Two People of the Current Civilization / New Retainers

"Clatter".

The meat chunks were put into the water.

He turned around, revealing a horrifying face with his entire right cheek cut open, leaving only a hand and an eye, completely devoid of any human appearance.

Yet he still gazed at Kallen with such calmness, so calm that... she felt a sense of unease more terrifying than that of monsters and vampires.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: Two People in Modern Civilization

"Durandal, you seem to be looking for something?"

"..."

To be honest, for the first time, Bianca felt that this meticulous, understanding, considerate, and gentle maid was using her keen observation skills in the wrong place, which made Bianca feel a little annoyed.

But Bianca herself quickly characterized this annoyance as an unnecessary outburst, and that she had neither reason nor right to be angry with Rita.

As for the smiling maid standing at the door of the archives, Bianca was even less likely to slap her.

However, Bianca's thinking was very straightforward, and she didn't feel there was anything wrong with it. So she put down the storage device in her hand and said to Rita directly, "Rita, do you remember our experience of going to the World Bubble to investigate the Aether Anchor?"

"Of course, Durandal, it was an unforgettable experience that I can never forget, and it was there that you inherited the name Durandal." Rita crossed her arms in front of her apron and smiled elegantly. "Are you reminiscing about what happened back then?"

"No, but I want to find information related to the Aether Anchor and the Quantum Sea ... preferably more information about the World Serpent." Bianca paused for a moment, then decided to include the World Serpent as well. The man was Lin's close friend, and he should also have a significant connection with Lin.

"Excuse me, what are you doing here?"

"To save one person."

Bianca answered directly.

Her flowing golden hair was reflected in Rita's stunned eyes.

Bianca is a resolute and straightforward person, Rita knows this better than anyone else, which leads to Bianca occasionally becoming the subject of gossip and teasing from Rita.

But this look... it's the same as before, yet it exudes a completely different meaning.

"I must bring him back." Bianca examined the storage device in her hand. She didn't have a deep understanding of this information. Although she wasn't the type who didn't use her brain at all, she was definitely a pure fighter. Her knowledge was just enough for her needs. And trying to find clues related to that person in the vast Schicksal database, which was many times larger than the entire human society, was practically a pipe dream.

But she won't give up.

Upon waking up and seeing the message left to her by that person, spanning fifty thousand years, she was momentarily devastated and lost. But in the end, Bianca's strong heart and her pride prevented her from lingering in meaningless pain any longer, and she began to investigate information related to that person.

Fifty thousand years.

This span of time is so vast that it could drive any person, any creature, and anything to despair.

With each passing day, the world changes dramatically, mountains turn into valleys, and plains into oceans. What are the chances of finding any trace of a person from these 50,000 years?

But so what?

Bianca said that even if she had to tie someone up, she would bring that person back. She, Bianca Durandal Atagina, is not someone who would give up!

"Durandal, you seem... to have changed."

"... Is there?"

"You seem to have matured since you came back," Rita said with a faint smile.

"Mature? Was I immature before?" Bianca asked, somewhat confused, as he stirred the water in the "ocean".

"Oh dear, that's not what I meant. I just feel that you've matured in ways I didn't know about."

Rita smirked, walked over to Bianca, and then took out a device and plugged it into the terminal.

"Let me do it. Searching one by one will probably take forever before we find any useful information, even after some shrunken detective has finished his story." Rita's fingers flew across the control panel. Bianca was used to this; this all-powerful maid could do almost anything, which was why she had entrusted Rita with the search.

"However, even Schicksal doesn't have a complete grasp of information about the World Serpent. You wouldn't expect me to go and ask the World Serpent, would you?"

Hearing Rita's deliberately feigned pitiful tone, Bianca shook her head.

"It's okay if I can't find it, I... have my own plans."

Mei walked through this narrow, dark space, where she couldn't see her own hand in front of her face, yet she constantly felt the oppressive presence of walls closing in from both sides.

It was unclear how long it would take to see the exit, so Mei used the time to organize the current intelligence.

She never imagined that Lin would be the final straw that broke the camel's back for the destruction of the Previous Civilization. He joined forces with the Herrscher of Erosion and the Herrscher of Reason to almost wipe out the remaining humans.

Was he controlled by the Herrscher of Reason? Or was he once again consumed by the Herrscher's consciousness?

Behind this shocking intelligence lies a host of questions.

If the traitor mentioned by Chrono and Mobius was the cause of Lin's final massacre, then why is Lin's memory left in this Imaginary Tree?

The fact that Lin's memories exist in the Imaginary Tree is the biggest inconsistency. Furthermore, his personality is closer to the early Lin than to the later Lin that Mei saw in her memories.

Then comes Yama, the Yan Luo.

Yan Luo is also a character whose very existence is incongruous. She clearly lost to Lin and died at his hands. She should have been completely dead 50,000 years ago, but she appeared in the present civilization. Moreover, according to Yan Luo, she is not a memory entity, but a living person.

She not only appeared, but also helped Mei, which left Mei extremely confused.

Finally, there's the most bizarre one: the Herrscher looks exactly like Elysia.

Her true nature and purpose are unclear. The only known fact is that she harbors hostility towards Mei and wants to kill Mei. She has also acted together with the mysterious Lin, although he has mentioned that Lin is not subordinate to her.

In addition, there's Elysia's own secret...

The Imaginary Tree is far too complicated.

Just as she was pondering the matter of Yan Luo and Lin, her eyes lit up and she found herself in a new scene. Mei looked up and saw...

"A moth drawn to fire?"

Mei never expected that she would arrive at a historical point in a Previous Civilization she knew. Even if it was just a false illusion, she was still amazed and surprised.

A floating fortress? In other words, this is after the Ninth Honkai War, and it's unknown whether Lin has returned.

What is the significance of simulating this scenario?

The next second, Mei found out.

"You must do everything you can to gain the trust of the Thirteen Heroes, otherwise, the path will not open for you."

A man dressed in white approached Mei, causing Mei pupils to shrink—

"Forest?!"

Chapter Thirty-Nine: New Families

My body felt like it was being burned in a raging fire. The suppressed heat couldn't escape from the wounds. The monster's blood seemed to be quite toxic, corroding the skin upon contact.

Lin looked down at his disheveled appearance in the pool of blood, with flesh and blood sliding out of his wounds.

Such severe injuries would render an ordinary person completely immobile, barely able to breathe.

But Lin felt a strange sense of familiarity, as if he had experienced this near-death state countless times before.

"You... what exactly are you..."

Kallen stepped forward, unsure whether she should help the swaying man. He looked as if he would fall apart with a gust of wind, yet the bone-chilling cold emanating from him warned anyone who approached him.

Even though she had doubts about the man's identity from the beginning, she was still terrified when she actually saw him fighting the monster.

The kind person who used to take Theresa around and eat delicious food with her suddenly dropped his disguise.

"Phew... hurry up and find it... cough cough cough..."

Lin spoke in a hoarse voice, but before he could finish, his blood surged and he vomited two mouthfuls of black blood. His aura weakened as the blood gushed out. Kallen rushed forward to support Lin, who was about to fall into the bloody water. Her silver-white braids were stained blackish-red when they came into contact with the thick layer of blood clots on Lin's body.

She was startled when she touched Lin. His body temperature was frighteningly high, as if he had just come out of a steamer, and he seemed to have his flesh and blood hollowed out, making him feel light and airy.

"Are you alright? Let me take care of you first..."

"I'm fine." Lin interrupted Kallen. He was covered in wounds and looked utterly miserable, but he still coughed and leaned on Kallen for support as he tried to walk forward. "There's no need... Go find Theresa quickly."

If things had continued to develop as they did in the previous two instances, then by now, let alone going to the hospital for treatment, the entire Canghai City would probably be littered with corpses.

Is all of this caused by Theresa? Or is it another "Theresa"? In any case, Theresa is inextricably linked to this disaster, or rather, this plague.

Lin's current situation is also extremely bad.

Even if he dies in the World Bubble while in a state of consciousness mapping, he can leave the World Bubble and return to the Hyperion. However, the burden of death is not simply resolved by damage to consciousness.

Once he abnormally leaves the World Bubble, the pace of his consciousness collapse will accelerate significantly. In other words, those different fragments of consciousness and memory will be broken into even more fragments, eroding his consciousness.

"You..."

"..."

Lin didn't give Kallen any more time to speak. He broke free from her arm, took a couple of breaths, and then started walking up the mountain again.

Because it was agreed upon.

With Theresa, and with you, Kallen.

Lin didn't want to see the so-called "birds in a cage," to see the sisters trapped in the shadow of the past and another person.

Because that's the kind of person he is; he can understand their pain and confusion.

So whether this World Bubble distorted, or whether it's their future or their freedom, he will fight with all his might...

"Rita, is my current amnesia because I used too much consciousness mapping in the past?"

Lin stood on the deck of the Hyperion, gazing into the endless darkness ahead.

In the Quantum Sea, time has no concept, so that endless darkness is both the past and the future.

The long-haired maid stood smiling beside him. After hearing Lin's words, she touched the corner of her lips with her fingertip and pondered for a moment.

"Captain, are you bothered by memories of the past?"

"Who wouldn't care?" The man lowered his head, looking at his hands. Were they familiar or unfamiliar? He couldn't be sure. "I am 'Lin,' but 'Lin' is not me."

The name Lin is his only connection to the past.

Upon waking, he felt as if he were trapped in a cage, a cage of a "past" that was invisible, intangible, and whose nature he could not even be certain of.

They frantically searched for anything related to the past.

"Captain, what am I to you?"

"You?"

Lin turned to look at the smiling maid. They had only known each other for half a month. What was she to him?

A maid? No, she's more accurately described as a maid from the Hyperion. A stranger? That's not right either. A friend? Something doesn't quite add up...

He found he couldn't define his relationship with Rita, but that didn't bother him, since he was completely unaware of the true nature of this mysterious maid.

"Can't define it? No problem, I'll wait until the Captain gives the answer."

The maid's face showed a mixture of expectation and melancholy, but in the end, she closed her eyes peacefully, humming a song softly, no longer seeking Lin's answer.

"If one is trapped in the past, is the living person truly alive, or merely a puppet dancing on strings in the hands of the 'past'?"

"Ha--"

Lin suddenly woke up, panting heavily, and leaned against the blood-stained tree trunk, looking up at it.

He just... fainted?

The chaotic memories left him disoriented for a while. After some time, he remembered that he and Kallen were still planning to go to the top of the mountain to look for Theresa's traces. However, his injuries were too severe, so Kallen suggested that she go up alone while she rested for a while.

My brain felt heavy and sluggish, as if it were filled with lead, and I felt like I was about to collapse.

Did you lose too much blood...?

Lin took a deep breath, trying to concentrate his thoughts, because once his consciousness was scattered, it was difficult to refocus.

"What are you doing?"

"——"

Cold sweat poured out from the pores where the sweat glands were almost blocked by blood.

This probably can't be considered a cold tone.

Human indifference is only relative to other rich and complex emotions, but this statement, which is enough to make any intelligent life feel chills, is completely devoid of human emotion and is colder than a machine.

He looked up at the girl who looked exactly like Theresa, who had reappeared sometime earlier. She stood not far from him, tiptoed, and used her index finger to scrape a little blood from Lin's face, putting it into her mouth. Her crimson eyes shone brightly.

She is tasting it.

Unlike the real Theresa, who only had a bloodthirsty impulse to treat blood as food, this girl was tasting blood as a delicacy.