A World That Is Neither Gentle nor Perfect / Always Growing Up Amid Lies

"I don't want to pretend to be stupid anymore. I'll pretend to be stupid with you. It's like we can't get drunk at all. Alcohol has almost no effect on people like us, but we still pretend to be drunk."

Because being drunk gives you an excuse to do what comes next.

"So that's enough, this kind of thing is meaningless."

"Then just don't treat me like anyone else."

"..."

The man's voice refuted Delta's words without hesitation. He reached out and decisively lifted the girl's chin so that she could see her face clearly, and Lin could also see the expression on this calm and mature girl's face.

It's hard to imagine seeing the word "weak" on this girl's face.

"Anyway, I don't like being treated as a substitute. I am just me, not a substitute for anyone else. And to me, you are Delta. Your previous name doesn't matter. From the moment I met you, you have been a girl named Delta."

"Is liking someone so hard to say? I really like Delta who's by my side. Even though she can be sarcastic, unromantic, and aloof at times, I like those traits of hers."

That's why I say this is a particularly annoying thing about this man.

Delta stared up at him, her eyes welling up with tears.

She must have drunk too much. It's all that guy's fault; she's completely drunk.

"You're still too arrogant." Delta sighed softly, but couldn't help but smile.

The girl, who was as cold as an ice block, revealed a warm and lovely smile that she had almost forgotten.

Like spring returning to the earth... warm and full of life.

"Whoosh..."

Wearing a gloved hand, he gently pressed Lin down, his fingers slipping inside the half-gloved glove to lightly scratch the girl's palm. He felt her body gradually warming up through her clothes and softly asked, "Don't you want to drink?"

"No need." Delta's lips, glazed over, pressed against Lin's, and a smooth, fragrant tongue slipped into his mouth, bringing a faint, sweet cherry flavor.

They had never kissed like a real couple before; at most, they would just touch and then pull away, as if that was their bottom line.

The girl, who was usually more unrestrained than gentle, was now even more alluring under Lin's body. She wrapped her arms around Lin's neck and couldn't help but kiss his lips again after their lips parted. "Don't keep kissing me, you idiot."

Then she noticed that Lin Qi's gaze had unconsciously fallen on the horny growth on her head. She tilted her head and smiled dreamily, then grabbed Lin's hands and placed them on her two horns. "I didn't let you touch them before, but you can use them as a steering wheel today... Hurry up and drive, Lin."

This was also the first time she had called Lin by his name directly.

After that, everything became even more frantic, passionate, and selfless than before. It wasn't that she wanted to vent her emotions, but rather that she wanted Lin to vent everything into her body.

"Ah... so... I like it... Lin... tongue..."

Lin couldn't help but stick out his tongue slightly. "Don't be so intense... It's so hot... I can't hold back anymore..."

"Why... do I have to endure it... no matter how many times it happens today..."

The girl's tail swayed, as if sensing the joy and warmth in her heart, and rested on her smooth shoulder.

Afterwards, although they didn't drink alcohol, they drank a lot of other things, and they were all a little thirsty.

Lin brought over a glass of freshly squeezed cherry juice, with two bright red cherries on the rim, and handed it to Delta, who was leaning against the bed, lost in thought.

Looking at the girl drinking cherry juice, Lin couldn't help but say, "Indeed, it looks just like a cherry."

"What?" the pink-haired girl asked in confusion.

"Cherry usually represents a very energetic girl. You may look like you have nothing to do, but you are actually very active." Lin looked at the fresh cherry on the cup. "And it's also sweet and delicious."

"Hmph... what a sweet talker."

Delta lifted her lips from the rim of the glass, licked the cherry juice from the corner of her mouth, chuckled, then picked up a cherry from the glass, placed it on her tongue, and gently bit it with her teeth.

Would you like some sweet and delicious cherries?

She chuckled and pointed to the cherry in her mouth, her plump pink lips pressing down slightly.

The bright red flesh is so tender and juicy, it's incredibly tempting.

Chapter Thirty-Two: A World That Is Neither Gentle Nor Perfect

"Su, is something the matter?"

Standing behind the railing, Lin suddenly turned around. His gaze, like a sharp, cold glint, sliced through the moonlight and sea breeze, landing directly on a corner behind him.

Silence.

A quiet, yet unsettling atmosphere emerged as his gaze shifted.

The sea breeze is no longer gentle, stinging the face; the waves are no longer mild, crashing against the boat and making it rock.

The moon broke through the dark clouds, and the man with his eyes closed silently walked out from around the corner. His long gray hair fluttered in the wind and waves, and his calm demeanor made him look like a seasoned sage.

"Lin, are you feeling alright?"

Su didn't open her eyes, but Lin could still feel that the other person was "looking" at him. This unassuming doctor was surprisingly sharp in ways that ordinary people couldn't reach.

"... Does every one of you have to ask this question?"

"I am a doctor." Su stretched out his hand, and a drop of water blown by the sea breeze landed squarely in the middle of his palm. He looked up, and the full moonlight illuminated his forehead. "My mentor and my predecessors have told me that doctors are benevolent and virtuous, and to refuse to save someone in distress is to participate in murder."

Lin turned her head back and looked into the unseen distance. "I'm fine, don't worry."

The truth is, Su could also sense that Lin's mental state was very stable, and his continuous and long-lasting consciousness was even more solid than Lin's before.

However, while the perception of abilities is one aspect, Su personally does not believe that Lin You is as calm as he appears and perceives.

"What are you worried about, Lin?" Su asked.

Lin didn't answer, but instead spoke in a muffled voice, hoarse as if filled with lead. "... Su, you went to Eden's concert with Kevin and the others that time, right? How did it feel?"

That time...

Sue still remembers it vividly. It was supposed to be Kevin, Lin, and Sue going to a concert, but Lin left at that time and joined Moth Chaser. In the end, one of the three was replaced by Mei.

Why did Lin suddenly ask about this? Did he see it in Su's memories?

"That day... Eden's song was very beautiful."

"That's good." Lin nodded. "Su, if one day you disagree with the actions of the people around you, even if they are acting in order to defeat the Honkai, what would you choose?"

"Are you talking about Mobius?"

"... Think whatever you want."

Disagree? To be honest, that's a broad term. Even though Sue and Mobius had differing ideologies, he didn't completely oppose Mobius; he simply ended Mobius collaboration and left her laboratory.

Judging from Lin's tone, this so-called disagreement must have reached an irreconcilable point of division.

"If it's my fault, I'll hope someone can stop me; if it's someone else's fault, I'll try my best to stop them."

"Su, sometimes it's not a matter of right or wrong, and you can't expect your past self to have the same thoughts as you do now."

"I know."

Even so, Su remained steadfast in his belief that he would remember his naive and childish thoughts when he was about to forget everything in the future.

When Su was still a doctor, the most common question he heard from patients and their families was, "Don't you doctors have any compassion? Why can't you save Him?"

At that moment, he couldn't help but want to tell those people that if he didn't have compassion, he wouldn't have become a doctor, but after seeing them break down and cry, Sue chose to remain silent.

Since he chose to become a doctor, and they chose to entrust their lives to him, he has taken on the weight of those lives.

Su knew that such thoughts were somewhat unrealistic, because his only responsibility was to save these people's lives. Their deaths were not directly related to Su, but he would still often let those cries pierce his dreams to remind himself not to forget the weight of life.

"... Su, you are the chosen one for Constant Sand Project. Once the Second Divine Key is completed, Constant Sand Project will begin. At that time, you will see the many complexities of countless worlds." Lin also reached out and caught a drop of water. "Right and wrong, dreams and reality, good and evil, love and hate, these will all become factors that change you."

"You once drifted in the Quantum Sea."

"Yes, something there changed me forever."

"... Thank you for your advice, Lin."

"Su, if time really has an end, then I hope we will meet at the end someday."

Lin's words made Su frown, but Lin was unwilling to say anything more. He didn't even look at Su again; he had said what he needed to say.

"Brother Lin."

Lin Rong squatted down and patted the blue-haired girl's head. His movements were gentle and tender, and his eyes revealed an unusually straightforward gentleness.

"Where are you going, Brother Lin?"

Griseo tilted her head, looking at Lin's face with a blank expression.

"Why would you ask that?" Lin took off his coat and draped it over Griseo's thin body, asking indifferently.

"Because Brother Lin's face is the same as when Mom and Dad left," Griseo answered absentmindedly. "It has a familiar color, and then he's going to a very far place, and he may never come back."

Do you know where Mom and Dad went?

"Everyone says they went to work somewhere else, but actually they went to the beach."

"Beach?"

"Yes, everyone is on vacation at the beach, looking at the color of the sea, sitting together and laughing."

Lin was silent for a moment, then asked Griseo, "How did you know?"

"Hmm... I don't know either." Griseo seemed to be thinking very seriously. After a while, she tugged at Lin's sleeve. "Brother Lin, you're leaving too, right?"

Lin nodded, his fingers gently stroking Griseo's blue hair, his eyes tender. "I'm going to the beach to find your mom and dad, and many other people... they're all waiting for me there."

Why is it absolutely necessary to go?

"Because... this is not a gentle world. It has always been chaotic and crazy, so we need to go to a gentle world, a world that can accommodate gentle people."

"Oh..."

Griseo nodded, seemingly understanding.

"Brother Lin, will you come back?"

The man paused for a moment, then solemnly said to Griseo, "Yes, I will return when little Griseo transforms this world into a gentler one."

"Yes, then Griseo will definitely paint a gentle world."

"It's a promise." Lin looked up at the moon, his expression relieved. "Before that, Griseo can't go to that beach."

Yes, this world is neither gentle nor perfect. It is like a broken mirror, reflecting fragmented images, and when you reach out to touch it, you are cut and bleed.

Therefore, it is necessary to...

Chapter Thirty-Three: Growing Up Amidst Lies

The night was long, and Lin didn't go back to his room to sleep. Instead, he went to the kitchen and made some fried rice. He sat on the deck and ate his midnight snack with kimchi and wine in silence.

Many people have commented on one issue: Lin is a repressed pervert.

Although most of their statements were exaggerated, Lin himself did not object to this statement.

For example, now, when he has some free time, he sometimes thinks about which of the girls he knows would be the most suitable to be his wife if he were to actually get married in the future.

Lin's first thought was of two girls representing different Eastern countries, Ying and Hua. They were indeed more virtuous than other girls, and should be people who would feel more at ease in their company.

However, Sakura's relationship with him is quite delicate. Lin felt that if it weren't for Rin's matter, Sakura probably wouldn't have had any private interactions with him.

Hua is quite good in every way. He is well-educated and reasonable, and he is perfectly capable of being a good wife and mother. Moreover, he comes from a family of martial arts practitioners, and he has always had a good impression of these professions related to inheritance.

I heard that Hua's cooking isn't very good... But that doesn't matter; he doesn't have the stereotype that "women must stay at home, cook, and do housework."

However, for this girl whom he had always regarded as half a younger sister and half a junior, Lin needed to overcome more of his mental hurdles.

... That sounds so strange, why do I feel guilty?

Then there are the other girls... To be honest, Lin never thought they would dress up in wedding dresses and get married in a proper manner. It always gives him a sense of novelty. He'll be grateful if they don't blow up his wedding car tires when he actually gets married in the future.

Will that day really come? Just like this island trip, where everyone can shed their identities and engage in some silly, nonsensical banter.

Lin was lost in thought about the future when a few drops of seawater spilled into his wine glass. He looked down at his reflection in the glass.

The wine glass reflects the moon, and the black pupils reflect the moon in the wine glass.

Moonlight is the moon's lie, and what he saw was an illusion of illusion.

"Um... Brother Lin, are you free? I need to talk to you about something..."

The fluffy cat ears twitched in the moonlight as the somewhat nervous heterochromatic-eyed girl looked at the man holding the wine glass.

Her cat-like body trembled slightly. The familiar man before her gave her the feeling of returning to that Dusk Street, where he sat in a wheelchair, half-dead yet dangerously terrifying.