Chapter 245 Pick the Moon for You

"Wow - wow -"

In a world where the sea and sky are the same color, I can see the wind blowing from a piece of blue and blowing to the blue on the other side.

The waves surged one after another, and the white foam weaved a huge network on the sea. The splashing looked like snow dust in winter.

Even on a cruise ship with a displacement of more than a thousand tons, you can still feel the clear ups and downs.

According to Eden, the weather has been rare and calm these past few days.

"Calm and calm... ugh!"

Su gracefully put down the fishing rod in his hand, stood up, held on to the deck railing, and retched while facing the blue sea.

Mikael on his left was also holding a fishing rod. The corners of his lips raised and he mocked mercilessly:

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, Su, you scared away my fish!"

Su's face turned pale and she lay back on the chair silently without saying a word.

Kevin on his right was also not idle, and withdrew his gaze from the motionless fishing line, "Don't bury people like this, Michael. Su is at least better than Qianjie, right? I didn't expect him to look so powerful. The man was so seasick that he couldn’t get out of bed for three days, hahaha—yikes!”

Mikael opened his eyebrows and shook his head with a long sigh - there was no one who could hit him!

Speaking of which, it's worth chuckling...ah, no, I'm glad.

He had been tired of the pain of being dizzy and vomiting bile water many years ago when he was exploring the power of the Second Herrscher.

Now it's just a little storm on the sea, nothing to do with me - Mikael swallowed hard several times to suppress the discomfort in his stomach.

Well, he had to admit that the turbulence and dizziness caused by the wind and waves on the sea were indeed far less severe than during the phase shuttle, but it was endless and endless aftertaste!

No matter how strong the dizziness of phase travel is, it is only temporary, and during the seventh collapse, in order to take Herrscher outside the base through the elevator, Mikael was able to withstand the overload with a peak value of more than twenty times the gravity acceleration... …

Can……

But...but they have been floating at sea for three days!

Mikael rubbed his belly. Fortunately, he hadn't eaten anything. If he ate a little, his end would not be much better than the two men next to him...

But one very strange thing is...

The male creatures were exhausted physically and mentally from seasickness, but looking at the other side of the deck, the sea breeze blew the noisy voices of the girls over, making people's heads even more dizzy.

I don’t know if the Creator is biased, or if girls can do some magic: Ellie jumping up and down, Eden and Aponia tasting wine at a high place, Pado fishing loudly, and still fishing on the deck. Hua, who never forgets to practice boxing, and Mebius, who is standing not far away with Klein, half of his face is disdainful, and the other half is fascinated... In short... all the girls on this ship don't seem to be very good. …

seasick!

On the other hand, the male compatriots can still stand on the deck... no, they are lying on the deck. Only Mikael, Su, and Kevin are left.

Qianjie, who has always been at the top of the Fire Chasing Moth's "mystery list", has been fainting for three days. Kosmo is not seasick at all, so it is natural that he has been assigned the task of taking care of Qianjie.

This is not a vacation... This is obviously to suffer!

"Oh oh oh! Bite, bite, bite! Sister Ai Li! Ah Hua! Don't be stunned, come and help us! Ahhh! We are going to fall! This is a big fish!"

The fishing rod bent almost ninety degrees under the huge pressure. Fortunately, Mikael used special materials in its construction and could not break it for a while.

With the help of Alicia and Hua, Pado retreated continuously. As a snow-white wave bloomed on the sea, a big marlin almost the size of a human jumped out. Its dorsal fin was like a knife, and there was a mouth in front of it. A huge spear, the whole fish fell straight from the sky like a spear.

Several girls present, even Pado, who has no fighting ability in the eyes of other fusion warriors, can theoretically handle this big marlin easily, but I don't know if they are really afraid or just pretending to be so...

A woman who could tear apart a Judgment-level Honkaiju with her hands, a woman who could tear apart an Emperor-level Honkaiju with her hands, and a woman who could tear apart this big marlin with her hands just screamed and dispersed, leaving only The poor big marlin hit the cruise ship deck with its head, twitched several times, and finally rolled in a half circle and fainted.

Mikael's breathing was a little heavy. He turned his head, only to find that Kevin and Su were also staring at the big marlin.

The eyes of the three men met in mid-air, and then they all looked at the results of their victory——

Three empty fish buckets...

The water quality seemed a little turbid. That was because even the sea water originally prepared for the fish caught had evaporated a lot, so that impurities were precipitated.

"Gu-Gululu..."

The three of them covered their stomachs at the same time. After a long time, Su hesitated and said:

"Mikael, how about we admit defeat?"

Kevin covered his forehead and said as if he didn't want to see anyone:

"Although I don't want to admit defeat, but Mikael... this is already the fifty-third fish that Pado has caught, and we still have zero... no chance of winning at all..."

Su quickly took over and said:

"According to the bet you and Alicia made, you can only cook the fish you caught during the competition, and cannot eat other food until one party admits defeat... Although the fusion warrior does not rely much on food, it has been almost two days. , Well, my stomach is really not used to it, and all the contents in my stomach were vomited due to seasickness..."

Before he finished speaking, he consciously covered his nose, but even so, the aroma of grilled fish still seeped through his fingers and drifted into his nose.

The long period of fasting and the weakness of his body after seasickness made him, who was always calm and elegant, unable to help but want to suck the fingers that were touched by the fragrance.

"Killing is heart-wrenching..."

Mikael threw away the fishing rod, lay half on the deck chair, and complained in a low voice.

"But who grilled the fish so deliciously? Sakura and Velvet are not here, so none of them should be able to cook 'normal meals', right? Is it Eden or...Mikael! Qianjie and Kosma Betrayed!"

Dragging his weak body, Kevin actually jumped up from the recliner and stamped his feet. The movement was so violent that the only button on his shirt fell apart.

Of course there was anger in it, but more of it was annoyance.

He secretly glanced at Su. Although the other person had his eyes closed, as a spiritually aware fusion warrior, he should be able to see it.

What he means is——

"How about we rebel too?"

"Well……"

Su pondered for a moment, a real man shouldn't give up for five baskets of fish, but if he was on the verge of starving to death, that would be a different story.

What's more, even though I feel sorry for my friends by doing this, the people I went to after the rebellion... aren't they also friends?

The muscles in Mikael's cheeks twitched twice, and he could guess what these two people were thinking without secretly using the power of the Eighth Herrscher...

After all, there is no such thing as friends among men, only bad friends.

If you don't betray, is that called a bad friend?

But this is not the time to think too much. The situation is already extremely critical. If this continues, he will become a loner!

"Kevin, Sue, get in position."

"What?"

The double imaginary number barrier enveloped the small space around the three of them. Under the special light and shadow reflection, from the outside, the world inside the barrier seemed to be stagnant. Of course, considering that the three of them were fishing, it was understandable that they would remain motionless. Original.

Despite this, Mikael still looked around guiltily, then quickly opened the space rift, took out two compressed biscuits, and threw them into the hands of Kevin and Su.

"..."

"...Mikael, you..."

"If you can't beat me, you can only cheat...ah! What kind of cheating! This is called a soldier who never tires of deceit. Eat it quickly!"

There was not only the smell of grilled fish in the air, but also the mixed smell of chili pepper and cumin powder. Kevin and Su stared blankly at the compressed biscuits in their hands, not knowing what to say for a while.

"Mikael...what kind of bet did you make with Alicia? Is it like this?"

Kevin peeled off the outer film of the compressed biscuit, but couldn't eat it.

"Don't talk nonsense, I specially mixed the meat floss flavor, you can eat it or not!"

"..."

"Eat! Why don't you eat!"

"...I want to eat grilled fish."

The space barrier quietly dissipated, and Kevin and Su's cheeks were a little stiff. For fear of being seen, they didn't even dare to chew. They could only let the biscuits soak in saliva and chew them bit by bit with their cheeks and back molars. A little grinding...

Mikael rubbed his hands, patted the crumbs of biscuits into the cracks in space, destroyed the corpse... and eliminated the stolen goods.

He also did not forget to remind:

"Wipe the cookie crumbs on your mouth, it's too obvious."

"Is this wave of stone sun shining in (didn't you stuff it in)?"

When Mikael heard this, he couldn't help but show a proud smile.

No one knows how to force feed better than me!

After doing all this, he did not forget to glance across the deck, but unexpectedly saw Ellie walking over with a plate of grilled fish in each hand.

The sea breeze blew sideways, raising the corners of her plain white skirt. It was still the one Mikael had bought, but he himself had no intention of admiring the scenery at this time.

"Swallow it quickly, he's coming!"

Mikael's lips didn't move and he reminded softly in ventriloquism.

"I can't swallow it..."

Kevin and Su were about to cry. A piece of compressed biscuit was indeed not big, but it was long enough. After being forcefully stuffed by Mikael, it hit the inside of both cheeks horizontally. They couldn't even swallow it...

Alicia smiled proudly when she saw this:

"Okay! I saw you eating! Mikael, what do the rules say? [Those who steal food are automatically eliminated] Oh!"

Mikael glanced at the two people who no longer tried to hide the broken jar and started chewing biscuits. He pretended to be calm and retorted:

"Oh? But it's the two of them who stole the food, and I have nothing to do with it."

"Ugh! Ouch! Ouch!"

When Kevin heard this, he pointed at Mikael angrily and dumbfounded.

He was still wondering why Mikael only gave them two cookies and didn't eat them himself...

It turned out that I had even thought of this!

Alicia chuckled again, and that smile seemed a little meaningful——

"Hey Mikael, if someone secretly uses the power of the Fourth Herrscher to control the ocean currents, does that count as cheating?"

Mikael took a deep breath, put down the fishing rod, stood up, and raised his hands above his head.

"Okay, okay, I admit defeat, that's it."

Ai Li was directly amused by his expression of indifference, but in fact he was extremely unconvinced in his heart.

Kevin glanced at Su, and the two quietly left the scene. Before leaving, they didn't forget to take the grilled fish from Ellie's hand - who would choose to eat dog food when there was such a thing to eat?

Ellie walked half a circle around Mikael, and finally lay lazily on the recliner where he had been sitting.

"Hey! Mikael! It was agreed at the beginning that in this competition, the loser will agree to any request of the winner - he can do anything!"

"ah--"

This long sound was not a surprise, but a symbol of response.

Although I am still not convinced, I want to say: "The fish are all caught by Padu, what does it have to do with you!"

But that is an operation allowed by the rules after all. If you want to blame it, Mikael found two... teammates who can't fish like him...

"Tell me, what do you want me to do? Although anything is possible in theory, don't say stupid things like asking me to pick off the moon for you."

Even if you lose, you lose. Mikael still won't do such a thing as defaulting on a debt. Although every time he encountered this kind of thing in the past, Alicia's request would be... very shameful...

The sun was obscured by clouds, and the sea surface was naturally not sparkling. On the contrary, the sea and sky gradually separated in Mikael's eyes. The sea water was no longer blue under the dim light and shadow, but revealed a strong black color.

Like paint and ink, sometimes it gathers and sometimes falls.

Mikael stared at the sea for ten full minutes without hearing Alicia's answer.

"What's wrong?"

He turned his head in surprise. He didn't know what the reason was. He didn't look at Aili's expression. Instead, he cast his eyes on the pair of skirts that were fluttered by the sea breeze, sometimes appearing and sometimes hiding. calf.

"Mikael..."

"Um?"

"Remember the first time we played a similar game, it should have been in Sapporo. What was my last request?"

A numbness started from Mikael's heart and spread throughout his body. He said in a low voice:

"You asked me to pick off the moon for you."

After saying this, Mikael himself laughed.

He didn't deliberately remember it, but the moments the two had spent together had never left his mind. For example, when he said that sentence before, he didn't actually remember it deliberately at all. The words seemed to appear naturally. In his throat, he spat it out smoothly.

Since the sky darkened, the sea breeze has become rougher, making Aili's skirt rustle and almost tip over.

"It's going to be gone!"

Mikael sighed softly, took hold of Ellie's skirt and dragged it to the side of the lounge chair, then he gently sat down and held her down.

From the beginning to the end, Ellie made no moves or words, as if she knew he would do this.

Until everything came to an end, she still did not express her request, and Mikael did not rush her.

Even though it looked like a storm had descended, even though Kevin was shouting from not far away for them to evacuate indoors to take shelter from the rain, the two of them still remained still, as if they had escaped from the world around them.

Others didn't force themselves upon seeing this. Anyway, the storm on the sea was nothing for these two people, it was enough to cope with it, and they didn't even have to worry about the possibility of catching a cold.

The rain soon intertwined into a curtain of rain, and mist gradually rose from the sea. For a while, only a gray patch could be seen front, back, left and right.

This time, it really seemed like I was isolated from the world.

Mikael has already passed that crazy age where he wants to drag his sweetheart into the rain together. The imaginary number barrier appeared one step earlier than the rain. The first layer covered the small space around him and Ally, and the second layer covered the small space around him and Ellie. The entire cruise ship is wrapped in it, so there is no fear that this "little thing" with a displacement of 1,000 tons will capsize under the waves. Even the feeling of ups and downs has faded a lot. I guess they won't get seasick again, right?

In the hazy rain, in a world with only two people, Ellie finally spoke.

"Mikael, I still remember someone said: Freedom does not mean doing what you want, but not doing what you don't want to do. But that's not what I want to say... How should I put it, you feel it too Do you get it? Compared with what 'I want', no, to be precise, almost no one can really clarify what 'I want'. On the contrary, people can always clarify it easily. I don't want anything."

Mikael couldn't help but think of the dream constructed by the Eighth Herrscher.

For Kevin, he once thought he wanted to be a hero and drive Honkai out of the world, but it wasn’t until the moment he fell into a dream that he truly knew what he wanted——

It's just a peaceful life. From the campus days when passion was released everywhere, to becoming ordinary when he grows up, what he wants is just an ordinary life for ordinary people, a life that will not come into contact with any supernatural phenomena.

Perhaps it is unknown, perhaps it is so ordinary that as a third party, Mikael's first reaction after hearing his description of the dream was - impossible, right?

Is that all you want?

The only one who was not surprised was Mei.

But rather than saying that Mei’s existence in the dream was what he wanted, it would be better to say that it was something he was unwilling to give up no matter what.

For Mikael, the dream constructed for him by the Eighth Herrscher is almost a replica of Kevin——

An ordinary life, getting up in the middle of the night to write to earn money to support the family, arguing with Ellie about when to get her daughter up... Like most fathers, he would sit idly at the dining table after washing up, waiting for his wife to bring him a hot breakfast.

Mikael felt at the time that this was not what he really wanted, so he was so clearly aware that this was just a dream, so he could make a quick decision - unlike Kevin's self-reconciliation and self-persuasion, he broke the dream in the most brutal, ruthless and cruel way.

But in the next two nights, he tossed and turned, and his mind was full of the unfinished dream.

He even had an impulse to use the power of the Eighth Lawrence to put himself back into the dream and then see the sequel.

Perhaps, the dream was not not at all unpleasant to his heart, but... it was exactly what he wanted. But it was precisely because it was too perfect that Mikael was particularly aware of the nature of his dream.

But these are just guesses, and he dare not say categorically that is what he really wants.

What does a person really want? This is a question worth thinking about for a lifetime, because it determines what kind of way and attitude a person should use to do what.

But... what a person does not want is something that can be answered immediately to some extent.

Because that must be something that everyone is afraid of losing when they survive.

What is Mikael most afraid of losing?

There is no doubt that just like Kevin does not want to lose May, he...

He moved his hand on the edge of the recliner and raised it quietly, but still did not dare to hold her hand.

Maybe he was much more determined and brave in other things, but on that historical legacy...

He still remembered Kevin's words-a person's character is his destiny.

But the so-called character is not a static thing. In the experience of continuous growth, people will wear away some unwanted things, and even almost "completely" kill their former selves, but there is always a background color buried in the heart, which can never be washed or wiped out.

For Mikael, passive acceptance of emotions is undoubtedly a part of that background.

Moreover, he was wrong in the first place.

He almost never actively expressed his emotions. He and Ellie had a sense of naturalness before that, but even such a smooth relationship, when encountering some small "blockages", it is often Ellie's initiative, or pushing or guiding the relationship between the two to go further.

As for other people, he didn't know how to deal with it.

For example, Mobius, he naturally discovered that her "interest" in him was a bit too much, but he kept deceiving himself - that was just her interest in the Herrscher himself.

Unexpectedly, the only time he took the initiative was a king bomb, which turned the originally clear lines into a mess.

After that initiative, he became a coward again - maybe he could face up to and make up for other mistakes, but this one...

She couldn't respond to Mobius's growing dependence, nor did she dare to respond to Alicia's nonchalant attitude... He actually knew that from the perspective of pure [responsibility], he should make some sacrifices, but this idea has been echoing in his mind for two years, but he never did...

The hand he stretched out felt warm, which he didn't expect... No, maybe this is what he expected - Alicia took the initiative to hold his hand that was in the air.

Her voice was unusually calm, which had only happened a few times before.

"Speaking of which, I can't tell what I really want! At least I can't say it for a while, but, Mikael..."

"..."

"I know very well what I don't want - I don't want to continue this abnormal relationship with you."

Mikael suddenly held her hand, and before he could hold it tightly, his five fingers began to tremble violently.

He turned his back to her and did not use the power of the Eighth Herrscher, but the feelings of many years of getting along made him guess - she was now raising her empty right hand, and then gently covering his trembling hand.

Sure enough, the next moment, Mikael's trembling five fingers were clasped in her palms.

In the warmth, the trembling gradually subsided.

It was not until this moment that he felt the hot sweat in the other's palm.

"So, this time, my request is - Mikael, can we return to the past? Back to before that happened."

I also want to - Mikael thought so.

But he...

"Mikael, you have grown a lot, you should understand that you can't stand still because of past mistakes - but you can make up for other mistakes, why do you choose to avoid this one mistake, not correct it, not make up for it, and let the damage caused by that mistake continue to hurt the hearts of three people?"

"Ah!"

Mikael narrowed his eyes, Ellie reminded him - he has been avoiding this problem, thinking that if he doesn't deal with it, he won't hurt any of the three people, but he ignores that letting the problem go is also letting the problem continue to hurt everyone.

And.

If he continues to escape, what is the difference between him and the self he once hated? If he doesn't overcome this hurdle, he will still avoid similar problems in the future, and one day he will go back to his old ways.

But he didn't think he should do what Ellie said.

"Even if I want to make up for this mistake, I don't approve of this method - you are the biggest victim. This solution is still that you use your own concessions to forgive my mistake. You will always suffer the most. That. And Mebius..."

"Oh? Then what is your plan?"

Mikael took a deep breath. He already had his own thoughts on this. From a "responsible" perspective, that method was obviously better, but... in short, it was time to make a decision, but he hadn't yet When he opened his mouth, he received a heavy blow on the back of his head, and then a few more punches on his back, with the force getting weaker and weaker——

"Idiot Mikael! Don't you just want me to abandon you, and you will be [responsible] to Mebius? But do you think this ending is perfect? ​​I said - I don't want to lose you , I can't accept losing you. I believe you are the same, otherwise you wouldn't have had an idea in your heart but never said it, right? But the way you think will only make the two of us more hurt! "

"..."

Mikael originally thought that Ally's tone would be serious, but he didn't expect that she grabbed his ears and her tone became lighter and lighter:

"No matter what, I have made my request, and you are not allowed to break your promise! Of course, if you really feel sorry for yourself... Well, I didn't want to use this wording, but it seems that if you say it like this, you will feel better. Something - if you really feel that you owe something, you might as well do something to make up for it! Well, just use this: one day in the future, unconditionally agree to Alicia's request!"

"...Alicia, this is what you once said to me after the seventh collapse."

"Oops! I didn't want to use the word [owe] at that time, but who told you to want to do this? Then I have no choice but to say this! Just tell me whether you accept it or not!"

Mikael was silent for a moment. He originally wanted to talk about Mebius's question, but he understood that Alicia would not pretend to be deaf and dumb to this, and what she wanted now was just someone who would not care about the king. Say his answer.

"Well, even if you want me to help you take off the moon."

"Pfft hahaha!"

Ellie lay on her shoulder and laughed. The laughter and the sound of rain were intertwined and echoed continuously, so that it was no longer clear which sound was laughter and which was rain.

She hugged Mikael from behind, held his cheeks with her hands from behind, then poked his index finger, pulled him apart, and helped Mikael smile.

"As for poor Grandma Mebius... Hey! If you think about it from another angle - think of Mebius as my lover, no, she is my lover in the first place... Oh! That's not the case. It’s just me hugging her! No, no, I’m going to Mebius’s bedroom to visit her tonight!”

Mikael suppressed his excitement and wanted to maintain his new aloof persona, but unexpectedly, he was knocked back to his original shape by Ally's words——

First his shoulders began to shake, and the facial muscles squeezed to both sides by Ellie began to accumulate toward the cheekbones. His laughter quickly blended into the sound of the rain, until he burst into tears.

Ellie's hand slid to his shoulder, and with a little pressure, he turned around obediently and knelt on one knee in front of her.

The two held each other's cheeks. The imaginary barrier could block the sea breeze, but not the cold. However, both of them felt that the other's cheeks went from cold to warm, and then quickly became hot.

Finally, Mikael finally took the initiative to stick it on his face...

This kiss was like geese flying in the snow and ice of Vostok. It appeared a little unexpected, but it was not completely impossible. Another example is the sunset after the vernal equinox. It seems to have been delayed for a long time, but it finally comes.

Then, the majestic heavy rain completely drenched the two lovers - Mikael proved with facts that he was still at the age where being in the rain with his beloved was regarded as romantic.