Who Will Save Us? / Prometheus, Inventor of Species

"If you were truly an absolute idealist, unwavering in your principles and never abandoning them, and if everyone were an equal life in your eyes, how could things have turned out the way they did!"

"You will be a great warrior! You will be a valiant hero! Even I will admire and respect you!"

"But you are not... you are just a hypocrite who talks a big game... no matter which version of you you are, you are all the same!"

"It is a great tragedy to go from being a hero to an ordinary person."

"Bang!"

Yan Luo slammed Lin's face to the ground without mercy. The surrounding shards trembled with each blow. One blow, two blows—

On the third strike, Lin braced himself with his hands on the ground, forcefully stopping the movement that would leave his face covered in blood.

Then he kicked back, and a gust of wind rushed towards Yan Luo!

However, Yan Luo had anticipated this, and she released her grip, using one arm to block the attack that was coming toward her face.

Lin rolled over and backed away, wiping the blood from his eyes that was obscuring his vision as he retreated. He stared at the Yan Luo who had suddenly attacked.

Her movements were refined and powerful; she was an excellent warrior even without relying on her Herrscher abilities. The fighting stance she was now adopting was clearly the standard fighting stance of the Flame Chaser.

"So, no matter what, you're going to protect these two people now?"

"..."

Lin didn't respond to him at all. He had seen many differences in ideology before, and it was not something that could be stopped with a few words.

Moreover, this person came with the intention of killing him from the very beginning.

When two people who have regained some of their fighting ability are at odds, they are more willing to use their fists to persuade each other.

Lin took the initiative and attacked first. If Yan Luo used his Herrscher Authority, he would be at a disadvantage. Therefore, it was necessary to gain the upper hand.

He lowered his stance and charged towards Yan Luo, his eyes rapidly scanning the surroundings within their sockets to detect any signs that Yan Luo was about to use his abilities.

Unexpectedly, Yan Luo did not use her Herrscher abilities, and the mechanical humanoid also disappeared from behind her. She simply waited for Lin to approach and engage in battle.

Three steps, two steps...

The two threw punches at the same time when they were only a step apart!

Lin simply threw a punch towards her side profile, while Yan Luo delivered an uppercut straight at his chin!

"Bang!"

Lin slammed the door open and dodged the side kick. The seemingly slender leg blasted a hole in the wall beside him. If it had hit a human body directly, it would probably have pulverized the bones and flesh together.

Many people may think that you can only choose one between strength and speed, but that is not the case.

People with excellent speed are almost always strong, like Yan Luo.

"Thump!"

Her unexpected jab landed on Lin's arm as he was defending his head, but the force of the punch also hit his forehead. Lin felt as if he had been struck by a steel pipe, and he almost fainted. He took two steps back before he could barely hold on to the dizziness.

Martial arts, Sanda, Muay Thai, Jeet Kune Do, military combat techniques, Capoeira...

Judging from her appearance alone, it's hard to imagine that such a young girl could use so many fighting techniques. She's incredibly ruthless when she fights, and unlike Lin, she doesn't care whether her opponent will suffer a fatal injury.

What's worse... she's more skilled than Lin at using joint locks.

Lin's counter-punch was easily dodged, and before he could retract it, his opponent grabbed him under the armpit. Then came a crisp cracking sound of a joint breaking, and a sharp pain shot straight to Lin's brain.

A whip kick broke Lin's balance, then he grabbed his head and slammed his knee into his face.

The relentless punches, interspersed with joint locks that dislocated his joints, soon turned Lin into a passive victim, with both of his hands' joints shattered, rendering him unable to fight back.

"Smack!"

The sole of the shoe slammed into Lin's chest, sending him flying five meters away. The person who did it simply dusted off the dust and coldly stared at him without even breaking a sweat.

Is it because Herrscher are faster and stronger than ordinary people? Yes.

But that's not the main reason.

The two men had different goals and were ruthless in their attacks, so Lin had already lost from the very beginning.

"Since you think it's impossible for me to kill them with my own hands, then I'll do the same thing as you."

Lin, whose consciousness was hazy, opened his swollen, bloodshot eyes and saw Yan Luo take out the monkey's paw.

"It is your wish to bring them back, and it has been fulfilled. My wish is for them to disappear, and as long as it fulfills my wish, that is absolutely fair."

As Lin Liyi stared wide-eyed, Yan Luo raised his twisted arm.

Chapter Fifty-Five: Who Will Save Us?

I have countless wishes that I want to fulfill.

Wanting to go back to the past, wanting to bring dead comrades back to life, wanting the Honkai to disappear from this world, wanting to change the predetermined ending, wanting to rid oneself of inner sorrow, wanting—

I want to just die like this.

When you see that world with only one person left, when you see the graves everywhere, when you see the culprit reflected in the mirror...

Every time... every time... every time...

Everyone has a wish they want to fulfill.

But who can fulfill my wish...?

Who can correct my mistakes...?

Someone... save me...

After a minute of silence, Yan Luo lowered her raised arm, her expression unchanged. Her dark eyes slowly shifted from the monkey's paw and landed on Lin, who had been staring at her.

The couple remained lying obediently on the ground, not yet awakened from their coma.

The monkey's paw did not grant her wish.

"...snort."

What she did next left Lin completely bewildered.

She angrily slammed the monkey's paw onto the ground, then turned and fled from the messy house as if escaping.

Her childlike actions and the fleeting look of resentment when she turned around made Lin think that she was not the person who had beaten him half to death just now, but just an angry girl.

But this is for the best. At least Lin can lie on the ground and catch his breath, feeling the pain he hasn't experienced in a very long time.

"Clatter".

He found a spot without any debris and lay down. He couldn't move his arms anymore. He closed his eyes and felt the silence in the room.

Because the man and woman bought the house in an extremely remote area for scientific research, even with such a commotion, no one noticed.

The room was eerily quiet, with only the occasional soft clatter of shattered glass sliding down from above.

Lin thought he would faint soon, but he was unusually clear-headed. He turned his head and saw the monkey's paw on the ground, the deformed arm that Yan Luo had angrily thrown down.

Why was Yan Luo's wish not fulfilled?

Since these two people can reappear because of a wish, they should also be able to be wished to disappear, even if the wish is distorted and they are killed again.

Why...

Lin's mind was filled with many questions, and then he remembered the expression on Yan Luo when he left.

In that familiar rage, he seemed to see something more.

As expected, there was no way to just rest like this.

Lin endured the pain and got up, ignoring the monkey's paws on the ground, and walked out through the never-closed door.

He didn't know where Yan Luo had gone, but he heard Yan Luo say that the worlds in the World Bubble were all very small. The larger ones were the size of the Mu Continent, and the smaller ones were even the size of a city. The World Bubble was the smallest of the three, but as time went by, the entire city would become another place.

You'll eventually find her...

Lin, dragging his battered and exhausted body, set off into the darkness.

He first searched the school, then moved from the city's outskirts inwards. The desolation of the night was accompanied by the chirping of some kind of half-dead insects, and his consciousness was weakening under the torment of pain.

"Pat-pat, pat, pat..."

The saying "night is the dawn of the whole city" doesn't apply everywhere. At least in Changkong City, World Bubble, Lin only found cold darkness in the dead of night.

Sure enough, even if the search area is narrowed down to the size of a city, finding a person on foot is simply a pipe dream.

Finally, he couldn't walk anymore. He was completely exhausted, and the pain in his body had gone numb. He stumbled and fell to the ground.

"Bang!"

His breathing was excruciating, accompanied by a burning pain. He forced himself to climb to the wall of a nearby house and leaned against it, his head bowed and his breath coming in shallow gasps.

His consciousness finally began to blur, and his eyelids were about to close and stick together when a pair of feet stepped into his shaky vision.

"..."

He slightly raised his head and saw Yan Luo's stern, indifferent face.

His cool and aloof face was clean and handsome, making him stand out in the night.

She squinted at the half-dead creature, which, if left unattended, would probably die on its own in a while.

After a long stalemate, without saying a word, Yan Luo knelt down and placed her hand on his shoulder. Some pale green light entered Lin's body from her palm, and just like when she rescued that deep-sea fish, she repaired Lin's body.

As dawn broke, Lin had been wandering the city almost all night; even night owls weren't as dedicated as him.

"I've been following you ever since you left home," Yan Luo said coldly to Lin, who had regained some consciousness, while treating him.

... So, in other words, Yan Luo wasn't actually far away at the time; he was nearby?

"Why did you come out to find me instead of taking emergency measures for yourself? The World Bubble forward every 24 hours. Even if you are dying now, you will return to normal in just over 10 hours."

"Besides, aren't you afraid I'll really kill you?"

The implication is that Lin did something that was out of character for him, something foolish.

"...I think it's necessary. You're the one who knows the World Bubble best. If we want to leave here, we have to follow you."

"Hmph." She scoffed, this being the first time Lin had ever heard her laugh. "'Necessary,' you say..."

"And if you really want to kill me, you can do it then."

"Don't act like you know me so well." Yan Luo spat out a contemptuous spit. "I'm only sparing your life because the person who trapped me seems to want the two of us to solve some problems together."

"..."

Whether these two people are telling the truth or not, they know it themselves, and the other person knows it too, but some things don't need to be exposed.

"What kind of person is Lin in your world?" Lin looked at the sunrise in the distance and felt a warm current flowing through his body. The pain had disappeared and was replaced by a warm and cozy feeling, like soaking in a hot spring.

Yan Luo calmly watched him, then after a while, turned his gaze in another direction.

"A foolish hypocrite who kept saying he was willing to give his life and everything for all mankind, but at the last moment he backed down and became afraid."

"What's even more ironic is that people regard that person as a hero who sacrificed himself for humanity, unaware that he was not as righteous as they imagined, willing to sacrifice the small for the greater good, and willing to abandon his emotions to save humanity."

"... In short, he's an annoying guy."

Yan Luo withdrew his hand; Lin's injuries had been mostly healed.

"You're the same. The fact that your wish can resurrect those two people means that one day you will definitely break your own principles, no matter which one..."

"It might be better to kill you before that."

Chapter Fifty-Six: Prometheus, the Inventor of Species

Kosma scratched the back of his head, glanced hesitantly at Dessidobia who was picking out things not far away, and put the things in his hands back.

"Hey? What did you buy? Let me see."

A hand swiftly reached out and snatched the object away. Kosma didn't even see it clearly before he hurriedly dodged it.

But he seemed to have forgotten that there were at least double-digit numbers of this item on the shelf, if not hundreds...

The hand picked up an identical item and examined it closely, then those two teasing eyes fixed on Kosma, who was looking down.

"A hair clip..." Lin said meaningfully, shaking the cute little bear hair clip in her hand.

He felt somewhat powerless inside. It seemed that Kosma could only give out things like this, which were full of the innocent charm of a boy who was like a blank sheet of paper.

After all, he's a kid who likes to act mature.