The Right Way to Treat Those Who Come After You

It has entered into the conventional sense of... death.

Her body lay still in the depths of the ocean, surrounded by schools of fish, like starlight scattered across the night sky above the deep sea.

The silence was utterly still, like the beginning of the world, before anything was born.

After an unknown amount of time, the corpse's heart began to beat again, and its dilated pupils refocused.

Yan Luo stretched out his hands in front of him, and his swollen skin returned to a smooth and fair appearance. Miraculously, he was resurrected and returned to his complete form.

"..."

She closed her eyes. She was already used to the feeling of water filling her lungs. At this point, drowning was just another way of dying that she found boring.

A giant arm rose from the depths of the sea, lifted her up, and raised her toward the light on the sea surface.

After regaining her sight, pale-faced, she coughed and vomited seawater while clinging to the giant arm. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a strange-looking fish that had also been brought to the surface by the giant arm and was wriggling and thrashing about, its body resembling an alien.

Yan Luo hurriedly grabbed the deep-sea fish, and then a sharp-tipped tube appeared in his hand, which he pierced into the fish's belly.

In the deep sea, the air in the swim bladder of deep-sea fish is under greater pressure. When they come to the surface, the pressure decreases, and the compressed air expands, which can damage the internal organs. The whole fish swells up and is unable to sink back to the depth where it lives, so it is releasing the air from its swim bladder.

After releasing all her energy, her hands glowed again, covering the fish's body, before she threw it back into the sea.

As the fish sinks, its body gradually heals, preventing infection from piercing the swim bladder and disrupting the closed environment inside its body.

She lowered her eyes to gaze at the gradually calming sea, then sat on the giant arm, looking out at the desolate world.

Yan Luo actually felt sorry for deep-sea fish. They lived their entire lives in the dark and sunless sea, their visual systems degenerated, and they were ugly. Once they left the deep sea and saw the true light, they would die.

But that's how they live, never feeling uncomfortable with their surroundings, living foolishly yet happily.

Yan Luo was thus dragged to the shore by the giant arm. Her clothes had long been dried by the sea breeze. After walking ashore, she went to the weapon she had left behind when she left.

Her weapons were varied and most of them looked rather strange, such as a pair of pistols made of black, white and orange, a purplish-black sniper rifle, a pair of gloves inlaid with red and black spheres, and a long sword with a white scabbard but a black blade and handle.

Not far away, countless golden longswords of the same style were densely packed together, so many that one could not see where they ended.

Yan Luo just stared blankly at these things, listening to the sound of the sea crashing against the shore.

Only after the sun had risen in the east and set in the west, completing another cycle, did she pick up the long sword with a white scabbard and a black blade, tuck it into her waistband, and stride towards the sea of swords.

One step, two steps, three steps...

Lifting her tireless legs, she slowly left the golden sea of swords and arrived at another "ocean".

A sea of tombstones.

Even denser than the sea of swords, it seemed as if it wanted to plant a tombstone on every piece of land it could see.

She continued walking.

Occasionally there are tombstones with names engraved on them, and some even have more specific information about the person's identity, but most of them are just nameless graves.

She finally stopped in front of a tombstone with an epitaph.

"Blood Moth Warrior CM-000 Lin sacrificed herself in the battle against the Tenth Herrscher"

The latter part is an inscription consisting of only one sentence.

Here lie heroes.

Yan Luo stared intently at the inscription she had seen countless times, which flashed through her mind day and night. Gradually, she clenched her fists, and countless pains and resentments turned into raging fire in her eyes, distorting her naturally cold face.

It was as if, at any moment, she would raise her hand and use the unparalleled power of Herrscher to smash the tombstone to pieces.

Suddenly, a heavy rain fell, extinguishing the flame in her heart.

It's raining.

The girl beside her reached out to catch the playful raindrops, but the rain that she couldn't hold onto slipped through her slender fingers and eventually fell into the sea.

Lin watched the frequent storms at sea. The unpredictable ocean weather could be observed to one's heart's content from the deck of the Fire-Chasing Moth. The Fire-Chasing Moth was too lazy to artificially adjust the weather around its base, since it wouldn't affect the interior anyway.

However, there was a hint of joy in Elysia's eyes. She always maintained a sense of novelty towards everything, even a heavy rain that she had seen countless times before.

"Lin, it's raining. Why do you look a little unhappy?" The clumsy girl catching the rain turned around and asked with a smile.

"... Why should we be happy when it rains?"

He couldn't connect the two things in any way unless he was selling umbrellas.

But Elysia's radiant smile told him that she would be happy about it.

"Think about it," Elysia said seriously, "We've been staying in this completely enclosed base for Moon Underneath, and we don't even feel any changes. But whenever it rains, and we come out, the raindrops on our heads make us feel that the world is still alive and vibrant!"

"Ah... I see." Lin replied casually.

"Hmm... my adjutant, you should be happy if the captain is happy, how can you be so perfunctory?"

"... Being a captain isn't like being an emperor, and I'm not a eunuch."

Elysia laughed so hard she almost fell over. She held onto Lin's shoulder, her elven ears trembling playfully. Only after she had finished laughing did she straighten up, unable to contain her amusement.

Then her expression became hesitant, and there was a hint of shyness in her eyes. After a long pause, she asked in a barely audible voice, "Um... Lin, what... did you mean by what you just said?"

"What?" Lin asked back.

"It's what was mentioned at the welcome party earlier..."

"Yes, I feel very happy to be with you."

Elysia turned her head away, not wanting Lin to see her face. After a long while, she stammered and whispered, "Really?"

"Real."

Lin answered in a serious tone—

"I feel very happy to be with you all."

Elysia's smile suddenly froze on her lips, and she asked in a strange tone:

"...you?"

Lin looked at Elysia with suspicion, then recited the menu like a menu. "It's you, Kevin, Mei, Hua, Vill-V, Mobius, Prometheus..."

"..."

Elysia's expression first turned cold, then she nodded with a mix of helplessness and happiness. "Yes... it's really fun to be together."

She smiled and looked up at the rain.

"If only things could stay like this forever."

Chapter Thirty-Three: The Right Way to Treat Juniors

"Um... Vice-Captain... is there something you need?" Pardo fidgeted in her chair, forcing a smile at the somewhat intimidating helmeted man. "If you need me to do some work, the price is negotiable... wait, I mean, I'll give you whatever you want! I'm very efficient! It's just that you can't make me fight with Honkai Beast, can you?"

Although she didn't know why everyone was afraid of this helmeted man, since everyone was avoiding him, she should be careful. Her sense of danger and instinct, honed in Dusk Street, had saved her many times.

Could it be that they've realized she's useless and only knows how to cook, and they're planning to get rid of her?

The thought of going hungry again sent shivers down her spine. She looked at Lin with hopeful eyes, hoping to move him.

"Pardo, it's me." Lin's flat voice came from inside the helmet.

Pardo was stunned; she didn't understand what this meant.

It's no wonder she couldn't tell, after all, they had been separated for more than a year, and Lin's helmet made his voice sound incredibly muffled. In addition, he looked completely different from his disabled and helpless self back then, so Pardo didn't think in that direction.

Finally, having not yet made any friends and lacking information, she only knew that others called him by nicknames such as "that person," "helmet man," "jinx," and "Grim Reaper," fearing that calling his name would cause him to rush out like Voldemort and kill them. She didn't even know his real name.

"Vice-Captain..."

"I'm not the Vice-Captain, I'm the adjutant."

"Oh dear, they're all pretty much the same." Pardo scratched the back of her head sheepishly.

The difference between an adjutant and Vice-Captain is huge. Lin is Elysia's adjutant, so if the team changes, he will change accordingly. If he were the Vice-Captain, he wouldn't leave even if Elysia left.

However, it seemed that Pardo didn't care about that, so Lin said again, "It's me, Lin."

"... Huh? What?" Pardo didn't react at first. After confirming that she hadn't misheard, she looked Lin up and down as if she had seen a ghost. "Lin, Lin, Brother Lin?"

His hands and feet are intact, and there are four in total, no doubt. He didn't go crazy and hit anyone or sit there talking in his sleep. He seems to be in a normal mental state.

This person... is actually Brother Lin, who looked like he was about to die?

"Your illness is cured!" Pardo excitedly grabbed Lin's shoulders after he nodded. "That's wonderful! We thought that after you returned to the Moth of Flames... Oh, let's not talk about such unlucky things! I couldn't find you, so I was looking for you everywhere!"

Lin didn't push her away, but let Pardo grab his shoulders. He gazed at Pardo's genuinely joyful face and somehow felt very relaxed.

He thought he would never see Pardo again in his life, but the little guy followed him to the Moth of Fire and unknowingly ended up at the headquarters.

"So, Brother Lin, you're a big shot in Moth Chaser! We'll definitely be counting on you for protection from now on!"

"... No, the idea that the Moth that chases the flame is protected by anyone is unfounded."

"...What?"

The originally harmonious atmosphere was abruptly ended by Lin's cold remark.

He stared sternly at Pardo, his gaze traveling from her "plump" thighs up to her breasts, which seemed to have gained two pounds. In an instant, he could see the difference between her and the one he had seen on Dusk Street.

This guy eats too well and doesn't exercise enough.

Pardo stared blankly at him, who was silent and exuding an oppressive aura. "What do you mean, Brother Lin?"

"...I have served as a squad leader, and the squad has changed three times, most of whom were my juniors." Lin stood up and looked down at the trembling Pardo. "But they were all battle-hardened, hardworking, and never slackened warriors."

"Gulp." Pardo swallowed hard, then looked around in a panic, as if she sensed something was wrong.

"Pardo, get up."

"W-What are you doing... Brother Lin..."

"Let me see."

"No, no!"

"Listen to me." Lin's eyes narrowed, and he emphasized, "Let me see!"

Pardo turned to run, but how could she escape Lin's grasp? He simply lifted Pardo up by the scruff of her neck with one hand, like lifting a cat.

Ignoring Pardo's screams, Lin reached out and touched her waist, legs, and arms.

Loose and sloppy, even worse Mobius.

"How many missions have you been on?" Lin pinched her and turned her around, asking sternly.

"Um... I can't remember, five times? Four times?" Pardo's eyes darted around as she muttered to herself, "Oh dear, it seems like nobody needed us, so they didn't send us on missions. But now that we've joined Brother Lin's team, we'll definitely be more diligent on missions from now on!"

Judging from her appearance, she probably hasn't even completed one mission, let alone five.

With such a body that had completely collapsed, he couldn't even outrun Honkai zombie on the battlefield.

"Brother Lin? Brother Lin? Can you put me down now? Ahhhhhh..."

Amidst Pardo's heart-wrenching screams, Lin hoisted her onto his shoulder and strode towards the Second Gym.

Everyone watched this scene with trepidation: a helmeted man exuding a criminal aura carried a struggling, adorable girl on his back, walking past with an air of "keep away."

When someone tried to stop him, the helmeted man's gaze from under his helmet swept over them like a death beam, making them immediately shut up and make way.

This scene was witnessed by Danzhu and Cangxuan, who were heading out to the cafeteria for lunch.

"... That one, is it Lin?" Danzhu asked uncertainly.

"Ah... Lin has already reached puberty." Cangxuan nodded affirmatively.

"No! That's not a puberty issue at all! Besides, Lin has long since passed puberty!"

Danzhu watched cautiously as Lin's figure disappeared around the corner, carrying the screaming Pardo. She turned back to Cangxuan and whispered, "Cangxuan, should we tell the Doctor about this?"

Cangxuan looked at Danzhu with a look of horror.

"Lin, Lin, Brother Lin, we can handle the training ourselves..."

Pardo stood in front of a bunch of gym equipment, her face contorted in misery, pleading for mercy from the cold-blooded, ruthless helmeted man.

"Warm up first, then get on the treadmill," Lin said coldly, arms crossed. "You're not allowed to eat if you don't complete your daily training plan. Don't worry, I'll train with you."

"Then take a break in between..." Pardo was almost crying.

"Don't worry, I will give you enough rest time, and it will be the most scientific training method."