A Fate Foreordained / Realization

Having said this, Yan Luo began to survey her surroundings. As she looked around, she coldly said, "Our consciousness has been artificially imprisoned in this World Bubble, and they may have done something to us as well."

Normally, even if strange and mysterious "things" emerge one after another in the Quantum Sea, there is nothing that can be done about her. However, this time, the person who attacked her seemed to have noticed that her mental consciousness was weak. Not only did they steal the Thousand Worlds Assumption while she was dormant, but they also stuffed her consciousness into this World Bubble that is of unknown origin.

However, once she regains consciousness, a single World Bubble won't be able to trap her. She'll go find the person who attacked her then.

Before proceeding, it's best to clarify the situation first.

"Do you recognize this place?" Yan Luo had no recollection of this unfamiliar room, so he turned to Lin, who had been silently pondering, and asked.

"No..."

No, Lin actually felt a sense of familiarity, just like that inexplicable voice-over, which made him feel like he had seen it somewhere before, but he could never quite place it—a feeling of something from a long time ago.

This decorating style... is it from the Far East? But...

Wait, the shrunken body, the Far East, and the content of what that voice said...

Could this be...?

"Kolin, Little Yan Luo, we're back~"

A voice that instantly cleared his mind came from the entrance hall, along with the rustling sound of someone changing into indoor shoes.

Lin and Yan Luo immediately exchanged glances, both signaling the other not to act rashly.

The purpose of the person who trapped them in the World Bubble is still unknown, so it's best to play their role well until we figure it out.

Three people, clearly elders compared to their current selves, walked in chatting and laughing. When Lin saw one of them, his gaze froze for a few seconds. Then, his vague childhood memories flooded back into his brain, and the identities of the other two were also confirmed.

A couple, and a friend of theirs.

"Xiaolin, Uncle is here again. Come here and give me a hug."

That man...

Speaker.

That cunning man, who always presented a hypocritical face.

He then waved to Lin with a gentle, doting smile, like that of a spoiled child, and squatted down a short distance away, gazing at Lin with great affection.

"Don't always spoil Lin. He'll be taking over my position someday. You can't let him read useless books all the time." The husband took off his coat and let his wife hang it on the clothesline. He frowned and scolded her, "I already gave you a big concession by letting Ling change his name to Old Lin. Considering our friendship over the years, don't corrupt my son."

"Hey Old Ma, what's our relationship? Why are you worrying about this? Besides, it's good to let the child develop independently. It's not like he has to become a researcher."

The speaker chuckled indifferently, reached out and patted Lin's head, then looked at Yan Luo was standing to the side with her head bowed. "Little Yan Luo, you guys are quite lenient with her."

"Yan Luo doesn't have that kind of talent, so just let her live a peaceful life." That's what Old Ma said, but there was an undeniable disappointment in his eyes when he looked at Yan Luo.

"Children don't necessarily have to be geniuses."

The speaker stood up, stretched, and sat down opposite Old Ma.

They chatted and laughed, like close friends who had known each other for many years, while Old Ma's wife gently and virtuously took care of the household chores, occasionally chiming in with a few words. The scene was harmonious and joyful, just like any ordinary family...

Lin looked at everything before him.

The speaker and his parents became good friends.

Isn't that unbelievable? In his Intrinsic World, the Speaker, as the Purifier, murdered this couple. How could such a heartwarming scene of them laughing and talking possibly exist?

"Anything can happen in World Bubble, because the worlds in World Bubble are incomplete worlds without a true origin or complete logic. Some World Bubble are even technologically advanced from scratch, but their worlds are only the size of a city."

Yan Luo's indifferent voice came from behind him.

She remained unmoved by everything before her, her eyes still cold.

"What are they planning to do by arranging for us to be siblings...?"

"..."

The atmosphere was very heavy.

Both Mobius and Mei stared silently at Lin, who lay unconscious on the testing table. After reviewing the test report and examining him themselves, they fell into a deep silence.

"There are no signs of external injury, his vital signs are generally stable, and the Honkai Energy has not damaged his cells..." Mei slowly stated the results, "There are no physiological conditions on his body that would indicate loss of consciousness."

"Hmph, so you're saying he lost consciousness because of a stimulus? I doubt it." Mobius glanced at Lin with a mixture of anger and amusement. "His brainwaves are stable, which means his mental state is normal. It's only possible that something happened in a field we don't know about."

"Doctor Mobius ..."

"His mental health issues have been mentioned many times, but there has been no solution."

Mobius stopped Mei from continuing without hesitation, her serpentine eyes fixed on Mei.

"Now, it seems we have another way, she's right there, isn't she?"

Chapter Thirty-Seven: Predestined Fate

"Did you notice anything unusual?"

Little Yan Luo tiptoed and locked the door from the inside. He turned around and stood at the doorway, watching Lin get into bed, close the window, and draw the curtains.

"...Nothing is normal." Lin's gloomy reply made Yan Luo's already less-than-pleasant expression even worse.

"What I mean by abnormal are phenomena beyond our comprehension." Yan Luo pressed his ear against the door to listen to the sounds outside. "It's not like someone from your memory has come back to life, or a group of people who were originally hostile have become friends. It's something truly 'abstract'."

"..."

"The civilization and the world itself in the World Bubble are an anomaly, without beginning or end, and it is entirely possible that they will run counter to your original world. Even Parallel World cannot guarantee that their general direction will be the same."

Yan Luo's tone was full of sarcasm towards Lin, and she disdained the emotions that surged within Lin in a daze.

The atmosphere between them remained tense, and Lin had no doubt that if things returned to normal, Yan Luo would have already charged at them with his sword.

Aren't you curious why I've been chasing you?

Just then, Yan Luo changed the subject to another topic that had been puzzling Lin. Yan Luo's words instantly made Lin a little more alert, and he looked at Yan Luo with questioning eyes.

"Emotion."

"..."

"I know you better than you know yourself. I've seen you in countless Parallel World, and you're also present in World Bubble. Apart from a few timelines with huge differences, in most worlds you were initially an emotionless command execution machine."

"While being rational, restrained, and reasonable, you also possess a special and absolute love for humanity. You are like an Artificial Intelligence with a physical body, adhering to the three new principles of Artificial Intelligence: altruism, the principle of humility, and providing a basis for setting preferences for machines based on human behavior."

She stared at Lin with a terrifying look that didn't match her cute appearance, and said in a soft but subtly emotional tone, "In some Parallel World, you will die in the fifth or Sixth Honkai War, before the changes that led to the catastrophic consequences later occurred."

"But after you survive the Sixth Honkai War, you will gradually become like a real human being. Your emotional richness will increase dramatically, and you will begin to look beyond the broad concept of humanity."

Before anyone knew it, a shadow had fallen over Lin's face.

Yan Luo grabbed his head, preventing him from avoiding her gaze.

"It was precisely because you became more and more human, possessing more and more humanity and emotions, that you made an absolutely wrong decision during the Tenth Honkai War."

"And the consequences of that decision led to the extinction of humanity... and..."

A somber, deathly silence crept onto Yan Luo's face. Even though countless days and months, hundreds and thousands of years had passed, she still remembered what happened back then.

A disaster caused by foolish pity.

Time will not erase the past; it will only allow the deepest pain to fester in your heart.

Lin looked at her and said, "Tell me."

"..."

"Tell me the reason and the result, and then tell me how to solve it."

"... There is no way."

"You've seen countless Parallel World, and you're even in that future, you..."

Lin suddenly fell silent, realizing that the problem lay in what he had just said.

"Since I've seen the same thing happen countless times and I'm in that future, do you think I haven't done the things you've thought of?" Yan Luo's voice grew colder and colder. "I've lost count of how many times I've told you about the future and the solutions I've come up with, but no matter where you are, the result is exactly the same. As long as you live to the Tenth Honkai War, you will face that ending."

"You are not meant to exist. From the very beginning, you have been an anomaly in the story."

"I've told you this quite a few times already."

"Has the examination revealed what happened?"

Mobius didn't have much affection for this Nun; in fact, he could even say he loathed her. After undergoing the Hypervariable Surgery, Aponia subconsciously used her abilities, causing an accident, and Mobius, who was right next to her, was the first to be affected.

That feeling still disgusts Mobius to this day.

However, the only person most likely to know what happened to Lin's consciousness is this unique psychic Flame-Chaser.

But whether it was just her imagination or not, Mobius felt that Aponia's hand was placed on Lin's body in a strange way when she was examining him. It gave her the feeling that Aponia was touching the unconscious Lin inappropriately. But upon closer inspection, there was nothing wrong with it, so she could only suppress her anger and remain silent.

Aponia removed her hand from Lin's forehead, and her scarlet pupils blinked back to their original sapphire blue.

"Lin's consciousness... is not here..."

"What do you mean?" Mobius stared intently at Aponia. "His physical condition and brainwaves are both normal. Are you trying to talk about the concept of matter dualism?"

If consciousness isn't in the body, doesn't that mean death? How is that possible?

"...I don't know what material dualism is." Aponia's hand gently brushed across Lin's cheek, her fingers resting on the rope of the cross around his neck. "But his consciousness has indeed left his body... even left this world... I can't sense the anchor point left in Lin's consciousness..."

Mobius's expression was uncertain. She couldn't possibly have forgotten what Lin had said: that his consciousness had entered a place that might be the Quantum Sea. But at that time, she simply regarded it as a side effect of the Hypervariable Surgery, and there was no cure.

But what if Lin's consciousness remains permanently in the Quantum Sea? In the vast Quantum Sea Quanta, which is considered to have no boundaries, can an individual consciousness, which is smaller than a grain of sand in the sea, find a way back?

"No need to worry..."

"I'm not worried about this guy at all." Mobius's face showed disgust as he turned his head away. "He's a stubborn Lab Rat. Every time I think he's going to die, he always manages to survive inexplicably. He's a guy with a life force even stronger than a planarian."

"His fate was sealed... he would not perish here..."

"See the trajectory of fate?" Mobius sneered. "Mithra doesn't have that ability. You'd better not try to fool me with your own lies."

"... I have never deceived anyone."

"Then I think Lin must be quite disappointed in you."

She pointed to the person with their eyes closed and stared coldly at Aponia.

"Because this guy never believes in fate."

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Awareness

"I have nothing more to say to you. If you have any self-awareness, you'd better go back and kill yourself."

Yan Luo's words were filled with arrogant arrogance, but her expression was so calm, as if she were talking about something perfectly natural.

"... And what about you? Who exactly are you? Abaddon Yama Demon, a compound word, the old serpent that tempted Adam and Eve to eat the forbidden fruit and the great red dragon that Satan was incarnate, which one are you?"

"Whatever you like, I can be anyone." Yan Luo crossed his arms and sneered contemptuously. "A title is just a symbol. If you want, you can use more vulgar words to call me, executioner, monster, vile woman, murderer... But no matter what, it won't change the fact that I will kill you."

"No... I mean, will I meet you in the future?"

"..."

Yan Luo's understanding of him was so thorough that it could be described as she had observed him in countless Parallel World. However, her purpose seemed to be to change the disasters he caused from the very beginning. That is to say, there was also such a Yan Luo in his Intrinsic World.

Yan Luo narrowed his eyes, a rare expression on his face, and gave him a meaningful look. "You'll know me... If that day ever comes, you'll know me..."

Lin stopped pressuring Yan Luo to tell him about the future. He couldn't possibly ask someone who had already tried almost every possibility to rekindle hope, especially since she had clearly told him that she was the enemy.

No, this is already a warning.

Lin left the room first, while Yan Luo remained inside, staring expressionlessly at the open door.

If you want to struggle, then struggle all you want.

No matter how many times, she would not waver.

Is it abnormal? It's very abnormal.

Lin originally thought that the only abnormal parts of this World Bubble were his father, mother, and the speaker, but the moment he pushed open the door, a bizarre and wonderful scene instantly flooded his eyes.

Honkai Beast are running rampant. A small-looking Chariot-class Honkai Beast leisurely passed by its door, while many Charge-type Honkai Beasts, like migratory birds, flew overhead.

This chilling scene went unnoticed by any passersby.

They were used to it, and even... petted the Honkai Beast like they would cats or dogs. Upon closer inspection, there were also quite a few people walking smaller Honkai Beast as if they were pets.

Is this the more abstract and bizarre phenomenon that Yan Luo was talking about?