I'm Not a Flame-Chaser - Chapter 610

"No."

Lin Cong. Raven, who recognized the syringe, knew it was the neurotoxin of the World Serpent. This guy had looted several Shencheng Pharmaceuticals and was even better equipped than her.

"You ask me why I'm helping the Herrscher of the Void."

Lin pressed the button on the syringe, and the ejected needle gleamed coldly. He brushed Raven's shoulder-length hair aside, revealing her delicately skinned neck.

"I didn't help the Herrscher, I only helped Kiana Kaslana."

His rainbow-colored right eye shone brightly as he spoke in a soft, measured tone.

"Herrscher are the opposite of the world, but the girl named Kiana is not, so... even if everyone stands against her, I will stand by her side until she is recognized by the world again."

Kiana bears the burden of the tragedy caused by the Herrscher of the Void. He will not tell Kiana that it was not her fault, that it had nothing to do with her. Denial and avoidance will not solve all the problems.

However, he wouldn't completely consider the Herrscher of the Void to be her.

Using that past as a basis for condemning Kiana's crimes only adds another girl's name, Kiana, to the list of casualties caused by the Herrscher of the Void.

Lin hates that kind of world.

It's as if a world can't continue to exist without blaming someone.

A bitter life, stumbling and struggling forward on an endless road, until collapsing in a corner unknown to anyone.

"Sizzle—"

The syringe inserted into her neck injected neurotoxin into Raven's body in one go. She gasped, and her wine-red snake eyes quickly closed in a hazy blur.

The man's retreating figure blurred in my gradually closing eyelids.

Sooner or later... I will also take off your hat and mask...

We'll see.

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Twenty-One - How Long Do You Plan to Hold Her?

After subduing Raven, Lin walked out of the alley. He took out his communicator and tried to contact Kiana, but the intermittent static made him realize that something had happened inside.

Just as he was about to re-enter the central industrial area, the transport ship, which had been suspended in mid-air, suddenly restarted and crashed into the roof of the entire industrial building!

"Boom!!!!!"

The towering flames illuminated half of Sky City. It was foreseeable that tomorrow's headlines would be about the evil Shencheng Pharmaceuticals conducting illegal experiments in the industrial zone, resulting in a massive explosion. Although Lin had been spreading rumors about them recently, this time he felt somewhat sorry for Shencheng Pharmaceuticals, whose buildings were bombed and who were being criticized.

The transport ship obviously couldn't have started on its own; someone must have remotely controlled it to crash into the industrial building. The only person with that authority could be the Valkyrie of Schicksal.

Then Kiana should contact him.

"Zi... Lin..."

A soft call came from the communicator. Lin Xin looked up and saw two figures among the rubble of the building, which had been pushed out by the heat of the explosion.

With her trench coat billowing, Lin sprinted toward the building, leaping up the stairs in quick succession, climbing faster than she could fall.

Unable to use her Herrscher of the Void abilities, the silver-haired girl plummeted downwards in a state of weightlessness.

The sky receded from her, and the wind whistled in her ears.

The tinnitus caused by the explosion made her unable to hear other sounds, yet her heartbeat was so clear.

It kept falling.

It kept falling.

It kept falling...

The sound of hurried running came from the communicator she was holding. Her slightly open eyes gently closed amidst her fluttering silver hair.

"Smack!"

Suddenly, the feeling of weightlessness vanished for a moment, and the cold wind that cut her skin was replaced by the warmth of her body. She opened her eyes and saw a familiar mask, and a tiny bit of her neck and chin peeking out from under the mask.

... Surprisingly reliable.

After Lin caught Kiana in mid-air, he reached out and grabbed another person who was still falling, then bumped his elbow on a device hidden in his trench coat.

"Whoosh!"

The steel cable that popped out from under the trench coat pierced the wall and then retracted. The immense force abruptly halted the descent. The impact of catching two people falling from a great height and then forcefully stopping their fall caused blood to trickle from the corner of Lin's mouth again, and his mask was now covered in his blood.

Swinging on the steel cable, the three changed direction and crashed into the industrial building again!

Kiana pulled out the Sky Ripper from Lin's arms and started firing at the direction of their collision!

"Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Under the attack of the special weapon, a hole was punched in the wall in an instant, and Lin swung into it smoothly. He changed his posture in the air to reduce the impact of the landing as much as possible, and then slammed the two of them heavily to the ground and rolled several times.

"Walk."

Without pausing after landing, Lin and Kiana flipped to their feet. He picked up the woman, whom he didn't even have time to see who she was, and jumped out through the hole Kiana had created. Kiana followed closely behind without hesitation, and they quickly disappeared into the vast night.

"Hahaha..."

The two ran wildly through the complex urban terrain, one in black and one in white like two bolts of lightning. Finally, they returned to the place where they parted earlier that day, which was also their usual training ground. Even Kiana, whose physical abilities were beyond the reach of ordinary people, was now out of breath, her well-developed chest heaving rapidly as she leaned against the wall, watching Lin hiding in the shadows to see if anyone was chasing them.

After confirming that there were no pursuers, Lin finally exhaled the breath he had been holding in. At the same time, a sweet and astringent taste of rust welled up from deep within his mouth, and he knelt on the ground, vomiting large amounts of blood.

"Splash."

"Cough cough..."

Thick, fresh blood pooled and flowed out from the bottom of the mask, staining the originally white lower half of the mask a shocking crimson.

"Hey, are you alright!" Kiana was shocked to see this. She had only suffered minor injuries and was exhausted, but Lin's condition looked much more serious.

She instinctively reached out to help him, but he raised his hand to stop her.

"I'm fine."

Lin's pupils trembled. He knelt on the ground, panting heavily. After swallowing the metallic taste in his mouth, he managed to regain some control of his body, and his dark eyes returned to calm.

The relentless attacks on Shencheng Pharmaceuticals and Training Kiana, coupled with the effects of the residual serum, pushed her to her limit, and her internal organs likely suffered considerable damage as well.

"Are you... really okay?"

Kiana hesitated slightly as she watched Lin slowly rise, wiping the bloodstains from the bottom of his mask. A faint sense of guilt filled her heart, as if her unauthorized actions tonight had led to Lin's downfall...

But after coughing up an exaggerated amount of blood, the man stood up again as if nothing had happened. Only the indelible bloodstains on his clothes and mask told her it wasn't a hallucination.

You can't see what's underneath the mask at all.

For some reason, Kiana felt that even under the mask, he would be expressionless and indifferent, and that the mask was just another way of expressing himself.

She hesitated for a moment, then changed the subject. "How long... how long are you going to hold her?"

Lin then remembered that he had also rescued someone. His right arm was so stiff from holding the person in his arms that he looked down at the person in his arms.

"..."

"What's wrong?" Seeing Lin pause after looking down at the unconscious maid, her eyes turned to confusion. Then, following his gaze, she looked at Rita's exquisite face in her unconscious state and couldn't help but show a suspicious expression.

For some reason, I feel a little angry.

"You lecherous wolf, getting all lustful again? Well, that's true, this maid is indeed quite pretty. It's just a pity that her heart might not be as warm as her smile. If you dare to do anything to her, she'll probably chase you to the ends of the earth when she wakes up." The silver-haired girl pursed her lips, crossed her arms, leaned against the wall, and stared at him with slanted eyelids.

"... It's nothing, I just think she looks like someone I know."

Lin took a deep breath and put Rita on the ground.

Lin can distinguish who is who; he won't mistake one person for another.

"Heh, you're not planning to use that kind of talk to flirt with her, are you? She's not falling for that," Kiana said casually.

"..."

Why does her tone suddenly seem much more aggressive?

Lin shook his head, not intending to explain anything. He asked Kiana, "Did you find any clues in the industrial area?"

"..." After getting down to business, Kiana's expression changed slightly. She lowered her arms from her chest and looked at Lin seriously. "Yes."

The Journey Begins in the Sky: Chapter Twenty-Two - Joining Forces

"Shencheng Pharmaceuticals wants to create a Honkai disaster that covers the entire Sky City in order to activate the Stigmata fragments in the bodies of all people in Sky City."

Kiana's expression was extremely solemn when she said this. Was the Great Honkai she caused not enough? Someone actually wanted to artificially create a large-scale Honkai?

By then, the entire Sky City will be overrun with zombies and monsters, turning the city into Honkai paradise, a place of utter devastation and unimaginable consequences.

"... When exactly will this be implemented?"

"A week later." Kiana stroked her chin, recalling the information she had seen in the archives after helping Rita. "But we still don't know how they intend to create a large-scale Honkai. Sky City strictly controls Honkai Energy, so we shouldn't be able to find anything that could trigger a large-scale Honkai."

Lin didn't reply. He turned to look at the center of Sky City, where there was a central signal tower located at the highest point of the entire city.

His dark left eye stared silently at the signal tower, which was flashing red. He said, "But it's not certain if something containing a large amount of Honkai Energy has legally entered Sky City through inspection."

"You mean..."

Kiana paled at the news and looked down at the unconscious Rita, clearly realizing what had happened.

Rita's flagship Eos, must have undergone a legal inspection and received permission before entering the city; its engines are capable of generating a large amount of Honkai Energy.

She gripped the pistol tightly, her fingers turning slightly white.

"They can't act that quickly." Lin saw her anxiety and eagerness and put his hand on her shoulder. "Since the implementation time is set for a week later, it means they still have preliminary work to complete, and one of the people in charge of this experiment needs some time to recover. Being impatient will only lead you into their trap."

"...call."

Kiana closed her eyes and took a deep breath, suppressing her anger and impatience. Lin was right; haste solves nothing. She had already learned this lesson and wouldn't make the same mistake again.

She nodded to Lin, indicating that she had calmed down.

"She's about to wake up. I'll leave the rest to you. Don't reveal my presence to Schicksal." Lin lowered his hand and turned to leave, which surprised Kiana. "Also, training continues tomorrow."

"Still training?" The silver-haired girl was dumbfounded. So much had happened tonight, a conspiracy was brewing that would sweep the entire city, and he was still thinking about training?

"I said, only you can break the chains. If you want to have enough power to stop the disaster, live towards the sun and break through the shackles. Otherwise, die."

Lin did not tell Kiana what he had said to the Raven.

She doesn't need to have any ulterior motives towards Lin now. He's just doing his job. Whether she can ultimately control herself depends entirely on Kiana herself.

His figure receded into the distance amidst the fluttering of his trench coat, while Kiana looked down at Rita. She couldn't tell if Rita was about to wake up; how did that guy know?

After a while, Rita still hadn't woken up, so Kiana, pretending to be confident, leaned against the wall with her arms crossed and said calmly, "If you're awake, stop pretending to be asleep."

"..."

"..."

"... Heh, Miss Kiana, it seems you've been through a lot lately."

The maid with short, gray-gold hair twitched her eyelids slightly, and before she even opened her eyes, she had already put on her usual elegant smile. She supported herself on the ground with her hands and slowly got up.

She couldn't help but look at Kiana with surprise, who was now completely different from the mischievous little girl she used to be, and nodded to herself in admiration at Kiana's maturity and ruthlessness.

... It felt really good to hear that guy's tone and attitude. No wonder he often spoke so arrogantly, like someone owed him money.

"Thanks to you, Schicksal and Otto, isn't it?"

"But in this city, we are not enemies. You are walking around the disaster site to track down the World Serpent and try to prevent disaster from befalling all the innocent people in Sky City. Am I right, Miss Kiana?"

Kiana didn't have much affection for Rita, who was a smiling tiger who completely obeyed that man's orders. It can be said that Otto was the one who caused the awakening of the Herrscher of the Void, and Rita was one of the driving forces behind it.

But tonight's events slightly changed Kiana's opinion of her. Rita gave up investigating Kiana and instead began investigating the World Serpent, who might be causing trouble in Sky City. This shows that, at least in Rita's view, the lives of the people of Sky City are more important.

"I didn't expect you to be so impulsive when you act, even I wouldn't do something like sacrificing the entire transport ship. Could it be that you're having too many casualties and are thinking of suicide? Well, I should remind you first that I've already rescued some of the people you brought."

"Don't worry, Miss Kiana. A meaningless sacrifice will only bring ridicule from the enemy. The enemy's plans in this city are more complex than I thought. We could be hunted down at any time. So, by creating the illusion of mutual destruction, we can buy some time." Rita's dusty face still shone brightly, but a cold glint flashed in her eyes when she talked about sacrifice. "However, this illusion won't fool the enemy. At most, it can only distract them."

"Fortunately, it was Miss Kiana who orchestrated the spread of rumors about the World Serpent in Sky City. Now that the explosion in the industrial zone has caused even greater unrest among the citizens, they need to divert their attention to calming them down, which will buy us more time."

"Ah...that's right, this gives us more time to stop the next conspiracy." Kiana paused for a moment, then an inconspicuous rainbow light flashed in the darkness behind Rita, and she guiltily continued, "But your ship's engine provided them with a Honkai generator. The key to their plan is to create Great Honkai in Sky City. They've probably already sealed off the entire city and are searching for our whereabouts."

"Indeed, even if I send a message to the Schicksal Headquarters, I don't get a response," the maid replied with a smile.

"..."

Kiana's eyes turned cold. If the main force of Schicksal came to Sky City, they might not stop the World Serpent, but they would definitely capture Kiana.

Rita's words also contained a testing element. She didn't completely believe that Kiana had single-handedly completed the current arrangements in Sky City. If she had, then the girl's growth in just four months would have been beyond imagination.

She smiled and looked at Kiana, but couldn't read anything on the girl's face, so she smiled again and said, "In that case, Miss Kiana, how about we join forces for now?"