An Old Acquaintance / Investigating the Origin

Hello, driver!

The girl smiled and waved. The driver glanced at her attire and the bag on her back. "You... are you leaving?"

"Yes, I'm planning to go to China." The girl took out her plane ticket and then planned out her route in her notebook. "Then I'll go to Australia..."

Are you alone?

"Yes."

"Where is that young man?"

"..."

The girl didn't answer. She took out the photo album that was supposed to be given to someone, and she turned the pages one by one until she reached the last page.

This page has no photograph, but it contains a letter with only two words.

She looked up, gazing absently out the window.

"Him..."

She turned around, smiling sweetly.

"He must be with someone who loves him just as much."

"Splash..."

The salty seawater accumulated in her nasal cavity and respiratory tract, causing her to choke twice.

... Did you choke a couple of times?

She suddenly opened her eyes, sat up, and sat on the beach, watching the waves surge. She touched her chest; her skin was as smooth as jade, without a single mark of injury.

What's going on? Wasn't she already dead?

"Oh dear, although your willingness to die is very touching, it makes me a little unsure whether I should save you or not." An offbeat voice rang out from not far away, "But you are someone I have been looking for for so long, it seems a pity to just throw you away like this. I don't know what I would do if you really went with him in the end."

He playfully waved his two index fingers, pointing at Yan Luo, who had narrowed his eyes. "In the end, you really fell for him, didn't you? You're planning to go with him, aren't you? One second you were fighting to the death, wishing you could chop the other into mincemeat, and the next second you're asking if you want to go with him. What is this? Is this the romance between the same person from different worlds?"

"Speaking of which, if you two were to have a child, what would it be like...?"

"What exactly did you do?"

The chilling voice of Yan Luo, which made the surrounding temperature drop, interrupted his self-amusement. He stopped gesturing wildly, faced Yan Luo's gaze, and stroked his chin. "Can't you tell? I saved you."

However, this was not the answer Yan Luo wanted at all.

"You said you wouldn't get involved in this matter."

"Huh? Did I say that? Oh dear, please understand that I'm an old man who's tens of thousands of years old. Sometimes I'm just forgetful." He curled the corners of his mouth and said nonchalantly, "But then again, I did promise not to interfere halfway through, but I never said I wouldn't do anything after it was over. Your business is finished, so of course I can save you."

His playful grin only made Yan Luo's expression turn even more hostile, but he pretended not to see it and waved his hand with his back to Yan Luo.

"Now that we've survived, it's time to get to work."

"Wait a minute, did you do something to that guy too?"

"..."

His head slowly turned around, the movement was extremely slow, as if it had been slowed down countless times.

Such a simple action is filled with an inhuman sense of incongruity, like a puppet turning its head 180 degrees, so strange that it makes you want to scream.

"Don't worry, I won't do anything to him. After all, he's your substitute. Have you ever seen me treat you any differently?" His gentle smile was like a pre-programmed message; it made no difference, yet it only gave off a cold feeling. "But didn't you like him living with beautiful girls? Perfect, I'll send him to live with another beautiful girl for a while. What do you think?"

The tense atmosphere vanished instantly, and even Yan Luo was still pondering the meaning of his words.

Then she understood.

"..."

"Hahaha, don't look at me like that. Admit it, admit it, even the heartless Lin... oh no, Abaddon Yama Demon, gets jealous, as long as it's not something you arranged..."

"Shut up."

My body feels so heavy.

His wounds hadn't healed because the Pseudo-Herrscher Core had been sealed at a deeper level... But he'd already lost a lot of blood; if this continued...

He forced his eyes open, but what he saw disappointed him.

He seemed to be on a grassland, with no buildings or people in sight, only waist-high grass and trees as far as the eye could see.

"Cough cough..."

Lin tried to prop himself up, but even though he felt no pain, his body had reached its limit, and he fell to the ground again, his consciousness gradually detaching from his body.

"Could that thing lying over there be human?"

In the end, he heard this sentence.

Chapter Twenty-Six: Old Friends

Consciousness, chaos.

The sea of blood was dark and gloomy, but at least we could finally peek out and catch our breath.

"Who will be hit by the last bullet? I'm really looking forward to it."

In the deepest recesses, beneath those Prismatic Eyes, inhuman words echoed through the sea of blood.

Perhaps it's the lack of real awareness of oneself that makes each wake-up filled with a sense of unreality and disorientation.

The faint light was caught by the eye, and some faint footsteps sounded strange, like the footsteps of some babies walking on the ground.

"He... he's awake!"

"Go and inform the doctor immediately!"

"By the way, it seems like it hasn't fully booted up yet. Should we give it a soft reboot?"

"Don't go near him. I heard from Number Three that he's capable of doing 'that' to the lifelike dolls around him. His sister was one of his victims."

The chattering around him made Lin feel like he was in a market. He weakly propped himself up and found that his injuries had been treated. He clutched the bandage on his chest and looked around.

"..."

Well, it was quite unexpected.

A group of tiny humanoid figures dressed in a very... trendy style stared at him with wide eyes in the room. In his memory, shouldn't these little guys be wearing miniature versions of the Flame Chaser armor?

Speaking of which, where is he now? Since there are Armed Puppet here, has he returned to his Intrinsic World?

The place where Kelin was located looked like a tree hole... no, this was a tree hole, and he could see the tree roots that stretched deep into the ground.

"Where is this place?" he asked one of the Armed Puppet.

"Hey—no, don't come any closer! You fetishist!" The Armed Puppet, when questioned, scrambled away.

"..."

Lin turned his gaze, and the other Armed Puppet also retreated in fear.

... What did he do to them?

"If God is omniscient and omnipotent, then He cannot be perfectly good; if God is perfectly good, then He cannot be omniscient and omnipotent. Therefore, believing in God is an act without reward and contrary to rational intuition."

A somewhat lazy voice came from outside, and the first thing to appear was a head of blue curly hair.

"But your appearance here, perhaps it's a 'miracle' that sparks faith? Like turning water into wine? I might understand why faith in gods was so frequent in ancient times, is it just a coincidence that humanity perceives itself as..."

Wearing a suit, Einstein smiled at him as if he had no energy, just like always.

"Hey, long time no see, Lin. I don't know if this is the same Lin I know, but we can still shed a few tears for our reunion, right?"

"So you've been through so much." After Lin briefly summarized what had happened in the past three years, Einstein, holding his coffee, was deeply moved.

After Lin finished speaking, he stared silently at the cup on the table, which was steaming slightly.

"The coffee beans grown by these little guys don't taste as good as the ones we drink at Moth Chaser, but when material things can't be luxurious, there's no need to pursue the best in terms of spiritual enjoyment," Einstein said with a smile to Lin, who looked up. "This place is already self-sufficient, which is not bad."

Due to the time difference in the Quantum Sea, unlike Lin's three years, Einstein had lived in this World Bubble for seven years.

The pseudo-black hole created by the Ninth Herrscher was located at Atra. Einstein and Elysia, who were at the center, needed to close the Stargate. Otherwise, the spacetime distortion and out-of-control Stargate caused by the pseudo-black hole of the Ninth Herrscher would lead to an even more terrifying disaster. Therefore, with no other choice, Einstein, who had the only theoretical knowledge, was responsible for closing it, and the others had to evacuate.

At the last moment, she and her Armed Puppet, along with Atra, were transported to the Quantum Sea through Stargate, forming a World Bubble. Over the course of seven years, she and her Armed Puppet transformed this place into its current form.

The Armed Puppet, having been equipped with personality simulation plugins similar to those used in Prometheus Unit 1, have gradually perfected their individual personalities over the years, which is why Lin sees them with different personalities.

Interestingly, they would revamp themselves based on fashion magazines from the Mu Continent that they found in the World Bubble, making themselves more in line with... aesthetics.

Einstein gestured angrily toward the door. "Oh, right, Number Three is here too."

"Number Three?"

Lin turned his head and saw an Armed Puppet peeking out from behind the door, staring at him warily.

This is...

Lin searched his memory and finally remembered. "Prometheus Unit 3?"

"What are you going to do to the Doctor!" Number Three raised his hands menacingly and questioned Lin as he heard her name being mentioned.

"...What?"

"You're going to do H-related things, aren't you!"

"..."

Lin pointed to number three, turned around, and looked expressionlessly at Einstein was giving a dry laugh.

"Haha, it seems there was a problem with the personality simulation..."

"The doctor said that you not only prey on the pretty girls in the Firemoth, but you even go after Unit-01!"

"..."

What exactly did Einstein talk about with them in this place, including some gossip?

Lin stepped out of the tree hollow, shielding his eyes from the intense sunlight with one hand, and examined the large tree where the Armed Puppet lived.

The trees were decorated with simple strips of cloth, and on the topmost branches were many solar panels, their main source of energy. The total number was not large, but it was enough for their use.

Armed Puppet moved in and out under the trees; some were studying electronic materials, some were doing construction work, some were working, and some were simply sunbathing and playing games together.

This place is peaceful and serene, like a paradise.

It's incredible that a group of artificial beings can live so peacefully in this World Bubble, and each of them has their own personality.

It's hard to imagine that just a moment ago, he was watching these little guys charge into battle with weapons in hand.

"Heave-ho... heave-ho..." At this moment, four Armed Puppet pushed a golden cross to a short distance away, then waved to Lin, "Hey! Human, we've brought your stuff!"

Lin paused for a moment when he saw the golden cross. Einstein walked from behind him to his side, letting the sunlight fall comfortably on his shoulders, and looked at the cross. "That thing was lying not far from you. It should be the weapon you mentioned that can suppress Honkai Energy, right? I did a little research, and it's Divine Key with a Herrscher Core inside."

Lin stepped forward and gently stroked the patterns on the cross.

Did this work by Vill-V from another world...?

Einstein yawned, then perked up a bit. "Alright, let's briefly discuss what's to come, Lin."

"Regarding how to return to the Intrinsic World..."

"Before that, I must explain something: it seems that something is trying to break through the spatial barriers and get here from the rift you came into."

Chapter Twenty-Seven: An Examination of the Origins

This World Bubble larger than the original Atra. It is probably composed of multiple places pieced together. In addition to the grassland area where the Armed Puppet live, the ruins of Atra, a large lake and a desert exist in it. In terms of Xiao Ke be said to be half the size of the Mu Continent.

Apart from Einstein, there were no other signs of life, and the area was so vast that one could roam freely.

Thanks to the supplies in Atra, Einstein was able to get through the most difficult first year and grow grain from the seeds. Unfortunately, there were no edible animals, only some insects.

Lin held the chain of Oath of Judas with one hand, carrying it on his back. Number Three led the way, with Einstein following behind Lin. They walked through the ruins of Atra.

Seven years have passed, and the city, which was once filled with high-rise buildings, has been taken over by lush vegetation. While one can still glimpse its former prosperity, it is now nothing more than a paradise for plants.

"I tried to look for any other survivors, but I didn't even find a body." Einstein glanced at the ivy-covered billboard on a building not far away. "And communications... well, of course, impossible."