A World of Distorted Perceptions / Trouble Always Comes Unexpectedly

"Xiao Le?"

"No, it's a Sankta who's even younger than me, and she's been asking around about you. Her mother looks very young too, and she has huge breasts..."

It was clear that the kitten's resentment in this matter was exceptionally strong. Mizuki gently stroked her head and pinched her cat ears as she held her up, finally finding someone in her memory who matched Rosemary's description.

"Sister Felia and Cecilia, have they come to Rhodes Island too?"

"Was that Cecilia your daughter?"

Rosemary ground her teeth, seemingly with the urge to bite again if Mizuki didn't explain things clearly. Mizuki felt like she was turning into Exusiai's supervisor; she would bite at the slightest sound from Mizuki.

"Of course not, she's seven years old. I was still in Iberia seven years ago."

Of course, there couldn't be such a relationship between Mizuki and Cecilia. Felia was a married woman, and he had always regarded Felia as a friendly older sister. Felia herself was also very young, not even thirty years old, so calling her "older sister" was perfectly fine.

"Oh right, now that you think about it, I did tell Felia to come to Rhodes Island to find me someday."

"You really have absolutely no relationship?"

"We're just friends; at most, I'm her doctor."

Felia suffers from an extremely rare and incurable terminal illness. If she hadn't met Mizuki back then, her condition might be even worse now. Now that she's come to Rhodes Island, her condition has probably deteriorated.

"Don't you have any idea what kind of treatment you've received?"

The little cat couldn't help but complain. She had learned this from Warfarin. Mizuki's treatment was indeed very effective. Currently, many critically ill patients on Rhodes Island, including Eyjafjalla, had improved. Rosemary herself, Liz, Ifrit, and others had all benefited from Mizuki's treatment.

However, the side effects of this treatment are also obvious. Rosemary and Liz are currently addictive but not yet addictive, while FrostNova and Mudrock are the kind that go straight to the stomach.

"Stop talking, stop talking, it won't happen again."

Mizuki quickly covered Rosemary's mouth. Golding was still there, and he didn't want to embarrass himself. This little cat must have said those things on purpose; she was very clever.

But now that Cecilia and Felia have arrived at Rhodes Island, it's indeed time to meet them. For Mizuki, the existence of these two is an important part of his own personality. After all, the little angel has a promise with him, even if it's half-joking, it does reflect Mizuki's special nature.

Unlike other worlds where he simply trusts and relies on Mizuki Doctor, he now has many chains firmly binding him here, ensuring that the consciousness of other Mizuki will not affect his self-awareness, so as to avoid memory confusion, like Surtr.

"Surtr ..."

The name came to mind subconsciously. Mizuki wanted to recall the past, but she couldn't remember the days she traveled with Surtr. Her memories were fragmented and adrift in the Sea of Life, making them difficult to find. She also had to be sure that they were her own memories. If she just randomly pieced together a bunch of similar memories, the inconsistencies between them would create gaps. For example, Mizuki remembered eating baked cake for lunch the day before yesterday, but yesterday she remembered eating soup noodles. That would likely cause her memories to collapse and become confused.

Just like Surtr now, she doesn't have amnesia, but rather her memories are so numerous that they cause cognitive confusion, making it difficult for her to distinguish between reality and her own memories. She needs to rely on certain methods to calm herself down, such as ice cream.

"Um?"

Upon hearing this name, Golding Shapeshifter state, felt a fleeting, subtle unease. As an ancient being from the Sarkaz Royal Court, she had naturally heard of the ancient Flame Demon. Legend had it that the Flame Demon King Surtr and the Cyclops ventured deep into the snowy lands to guard the north of Terra. Could this one on Rhodes Island be...? No, Surtr was a figure from thousands of years ago. Not every Sarkaz could live that long; the Shapeshifter was an exception.

"You know her too?"

"No, it's just... I feel like I've heard this name somewhere before."

Golding shook her head. She was just there to see an old friend and didn't intend to cause any trouble. He wasn't there on Theresis's orders either; he just wanted to see how far Theresa's chosen successor from the alien race had come.

This was just a spur-of-the-moment decision, much like how Mizuki sometimes suddenly wanted to go to the deck of Rhodes Island to feel the breeze. Living too long always requires such spur-of-the-moment decisions to maintain a sense of novelty in life. Kal'tsit was an exception; she didn't have much time to do what she really wanted to do before, and lately she seemed to be developing into a nanny.

Mizuki, carrying Rosemary, led Golding forward. He didn't like having to activate full perception even on Rhodes Island anymore; it was too tiring. Rhodes Island should be a place like home.

To outsiders, the trio of Mizuki, Golding, and Rosemary look like a family of three on a leisurely outing. Rosemary resembles Mizuki and Golding's daughter, while there's an inexplicable harmony between Mizuki and Golding, who has transformed into Shapeshifter.

Perhaps it's because the two share some similarities in their biological behavior; for example, nothing is fixed or static.

Only Rosemary, nestled in Mizuki's arms, noticed nothing from beginning to end, and seemed quite pleased that Golding couldn't lie on Mizuki like she did.

Chapter 206 A World of Cognitive Distortion

"That's interesting. Did Mizuki make adjustments to your body?"

After glancing at the examination report, the Doctor immediately understood the cause of the matter. Amash's body had been subjected to extreme sutures before. The Warp erosion and contamination, mechanical modifications, and Seaborn's cells—so many things were crammed into one body. It was truly unbelievable how she had managed to endure it until now.

I think so.

Having inherited a significant portion of Kal'tsit's abilities, Amash herself could understand the medical report. Her body was currently in good health, but many traces of the past remained. The collapse caused by the Warp was irreversible, so Mizuki used her life force to fill the void in her body.

Aside from the most basic physical body, the life force of Seaborn was stitched together to make her life more resilient. The contamination of the Warp allowed Mr. K to use countless portals within the Warp to travel through it, and the mechanical parts prevented her from getting tired.

M3 never left; it simply became a part of this body. Coupled with the life force supplied by Mizuki, it greatly enhanced Amash's physical attributes.

"However, some hidden problems remain. I'll need Mizuki to treat them for you later."

Treatment is treatment, but the sly smile on the Doctor's face sent a chill down Amash's spine. He felt that there was something more to her words, but Mizuki wouldn't harm him, otherwise she wouldn't have needed to save him.

"To be honest, even if I killed you right here, Mizuki wouldn't blame me."

The Doctor's smile faded, and she suddenly brought up a seemingly terrifying topic.

She wasn't stupid. There were some things she could guess about 70-80% of without even asking Mizuki. As a transmigrator, she did believe that the person in front of her came from a parallel world, but that didn't mean she believed that Mizuki and Amash got along extremely peacefully.

The sudden downpour, Mizuki's noticeably changed demeanor, and the fact that her body had been contaminated after the other party's examination suggested that their time alone together was definitely not as simple as Mizuki had described.

"... You are very different from the Doctor I know."

I think I'm different in every world.

She casually twirled a sharp scalpel, and compared to the Doctor's harmless appearance, her words seemed somewhat pale and powerless. But Amash could see the tentacles lurking in the surrounding shadows; they all belonged to Mizuki, and Mizuki also belonged to the Doctor.

If the Doctor gives a single command, these tentacles will ruthlessly crawl out from all directions and tear Amash's body to pieces. Mizuki won't pursue the matter; at most, she'll feel sorry for him.

"Indeed, regardless of the parallel world, there will always be certain differences between the same individuals, and this is particularly evident in the individual known as 'Doctor'."

Amash wasn't nervous; this wasn't an unexpected situation, but he hadn't expected the Doctor to question him at this moment.

She didn't intend to hide it. Since Mizuki hadn't told her to keep these things to herself from the beginning, it wouldn't hurt to tell the Doctor. She would be living on Rhodes Island for a long time, and trust was a very important factor.

Besides... if she had paid more attention to the Doctor's condition, noticed Mizuki's abnormality and the pressure she was under, perhaps things wouldn't have turned out this way. Although saying this now might seem hypocritical and superfluous, at least this time she wanted to maintain this hard-won trust.

She could no longer accept that Mizuki, the Doctor, or Amiya, or any of them, meeting such an end.

"The story begins... about fifty years ago."

Simply talking about time without a point of reference makes many things difficult to explain. Mr. K originated fifty years ago, but for Terra in this world, it is three years later.

Fifty years is not a long time, especially for Mr. K is almost immortal, but now every extra second of life is torture for her.

The absence of Kal'tsit's part allowed him to maintain his composure and ensure that all the consciousnesses he contained would not go berserk, but it also made her incomplete. She struggled to her feet and looked at the dozens of incubation chambers in front of her.

He stretched out his hand, and a flash of red and black light passed through it. All the incubation chambers in front of him, along with the bodies inside, were completely melted away.

This is a choice with no way out. Without Kal'tsit as the most crucial anchor, the Warp's corruption of Mr. K has deepened to an irreversible degree. If she dies again, she will become a puppet of the Warp, manipulated and able to harm the world at will.

So if she were to die again, she would let herself die like this. She felt so tired. Whispers from the Warp lingered in her ears, calling the name of Izumik.

"In the end... I still couldn't stop it all, and I even became its accomplice myself?"

Mr. K reached out, only to find that his own mask had also been destroyed. The woman in the mirror now looked less like Kal'tsit and more like Magellan, but Mr. K could sense that Skadi now occupied a larger proportion of his body.

"Is this... the Warp yearning for Magellan?"

Normally, Mr. K will take on the form of whoever's consciousness dominates the most, and this isn't limited to Kal'tsit. However, currently, the entity that dominates her body might not be Skadi, but rather the highly polluted the Warp.

The implications of this are self-evident. Mr. K looked north, where she had entered this world through a portal and witnessed Mizuki freezing the Warp Gate.

As long as TA hasn't arrived, the sealed door will forever remain an obstacle to the Warp. Their desire to obtain Mizuki isn't just about unsealing a door, but the most important thing right now is definitely opening up the passage between the two sides.

"Ugh... I suddenly feel a little cold."

Magellan rubbed his hands together, feeling uneasy for some reason, as if something bad was about to happen. He couldn't help but reach out and touch his chest.

She kept the ice crystal given to her by Mizuki between her skin, never even taking it off when bathing. Ever since Sea Siren #233 told her about the importance of the ice crystal, Magellan had felt a sense of responsibility.

"Mai-Mai, are you cold?"

"More or less, um... I'm wondering when Mizuki will come back."

Magellan took a sip of hot tea, unsure of what to say.

The enemy did not arrive, and no war broke out. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, but no one dared to let their guard down.

They are facing otherworldly creatures that remain shrouded in mystery, beings that distort all the laws of reality. No one knows whether the three-tiered defense line built by the combined forces of Ursus, Great Yan, and Sami can stop such an enemy.

Moreover, Magellan and Typhon were well aware that the enemy had not been absent, and war had not been absent; it was just that the Sea Siren had pushed the front lines beyond human civilization, extinguishing the flames of war with rain of life, and submerging and purifying those things.

"He won't keep us waiting too long. It's only been three days. Relax, we can definitely make it."

"Yeah... wait, you said three days?"

Magellan suddenly realized something was wrong, and the cup in his hand fell to the ground with a crisp sound.

"Three days have already passed?"

"Of course, didn't you just take a shower and get ready for bed?"

Typhon pointed to Magellan's pajamas, then seemed to sense something was amiss, and Magellan quickly shook his head.

"No... how could I possibly change into my pajamas to sleep at a time like this? It doesn't suit my personality or habits."

Even if the Sea Siren stops the invasion from the Warp, the people at the position will not relax their vigilance. Magellan sleeps in his usual protective suit, hugging the drone, so why would he specially change into pajamas?

"Now that you mention it, I suddenly remember that I was planning to go find Ealchi to discuss something, so why did I come back to you...?"

Typhon immediately realized what was happening and then fell into deep confusion, because what she and Magellan were doing was clearly not in line with their habits; to put it more bluntly, their sense of time was completely out of sync.

Three days had passed in Typhon's mind, but Magellan clearly remembered that the Sea Siren had only been there for less than two hours.

She quickly changed into her protective suit and went outside the tent. Looking at the deep night sky above, she opened her mouth wide, speechless.

"Mai-Mai, my bow is also... what... what is this?"

Typhon realized she hadn't even brought her bow and arrows, which she never parted with, something she would never do; she even slept with her bow under her pillow.

However, after chasing out of the tent and seeing the enormous creature in the distant starry sky, she couldn't help but open her mouth wide. Even Typhon couldn't remain calm when faced with such a thing.

It was an existence far beyond the comprehension of the Terra, a landscape that could not have been created by nature.

"Ah, it's night again. Time has been disrupted in this godforsaken place, and I guess perception is the same."

With his bare hands, Siren No. 666 tossed away the worm, which was over ten meters long and had enormous mouthparts and hundreds of eyes. He then raised his head and slapped away the contaminated deer beast that was charging at him.

From the front lines northward to the ice plains, all life in Sami has been corrupted into the Warp, from the smallest poisonous insects to various wild beasts. Even plants have collapsed and become contaminated, turning this place into a place where life is absolutely forbidden to touch.

What troubled the Sea Siren even more was that, with the onslaught of the Demons, the entire material world of Terra was being polluted. The laws of physics had been distorted in the polluted space, and even time was no longer orderly. Although the Sea Siren themselves could avoid this interference thanks to the Sea of Life, others might not be so fortunate.

Now, the pollution from the Warp has spread throughout Sami. Half an hour of heavy rain cannot stop this continuous pollution. However, if the Mizuki continues to fall on Watermoon, even if it can reduce the pollution, the Sea of Life will assimilate Terra beneath its feet into its own part.

"Physically, one hour and fifty-four minutes have passed, but cognitively... three days have passed."

"So, the concept of time has become blurred? It seems the protection of the Sea of Life is quite effective. But that's alright, at least it hasn't really distorted time."

"Of course. Terra, after all, part of the macroscopic Material Realm. It's one thing to distort the rules of physics, but if it were to distort time here, the resulting dimensional resonance would attract the attention of Observers, and then nobody would be able to live a peaceful life."

Even though they could communicate via telepathy, the Sea Siren still preferred to use human language. They would even switch to different languages or dialects when swearing, mainly because these girls found the battlefield too boring and preferred chatting.

The puppets of the Warp are all mindless undead, obeying the instincts of the Warp contamination. The only creatures on this battlefield that can be considered alive are the Sea Siren.

They are not afraid of death; even if they are killed, they will only turn into pure water and will not be contaminated by the Warp. The rain that falls from the Mizuki is also resistant to the contamination of the Warp, so the Sea Siren can regenerate infinitely on this battlefield.

This is destined to be a long war, because Mizuki has not deployed the entire the Brood of Sea Siren. There are only about a million of them currently in charge of the battle, and they have already demonstrated their ability to suppress the Warp Demons. They can drive the Demons back in the real world in at most three hours.

"That being said, this space has already separated from Terra's reality dimension. If this continues... it'll be dark by then."

At this moment, Sami does not belong to Terra nor to the Warp; it is situated on a boundary, which is why it is not affected by the Barrier Layer that envelops the entire planet and can see the truth of the starry sky.

"Tell all the sisters to quickly eliminate these enemies, reclaim this space, and drive these disgusting creatures back to the Ice Plains—no, take back that door directly!"

The command from Siren No. 1 was instantly transmitted to all the Sea Siren, and almost without hesitation, half of them split off and self-destructed on the spot. The splashing water droplets were also highly poisonous to the Demons in the Warp.

Rain began to fall again, this time from Mizuki's support. Those who had just died would be resurrected by this rain, and this time Mizuki sent the rain to the more distant ice plains.

Sea Siren are born with the rain, growing wildly like weeds in spring. Because Mizuki chose to modify Terra's climate, the ice plains are no longer so unsuitable for Sea Siren survival. Even though he is on Rhodes Island, Mizuki still focuses a tenth of his attention here. Sami is still the enemy he needs to be most wary of.

"So... can you let go now, Rosemary? It doesn't hurt when I bite like this, but it's not good if someone sees us."

Mizuki only felt a slight itch on his neck. He only knew that the kitten in his arms liked to chew on him, but he didn't expect that she would like to bite his neck like Warfarin.

But was that thing seen through the eyes of the Sea Siren a remnant of Old Civilization?

Chapter 207 Unexpected Events Always Come Suddenly

"I've been harassed again."

Exusiai reached out and pinched Rosemary's ear, giving Mizuki a sly smile, seemingly having no intention of helping him peel the kitten off.

Meow~

Rosemary had no resistance to Exusiai because she knew that the Sankta in front of her was the legitimate wife of the Mizuki family, and she couldn't compare to her, so she still had to curry favor with her. This was what Huang had taught her.

There's also Skadi, but the Doctor is clearly a different case; Rosemary wouldn't hurt the Doctor because of her personal affection for Doctor.

"You're so sweet, Mizuki. Don't you think it would be wonderful if our daughter grew up to be like Rosemary?"