Are You Happy? / The Rain Has Come

Lin looked back and heard a deep roar coming from the disfigured prisoners.

It seems that everything is self-evident.

"Lin, you haven't left here either," Aponia murmured. "You can accept your own downfall, but you can't accept others being corrupted?"

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

Lin's voice lingered from the shadows.

When did he become like this? When Delta said he wanted to see the ordinary Lin fight in their place? When Soul told him he didn't want anyone around him to die anymore? When Anna said she loved this world?

Earlier? Later?

He began to have trouble accepting the departure of those around him, and he became more and more like the Kevin of the past.

"Lin, could you please give me your hand?"

Just as Lin's face was about to sink completely into shadow, Aponia spoke again, extending her hand to Lin.

It stretched out from inside the railing and came to Lin's side.

Just like... that night.

Lin unconsciously reached out his left hand, and when he came to his senses, his hand was already being held by Aponia.

Although not as broad as Lin's hands, Aponia wrapped his left hand in her own, gently and tenderly placing it against her chest, as if in prayer.

"Lin Zhen has such gentle hands, even though they are covered in scars, they are so warm."

She carefully examined the gloved hand, stroking the contours beneath the glove.

Lin had changed hands many times, and the medical technology of the Fire Moth was advanced, so he actually didn't have any scars left on his body.

Please accept this.

When Aponia released Lin's hand, he already had two things in his hands.

One was the silver cross that Aponia always wore on her chest; he had never seen Aponia without the cross, as it was a symbol of her faith.

There's another one...

Lin looked closely and confirmed that there was an extra ring on the ring finger of his left hand, while the glove had been removed by Aponia.

"Lin, I haven't returned the clothes you gave me yet, so I've been wanting to give you a gift in return." Aponia smiled. "I actually started making this ring a long time ago when I was bored, but because I had no experience, I didn't finish it until just before I left Dusk Street."

In the center of this unassuming ring is a neatly engraved word: "Love".

"...What's this?"

"A kind of... 'restraint' is a power I have just acquired, and I want to give it to you as a blessing."

Aponia reached out and grabbed Lin's hand again, just like before, their fingers intertwined.

She used a lot of force, as if she was afraid... the person in front of her suddenly disappeared.

"Please always love the people around you, Lin."

Is it right for the noble to sacrifice their lives for the base? Perhaps it is, because the noble will not make choices about whom they sacrifice themselves for.

But Aponia only felt dissatisfied with this.

"..."

Lin stared at her calmly for a long, long time before gently grasping her palm and making her let go.

"From now on, I will stay here."

"... Is that so?" This time, Lin did not stop her, but nodded lightly instead.

"There are many people like you..." Aponia's gentle gaze swept over the dark corners. "Maybe I can't do more, but I will reach out and hold their hands, just like you held our hands back then..."

Lin put the cross he was holding around his neck, and the silver ornament fell onto his chest.

"Don't you want this cross anymore? Shouldn't it be part of your faith?"

"Yes, so I don't need it anymore." Aponia looked up, dandelions swaying gently in the moonlight. "I've found it."

"What?"

"God."

Lin is gone.

The Nun stood quietly in the cage, gazing in the direction the man had left.

What do you see as my end?

"..."

"..."

"You will be killed by the humans you love in the most tragic way."

The man wasn't surprised; he simply nodded slightly and left.

Chapter Thirty-One: Are You Happy?

"It's a wonderful day to have everyone gathered here!"

Elysia raised her glass with her usual smile, while her adjutant stared at everyone present with an expression that was completely different, as if his uncle had just died.

However, he was wearing a helmet, so his expression was alright, but the problem was that even with his face covered, the eerie and terrifying aura of a monster from a horror movie still lingered in everyone's ears.

This caused everyone present to look ashen-faced, like... their uncle who had just died.

"... There's no holiday today, Elysia," Lin said, turning to the enthusiastic Elysia.

"Huh? But isn't today our day to welcome new members and reorganize? The Squad Thirteen is reborn!" Elysia looked at me with a completely clueless expression. "How could you forget such an important day?"

"Welcome new students..."

Lin was unaware that the Fire Moths had this tradition. Had he ever had such a welcoming celebration when he was in the Squad Five and Squad Seven?

"Hey, you're my adjutant, so you'd better set a good example! First of all, raise your glass... Hey! Cheers!"

Elysia shoved a glass of wine into his hand, then lifted his arm and, laughing, clinked the two glasses together, spilling some of the wine into each other's glasses.

The other newlyweds were terrified when they saw this, and some of the more timid ones even fainted from fright.

Why is that "Lin" in this team?

The Moth Chaser has received a massive replenishment of personnel, and the previous shortage of manpower has disappeared. Now, the number of personnel is more than ten times that before the Seventh Honkai Eruption. Therefore, the reorganization of the squad has become an urgent matter on the agenda.

After consideration, Lin was assigned to Elysia's Squad Thirteen, serving as Elysia's adjutant.

On the one hand, Lin had left the Fire Moth, and it was impossible for him to leave and then come back to resume his original position at will. Therefore, Lin could not serve as the captain again, which was also the reason why he acted as a temporary member of the Poisoned Cocoon team before.

On the other hand, Elysia is one of the few remaining Flame-Chaser, making her the perfect person to look after Lin, whose identity and consciousness may be problematic.

After serving as a team member and then as captain, Lin has finally completed an indispensable part of his career resume.

However, this may not be a good thing for others, especially the new members of the Squad Thirteen.

Elysia is Flame-Chaser, which is great. The captain is powerful, beautiful, witty, and gentle. Many people have already heard that Elysia, the fire-chasing moth, is practically an angel. If you could fill in your preferences when being assigned, Elysia's Squad Thirteen would definitely be a top choice.

But the adjutant just happens to be that "Lin".

Lin's participation in the Flame-Chaser project did change many people's opinions of him, but that doesn't mean his overall image has been completely reversed.

He was still that taciturn, fierce-looking, and ruthless helmeted man, only now he had to be given a nicer prefix.

Although former team members Immer and Hua both said Lin was a good person, who knows if that's true or not? You have to know that the Squad Five, where Lin once served, produced two Herrscher, and many people secretly called him the "Grim Reaper" of Calamity.

Of course, some familiar faces didn't care about any of this.

"I'm eating and eating and eating and eating..." While everyone else was holding their breath in agony, Pardo huddled in a corner and ate heartily. Her appetite grew even bigger, and she gained a lot of extra fat on her hands, legs, and waist, but she ate the delicious food with great relish without caring at all.

She's so lucky. She doesn't have to do anything, she can eat her fill, and when she's bored, she can watch movies in her room or sunbathe in the bathroom.

Life was so wonderful that she sometimes almost forgot she came to see Brother Lin.

Besides her, there was another person who, while not as extravagant as Pardo, didn't look at Lin with fear like the others. Instead, he was somewhat nervous and excited, as if he were about to meet his idol whom he had been a fan of for many years.

Erwin stood in a secluded spot, watching with some envy as Elysia chatted and laughed with Lin Dan.

Captain Elysia and Lin have such a good relationship...

Under Elysia's explanation, Lin reluctantly accepted that her team had a fixed welcoming ceremony. He glanced at the recruits who were intimidated by his gaze and calmly said, "Eat."

"No, no, no, you eat first." The team member standing at the front wiped away cold sweat and smiled cautiously.

"... I'm not hungry."

"Then, then, then we're not hungry either."

Lin shook his head helplessly. Just as he was about to say something, a pair of chopsticks were placed in front of him with meat on them.

"Ah~" Elysia stared at him with a smile.

"I..."

Ah~~~

Elysia's smile grew even brighter.

Lin remained silent for a while before silently pushing up his helmet and eating the meat on his chopsticks.

"Alright! The captain and his adjutant have already started eating! Everyone, eat up!"

Elysia happily announced this, and the others breathed a sigh of relief and began to eat, gradually increasing the volume of conversation.

"Hmm~ Really, there were so many fun things to do during the orientation, but my adjutant is such an incorruptible person, so all I could do was organize a quick introduction for everyone and that was it." Elysia sat next to Lin, propping her rosy cheeks up with one hand and smiling playfully.

"...Excuse me."

"Haha, just kidding! Why would I blame you? After all, that's just how Lin is!"

Lin sat there without touching his chopsticks. He simply listened quietly to the other people's voices. What appeared to them as colorful and fragrant delicacies were, in his eyes, just colorless chunks of meat and slices of vegetables.

At that moment, he suddenly felt nostalgic for the time he spent baking potato chips with Chrono at the sanatorium.

Actually, it wasn't that Chrono wanted to eat the roasted potato chips at that time. It was because the sanatorium was short of supplies, so Chrono couldn't use regular food for grilling. He could only eat the potato chips that had gotten damp and couldn't be given to the children.

However, Lin and Chrono both ate with great relish, even though the food was a little burnt.

The crisp "crack, crack" sound made Lin think it must be a delicious late-night snack.

"... Elysia, are you... happy right now?"

Hearing Lin's question, Elysia lazily took a sip of red wine. "Of course."

"Why?"

"Hmm..." Elysia suddenly sat up straight, looked Lin up and down, and then smiled, "Of course it's because everyone and Lin are here."

"And you, Lin, are you happy?"

"I..."

Please continue to love the people around you, Lin.

Lin subconsciously placed his right hand on the ring on his left hand.

After a long silence, he nodded. "I'm very happy to be by your side."

"Smack."

A sound of shattering glass rang out, and Lin turned his head in confusion.

But then they saw Elysia with her mouth agape, completely oblivious to the red wine spilled all over her.

Chapter Thirty-Two: The Rain Came

Drowning is silent.

Water first enters the throat and stomach, triggering a cough. The cough then causes the water to enter the lungs, and a severe tearing and burning sensation fills the entire lungs and chest cavity. When you open your mouth wide to try to breathe in oxygen and expel the water, you only allow more water to enter your mouth.

Then you'll taste a faint metallic flavor in your mouth, the taste of ruptured alveoli, but you won't have time to savor it because the water in your eardrums will make you feel like your whole head is about to explode.

You will instinctively struggle, wildly flailing your arms and legs in the deep water, but all you can grasp are the droplets of water escaping through your fingers. In the end, you can only hold your breath according to your survival instinct.

This process will last for two and a half minutes. You will feel dizzy due to lack of oxygen until you lose consciousness, your pupils dilate, you have convulsions, and finally, after a few breaths triggered by nerve stimulation, you stop breathing completely, your heart stops beating, and you slowly die.

Yan Luo opened her eyes wide in the water, the seawater stinging her eyeballs, but she only stared at the bubbles coming out of her mouth, as her long silver hair fluttered and she sank into the bottomless sea.

Gradually, seawater filled the body, its functions ceased, and its cells died.