"Wh-what is that?! It's a monster!"
"That fire just now must have been his doing! Run!"
"Oh my god, I remember him... isn't that Li? I think he's a celebrity... Heavens, I can't believe I used to like a monster!"
Below the stage, the people stared at the figure that blotted out the sky. Some were terrified, some fled, and some felt... disgust...
In that single instant, the people seemed to forget that it was this very figure who had shielded them from the raging flames.
Just as Mobius had said, humans fear the unknown. But they did not know that the form Fu Li revealed was by no means a monster.
Rather... it was a part of evolution. But clearly, the process of evolution was frightening to many.
"Hah... foolish..."
Fu Li lowered his gaze. His massive draconic wings pushed the dome's structure apart, sweeping debris away from the arena to prevent the beams from crushing the people below—or rather, to prevent the beams from crushing Eden.
He saved these people purely as an afterthought.
The only one he wanted to protect right now was Eden.
Outside, the inferno had not yet subsided. As far as the eye could see, there was nothing but ruins and rubble.
But the people, seeing the black figure descend, would rather run toward the flames than go anywhere near the man.
It was as if he were not the benefactor who had saved them, but a calamitous black dragon.
However, Fu Li didn't spare the fleeing crowd a single glance. Retracting his dragon wings, he landed softly beside Eden.
"I'm sorry... Eden. This is what I was hiding from you. This form... Eden, are you... afraid?"
The young man's voice was soft, laced with unease. Fu Li's eyes darted away, his inhuman features not yet receding.
After a long moment, an unexpected response came.
"So, this is what you were hiding from me."
A hand reached through the scorching air and gently landed on Fu Li's horn. Eden's smile was somewhat bitter, but there was no rejection in it.
She had always known that her Li would never hurt her.
But now, everything was over.
The fire had incinerated everything in her sight. The brilliant stage had collapsed, and the audience had scattered in terror.
And her song, in the end, had been defeated by roars and mournful cries.
All that remained was the young man before her.
Suddenly, just as Eden was about to say more, a staggering figure emerged.
"You are... that mysterious warrior?"
The stumbling figure stopped, staring in a daze at the somewhat youthful face before her. Fu Li, in turn, looked back at her.
Flat... as in, airfield-flat...
Is this... the legendary Immortal, Fu Hua?
"That's right, it's me..." Fu Li nodded. At this point, there was no longer any need to hide. "The Seventh Herrscher has appeared? A new warrior?"
"..." Fu Hua took a deep breath and nodded.
Her gaze swept over the surroundings.
Unlike the charred ground outside, and though this place was also in ruins... a remarkable number of people had survived.
And the survivors were looking at the young man before them as if he were a monster.
But he's the mysterious warrior who tore apart three Herrschers with his bare hands. Will he tear my captain apart this time, just as he did the others?
"Aren't you going to deal with the Seventh Herrscher?"
Clutching her injured right shoulder, Fu Hua looked at Fu Li as she would a comrade-in-arms, not an inhuman monster.
"There's no need. The Seventh Herrscher does not need to be slain by me." Fu Li looked up, gazing into the distance.
There, a powerful current of cold air was erupting.
"The Seventh Herrscher... is already dead."
Hearing this, Fu Hua's pupils shrank. She turned her head and saw frost already creeping in from the horizon.
Fu Hua could smell the scent of extinguished flames.
And her body, though still instinctively afraid, began to move, running toward that wave of ice.
Fu Li helped Eden to her feet, and they slowly sat down on the edge of the ruined stage as his inhuman features gradually retracted.
The two sat in silence, quietly absorbing the sorrow of entertainment's final moments.
Until a beam from a flashlight cut through the cold air and fell upon them.
[You were taken away by the MOTHs.]
[After you employed some 'gentle' methods, the MOTHs were forced to transfer Eden to Mobius's care for psychological treatment.]
[For your sake, Mobius reluctantly agreed.]
[At the same time, your file was placed on the conference table of the MOTHs' high command.]
[Single-handedly eliminated three Herrschers, appeared on Honkai battlefields numerous times, and destroyed several illegal organizations attempting to exploit the Honkai.]
[But at the same time, you also disrupted the plans of several important figures in the high command who were using 'Toxic Chrysalis' to silence people, earning their hatred.]
[In the end, they pinned crimes such as 'Dangerous, Non-human, Conducted MANTIS surgery in secret' to your name.]
[They demanded you enter the Deep End as a convict and be used by them when the Honkai appeared.]
[A familiar tactic, just like how they treated Aponia.]
[Pin a crime on them, then force them to serve.]
[But in the end, Aponia turned the tables on them. And you did the same.]
[In the judgment hall, you listened calmly as they declared your crimes.]
[When the verdict was read, the judges once again looked down on you from their lofty positions, until...]
[You used your actions to turn their condescending gaze into one of reverence.]
[The kind of reverence where a leather shoe is on their face, forcing them to kiss the ground.]
[You tore through the MOTHs headquarters once again, though you killed no one.]
[With your actions, you showed them that a high-ranking MANTIS, should they wish, could trample upon any rule these clowns established.]
[Afterward, you were respectfully re-invited to join the MOTHs.]
"Hey, Dr. Mobius. Long time no see."
Inside the First Research Institute, Fu Li, dressed in a neat suit with horns protruding from his forehead, looked at Mobius as she emerged from her lab.
"Oh, you've been released?" Mobius revealed a rare smile.
For some reason, whenever she saw Fu Li, she had a strange feeling, as if a hole in her heart had been filled.
Strangely, while experiencing this emotion, Mobius also felt a bizarre sense of urgency whenever she looked at Klein.
It was as if her most trusted confidant posed a threat to her in some way.
It was precisely for this reason that she had been willing to take a little time out of her busy schedule to treat the girl named Eden.
It was all to curry favor with Fu Li.
Fu Li cleared his throat and handed her a USB drive. "Dr. Mobius, this contains my research on MANTISes. It should be useful to you."
It was actually fabricated, but drawing on his previous experience as a researcher, he had prepared the data long ago.
"Oh?" Mobius's interest was piqued. "Oh? You were actually able to research this sort of thing before the MOTHs?"
"Li, if you weren't my friend, I'd find that very hard to believe."
Fu Li gave an awkward smile and didn't try to argue.
He knew Mobius certainly didn't believe him, but for some reason, they had a tacit understanding not to press the issue.
Mobius immediately pulled Fu Li over to a computer, inserted the USB, and began to study its contents.
In the familiar environment and atmosphere, Fu Li gradually slipped back into the mindset of a researcher, as if he had dreamt his way back to the last simulation.
Before they knew it, their shoulders were leaning against each other naturally. Even someone as highly vigilant as Mobius felt no aversion.
It was as if this was how they were always meant to interact.
Just as their discussion was heating up, the sound of elegant footsteps slowly approached. A hand gently came to rest on Fu Li's shoulder.
"Li, what are you and Dr. Mobius looking at?"
Fu Li's body shuddered. He slowly turned his head and was met with Eden's stunning face, which held a smile that wasn't quite a smile.
At her waist, a delicate handgun was emitting a faint, cold light.