The Right to Dream / The Investigation Begins ...

"... Heh, you're here again. Lin saved your life last time, are you planning to come and die again?"

Chrono leisurely put down the small doll he was playing with, his back to the person who walked into the room, a mocking smile on his lips.

After the banquet, Chrono was not imprisoned back in the Deepest Place, and Aponia did not take him with her when she returned. In fact, because of what happened when he left the Deepest Place, he was now somewhat afraid of Aponia —of course, he would not admit it.

He was placed here, and the people who came said that they would arrange how to deal with him next.

However, Chrono was not stupid. He was far from being as arrogant and foolish as he appeared. Since the Fire-Chasing Moth had released him and even had that woman put an emergency measure on him, it was highly likely that she intended to use him.

As for Chrono, he... didn't care.

At this moment, he turned around, smiling amusedly, and looked at Immer, whose face was contorted in pain.

Chapter Ninety-Five: The Power to Dream

After arriving at the branch where Nosk was located, Lin ignored Elysia's suggestion to rest and immediately took Prometheus to the branch's Medical Department.

All those who fell into a coma due to the "1:15 AM image" in Knox were taken into custody by the branch. The life support pods of the Fire Moths were able to maintain their normal biological signs and also allow the Fire Moths to investigate what caused their coma.

"The victims' brain waves are normal and there are no abnormalities. Their central nervous system is not damaged. Unlike a vegetative state, they are conscious and have thoughts." The person in charge of these "imaging diseases" reported to Lin with a list. "Their state is closer to 'sleeping' than coma caused by external stimuli."

"So we tried various methods to wake the victims, including physical and drug stimulation, but it turned out they were just asleep, but..."

There's usually a "but" at this point, and Lin has heard countless "buts" over the years, so he didn't say anything, just nodded to the person in charge.

Then the person in charge made a gesture to the person in front of the life support pod, who understood and operated the control panel, and some drugs were injected into the life support pod through the delivery tube.

Lin walked to the screen displaying the victim's brainwaves and stared at the steadily beating lines.

There was no reaction at first, but as the medication began to take effect, the brain waves started to weaken and become unstable!

Before Lin could even speak, the person in charge had already stopped the injection, and the brainwaves returned to their initial stable state.

"Once they are awakened by external means, the victims' brainwaves will begin to weaken, and they will become brain dead before we can wake them up." The person in charge seemed to be annoyed by this thorny problem, and tapped his finger hard on the list. "In addition, they will have some fluctuations in brainwaves and physiological reactions in normal times, and they will even react to the outside world. In other words, they are conscious and may be dreaming, but they just do not want to wake up. Forcing them to wake up will only make them start to commit suicide."

"... Why?" Lin understood these analyses. They meant that these people weren't really unable to wake up, but rather that they themselves didn't want to wake up.

"Why?!" The person in charge glanced at the calm and collected helmeted man and sneered, "If you could live in a world where everything goes smoothly, and you were the only protagonist in that world, would you want to wake up?"

"Some people feel that even if they only dream about a person of the opposite sex they can't have or a deceased relative, the dream is so wonderful that they feel regretful when they wake up. How much more so if they live in the dream directly."

"We're thinking about saving the world, but many people in the world are still wondering if they'll have their next meal. Reality is so cruel, who wants to wake up?"

Hearing the person in charge's wistful mutterings, Lin silently looked up at the man floating in the life support pod.

A faint, happy smile seemed to be playing on his lips.

"Elysia, if you could live in a world without any regrets, would you be willing to leave?"

Elysia, who was eating a sundae to replenish her energy, looked up, spoon in her mouth, and asked indistinctly, "A world without any regrets?"

Lin leaned against the doorway, arms crossed, deep in thought. His helmet went into hibernation mode. "It means all your wishes will come true. As long as you don't want a tragedy to happen, it won't happen. You can eat sweets to your heart's content every day without gaining weight. You can go wherever you want with your friends. Even if you suddenly have a whim and want to become the protagonist of a world of immortal cultivation, that's fine too..."

"Stop talking," Elysia asked seriously and solemnly, "Where is the entrance?"

"..."

Lin pointed to the charging port next to him. "Just put your hand in."

After Lin explained that those who were unconscious were actually dreaming, Elysia stuck out her tongue and licked the ice cream off her spoon. She looked thoughtful and said, "Does it only highlight the cruelty of reality because it's a blissful dream where nothing is impossible..."

There are many people in this world who are immersed in the game world, placing their emotions on non-existent virtual people and choosing to ignore reality.

Don't they realize they're just dealing with a bunch of data? They probably know better than anyone that those who smile at them and say affectionate words to them are just programmed, but even so, the emotions they put into it are genuine.

If such wonderful people and things no longer exist in reality, is it a mistake to even turn our attention to the virtual world?

"If it's just a dream, then let's forget about it."

Elysia gave an unexpected answer, looking at the empty sundae cup in front of her. "What is a dream? It's probably a hazy, beautiful but fleeting illusion. Being able to eat sundaes until you're full, with a new one appearing the next second after you finish one, I might feel very happy at first... but after a while, I'll stop appreciating the happiness I feel when eating a sundae."

"It is precisely because of the icy and sweet taste that I savor every bite and see the ice cream dwindling that I want to savor every last bit of flavor."

Elysia turned her head to the side, her long hair draped over Lin's shoulder. She ran her fingers over the petals of the Crystal Flower on her chest and chuckled softly. "Besides, even if there is an exact Lin in my dream, someone as gentle, kind, and loving as you, he is still just a fake Lin."

In her dreams, Lin would immediately think of giving her gifts, every word he said would make her happy, he wouldn't argue with her, he wouldn't deliberately keep his distance, and she could manipulate him however she wanted... But precisely because of this, he would never be the real Lin.

"But we don't deprive others of their right to dream." Lin thought of the wish she made to Yan Luo in the World Bubble, but she was different from these people. She didn't want to immerse herself in a false sense of beauty, just to punish herself in that way.

"Lin, please trust them a little more." The pink-haired girl's sweet smile flickered in front of the monitor, as beautiful as a painting. "People have the strength to keep moving forward even after they've seen both cruelty and beauty."

"...Um."

Lin will believe, and he will always believe in humanity.

He reached out and wiped the ice cream off Elysia's lips, causing Elysia to freeze and stare intently at Lin's helmet.

"Let's go investigate the crime scene."

However, Lin did not notice anything unusual about her. He simply finished what he was doing and left the room.

"...oh."

Chapter Ninety-Six: The Investigation Begins

The victim watched a video before falling into a coma, so Moth Chaser had already investigated the video itself, but no matter how hard they searched, they couldn't find the so-called video that was so widely circulated.

Logically, with the capabilities of the Fire Moth and the computing power of Prometheus Unit 2, the source of things circulating on the Internet should have been traced long ago. However, not even a trace could be found, which is something to be concerned about.

Since the medium is "video footage on the screen at 1:15 a. m.", the victims are usually killed at home or in places such as internet cafes, bars, and nightclubs that are open late at night. The branch has already collected the last locations of all the victims, and Lin and his team can go directly to investigate.

The process is simple. Lin and his group only need to show their credentials to enter various places without being bothered. After all, the current form of the Fire Moth is equivalent to a national alliance. Not only does it have a presence in all walks of life, but it also has almost complete control over politics. This is also to facilitate its intervention in various events caused by Honkai.

"This is it." The internet cafe employee led Lin to a computer that was prohibited from use.

It looked no different from other computers. After checking that there was no external hardware connected, Lin commanded Prometheus, who was standing there blankly, "Prometheus, connect to this computer."

"Yes."

Prometheus stepped forward, placed her finger on the computer's data port, and watched the green data flow in her eyes. Lin and Elysia waited quietly for her to examine the internal data of the entire host.

The internet cafe employee swallowed hard as he looked at the strange trio. The girl in front of the computer felt like a cold corpse to him; he hadn't seen her blink once as he walked over. The man's voice was completely flat, and he was wearing a baseball cap, sunglasses, and a mask, completely covering his face, just like a stalker in a movie.

Of course, the strangest one was that pink-haired girl who looked unrealistically beautiful...

"Hmm? What's wrong? Why are you staring at me?" In the blink of an eye, the pink-haired girl he had been longing for turned around and looked at him with a smile, making his heart race while also sending shivers down his spine.

The waiter trembled at the sight of those adorable yet unusually pointed ears.

Would a normal person have such sharp ears?

"Whoosh."

Just as the waiter was thinking of an excuse, the mysterious man simply raised his hand and pulled the pink-haired girl's hood over her head, covering her ears.

"Go ahead and get busy, we'll leave once we've finished our investigation," Lin said calmly to the trembling waiter.

"Oh, oh... okay, you can come find me if you need anything."

The waiter fled as if he were running away, thinking, "Please don't come looking for me."

"It's better to cover your ears when you're outside."

"I think it's fine~ Why cover up pretty ears?"

What you consider beautiful may not be what others see.

"Is this why Lin has been covering his face?"

Lin covered his face largely to avoid causing unnecessary trouble. Even the members of the Fire Moth might not be able to accept his face, and for Lin himself, it was also a symbol.

Elysia didn't have this burden, even though the meaning of her ears was similar to the meaning of Lin's appearance.

During their casual conversation, Prometheus had already searched through the mainframe dozens of times. She exited the scan and mechanically reported, "13,047 modification records were searched, and no data files matching the criteria were found."

"What about the network records?"

"The same result."

This was somewhat expected. If it were that easy to find traces, they wouldn't need to come here.

"What if it's not the computer itself, but an environment or certain conditions?" Elysia offered a constructive suggestion, which shifted their focus from the computer to the investigation inside the internet cafe.

Prometheus went to the monitoring room to look up the records, while Lin and Elysia split up, one questioning the people inside the internet cafe and the other observing the environment inside the internet cafe.

"Back then? Um... I remember that the young man came with two others. When he passed out, it startled me. I thought someone had died suddenly after staying up for several nights in a row."

"There weren't many people in the internet cafe at that time, and they happened to be sitting in a prominent spot. As for the two of them, it seemed quite normal..."

"Oh, right! He also ordered a bottle of Nutritional X-line but hasn't paid yet!"

The internet cafe staff were not quite clear about the situation at the time, and their understanding was vague. After all, who would care about an ordinary student who came to use the internet?

Elysia didn't notice anything wrong with the internet cafe; it was just an ordinary internet cafe that could be found anywhere not far from the school.

Prometheus then found the footage of the student when he was unconscious.

"Zoom in on the screen." Lin pointed to the computer screen of the unconscious student. At 1:15:02, a conspicuous pop-up window appeared on it.

Even if Prometheus zooms in to the maximum and restores the pixels, he can only see blurry black dots, limited by the monitoring hardware.

"So it really exists... the footage from 1:15." Elysia gazed thoughtfully at the student slumped over the keyboard.

"Some kind of hypnosis?" Lin proposed a conjecture but quickly rejected it himself. "Hypnosis couldn't be accomplished in such a short time, and the effect would be far beyond hypnosis."

The investigation has hit a bottleneck, but that's normal; these kinds of unsolved cases usually progress slowly in the early stages.

Since we can't find clues through a simple investigation, let's simulate the situation at that time.

Simulate the environmental conditions when the recording occurs using the same environment and conditions, and try to see if it can be triggered.

After the incident of the unconsciousness, no one dared to use the computer. Lin and Elysia borrowed the computer without any problems, and the three of them waited until 1 a. m.

Today is a holiday, and there has been a significant increase in students coming to internet cafes to stay up all night. Even at 1 a. m., the internet cafes are still packed, and people are still coming in.

"Heave-ho." Elysia plopped into the chair, waving her hand with a grin. "Move over a bit, I want to sit too."

"... You can go and turn on a machine."

"I'm not playing anymore, why should I stop others from playing?"

Lin couldn't find a reason to refute it, so he could only shrink to the side and sit crowded in the chair with Elysia's soft body.

Prometheus stood expressionless behind them, not even blinking, giving off the air of a gangster killer.

Speaking of which... I don't know if it was just my own psychological suggestion, but Lin's body seemed to have regained some sensation. The very faint touch made him feel a full and delicate body pressed against his side.

He didn't speak, and time ticked by, moving closer to that legendary 1:15...

Chapter Ninety-Seven Approaching

Life is full of waiting, and having patience is the first lesson everyone learns on the road to success.

Once upon a time, Lin and Kevin, like these students who were still full of energy in the middle of the night, would hang out in internet cafes and enjoy the fervor of youth.

Now, this man who saved humanity is huddled together in a cramped chair with another person, feeling like he's about to turn into a sardine Canned Food.

Fortunately, Elysia was wearing a hood, and there were many scenes of men and women sitting intimately together in the internet cafe, so their pair did not attract attention.

On the contrary, Prometheus, standing behind them, with her inorganic expression and doll-like demeanor, drew the attention of many. Some tried to reach out and test if she was a mannequin, only to be startled by her rolling eyes.

They couldn't understand why a pretty girl was standing there, like a rock that wouldn't weather.

Lin glanced at the time; it was already past 1:15, and it was now 2:00 AM. Nothing unusual had happened.

It seems that this won't work.

"Hoo..." At this moment, a hooded head gently rested on his shoulder, and a soft snore came from under the hood.

Lin Yi turned her head and saw her neat and soft eyelashes drooping down. Her originally bright and lively eyes were now closed peacefully, adding a touch of girlish quietness to her beautiful face.

Of course, this wasn't because Elysia had fainted. Before 1:15, she had already leaned on his shoulder, saying she wanted to close her eyes and rest for a while, and then she fell asleep.

Although her hat covered her ears, from Lin's perspective, one could still see the girl's elfin ears twitching occasionally in her sleep, looking as cute as a cat.

Perhaps it was because of the cold weather, she leaned closer to Lin, whose body temperature was high, like a big heater.

Lin shook his head, then whispered to Prometheus behind him, "Do you want to rest?"

Prometheus was a safety measure to prevent Lin from accidentally watching the video and falling into a coma. If all else failed, she could record the whole process. But now it was clear that she couldn't use this method to find the video, so there was no need for her to keep standing there.

In fact, Prometheus doesn't need to rest. She looks almost exactly like a human, but in essence, she is still a bionic robot that doesn't feel pain or get tired, and she can stand all night without any problem.

But...

"Yes." She answered succinctly and then unceremoniously sat on Lin's lap.