The Experiment / Little Red Riding Hood's Story...

"...release."

The woman was stunned for a moment after hearing this.

Then it bit even harder...

I need to take leave.

I apologize for the late updates. I've been quite busy lately, and for some reason, all the weddings and birthdays of relatives and friends have been happening at the same time. Not only do I have to go out to eat, but I also have to drink and accompany them. Sometimes I'm just forcing myself to write. Usually, after drinking and having fun, I get home around 11 or 12 o'clock, and then I finish writing in a daze, which means it's already 4 or 5 o'clock. Today, I just couldn't take it anymore.

Fortunately, the main storyline this time was relatively lighthearted, and there was no need to guess any conspiracies. Lin didn't even have to think about it (laughs).

Chapter 151 Experiment

After Lin and his group began searching for the Honkai Beast on the island, strange things started happening one after another. There was actually a hunter on this remote island.

Lin gripped the hunter girl's jaw with his left hand and pulled his hand out of her mouth. With that one bite, he had already bitten into her flesh, showing the ruthlessness of someone who could tear off a chunk of flesh in one go.

"Who are you?" Lin didn't insist on lifting her hat, after all, he himself had a similar complex about not wanting others to see his face, so he could understand it.

"Ha, these days even eating people requires some finesse. Do you have to ask what the food is called?" Only a mouth peeked out from under the red cloak, and she laughed maniacally. "You monsters, just like before. I have no name, or rather, you can use the name others used to call me—'Little Red Riding Hood '."

Little Red Riding Hood?

After the Earth God and the River God, is it Little Red Riding Hood next?

Clearly, even Sakura had noticed something amiss. She glanced at Lin, puzzled, and then at the hunter who called himself Little Red Riding Hood.

So far, everything they've encountered has been psychedelic.

But Lin didn't bother to investigate further. Instead, he began to negotiate with Little Red Riding Hood with utmost seriousness. "You've misunderstood. I don't intend to eat you."

"If you weren't planning to eat me, why did you capture me?"

"Didn't you attack us first?"

"Why would I attack you if you won't eat me?"

"..."

It seems like a closed loop has been formed.

"And how do you explain the ears on her head?" Little Red Riding Hood's blood-red eyes, hidden beneath her hood, stared at the animal ears on Sakura's head. "Are those ears something a normal human would have?"

"That's a characteristic of heroes," Lin said calmly. "She made a cruel decision for herself for a noble goal, and the result was these ears."

"A hero? I don't think so." Little Red Riding Hood narrowed her eyes and chuckled. "She smells just like me... She's a bad person."

"Are you saying you're a bad person too?"

"I never said I was a good person."

If this were a game, then according to the process and settings, they should have gained Little Red Riding Hood's trust before accepting the mission. But it's clear that Little Red Riding Hood dislikes the player because of the player's unique XP during character creation.

However, compared to Lin's formulaic "game process", Sakura was more curious about why Little Red Riding Hood in the fairy tale had become like this.

"You're Little Red Riding Hood from 'Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf,' right?" Sakura once told this story to Rin when she was little. It's a simple story that's easy to tell but also has a profound meaning, and it should be a childhood memory for most people.

"'Wolf'... you know Him too?"

Upon hearing the words "Big Bad Wolf, "Little Red Riding Hood's tone intensified, her hatred overflowing.

"Of course, we're going to kill wolves."

Sakura looked at Lin with surprise, who had lied without the slightest hesitation.

"Oh? So, we're on the same side?"

"Certainly."

Lin casually untied the vines binding Little Red Riding Hood.

"Lin... do you already know what happened?"

Sakura stood beside Lin, watching the Little Red Riding Hood squatting by the stream washing his arms, and whispered to him.

"I don't know," Lin replied curtly.

"..."

So he lied without knowing it?

"However, the 'wolf' she mentioned should be the so-called 'Mountain God,' which is something we have to kill when we pass through that mountain range."

"How do you know so much?"

Lin paused for a moment, then said, "Because the situation we are currently encountering may be a pre-set 'game,' and the only way to complete the game, besides exploiting bugs, is to follow the game's flow."

"Game?"

With Lin's words of encouragement, most of the confusion in Sakura's mind instantly dissipated, and an answer that was very close to the correct one took shape in her mind.

"A person emerging from the ground is something that Vill-V could do with magic or technology like optical camouflage, but based on the analysis of the situation at that time, the only possibility is that the dwarf really emerged from the ground. I didn't find any extra traces; he just looked like he grew out."

"It's possible to get two people lost in the woods, using light, smell, and visual guidance, but I'm almost impossible to be guided, and neither of us is easily misled in our judgment of the environment."

"It's fine to have people play the roles of dwarfs and Little Red Riding Hood, but what we experience and their images have a kind of 'story-driven' quality, like the plot in a game world."

"So I think we are not in the real world right now, but in a space of consciousness."

Another consciousness space?

Sakura stared blankly at the sky.

Seeing Sakura's stunned expression on the screen, the owner of the slender hand picked up the juice next to her, took a sip, and then stretched. "You noticed so quickly? But I really didn't intend to hide it."

"Is everything alright? Lin speed-cleared all the hidden bosses I set up. Will they really follow the plan?"

Wearing a dark blue swimsuit, Mobius propped his chin on his hand and glanced at Vill-V was fiddling with a bunch of instruments beside him. "If you hadn't insisted on adding some 'games' to it, they wouldn't have realized it was a world of consciousness so quickly."

"Oh dear, we're here on vacation, not to make them suffer." Wearing a swimsuit herself Vill-V wiped the sweat from her face with a wrench and gave a mysterious smile. "Besides, once we get the data and Sakura's problem is solved, everything will be fine, right?"

"I can't say."

"Oh? Could it be that you're jealous because you saw them being so affectionate inside?"

"What are you talking about?" Mobius glared at the nonchalantly smiling Vill-V, "Don't assume everyone is you."

"Hmm...that's true..." Vill-V nodded in agreement. "I'm very direct. I used to just say I didn't like something, and now I just say I like something. I won't act all coy like you guys are, like high schoolers in love."

"What shameless nonsense are you spouting!"

"Huh? Am I not telling the truth?"

Vill-V generously spread her hands and smiled, "You see, whether it's us or Lin, we could die in the next Honkai at any time, so why not forgive our own hearts?"

Mobius frowned in disgust. "I won't die."

"But I'm not so sure, and Lin isn't so sure either..." Vill-V laughed as she grabbed her hair. "He almost died in front of me to save me back then... What was I thinking..."

"I'm thinking that if he dies, I'll probably live in the shadow of his death forever until the end of my life."

Mobius paused, looking at Vill-V's innocent smile...

Chapter 152 The Story of Little Red Riding Hood

"... A lot of people Honkai."

"But they didn't save me, and I don't know most of them." Vill-V's smile now carried a hint of helplessness. "It might sound cold-blooded to say this, but I regret every life that has been lost. However, I don't love every single one of them. Their deaths will strengthen my resolve to fight against the Honkai, but they won't make me stop here."

"You really are... straightforward."

"Yes, so it's always better to be honest with yourself."

Mobius disliked Vill-V's pointed tone, but she didn't say anything more after her face fell.

"No wonder you were so..."

"After all, the opportunity is right in front of us. If I don't seize it, I won't be the Great Magician Vill-V." She pushed up her hat and smiled with absolute confidence. "I will also take advantage of this experiment to seize the opportunity and accomplish what I want."

"Wait, what are you planning to do? This is an experiment using the power of the Eighth Herrscher."

This is why they went to the deserted island. If something went wrong during the experiment on the Eighth Herrscher, there would be very few people she could affect with her powers. Moreover, Sue and Aponia, two psychic Flame-Chaser, were also there, which could effectively prevent the Eighth Herrscher from rising again.

"It's nothing, just a whimsical idea."

Vill-V looked at Lin, who was sleeping in the cabin. "If the ability of consciousness can make Lin 'believe' that he has regained his senses, would that be considered overcoming the side effects of the Hypervariable Surgery?"

"This..."

Mobius also became interested in this idea. If people can be deceived into self-destructive brain death, could it also make people who originally had no senses have the illusion that they have regained their senses?

"People who are born without the corresponding senses might fail, since they don't know what it feels like to have the corresponding senses, but Lin wasn't born with a defect." Vill-V pointed the ring at Lin's face. "Of course, all of this still requires data."

"Why don't you let that Nun or Sue give it a try?"

"As for Sue, he doesn't have that ability. After all, even so-called psycho-sensory Flame-Chaser have different branches, such as Dessidobia's telekinesis, while Aponia should be able to do it, but..."

Vill-V frowned, a rare occurrence, and a displeased expression appeared on her beautiful face. "She probably wouldn't do that, at least not with my consent. She gives me the impression that she'd be too selfish when it comes to Lin."

Mobius, also expressionless, crossed his arms and said, "It's rare for us to have such a unified understanding."

The waves outside kept crashing one after another. Now, only the two of them were still working inside. The others had either gone to the island to play or were just wandering around the house to prevent any accidents from happening inside.

Mobius took another sip of juice. Looking at the machine that Mei had created to monitor the world of consciousness, she couldn't help but admire Mei's genius. With only a short time left before the end of the Eighth Honkai War, she had already researched consciousness and created this kind of machine.

"By the way, why did you think of restoring Lin's senses?"

"Of course, it's with Lin Da—a real bang—" Vill-V said with a flawless smile.

"Puff--"

Mobius spat out all the juice in her mouth, coughed twice, wiped the orange-yellow juice from the corner of her mouth, and glared fiercely at Vill-V: "Are you out of your mind? What vulgar things are you saying?"

"What's so vulgar about it? Reproduction is a basic biological instinct, and mating is a key step in human love. Isn't marriage the best proof of that?"

Vill-V waved her hand defiantly. "I also want to do that with Lin in bed—standing—sitting—lying—in the kitchen, bathroom, living room, swimming pool, lawn, grove—dressed—naked—undressed—while kissing—"

With a bang, Mobius crushed the cup in her hand. She stared dumbfounded at Vill-V, Vill-V loudly announced her "beep-plan," even having already decided on the child's name.

"You... you have no shame!"

"How could that be? Didn't I say that life is short, so enjoy it while you can? If you keep thinking about all those rules and regulations, you'll regret it sooner or later."

A gentle tenderness, like autumn water, shone in Vill-V's eyes as she softly said, "The world keeps giving us pain, so why can't we pursue happiness? He has already endured so much pain, so why can't I offer him some comfort?"

"It's probably some kind of experiment," Lin deduced from the available information. "It started around that time after we finished playing the game and returned to our room."

"Is everything alright?"

"Hmm... probably."

Lin thought of what Elysia had said back then, and he glanced at Sakura again, but she didn't understand what his look meant.

"The deserted island... it must be an experiment related to the Eighth Herrscher." Lin looked at Little Red Riding Hood, who had washed her hands and stood up. "We just need to follow the 'procedure,' and we should be able to complete the experiment."

Why the two of us?

"... I don't know, maybe it's just a coincidence."

Little Red Riding Hood had already walked over. She walked up to Sakura and stared at her animal ears. "Alright, let's go. I'll tell you about the 'wolf'."

Sakura looked at her with a slight surprise.

Sakura was surprised because Lin Mingming said they came to kill the 'wolf', but Little Red Riding Hood said she came to explain the 'wolf'. Doesn't this mean they already know nothing about the 'wolf'?

"Heh, do you think I'm stupid? I've been deceived by 'people' before, how could I be so easily fooled? But since you didn't eat me, I guess I can still trust you a little, after all..."

"I don't care what method I use, who I work with, or what price I have to pay to kill the 'wolf'."

Her strange smile made Sakura uncomfortable; Little Red Riding Hood's inner self had completely Honkai.

"What happened?"

Little Red Riding Hood tilted her head, curled her lip, and repeated Sakura's words, word by word. "Did anything happen?"

"Hiding in a corner watching my grandmother being eaten, and while she was still alive, starting from the first finger, until all her hair was eaten, and after it was all gone, the monster even smiled at me. Does that mean something happened?"

"The hunter who came to save me was disemboweled and his intestines were hung from the roof beam, his blood dripping all over my face. Does that count as something happening?"

Chapter 153 The Last Page Destroyed

Mei stood on the open ground, still shaken. She looked at the monkey paw in her hand with lingering fear, the terror still gripping her heart.