Life-Taker / Back to Reality

"Unbelievable! A group of people can't even manage a meal. Would you starve to death without Lin?" Mobius leaned back on the sofa, crossed his legs, and looked at this group of "human heroes" who couldn't take care of themselves with disdain.

She had clearly forgotten that she usually ate the meals Lin prepared.

Mobius's words reminded some people that Lin was still in the world of consciousness and had not yet come out. Eden then asked, "Are neither of them out yet?"

"Even the simplest game takes time to complete." Vill-V propped herself up with one hand on her "Spicy Chicken Noodles" and pointed to the air with her fork. "It will probably take another day or so."

"Speaking of which, is it not a good idea for us to play here while Lin and the others go to the consciousness world to conduct experiments?" Good girl Hua was a little restless at this moment. She felt that things were too relaxed now. Although the large-scale Honkai had just passed, was it a bit too much for them to go on vacation like this?

"The main purpose of this trip was originally a consciousness experiment, and the vacation was just a side thing. If it weren't for Elysia's suggestion, it would have just been me, Sue, Kevin, and Mobius here to conduct the experiment." Mei picked up the egg noodles in her bowl and said casually, "So you can think of it as us currently carrying out an important mission."

Is the important task just sitting together and eating instant noodles?

Hua's lips twitched, but Pardo beside her didn't have so many worries. Being able to eat well, drink well, and bask in the sun was already a blessing.

"What are we going to do after dinner? Play games again? It's not as fun without Lin."

"Have you forgotten how Lin punished you on the ship?" Su, who was caught in the crossfire in the King's Game, complained to the playful Elysia.

"Can you... see what Lin is doing in the world of consciousness?"

Suddenly, an ethereal voice, rarely heard before, drew everyone's attention. Aponia, sitting with her eyes closed in the corner of the sofa, was the one who had just spoken.

"It seems like it could work." Vill-V's eyes lit up. "Let's see what those two do in the world of consciousness."

Anyway, as long as they have the device made by Mei, they can see the state of the consciousness world. Instead of playing a game that is not difficult for them, they might as well check on Lin's situation and also monitor the progress of the experiment.

May had no objections, while the others, including Kevin, were also curious about what had happened in the world of consciousness.

"Wait a minute, let me make a converter and connect it to the TV."

Vill-V rushed upstairs and fiddled with things for a while. Half an hour later, she came out with an extremely long cable and connected it to the TV. Then she adjusted it for a while...

"Hey, alright, I really am a genius." Vill-V smiled and pressed the channel change button with the remote control.

Then, her smile froze.

Not only her, but everyone in the hall stopped what they were doing the moment they saw the image appear. Their expressions froze, and they stood motionless like statues.

Lin, without pants, stood in front of Sakura, while Sakura knelt on one knee, her hand reaching towards a certain mysterious place...

"Wait a moment."

Lin stood there, looking down at his lower body. After half a second, he reached out and grabbed something on his trouser leg, then lifted it up.

A brown venomous snake must have gotten on my leg while I was passing by the low bushes.

He threw it on the ground and stomped on the snake's head, then frowned at the bite wound near his groin.

One of the disadvantages of not being able to feel pain is that one cannot detect such crises in a timely manner.

"A poisonous snake?" Sakura judged the situation from Lin's eyes. She immediately squatted down in front of Lin and tore open his trouser leg to check the situation. "Don't move."

After being bitten by a venomous snake, you should remain calm and reduce movement, otherwise your blood circulation will accelerate the flow of venom, which is not difficult for Lin.

"The wound is swollen." Sakura used a strip of torn cloth to bind the wound near the heart. This must be highly venomous; the wound swelled and changed color within seconds of being bitten. If it wasn't taken to a place with antivenom in time, it would be troublesome.

But there's simply no such condition right now, so where are we supposed to find serum?

Lin didn't know what would happen if he died in this world of consciousness, but Mei and the others must have taken precautions to ensure that nothing would happen to Lin and the other two. So the most likely outcome of death was leaving the world of consciousness and returning to reality.

However, Lin decided to complete the experiment. Since it was Mei and the others' experiment, it was necessary to collect as much data as possible.

"Would you like to try sucking it out?" Sakura asked seriously.

"No." Lin shook his head. The idea of sucking out the venom is a very misleading "common sense." The oral mucosa and the skin on the surface of the body have different protective properties. Snake venom can be easily absorbed through the mucosa, and it can also enter the body through small cracks in the gums.

Lin thought for a few seconds, then made a cutting gesture to Ying.

In fact, cutting open the wound is also an extremely risky approach, because the depth to which the fangs penetrate the tissue varies, making it difficult for rescuers to judge how deep to cut, which can easily cause secondary damage. Moreover, the conditions in the wild increase the risk of wound infection.

However, this was no problem for Sakura. She only glanced at it before drawing her silver knife and swiftly making a cross-shaped cut on Lin's wound, causing the blood and venom to drain from his body.

Just as Sakura was about to reach out and squeeze, she hesitated for a moment, glancing at Lin's face. But Lin's expression didn't change; he calmly looked at the wound. She felt ashamed of her thoughts and immediately reached out to help drain the toxins.

"Are you out yet?"

"Not yet."

Sakura judged the situation based on the color of the blood and wound. Fortunately, both of them had an extraordinary awareness in this regard. The snake venom had been in their bodies for a very short time. Although it could not be completely eliminated, it could last for a while.

After a while, the blood finally returned to normal color, and Ying breathed a sigh of relief. She smiled and said to Lin, "It's all out."

"... A bit too much." Lin's face was a little pale; the amount of bleeding was too great.

"Okay, let's rest for a bit and go wash up first." Lin's wound needed to be cleaned with water, but the water in the wild might not be clean, so she needed to do some treatment first. Her hands were also covered in blood and needed to be washed.

The villa was quiet.

"Would you like to try sucking it out?"

"Are you out yet?"

"They're all out."

"That's a bit much."

"Go wash up."

Mobius silently put down his instant noodles, took a deep breath, and gave a look of utter contempt. "What... scum."

Chapter 157 The Life Stealer

After the "wolf," who was the "Mountain God," died, the mountain range disappeared, and they could travel freely to the other side of the island.

In fact, Lin had already roughly guessed what Vill-V was thinking. She was a logic enthusiast, so the battle was probably only a small part of her game. Most of the time, she could solve the puzzles she set up simply by controlling and analyzing information. For example, they did not fight the "wolf," and the speed, strength, and abilities she described were not used.

It's estimated that the next "Sea God" will likely be in the same situation, not necessarily requiring combat, or even exceptionally high cognitive abilities, since Vill-V is a fan of brain teasers.

... It seems she has quite a wide range of interests.

In short, after three days and nights, Lin and his group finally arrived at the midpoint of the island. The jungle here was much denser and more disorienting than before, so they had to be more careful to avoid encountering the same situation as before when they were bitten by poisonous snakes.

"How much longer until we can leave?" Sakura gazed at the full moon that hadn't changed for the past three nights. It was like a texture that kept moving in the same way after the scene changed, rising and setting every day without any difference.

"It could be as fast as one day, or as slow as three days." Lin put the rabbit he had caught on the fire to roast. His leg was still tied up, and he had to loosen it every now and then to prevent his leg from dying due to lack of blood. "Real time should be slower, but judging from the sensation, the flow rate is one to two."

"Yeah..."

Sakura gazed silently at the moon.

Although this period was short and nothing particularly special, with most of the time spent traveling, she unexpectedly felt fulfilled.

Perhaps it's because it's been too long since I've traveled with Lin, so I miss this feeling of tacit understanding and unspoken connection between the two of us.

Then, perhaps due to too much laziness, or perhaps because the moonlight was too beautiful tonight, Sakura unconsciously asked a question—

"Lin, what is your opinion of people who can take someone's life so easily?"

She had asked similar questions on the ship, but now Sakura wanted to know more about Lin's specific thoughts and ideas.

Lin roasted the rabbit for a bit, then poked the meat with his knife, remaining silent in the flickering firelight, seemingly considering how to answer the question.

Sakura wasn't in a hurry. She continued to admire the moonlight, or perhaps she was just gazing absentmindedly at the vast sky that offered some solace to her troubled heart, waiting for Rin's reply.

Paying attention to other people's opinions is a form of self-discipline. Many people might say that you shouldn't care about what others think, like Mobius would say something similar. But one of the reasons she didn't want to go out was because of the gossip and rumors about her. Even she herself couldn't completely escape other people's opinions of her.

If there's one person who absolutely wouldn't care, it would probably be Mei.

As the moonlight fell from above onto his face, Lin finally spoke, "You remember, before the Poisoned Cocoon reorganized into Mei's organization, it was the Speaker's private army, right?"

Sakura was taken aback; she hadn't expected Lin to bring up this old story from a few years ago at this time.

She was the last member of the first generation of Poisoned Cocoon and the first member of the second Poisoned Cocoon.

"All of the first generation of Poisoned Cocoon are assassins. Their mission is similar to yours: to deal with 'non- Honkai creature '. But unlike the targets you eliminate, they kill people only for the Speaker's objectives."

Sakura is eliminating a "cancer." She will not act for a personal purpose or goal, whereas the members of the first generation of Poisoned Cocoon would kill innocent people for the Speaker's plans, such as the members of the Fifth Branch and Spasi's wife and daughter.

Lin never used value to measure human life. Sakura and the first generation of Poisoned Cocoon killed people. He did not think that the people Sakura killed were worthless and were scum who were not even human.

But Lin Jin, nowadays, would not treat everyone the same. In that World Bubble, he saw his own selfishness and realized where his previous ideas were wrong.

He used to be somewhat like May, viewing humanity as a whole, and what they wanted to save was the entire race, not just one or two individuals.

The difference is that Lin thinks everyone is the same, while Mei will eliminate those who might hinder the whole, just like the law convicts people, except this time the person convicted is Mei, or rather the entire Moth Chaser.

Even so, Lin still has different opinions, even in today's changing worldview.

"If taking someone's life so easily can be justified, then saving someone is meaningless. Giving up one person for a group of people is no different from giving up a group of people for one person."

"I can understand the necessity of this behavior. If no one does this, then people like the Speaker will be unrestrained."

Just because they don't do it doesn't mean others won't.

Therefore, Mobius, Mei, and Sakura have always been relatively neutral. Someone has to take responsibility, and they have voluntarily taken on this responsibility. He can choose not to take responsibility or justify this behavior, but he has no reason to condemn them.

They are the ones who solved the Trolley Problem.

All Lin could do was try his best to save everyone in his own way, so that others would no longer have to kill their compatriots or solve the Trolley Problem.

This isn't a question of right or wrong, and the meaning of life is not just that.

They are heading toward the same goal in different ways, and that is enough for Lin.

"I hope that in the future, there will be no more situations where people's lives are taken so easily."

That's all.

"Alright, it's almost done."

After returning to the workshop on the second floor, Vill-V resumed drawing and painting on her instruments. Mobius glanced at her and then walked over to her. "Are you working on a device to restore Lin's senses?"

"That still requires data from this experiment; I'm working on a project that's almost finished."

"Oh? What a coincidence, I also have a project that's almost finished."

Mobius was referring to Artificial Collapse, which is now in Artificial Collapse final experimental stage, and she is still considering who should conduct the first "Artificial Collapse".

"Actually, we've been planning this for a long time, and we've finally reached the final assembly stage."

Vill-V showed the design drawings to Mobius.

"This is..."

"The Divine Key," Vill-V smiled. "The first Divine Key, Phoenix, is almost finished."

Chapter 158 Back to Reality

If an interesting game makes you not want the ending, then a boring game that you have to keep playing will only make you eagerly want the ending.

Finally, the two of them arrived at the other end of the island, the place where the roar of the Honkai Beast had come from.

But they didn't see the so-called Honkai Beast. Not only were there no enormous, sky-covering figures like the ones Lin had imagined, but there wasn't even a single animal in sight; there was only an empty beach.

So, it was indeed a process of uncovering its true identity through intelligence...?

Just as Lin was considering whether he had missed any crucial information during this journey, he suddenly looked up.

"Who--"

"Didn't he already exit the world of consciousness? Sakura has already woken up, so why hasn't he woken up yet?"

"Hmm... the brainwaves are normal, so it should just be a normal sleep state right now, but why can't I wake it up? Could it be... a love kiss? Hehe, let me try~"

"What kind of vulgar things are you saying all day long!"

Lin Cong his half-awake state, and his fully awake mind immediately realized that this familiar feeling was not normal.

"Hmm..." Lin opened her eyes and saw a pair of thin lips approaching...

He reached out and pushed Vill-V's face away, then sat up, resting his hand on his forehead as he began to search his memory.

Wrong...

A piece of memory is missing.

Finally, they arrived at the western part of the island, but Lin couldn't remember any of the memories after that. It wasn't just a vague, hazy recollection; it simply vanished.

"What happened in the end?" Vill-V and Mobius. They should be monitoring the consciousness world, so they must know what happened in the end.

"Oh dear, how cold-hearted, Lin." Vill-V stood to the side with a smile on her face, hands on her hips. "Aren't you curious? I'll tell you after we finish what we were doing."