Bring Vacher Here

At the Fountain of Lucine before the Opera Epiclese.

Well, after all that circling around, they had returned to the Opera Epiclese.

Wu Wanghai was in a bad mood right now.

Just moments ago, Wu Wanghai had fought the security meka that had been alerted.

The reason was the bodyguard behind Wu Wanghai—the Hilichurl Hydro Rogue.

Poor Rogue. It had not lasted more than a few moves before the meka's machine guns went piu~ piu~, riddling it with holes. In the end, it could not hold on and turned to ash, becoming part of Wu Wanghai—namely, experience points.

"Waaah, waaah." Wu Wanghai cried. After spending a day or two swapping through so many summons, he had finally caught one he liked, only to end up alone again.

Furina held her head high, looking immensely proud. "You can't blame Fontaine's security system for that... It's impressive, right? Even if lots of monsters invade, these security meka can deal with most of them."

"Ah, forget it. That isn't important now." Wu Wanghai sighed and shook his head. He could deal with summons later; there were more important matters at hand.

"So, what exactly did you come here to do?" Furina had watched Wu Wanghai stand before the Fountain of Lucine for ages. Bored out of her mind, she finally could not help asking.

"I'm listening." Wu Wanghai began to frown slightly.

"Listening for what?" Furina's ears twitched. All she could hear was the fountain's flowing water.

"That shouldn't be." Wu Wanghai had listened outside for quite a while as well, but gotten no response.

"Hm?" Furina was still baffled by what he was doing.

"Let me think of something." As he spoke, Wu Wanghai flipped in front of everyone, darting left and right.

His hair and clothes still got a little wet from the fountain.

Once inside the fountain, Wu Wanghai closed his eyes and tried his best to block out and reduce the surrounding noise.

At the center of the fountain, Wu Wanghai could indeed sense that something was different.

The Vision ornament on his chest was even giving off a faint blue glow.

The Hydro energy around him was far too abundant, but it was still not enough.

"Waterborne Paradise!" Wu Wanghai unleashed the ultimate he had charged up along the way.

"Bzzzz."

A strange sound truly began to reach his ears, though it was very faint.

It seemed he still needed to eliminate the noise. Wu Wanghai thought of a way.

The next instant, a giant bubble enveloped the fountain, shoving the scattered tourists, passersby, and people making wishes two or three meters away.

"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!" The fountain jets, which had originally been only half a meter or a meter high, abruptly surged to five or ten meters.

"So... so... many." Vaguely, Wu Wanghai seemed to hear someone speaking.

"It's been so long. How much longer..." This time, he heard it more clearly. Furina's voice came from the fountain.

"Soon, soon. Fufu, don't talk yet."

"??? I wasn't talking! Why would you say that?" Furina was utterly confused by Wu Wanghai's move and hurriedly denied it.

Wu Wanghai could no longer hear Furina's reply. His lips kept softly repeating one name: "Vacher, Vacher, Vacher!"

The moment Furina finished shaking her head in denial, she saw the fountain's water jets suddenly shrink back to their usual height.

Then, with a "plop~," Wu Wanghai's entire body collapsed into the center of the fountain as if he had lost control.

"Hey!" Furina jolted in alarm, then hurried into the center of the fountain as well.

Looking at Wu Wanghai up close, she saw that his eyes were tightly shut and his breathing was steady. He did not seem to be in any danger.

And at a glance, Furina saw that the Vision on his chest was emitting a dazzling blue radiance.

Elsewhere, Wu Wanghai, whose eyes had remained shut, was suddenly dazzled by a burst of blue light.

Once the light faded, Wu Wanghai instinctively opened his eyes.

"This is...?"

Wu Wanghai looked around at the vast blue emptiness, where there was nothing at all.

The very next instant, a Lochfolk appeared before him.

"..." The Lochfolk turned around and faced Wu Wanghai. "Vacher... Huh? Are you Vacher?"

The Lochfolk shook her head the next moment. "Wait, no! You're not my Vacher... Do you know Vacher? Where is my Vacher?"

"I know Vacher, but now I don't know him anymore." Wu Wanghai answered with a furrowed brow.

The Lochfolk continued in a gentle, ethereal voice. "Is that so? My memories seem to have been scattered by a rushing current too. So many fragments dissolved into the water, never to be found again."

"Every little moment I had on land was a precious memory. I do not know how many of them I have lost..."

"Mm, I know. You used to be human." Wu Wanghai nodded as this conversation began to stir his memories.

"Human, yes. I was once human. Now, I am human consciousness that has lost its human form."

"I do not know why I became like this. I only vaguely remember being wrapped in pinkish-blue water, and everything before my eyes becoming blurry..."

Wu Wanghai told the Lochfolk the truth about that water. "The pinkish-blue water you mentioned—we now know what it is called. It is Primordial Sea Water."

"So that is its name." The Lochfolk fell silent.

"How much do you remember about Vacher?" Wu Wanghai began to ask. Was the key to everything what this Lochfolk would reveal?

"Oh, and I also remember that I once went to many places. I loved venturing into all kinds of dangerous places."

"And no matter where I went, Vacher was always with me. I knew how much he loved me, and I always loved him just as much."

"..." Wu Wanghai did not want to hear this.

"But now... none of it can ever return. I never knew the sorrow of parting could be so heavy."

Wu Wanghai's heart sank. The Vacher she spoke of seemed like a good man, but... "I know the Vacher of today is no longer the Vacher you knew."

"Yes. Even if we met again, it would have no meaning. We can no longer create any memories together."

"My longing for him can no longer do him any good. Let this longing remain forever at the bottom of the water."

Wu Wanghai sighed. "But Vacher is outside, conducting experiments to dissolve other girls because of you."

"That process is called dissolution? I instead feel that it is a release! There is no fear, no tension—only endless calm, like the surface of water without wind."

"It also seems like someone accustomed to thirst drinking water for the first time, only then realizing that they had always lived amid endless desire and anxiety."

Wu Wanghai remained silent. This world was still strange; people could actually be dissolved.

After listening to the Lochfolk explain her feelings after dissolution once more, Wu Wanghai felt even more oppressed.

Use skill, Capture!

A red exclamation mark appeared before Wu Wanghai, accompanied by a prompt: The target is an intelligent lifeform. Capture failed.

Contract activated!

No physical form detected for the current target.

Seriously, why were all these conditions so demanding?

Wu Wanghai gave up on directly taking this Lochfolk back. He had already done everything he could, but there was still no way to help her.

The Lochfolk looked upward and said, "Someone outside is calling for you. Goodbye. I am happy that you could sense me. But remember, if you see Vacher, do not let him look for me!"

"Wait! I need you to tell me where he conducts his experiments!" Wu Wanghai only had time to say one last thing. His consciousness gradually began to blur.

In the final moment before leaving, Wu Wanghai saw the Lochfolk before him disappear, followed by the phantoms of many girls appearing around him.

"Bring Vacher, Vacher... Vacher!!... here!!!"

That was the last thing Wu Wanghai heard—the voices of countless girls crying out as one.