The more epic the beginning, the more anticlimactic the ending. The more touching the story, the more tragic the conclusion. The stories of the world are always so full of unsatisfying moments.
One day in the past, during a casual chat in the Elysian Realm, the still carefree Lin Wei had said so.
Even so, the more hastily written the story, the more it will leave a small foreshadowing in an unexpected place, and then suddenly reveal the truth when the story is about to end, and then suddenly stage an unexpected surprise twist.
Elysia blinked, her smile as radiant as ever. "For a story that hasn't ended yet, it's always full of all kinds of unknown possibilities, which makes people full of curiosity and expectation. So, as the protagonist of this story, you have to cheer up~"
The memory, stirred by his emotions, was put away, and Lin Wei couldn't help but feel a little emotional.
Life is always full of drama. To fall from the peak of self-satisfaction to the bottom of the valley, there was only a small door across the Sea of Quanta, and a sudden accident.
After the brilliant victory over Otto, Lin Wei once thought that the world was in his grasp. But as he plucked the fruit of victory, a poison called "pride" inevitably grew in his heart, making him lose his usual caution without realizing it. And he himself was unaware of it.
Thus, the disturbances from reality came one after another, gradually waking him up in one setback after another. Or rather, it wasn't until he saw Yae Sakura risk her life for him in the Sea of Quanta that he truly woke up.
"Maybe Sakura had realized this long ago, but she didn't know how to persuade me, because I was always winning, because I was always right. So, when I started making mistakes, she didn't know whether it was me who was wrong, or her, because I had never been wrong..."
Returning to the familiar snow and wind, Lin Wei looked up at the gray, vast sky and shook his head with a laugh. His laughter was full of emotion and self-mockery.
He said to himself, "I have a friend. He was a Flame-Chaser from the previous era, and also the most arrogant and intelligent person in the world. I once said that he couldn't see the forest for the trees, that he had unknowingly lost himself without realizing it... Hehe, now that I think about it, is he the only one who can't see the forest for the trees? What a sarcastic fable..."
What was even more sarcastic was that when he had just entered the Sea of Quanta, Lin Wei had planned to give the Su in the real world the same "wake-up call" as the one in the Elysian Realm.
How arrogant. At that time, it would be uncertain who would be giving whom the wake-up call...
"Although I don't know what you just went through, those words are still worthy of a high opinion."
Schrödinger's voice sounded in his ear. "Self-awareness is a very noble quality. Maintaining a clear mind is crucial in many cases. Unfortunately, many people can't achieve this even in their entire lives."
"...I also paid a very painful price."
Lin Wei looked at the slightly damaged feather in his palm, which was glowing with a gentle luster. The next second, a faint glow lit up behind him, and a warm power, like a hot spring, soaked every cell of his body. It was the power of the Stigmata, the warmth of Yae Sakura.
But this time, he didn't hear the voice of his old friend, as clear as a mountain spring, in his ear. He suddenly felt that everything was tasteless. The warm feeling receded like a tide, returning to the depths of his heart.
What he wanted had never been just a Stigmata, but that unique soul...
"It seems you succeeded," Schrödinger said. Then she saw the sense of loss in his eyes and suddenly understood. "Perhaps, not the kind of success you wanted."
"It's okay. There's still a chance."
Lin Wei shook his head and put the fragile feather back into his body, carefully burying it deep in his consciousness, letting it lie side by side with the other feather. It was an unintentional act back then, the last spark of life preserved for Yae Sakura's soul, and also a precious gift from Fu Hua across time and space.
"But, why are we still in this world bubble?"
Lin Wei put away all his scattered thoughts and focused on the present. "And time has looped again. What happened after that?"
In the second half of the experiment, he had completely lost his perception of the outside world and had no idea what had happened afterwards.
"Before that, it's better to find a place to stay first."
Schrödinger looked at Lin Wei, who had changed back into his summer clothes after the restart, and asked nonchalantly, "Don't you feel cold?"
Although she had experienced this more than once, she still felt cold just looking at him.
Lin Wei shook his head. After the Stigmata had reawakened, his resistance to the outside temperature was no longer as fragile as before. "Let's talk as we walk."
So, Schrödinger briefly recounted what had happened during Lin Wei's experiment.
In the early stages, everything was normal, and the various experimental operations were carried out step by step. But later, a sudden alarm sounded, and an accident occurred during the experiment, followed by chaos.
"Do you remember what happened then?" Schrödinger asked.
Lin Wei certainly remembered. He nodded and said, "At that time, I resisted contact with the already awakened Stigmata, and then Pandora suddenly woke up and forcibly linked us together."
A black box appeared. Looking at its obedient appearance lying in his palm, Lin Wei couldn't help but feel a little helpless.
Why weren't you so obedient then?
"I see, the Key of Corruption... no wonder."
Schrödinger nodded in realization, as if she had solved a puzzle. Then she continued her narration...
After the sudden alarm sounded, the device that contained Lin Wei and occupied the core position of the entire laboratory suddenly emitted a cloud of black smoke, dyeing the originally opaque solution pitch black.
Then, all the equipment in the entire laboratory went out of control at the same time.
Then came the panic, and then the conflict.
Schrödinger rushed to the main console at the first moment, trying to eliminate the crisis and turn the situation around. She didn't have time for the suddenly dizzy and staggering Cocolia, and ignored her threats.
Then, Seele stood up and bravely stood between them, trying to explain the truth to her, but just as she opened her mouth, she was kicked away by the enraged Cocolia, and then fully armed guards began to enter.
Seele was kicked away, and of course, Veliona couldn't stand it. She switched in a second, grabbed her scythe, and rushed toward the stunned Cocolia. Caught off guard, she was seriously injured by her attack, successfully avenging her previous failure. Then she brandished her ferocious scythe claws and took down everyone here in a very short time.
"After the situation completely spiraled out of control, Ms. Cocolia, who believed that Seele had betrayed her, activated the base's self-destruct device. Although Miss Seele didn't have time to stop it, it ultimately failed. At that time, I guessed that the Key of Corruption was at play."
Schrödinger said, "At that time, I thought it was the sudden loss of control of the Key of Corruption that caused all of this, so after all technical attempts failed, I decided to let Miss Seele use her scythe to cut open that container and forcibly interrupt the experiment, to see if I could free you from the out-of-control state."
"I see..."
Lin Wei nodded in understanding. He thought that if this brief description by Schrödinger were to be detailed, it could probably be written into two chapters. He didn't have time to feel sorry for the Cocolia in the previous loop and immediately asked, "And then, what happened?"
After thinking for a moment, he changed his question. "If I'm not mistaken, time looped again not long after you let me out, right?"
"That's right. The moment Miss Seele cut off the central hub of the experiment, she lost consciousness and fell to the ground, just as we saw in the previous loop."
Schrödinger said calmly, "And the black smoke that filled the experimental facility also disappeared at the same time. And with it, you, Mr. Lin Wei, who was contained within it, also disappeared."
Everything was so familiar. Lin Wei nodded in understanding. After thinking for a moment, he said, "One piece of good news and one piece of bad news. The good news is that this time, it completely proves our previous guess that the key to this world's loop mechanism is this X-10 experiment."
"It was your guess, it has nothing to do with me. I was just an experimental assistant who accompanied you on this verification."
Schrödinger calmly rejected Lin Wei's "credit," then added, "As for the bad news... if I'm not mistaken, it's probably related to Miss Seele..."
"Yes, that's right."
Lin Wei smiled, not making any extra comment on the rising tacit understanding between him and Schrödinger. He just continued her words, "Since we didn't leave this world bubble as expected after personally experiencing an X-10 experiment, but entered a new loop, it means that I am not the real key to this core."
At this point, the answer was self-evident. To completely end this loop and leave this world bubble, the real answer was probably to have Seele herself step onto the operating table of the X-10 experiment again...
"This is a rather cruel answer," Lin Wei thought with some pity.
That girl had fallen into the abyss of the Sea of Quanta because of the X-10 experiment and had not seen the light of day. Now that she had just seen the hope of getting out, she was being told that she needed to go through the X-10 experiment again to truly move on to the next stage of her life.
In Lin Wei's opinion, this was almost fate telling you in an extremely malicious way what "seeing things through to the end" means. And if you don't want to "see things through to the end," I will let you "go around in circles" in another cage...
"Oh..."
Lin Wei pouted in dissatisfaction. "Don't rush to tell Seele about this. There may be other solutions we haven't considered. Let's study it again."
If Seele fails again and turns to dust and disappears, I really don't know how to face Bronya, whether in the original world or in the world bubble...
Although he was very eager to leave this world bubble and go to other places to find a way to awaken Yae Sakura, it was precisely because he had lost her that he didn't want others to experience the same danger.
"..."
Schrödinger gave him a deep look, then after thinking for a moment, she added, "There's a new discovery that I haven't had time to tell you. At the end of the last loop, not long after Miss Seele lost consciousness and fainted, I saw her sit up again and cry like a child."
"Oh?"
Lin Wei was slightly stunned. Why was Seele crying?
He didn't doubt Schrödinger's words, because he knew that unlike himself and Seele, who were trapped in the loop, Schrödinger, a seasoned "quantum traveler," was just using herself as an anchor to project her consciousness into this world bubble. So she could see some extra information that the two of them could never know.
To this, Lin Wei smiled. "Could it be that she thought I was dead and was sad for me?"
"...If that's your sense of humor, then I hope you'll be more serious. It's easier for people to accept."
Schrödinger glanced at him. "Miss Seele may know some information that we don't. So before we think about how to proceed with the next step, it's better to communicate with her further."
"Know information that we don't know? Seele?"
Lin Wei was stunned, then smiled. "Seele has always been a good child. Are you saying she's learned to hide things now?"
Then he fell silent again. No, not necessarily.
Although Seele was not good at lying, if she was determined to hide something, it might not be easy for people to notice, especially for someone like him who had just met her and hadn't had much opportunity to interact with her.
After all, in their childhood, she had managed to hide the obvious red mark on her chest so well that almost no one knew about it, and she often hid herself in a place where no one but Bronya could find her. This ability to hide was probably not to be underestimated...
"If Seele is hiding something, it means she probably already realized the truth, but for some reason, she's afraid to express it."
Lin Wei thought to himself. "Another possibility is that she suddenly discovered or realized something after entering that laboratory..."
He took a deep breath, looked at the sky, looked at the ground, and then let it out slowly. "Let's go talk to her. If she's facing some difficulties that are hard to face, you and I should be able to help her."
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