The Secret Left Unspoken / The Young

"Those scum have had ample time and resources to do things that violate ancestral teachings, thus ending their useless, absurd, and greedy lives early, and allowing them to honestly and truly serve humanity." His smile, if he wanted to, could be flawless, like a work of art.

It has no flaws, and no emotions.

"Why did you do this? If you hadn't given Mobius the information about the Artificial Collapse in advance, the Fire Moth wouldn't have had internal strife at the juncture of the Ninth Honkai War, the Flame-Chaser project wouldn't have entered the second phase ahead of schedule, and even that person named Delta wouldn't have died in front of that guy."

"Why..." His smile remained unmoved. Rather, it was as if Yan Luo didn't know what could move him. Everything was done according to his own heart. All the questions had their answers in his heart, "Because... it's necessary."

"Aren't you also looking forward to it? To watching his naive ideas collapse, deteriorate, become abstract, and stubborn... until they become..." as the people around him die one by one.

He pointed his finger at Yan Luo, then at himself; everything was self-evident.

Who will be next? And who will be the last?

"I want to see the expression on the face of someone who wants to be the first to leave but ends up being the last to stay."

"Hmm..."

"You're awake?"

Mei asked the woman's voice, having heard the soft moan she had just heard.

"... How did you know I was asleep?"

"It's just... my intuition."

Mei found it hard to describe; she had an inexplicable connection with this person, and she felt that they were the same kind of people.

"... I was just thinking about the past." The female voice didn't mock Mei or anyone else today. "Humans are really prone to reminiscing about the past, even though they know they can't do anything about it except reminisce."

Hearing her mutter to herself, Mei whispered back, "Can't you do anything...?"

"Don't project yourself onto me. You have no idea about my past, so there's no need for you to empathize with me," the woman's voice emphasized. "A person's feelings and stories are only truly real when they are known after death. So the stories you learn from the protagonists themselves may just be a form of self-deception."

"Are you telling me not to ask you anything?"

I'm so glad you understand.

"Because there are many people like you in the Imaginary Tree."

They are unwilling to show their past to others, whether it be glory or wounds.

Only Lin seemed completely unconcerned about who or how to reopen his wounds.

"That idiot only has this one good point: he's willing to tell others about his past without reservation, so that they can learn from his mistakes and not repeat them. At the same time, he also uses this method to pass on the stories of the people he cares about to others."

"You actually agree with Lin?"

It's quite rare; normally, a woman would never approve of someone, and would rather use the most vicious words to ridicule Lin Cong.

"Just telling the truth."

Perhaps recalling past events improved her mood; she was more talkative today, and her words were no longer sharp.

"He..."

The woman's voice suddenly stopped. Mei waited for her to continue, but she suddenly sensed that something was wrong. She pricked up her ears, her hair stood on end, and a sense of crisis pounded in her heart. She immediately stood up and looked around warily.

"Hello? Are you still there?"

"Zzz—Little—Zzz—Heart—"

The intermittent sound stopped at a certain point, and the scene before Mei's eyes was completely transformed. But this was not the space that had changed after she made a wish to the monkey's paw. This was... someone manipulating it?

The power of the Herrscher returned to her body, but this did not reassure her. She was thinking about the "shadows" that had attacked her and Lin.

"Tick-tock".

"Rain?"

A raindrop landed on Mei's nose. She looked up in confusion and saw a sky full of dark clouds, as if a storm was brewing.

"Sizzle."

Before me was a ripped open gash.

Before Mei's incredulous eyes, a "person" slowly emerged from the rift. His inhuman Prismatic Eyes stared at Mei, and he held a pure knight's lance.

Her long, silvery-white hair fluttered in the low-pressure wind.

This person has such a perfect appearance that it seems unreal.

No, he's not human!

Before Mei could react, the spear was already upon her.

Chapter 241 The Unspoken Secret

The Black Abyss White Flower pierced through the sphere created by the Ninth Herrscher as easily as piercing tofu. Lin activated the remaining Honkai Energy of the Black Abyss White Flower, and one vine and plant after another pushed open the mixture of rubble, metal, and wood from the inside. He had already seen the Ninth Herrscher at the center. She turned her head like a doll, and her brown pupils met Lin's Prismatic Eyes across the distance.

An indescribable emotion welled up in Lin's heart. It was as if he wasn't looking at the Herrscher, but at... himself.

The sphere protecting her was destroyed, and the space around the Ninth Herrscher suddenly became heavier, causing Lin and Hen to fall downwards at the same time!

"Bang!"

"Click!"

The instant he touched the ground, Lin heard the cracking sound of his bones breaking, followed by the sight of the ground beneath him shattering and scattering like broken building blocks.

"Cough cough..."

Lin felt no pain; even as blood gushed from his mouth and nose streamed down his face, it seemed like it was happening to someone else. But he couldn't move his body, perhaps his spine...

"Lin, how are you?!"

Hen seemed to be alright; he appeared to have experienced less pressure earlier... So that's how it is. So, once the Flame-Chaser's power and the ability to manipulate Honkai Energy reach a certain level, one can resist it? Ultimately, it's a matter of "hard power."

Lin couldn't move at all, but he was unusually calm and didn't feel nervous at all. It seemed that he wouldn't be surprised if he died at any moment.

Die...

No... he can't die now... at least the Ninth Herrscher must be taken down...

Black Abyss White Flower landed beside Lin, its Prismatic Eyes shining brightly. Black Abyss White Flower trembled slightly, then emitted a faint, warm light that enveloped Lin's body.

"Bang!"

Just before the black ball crashed down, Lin flipped himself up, grabbed the Black Abyss White Flower, and deflected the black ball with the tip of his spear. The light in his eyes grew stronger and stronger, like the sun rising in a rainy night, but the colors he saw became dimmer and dimmer, and the world returned to its monotonous black and white.

Those colors seem as if they never existed.

Finally, all the sounds disappeared.

The voices that had been interfering with and seducing him, both in his ears and in his mind, had all vanished at this moment, leaving only silence.

Hen saw Lin, who was unable to move just a second ago, stand up normally the next second. His movements were even more swift, as if his body had been injected with power that did not belong to him. At this moment, the color of his hair also turned completely into pure silver-white.

It was dazzlingly silvery-white, yet it carried an aura of deathly stillness.

Even Hen noticed the abnormality in Lin's body: his silver hair and his unusually bright Prismatic Eyes after he slowly stood up.

Hen could no longer sense the "human" feeling in Lin's body.

"Forest...?"

He's like this now...

At this moment, Hen was filled with surprise and doubt. He looked at the Ninth Herrscher, and then turned back to look at Lin.

"Hen... If I'm still alive after the Ninth Herrscher is defeated..." Lin's voice also changed, and it didn't even sound like it came from his mouth, but rather it came directly from his mind, "Kill me."

"What exactly are you..."

"I think the future where we can take off our helmets will probably never come."

Lin turned his head, and as he saw Lin's appearance, Hen's pupils gradually shrank.

Beneath her flowing silver hair was a gentle smile.

"If you choose to end your journey, you will never see the dawn."

People often become someone else without realizing it, forced to accept the death of others, forced to confront their stories, and then... forced to become "heroes".

Now, it's all just about heading towards our predetermined future.

"Cut off my head completely, smash it, and then take the core out of my body and give it to Mei." Lin calmly told Hen how to handle it. "Ideally, incinerate all my body parts and give them to Mobius to process, leaving no cells behind."

Hen glanced anxiously at the Ninth Herrscher, but the Ninth Herrscher seemed to have noticed the changes in Lin as well. She didn't make a move, but just quietly watched Lin from the air. Hen reached out to Lin: "Lin, don't joke with me. This is not the time for jokes."

"..."

Lin looked at Hen's outstretched hand.

He has always been reaching out to others, but each time, he always falls short.

He kept telling himself that he would catch up next time, but all he could do was stand in front of the graves covering the mountains and fields, waiting for the raindrops to fall on the tombstones of the people he couldn't save.

"Don't you want to know who she is?"

Lin's heart skipped a beat. He looked up at his face, which was covered in raindrops.

Hen Zhen shouted, as if he had transformed back into the stern senior he once was. In front of the bewildered junior, he reprimanded him mercilessly. "You doubt who among the people around you will be the first Herrscher, but as long as you come to end the Honkai, as long as you come to prove that Herrscher can coexist with humans, isn't that enough!"

"Who are you..."

Hen stepped forward, grabbed Lin's hand, and slapped him hard across the face.

"Smack!"

"This way!"

Lin's face stung.

Even though I shouldn't feel any pain, it still hurts a lot.

"We can't decide what happens to others, but we can decide what happens to ourselves. That's what you said yourself." Hen released Lin's hand, gripped his weapon, and gazed at the Ninth Herrscher, which was beginning to move again in the sky. "I don't know what happened to you... but, Lin, you haven't left anything behind."

Why is the world always so cruel...?

What Hen thought of was that ordinary, somewhat timid private.

This is his fault.

He caused Erwin's death.

Before they could do anything or leave anything behind, they drifted away from this world.

"Lin, live on. I will tell you everything you want to know."

Oh right... I haven't even... told you my secret yet... A young girl's secret is very precious, please, wake up...

Whose voice is this...?

Lin heard intermittent sobbing. It was a familiar voice, but he couldn't remember when he had heard those words.

"Bang!"

This time, it wasn't a simple gravity ball or gravity ray; a vast black torrent surged towards the two like a tidal wave. Lin's pupils finally focused, and he and Hen jumped up together to avoid the torrent washing over the ground. The simple anti-gravity system behind him allowed him to levitate briefly while carrying another person.

"Lin, I have an idea."

Before Lin could react, Hen stepped on Lin's shoulder, leaped up, and charged straight toward the Ninth Herrscher!

Chapter 242 Young People

Hen's speed was simply too fast. One second he was in front of Lin, and the next he was rushing towards the Ninth Herrscher. The process was so short that even Lin couldn't react.

The Ninth Herrscher has been around for too short a time. Her ascension was interrupted halfway through. Although she currently possesses a much larger amount of Honkai Energy than a typical Herrscher, she is unable to effectively utilize her power.

She knew from the moment she was born that if she used excessive Honkai Energy in front of humans, causing her Herrscher Core to fall into a void, she would be attacked. Almost all Herrscher before her were attacked for this reason.

Therefore, the Ninth Herrscher is very restrained in using her power unless there is an unavoidable situation.

The troublesome nature of these two humans far exceeded her expectations. One of them even possessed the aura of a fellow human, but after a brief test, she realized that he was not one of her kind and could not gain power through the Imaginary Gate. Therefore, their threat was her top priority to deal with.

Her instincts compelled her to unleash a massive, destructive power to eliminate them all at once, but the knowledge forcibly implanted in her mind forbade her from doing so, knowing that if she weakened herself, she would be killed by the humans before her.

These two contradictory ideas exist within her, and she must strictly adhere to the latter way of thinking.

Because this is a "command" written deep within the Herrscher Core.

Hen realized he was rising too fast in mid-air, even faster than when he had just jumped. He saw the brown light in the Ninth Herrscher's eyes and understood that the Ninth Herrscher was manipulating the gravity on his body.

This time, it wasn't about increasing the weight, but rather changing the direction of the mark's gravity.

He "fell" straight up, and because it was just a different direction and not actual flight, this weightlessness made it impossible for him to change his upward direction!