Alive · Silent / Chieftain · Sigh

Yan Luo silently pointed the tip of his blade at the Herrscher of Erosion, that dangerous woman.

She has a bad habit that bothers her, just like Lin's, that she finds repulsive.

I will always keep any promise I make.

Since he had promised that guy to protect Raiden Mei, Yan Luo wouldn't let anything happen to her.

"Isn't it pathetic? We fight to the death for one person, and he doesn't even bother to show his face." The Herrscher of Erosion produced a crystal bow identical to Elysia's, and the hand holding the bow hung at her side.

"You bastard, don't try to make your cover-up sound so noble. That tone makes me want to vomit. I'll throw up in your face later." Yan Luo's two sentences left the Herrscher of Erosion speechless, her smile freezing. Yan Luo then turned to Mei and said sternly, "Aren't you going yet, Raiden Mei?"

Mei was also confused about the situation. Yan Luo was, in theory, Lin's enemy. She had almost killed Lin before and ultimately died at Lin's hands, so why was she here again...?

However, Mei had spent some time with Yan Luo and did not sense any malice from Yan Luo, so at that moment she believed in Yan Luo.

She immediately drew her sword resolutely and looked at the Herrscher of Erosion: "No, we'll just... take her directly..."

"No, she is ultimately a virus rooted in the consciousness of the Imaginary Tree and Lin. Unless the entire Imaginary Tree can be eradicated, she cannot be killed."

Yan Luo stopped Mei and urged her with an even colder gaze, "Hurry up and go."

"... Okay, be careful."

"It's none of your concern."

Mei turned and walked toward the next anchor point, while the Herrscher of Erosion watched the whole thing with great interest, but made no attempt to stop her.

After Mei disappeared, the blue-purple-haired girl looked up and smiled at the silver-haired girl, saying, "Logically speaking, you're also from the Lin family, right? Why don't we sit down and have a chat?"

"I don't have the habit of talking to smelly rats."

Yan Luo's lack of appreciation made the Herrscher of Erosion turn cold again, but she also sighed softly, "A rat... wanting to survive is indeed no different from a rat."

"Have you finished muttering? If you're done, then you might as well die."

The silver-white figure suddenly disappeared before our eyes, leaving a long sonic boom, like a giant bullet crashing into the Herrscher of Erosion!

The Herrscher of Erosion let out a silvery laugh, took a step back, drew her bow, and fired a crystal arrow.

"Bang!"

Unable to even hinder them, the crystal arrow was easily shattered, but the broken crystals rapidly spread in mid-air, forming a huge cage that enveloped the two of them.

The next moment, Yan Luo appeared in front of the Herrscher of Erosion. She raised her long sword, which was wrapped in Black Mist, and slashed down heavily at the girl, intending to split her in two!

"Throat!"

The crystal bow and longsword clashed, the intense sparks illuminating their expressions: one was cold and sinister, the other smiling.

In the half-second stalemate, a half-body mechanical humanoid appeared behind Yan Luo. Sharp mechanical claws pierced into the shoulders of the Herrscher of Erosion before she could react, and then Yan Luo kicked her hard in the abdomen!

"Bang!"

The Herrscher of Erosion was sent flying backward, blood streaking through the air in a blinding spray. Yan Luo, seizing the opportunity, hurled his longsword, piercing the Herrscher's abdomen and pinning him to the ground.

The Black Mist emanating from the longsword instantly swallowed the Herrscher of Erosion whole, and when it dissipated, the blue-purple-haired girl had vanished without a trace.

"Heh... How terrifying~ Is this the Herrscher of Reason who possesses the characteristics of ten Herrscher?"

Yan Luo turned around and saw the unharmed Herrscher of Erosion sitting comfortably with her legs crossed on the ruins in the scene. She looked at Yan Luo and said, "But you said it yourself, you can't kill me."

"You're not even alive, so of course I can't kill you."

"..."

Faced with Yan Luo's biting sarcasm, the Herrscher of Erosion remained silent for a moment, then snapped her fingers.

One after another, dark figures staggered to their feet from the ruins and rushed toward Yan Luo...

Chapter Nineteen: Living and Silence

"Bang—"

With a backhand slash, the silver-haired girl blocked the attack from behind. As if she had eyes in the back of her head, she kicked out without turning her head, landing a sharp, numbing sound on the face of the shadowy figure. The shadowy figure was instantly decapitated and scattered into a cloud of Black Mist.

After a fierce battle, fewer than three shadowy figures remained. Yan Luo shook hands with Black Abyss White Flower, with a mechanical humanoid figure floating behind him. He coldly stared at the remaining shadowy figures, calculating how to quickly eliminate the rest.

"Boom!"

Suddenly, a light so dazzling it could illuminate the night sky lit up, moving so fast that even Yan Luo could barely react and dodge out. His right arm melted the instant it touched the torrent of light.

She quickly retreated and half-crouched on the ground, glancing at her empty right shoulder, and coldly watching the Herrscher of Erosion put down her bow.

"Took down a full eight Herrscher, impressive. Although they weren't the real ones, they weren't complete imposters either." The Herrscher of Erosion drew her bow to its fullest extent once more, aiming at Yan Luo, who was crouching on the ground seemingly exhausted. "Even if you are also Lin, as long as you hinder my survival... Heh, Elysia shouldn't say such terrible things~"

Yan Luo sighed and slowly rose in front of the Herrscher of Erosion, her cold face showing no sign of anxiety or tension.

"You self-righteous, brainless idiot, do you think you've won?" Yan Luo's wound glowed, and a brand new arm was regenerated out of thin air, bandages quickly wrapping around it. "You think I can't do anything to you just because I can't kill you?"

The Herrscher of Erosion's expression turned serious. The Honkai Energy reaction of the Yan Luo in front of her, which was originally unremarkable, suddenly increased significantly. The total amount of Honkai Energy that should have been weaker for the Herrscher of Reason compared to other Herrscher seemed to be inapplicable to her.

Yan Luo was actually holding back just now...

"Wait, wait, wait... wait!"

A stuttering voice, like a fast-paced clapper talk, came from the air, causing Yan Luo, who was about to make a move, to stop. A strange light flashed in her eyes, but she quickly hid it and muttered under her breath, "**".

"... I can hear you."

"What's up?"

"Isn't that enough? I didn't stop you from helping Raiden Mei, but it's not appropriate to continue like this."

"..."

Without much hesitation, Yan Luo decisively withdrew his hand and glanced at the Herrscher of Erosion with a very contemptuous look.

"Congratulations, you can 'survive' again."

"..."

Before the Herrscher of Erosion could react, Yan Luo's figure vanished in a blur, leaving only the blue-purple-haired girl with her eerie eyes. After a long while, she too left this space.

And so, all was calm again.

"Prometheus, I need an explanation."

"Beep - We are currently outside the service area and do not provide Q&A services."

"You should be my Artificial Intelligence, so why did you attack me and disobey my orders?"

"Beep - We are currently outside the service area and do not provide Q&A services."

"..."

No matter what Lin said, the gray-haired cyborg girl responded with an unchanging poker face, to the point that Lin didn't know what to say anymore.

But it was clear that she harbored deep hostility, and her eager expression suggested she was ready to kick him into a ditch at any moment.

This time, Lin really didn't know which of Prometheus's trigger points he had encountered. The thoughts of an Artificial Intelligence simply cannot be deduced using common sense... Speaking of which, do Artificial Intelligence have trigger points?

Seeing that she was guarding Hua, Lin couldn't get close for the time being, so he simply looked up at Mobius in the tree.

"What are you doing?" Mobius, who had been watching the show with a smile, suddenly snapped to attention and looked at him warily.

"I think we need to talk."

"There's nothing to talk about," Mobius said with a sneer. "I just don't like you."

"Is that so?" Old Lin said calmly. "Then it seems there's really no need to tell you. I was originally thinking..."

"..."

What else are you thinking about?

Mobius listened intently when Lin suddenly stopped talking. She was puzzled, wondering what he was going to say, but she restrained her curiosity, otherwise she would have asked.

Furthermore, Lin's decision to terminate the agreement was not without reason.

There's some noise.

Kevin and Sue stood up at the same time, Eden and Hua also turned to look in the same direction. The once peaceful jungle began to stir, as if it were awakening from a dream.

"Howl--"

A tremendous roar reverberated through the jungle, causing the leaves of the trees to tremble violently, insects to flee from the soil, and migratory birds to take flight in fright.

As we all know, in a forest with a complex ecosystem, there are a rich variety of species, with large predators eating small ones, and carnivores eating herbivores, all in an orderly manner.

And among the fierce carnivores, the one standing at the top is... the king!

They freely enjoy their prey alone, displaying their domineering power and the right to mate with females!

The most terrifying carnivore, the stench it stirs up sweeps across the entire forest!

"Howl--"

The roar drew closer, and everyone became alert. Only Su seemed to sense something, frowning with a look of... confusion on his face.

"Boom!"

A swift, beastly shadow burst out of the woods, seemingly unafraid of the orange-yellow flames. Could this be some strange game project?

However, after the beastly figure rushed out, it did not pounce on the group, but instead changed direction and ran wildly in other directions.

Um?

Kevin and Lin exchanged a glance, seeing the same question in each other's eyes.

It seems to be... running for its life?

"Ooh, boo boo boo!"

Suddenly, an even more powerful war cry, sounding like the bonfire ritual of some savage tribe, came from the jungle. Then, in full view of everyone, a white-haired man, completely naked except for an apron made of grass around his waist, rushed out.

The man wore a mask resembling the bone mask of some tribe, was covered in mud, held a stone spear, and kept making strange noises like "Ooh-boo-boo-boo!" while slapping his mouth with one hand. Then, he suddenly lunged forward and chased after the beast king on all fours in the direction it had fled.

"..."

Silence.

Only silence.

Since arriving on the island, they had encountered numerous bizarre events in just one day, and the scene before them undoubtedly shocked them once again.

"That's... Chrono, right?" After a long while, Mobius asked uncertainly, a hint of horror on her face.

"Based on the comparison of body shape, voice, and appearance, the savage and Chrono have a 99% overlap, so it can be confirmed as Chrono." Prometheus gave the answer when the data stream in his eyes dimmed.

"..."

Soon after, they saw the "wild man" dragging the enormous carcass of the king of beasts out of the forest, step by step, and then come to Lin's side, gesturing with his hands as if he wanted to have a deep conversation with him using primitive means of communication.

The silence continues.

Chapter Twenty: The Chief's Sigh

Chrono's jumping around made him look exactly like a savage tribal chief. His overuse of interjections was speechless, and his perfectly Chrono mask concealment, along with his immersive performance, made people almost wonder if his true nature had been revealed.

Fortunately, everyone knew that this was definitely his mission.

"Woo-wah woo-wah!"

The savage chieftain was very dissatisfied with everyone's silence, but in fact, no one could answer him. After all, no one understood the savage language, especially since it was the savage language created by Chrono. The language only had two words, and the meaning was conveyed entirely by changes in tone and pitch.

"Is the mission to play the role of a savage...? Can't you speak normally?" Lin tried to communicate with Chrono. Even if the other party couldn't speak normally, the strong sense of impatience emanating from him wouldn't lie.

However, Chrono neither nodded nor shook his head; he... was still "woo-wah woo-wah".

"Hmph, so because the mission requires us to pretend to be savages, 'not understanding the language of civilized people' is also one of the conditions?" Mobius had already guessed the truth by now, and she laughed heartily, "Chrono, you've finally met your match."

Did Chrono not hear her taunts? Of course he did, but he couldn't do anything about Mobius. Even if he understood, he had to pretend he didn't.

Under Chrono's glaring gaze, Mobius chuckled, picked up a wooden stick, and tossed it aside. "Go, go, go, bring the stick back."

You bastard... He's a savage, not a dog!

Lin Ze was very welcoming to Chrono. First of all, Chrono's personality was not suitable for being an inside man, and coupled with this comedic mission, another option could be eliminated.

He felt like he was playing a Pokémon game, finding them one by one and devising different strategies based on their personalities.

Thanks to the beast meat that Chrono dragged back, they even had an extra midnight snack... However, Chrono himself was very irritable and angry, as if they had offended his dignity as the chieftain of the savages by taking his prey and eating it.

That night, we rested.

Lin lay under the rustling leaves, then suddenly opened his eyes and turned to look at the branch of another tree. There he saw a venomous snake with its tongue flicking out coiled around the branch, its eyes shooting out a cold, dark light at him.