The Right Remedy / No One Can Read Anyone's Mind

"But... what's the problem with that?"

"..."

"Even if all the memories of the Imaginary Tree disappear, the Imaginary Tree is destroyed, and the consciousness of the Herrscher of Thunder perishes here, it will not pose any obstacle to our plan."

The woman's clenched fist gradually loosened, her eyes cold, it was unclear whether she agreed with the man's statement, or...

"In short, isn't it good to relax and watch a good show before the 'final game' arrives?"

The man's sneer faded from the woman's ears, his lingering laughter echoing for a long time, like an eerie wind passing through a narrow valley.

Chapter Thirty: Treating the Symptoms

"Lin, what's wrong with you! Are you being controlled! Wake up!"

"Bang!"

The lightning blade flashed, cutting through the dark mist with a dazzling light, but was dispersed by an armored arm. A ghostly figure silently emerged from the Black Mist, wielding a white lance in one hand and a dark spear in the other, and charged towards Mei.

Mei's light purple pupils emitted a faint light unique to her Herrscher abilities. Her feet landed heavily on the ground, and electricity shot out!

But the helmeted man, anticipating this, threw his lance to the ground, and the dense vegetation instantly blocked all the electric current!

The next second, the man was already wielding a spear, clashing with Mei. The adrenaline-pumping hand-to-hand combat was a back-and-forth battle of exquisite swordsmanship between the two, with the man pressing forward step by Mei until Mei didn't even have time to use her Herrscher abilities.

"Bass!"

Suddenly, the man sinisterly raised his right hand to the tip of the spear, using it as a coin to cleverly dodge Mei's slash, and thrust the blade towards her chest!

Great opportunity!

Mei instantly changed the direction of her blade, from a regular grip to a reverse grip, and clashed with the spear!

Sparks flew from the friction of the flexible blade against the spear's edge as it slashed towards the man's hand.

But just as he was about to succeed, the man's movements changed again. He manipulated the blade of the spear as if it were a small knife, pressing the blades of both weapons downwards together!

Mei reacted quickly, releasing one hand and clenching it into a fist to punch at his helmet, but the man was faster than her. The moment she raised her hand, he accurately intercepted her elbow with his free hand. The impact on her joint made her arm go numb, and her fist grazed past the man.

But this also gave Mei the opportunity to use her Herrscher Authority; terrifying lightning crackled and flowed from her body, about to erupt!

But at this very moment...

This one moment.

The azure blue viewing window on his helmet dimmed and went out, like a glimmer of light tearing through the darkness, and golden particles began to emanate from it.

"————"

A feeling of powerlessness instantly swept through his body, the strength that had been filling him suddenly stopped, and the electric light flashing on his body vanished with a bang.

Mei's shrunken pupils reflected the pale vortex that had gathered in the man's hand.

The Class President's move...?

A smile spread across the face of the girl who looked remarkably like Elysia: "That's right, Lin, let's fulfill our promise to Elysia, hahaha..."

Unexpectedly, the man's fist, which was wrapped in a vortex of energy, stopped in front of Mei's forehead a fraction of a second after the girl finished speaking, without advancing any further.

"...But you're not Elysia." He turned to the girl and said in a flat tone.

"..."

"..."

This unexpected action left both Mei and the girl speechless.

For some reason, his tone, which was no different from before, sounded infuriatingly innocent to Mei at this moment?

This left the girl dumbfounded.

"I am Alicia." She said each word slowly and deliberately, forcing the words out through her teeth.

The man shook his head seriously. "No, it's not the hair color."

"You can't even see the color!" The girl was so angry she wanted to grind her teeth to dust. Why did she have to be so talkative? She had already achieved her goal!

Her impatience reached its peak at this moment. "No matter what, destroy her consciousness quickly! Lin!"

"Then forget it."

"What did you say?"

"You said 'no matter what,' which means you admit that you are not Elysia, but you also want me to fulfill my promise to Elysia, so it's not possible."

The girl's eyes and mouth twitched. "Fine... then I won't admit that I'm not Elysia."

"Just because you don't admit it doesn't mean you are Elysia."

"..."

The man's rigorous and impeccable logic overwhelmed the girl. Her small mouth opened and closed, and she babbled woodenly for a long time without managing to utter a single word.

What's going on here?

Mei held the knife blankly, unsure whether to fight or not.

"Time's up." The man's spear and the lance on the ground turned into particles and disappeared. He walked to the side of the distraught girl and put his hand on her shoulder.

"Wait a minute, are you the real Lin? What happened?" Mei asked anxiously as the man gradually turned into specks of light and disappeared.

But the man never uttered a single word to her from the beginning, just like his cold helmet, which was as lifeless as a dead object.

The two disappeared from sight. Mei stood in the cemetery, looking at the small, nameless tombstone at her feet. The heavy rain soaked her hair.

"Please, sister! You and Brother Lin have finally come to see me, just go to the amusement park together, okay?"

Sakura was completely helpless as Rin held her hand and acted coquettishly. But she couldn't trouble Lin again. He had already been treated badly enough yesterday, not only being kicked into the wall but also not getting any sleep all night.

Rin insisted on going to the amusement park with Sakura one more time, and Sakura remembered their promise to go when they had some free time, but...

Sakura glanced almost imperceptibly at Lin, who was sitting on the sofa quietly drinking tea.

Every time she saw Lin, she would think of his conversation with Ling last night, and now she was actually looking forward to seeing how Lin would react.

If she invites Lin, will he agree?

Thump.

The heartbeat was alarmingly fast.

"Brother Lin ~"

Whether it was a tacit understanding between the sisters or a change of heart after failing to get what she wanted from her older sister, Ling turned around and ran towards Lin with tears in her eyes.

Lin didn't say anything, and put down the teacup after taking a sip of tea.

He uttered a single word. "Okay."

"That's wonderful! Brother Lin is so good to me!"

Sakura glared at Rin, who was sticking her tongue out at her, but she was in an unusually good mood, a gentle smile curving her thin lips.

"Let's go~" Rin came over, grabbed Sakura's hand, and dragged her towards the bedroom.

Sakura blinked and asked curiously, "What are you doing?"

"Hey-hey..."

Ling smiled mysteriously, pulled Sakura into the room, locked the door, and then looked Sakura up and down with a wicked grin.

Sakura felt a chill run down her spine under her gaze, and frowned slightly. "What's wrong?"

"Of course, I'm dressing up my older sister! Although she usually wears headphones, her clothes are always very outdated. She always gives the impression of trying to be fashionable even though she doesn't understand fashion, which is not good."

Sakura does indeed prefer ordinary outfits; the most fashionable and coolest one she owns is actually her combat armor.

"Is there?" Sakura asked indifferently. "I don't think it's necessary. I dress like this all the time."

"Is it really necessary to go on a date with Brother Lin?"

The pink-haired girl's usually sharp face instantly flushed slightly. She looked at Rin, who was covering her mouth and chuckling, in a panic. "W-What date... What are you talking about..."

"Huh? Aren't you looking forward to it, sister? When I said I wanted Brother Lin to come along, were you secretly watching Brother Lin's reaction?" Ling's smile grew increasingly arrogant.

Sakura stood there in a panic. Rin had seen her even with such a subtle movement. No wonder she's her younger sister.

"Hehe... What if Brother Lin gets other girls who are good at dressing up and know how to be charming?"

"We'll do what needs to be done." Sakura's mouth tasted slightly bitter.

She was a blood-stained killer, and the kind of person Lin hated most was someone like her.

Sakura heard everything he said last night, but Lin had only said it to Rin. He hoped Rin wouldn't hate Sakura because of what she had done, but that didn't mean Lin himself would accept someone who had raised a knife against his own people.

Her feelings for Lin were complex, a mixture of admiration, respect, longing, and inferiority... She was like a shadow with nowhere to hide under the brightest midday sun.

Sakura sometimes didn't even dare to imagine it, as fantasies were too filthy and made her feel ashamed.

"No way! I don't want Brother Lin to get together with any girl other than my sister!"

Sakura stared nervously at the loudly shouting Rin, then glanced at the tightly closed door. "What are you saying..."

"In short, doesn't your sister also want to impress Brother Lin this time?"

Rin's words struck the softest spot in Sakura's heart.

How can we make Lin look at us in a new light?

"Hehe... Sister, do you know what special preferences Brother Lin has? It's the easiest way to address those preferences."

Seeing Sakura's expression, Rin walked towards the wardrobe with a grin. Rin had bought Sakura a lot of clothes, but Sakura had never worn them. Today, she would let her have a good time.

"Special...preferences." Sakura's mind wandered, recalling Elysia's casual remark, and she murmured, "Legs and...armpits..."

"Wow... Brother Lin's fetish is quite... lewd." Ling heard Ying's whisper, stroked her chin, and then revealed a wicked smile. "But, it's not bad..."

Chapter Thirty-One: No One's Thoughts Are Unfathomable

"Is... is this really okay?"

Sakura's hands and heart trembled. Holding the things Rin had handed her, she swallowed hard and shook her head frantically at Rin, who was tilting her head and chuckling. "Let's just forget about it."

"Of course! I've heard that men who are attracted to armpits are particularly fond of body odor, and if they also like legs, then they definitely have a thing for smelly feet and sweat." Rin declared, pointing to what Sakura was holding and explaining righteously, "Long stockings and boots will definitely stuff the boots full of warm sweat. When we come back from the amusement park, and she takes off her boots in front of Brother Lin, revealing her wet, warm, and smelly feet in white long stockings, he will definitely... hehe..."

Ling Chun's innocent face contorted into a grotesque smile that was utterly lewd, just like that of a middle-aged man.

Sakura was so embarrassed by Rin's vivid description that her lips trembled. She waved her hands frantically, "How could that be? How could Lin like sweaty feet..."

"Why not? Sister, you're too idealistic about Brother Lin. Does being a really cool person mean you have to have proper quirks?" Ling snorted knowingly. "Some people look even more respectable Brother Lin, but they secretly use girls' shoes as water bottles, filling them with sweat right after they take them off..."

"Huh? Huh!" Sakura blinked much more frequently. "Don't you find it disgusting? And isn't that unhygienic?"

"They'll even find it delicious! A pretty girl's sweat is sweet and sour!"

"But Lin wouldn't do that, would he?"

"That's not necessarily true," Rin whispered into Sakura's ear. "Besides, maybe they'll make you drink it? I've heard that some men get so excited when they see boots that they can't control themselves and just use the boots... and even make girls..."

Upon hearing what followed, Sakura's eyes widened. Her pitiful knowledge of that area, comparable to that of a junior high school girl, was astonishingly supplemented today, and her worldview collapsed as a result.

"W-Where did you learn all this from?" After hearing this, Sakura blushed so much that she felt her face burning.

"Online, of course."

"Seriously, don't watch such... weird stuff in the future."

But if Lin really were to do that to her...

It seems... it's not impossible...

She even began to imagine the scene: dim lighting, Lin's chin, her heart racing, shy physical contact...

Ke Ling's mischievous grin pulled her back to reality. "Stop daydreaming, sister. Let's take action instead of just thinking about it."

Startled awake, Sakura was instantly overwhelmed with guilt and shame, yet the seed of immorality sprouting within her gave her a strange feeling.

"For the upper body, how about a combination of a gradient transparent shirt and a short jacket? I saw my sister wearing this kind of outfit when I went to Moth Chaser last time. It looks very trendy, but she doesn't wear it outside."

"Because it was combat armor, I felt ashamed..."

Every time Sakura thought about it, she would mentally criticize the armor design chief of the Equipment Department of the Fire Moth. Not only were the hot pants so short that they exposed her entire thighs, even the roots, but the gradually transparent shirt made her lower abdomen and the area below her chest faintly visible. What help was that in combat? Was Honkai zombie Honkai Beast by using her body to confuse them?

"Hurry up and change it, hurry up and change it, don't keep Brother Lin waiting too long."

Without a word, Rin pounced on her. Sakura gasped as Rin groped her, stripping her clothes off and exposing her flawless body to the sunlight streaming through the sheer curtains...