When Chen Ran was forced to end the simulation, he felt a sharp pain in his brain.
It hurt…
A piercing pain.
It felt as if he had been assaulted by eighteen strong men in his dreams, a heart-wrenching pain.
When he was able to manipulate the fluid to break the barriers of quantum and the world, he had instantaneously exceeded the limit of his mental consciousness.
The system's cold voice was rarely filled with anger:
[Due to the host's forced interference, the scene of the Wind Color Scroll has encountered unknown factors, breaking the system's intervention settings.]
[The system is urgently checking the cause and attempting to repair it, but if the host continues such foolish actions, the system and the host will be forcibly unbound.]
[Fighting against Honkai does not require an impulsive host.]
The system was not entirely devoid of emotions; it was just that at this moment, Chen Ran had no mood to argue.
He felt as if his brain was being pricked by needles; although his consciousness was not in tatters, his complexion turned extremely grim.
Fortunately, at this moment, Blanca was helping Mobius with an experiment and did not pay attention to him.
He slowly got up and then gradually left the First Research Institute.
…
…
Fire Moth, Rest Area.
"Clang clang, this is the rest area of Fire Moth. How is it, Vill-V? Doesn't it feel like coming home?"
In the spacious area, a girl with pink hair spoke to a girl in work clothes: "Isn't it very charming? I also gave a lot of suggestions for the design here."
The girl referred to as Vill-V replied: "It's okay; it would be better if there were less pink."
She had been 'captured' into Fire Moth.
After the Second Honkai Eruption, Vill-V noticed the organizations dealing with Honkai and went to investigate, even using drones to infiltrate Fire Moth's interior and steal information from Mobius's room.
Then, she was targeted by Fire Moth.
Although a magician can deceive the audience, they cannot deal with everyone, especially not with the girl named Elysia in front of her.
Despite the long game of 'you chase me, I run,' Vill-V resigned herself to being brought to Fire Moth by Elysia.
However, this was not the end.
She had been imprisoned thirteen times and escaped twelve times.
The thirteenth time was because the prison holding her was on a small island in the ocean, making it impossible to escape. Yet even so, she still managed to create weapons that terrified even Mobius.
Thus, Vill-V joined Fire Moth and directly became the head of the engineering department.
Although she only realized now that the so-called engineering department consisted of just her.
Moreover, Fire Moth, as if holding a grudge, assigned her an almost impossible task: to dig out a prison from which she could not escape.
Vill-V had little sense of belonging to Fire Moth, so she did not care much about this task.
Unfortunately, Fire Moth anticipated this and set a very strict deadline.
So Vill-V really had no mood to discuss decoration issues.
Elysia blinked: "Don't be like that; don't you think the pink is cute? Just like me, beautiful and adorable, making people want to get close?"
Vill-V completely disagreed with this.
She said: "I just want to find more people to complete the work."
Compared to the rest area, she was more interested in knowing where to find suitable people.
The higher-ups of Fire Moth told her that she had to solve this herself. They would provide a sufficient budget, but she also had to demonstrate corresponding abilities.
Perhaps the higher-ups were mediocre, but those who could enter Fire Moth were geniuses.
If Vill-V's displayed abilities were deemed mediocre, she would lose the greatest capital and value of entering Fire Moth.
Now, Fire Moth had the capital to select geniuses.
Vill-V naturally knew this, but she still wanted to join Fire Moth; otherwise, she wouldn't have cooperated with Fire Moth in this 'prison break' game to prove her intellectual value.
For the girl, stepping into the realm of Honkai was actually a more thrilling experience.
Indeed, she just found it exciting, nothing more.
Honkai was dangerous, that was true.
But she liked this life close to danger rather than becoming what ordinary people define as a mental illness patient.
Elysia smiled: "Don't worry; the people of Fire Moth are very nice. As long as you speak up, many will be willing to help, like that person who just passed by."
"Hi, Chen Ran."
Chen Ran walked by with a blank expression, pretending not to hear Elysia's voice.
Elysia was a regular at the First Research Institute, so he naturally recognized her.
This girl had assisted Fire Moth in recovering the Second Herrscher, and Mobius had long hoped she would be on the operating table.
This was also the reason why every time Elysia came to deliver little skirts, Mobius, though gritting her teeth in hatred, still forced a smile.
However, once Mobius discovered that Elysia was like a scumbag, always maintaining a distance from her, she would likely directly refuse Elysia's visits.
Chen Ran saw through this clearly.
If it were usual, he would greet her and try to build a closer relationship.
But now, he just wanted to sleep.
Seeing this, Vill-V instinctively said to Elysia: "His face looks a bit pale; is there something dangerous inside Fire Moth?"
Elysia blinked and said, "How could there be any dangerous places? No, no. Fire Moth has always been a united, friendly, and harmonious warm family, right?"
As if to prove her words, Elysia walked directly over to Chen Ran. "Hi, hi, Chen Ran, what's wrong? Is it that the internal gathering at the research institute is too much for you?"
"The research institute doesn't have a habit of holding internal gatherings."
Chen Ran mumbled, "I just got off Dr. Mobius's operating table."
Vill-V's frown deepened.
"Human experimentation, huh…"
Although such things happening in an organization like Fire Moth didn't seem surprising, it appeared there was no guarantee at all.
Mainly, Chen Ran's consciousness was on the verge of collapse, his face pale, and he walked like a zombie. Although he wasn't missing any limbs, he certainly looked like someone who had just come off the operating table.
Elysia, seeing Chen Ran's condition, couldn't help but be surprised. "I heard that Dr. Mobius's lab rats never survive the operating table. You must be quite lucky."
Chen Ran: "…"
Oh no, he almost forgot one thing.
Getting off Mobius's operating table wouldn't make him a non-lucky person, would it?
He couldn't help but stare blankly at Elysia.
Elysia jumped in surprise. "What's wrong?"
"Do you have a phone?"
The girl shook her head. "You know, I'm not used to using one."
As long as she was in Fire Moth, Elysia would dart around, hardly using electronic devices. To contact her, internal communicators were usually sufficient.
Chen Ran turned around and looked at Vill-V.
Vill-V hesitated for a moment and nodded. "What do you want to do?"
"Is there a card-drawing game? I want to draw a card."
Vill-V said, "I don't play games, but if you want to download it, you should be able to."
Chen Ran said, "Lend me half an hour."
Then, he downloaded a popular mobile game from this world.
Half an hour later, he completed the beginner's tasks and had enough crystals.
Then…
All his draws were terrible.
Chen Ran's face darkened, feeling that life was completely dull.
——
Fifty thousand years later, over the Atlantic Ocean.
Wendy, having escaped from Schicksal's pursuit, revealed a trace of unwillingness and resentment in her eyes.
"Nothing is left, there's nothing at all."
The traces of her existence and overlapping shadows had all vanished.
The girl's heart grew increasingly restless, as if it were burning like fire.
The last bit of her sanity seemed to be devoured by some special entity, and just then, a familiar, chilling aura appeared.
"Hey."
"You really beat me up badly last time."
Raven had reappeared without him noticing.
"However, I'm not here to fight this time. You should be quite familiar with this."
In her hand, she held a photograph.
Wendy's eyes narrowed slightly; the photo was of Chen Ran and Wendy at the beach.
Raven spoke softly, "I know you have many questions, and likewise, we have questions to ask you."
"For example, how can a person traverse fifty thousand years of time and space?"
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