"You are, after all, nothing more than a creation. You cannot become my child."
"And I could never be your mother."
Herta Space Station, Containment Section.
In an unknown underground laboratory, a cylindrical cultivation pod lay shattered. Unidentified nutrient fluid mixed with the blood of an unknown creature spilled across the floor.
A short circuit had started a fire, and alarms immediately blared. Small robots, displaying panicked emojis as programmed, broadcasted continuous warnings.
"Warning! Warning! Warning! Warning!"
A naked boy with white hair and a pristine beauty opened his gentle and clear, light-green eyes.
He waded through the seeping nutrient fluid, ignoring the bloody wound on his fair right fist. He let the gushing blood fall to the floor, blooming like flowers from the other side with every step he took as he headed deeper into the laboratory.
The boy's eyes held the world's purest, most innocent and flawless emotion, a primal attachment born from the instinct of life itself.
He mumbled to himself, his voice as soft as the wind.
"Mother... I've come to find you."
He had not yet touched the breeze, the grass, the flowers, or the sky.
He had not yet experienced anything beautiful.
And yet, he knew the synonym for all things beautiful—Mother.
The nameless, white-haired boy had been growing day by day, submerged in nutrient fluid since he was just an artificial embryo. He didn't understand the meaning of his existence, nor the reason for his birth.
Until that day, when the light of the Erudition ignited in his heart.
From within the translucent fluid, the boy opened his eyes for the first time.
And the first thing he saw was her.
He had finally found his answer.
She was an incredibly gentle, elegant, and graceful lady. Unlike him, she was not naked; she wore a hollowed-out silk lining under a flowing, ethereal dress. The blue, double-helix leg ring on her fair, slender thigh was deeply engraved into the boy's memory, along with the gentle smile she showed him.
It became the tranquilizer, the elixir of life, that supported him through one dangerous experiment after another, keeping his spirit from shattering.
Ruan Mei. That was her name.
He had overheard it later from the researchers who conducted experiments and made small talk. But more than her name, he wanted to call her—Mother.
The mother who created him, who gave him life.
The embodiment of all that was beautiful in the world.
The one and only reason for his existence.
"Mother, I've come to find you."
It had been exactly nine thousand, one hundred and twenty-three hours, thirty-nine minutes, and forty-five... forty-six... forty-seven seconds since Ruan Mei had last come to see him.
The white-haired boy possessed an acuity and intellect far beyond that of an ordinary person. Otherwise, he never could have understood the language so thoroughly without any education, merely by piecing together the careless chatter and exposed text of the researchers. Even though the nutrient fluid in the pod had clogged his throat and made him unable to speak, in the few short seconds after breaking free, he rapidly learned to vocalize, correcting himself until his pronunciation was perfect.
But this innate gift also brought him unimaginable torment. His sense of pain and sensitivity were tens, even hundreds of times greater than a normal person's. For him, simply walking was agony; the flowing air felt like sharp blades slicing into every inch of his skin and eyeballs. Cold, sticky, dry, and scorching. Countless sensations tried to dismantle his mind and destroy his will, like tentacles performing a slow, torturous death, lashing, coiling, licking...
He tore them off one by one, bloodying himself as he pushed forward, always forward.
He carved a path to hell with his own life, leaving a long, winding river of blood behind him.
Drip, drip...
Drip...
[Test Subject ■■ has breached containment.]
[Test Subject ■■ has taken the wrong path. He is heading towards the abyss.]
[In the long, dark corridor, the colossal, winged silhouette of a True Swarmsting emerges from the void behind him. Is he going to die?]
[Astonishing combat talent. Stamina, insight, determination, and will. He exchanges non-fatal wounds for opportunities to learn, brushing past death several times.]
[He killed the True Swarmsting? With that sickly body of his? What an unbelievable... creation.]
[Stop now. You've already done well enough.]
[Enough... to attract the gaze of that goddess.]
[A piece of advice, from a self-proclaimed mediocrity.]
Unfortunately, the boy suffered from the world's most incurable affliction. Its name was "Folly."
"I haven't... seen Mother yet."
That was his answer.
In the shadows, a man with a flawless face like a plaster statue let out a sigh. Perhaps he should record the death of Test Subject ■■ in advance. The redactions on the file could only be removed by that lady. To this day, the man still didn't know if she had ever even given the boy a name.
If she hadn't, then his march to death would be an absolute tragedy. Tragedy is the act of crushing something beautiful for all to see. But the definition of "beautiful" is different for everyone. This pure-white boy, with the heart of an innocent child, had moved even the man to pity. But in that woman's eyes, where did he stand?
Riding the space station elevator as it descended towards an unknown destination, the blood-soaked boy stared in a daze at the boundless universe and brilliant stars outside the transparent window. He had never seen such a beautiful sight, and it was a long time before he could tear his eyes away.
"I wish... I could move all this for Mother to see."
How naive, and how foolish.
But the man, who was monitoring him out of curiosity, couldn't bring himself to laugh. Because it was perhaps the most romantic thing he had heard in over a decade, spoken with pure joy by a boy who had never truly lived a single day in this world.
Ruan Mei, someone once wanted to move the entire starry cosmos, just to give you a glimpse.
And you?
Would you have stopped to look back at him, even once?
The beating of the boy's sincere heart could not make a goddess stay her step. Instead, it awoke the Star-crusher Swarm King: Skaracabaz (Simulated), which lay dormant in the abyss!
Even if it was just a replica created by Ruan Mei, far from the planet-shattering power of a true Emanator of Propagation, there was no doubt it could kill a boy who, in a social sense, had only been born for a mere ten minutes.
The colossal Swarm King filled his entire field of vision. The hurricane from the beat of its wings alone was enough to force the boy back several steps on the vast, cold platform, sending his white hair flying wildly. The fear of imminent death choked his throat, stopping his voice, stopping his breath.
He screamed desperately in his heart.
Survive!
Survive! Survive!
Find the one and only solution to live!
It was... time!
Fifty-six seconds!
[Even I cannot imagine what power his life erupted with in that instant in his struggle to survive.]
[How did he see through the ocean of data and perform the massive calculations—enough to fill a mountain with written formulas—to arrive at that precise result?]
[The time until the replica of the Star-crusher Swarm King would self-annihilate, unable to sustain its own power.]
[Fifty-six seconds. Even I couldn't help but start counting down for him.]
[Forty-six, forty-five... thirty-four, thirty-three... twenty...]
[Three... two... one!]
[Plum blossoms!?]
[When did she get here?]
The secret elevator of the space station took twenty seconds to travel from top to bottom. During that time, the elegant woman exuding the fragrance of plum blossoms had also come to the window, witnessing with her own eyes the magnificent starry sky that had so stunned the boy. To her, however, it was merely dull and tasteless.
The moment the elevator doors opened, the Swarm King roared and struggled as it annihilated into nothingness, as if it had never existed. Its vicious mandibles had been less than an inch from crushing the boy's head.
Completely drained of strength, the boy collapsed to his knees. He tilted his head up, the corners of his mouth twitching into a slight smile, symbolizing his ultimate victory in this duel against fate. But that faint smile was quickly washed away by the hot tears that streamed down his face.
The woman walked slowly towards him.
From that moment on, the boy's eyes never closed, not even for an instant. He gazed at her with an emotion so deep it seemed to brand her image into his very soul. He didn't even have the strength to tidy himself up. He hadn't wanted to meet his mother in such a sorry state...
Will I leave a bad impression?
Will she think I'm a bad child...?
I'm sorry, Mother...
But the woman, paying no mind to the filth on his face, gently pulled his cheek into her embrace and ruffled his white hair. It was the warmth the boy had yearned for since his birth. He was willing to burn like firewood in that warmth until his life was extinguished.
"Mother... Mother."
"I finally get to see..."
The little strength and energy he had just recovered were spent on forming those words. He had so, so much he wanted to say to his mother—the product of hundreds of days and nights spent brainstorming in the cultivation pod.
Sometimes, the boy felt like a monkey in the vastness of space, randomly hitting keys on a typewriter, trying to write Hamlet. That was something he had overheard the researchers discussing: "If you give a monkey a typewriter and infinite time, could it write Hamlet?" The boy didn't know the answer, but he was willing to use infinite time to compose his infinite love for his mother. All because she had created him, because she had given him life.
"You've worked hard."
Her voice was just as he had imagined—gentle, with a hint of coolness, like a lightly frosted pastry.
"But please do not call me—'Mother'."
The pastry was made of pure ice.
The boy froze, the blood rushing through his body turning cold in an instant.
Ruan Mei continued her calm and orderly explanation.
"As a test subject, your progress has truly exceeded my expectations. So, you have my thanks. In the future, I will invest more resources into experimenting on and researching you. You will be eligible for treatment different from the other test subjects."
"But I hope you understand one thing."
"You are, after all, nothing more than a creation. You cannot become my child."
"And I could never be your mother."
"But..."
But... but...
But... but... but—it was you who created me!
It was you who propagated me!
It was you who gave birth to me!
It was you who brought me into this world without my consent!
It was you, it was you!
Tell me it's a lie, a joke, a prank!
Don't...
Mother...
Don't deny me!!!
"Your tear ducts seem to be overdeveloped," she noted. "Perhaps you require an emotional trimming procedure. That would help you approach perfection and become happier."
Happier... haha...
Happier...
Ruan Mei's seemingly rational suggestion was, in reality, unbelievably cruel. A cruelty that surpassed any frost or snow, any physical pain. In her cold gaze, he was perhaps no different from the bug that had just been annihilated.
Test Subject ■■ began to tremble all over, weeping while letting out a silent, crazed laugh. His blood, after a brief chill, burned hot as lava, only to freeze again. Over and over.
It was as if... he was breaking.
"You created me on your own whim..."
"And you abandoned me just as easily."
"You don't have to see me as your child."
"But you are the only mother I have."
"A child denied by his own mother..."
"...has no reason to live anymore."
I once used these eyes to gaze upon you; now, I shall extinguish them.
I once used these arms to touch you; now, I shall sever them.
You shaped my bones; I shall carve them out, one by one.
You extended my bloodline; I shall let it run dry.
You gave me the power to think.
Now, like a flower, it withers, petal by petal.
...
I give you back everything I am.
From now on, you are no longer my mother.
...
—I'm going to find the mothers who will truly love me.
...
[It took me a very long time to calm myself enough to describe what I witnessed.]
[How strange. My eyes have become wet.]
[The abandoned creation used the power of his will.]
[He gouged out his own eyes, dismantled his own limbs, carved out every single bone, sliced every inch of his flesh, and drained every drop of his blood...]
[Even his brain, at the very last moment, exploded, blooming into a resplendent flower!]
[He returned everything she had given him back to her!]
[This is the first, and only time...]
[That for a fool, I felt true respect.]
-------
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