I'm Not a Flame-Chaser

And I'd like to recommend the book "A Journey Through Previous Civilization: Starting with Electricity," which is already over a million words long. Interested readers are welcome to support it.

The "Reversal" of Coral: Special Feature - The Secrets of Coral Island (Part 2)

In the enclosed Xiao Kong of the elevator, Lin looked at his reflection in the blurry mirror.

Compared to 50,000 years ago, the person reflected in the mirror had much less of a fierce look in their eyes.

Perhaps many things were decided long ago. When he wore the helmet, others would hate him or even fear him. And no one, including himself, expected that the person under the helmet was so different from the person wearing the helmet, that it made people wonder if they were the same person.

Today is the second day of the search for Prometheus, and in just one morning, too many things have happened that have left him at a loss.

Bronya stood beside him, sniffing between her armpits to see if there was any lingering scent.

"Why do you look unhappy?" the girl asked indifferently after lowering her hand.

"... Why should I be happy?" Lin asked, somewhat bewildered.

"You should be happy to sleep with girls without taking responsibility, and I think my own conditions are not bad either, at least compared to Kiana, I have a different feeling."

"No need to... take responsibility?"

"My goal was to keep Seele away from you, and now that I've achieved that, I won't bother you and Kiana anymore. If you're interested, you can come find me, and I'll try my best to make it up to you."

Bronya leaned against the elevator wall and whispered the words that made Lin's pupils dilate.

"..."

"..."

The elevator stopped, Lin Mo stood silently in front of the open elevator doors. Neither of them stepped out first, as if they were standing at a crossroads, pondering which direction they should take.

Finally, Lin sighed, took Bronya's hand, and walked outside.

The girl tilted her head and looked at his back strangely, while her other hand clenched the gray duck plush toy in her pocket.

The next day, their first destination was a park. The Coral Island park has the world's largest fountain, and with the use of advanced technology, it can create the magical scene of water droplets flowing upwards in a truly meaningful way.

Lin led Bronya on a stroll through the park, passing under fountains of all sizes, where splashes of water created small rainbows in the air. This time, without any elaborate disguises, they were dressed in ordinary clothes, walking among the rainbows like any other couple.

A dazzling array of fountains formed a labyrinthine illusion, blurring everyone else in the gushing waters, leaving only those around you as real.

This unique romance is why many couples choose to come here; it offers a peculiar atmosphere that is close to being alone but not quite.

"We've already been through this once, haven't we?" Bronya glanced at the blurry figures out of the corner of her eye. For some reason, she didn't really like this place. "We should go find Prometheus now."

"... Let's go through it again, no need to rush."

Lin appeared somber. He slowly and deliberately held the hand that was incredibly small compared to his own, and they walked step by step among the fountains.

"What's on your mind?"

Perhaps because they were alone together, Bronya keenly noticed Lin's slight change. She stopped and asked him.

Lin stopped walking, not turning around to look at her, but calmly staring ahead, and asked, "What do you plan to do after this?"

"Just like I said before..."

I meant 'you'.

As Lin released her hand, a sudden, indescribable sense of loss welled up in Bronya's heart the moment their fingers parted.

"Haven't you thought about what you'll do in the future? Are you indifferent to this kind of self-destruction?"

Irritable.

For no reason at all, Bronya felt a deep irritation the moment Lin uttered those words. She realized she didn't want to hear them and deliberately avoided thinking about them.

The girl said expressionlessly, "I don't care."

Yes, as long as it's for Seele, I'd do anything...

"Are you really okay with it?" Lin's question struck Bronya like a hammer blow, and her breathing suddenly became heavier.

"So what do you want to do? What's done is done. Can you give up Kiana for me?" Bronya sneered disdainfully. She stared at Lin, trying to see panic in his eyes, but she failed. His dark eyes were filled with only tranquility.

She didn't realize that her two sentences proved she wasn't indifferent.

"...Won't."

Bronya masked her disappointment with a mocking smile. She already knew the answer, but Lin's words had given her some hope. She didn't want to ruin Kiana and Lin's relationship, after all, Kiana was innocent.

"But I don't want to give up on you either."

"... A sudden declaration of being a scumbag."

Bronya paused for a moment, instinctively making sarcastic remarks to Lin, but Lin looked extremely serious, leaving her stunned in place.

"This whole thing started because of me, but I can't be irresponsible to Kiana, and I can't be irresponsible to you either." Lin took a deep breath and said amidst the swirling fountains, "At the very least, I want you to cherish yourself first."

The softest spot in the girl's heart was touched. She stared at him blankly for a long time, and only when the second round of fountains shot up did she slowly inhale and exhale.

This man, wasn't he the one who was forced? Is this just the subconscious behavior of a scumbag?

But...

"Perhaps... it's a misunderstanding on my part."

"What?"

Bronya murmured something, but Lin didn't hear her amidst the numerous fountains. Bronya didn't repeat herself; she simply looked up, gave a faint smile, and walked past him.

"Bronya doesn't need to cherish herself; someone else will cherish her for Bronya."

After a day of investigation, the two returned to the hotel. They briefly organized the results and planned the route for the next day's investigation, which made it a fulfilling day.

However, Bronya did not return to her own room, but stood in Lin's room, watching him.

"Aren't you going back?" Lin asked.

The Public Security Bureau investigated all night yesterday and should have left by now. Bronya can go back to her room and sleep.

"Why do we have to go back?" Bronya asked in confusion. She stepped forward, wrapped her arms around Lin's waist, and hugged him.

Lin, somewhat flustered, raised his hand, hesitant to touch her. "You..."

"Hold me."

"..."

The girl looked up at his dazed face, smiled gently, and repeated, "Hold me tight."

Lin hesitated for two seconds, then lowered his hand, placed it behind the light gray-haired girl, and hugged her.

Hold me tighter.

Lin held the petite girl, who looked like a doll, in his arms. She took a deep breath against Lin's chest and buried her head in his chest, saying in a muffled voice, "Remember this feeling. When you hug other girls, you'll remember the feeling of hugging Bronya. It's a curse on scumbags."

"..."

A curse?

When she looked up again, the pretty girl's face was flushed red as if it were about to bleed. She gritted her teeth and breathed softly, "Bronya knows you like girls with big breasts. If you want Bronya to fit your taste in the future, you'll have to work hard yourself."

What does this mean?

Her hands were held by another pair of small hands and placed on her delicate, tiny, yet soft spot.

The temperature of the heart rises in the palm of the hand.

Coral's "Reversal": Chapter Fifty-Six, Holy Sword Seventy-Nine

The return journey wasn't long, but it wasn't short either; they were almost at the Salt Lake Base in half a day. During this time, Anna showed no signs of waking up.

Her brainwaves were very stable, and her Honkai Energy reaction was almost unaffected, even more stable than Kiana's during her time in Sky City.

This may be the power of the Herrscher of Binding, but it is unknown how long this state will last after Anna wakes up.

"Ahem... Lin? What can I do for you?"

As Lin entered the captain's cabin, Theresa hurriedly put away the book she was holding, but Lin, with his sharp eyes, caught a glimpse of the cover.

Comic books?

He didn't expose the childlike, forty-something girl's hobby, but instead took out a golden knight's sword and placed it on the table.

Theresa looked at him in confusion. "This is..."

"The Divine Key".

"The Divine Key?!"

Theresa was startled. Why did she suddenly pull out a new Divine Key?

She tentatively reached out and grasped the hilt of the knight's sword, and after a while, she dismissed her doubts.

It does contain power similar to the Oath of Judas, but compared to the Oath of Judas, the power in the Knight's Sword is less than half, and it lacks that feeling of life, like a heart beating.

"This is a weapon made by the Herrscher herself, right?" Theresa was quite knowledgeable, and she quickly determined the composition of the Knight's Sword. After all, there were precedents. Both Jizo Mitama and the Herrscher of Reason had made Divine Key, but this Divine Key did not contain the Herrscher Core, only the Herrscher's power.

Lin nodded. "Yes."

"Oh... then this is..."

"I want to test whether it has any connection to the Oath of Judas."

Two Divine Key from the same source might be connected, especially since Jiu gave him this weapon at the end, perhaps...

After hearing Lin's account, Theresa became interested and brought up the Oath of Judas. Then Lin handed her the sword.

"Huh? Aren't you going to do it yourself?" Theresa asked, holding a sword that was taller than her.

"... I can't get too close."

"Oh, I almost forgot."

Lin felt that the Oath of Judas were too close, which would create a sense of shared experience between them, and he didn't want to go through that again.

Theresa stood on tiptoe and looked at the joint between the knight's sword and the Oath of Judas. She suddenly noticed that there was a slot-like opening on the Oath of Judas. She aligned the tip of the sword with it and inserted it.

"Click".

Then, to their astonishment, the cross and the sword simultaneously transformed.

After leaving the Imaginary Tree, the Raven was somewhat unsettled, still thinking about what had happened there.

Although she had experienced this feeling when she first entered the Imaginary Tree, her emotions became even more complicated after this experience.

"The reward... sigh..."

The Raven lay on the table and sighed deeply.

In the midst of this falsehood, the real Lin is revealed. He once had such a time in high school, as well as Kevin... They once laughed like normal teenagers, but in the end, they became cold, lifeless machines.

"Humans are generally sentimental, and it seems you're pretty much the same."

The hoarse voice made Raven's expression turn cold. She straightened up and looked at the masked man who walked in through the door.

"You brought me back, you should know better than anyone else," Raven said, staring at the Gray Serpent.

"Humans are like ears of wheat; they fall so that others can grow better." Gray Serpent placed a button-shaped machine on the table. "Mr. Lin understands this better than anyone else, so you don't need to feel sorry for him."

Raven's thoughts were instantly seen through, and he narrowed his eyes without replying.

"What is this?" She turned to look at the device on the table. Gray Serpent pressed a button, and a projection appeared in front of the two of them.

"The Jackal detected Herrscher reaction on Coral Island. Although it was brief, two Herrschers were detected. Our investigators later found signs of a battle at the scene, and the Herrscher are now missing."

"Coral Island again?" Raven frowned as she looked at the three-dimensional Honkai Energy detection image of Coral Island. "Could that woman have lost her mind after suffering so many blows? Three different Herrscher have appeared on Coral Island in a row. Is it some kind of incubator for Herrscher?"

"You may not believe in Jackal's logical abilities, but her skills are beyond doubt. There were indeed two Herrscher reactions at the time."

"... So I need to go gather intelligence again this time?"

"Afterwards, we discovered that the Hyperion had appeared in this area, so we believe that Anti-Entropy took away the Herrscher." Gray Serpent pressed the button again, and a blurry image of the Hyperion flashed by. "You can delegate the other tasks to Jackal and Feather Rabbit. We need you to monitor Anti-Entropy's movements, especially one person who needs our attention."

"Feather Rabbit? She really exists? I thought she was just a ghost."

"The plan is nearing completion. Night Owl's whereabouts are unknown. It's time for Feather Rabbit to begin its operations. The data is here. Let's get started."

After Gray Serpent left the room, Raven took the device and turned it on, revealing a page of information in front of her.

"It's that guy again." Raven squinted at the blurry silhouette of the masked man in the file. She had dealt with the man several times before, and his resemblance to someone else always gave her a strange feeling.