She had been keeping an eye on the group and had long learned what happened at the Fifth Branch, but when she saw them step off the transport aircraft with her own eyes, she was still taken aback. After all, there were not many times when even Lin looked like he was about to collapse.
It was the first time Kevin had seen Elysia come out to welcome someone with such fanfare. He looked at her smiling face in confusion. "Elysia..."
"Hmm, we haven't seen each other for just one day, and you're already this surprised?" Elysia especially liked this little gesture of lightly touching her lips. Who knew whether she considered it sexy or cute? Her eyes flicked toward Lin, who was deep in thought in the corner. "Or did you miss me?"
"No..."
"I did. I missed you very much."
Lin abruptly cut Kevin off, staring intensely at the stunned Elysia.
"Huh?" Elysia's mind failed to process it for a moment.
Lin handed the sleeping Hun in his arms to Mei, then walked up and pressed both hands onto Elysia's shoulders. In a grave tone, he said, "I've been thinking about you all this time. I can't sleep after being apart from you for even one day."
"Th-this, this isn't really the right time to say that..."
"Then let's go somewhere else."
Without giving her a chance to object, Lin dragged the flustered Elysia toward his room, leaving behind a bewildered Kevin and Mei, who expressionlessly stroked Hun.
Dried blood still stained Lin's Powered Armor, giving off waves of stench. Elysia could tell that something was wrong with the big boy holding her hand today. Every movement he made was broader than before, filled with an angry restlessness.
Before today, Elysia had only seen him like this once: when they first met, when he saw the Honkai Energy Adaptability listed in his report.
With those restless strides, Lin quickly reached his room. After Elysia entered, he casually locked the door under her subtle gaze, then took a miniature device from an active unit, stuck it to the wall, and pressed its activation button.
"Um, Lin, what is that..." Elysia had never seen a similar device in the Research and Development Department.
After finishing his preparations, Lin began removing his outer Powered Armor. "Mei gave it to me. It can disable surveillance systems within a certain range."
"...Lin, you were still carrying that girl just now, weren't you? If you keep doing this, I'm going to get angry." Seeing that he had already started taking off his clothes, Elysia's gaze grew increasingly strange, drifting in a rather troubling direction.
Could it be that the pressure had really gotten to him...
"You misunderstood." After removing the armor, Lin tossed it into the cleaner. Only a thin short-sleeved shirt remained on his upper body. Crossing his arms, he said, "But I really want to... want to... want to..."
He gathered himself, then said seriously, "I want you."
"Lin, you don't have to force yourself to say it if you don't mean it." Elysia sighed. She had roughly guessed that he was saying sweet things against his will because he needed her help. She pulled herself together and smiled in profile. "So, what is it you want to talk about? Is it about the attack on the Fifth Branch?"
"..." Lin only watched her without saying anything.
"If you don't tell me, I won't know what you're thinking. Even light signals can't be interpreted word for word, you know."
"I'm just thinking about where to start."
Lin had originally intended to pour everything out at once and ask Elysia to help him find the person among the higher-ups who had orchestrated this attack. After all, her connections were best suited to investigating something like this. But after calming down, he hesitated.
Through his visor, he looked into Elysia's warm eyes, and Spasi's anguished cries echoed in his ears.
"You have nothing. You have nothing to lose, so you don't have human emotions!"
"Did you hear that?! You have nothing!"
Those were the most painful words from someone who had lost their loved ones, words that shook the heart of everyone who heard them.
Could he guarantee that Elysia would not be implicated?
At that moment, Lin felt somewhere deep within his heart stir. An indescribable emotion surged into his chest.
It was "fear," something he had never experienced before.
Almost obeying that feeling, Lin said, "I... no, it's nothing. Just pretend none of this happened."
He turned around, switched off the device, unlocked the door, and said to Elysia, "You can go back now."
Elysia did not move. Her gorgeous pink eyes glanced at the open door, then at the helmeted man with his head lowered.
Then she gently pushed the door shut.
"..." Lin looked up at her.
"Lin, this isn't like you. The Lin I know never hesitates or goes back on his word." Elysia could feel his gaze avoiding hers. "We're friends, so it's okay to tell a friend what's in your heart, isn't it?"
"..."
"Hmm... say something." Dissatisfied, Elysia reached out, grabbed his helmet, and shook it.
"There's nothing to say. I was just overthinking it."
"The things Lin considers always make sense. I want to hear them."
Elysia's fingers gently tapped against Lin's helmet, producing a crisp sound.
"I'll only tell you part of it. Is that okay?"
"Why?"
"Secrets make a man more mysterious."
Elysia froze upon hearing that familiar line, then laughed. "Hahaha, I'm very unhappy that you don't want to tell me everything, but since it's so rare for Lin to joke with me, I won't pursue it. So, what is this mysterious matter?"
"Elysia, do you know The Deepest Place?"
Elysia tilted her head and chuckled.
"I do."
Chapter 50: Top Donor Gives Five Hundred Thousand and Reveals Their Face
"You want to go to The Deepest Place?"
It was not as though she was terribly shocked, but this was still the first time Elysia had heard Lin make a request. The last time he asked someone for help, he had offered up everything he possessed. It was clear that he did not like relying on others.
And this was The Deepest Place.
Any captain-ranked person could access the Fifth Branch's official files, so Elysia had read that vaguely worded notice as well. It specifically mentioned The Deepest Place, yet offered no explanation of what kind of place it was.
A prison? That seemed far too simple.
But from Lin's tone, he did not seem concerned with what sort of place it was. He simply wanted to go there.
Elysia recalled, "The notice already stated that the prisoner was executed, didn't it? MOTH wouldn't transport a corpse to The Deepest Place."
Of course, the notice sounded more like an explanation of, "We originally intended to do that, or at least we had that attitude." No matter how one looked at it, it was flimsy.
"I need to verify something."
Executed? Unless he saw the body, Lin could not possibly believe the assassin was dead. No matter where The Deepest Place was or what it was, as long as it was unrecorded in the files, it would be an excellent hiding place.
"Lin, are you going to bring weapons?"
"I carry them at all times."
"You know that's not what I mean."
"You know that's exactly what I mean."
Lin would not judge humanity. What he had once told Hua applied to all humans: he was not here to make choices for humanity.
Imposing an individual's will upon a group would make humanity lose its original qualities, while judging human lives by one's own beliefs meant treating oneself as a god. That was why Lin spent most of his time acting as a soldier. He would not pass judgment on whether others were good or bad.
This time was the same. Even if he truly saw a truth he did not want to see in The Deepest Place, he would not do anything out of line. He would only let humanity judge its own criminals.
"All right. Let's hope you don't scare my other friend, or that she doesn't scare you." Elysia smoothed the long hair at her shoulder, her eyes wandering over Lin's body.
Seeing that all-too-familiar expression on her face, Lin suddenly shivered and asked, "What is it?"
"Lin, I'm doing you such a huge favor. Shouldn't you show some appreciation?" Elysia covered her mouth and chuckled. "Even when Mobius attached an arm for you, you put up your entire fortune. I've been jealous for so long~"
So that was it. She wanted compensation?
After thinking about it, Lin realized he did not seem to have any suitable reward to offer, so he asked, "What do you want?"
But Lin did not understand one principle: when someone asked for payment, never ask them what they wanted, because that was equivalent to handing them control of the upper limit of the reward. Especially someone as shrewd as Elysia. The moment she heard those words, her eyes narrowed with delight.
"Hmm... go shopping with me? Cook me a lavish meal? Tell me an earth-shattering dad joke? Those would all be nice." Elysia's gaze inspected him from head to toe before settling on that particular spot. "But really, this is the most tempting thing of all."
"..."
The place she was looking at was his helmet.
"Okay, it's decided!"
Elysia stepped forward until she was less than twenty centimeters from Lin. Licking her lips seductively, she smiled. "My dear Lin, please take off your helmet now. Oh, no, if you're covering your face underneath it too, then I'll have been fooled. So please show me your face instead~"
After saying that, she looked at Lin with eager anticipation.
"Why are you so interested in my appearance? I don't understand."
Since their first meeting, Elysia had tried many times to get to the bottom of it. Yet despite having several chances to act while Lin was unconscious, she had never simply lifted his helmet.
Elysia's smile was radiant. "Hehe, the more mysterious something is, the more it stirs people's desire to uncover it."
"...There's nothing to see. I'll tell you a dad joke instead."
"No, Lin, are you going back on your word? Oh dear, I don't know whether my eccentric friend will allow me to secretly bring someone to The Deepest Place~"
Lin clenched his fists, then slowly loosened them. With a sigh, under Elysia's expectant gaze, he undid the clasp at the neck of his helmet and placed his hands on both sides of it.
Slowly, he lifted the helmet.
Medium-length black hair slipped free first, followed by Lin's entire face.
"..." Elysia's smile first froze on her face. Then she rubbed her eyes in disbelief, wiped them clear, and carefully examined the face right in front of her.
Finally, after confirming that it was not an illusion, she opened her mouth wide and pointed at Lin, unable to say a word.
"I told you. There's nothing to see."
With the helmet no longer muffling it, Lin's voice carried a more human quality.
Hearing that familiar voice paired with an unfamiliar face, Elysia looked as though she had seen a ghost. She began wondering whether removing the helmet had somehow altered the timeline, and whether the person standing before her was no longer Lin at all.
"Lin." Only after a long while did Elysia recover from the shock of learning Lin's true appearance. She patted her chest, swallowed, and shifted her gaze away. "I think I understand why you hide your face. If you didn't, it really would cause quite a commotion."
After briefly letting his face touch normal air, Lin put his helmet back on. "This was not my wish."
"What should I say? I finally saw what Lin really looks like, but..."
Elysia felt a little conflicted. She should have been happy to see Lin's face, but she had not been mentally prepared. The impact of his appearance far exceeded the significance of the matter itself, leaving her unable to feel happy at all.
But she was Elysia. She could think of a hundred ways to make herself happy in a single second.
After a brief thought, Elysia smiled. "Lin, have you shown Mobius?"
"No, but our agreement includes that condition."
Mobius was different from Elysia. Her interest in Lin himself far exceeded any curiosity about the face beneath his helmet, so Lin had promised he could show her. But she had never made him do so.
Of course, it was also possible that she had simply forgotten, just like with cooking.
"Good, Lin. Then from now on, promise me that you won't show your face to anyone but me."
"Why?"
"Can't I have you all to myself for a while?"
It did not seem like such a big deal, so Lin nodded in agreement.
"Mm, very good. Then there's no time to waste. Let's have you meet Vill-V first."
Chapter 51: I Am a G-g-g-g-great Poet
"I love you, and it has nothing to do with you."
"Even my endless longing through the night belongs only to me. It will not be carried into dawn."
"Perhaps it can exist only in darkness."
Under dim candlelight, fingers wearing finger cots brushed over the words of a carefully arranged poem, translating obscure Spanish into the common language. The poem's sorrowful and beautiful meaning lingered in a soft, elegant voice.
In the lonely room, the faint rustling of machinery at work and gears meshing occasionally sounded. Hands with gentle lines turned through the collection of poetry.
Serene and far-reaching—this was probably the defining trait of someone who cultivated their character.
"Oh my, why aren't you turning on the lights? Reading like this is bad for your eyes."
Like a stone thrown into a calm lake, it shattered the natural tranquility.
Smack! A hand slapped the main light switch, and bright lights like daylight instantly drove away every trace of foul darkness, along with the deliberately crafted literary atmosphere.
Before you continue