Each Other's Substitutes / A Miracle of God

So, Yue wanted to break her promise to Lin and kill this human named Otto one last time to relieve Lin's worries.

"No."

"A wise decision."

Otto's praise seemed genuine, but Yue didn't take it to heart. She continued with a cold, stern face, "Now, the Aether Anchor is inside my body, under my control. If you want to retrieve it and conduct further research, you must agree to the conditions I'm about to present."

Without giving Otto a chance to interrupt, Yue held up three fingers:

"First, fill in that crack."

Second, you are not allowed to harm Lin.

"Third, liberate Kallen and Theresa."

"The Aether Anchor is bound to my Herrscher Core. Even if I die after removing the Aether Anchor, my consciousness will still exist within the Herrscher Core. If you violate the conditions I set, you will never be able to use the Aether Anchor again."

Chapter 86 Substitutes for Each Other

"Rita, do you know what kind of person I used to be?"

The man didn't dislike the maid's slightly narrowed eyelids and bright smile; it was usually an expression of her genuine happiness.

He rarely saw the maids happy; most of the time, their expressions were ambiguous and hard to decipher. Sometimes, their smiles didn't necessarily mean they were happy; they might be masking their underlying anger.

This time, however, the man was certain that the maid was genuinely smiling.

... How did you determine that? This maid is extremely good at managing her micro-expressions. Even a psychologist couldn't tell her true thoughts from her body language and facial expressions. However, when she is happy, her wine-red, mellow pupils are as attractive as if they are emitting the aroma of wine. Lin has seen this many times and has come to understand it.

"Why would the captain ask that question?" The maid's gloved fingers traced the outline of the record, then she placed the stylus on its texture. After a soft noise, melodious music emanated from the conch shell-like sound.

The almost a cappella female voice evokes a sense of nostalgia.

The man walked to the bookshelf, picked up a copy of "Murder on the Orient Express," and said softly as he flipped through it, "I just thought you should know about me before I lost my memory."

"Unfortunately, I don't know the captain before he lost his memory."

Strands of her grey-gold hair fell between the pages of the book, and a refreshing fragrance wafted to her nose. Her smiling, wine-red eyes shone brightly under the light, like a carefully polished gem.

The man's gaze remained fixed on the words in the book. "Then why did you appoint me as the captain of the Hyperion?"

"Because... I know the former captain."

"..."

"Hmm? Why isn't the Captain saying anything?" The maid blinked playfully, a smile playing on her lips. "Do you feel like you're being used as a substitute?"

An alternative... maybe.

At least from the maid's words and actions, we can conclude that in her eyes, the man is just a replacement for the "former captain".

Whether it's completing the former captain's mission or retrieving the Aether Anchor to save the World Bubble, it's all the same thing that the mysteriously departed captain did.

Was he chosen to succeed him because of their similarities?

Are you angry?

"Clatter".

Her gloved, jade-like fingers gently tapped the cover of the book, closing it. Her beautiful hair was tucked between the pages, so the man could only see the side of the book and the maid's dark hair.

He shifted his gaze and saw her smiling eyes. She pulled the book from the man's hands and then pulled her long hair out from between the pages.

Jade willow branches sway gently, and long, cascading gray-gold hair is combed behind her head.

"No, if you want to do it that way, then do it," the man replied calmly.

"Captain, you finished reading Murder on the Orient Express about two weeks ago." The maid glanced at the title on the cover, a sly chuckle like a cat's, then placed the book back on the shelf and asked—

"Captain, do you hope Rita will see you as someone's replacement?"

To be fair, no one wants to be another person's shadow. A shadow needs a light source and a physical body. Without a shadow, a person is still a person, but without a physical body, the shadow ceases to exist.

But this may not necessarily be a bad thing. If a man has no direction or past, it is indeed feasible for him to use a person with a concrete image as a reference to imitate.

He could naturally inherit the original person's interpersonal relationships, such as the captain of the Hyperion and the kindness of the maid in front of him.

But...

"Captain, you already have the answer in your heart, don't you?" Before the man could answer, the maid smiled and tilted her head, her long hair flowing down. "So... it's best not to say things that are easy to make people angry in the future. You are just Lin, not someone's substitute."

"And the reason I said I understood the former captain was because what he wanted to save was himself, which is why he chose you to succeed the Hyperion. You are different from him; he believed you would do a better job than him."

A faint fragrance, seemingly near yet far, the maid's image hazy and dreamlike, her smile like a lantern in the mist.

The man, gazing at the flickering lantern, spoke in a low voice, "Then... do you hate him?"

"..."

A smile is like a shattered moon disc on a lake; when it comes back together, it still creates ripples.

"I have no idea."

"Hate is the most complex emotion. When he shattered his own beautiful dream, should I hate his self-destructive behavior, or should I hate the unrealistic nature of the dream?"

"Later, I guess I stopped hating anyone."

The maid's smile returned, no longer tinged with the gloom of the past; she gazed at the man with a light laugh.

"Captain, deep down, do you also see me as a substitute?"

The man forgot how he would answer.

"Lin's biggest problem is that he always scratches the 'thank you' part of the prize after getting the 'thank you for your patronage' message."

The voice on the communicator was cynical, similar to the tone Rita remembered.

"However, he's the kind of person who won't stop just because he sees 'Thank you for your patronage,' because he's not a gambler, he's an idiot."

"..."

"Hmm, the topic seems to have gone a bit off track, but it's okay, there's still plenty of time. You two seem to be getting along quite well, after all, Lin never disappoints me when it comes to attracting girls." The male voice made a joke that wasn't exactly pleasant. "Well, it's time to get down to business. As you can see, he's in trouble."

"..."

"Why are you silent again? Rita, you're not the type of emotionless maid."

"So, what exactly are you trying to say?"

After receiving Rita's cold reply, the other party chuckled meaningfully, "Actually, it's nothing, just offering a helping hand. His consciousness is incomplete for some reason, and the inhabitant deep within his consciousness is eyeing him covetously. If he wants to resolve the trouble he's encountered this time, it will inevitably lead to his consciousness being on the verge of shattering."

Delta could clearly see the gloved fingers clenched tightly; for the first time, she had seen a hint of tension in this usually nonchalant maid.

"If he comes back alive, it will be no different from him being dead, so I have a solution that should be useful."

"Use that thing that was with him when you found him."

That kind of... thing?

Delta didn't know the full details of their conversation, but Rita knew exactly what was being said. The only thing she didn't know about Lin was that they had been found together...

A certain type of container.

Chapter 87 Miracles of God

The thing Himeko found among her father's belongings that took her away from her original world was actually the Aether Anchor.

When Lin learned that Himeko was from another world, he had already guessed that she also had an Aether Anchor.

After all, most of the mysterious and mysterious World Bubble anomalies are caused by the Aether Anchor. Its high energy and the properties that support the existence of the World Bubble enable it to cause many strange distortions.

Coincidentally, Lin needs a lot of energy right now.

Many of the white-haired man's words could not be verified, but regarding the Herrscher, Lin believed that most of what he said was true. At least after he obtained the Herrscher Authority, he confirmed that his statement that "we Herrscher are the lowest in terms of total Honkai Energy" was indeed true.

Since the total amount of power, consciousness, and Honkai Energy is insufficient, external assistance is needed to fill the hole in the sky.

The Aether Anchor is the optimal solution.

"After patching up that hole in the sky, how can you be so sure that no other anomalies will occur?" The red-haired girl stood on the edge of the rooftop, gazing at the slowly widening crack. Beside her, a man covered in purple stripes rested his hands on his knees, breathing heavily.

His face was as pale as dehydrated pork. Just standing up was already a great effort. It was hard to imagine that this person was about to recreate the mythical feat and fill the gap left by the catastrophe that would destroy the world.

"The current situation is that the consciousnesses of those two little vampires, you, and me are confused. As long as you get too close to them, or I get too close to them, it will attract the pursuit of the Quantum Sea." Himeko took off the hair tie that held her single ponytail, and her long hair, as passionate as flames, danced in the wind. "Plugging that gap is only a temporary solution."

"..."

Lin did not reply. Of course, he knew that plugging the crack would not change the status quo. Otto still existed, and as an outsider, Lin had no way to deal with him. The Quantum Sea would not change its mind just because the crack was plugged.

However, there is a way to solve the problem.

Solve it at its root.

The black-haired man slowly straightened up. He raised his head, just as our ancestors millions of years ago had raised their heads to look directly at the sun, gazing at the despairing, pitch-black crack.

"I know someone who has misled and deceived me. I don't know if he has ever told me the truth."

His already blind right eye, with its gray pupil, gradually took on an ominous iridescent hue in the sunlight.

"But I think he wasn't wrong when he was being sarcastic towards me back then."

"I wanted to protect the powerless, but from the beginning, I placed myself in the position of a superior, arrogant person, believing that they had no hope except for myself."

So this time, he chose to believe in them. Even without him, Theresa, Light, Kallen, Himeko, and the people of this World Bubble would still create miracles for humanity.

Just like Theresa and Kallen, who broke free from their cages, they yearned for the outside world, for a different self, and for the ends of the earth.

I believe that the Moon and the others are also capable of rebelling against their creator until no one uses them anymore.

Since the four of them would be rejected by the Quantum Sea if they existed in the same world, then it would be better to separate them.

"Himeko, I left a message on your communicator. After I fill the crack, just follow the instructions in the message, and someone will take you away from this world." After Lin's right eye turned rainbow-colored, the power seemed to return to his body. He stood steadily on the ground and reached out his hand to Himeko.

Leaving Yue and Theresa in the World Bubble, sending Himeko to the Hyperion, only one person remained to be dealt with.

Lin himself.

He will not stay in the World Bubble, nor will he return to the Hyperion.

He's not going anywhere.

He suddenly felt very calm, as if he had seen this scene before.

An image flashed in his mind: a figure gazing up at an arrogant god wielding lightning, rain washing over his wounded body, yet he showed no sign of backing down.

A small, yet not insignificant figure amidst the thunderstorm.

"You..."

Himeko seemed to sense what the person in front of her was thinking. She looked at his calm face, clutched her chest, and took a step back.

The two stared at each other in the blazing light. Above them, cracks writhed, signaling the imminent arrival of a new Hunter into the world.

"This isn't your world. You don't need to go to such lengths for them." Himeko tried to see a hint of fear in his eyes, but she was destined to be disappointed. There was only calm in this man's eyes.

"..."

"..."

"But for the people of this world, this is their only world."

The whispers faded away in my ears.

A man appeared a few steps away and, before she could react, had already plunged his hand into her chest, a feeling of powerlessness quickly engulfing her entire body.

Like snatching the blazing sun hanging overhead, a bright orb of light was extracted from the red-haired girl's body by Lin.

At the same time, the man's body let out its final lament. Purple stripes etched into his skin, becoming cracks. His entire body shattered under the light, turning into dust.

Like a fish dying of thirst, the girl stared helplessly at the man holding her, her mouth open but no sound came out. Her consciousness was gradually being drained away, and she slowly closed her eyes.

In that final moment, she saw rain falling on his head, washing over his body, and the cold rain sliding down his face.

He saw her future, and she saw his past.

The man, whose body was covered in cracks, gently placed the red-haired girl on the rooftop. He held a light source that was more dazzling than the sun and looked up at the endless abyss.

People all over the world, whether believers or atheists, at this moment, in the face of the impending disaster, clasp their hands together and sincerely pray for divine salvation.

Then a shooting star streaked across the sky, its brilliance dazzling, trailing a golden tail and dragging several golden chains, hurtling toward the gates of hell.

"Splash!"

Those chains, like needles and thread mending wounds, pierced through the edges of the dark cracks, pulling them together in the middle.

Under everyone's gaze, the "miracle," more dazzling than the sun, emitted an unprecedentedly strong light, and the chains also surged with energy.