Chapter 480 Interlude: The One Left Behind 50,000 Years Ago

"GuluGulu——"

The sound of churning bubbles interrupted Mei's thoughts, and she realized that she had been in a daze in the "hub" of the paradise of the past for a long time.

She raised her head slightly, and a large number of intricate metal pipes were intertwined in front of her, eventually forming strange patterns similar to the cerebral cortex. This is indeed the brain, the "brain" of the promised land.

Under the brain, in the brainstem area, countless tubes formed something similar to a "spine", which was connected to a cultivation chamber below.

The orange liquid is boiling in the culture chamber, much like some kind of orange-flavored soda popular in both pre-civilization and modern times. What rises and falls with the orange culture fluid is a body covered with various circuits.

"Haha...Mikael really did what he said. Fortunately, he didn't open this last door when he came back a few days ago, otherwise..."

Looking at that familiar face, Mei was lost for a moment.

"It's really ironic..."

Mei opened the photo album on the desktop. The photos in this album were no longer the original ones. They were just abstract structures from her memory due to the unique mechanism of the Paradise of the Past.

But Paradise cannot construct things out of thin air that did not exist in the past, so these photos actually existed 50,000 years ago, right?

"Huh?"

Mei seemed to see something interesting. She gently wiped away the hazy dust on the photo with her index finger. The first thing she saw was the slightly immature faces of herself and Kevin. Then she wiped away the ones next to them. Not surprisingly, Mikael and Ellie.

The four of them stood in front of an emerald green street scene, with a smile on each of their faces.

When was this filmed... To be honest, it was only six or seven years from the time she joined the Fire Moth to the destruction of the world. A woman's body is basically fully developed by the age of sixteen or seventeen, and Kevin is Because they have become fusion warriors, their body metabolism is different from that of ordinary people, and their general appearance has completely stayed at the moment of the surgery, so the appearance of the two of them has not changed much compared to the photos. As for Mikael and Alicia, the two Herrschers who can survive forever as long as they have Honkai energy, their appearance will not change. It is indeed difficult to tell the time and place where the photo was taken by looking at it.

But Mei still recognized it. It wasn't that Luluye's streets and buildings were too recognizable. In fact, her memory of that time had long been blurred. How could she still remember what Luluye's streets looked like? As for Mikael and Alicia beside her and Kevin, they cannot be used as evidence to determine the time and place. The four of them were photographed together more than once...

What matters is the look...

At that time, they were still at an age where they didn't understand anything. Kevin's smile was exaggerated and heartless. At that time, she was just a high school girl who lacked self-confidence but immediately changed as a person when it came to professional topics. She was so close to Kevin when taking the photo. Her face was flushed, and when she smiled, she pursed the corners of her mouth. Her right index finger was still touching the rim of her glasses, but her eyes naturally glanced towards Kevin on the right.

"What a good age..."

Mei's hand dabbed on this old photo repeatedly, silently mourning the time that could not be turned back.

"As expected, Mikael was a child full of worries at that time."

In the middle of the photo, Kevin and Mikael are holding their shoulders familiarly, but compared to Kevin's heartfelt smile, Mikael's smile is visibly forced. The corners of his mouth were obviously upturned, but his brows were knitted into the character "Chuan". At that time, he just thought it was because he was not used to Kevin's enthusiasm... Now it seems that he is not used to Kevin... This Not only the two boys, but also the boys who became Ying Jie, every one of them was stubborn and liked to carry everything alone.

But in the end, her eyes still moved uncontrollably to the figure on the far left of the photo.

She held Mikael's arm affectionately and rested her head on Mikael's shoulder. Her sweet and quiet smile would make people feel comfortable no matter when and where they looked at it.

It's a really strange feeling, obviously I am a girl.

Mei put her palms over her heart, feeling her heartbeat become steady again. It is true that in the eyes of most people in Fire Chaser, she is a calm, or extremely indifferent person. Only a few people such as Kevin know that she is essentially a rational person like ordinary girls. .

Looking at this photo, how could she not be moved.

This was the moment before the gears of fate turned. At that time, she and Kevin were exposed to Honkai Impact for the first time. But they never thought that the peaceful campus life that was even boring before would change half a year later, and the memories before this would also become A dream that would elude me for countless years.

As for Mikael, at this time, he was just accustomed to looking at the world with the pessimism inherent in his character. His heart was still filled with hope, and he still firmly believed that he might be able to change the world. fate.

As for Alicia, Mei didn't know what she was thinking at that time. She even believed that even Mikael might not be able to fully understand Ali's thoughts.

This is also a proof that they are human beings.

One person opening their heart completely to another person is a fantasy that only happens in stories. Even the person who wrote the story doesn't know exactly what it means to be completely "open". May herself couldn't claim to fully understand Kevin, and the same was true the other way around.

After all, the quills on a porcupine will not disappear because of love. To a certain extent, the process of love is also a process of embracing each other while enduring the pain caused by the sharp thorns. When love can no longer suppress the pain caused by the spikes, or two people embrace too deeply or too tightly, it will inevitably end in separation.

Mei suddenly laughed and touched her forehead with her hand in silence.

The more she thinks about it, the funnier it becomes. Now that she no longer needs to lead the world forward, she has finally gotten used to thinking about issues with a certain sensibility again.

But, is this a good thing or a bad thing?

Mei raised her head again. This time, she stood up from her seat, slowly walked down the steps, and walked to the huge cultivation warehouse.

"Time flies so fast... Fifty thousand years ago, did you also expect this day, Mikael?"

As if he sensed someone approaching, the man in the training warehouse raised his head slightly and slowly opened his eyes.

There is no emotion in the silver-gray pupils, and just one look at them makes people feel heart-stoppingly hollow.

Yes, this is Mikael's body, a body without consciousness.

"Oh……"

Mei took a deep breath and slowly closed her eyes. Listening to the dull "gud-dong" sound of the culture solution, Mei imagined that the river of time gradually slowed to a standstill with the sound, and then slowly accelerated, traveling upstream, taking her back to that early morning fifty thousand years ago.

…………

"You woke up so early too? Tonight is your and Alicia's wedding. Why, are you too excited to sleep?"

Mikael did not respond to her squeeze, but just stared at the stars in the sky motionlessly.

After a while, it seemed that Mei's words finally reached his ears after a long time. He turned around, looked at Mei, and whispered in an erratic voice:

"Ah? Oh. It's not that I can't sleep... Mei, I haven't slept for a long time. I just told you during the day, have you forgotten?"

Mei was stunned for a moment, then beat her head in annoyance, wondering why she had forgotten such an important thing so easily.

Maybe it's because I woke up too early and my mind hasn't fully started yet?

Or maybe it's because you subconsciously don't feel that this matter is very important, and what is really important is the result? This is very possible, but in this case, even though she has always shown herself to be indifferent, she feels a little... too cold-blooded.

While she was stunned, Mikael asked again:

"Mei, do you get up so early every day to look at the stars?"

Like Mikael not long ago, Mei did not respond immediately.

She pulled the hair around her ears, but it seemed to be in vain. As soon as she let go, the bell on the side of her glasses rang softly, and the long hair she had just arranged was blown into pieces by the evening wind.

"Well, I like watching stars, and I have done so since I was a child. Mikael, did you know that every ray of starlight in the dark night is born from the fusion reaction inside the star, and first has to go through tens of millions of years of random walks to escape to the planet? On the surface, it will take thousands of years of cold and lonely journey in the universe before it can fall into our eyes impartially at this moment."

"Oh, I know."

"Um?"

Mei tilted her head unexpectedly, covering her mouth, but finally couldn't hold it back and laughed softly.

"Hahaha, Mikael, your answer just now was deliberately imitating Kevin, right?"

"It's not a deliberate imitation, I just don't know how to answer."

Mei pursed her lips and smiled, but that was true. She was the one who asked "Do you know?" first, so Mikael responded with "I know", which seemed to be okay. It was just a coincidence that when she said this to Kevin, he also gave such a ridiculous answer.

But it's still different after all. When Kevin answered like this, his expression was slightly sluggish, as if he was still carefully pondering the special meaning of her words.

But Mikael was different. He just said the three words "I know" softly, and his brain did not think about this sentence.

Mei smiled slightly, Mikael was right, she just said it from her feelings, and there was nothing to think about in this sentence.

"I feel this way every time I look at the stars - it's as if I'm not looking at the stars, but the stars are looking at me. Do you feel this way?"

"It used to be, but not anymore."

"Why."

"Because I'm going to die."

"puff!"

Mei couldn't help but laugh again. But this time, the laughter was somewhat mixed with too much sadness and unwillingness.

"I'm kidding, I like to empty my mind when I look up at the stars. I don't think about anything and just stare at the stars quietly. It seems that just looking at them like this will calm my mood inexplicably."

Mei nodded slightly, but what she responded to was Mikael's previous sentence.

"Is it just... so unconfident?"

"It's normal to have no confidence. Generally speaking, the more important something is, the harder it is to do it..."

"Are you nervous?"

"A little bit."

Mikael did not deny it and could not deny it.

"Once you fail, you need to face the end alone. This is already the most ideal result. There are even worse things. For example, what if I am controlled by the end and the end comes in my body?"

"Are you so sure that you will become, or be, the end?"

"Well, after all, my ability is too special, so special that it's abnormal. It's also very different from the Herrscher of Reason in the 'script' I showed you. In my case, it's more like the protagonist. A girl, isn’t she?”

May shook her head noncommittally.

"However, a smart person like me will always leave some backup plans!"

"Um?"

Mikael's expression changed at every turn, his smile quickly disappeared, leaving only the coldness that was the same as the night sky.

"In fact, it is not specially prepared for this matter. The key to the operation of the Paradise of the Past lies in the core of the Twelfth Herrscher. And even if the Key of the Twelfth God is made, since this core is a dead thing, it may not be It cannot be maintained perfectly. This is another conclusion you have drawn. You should have read these reports, right?"

"Yes, but as long as the computing power is concentrated where it is really needed, it can be used reluctantly."

"How can that be done!"

Mikael shook his head quickly.

"The Promised Land is Ellie's dream, and of course I have to do everything possible to complete it. And it's actually not difficult. The problem now is that the God Key can only use a few rated powers, which is difficult for a Promised Land that requires real-time calculations. It’s too rigid, so let’s just let one person become the Twelfth Herrscher and use its power flexibly, isn’t it?”

"Are you saying... do you still need a bell? No! There is no precedent for integrating a dead core into a person's body, and it doesn't match up with what you said before... No, you shouldn't !”

"Yes, you are not slow to react, Mei. If it is someone else, it may not be possible, but what if... it is me? This can also solve another problem. By combining the power of the First Herrscher and the Twelfth Herrscher, people can You can construct anything you understand in the data world, and you won’t starve to death.”

"..."

"Don't worry, it's enough for the Seventh Herrscher to happen once. In other words, if the Herrscher is really born in this individual, it would be a good thing. After being prepared, arrange something on that body in advance. You can use this to easily control its life. Of course, the most important thing is... Mei, once things really go to the worst, I will be controlled by the end, or ...Or something went wrong with me and I deviated from my original ideals. If it were there, I might not have a chance in this era, but in the next era, I might be able to do something with it. Don’t worry, I will delete what I said about myself. This memory makes me think that I didn’t leave anything behind in the Paradise. After all, I can’t guarantee whether my memory will be read in the end..."

…………

"Boom!"

A violent knock on the door interrupted Mei's thoughts and brought her back to reality.

"Su?"

The door was opened roughly, and Su rushed in with uncharacteristically wide eyes.

"What happened?"

Mei's unhurried question made Su realize that he had gone too far, but he still took several deep breaths before he could say that in a calmer and clearer tone:

"Mei, Sakura... she's dead."

"?"

Mei's eyes showed no fluctuation, but her head tilted slightly, as if she was thinking about something at that moment.

"how……"

"He was cut into pieces and eaten by Mikael."

Mei's lips worked hard, and the muscles in her throat slowly rolled. It took a lot of effort to suppress the desire to vomit.

"It seems you are right, he is determined to do that."

"Well, but...now you and I both know what Alicia's essence is. If she is just an ordinary person, she can really do what she wants to do, but as the half body of the end itself...sigh... …I really can’t imagine that if, in the end, he is unable to achieve what he wants to do, he will do it again in desperation... In the next era, without the Stigmata plan and many arrangements, it will almost At once……"

Mei didn't reply for a long time, until finally——

"Everything continues to go as planned. Su, the next step is to rely on him in the world bubble you observed, and... get ready, let's go take Kevin home together."