hesitation, and then just waited for orders.

What has changed? Him? Or the moth drawn to the flame?

"It seems we rushed things. The Key of Blankness is still in its most basic stage, and it's normal for unpredictable situations to arise." Mei rubbed her fingers, wrote something on a piece of paper, and then pointed to the simple armor on Lin's body, saying, "You can take it off now. I'll let you know if there are any more experiments later."

Lin did as instructed. He removed the armor, which looked even more unfinished than an unfinished product, put it back in the isolation chamber, and then put on his own coat before leaving the safe room.

"... Whose Herrscher Core is the Key of Blankness?" Lin asked Mei, who was recording the data.

"No," Mei said succinctly. "The Key of Blankness, as its name suggests, is blank. Remember when I told you that the original purpose of the Key of Blankness was to allow humanity to unleash the original power of the Herrscher? Its significance is to connect to every Herrscher Core and unleash their power at maximum capacity. Therefore, it itself does not have Herrscher Core, but..."

Mei pressed her finger down beside her.

A gem rose from the secure room, and they watched the core through the protective glass.

"It needs at least one spare core."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: The Sorrow of the Deceived

"..."

"..."

Sakura's body stiffened for a moment as their eyes met.

Lin walked past her nonchalantly and entered Mobius's laboratory, while Sakura only slowly walked away after hearing the door close behind her.

Feeling the stares from those around her at the strange ears on her head, she silently returned to her room.

Sakura sat on the bed, gazing at the photo of her and Rin on the table.

She can't go back now.

Sakura reached out and touched the ears on her head. They weren't just useless organs that grew out like six fingers; they were real fox ears, with Neural Connection to her senses, making her more acute... but also making her look no different from a monster.

Is it painful?

This was her own choice.

"Sakura just left and you're here. You really like to cause me unnecessary trouble."

Mobius casually tossed aside the recording of her conversation with Sakura, looking at Lin with displeasure. "Is this a mental health counseling room or a laboratory?"

"... What happened to her?" Lin turned around and glanced at the door, asking.

"It's nothing, just a normal aftereffect of the Hypervariable Surgery, similar to sensory resonance," Mobius said. "She might see some memories of Honkai Beast and experience some emotions contained in their genes. Because Honkai Beast and humans are very different, this emotional gap can be uncomfortable."

"..."

"I know what you want to ask. Your surgery failed, so you don't have a similar situation, but Kevin and I both showed up. Only Elysia ... tsk, that girl is even weirder than you."

After venting his frustrations Mobius looked at Lin and said, "So, what is it now? If not, I'm off to perform my next surgery."

"... Can I observe this surgery from the sidelines?"

"Huh?" Mobius looked at Lin strangely. "What's wrong with you this time?"

"..."

"Oh...you're the one who brought her back, so you can't ignore her being sent to the guillotine. You did the same before, trying to talk her out of it." Mobius narrowed his eyes. "If you ask me...why do you care about her? You're just doing your own thing. It's someone else who's going to kill her. Or...can't you even accept something like this?"

"... Ah, I can't accept it."

Lin slowly nodded, admitting it.

Bound by restraints, they were pushed toward the unknown future in a brightly lit corridor filled with the smell of Formalin.

Aponia stared blankly at the empty ceiling. She no longer needed anyone to remind her what would happen to her next.

This was the first time in her life that she had left Dusk Street, that chaotic, dirty, and xenophobic place. She had wondered countless times what the outside world was like.

Civilization, beauty, order... If Dusk Street is the gathering place of darkness in this world, then the outside world should be its opposite.

In reality, they were simply placed in another dark and hopeless prison.

The anesthetic was injected into her vein; this was the final mercy the moth that chased the flame gave her. Even if it meant execution, it would allow her to die peacefully in her dreams.

With only a few minutes left to wait for the drug to take effect, the neatly dressed doctors stood in a group around her. In a nearby restraint cell, it seemed that a... colorful moth was imprisoned?

It appeared to be dead, but its wings shone brightly and colorfully, like the stained glass windows of a church.

At this moment, Aponia thought of many things. Some people say that before a person dies, they will review their life and replay several important events. But all she could think of were trivial matters.

Perhaps from birth, she had lived an ordinary life in the Dusk Street, without having anything that could be called "important".

The time spent with those children is probably something worth remembering.

But in Aponia's mind, other images appeared.

Pistol, letter, moonlight, mask, barbecue, flames, collapse...

She smiled sadly.

At this moment, she even felt that the time she spent with Lin was the most important period of her life.

He is an utterly hopeless fool, Divine Transformation has strayed from the pure faith.

As the drug gradually took effect throughout her body, she was unable to stop her eyes from closing, and her consciousness began to blur. Her peaceful state of mind was ultimately shattered by her own actions.