I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

Einstein chuckled when he saw his old friend suffering from a headache, and his previously gloomy mood immediately improved. "I was planning to tell you when you got back, to help you cheer up. Welt and the others are back from the Quantum Sea."

"Joachim? Is he alright?" Tesla's emotions clearly fluctuated when she spoke of Welt. She stared intently at Einstein, trying to make sure she wasn't playing a trick on her.

"Hmm, we also brought someone back with us. Do you remember Seele Vollerei, whom we mentioned when we were researching the Quantum Sea?"

"You don't mean she's back too, do you?"

"That's right. After preliminary examination, it seems that the Stigmata in her body have manifested, reorganizing her originally quantum body and returning her to her Intrinsic World."

"Phew... looks like I'll be busy when I get back."

Einstein was right. This was good news that could cheer Tesla up. Although Mei had left, the return of Kiana, Welt, Bronya, and Seele was absolutely exciting for Anti-Entropy.

After ending her communication with Einstein, Tesla was about to make herself a cup of coffee when she glanced around and saw a silver-white figure standing hesitantly at the door, seemingly unsure of what to do. She couldn't help but ask in surprise, "Kiana?"

Kiana nearly turned and ran away in a flash. She looked up and met Tesla's gaze, her hand nervously twisting the hem of her clothes. She said stiffly, "Hello, Dr. Tesla."

"Is something the matter?" Tesla had barely asked the question when she remembered something. She sighed, "Sigh, you two are really alike. Don't worry, Mei knows what she's doing. She'll definitely come back after you've mastered the Herrscher's abilities and found what she wanted in World Serpent."

"Yes, I know."

Kiana's expression remained blank. She swallowed hard and cautiously asked the puzzled Doctor, "Um... Dr. Tesla, I wanted to ask... about that..."

"Huh? What did you say?"

The silver-haired girl's voice was barely audible, and the already impatient doctor raised an eyebrow and spoke in a gruff voice, "What exactly do you want to ask?"

"So... something went into a place it shouldn't have gone into, but that place is very close to and similar to where it should have gone, and then it left behind a quest item. Will the quest continue?"

"... What are you talking about? A game?"

"No."

Perhaps realizing she couldn't explain it to her, Kiana could only turn away with her pretty face flushed red, leaving Tesla with a head full of question marks.

What's going on?

Just then, Bella injuries had almost healed, passed by outside the door. Tesla called out to her, "Hey little dragon, stop."

"Hmm?" Bella looked at her in confusion.

"What happened to Kiana?"

"I don't know, oh right..." Bella shook her head honestly, then she remembered something and casually said, "Hmm... I just saw Lin and the Queen fighting in the room. The Queen was saying something like 'so big' or something, as if she was begging for mercy, that she couldn't beat Lin. Then I peeked in and saw that Lin was hitting the Queen's butt with a stick."

She frowned. "And they hit the place where you poop, how weird..."

After saying that, Bella left humming a cheerful tune, leaving Tesla, who had been turned into a stone sculpture by a bucket of cement poured on him.

The "Rebirth" of the Sky: Chapter Forty-Two - Girls Are All Made of Water

Whether it was Lin or Kiana who took the initiative is unknown, but whether they were men or girls, they all grew up a little bit that day.

The clouds outside the window resembled white sheep running across the mountains, while the city, faintly visible beneath them, was like a lion in the forest, swallowing people whole one by one.

He suddenly recalled the day he first truly piloted a Titan into battle. A fierce wind raged, a hurricane howled, and he, carrying Delta's legacy, flew into the sky as Icarus, a human, overlooking the world from the clouds. The view he saw was different from what he saw now.

Is it his temperament? His interpersonal relationships? Or... has he changed himself?

There are girls who like Lin, and Lin has also had girls he likes. However, he has always maintained relatively normal relationships. Even if he doesn't admit it, he has a sense of pride that he himself is unaware of—he and the people around him do not need to use love to maintain their bond.

But this pride ultimately crumbled with Kiana. Through Night Owl, he realized one thing: his actions were the same as Night Owl's vision of Anna.

He saved those around him, refused to take the final step, and simply maintained this ambiguous relationship, neither here nor there.

Previously, everyone around him seemed strong, and no one dared to expose the truth. However, after Kiana experienced a series of shocks from the truth, the departure of her teacher, and the falling out with her relatives and friends, she repeatedly asked Lin about his feelings and thoughts. Even though she appeared stronger than anyone else, Lin sensed the sensitive and vulnerable part in her words.

Will continuing to be ambiguous really not hurt others? This was what Lin was thinking when he finally reached out his hand.

... In the end, not going through the main entrance could only be considered Lin's insignificant stubbornness.

"I want to go with you."

"No."

He doesn't like sandwiches with crusts.

I like to turn on a small night light when I go to sleep.

The Amazing Spider-Man was playing on the projection screen in the bedroom, showing the opening scene of Pitt's parents giving him their heartfelt farewells before heading down a path of no return on a stormy night.

They weren't coming back, but they told Pete to wait for them.

Lin's gaze shifted to the room, which seemed to fit the behavior of a man and woman in a bedroom.

The alluring scent of her body hadn't completely dissipated from the room. The girl's ponytail ribbon and stockings were scattered on the messy bed, and crumpled tissues were everywhere on the bed and floor.

The saying that girls are made of water is true. No matter how hard and beautiful a diamond is, it will become as tender as water when the softest part of the heart is touched.

Lin didn't really want to comment on what had happened before in this way, as it would make him feel like a playboy who had slept with countless women, which was really awful. There shouldn't be any other playboy in the world who had only had his first time in 50,000 years... and it was through back door.

However, he really does act like a bastard right now. He did that with Kiana to calm her down, which sounds like he's the worst kind of scum...

Before he could even sigh, Bella walked in, an ice pop dangling from her mouth and two in her hands. She looked around and then sniffed the air.

"Did you win?" She tilted her head and looked at Lin.

"...What?"

"Weren't you fighting with Her Majesty the Queen? Did you win?" Bella asked curiously. The reason she didn't help Kiana was that although Kiana was begging for mercy, she didn't seem to be in much pain. Instead, she was drooling. Bella only drooled when she was particularly comfortable, such as when she was sleeping or eating.

"... We should be considered to have won."

"Oh, do you want some?" Bella handed over an ice pop.

Lin remained silent for a while, looked at Bella's innocent face, then at the half-melted popsicle, and reached out to take it.

Kiana's assessment of him was correct. Compared to Fu Hua, who was like a drifting, rootless leaf, Lin was indeed unlike someone from another civilization. He would pay attention to newly released games, learn about various novelties of the current civilization, and sit down with Honkai Beast to eat popsicles. He had made contact with modern civilization. She just didn't expect that this connection was with her.

"Clatter."

As soon as Kiana opened the door, she saw the two people who were silently eating popsicles looking up at her. Then Bella reached out her hand, with a popsicle still in her hand.

"Bella, you go out first." Kiana took the popsicle without saying a word, then smiled and nodded to Bella. The latter scratched her head, obediently went out, and closed the door behind her.

Their eyes met instantly; one was calm, the other flustered and shy.

Kiana arrived with great fanfare, but once alone with her, she became flustered and unsure where to look. Upon seeing the hairband, stockings, and tissues on the bed, she blushed so deeply that she almost buried her head in the ground.

"... What should we do?" Kiana asked, her head bowed, after a long pause. She looked like a deflated eggplant.

"What do you mean, what to do?"

"It's... it's that... that one..."

Too ashamed to speak, Kiana felt a surge of resentment towards Lin. Why didn't he just use the main entrance? What was the point of this awkward situation...?

Moreover, at the time, her mind was in a state of confusion and she didn't know what she was doing, so her body acted on instinct. It was only after everything was over that the lingering pleasure in her body reminded her what had happened.

Mei had just left, and she still had to go to Anti-Entropy to see her aunt and Bronya. The Herrscher consciousness in her body was watching her all the time, and with so many troubles and so much turmoil, her brain was about to crash.

Although venting her frustrations relieved her pent-up emotions, the ambiguous and unspoken relationship between Lin and her was like a deep-sea bomb thrown into her once peaceful heart, turning the pond upside down and leaving all the fish jumping around on the shore.

To be honest, Kiana's feelings towards Lin are complicated. She doesn't think she simply likes Lin, but she does have some unusual emotions towards his relationship with Fu Hua.

"Don't you want to admit it?" Lin asked calmly, biting off half of the popsicle.

"What? You don't want to admit it!" Kiana trembled violently, then pursed her lips and glared at Lin like an enraged little lion. "If you dare to deny it, I'll castrate you!"

The girl's voice, which had risen abruptly, fell to a low one. Her slender eyebrows swept across her eyes, and her soft lips moved slightly as she spoke, "But... what are you thinking... why did you suddenly..."

Lin looked at the silver-haired girl, whose emotions were unsettled, sighed imperceptibly, and then said lightly, "Because I saw that you looked very pretty with your hair tied in a ponytail, I became lustful at first sight."

"That's it?" Kiana suddenly looked up and stared at him.

Lin shrugged. "That's it."

"Smack!"

A slender, fragrant arm patted her face, and the silver-haired girl's pretty face was serious as she faced the indifferent-looking man.

"Say it again, I want to see if you're lying."

"Whoosh."

"Clatter".

Two popsicles fell to the ground, leaving long trails.

"Huh?"

Kiana took a while to react. Looking at the man who was pinning her to the ground so close to her, she immediately twisted and struggled. "What... what are you trying to do now?"

"Didn't you want to confirm if I was lying?" Lin asked calmly. "Don't you like it? You seem to be enjoying it."

"I don't like it!"

The silver-haired girl stretched out her swan-like white neck and cried out, both embarrassed and angry, but then glanced at Lin out of the corner of her eye and whispered, "But I quite liked the last 'pop' sound."

"..."

The "Rebirth" of the Sky: The Message Received in Chapter Forty-Three

Humans are amazing creatures. People would probably call a man a pervert if he said he would rather use the back door than the front door, but if they said a man would rather use the back door than leave the front door clean, they would probably praise him for being considerate of a girl's purity.

After finally managing to get Kiana to bed, Lin sat down at the table with his back to the silver-haired girl, whose breathing was even and steady. He opened his laptop and accessed the portion of the database that Anti-Entropy had made available to him.

It was within his expectations that Anti-Entropy would agree to his joining. They lacked understanding of the World Serpent, so they naturally needed someone like Lin who had sufficient knowledge of the Previous Civilization and Kevin.

However, there is still an observation period in between, which is why only "part" of the information was made available to him.

He was searching for traces of the escaped Herrscher of Binding through the database of Anti-Entropy.

Lin immediately informed Tesla about the Herrscher of Binding. Tesla was shocked and quickly notified Anti-Entropy to send support troops to search the surrounding area. What Lin found strange was that... it was too calm.

Based on his understanding of the Herrscher of Binding, the other party would definitely cause destruction to human society as soon as he escaped, unless he temporarily lay low for fear of the World Serpent and Schicksal. But now there are far too few Flame-Chaser to fill the limit of his domain. This period of time should be enough for him to ascend.

Moreover, Lin vaguely sensed some changes occurring within the Herrscher of Binding, though whether these changes were good or bad remained to be seen.

World Serpent, Schicksal, Yan Luo... and now there's the Herrscher of Binding. Lin's "colorful" love life is indeed a mess, but that doesn't mean it's settled down now.

Lin observed the map and speculated which direction the Herrscher of Binding would flee in.

"Um?"

Suddenly, he received a message, but it was clearly a message sent to Tesla's transport ship...

His gaze froze after he clicked on it.

"Call..."

Peristalsis, stitching, repair.

The body's self-healing is nothing more than the interaction between cells and tissues. No matter how fast it is, this principle must be respected. The Herrscher's body is essentially just using Honkai Energy to stimulate and strengthen cells, thus accelerating this process.

After the foreign objects that had invaded the body were expelled, the flesh stuck together and was kneaded back to its original shape by an unseen hand.

After the broken tissues were completely reassembled, the body was restored to its original state.

The white-haired man braced himself on the ground with both hands, his body still lingering from the severe damage, but this meant nothing to him who had died several times.

After recovering, he immediately surveyed his surroundings and, finding himself near the edge of Changkong City, made a rough assessment of the situation. He then got up and ran out of Changkong City.

Since they couldn't kill Lin immediately, they had to stay away from him as much as possible while he was weak. This attack, which they were determined to succeed, was ultimately ruined by Night Owl, so the white-haired man could only try to pass away as soon as possible.

Killing only one Herrscher of Rock was somewhat below his expectations. Originally, based on the level of threat, Kiana should have been his first priority to eliminate, as she was the Herrscher were most likely to pose a threat to him. However, he never expected that one day he would act impulsively like a human.

If destroying human civilization is his meaning as Herrscher, then killing Lin is his meaning as an individual.

There's no need to ponder the meaning of existence; if one must consider it, then the only way is to exterminate humanity.

The white-haired man expressionlessly tore off the tattered cloth from his clothes. He searched Lin's memory, and based on the location on the flat map he had seen on the plane... he headed west.

He should remain hidden in human society for a while. The Honkai of current civilization seems to be on the verge of eruption, and he has plenty of opportunities.

Oh, right...

He realized that both Lin and Yan Luo possessed at least one Divine Key. Compared to the white-haired man, who had acquired some characteristics of other Herrscher, they were able to genuinely and directly control the abilities of another Herrscher.

Arms...

The white-haired man's iridescent pupils stared at his empty right hand until a gust of wind whipped up his conspicuous white hair. He raised his head and gazed at the city gradually emerging in the distance, his hair and eyes slowly turning into a deep black.

Lin shut down his computer, but his thoughts were still on the information he had just received.