Fifty Thousand Years

"Bass!"

A tall, illusory figure immediately appeared behind Bianca, raising his knight's sword and smashing it down at Lin!

"Splash."

However, beneath her feet, chains shimmering with golden light burst forth from the ground, their sharp blades piercing the phantom. The imposing knight figure instantly lost its form. Even Bianca hadn't anticipated this, as four chains had already separated and bound her limbs before piercing the phantom.

He clearly did not bring the Oath of Judas with him...

On the back of Lin's right hand, the shrunken Oath of Judas radiated a holy, dark light as he looked down at Bianca, who was bound to the ground in chains.

After a brief moment of stunned silence, Bianca immediately exerted her strength in her waist, and with terrifying force in her right hand, she pulled the chain. Before Lin could react, he was pulled back and slammed to the ground by the force of the chain.

"Bang!"

Lin had tried his best to hold onto the chains, but Bianca still managed to pull him back. Although he had expected this, he still underestimated her strength when it came to actually doing it.

"Hmph, mushrooms still can't compare to geese." Bianca scoffed, pulling the chain even harder. Lin's hands dug into the ground to steady himself, and he also pulled the chain with all his might.

The combined forces of the two pulled the chains buried deep underground out of the ground, turning it into a tug-of-war-like struggle.

"Indeed, mushrooms will be crushed if a goose bites them." Two of the remaining four chains split off and grabbed Bianca's waist, while the last two flew swiftly to Lin's back and grabbed two boulders embedded in the ground a few hundred meters away. Lin had already chosen the location before he came.

"You were making a dirty joke, you scumbag."

The force in her hands suddenly increased, and the chains extended from Bianca's limbs toward her body, about to wrap around her entire body. She was unable to move, and the power of the armor and the holy sword within her body were suppressed by the chains' energy-suppressing power.

The Archbishop's granddaughter's ability to suppress Honkai Energy when using the Oath of Judas was nowhere near this strong! Could it be that the Oath of Judas he used was the true Divine Key? Was he the true user of the Oath of Judas?

Bianca put up a last stand, feeling her strength being drained away bit by bit. She was confident she wouldn't lose in a direct confrontation, but now she was about to be captured before she had even done anything. She frowned and stared at Lin, who was slowly getting up. "What's your purpose?"

The man buttoned up his torn sleeve and gave her a cold glance.

The swinging chains answered all her questions.

When Bianca groggily awoke, it was already dusk. Her eyes were lowered, and her vision was still somewhat blurry.

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

She looked up and saw the crimson glow of the sky spreading across the land. A person sat in front of a fire, controlling the heat with a branch in their hand.

"Splash."

Bianca looked down and saw the golden chains binding her tightly to her lance. Turning her head slightly, she saw the Oath of Judas, now restored to its normal form, unfolded not far away. All the chains were entangled around her body, rendering her unable to use even the slightest bit of strength.

She then realized that when Lin was examining her body earlier, he must have already been thinking about how to capture her.

"What do you want to do?" Bianca regained her senses quickly. She calmly watched Lin put seasonings into the pot, her hands, bound by chains, already quietly gathering strength.

Lin didn't speak. He scooped up a spoonful of soup, put it in his mouth, and tasted it to check the saltiness.

Then, in a neither loud nor soft voice, he said, "Eat goose meat."

"..."

Bianca took a second or two to understand what he meant, her face immediately turning red. Even she stammered, "You... you bastard..."

Lin picked up the bowl, glanced at her indifferently, and asked, "Do you want to eat mushrooms?"

Bianca blushed even more, tilted her head back, and closed her eyes. "Who wants to eat!"

That's utterly shameless! I've never seen such a smooth-talking guy before.

"Gulp." The sound of swallowing reached her ears, and she quietly opened one eye.

Lin picked up the bowl and ate the various fungi he had brought from the base in big mouthfuls. Since there were no edible animals, they could only eat various plants. Mushrooms were relatively easy to make into various flavors, and they were considered a popular food among the Armed Puppet.

"Is he eating that deliciously...?" Bianca thought to herself. The way he wolfed down his food made her want to eat too, especially since she was starving and hadn't eaten in a long time.

Her stomach was rumbling, and she couldn't help but wonder if what he meant just now was literally asking her if she wanted to eat something.

"Da, da, da..."

Seeing Lin approach, Bianca raised her fair neck again and closed her eyes.

But she couldn't help squinting to peek at him as he ate the mushrooms covered in broth right in front of her with relish, and she couldn't help but let out a rumbling sound from her stomach.

In the end, Lin drank all the soup, then went back to the pot, filled a bowl, and came to Bianca.

"Want some?"

Lin picked up a handful of bright red enoki mushrooms and held them up to Bianca, who was staring at him expectantly, and asked indifferently.

It looks very chewy, it must taste great...

Saliva kept dripping from the corners of his mouth, but his hands were tied, so he couldn't even wipe it away.

Bianca, hailed as the strongest Valkyrie, now looked like a pitiful puppy, staring at Lin with bloodshot eyes.

Even if Lin were to interrogate her, she would never show such an expression.

Aren't you going to eat?

Lin put the enoki mushrooms into his mouth and enjoyed the delicious flavor as they burst onto his taste buds.

After swallowing, he picked up a piece of king oyster mushroom, the same color, with fluffy, plump flesh dripping with bright red broth.

"Want some?"

"..."

"Looks like I'm not going to eat it."

Lin ate the king oyster mushroom under Bianca's even redder gaze. He then picked up a third mushroom, this time a white mushroom with a little bit of red soup in a small bowl.

He didn't say anything, but handed it to Bianca, the meaning of which was clear.

Do you want some?

"I..." Bianca even forgot to struggle, her gaze constantly shifting between the forest and the white mushrooms, the mouthwatering soup becoming more and more tempting.

During the near-pause, she couldn't control her mouth.

"I want to eat..."

What would you like to eat?

"I want to eat..."

Lin listened intently to the girl's whispered words of shame and indignation.

"...mushroom."

"I didn't hear you."

"Mushroom."

In despair, she shouted, "I want to eat mushrooms!"

Lin nodded and held the chopsticks to her lips. She opened her mouth...

He then pulled the chopsticks back.

"Click".

Bianca bit down and missed; she could almost hear the groan of her teeth clashing together.

Lin took a step back, calmly put the mushroom in his mouth, and pointed at Bianca with his chopsticks. "If you want to eat, answer my question."

Chapter Forty-Six: Fifty Thousand Years

"Chewing, chewing, chewing..." Lin held the bowl and put food in his mouth. He was about a body length away from Bianca, enough for her to smell the aroma, but not enough to bite him. "You said I was from 50,000 years ago, why? Are you from 50,000 years in the future? The Fire-Chasing Moths disappeared 50,000 years in the future? And you..."

Lin bit off a piece of the enoki mushroom, swallowed it, and stared coldly at Bianca.

"I've also seen people who survived from 50,000 years ago."

Bianca was startled. How could he have deduced so much from just a few words?

But more importantly, he's emphasizing "50,000 years later," and he's using interrogative sentences throughout. Could it be...?

"You're not... one of the pioneers?"

"What is a pioneer? Who are the pioneers you have met?"

"So what exactly is this... no, is this the problem with this World Bubble? The true nature of that quantum distortion phenomenon?" Bianca murmured to herself, her thoughts finally connecting.

It's incredible; even in the Quantum Sea, for something like this to happen is an absolute miracle.

Using their respective World Bubble as the dividing point, Lin from 50,000 years ago and Bianca from 50,000 years later, crossed the scale of time and met here.

This is not due to different time flows between different worlds. Bianca was able to locate this World Bubble it was originally a fragment of the Mu Continent from her world. She was able to come here because of the power of the Durandal Holy Sword, a crystallization of technology from Previous Civilization, within her body.

It was as if fate had guided her to this World Bubble that exists outside of time.

Lin lowered his eyebrows and said, "Answer my question."

"I met a man who claimed to be a forerunner from Previous Civilization from 50,000 years ago. His name was Su. He told me to use the Second Divine Key to observe Parallel World and find a way to defeat the Honkai," Bianca said to Lin after sorting out her thoughts. "And another man, a man called the Venerable Lord, named Kevin."

Lin stood there, stunned.

The gathering dark clouds began to shed raindrops.

Sue, Kevin...

Unexpectedly, the 50,000-year time span was traversed through the peculiar phenomena of the Quantum Sea, allowing people separated by an entire civilization to meet here.

Lin was even more surprised to learn from Bianca that after the failure of the Fire Moth and the destruction of the Previous Civilization, he would also learn that Kevin and his comrades had survived to the next civilization and were still fighting for humanity.

He felt as if he had found a book about the future, a book filled with accounts of their failures.

But at the very bottom of Pandora's box, what remains is hope.

Humanity has not ended. Even if it failed once, a new civilization will be born 50,000 years later. Kevin and his team have not failed completely. They are still looking for new opportunities.

Many sorrows welled up in my heart, but what remained was comfort.

He's probably getting old to have this kind of thinking.

As for the outcome... did they still lose in the end? Lin only had this one thought in mind regarding this result.

"Open your mouth."

Lin silently walked up to Bianca with the bowl in his hand, picked up a thick white mushroom, and held it to her lips.

"I'll eat it myself... um!"

Lin seized the opportunity when she opened her mouth and stuffed the white onion mushroom into it. The white onion mushroom was plump and soft, and Lin stuffed it in with great force, instantly filling her entire oral cavity with a delicious aroma.

"Mmm... mmm..."

After silencing Bianca, Lin, ignoring her protesting gaze, returned to the fire and sat down, staring blankly at the crackling flames.

Bianca felt the chains were too tight, especially on certain parts. Was it really not intentional? She glanced at Lin, who seemed completely unconcerned, and swallowed the white onion mushroom with difficulty. The wonderful taste instantly conquered her taste buds, and the discomfort of having her mouth blocked disappeared in an instant.

The spicy broth brimming with white onion mushrooms made her throat feel hot. Her face flushed as she ate this unprecedented delicacy. Some bright red liquid, mixed with saliva, flowed from the corners of her mouth into the soft crevice of her chest.

The scene was rather unbearable to look at.

Lin sighed. After all, she was his junior.

He stood up again, picked up his chopsticks, and amidst Bianca's incessant whimpering, walked over to her and removed the half-eaten white onion mushroom from her mouth.

"You..." Bianca looked down at the translucent red liquid on her chest.

Even though she usually doesn't care about these things, she felt a bit shy at this moment.

"Let me go, I'll eat by myself." Bianca bit her bright red lower lip, looking at Lin's cold face.

"No." Lin picked up the most enoki mushrooms and wiped the rim of the bowl. "If you let me out, you'll take revenge on me."

"..."

Should we say he has self-awareness, or that he knowingly committed the crime...?

"Could you loosen it a little?" Bianca lowered her slightly flushed cheeks. "It's too tight around my chest..."

"Cannot."

"Why?"

"Because," Lin said casually, holding the enoki mushroom to her lips, "It's pleasing to the eye."

"Shameless!" Bianca glared at him through gritted teeth. "Your true colors are revealed when Rita and Einstein aren't around!"