Abandoning Arms / Keep Moving Forward

The air conditioner blew warm air, making the whole room incredibly cozy and keeping out the endless cold wind.

Lin patiently waited for the girl, who was pouting and deep in thought. She was seriously considering the question, without a hint of joking.

"I don't know either." In the end, the girl gave a simple conclusion and said with a wry smile, "Even if I start thinking about it now, I don't know how to maximize my life's value. Donating blood while alive and donating after death? But I always feel like something is missing. Just doing good deeds all the time? Sigh, it's so frustrating."

"... Don't overthink it, just pretend I didn't ask."

"But..."

The girl looked up, her bright eyes still sparkling under the light. "But if it were me, I would definitely live each day as usual."

"Why?" Even knowing he was about to die?

"Hehe, because I don't have any grand ambitions, or rather, most people don't have any particularly lofty ideals, so we just need to live our own lives well."

"Many people may panic, regret, despair, and give up on themselves when they first learn that their death is coming, but they should be able to cheer up quickly. After all, what does it matter if you know? Death will not be lenient because you regret it. The key is to face the rest of your life with equanimity."

The chestnut-haired girl gently brushed a strand of hair behind her ear and smiled at Lin Qing, "Even if tomorrow is the end of the world, schools will still be in session, traffic lights will still change every second, and farmers will still be worried about this year's harvest."

"Because these are just ordinary human beings, without any lofty ideals, yet still living tenaciously."

Chapter Fifty-Six: Abandoning Martial Arts

"Uncle, are you leaving?"

Anna asked as Lin walked to the door and pulled the doorknob.

"Um."

"But it's raining heavily outside." Anna looked out the window worriedly. The howling wind and torrential rain were quite frightening. "And it's so late already. Why don't you just stay at my place?"

"Need not."

"No way! If you catch a cold when you go back, people will misunderstand and think I infected you!"

"... No way." Lin sorted out the logic in her words, but still couldn't figure out how the misunderstanding could have been that she had infected him when no one knew they were together.

Lin's current state of erosion is not optimistic. He doesn't want others to stay in the same room with him for too long. Although Mobius said that as long as there is no long-term close contact, there is no major problem, it is still best to be careful.

Moreover, he has already achieved his goal in coming to find Anna, so it's better not to let her investigate further.

Even if tomorrow is the end of the world, humanity will still live on tenaciously. Perhaps that is the answer.

With his death drawing ever closer, he frantically racked his brains trying to figure out how to make the most of his life, while Anna, unaware of the true situation, solved his doubts.

Anna pouted and pleaded, "Either show me what's under your helmet, or stay here tonight."

"This option is invalid." Lin didn't need to choose between the two at all.

"Aaaaaah! No means no!"

"... What do you want to say?" Lin turned around and asked Anna, who was puffing up with anger.

"Hehe, you're quite perceptive, uncle." Anna changed her expression and smiled cutely at Lin Mei while twisting her fingers. "Actually, I need your help with something tomorrow."

"I'm busy."

"Ugh, how awful! He actually rejected a beautiful girl."

"... I've refused many times."

Elysia and Anna are both fully aware of their good looks, and Lin has seen this trick on Elysia countless times before, so it has no effect on him at all.

Anna keenly sensed the hidden meaning in his words: "Many times? Uncle, you don't have a girlfriend, do you?"

"No."

I don't believe it.

Anna's overly subjective behavior left Lin speechless.

After a pause, Lin said, "I will come to see you tomorrow."

Without waiting for Anna's response, he pushed open the door and left.

"Splash!"

The heavy rain relentlessly pounded on Lin's body.

Anna was right; the rain was heavy, as if all the water of the year had been poured out in one violent downpour, soaking him completely.

Lin's appearance, Lin's age, and Lin's cause of death.

This question gave Mei a tricky feeling, as if she had been deceived.

It's like playing a game where someone tells you from the beginning that there's a treasure deep inside the palace, and your only goal is to find it. But the path to finding the treasure is filled with puzzles, and the solution to each puzzle is another puzzle, one after another, keeping you completely baffled.

In particular, the three questions seemed to be on completely different levels. Mei asked Sakura, Kevin, and Eden separately, and they all answered with Lin's age, which meant that his age was not a secret and that everyone should know it.

However, when it came to appearance, Sakura and Eden started to stammer, while Kevin coldly said "I know" and then fell silent.

Finally, when asked about Lin's cause of death, Sakura remained silent, Eden drank without saying a word, and Kevin simply turned and left.

Most of the people here died in the Previous Civilization. Of the Thirteen Heroes of the current civilization that Mei has seen, only Kevin and Hua have survived. Even among the long-lived Flame-Chaser, only two have reached the current civilization, so it is even less likely that Lin will survive.

Judging from their behavior, Lin did not die of natural causes, but it is impossible to confirm whether they really know the cause of Lin's death. Even Mobius had that attitude. They were not cooperative, and it would be difficult for Mei to find Flame-Chasers who was the right person from these complicated and scheming heroes.

Of course, Mei could also choose not to pursue Lin's matter. She has already obtained Lin's mark, and she should be able to find out the truth by continuing to explore on her own.

But... Elysia said that if I could solve this problem, I could ask her directly...

This indirectly suggests that Lin and Elysia are key figures in the Imaginary Tree, and she may still be unable to avoid them in the future.

Let's try to gather intelligence first.

Mei thought of someone; she had indeed mentioned doing information business, but she wondered if she was still in the store.

So Mei entered the Imaginary Tree with a try-it-out mentality.

At that moment, a pair of green eyes stared at her back and a smile appeared on their faces.

"Hmm... Today is another bumper day, Canned Food."

Meow~

"Let me see, the goods I got from Sister Vill-V are..."

"Pardofelis".

"Meow!"

The cat-eared girl jumped up as if her tail had been stepped on, only to breathe a sigh of relief when she saw Mei standing behind her.

"It's Mei- nee."

Mei was very curious about Pardo's actions. How could someone Flame-Chasers as her seem so timid? There shouldn't be any monsters in the Imaginary Tree that could defeat her.

"I thought it was Brother Lin." Pardo put away some oddly shaped things, Mei happened to see that there was Floating Cannon that Lin had used before.

Do you just throw it away after using it once?

Mei frowned and asked Pardo, "What... are these?"

"Hmm? Mei- nee is interested in the merchandise? You should have said so earlier, these are all rare items." Pardo cheerfully emptied the contents of the sack, which were all the weapons Lin had used during their fight.

The miniature missile launcher that destroys the Herrscher's shield, the device that creates illusion projections, two long swords with different shapes, a large number of firearms and bullets, and six Floating Cannons.

"You... Lin bought it from you?"

"No, after Brother Lin finished using them, he just told me to do whatever I wanted with them."

"..."

In other words, these weapons were not advanced equipment for Lin, but rather junk that he could sell as scrap at any time.

Pardo Mei didn't seem to have much desire to buy anything, Pado packed the things back, somewhat disappointed. "Brother Lin said he no longer needs these things and it would be better to give them to someone more suitable, but Mei doesn't seem to be the right person."

"I have a weapon now." Mei shook her head. "No, I came to see you for something else."

"Doing business?"

"You said before that I could buy information from you, right?"

"That's right! That's right! Mei wants to know whose gossip! I'm the most famous informant in Imaginary Tree! There's nothing I don't know!"

Seeing Pardo's eyes light up, Mei felt reassured and asked, "Do you know what Lin looks like?"

"..."

Then, Mei saw that Pardo, who had been so cheerful, suddenly had a cat-like wariness in her eyes.

Chapter Fifty-Seven: Moving Forward

Born in darkness, surrounded by countless nights.

Lifting his heavy legs, he walked towards some unknown distance.

Gradually, it seemed they found their direction and started running.

The surrounding scenery didn't seem to change, but I could feel myself moving forward.

Suddenly, a beam of light appeared in the distance, so I breathed a sigh of relief and ran towards it faster.

We're getting close.

He felt a secret sense of relief.

We're about to touch that beam of light.

"Don't come any closer, Lin."

Everything stopped.

With that stern shout, everything fell into darkness.

Lin suddenly opened his eyes and rolled out of bed.

"Tick-tock".

The digital clock on the table was ticking, changing from 5:59 to 6:00.

The flickering light outside the window swayed on the curtains.

The cup was thrown to the ground.

Sweat dripped from his forehead onto the back of his hand.

"..."

"Lin, what's wrong?"

The helmet on the table emitted the voice of Prometheus.

Lin stared at the digital clock on the table.

Time keeps moving forward.

"Captain, is it okay if we stay on standby at the base the whole time?"

Kosma asked the question that had been nagging at him for the past two days.

Kevin does simple physical training. He exercises whenever he has no other tasks, something he learned from Lin.

Lin often sparred with him during this time. Although Lin was ruthless, it did help Kevin improve rapidly. At least now the two of them are evenly matched in hand-to-hand combat.

Now, the people in this deserted gym have changed to Kosma and Kevin, and Kevin is now the one giving the instructions.

Since leaving headquarters and returning, Lin has never been to the gym again. When Kevin mentioned sparring with Lin, Lin silently refused.

Mr. Lin was the first to change, but Kevin didn't even know when or why he changed.

After completing a set of finger push-ups, Kevin stood up and said to Kosma, "We need to follow orders. Our autonomous judgment in action is based on the needs of the mission."

"But..."

"Kosma." Kevin stopped him with a look, then beckoned and assumed a fighting stance. "If it were Hen or Lin, they would have given you the same answer. A soldier's nature is to obey orders."