I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

After a long silence, Jiu left Ito Kyō and walked out of the city.

"From now on, go to the shelter as soon as you hear an alarm."

"Oh oh..."

Ito Kyō stared blankly at Jiu's retreating figure.

He looked all alone, and exceptionally desolate.

He must be a good person.

The colossal machine pushed aside the clouds and slowly landed in the designated landing area. The roar of its engines subsided, and the complex facilities hidden in the salt lake were revealed.

The Anti-Entropy Salt Lake Base is currently the main base for the Anti-Entropy members of Einstein's faction. After the Far East Branch Schicksal defected, they joined Anti-Entropy and are currently hiding in the Salt Lake Base.

"Auntie, it's been a long time."

The silver-haired girl smiled and greeted the pretty girl standing at the front, her eyes brimming with tears.

"It's good that you're back."

Wiping away her tears, Theresa, dressed in her Nun's habit, smiled through her tears.

Lin stood at the very back, his gaze sweeping across the faces of the people welcoming the group. After nodding to Welt, his eyes met briefly on Einstein and Theresa's faces before he looked at the others.

One of them had his head down, avoiding his gaze.

After a brief exchange, almost everyone went into the base first. Only Welt and Einstein walked up to Lin. The composed middle-aged man extended his hand. "It's a pleasure to see you again, Mr. Lin. It seems you are willing to cooperate with us."

"Yes." Lin extended her hand to shake his. "Is everything alright?"

Lin refers to Welt's Herrscher Core, which has now been handed over to Bronya, but Welt doesn't seem to have been greatly affected.

"It's alright. That core wasn't actually born inside him, so even if it's removed, it won't have much of an impact on him," Einstein replied in a languid tone. "Mr. Lin, it's a pleasure to meet you. I'm Liesel Albert Einstein."

Welt explained, "Ayn is our chief scientist; you can consult her if you have any related questions."

"OK."

"Mr. Lin has truly brought us more than one great gift." Einstein stared with great interest at this person who was said to have come from 50,000 years ago, "Herrscher of Reason, Upper-class Honkai Beast, Divine Key ... and Herrscher of Rock."

Night Owl's body was also on the Hyperion. Lin brought him back. He still had the Herrscher Core inside him, and he couldn't fall into the hands of World Serpent or Schicksal.

"No, it's nothing." Lin took a deep breath. His attitude was neither cold nor gentle. "If necessary, I will provide you with some information about the previous civilization, but Hua will know more detailed information. She is the executor of the Seed Project."

As the three walked and talked, Welt led Lin through the central courtyard and into the underground facility. He adjusted his glasses and said, "Mr. Lin, do you mean not to join Anti-Entropy, but to cooperate?"

"Yes, I will provide assistance. In return, I hope you can help me search for some things. I will stay in Anti-Entropy temporarily until my target appears, and I will also carry out the relevant tasks."

Welt and Einstein exchanged a glance. This man was in a state of amnesia in the Quantum Sea, so he was subtly different from how he was now.

"The Herrscher you mentioned before, born within you... According to your description, he is the Herrscher of Binding, and his threat level is almost the highest among all Herrscher." Einstein picked up the paper-thin screen and tapped it, retrieving the information Tesla had given her. "So far, we have not found any trace of him."

"He's different from other Herrscher. He won't show himself until he's sure of himself. His appearance is just as I described before: white hair, Prismatic Eyes, and the same appearance as me."

"I will notify the relevant departments to expedite the investigation."

"This is your room. You must be tired from your long journey. Please rest." Welt and Einstein stopped at the door and then walked in another direction.

Lin took a deep breath, but instead of opening the door, he looked to the other side.

A petite girl with highlights in her hair stood timidly not far away, her head bowed.

The "Rebirth" of the Sky: Chapter Sixty-Three - Past Life Lover: Is the focus on the past life or the lover?

Lin's relationships with many girls were quite subtle, even though he only realized it much later.

Among them, one of the girls who evoked the most complex feelings in him was the soul known as the Herrscher of Death during the Sixth Honkai War.

The girl who always called him Team Member Lin was the most "normal" person he knew. If he had noticed her unusual behavior back then, if he had shown her more care as a senior, would the outcome have been different?

Regret is the most useless emotion. Even if it wasn't Soul who became Herrscher, someone else would have. But that doesn't stop Lin from imagining a better ending for that girl who cherished life but killed for it.

The other one... the Herrscher of Death survived for a little over ten hours in that body also made Lin think about a question: could Herrscher also have a better fate? Is destroying civilizations and being hostile to humanity the only path they can take?

Therefore, at that time, Lin and Mei chose the Herrscher of Death, "Seele," as the first object of consciousness contamination.

It can be said that Lin's regret and Lin's hopes are both contained in the soul.

When Lin met Seele from the present civilization, even though he knew very well that "these people" were different, just different individuals with similarities, Seele's personality was almost exactly the same as the original soul, which made Lin feel as if he saw that person again.

... Of course, when Seele betrayed him later, he also had to look around at the Soul and the Herrscher of Death.

Now, the pretty girl with dyed inner highlights stands in his room with her head down and doesn't say a word, glancing at his expression from time to time, seemingly still blaming herself for her betrayal in the Quantum Sea.

Similar to her outfit in the Quantum Sea, she wore a white off-shoulder top, a dark blue skirt with pure white spots, and long stockings with blue stripes. She Xiao Ke, making people want to bully her. The only strange thing was that there was a red pattern on her chest.

Lin was relieved when he saw her. It seemed that she had finally escaped the Quantum Sea, thus fulfilling the promise Lin made to her.

"That..."

Summoning every ounce of courage in her body Seele raised her head to speak, but seeing Lin's icy expression, she involuntarily swallowed her words back.

Lin looked at her with a hint of surprise. Her hesitant manner was very similar to Hun's. He frowned and sighed softly. He didn't want to see the shadow of the past in other people too often, as it would be disrespectful to both the present and the past.

Perhaps hearing Lin's sigh, Seele raised her head again, then murmured, "No, no, it has to be me who says it..."

Lin said calmly, "If it's about apologizing in the Quantum Sea, I don't mind. As long as you're safe and sound, I understand your feelings."

Let this ambiguous feeling remain where it is. She is Seele, not a soul. Let that past be buried deep in Lin's heart. Let's not let unrelated people be tainted by its sorrowful resentment.

Yes, that's good...

"No!" Seele's voice suddenly rose, echoing in the empty room.

Her gentle yet unwavering gaze met Lin's in the Tyndall effect-induced light, but this time Lin retreated. Even though he didn't know what he was running away from, there was something he didn't want to confront in those clear eyes.

"Brother Lin... no, Lin! Haven't we known each other for a long time? Not in the Quantum Sea, but even earlier, much further back in time!"

Lin looked at her silently until she showed signs of retreat in her eyes again, then he said slowly, "Before the Quantum Sea, we didn't know each other; it was just your misconception."

"No, it's not an illusion!"

Lin realized he shouldn't have spoken up, which gave Seele the courage to continue. She said to Lin firmly in a weak tone, "Lin must feel the same way. We've known each other for a long time!"

"I don't know you." Lin was usually calm, and this time was no exception. He was even calmer than usual, like a living dead. "I have absolutely never seen you before, not even anyone who looks like you."

Lin subconsciously told a complete lie.

He thought that this complete denial would make Seele back down, but to his surprise, after hearing what he said, the tension on Seele's face turned into a smile, a smile as beautiful as a May flower in bloom.

Lin's heart skipped a beat.

"You lied, Lin," the girl said softly.

"... Where's the evidence?"

Lin felt like a criminal in a mystery anime. His behavior and mentality were exactly the same as those murderers who were about to die but still kept quiet. Yet, he still blurted it out.

The girl with the inner highlights gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and chuckled softly, "In the Quantum Sea, I met another you, and saw... your past, the snake's past, and... the soul."

Therefore, the moment Lin's lie was spoken, it became the evidence that she confirmed it.

"You are not a soul."

Lin believed that his words were like the sharpest sword in the world; once spoken, they could cut through even the most complicated thoughts of a young girl.

Unfortunately, all those who are self-righteous believe they are invincible when faced with the facts.

"I... am indeed not a soul." Seele covered her chest with her right hand, and the Voice of the Heart made her expression even more resolute. "But... I am not completely unrelated to the soul, Team Member Lin."

Team Member Lin.

No one but Soul would call him by those three words. He only worked with Soul briefly in the Squad Five. After that, he became the captain, and no one addressed his teammates as such anymore.

The girl with the soul only had a little secret: she wanted a special name for Lin that was different from how she addressed others.

"You may not know, but I am Stigmata Awakener."

Stigmata?!

Lin suddenly realized something. After that experiment, he had not touched the Herrscher Core of the Herrscher of Death. When he saw "her" again, it was the Divine Key Black Abyss White Flower.

During this period, Mei was experimenting on the Herrscher Core of Death.

Lin didn't know exactly what Mei had done to the core, but he knew that the experiment was the starting point for Lin's subsequent plan to contaminate the consciousness of the "gate" and Mei's Stigmata Project.

Lin had to look at her seriously, while Seele clenched her fingers to calm herself down. She said to Lin, "Inside my body, there is another me. I sometimes dream of memories that don't belong to me. They all come from her, but she herself didn't know what they were at first."

"Later, what I saw in the Quantum Sea overlapped with what I dreamed of, and I realized... those were her memories before she became Stigmata."

"She... um?"

Seele was about to continue speaking when her expression suddenly changed, her left cheek showing surprise and her right cheek showing resentment. She raised her right hand and covered her mouth.

Lin, witnessing this scene, fell into an eerie silence.

The "Rebirth" of the Sky: Chapter Sixty-Four - I Am Not Me

"Mmm..."

Seele wanted to say something more, but she covered her mouth tightly with her right hand, which made her pretty right cheek look somewhat distorted.

Lin observed for a moment and noticed something was wrong. Seele's right eye was no longer its original sea-blue color, but a bright red like flowing blood.

There is another self inside me...

Lin frowned, recalling the stark contrast in Seele's personality before and after her time in the Quantum Sea: "You..."

Before he could even ask a question, Seele's internal struggle ended; the crimson in her right eye disappeared, and she gasped for breath as she said to Lin with difficulty, "The other me... her consciousness was made into Stigmata and has undergone a long period of time to arrive at this moment... but she can't tell who she really is..."

Lin Chao, panting, reached out his hand to Seele, then stopped in mid-air, staring blankly at his outstretched hand.

I can't tell... who I am...

At that time... Mei turned the Herrscher consciousness within the Herrscher Core... into Stigmata...

Who exactly is the person in front of me?

Soul? Herrscher? Seele?

Deep within Lin's heart, things he didn't want to see began to fester: guilt and remorse towards Hun surged forth all at once.

He couldn't do that, projecting one person's emotions onto another; that was something he abhorred, whether it was Rita's feelings for him or his feelings for Seele.

"I'm... not Herrscher!" Suddenly, Seele squeezed out a sentence with difficulty. Lin looked at her blankly, her eyes turning bloodshot, filled with resentment, bitterness, bewilderment, panic... as if all her emotions were contained in those eyes. She roared out the words with all her might, "I'm not anyone!"

After saying that, she gritted her teeth, pushed open the door, and rushed out.

"Bang!"

The loud slam of the door slamming against the wall in the empty corridor echoed back into Lin's heart.

The black-haired man covered his head and slowly slid down into the chair.

Lin made a big mistake.

The more a person denies and tries to cover up lies, the more they subconsciously harbor the answers they want to conceal.

Through constant self-suggestion and relentless denial, he has come to perceive these two different people as the same one.

There's probably only one word that can describe him.

Scumbag.

"What are you doing here?"

The shimmering lake reflected the azure sky, and a swift migratory bird flew low across the surface, splashing ripples.

The black-haired man leaned against a tree trunk by the lake, turned his head, and saw a girl in martial arts clothes slowly walking towards him.

"You've been here for two days, and it seems you haven't gone anywhere. Is something on your mind?" Fu Hua stood not far away, looking at the lake with Lin. "You should usually be the first to investigate the surrounding terrain."

"... It's in the data that Anti-Entropy gave me; I don't need to investigate it myself." Lin's slightly hoarse voice rang out as he gazed intently at two migratory birds that had landed on a branch not far away. They nestled together and softly called out.

"But you're the kind of person who won't feel at ease unless you do it yourself."

"Fifty thousand years have passed, and I will change, just like you."

"..."

Lin's tone was very strange today. Fu Hua turned her head and stared at his profile. After a while, she asked, "What... does this mean?"

"Are you Hua now, or Fu Hua?" Lin asked softly. "I know you'll definitely say you're both Hua and Fu Hua, but what would you think if someone didn't acknowledge your Hua part or your Fu Hua part, and separated Hua and Fu Hua?"