Rebirth / Transformation

For the first time, Spasi felt his voice was so sore.

The bright lights on the operating table seemed to mock humanity's overestimation of its own capabilities.

"Drop----"

The lingering, piercing beeping of the electrocardiogram monitor in the operating room gnawed at one's heart.

"Forest...?"

Elysia clutched her head and collapsed to her knees beside the operating table. She glanced at the flat line on the electrocardiogram, then at Lin, who lay lifeless like a corpse—

No, he's a corpse now, a person who has lost all vital signs, nothing more than a pile of useless bones and flesh.

She was bewildered and at a loss, unsure of what expression to make.

She didn't even know what she should do or feel right now. She sat on the ground, as if she had died with Lin, her hand tightly holding Lin's cold, lifeless hand.

Spasi leaned silently against the wall, still wearing his surgical gown and gloves, his face pale as he mechanically poured the liquor into his mouth.

Lin, is he dead?

He's dead, that's a fact.

Death occurs without warning and ends in failure to be resuscitated.

Why is all of this happening?

Didn't they win? Hasn't Lin just started a new chapter, turning in a different direction?

He should have just begun...

"Lin... you're joking, right..."

The Eighth Honkai War ended with Kevin and Mobius capturing the Eighth Herrscher alive, and Su defeating the Eighth Herrscher's consciousness in the world of consciousness, thus liberating the corrupted consciousness. With this, the largest Honkai battle in the history of humanity's fight against the Honkai ended with the fewest casualties.

Still immersed in the joy of capturing a living Herrscher, Mobius received a message. She stood there stunned, the communicator slipping from her hand.

The heavy rain fell on her head without warning.

The Eighth Honkai War resulted in one death.

Chapter 131 Su Sheng

"Lin, you're... joking, right..."

Hearing Elysia's murmurs, Spasi shook his head and walked out of the operating room, wanting to find a place to space out.

It takes some time for both Elysia and him to process this...

After arriving outside the operating room, he saw Sakura standing there blankly with her head down. She slightly raised her head and looked at Spasi.

He shook his head, and an indescribable expression appeared on Sakura's face.

An extremely exaggerated, extremely distorted... expression.

Thus, the huge operating room was left with only Elysia and a cold corpse.

"You've only just become my adjutant, and I still have so much to do, so much to say..." The pink-haired girl unconsciously tightened her grip on Lin's hand. "Right... I haven't even... told you my secret yet... A girl's secret is very precious, please, wake up..."

"I'll tell you when you wake up..."

"Forest..."

"..."

Elysia drifted off to sleep to her own whispers, and even in her dreams, she was unwilling to let go of Lin's hand.

"..."

When she woke up again, she was awakened by the freezing cold of the operating room.

Sad memories flooded her mind, and she began to hate her overly clear brain. Even though she had just woken up, she remembered the facts that were already established.

Lin is dead.

The person who seemed cold but whose heart was warmer than anyone else's is dead.

Elysia reluctantly raised her head, wanting to see Lin's face one more time—

A pair of dark eyes with a hint of emerald green met her blue eyes.

"..."

"..."

The other person blinked calmly, proving that they were not dying with their eyes open or in a state of post-mortem rigidity.

Elysia opened her mouth wide, her mouth forming an "O" shape.

She reached out and pinched her cheek.

"...It's not a dream." Elysia's expression went from shock to ecstasy.

Before Lin could react, he was grabbed and pulled into a hug. Blood spurted from the wound on his neck, and he whimpered in pain, but he couldn't withstand the monstrous strength of the Flame-Chaser.

Unable to speak, he could only let her hold him.

Over the years, her habit of talking to herself hasn't changed at all.

Lin shook his head helplessly.

"Welcome back, Lin."

The girl whispered gently in his ear.

"How is that possible?"

Spasi examined Lin with surprise, thoroughly checking his vital signs and wounds, and finally looked at him as if he were a monster.

"That's not right. At that time, all your vital signs had stopped. Even a miracle couldn't happen if your heart stopped beating for more than thirty minutes." Spasi looked down at the test report in his hand, which looked no different from that of an ordinary person, and then exchanged a glance with Lin, who was unable to speak due to the bandage around his neck.

At that time, he was absolutely certain that Lin was in a state of death in every respect; the fact that his carotid aorta had been severed was basically equivalent to the end of his life.

But Lin is sitting here alive and well now, he can't possibly be a zombie or a hallucination, right?

Lin thought for a moment, then took out his communicator and typed some words on it so fast they were blurry, before handing the content to Spasi.

My carotid artery wasn't severed; the knife just missed the mark and only cut my trachea.

"Trachea?"

Spasi paused, realizing that if only the trachea had been severed, there was a possibility of resuscitation, but at that point...

Lin continued typing, "I checked that ECG monitor, and it seems to have been broken when it was used."

"No, that's not right." Spasi frowned. "Even if the equipment is broken..."

He was halfway through his sentence when he noticed Lin Zheng staring at him quietly. After Lin Zheng noticed, Lin Zheng shook his head very slightly.

"... It seems I misjudged the situation. I'm so sorry, Lin, I accidentally 'killed' you once."

[It doesn't matter]

Elysia, who was waiting outside, saw Lin come out and immediately went up to support him, showing her usual smile, "Everyone says that the adjutant is the captain's assistant, but it's actually me, the lovely young captain, who's taking care of you, Lin~"

"..." Lin wanted to say something, but Elysia was obviously taking advantage of his inability to speak or refute, and stared at him with a grin.

... However, the girl's beautiful smile left everyone speechless.

Lin didn't let Elysia help her back to her ward directly. Instead, she went to another ward that was farther away. Along the way, she heard the wounded complaining all over the place, and the Medical Department staff were too busy to keep up.

"This Eighth Honkai War is the first Honkai without any casualties. Lin, this is all thanks to you."

"..."

Lin shook his head; he didn't think these were all his achievements.

This is a choice made by humanity itself, and he is just one of them.

This time, however, the headquarters was brimming with energy far exceeding that of the past. The great victory over the Honkai and the fact that no one had sacrificed their lives greatly encouraged them. Even those who came to receive treatment, with bruises on their faces, were still smiling.

They moved among the crowd without appearing particularly special.

Soon, we arrived at our destination.

Elysia helped Lin open the door, and as they entered the ward, they heard an incredibly surprised voice. "Team, team, captain? Lieutenant Lin?!"

The person sitting on the hospital bed with a worried expression, eating his medical meal, was none other than Erwin. He was wearing a hospital gown, and when he saw Lin and Elysia walk in, the spoon in his hand fell to the ground.

"W-Why are you all here!"

"Hehe, of course I've come to visit our team members. I'll also let you see our Lieutenant Lin and your fellow sufferers to make you feel better."

"How could I feel good about something like this..."

Erwin was also surprised that he had survived. After forcibly closing all the entrances and exits of the branch, he was prepared to die. However, the contaminated people seemed to stop moving after realizing that they could not leave, as if the program had malfunctioned and was not responding.

Fortunately, the bullet wound to Erwin did not hit any vital parts. After giving himself a simple bandage, he waited until the blockade of the branch was lifted and the others woke up.

Therefore, his title of "Lucky Erwin" has become even more prestigious. He survived four major Honkai solely by luck, and many people want to try their luck with him.

"Haha, don't be so reserved. Look, even our Lieutenant Lin hasn't said anything, right, Lin?"

"..."

Of course, he couldn't say anything. If he could, he would immediately criticize this guy who was joking during such a critical time.

"Alright, we won't bother you anymore. Just focus on recovering. Don't worry, you're on paid leave."

"Huh? Do we still get paid?"

Elysia happily helped Lin away.

Today is a holiday.

It's the beginning of the month, time to get a good night's sleep and rest.

I saw that some readers even wanted to give Lin a nickname. Cough cough, Lin only died twice. Compared to the two who actually did sit-ups repeatedly, he's still a bit lacking. And to be precise, he didn't die the second time.

The book is now nearing its mid-to-late stage, and the core of the story will shift from the conflict between humanity and the Honkai to a different focus.

To find out what happens next... please check out tomorrow's update.

Chapter 132 Transformation

There are so many people I have to meet today. Since I started socializing normally, Lin has realized that I actually had more free time when I was working quietly and diligently. At least back then I didn't have to think about anything or care about anything.

Lin had Elysia take him back to his ward to rest, and then go see the others later. He was actually fine now, except for no external injuries to his neck. However, the exhaustion of his consciousness made him lose his balance when walking independently.

Sitting under the warm light in the living room, Lin took off his helmet, revealing a head of soft, medium-length hair. In the warm light, he leaned back in his chair and looked at the only dressing mirror in the room.

The mirror, covered with a light gray layer, honestly reflects everything it sees.

The long, flowing hair looked different than before; at the ends of the jet-black hair, a small, inconspicuous patch replaced the original black area.

In Lin's black-and-white world, all he could see was that the pitch black had turned into the same color as Yan Luo's silver-white hair.

Lin was breathing evenly. He didn't linger on his hair, but instead unwrapped the bandage around his neck, round and round... until the bandage was completely removed, revealing the long, narrow wound.

Because the weapon that pierced the wound was too sharp, the wound did not tear and remained relatively flat.

Lin tentatively reached out and turned the reddened wound outward to reveal the bright red muscle, but quickly encountered resistance.

"..."

The wound that had pierced his entire neck had healed inside, and only one day had passed.

He remembered the moment yesterday when Sakura's sharp blade pierced him—

Lin clearly saw half a transparent frost blade "growing" from his throat. Then, he saw the look of shock and disbelief on Vill-V's face. He then lost control and collapsed onto Vill-V, unable to maintain his consciousness, and slowly closed his eyes.

But then, Lin became very aware of everything happening around him.

From the moment his heart stopped beating and his breathing stopped, to Spasi's efforts to save him, and Elysia's soft calls, he could sense everything, even though he couldn't see anything.

Lin... did not die.

He knew very well what death felt like; he had died once during the Sixth Honkai War. So even though his heart had stopped beating this time, and he was even brain dead in the medical sense, Lin knew that he was not actually dead.

Or rather... he suddenly realized that he could not be killed.

No, to put it another way, Lin felt that some kind of change had occurred inside his body, making him impossible to kill by conventional means. It was like... the Sixth Herrscher, who Honkai Energy in her core was exhausted and the Authority of Creation was used up.