Do You Want to Give It a Try?

Why not go to Amiya? Of course, it's because the risk is a bit too high. Amiya is already under a lot of strain just to unlock the power of a ring. In other words, her access port is too small to accommodate Mizuki.

(Dad, the more I listen to your analogy, the more wrong it sounds!)

"..." Mizuki shut down the two-way communication with the Sea Siren, then covered her face, "Oh no, how did I get led astray by the Doctor and the others?"

In the past, Mizuki would never have thought there was anything wrong with this analogy, but now, upon closer inspection, he realized that it was completely off!

No, no, this part of the memory needs to be erased, as if it never happened!

As Mizuki walked, she remembered that she seemed to have forgotten to delete the scene she had accidentally seen of Gladiia getting ready to change, so she deleted it at the same time.

Muttering to herself as she left, Mizuki didn't forget to turn up the room temperature for Ifrit so she wouldn't catch a cold. Ifrit, on the other hand, huddled under the covers, watching the big, fat man in front of her, who looked like a balloon, in her own world of consciousness.

Flames surrounded them. She had heard what Mizuki said earlier, and well... she wanted to punch him a couple of times, but not too hard, of course. How could she, Ifrit, possibly need Mizuki's help with this?

"How do you know such a monster?"

The Flame Demon's voice was deep and resonant, yet it still caused the entire consciousness space to tremble. Ifrit almost wanted to kick it.

"Go to hell, what monster? He's my buddy!"

"Ha, you didn't even say he was your little brother?"

"Nonsense, because I can't beat him!"

Ifrit stood with her hands on her hips, speaking with righteous indignation. She only addressed Mizuki as her brother because she knew she couldn't beat Mizuki, just like how she could only acknowledge Surtr as her elder sister when she couldn't defeat him.

Although she was arrogant and even a bit conceited, she wasn't stupid. If she couldn't beat someone, she couldn't beat them. It was just that she always felt there was something strange about acknowledging Mizuki as her elder brother.

"Little one, I have a piece of advice for you: it's best to stay away from this person." The illusory figure of the Flame Demon leaned down and stared at Ifrit. "He is dangerous, extremely dangerous. He is on the verge of spiraling out of control and could drag everything into destruction at any moment."

"But he seems perfectly normal, nothing's wrong with him at all. He's eating more than me and Silence combined, and he's been spending a lot of time with my older sister lately."

At least on the surface, Mizuki seemed to have no faults, but Ifrit's tone betrayed some dissatisfaction when she talked about how he and Surtr had been spending so much time together lately.

"Ha, that's because you haven't come into contact with his consciousness... He feels even more terrifying than the Demon King to me."

"The Demon King? Your Sarkaz Demon King?"

"Yes, we are the Demon King of the Flame Demon Clan, Flame Demon Balsas... It's just a pity that with Surtr's departure, the Flame Demon Clan lost its most powerful warrior. She should wear that crown, but she disdains it."

Ifrit had intended to do as Mizuki suggested, to bring up Surtr and see how the Flame Demon reacted, but she hadn't expected him to actually mention Surtr's name, and it seemed he really did know Surtr.

"You know the boss?"

"She was the most powerful warrior of the Flame Demon Clan back then, who wouldn't recognize her?" The Flame Demon phantom sneered, "Even though she isn't Flame Demon."

It turns out he was just nominally part of the Flame Demon Clan; no, he even fought in battles.

"But I heard that your Flame Demon Clan has been extinct for many years. How old is the eldest sister?"

"Who knows? From when I was a child until I became a warrior, she never changed. She still wielded that sword that only she could use."

It was probably Mizuki's words that had an effect, because for the first time, the Flame Demon talked to Ifrit in such a calm and peaceful manner. But he was actually quite aggrieved, since it was always Ifrit who was not speaking properly.

No one knows where Surtr came from or where he went.

"Then why didn't you tell me before that you knew Big Sister?"

"Did you even give me a chance to speak?" The Flame Demon slammed his hand on the ground. "Every time I open my mouth, you shut me down with a few words. Why don't you just let me speak!"

Ifrit blinked, then realized that was indeed the case. The Flame Demon's voice always appeared when she had an Oripathy, and she hadn't met Mizuki then. The Flame Demon's fragments were the only thing that could help her suppress Oripathy, but Ifrit's attitude was indeed a bit off in those situations.

"So, in what way are you saying Mizuki is in danger?"

"His mind." The Flame Demon sat down cross-legged. "His mind is extremely unstable. Like Surtr, he has too many memories in his mind, which has interfered with his thinking and cognition. Even a brief contact with him is enough for me to understand. Although I don't know why he has become like this, if we don't calm him down... ha, the time bomb will explode."

The Flame Demon had no reason to lie to herself. Most importantly, Ifrit had indeed heard from Silence and Saria's conversations on many occasions that they planned to find a way to help Mizuki in order to repay her for saving Ifrit.

For this reason, Saria even wrote back to Rhine Lab, asking if there was any way to solve the problem.

"There's no other way," Friston replied to Kristen. "To gain great power, one must bear the corresponding risks."

"Although we don't know how large the Sea of Solaris Mizuki has become, at normal speeds, processing that level of information redundancy would require at least a planetary-level computer."

Given Terra's current level of science, achieving this is not only impossible, but also a pipe dream. Friston knows the problems Mizuki is facing, and he also knows that Mizuki is doing this because she realizes that time is running out.

"Wouldn't it be much better if we took it slow?"

"Given enough time, Mizuki can indeed gradually digest and master the Sea of Life while maintaining her humanity."

But there wasn't enough time, which is no longer worth emphasizing. If Mizuki could have appeared earlier... No, thinking about that now is meaningless. The Sea of Life needs time to grow, and so does Mizuki; otherwise, the Old Civilization wouldn't have needed to be destroyed.

"Does Terra not have a planetary computer?"

"No," Friston said. "The planetary computer itself isn't a concept, nor is its size. That's not something we can leave for you."

While speaking, Friston was also browsing through his database and made a further discovery.

"Perhaps... there is another way."

Chapter 262 Do you want to give it a try?

"You're going to Victoria alone?"

The Doctor reached out and wrapped her arms around Mizuki's neck, pressing her chest against his head. The size of her chest made Mizuki feel some pressure.

"Yes, I'll go see what interesting things they're doing. The first Originium... at least the first Originium the Sarkaz race ever came into contact with. If it's really as I think, then perhaps I can find a way to break the deadlock from their actions."

Mizuki placed her hand on the Doctor's hand. The Doctor's hand was warmer, but much rougher than before. The Doctor hadn't done nothing; she thought she had kept it a secret, but Mizuki had a photographic memory of all her calculations.

"I'm sorry, I... arrived too early and didn't see what happened after that."

As a transmigrator, the Doctor's advantage was having an edge in information, but now these advantages have lost their effectiveness. No matter how much the Doctor knows, the shadow of the Warp will not slow it down. In fact, Mizuki knows more than she does. There are always similarities between parallel worlds, such as the continued existence of certain key events and people.

She couldn't help but think that if she had traveled through time a little later, she would have been able to obtain more information.

"This is not your problem, Doctor. You have already laid enough traps. My job is to discover them and then protect you."

Since confirming the Doctor's identity as a transmigrator, Mizuki became increasingly certain that the world he was in was one of the more unique ones among the many Terra timelines. At least in all his memories, the Doctor was the only transmigrator, and this fact directly increased his level of human stability by three percentage points.

Now that the Doctor knew about the dangers of Terra, the inevitable destruction of the Old Civilization, and the existence of this special individual named Mizuki, how could Doctor not make sufficient preparations?

Mizuki vaguely felt that he had found his direction; he was like someone groping in the dark, searching for a door waiting to be opened.

"I was saying... Mizuki, could you help me regain my memories? I think if I could, I could definitely help you even more!"

"I can't do that." Mizuki refused. "All I can do is share my memories with you, but that would affect your personality, Doctor. Dissociative identity disorder is a minor issue; the most likely outcome is that you'll end up like Surtr, with confused memories, and sometimes you won't even be sure if you're in reality."

While the composition of Mizuki and some of her memories do indeed include the Doctor, there are still many differences between the Doctor from different worlds, especially since the Doctor holding her at this moment is a transmigrator.

As for memory recovery, Mizuki had considered restoring the Doctor's memories, so that the Doctor with restored memories could tell Mizuki the answers to many things.

However, the problem is that, according to Kal'tsit's speculation, the person who erased the Doctor's memories was Theresa. As for why... Mizuki is not surprised at all. During the time when he followed Theresa, the Doctor gradually transformed from a scholar into a tactical commander, winning victory after victory against the military council of Theresis, whose strength in all aspects of Babel was much weaker than Beatrice's.

The greater the victory, the higher the expectations placed upon her. Everyone believed in her tactics and that she would lead them to victory in the war, but at that time, the Doctor was still just a scholar.

She tried her best to predict the enemy's movements, anticipate the course of the battlefield, and devise countermeasures. Each time, she tried her best to protect her own side and prevent those she knew from dying on the battlefield. She already had no compatriots left, could not return to her homeland, and how many more familiar people would she lose?

Under such pressure and guilt, the Doctor also became twisted, starting to use any means to win, becoming cold and ruthless, gradually instilling fear in others, who did not know whether they would be placed as pawns in the next operation.

"It's our fault." Scout took off his mask. "If we hadn't only thought about victory back then, and hadn't always left the pressure of battlefield command to the Doctor, she wouldn't have turned from a scholar into a cold, evil spirit."

"The Evil Spirit of Babel" was a title given to the Doctor by many Sarkaz warriors during the Babel era. It was a title recognized by both enemies and allies. For a time, the Doctor, who had the lowest combat power, became the most terrifying presence on the entire battlefield.

As a participant in that war, Scout's biggest regret is this incident. He even wants to slap his past self. However, he has to admit that the Babel needed the Doctor at that time. Without the Doctor... the war could not have lasted that long. The same goes for Theresa, the Demon King.

"It's alright, at least the current Doctor isn't like that, and I won't let her become like that."

How could Mizuki not know what a cold-blooded, ruthless Doctor who only thinks about victory is like? In those timelines nearing destruction, he had seen far too many Doctor descend into madness.

"That's good, thank you Mizuki... but I'm not just saying this to answer your question."

Scout raised his glass, which reflected his and Mizuki's faces. Compared to his weathered appearance, Mizuki looked so young and innocent, but the responsibility he carried far exceeded his own. He was protecting the millions of people living in Terra.

"I always feel... Mizuki, you're becoming the Doctor, becoming the Doctor you used to be."

This was an intuitive warning. Scout felt pressure and coldness even though the person in front of him was smiling. Mizuki's gaze never lingered on anyone, which meant that he had no attachment to most of Rhodes Island, or perhaps... he didn't want to be too attached to them.

He is intentionally or unintentionally shrinking his social circle on Rhodes Island and reducing contact with other operators, which is a stark contrast to his previous behavior.

"I'm just a little tired."

For the first time ever, Mizuki admitted his fatigue. It wasn't a joke or a half-hearted admission; he was genuinely exhausted. But he could only speak so frankly to a simple friend like Scout. If he told Exusiai, they would surely worry.

Having escaped the comforts of the material world, physical fatigue has vanished: the blessing of the Sea of Life keeps Mizuki constantly energetic and clear-headed. However, deep within her long-gone heart, a sense of weariness lingers, as if the weight beneath her feet has suddenly increased.

At first, Mizuki thought that this fatigue came from the fact that he had not yet adapted to his new form after his evolution, and that the way of life and routine of conscious beings and material beings were quite different.

But then he realized that the fatigue wasn't because he hadn't adapted to the transition period; it came from elsewhere—from the mission he carried and the pressure he bore, and from the people he loved.

"Sometimes, I actually think ignorance is bliss. If destruction truly comes from ignorance, then perhaps it's a good thing."

Mizuki rarely drinks, but she still ordered a glass. La Pluma had officially joined Rhodes Island and become a professional bartender at the Rhodes Island bar. She looked at Mizuki with some confusion. Although she didn't quite understand, she felt that she should offer Mizuki some comfort at this time.

But she has never been good at comforting others; it has always been Mizuki who comforts her.

So she gave Mizuki a cocktail, not too strong, but on the sweeter side that Mizuki liked.

"Thank you, Raffaella, but it's probably better to call you La Pluma for now, isn't it?"

"If it's Mizuki, I prefer you to call me 'Querido'."

This was a relatively unfamiliar term to the operators present, but for Mizuki, who had traveled to various countries and now integrated countless parallel worlds of herself into one, the language of Terra was basically the same. Querido means "dear" in Bolivar.

She was quite bewildered when she learned that Mizuki had Exusiai and had even married her. Although her brother encouraged her, she still didn't think she had a chance of winning.

It wasn't until a certain Doctor student casually remarked that Mizuki's harem definitely wouldn't include her that the girl's true potential was realized that she was no longer the only member. The young girl was overjoyed. "Not bad," she thought, "I think I can definitely snag second place, right?"

"Ahem, well... you've grown so much! I remember when we first met you were even shorter."

"I've grown in every aspect."

The La Pluma proudly puffed out its chest, making Mizuki subconsciously take another look. Hmm, to have developed to this extent in just over a year, this girl is quite gifted. Oh well, never mind, never mind, never mind.

Seeing Mizuki look away, La Pluma smiled happily. She knew Mizuki would react this way, which meant that she had matured a lot, at least in this aspect as a woman.

The growth of the La Pluma did indeed surprise Mizuki. He sipped his specially made sweet wine, seemingly lost in thought, but at that moment countless pieces of information flowed through his brain. The Sea Siren and his offspring faithfully reported information from all over Terra, allowing him to clearly understand the conspiracies that were brewing or happening.

He doesn't show his face, but he helps others discreetly, because Izumik's existence is destined to remain unknown; otherwise, he would be the one to plunge Terra into chaos.

Imagine what would happen to Terra if a being, almost a god in traditional imagination, appeared and genuinely altered the ecological environment of this land.

Mizuki didn't want the entire Terra to be hindered in its development for thousands of years by the belief in gods, just like Kjerag. The thought of such an outcome was simply unacceptable.

"What's on your mind?"

A somewhat cold voice sounded behind Mizuki. The voice wasn't loud, but it instantly drowned out the noise of the entire bar. The few operators who had been drinking earlier sobered up instantly. When they saw the person's face, they instinctively took a few steps back and almost fell to the ground.

Huang had originally planned to have a couple of drinks with Mizuki, but halfway there he turned around and went back.

"Why are there so many people in the bar?" Kal'tsit raised an eyebrow slightly. "Are you guys bored?"

As the undisputed pillar and one of the founders of Rhodes Island, Kal'tsit's position and prestige are unshakeable. Amiya, as the main leader of Rhodes Island, is still young, and most of the major affairs of Rhodes Island are discussed by the Doctor and Kal'tsit together. Of course, now we also have to include Mizuki.

Because of her overly serious, strict, and dedicated nature, many operators from the Great Yan privately gave Kal'tsit another nickname. "Empress Kal'tsit."

Everyone sensed something was wrong, but they couldn't find a good excuse to slip away. It would have been fine if it were their break time, but many of them had skipped work to come. The main reason was that Mizuki, who had come back from the Doctor's place an hour earlier, was in charge of bartending, so this was a rare opportunity.

"Kal'tsit, isn't this kind of atmosphere quite nice?"

Mizuki gently took Kal'tsit's hand and winked at her. As Kal'tsit's bedmate, he knew he would be easy to talk to in front of Kal'tsit. Most importantly... he knew that Kal'tsit always liked to be assertive, so as long as he acted a little weak, she would definitely let him off the hook.

"...This is a one-time exception." Sensing the peculiar message in Mizuki's eyes, Kal'tsit maintained her previous expression, simply sitting in the spot Scout had been sitting. As for Scout himself? This legendary Sarkaz sniper and reconnaissance master had already discreetly slipped away.

The surrounding operators all breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Kal'tsit with considerable confusion and curiosity. This was the first time they had seen Kal'tsit in a Rhodes Island bar, and in most people's minds, Kal'tsit never drank alcohol.

"Finished with work?"

"Not yet. I came to find you; I need your help with something."

"Let me finish this first." Mizuki swirled the remaining half-glass of wine in her glass. "Raffaella, could you please bring me another cup of fruit tea?"

Kal'tsit had no reason to refuse the fruit tea that Mizuki ordered, and Mizuki herself wasn't in a hurry at all. On the contrary, all the Rhodes Island operators around her quietly left the bar, and the doorbell kept ringing.

In the end, only Mizuki, Kal'tsit, and La Pluma remained in the bar. Mizuki gave La Pluma a look, signaling her to go back first.

"Don't you not drink much?"

Kal'tsit took the glass from Mizuki and tasted it. The alcohol wasn't strong, but it wasn't Mizuki's preferred flavor.

"It's just an occasional drink. As for you, the situation has changed now; there's no need to make things so difficult for yourself."

So you're stalling for time hoping I'll sit here a little longer?

"I guess so," Mizuki readily admitted, "And it's nice to enjoy some alone time like this."

He had said such blunt things many times, but Kal'tsit still wasn't quite used to it. However, having her by her side made Mizuki feel somewhat more at ease.