Lin: Before It All Began / Lin: The Mastermind...?

"Perhaps some people cannot understand what I have written, but I still want to record everything. Yesterday, I... met my future self."

Sure enough, it recorded a crucial clue!

Kelin, however, did not feel joy, but rather great surprise.

The very first sentence recorded contradicted the previous two pieces of information.

The diary entry is dated "April 13th," the date Lin and Kevin set off for the hospital to find another Lin. This means that he had not yet met his other self at that time, and after something happened, Lin lost his memory, making it even more impossible for him to have recorded this.

What happened on April 12th, as recorded in the records?

He frankly stated that he had encountered his future self...

The second question concerns the word "future." It's important to understand that the information revealed by Qianqi suggests they are in a "Parallel World" rather than a "time loop."

This conflict, like the sense of unease Lin had always felt, was filled with an eerie feeling the moment it appeared.

Lin could only put it aside for now and continue watching.

"I can't explain it to you directly, but if you see my records, please don't trust anyone."

"Currently, 'I' am caught in the middle of a game, like a word game. Once the game starts, it can only develop towards a certain ending, and once it reaches the bad ending, everything will end."

"Do you understand? This is a game... or rather, it's a program. As long as the program doesn't have any bugs, then the worst outcome awaits 'me'. So 'my' goal is to make this program have bugs."

"No matter what, I will keep them alive, and you should do the same."

"Once they become puppets, they can no longer escape this world, and my death will only be my own."

"But... this is what they wanted."

"So, go find 'He,' who is by your side. 'He' can be anyone. Then defeat 'He' and change the course of the story."

"Remember, 'He' could be anyone."

The recording ends here.

Lin didn't know if there were any other records, but he didn't want to look for them.

The information recorded here was vague, but Lin already understood it.

Why "your future self"?

The record contains an analogy. "This is a program."

If no variables are used in the program, the result will not change, even if the program is run again.

"Lin," who wrote down the record, wanted the program to have a bug.

In other words, "Lin" already knows the result of the program; what he wants to do is add variables to the program.

How do we know the result?

"The future Lin" told him.

Lin got the priorities wrong.

Lin went to the hospital not to find another version of herself, but after meeting that other version of herself, she went to the hospital.

On April 12th, Lin met her "future self," who then told her the ending and that the two had reached some kind of agreement, the result of which was... Lin's amnesia.

Chapter Sixty-One: Lin: Before Everything Began

If Lin's guess is correct, then there are three versions of himself: MSA-079, the future "Lin", and himself.

He had initially thought that MSA-079 and the future "Lin" were the same person, but now it seems they are different. The future "Lin" is not from the future either; it's just that he can't be directly described in words, so he uses this ambiguous statement.

But even with this deduction, Lin still couldn't grasp the full picture of the incident, what the cause of everything was, and what the true identity of the person behind it all was.

Lin knew it must be related to his memories, and he also wanted to know what plan he and the future "Lin" had devised to erase all his memories.

Lin believes that one crucial element is still missing.

A few rays of moonlight shone through the gaps in the curtains. After hesitating for a moment, he tentatively reached his hand behind the notebook.

His body was brought to a standstill.

After a long pause, he finally pulled his hand back from behind the notebook, slowly opened it, and looked at the syringe in his hand.

"..."

The soft hum of the instruments continued for a long time. This place had remained unchanged for many years, resembling both a laboratory and a prison.

There is only one person being held here.

Lin watched through the one-way glass as the gray-haired girl with her head down was confined in a room that even Honkai cluster bomb couldn't penetrate. She seemed to sense something and looked up at where he was.

The girl has been imprisoned here for four years. Ever since Lin finally decided to let her live, she has been kept here by the Fire Moth.

She is Herrscher, yet she is not Herrscher.

The core of the Herrscher of Reason resides within her, but the true Herrscher consciousness is not within her.

The reason why Lin was the one to negotiate with her is very simple.

In the four years since, she had never seen the scenery outside this monotonous room, nor had she moved her body. Her mental state was extremely unstable. Apart from the remnants of the former chairman who secretly came here and obtained some information from her, no one else had been able to hear a single word from her.

Lin stared at her in silence for a long time, then turned on the loudspeaker and said into the microphone, "Qianqi, long time no see."

"...Lin." The girl raised her startlingly blood-red pupils and uttered a single word with utter helplessness.

She gave a warm smile, something she hadn't done in a long time.

The hacker who is different to everyone else, the Herrscher feared by others, only has a very ordinary smile in front of Lin.

"Haven't seen you for a long time."

Qianqi had forgotten how long it had been since she last met Lin. In this room, where life was even more monotonous than before, the concept of time had become blurred.

All day long, only a few researchers came and went indifferently, and the test data made it impossible for her to distinguish between wakefulness and sleep.

Lin could hear the joy in Qianqi's words, but she didn't know how to respond.

"How is it outside now?" Qianqi tried her best to make her voice sound less hoarse.

"... The Eleventh Honkai War has erupted, and this time we need your help."

"My... help?"

The gray-haired girl looked slightly puzzled, while Lin responded with a soft "hmm".

Not only the gray-haired girl, but also Aponia, who never participates in battles, will lend a hand this time.

"The Herrscher of the Eleventh Honkai War is an anti- Herrscher type Herrscher born from my body. We cannot approach him by normal means. We want to control him at the level of consciousness and then destroy him at the level of physical destruction."

Whether such methods are feasible is unknown, and there is no time for them to experiment. The "Herrscher" in front of them will be a key part of the plan.

"... But I cannot use the powers of Herrscher."

"Mobius will find a way to allow you to use your powers temporarily."

"Okay." Qianqi's pure smile was reflected in Lin's eyes. "I will help you."

"..."

Lin felt like he couldn't breathe.

He gazed at the girl's smiling face, and after a long while, he asked, "Have we met a long time ago...?"

Even though he wasn't very familiar with Qianqi, an indescribable pang of pain welled up deep inside him.

Qianqi was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "You must be imagining things. I don't like being hit on like this..."

"How far has the disaster spread?"

"A radius of fifty kilometers."

"..."

Lin listened to Fu Hua's report in silence, then closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

An absolute death zone with a radius of fifty kilometers.

Anyone who enters that area, whether ordinary human or Flame-Chaser, will die at the fastest speed. Moreover, this area is constantly expanding and moving, and the horrific destruction it will cause is entirely predictable.

"There's a new mission." Lin picked up his communicator, glanced at it, and confirmed that the agreed-upon plan was about to be implemented. He nodded to the members of the Poisoned Cocoon Squad, signaling them to prepare.

Pardo was not participating in the operation because she had just fallen seriously ill.

Chrono snorted coldly and said nothing. Lin made him a promise: to behave a little better during this operation.

Everyone else left the meeting room, but just then, Elysia walked in.

"You already have a mission? I wanted to talk to you more." The pink-haired girl understood his expression and walked towards him with a smile.

"... Let's talk about it when we get back." The man exhaled softly, his expression softening slightly upon seeing the girl. "There will be plenty of time later, and we can talk about whatever we want."

"In the future...?"

Two more times.

Two more Honkai will end it, and then everything he promised and everything he carried will be over.

As long as we can survive these two major Honkai...

"Two more times, then it will be over..."

He hypnotized himself, turning gentleness into cruelty.

"Don't you want to know what I'm going to tell you?" Elysia asked with a charming smile, posing a mysterious question.

"What?" Lin asked in a daze when he saw her smile.

"Actually, it's..."

"Bang!"

"I apologize for interrupting your conversation, but the bells have already rung, and the Cross of Sinners is about to descend upon the earth."

The bullet that passed through his body seemed to slow down in Lin's eyes.

He stared at the girl's smile until it froze and finally disappeared.

A figure stood at the doorway, a white mask resembling the mask of death, with blood-red pupils beneath the hood, mercilessly watching Lin as he gradually collapsed.

Gray... snake?

At that moment, Lin thought of something, and in the last second before losing consciousness, he looked with difficulty into the Gray Serpent's pupils.

And at this moment, those blood-red eyes transformed into mocking Prismatic Eyes.

In the end, the world sank into darkness.

Chapter Sixty-Two: Lin: The Mastermind...?

"Consciousness... invasion..."

"..."

"The second... constraint..."

The sea of blood was deep, and consciousness lost its form and weight, drifting in the sea of blood it had seen countless times before.

It was neither sinking nor rising, but merely a weak and fragile stagnation in the endless sea of blood, as if it were floating on a wave at any moment.

The Prismatic Eyes that had disappeared along with this sea of blood reappeared before my eyes. This time, its eyes were no longer cold as ice, but rather held a human-like mockery.

Lin guessed correctly. The Herrscher of Binding had witnessed the power of multiple core Herrscher and coveted the cores of other Herrscher. However, it also possessed the vengeful emotions of a human and the wisdom to guard against attacks from Lin, who knew it best. It wanted to regain control of Lin's body and obtain the other cores through him.

After being imbued with the qualities of all the Herrscher through the special Tenth Herrscher, He was able to use some of the abilities of the Herrscher of Reason. He took over most of the body of the Gray Serpent and used it to invade Lin's consciousness while his main body caused a massive Honkai.

He keenly sensed that Lin had devised a way to deal with him, which is why he acted at this crucial moment.

Lin and Prismatic Eyes gazed at each other across the sea of blood. A cold smile spread across the face that was identical to his own, and the surrounding seawater began to change.

"Forest..."

A familiar call rang out from beyond this sea, and a touch of pink, not belonging to this place, with the help of external forces, permeated this world.

The battle of wits has begun.

The threat posed by those Herrscher of Binding is more terrifying than imagined.