"So, my request is that you pay attention to who is interested in you and use that to decide whether or not you want to help humanity fight the Honkai together."
Lu Mian slowly stated the purpose of his visit.
Dante fell into a speechless silence.
Seeing this, Lu Mian did not say anything more, but stood up neatly and walked out the door, leaving only a light sentence:
"I'm not asking for anything, this is just a request, the choice is always yours, yours.
"I've heated up some food in the pot, and this month's money is in the cupboard. Come to me if you need anything."
Dante watched Lu Mian leave until he heard the door close, then he smacked his lips.
No one knew what he was thinking.
The memories ended, and Lu Mian stared at the broken Devil May Cry cassette in his hand. He narrowed his eyes slightly, and his body, which already had a tendency to become mechanized, twitched slightly.
In the brave new world he expected, would there be a place for Dante and his companions?
Yes, there will be. There will definitely be.
[After all, you are the "God of Games." ]
【...】
[In a blink of an eye, half a month passed. ]
[Time has come, you have accelerated the progress of your research, and used the "game" power that you have been able to use to record the information of all those who died in the Sixth Great Collapse, leaving it for him to use.]
【At the same time, you are also trying to find Dante's concepts. 】
[You failed. You failed to find Dante's concept. The world obviously does not allow the resurrection of the dead.]
[......What if the resurrection of the dead is not completed in the old world, but a "new life" is created by the hands of God in the new world? ]
【You make a mental note of this.】
[One day later, Mei sent you a message saying Kevin was not in a good condition.]
[After listening to Mei's brief description, you realize that Kevin's condition can no longer be described simply as "not very good." ]
[He was like a madman, spending the whole day in the training room. Rather than training, it seemed more like he was torturing himself.]
[Besides that, the negative emotions accumulated in him make people feel that it would not be strange if he became a Herrscher in the next second.]
[Almost everyone tried to persuade Kevin, but it was useless.]
【You can actually understand Kevin. 】
[Of course he was torturing himself. After all, if he hadn't been so soft-hearted, Dante wouldn't have died, and the cities with millions of people around the place where the collapse occurred wouldn't have died in an instant.]
【You can never teach someone with words a thousand times, but you can teach someone once with things. 】
[It's understandable, but you don't agree with it. No, you don't want Dante's death to result in this kind of outcome.]
【So, you decide to do some unnecessary things and say some unnecessary words. 】
Fire Moth Base, exclusive training room.
The unshaven Kevin trained tirelessly, even though his once blue eyes had long since lost their luster and were now bloodshot, and even though his body had long since been unable to bear the strain and was groaning, he still kept training.
As if he was trying to escape from something.
Kevin can now defeat the illusion that simulates all the combat data of the Herrscher of Death with just one hand.
This should be cause for joy.
But there was only an indescribable fear and despair surrounding him.
"Di-"
At this moment, the electronic sound of the key card suddenly rang, followed by the sound of a metal door opening and closing.
Kevin didn't care, there was only indifference on his expressionless face.
This is what happened when Alicia came.
It is the same when plum blossoms come.
Now he only wants to take revenge on and defeat Honkai, or die in the process of fighting Honkai.
But as the figure of the newcomer came into his peripheral vision, Kevin's expressionless and cold face collapsed in an instant.
This was because the person who came was none other than Lu Mian, who came to the Fire Moth with the authority of Alicia, Mobius and Mei.
"Brother Lu, you, you are here?" Kevin's originally young and cheerful voice became extremely hoarse, and one could clearly hear several emotions such as guilt, regret, and grief.
He never dared to look at Lu Mian.
Chapter 26: Aponia is Stunned (Three in One)
"Brother Lu, you, you are here?" Kevin subconsciously turned his head away, not daring to look at Lu Mian's expression.
Seeing Kevin's expression of guilt, regret, and grief, Lu Mian's expression did not change much, and he only said softly:
"Well, Mei said you haven't been feeling well lately, so I came here uninvited to see you."
After saying that, he reached out his hand and pulled Kevin to sit on the bench for rest nearby.
Kevin did not resist Lu Mian's actions.
After sitting down side by side, Lu Mian stared at Kevin carefully, gazing at his tired, decadent and even somewhat insane appearance, and then his gaze moved and locked onto his empty left sleeve.
Kevin also did not resist Lu Mian's gaze. He did not dodge or evade, but he did not dare to look Lu Mian in the eye.
What will be waiting for him next?
Is it questioning? Accusation? Or beating and scolding?
It's all as it should be.
After all, it was he who killed Brother Dante...
However, there was nothing.
After a long while, Lu Mian slowly spoke. He sighed and said, "I'm glad you're okay. I'm glad you're okay."
Just such a short and light sentence made Kevin, who had not dared to look Lu Mian in the eye from beginning to end, suddenly turn his head and stare at the former in a daze.
He seemed to feel as if an invisible door had been opened, and a cold draft from another world blew into his silent room.
It was not until then that he felt the real pain of death and life in a trance, and felt a touch of visible warmth.
A myriad of emotions surged into his heart, and he once again thought of the big brother who would pat him on the shoulder when he was confused, lost or even frustrated.
Rather, he has never been able to forget it.
"Brother Lu, I...two million, one hundred and four hundred and thirty-three hundred and sixty-seven people, and Brother Dante also..." It seemed as if the pent-up emotions burst out in an instant, and Kevin's voice was intermittent, almost choking.
Suddenly, he raised his head and looked around, then lowered his head as if he had given up struggling.
"Tick, tick—"
He is still young, he is still young.
Seeing this, Lu Mian did not comfort Kevin, but instead changed the subject, speaking in a very slow tone:
"Do you remember the third Herrscher? After you left, I also thought about the possibility of persuading the Herrscher, but obviously, neither I nor human civilization can afford the cost of persuading Him, nor can we bear the cost of failure.
"So I killed Him without any hesitation. Because even if we don't talk about the great principles of 'all mankind', before considering morality, we should also be responsible for our friends or lovers.
"If you commit murder in vain, you will bear the consequences on your own shoulders."
After listening to Lu Mian's earnest teachings, Kevin silently wiped his eyes with his empty sleeves and raised his head.
He looked at Lu Mian with slightly red eyes, as if he was a little bit unbelievable, "Brother Lu, don't tell me, don't tell me that you are not sad because of the death of Brother Dante?"
Hearing this, Lu Mian shook his head and stood up. Only the soft light from the lamplight could reveal his expression.
"How much are my tears and sadness worth? Can crying day and night bring the dead back to life? Can self-pity defeat the collapse? I will not regret asking Dante to find the shining person in his mind. Dante probably won't regret what he did, never, never.
"But you, Kevin, don't be the person everyone will regret, including yourself. Kill the boy in you, live like a man; do not go gentle into that good night. Rage against the dying of the light.
"Savior, hero, stand up. I promise you there will be light at the end of the road. I promise you a miraculous reunion. I promise you a tomorrow without collapse."
After leaving these few words, Lu Mian walked away without looking back.
Kevin stared at Lu Mian's back in silence until she completely disappeared from his sight, and then he looked away.
As he inadvertently lowered his eyes, he caught a glimpse of something special - it was a broken game cartridge. From the broken pattern printed on the cartridge, he could vaguely tell that it was a cartridge about Devil May Cry.
[After a full half month, Kevin once again played games, an entertainment activity he once resisted, and started playing Devil May Cry. ]
[A Devil May Cry without Dante, and the underlying logic of the game is extremely chaotic. 】
[During the game, a gentle and warm ethereal light overflowed from the cassette, enveloping Kevin.]
[Kevin joined the Fire Moth and became the best warrior of the Fire Moth, running to the front line to fight against Honkai and the Herrscher. In fact, it can only be regarded as a series of coincidences and a last resort from the beginning to the end. 】
[He never considered himself a hero or savior, and naturally did not assume the corresponding awareness. ]
[But when the sky falls, it always takes a tall person to hold it up. With his talent, there are some pains and disasters he cannot escape, and there are some responsibilities and awareness he cannot shirk.]
[You are very clear about all this, so you choose to give the "Hero" mark to Kevin. ]
【I hope everything goes well for him. 】
[You have your own things to do here. ]
[Even though Kevin only mentioned it casually, you can sense that there seems to be something wrong with your emotional system.]
[Is it because of the research on mechanical ascension? 】
[That's right, how can a piece of cold iron react to the hot emotions that only humans can understand? 】
[You have already set your sights on reuniting with your loved ones, so you don’t even care about death, so naturally you don’t care about this kind of thing. ]
【However, some necessary countermeasures still need to be prepared. 】
[You should know that all your ideas and plans were planned when your humanity was still full. ]
【If human nature were to completely disappear, only divinity would remain.】
[Will you still follow the warm plan made by your human self at that time? ]
There has to be some insurance, some insurance that is truly foolproof.
[Having no sword in hand and having a sword in hand but not using it are completely different things. ]
【...】
[Kevin, who was seriously injured after the battle with the Herrscher of Death, recovered overnight, and even his broken left hand miraculously grew back.]
[This really caused quite a stir within the Fire Moth.]
[Things like eliminating hidden injuries in the body and regenerating broken limbs are still too tempting for humans. 】
[Mei and Mebius, who were working together to study the core of the Herrscher of Death, also learned about this, but after actually meeting Kevin, they only gave Kevin a meaningful look and did not make any other moves.]
[And the first thing Kevin did after he recovered was to get rid of all those who coveted the secret of his recovery. ]
[Afterwards, he combined the voices of Mei, Mebius, and even Alicia, as well as his own strength, to forcibly unify the tangled power within the Fire Moth, and handed it over to Mei, who seemed to be able to barely take on the position of "leader."]
[At this point, the only reason for the existence of the Fire Moth organization is to defeat the Honkai Impact.]
[After implementing the reform that simplified and integrated power, the originally complicated and redundant operation mode within the Fire Moth began to become efficient. ]
[Except for the "M-Origin" plan that was almost unanimously rejected by a certain Dr. Snake who still did not want to reveal his name, both Mei's plan to create the Key of God driven by the Herrscher core and the Fusion Warrior plan to integrate Honkai Beast DNA into humans have begun to be implemented. ]
[The various God Keys in the God Key Project actually had blueprints long ago, so the development went very smoothly. ]
[However, the progress of the Fusion Warrior Plan proposed by Mobius is somewhat unsatisfactory. ]
[Integrating the DNA of Honkai Beast into the human body, in the eyes of ordinary people, this is only a last resort to fight Honkai. 】
[If there is still hope, no one wants to see this happen. ]
[Besides, since there are no successful cases so far, no one knows whether the planned creation is a warrior to protect humans and human civilization, or a humanoid monster on the side of collapse.]
【Finally, Kevin stood up.】
[He changed into a red windbreaker at some point and said with a cold face that he was willing to be the first real experimental subject.]
