Chapter 326 An Empty Dream

"Wha...what?"

"Do you need me to repeat that?"

There was no ups and downs in Mikael's voice, and the sentence that was clearly a rhetorical question actually turned into a statement after he said it.

It is his indifferent attitude that makes people think this matter is even more incredible. It is also his indifferent attitude that makes people believe that this is the case.

"Then I'll say it again. Alicia is dead."

Then, he raised his head for the first time and showed his eyes to everyone without reservation.

Those eyes were so empty, always staring at a completely meaningless point in the sky without focus. What's more important is that his pink oval pupils, which appear a bit inconsistent among the silver-gray eyes, are not difficult to remind people of Ellie's eyes...

"Mikael..."

Kevin stood in front of him again, a sword's length away from him:

"Sorry, we may have been a little excited just now, but if you are really Mikael, I believe there must be some misunderstanding between us. As a comrade, friend, and even... family member for such a long time, I hope You can sit down and talk - if you still have control of your body."

"Kevin, your concerns don't exist."

Mikael shook his head. Hearing his words, Kevin looked happy, but then he realized that his understanding was wrong——

"I am Mikael, the real Mikael, the Mikael you are familiar with. My body is completely under my control, and I have not been bewitched by anyone. You can rest assured about this."

"Tsk..."

Kevin twitched his lips:

"But the hostile attitude you are showing now is not like what Mikael would do."

"Hostile stance."

Mikael took a step forward, and everyone took a step back unconsciously.

Kevin felt that his words should have the same rhetorical tone as before, but unfortunately, the voice sounded like a statement, or it was just a soulless repetition of the words in Kevin's mouth.

This state of confusion is hard not to remind people of the early Herrschers, which is why everyone still prefers to believe that the Mikael in front of them is controlled by the ultimate consciousness.

But just at this moment, Aponya's voice sounded in everyone's mind:

"The person in front of me is indeed Mikael, there is absolutely no mistake."

The reason why she had not participated in the probing attack on Mikael before was partly because her role in such a battle was indeed limited, and partly because she had more important things to do——

Relying on the most powerful spiritual power here and now except for the finality, we can explore the truth of the finality consciousness and identify the following possibilities.

Is the Mikael in front of me completely final? Or is it that the final consciousness suppressed Mikael's consciousness and took control of the body? Or...is this Mikael?

Obviously, she brought the third, which is the worst and most unacceptable answer.

Then, all illusions were shattered.

Mikael also took a step forward at this moment, as if he had discussed it with Aponya, and said:

"Perhaps Kevin is right. After all, we have been comrades-in-arms, friends, and... family members who have agreed to go into the future together."

Mikael closed his eyes gently, then slowly opened them.

"That's why I want to ask you here: Are you willing to sacrifice a family member to save the world, or are you willing to sacrifice the world to save a family member?"

Without waiting for the heroes to answer, he quickly shook his head:

"There is no best-of-both-worlds solution in this world. This era has been destroyed. Whether the end comes or not may be different in essence, but there is no difference in terms of results. There is no point in stopping me here. It will hinder the progress of the plan...

"Of course, you also have other choices. For human civilization, the results are exactly the same, but for her it is different. You can stand from a human perspective and make a last struggle as my enemy. You can also stand From the perspective of her family and friends, work with me to reverse everything and give her the only reality, so..."

Mikael closed his eyes, and pointed his five fingers into claws at the void beside him. The cross that fell on the ground suddenly began to shrink inward, and finally turned into a blood-red double-pronged spear, which Mikael held in his hand.

He pointed his forked spear at the heroes who had been fighting side by side——

"Friend or foe...choose."

When he opened his eyes again, blood-red cross-shaped pupils appeared in his eyes, freezing the figures of everyone in front of him at this moment.

Of course, there was no Weiwei or Pado in the Yingjie team in front of him.

…………

"Wei...Sister Weiwei, can you turn on a light...it's so dark in here!"

"Huh? But Padu, your genetic changes should prevent your vision from being affected by darkness, right?"

"No... no no no, we are just afraid of the dark..."

"Crack!"

Velvet had no choice but to turn on the headlight hung on the top hat like a miner's. A dazzling white line suddenly appeared in the darkness that was as thick and dense as ink in front of her. However, this did not make everything around her clearer. On the contrary, it made the darkness even brighter. It's getting deeper.

Pado is not afraid of the dark. Velvet knows this very well - can a person who is afraid of the dark go to other people's rooms every night and pass things on?

And what Pado really fears is, she also knows very well - it is nothing more than death.

The two of them did not act together with the other heroes from the beginning. Instead, they sneaked to the bottom of the terminal crater when everyone rushed to the location of terminal.

"stop!"

Velvet stretched out her hand to stop Pado, who was still walking.

"This is almost the place where time and space are most active."

She looked at the values ​​on the instrument in her hand and nodded with satisfaction. Then she took out something that was no different from a black metal block from her pocket, turned around and stuffed it into Pado's hand.

"This is the terminal of Prometheus, Pado...I..."

Velvet wanted to say some words of encouragement, but she also understood that all words were meaningless to the girl in front of her.

For her, the only words that could change her outcome were not nothing - an order to retreat.

But that's not possible. At least this is not within Velvet's responsibility.

Besides, as a scientific researcher with combat capabilities, she doesn't have much time to waste here.

"Pado, I'll leave this to you. I'm going to the battlefield now. Goodbye!"

Velvet took off her hat and waved it, then bowed and saluted.

"Bye...bye...Sister Velvet!"

Padu held the small instrument tightly in her hand. She looked down at her feet. When she heard Velvet's voice, she only responded tremblingly. When she raised her head, there was only one thing left under the huge terminal crater. She was left alone.

The temperature on the moon's surface is already very low, not to mention the crater filled with strong winds. After Velvet left, the last light, sound, and warmth left her. After six years, she once again became a Alone.

Her whole body was shaking violently. In fact, she had not deceived Velvet. She was really afraid of the dark - which girl is not afraid of the dark?

However, in the Twilight Street a long time ago, for a wanderer like her, especially a young girl, the dark night has become the best protective color. She must obtain at least enough to support her in the dark night she fears most. The supplies needed to survive the day, otherwise, she would have to drag her hungry body to continue searching after the next night.

But after Reverse Entropy and Fire Chaser, because there is Boss Mikael, Sister Ellie, and everyone here, what is so scary even in the dark night?

Not to mention, whether it is Dusk Street or the base, they are places she has spent several years getting familiar with... She is not familiar with this place...

And...and!

In the past... when she was at the base, with Boss Mikael, Sister Ellie, and everyone else there, she never had to worry about fighting or death... Of course, she was not good at fighting either.

While on Twilight Street, although she still faced the risk of death, she was accompanied by a cat... and once danger was discovered, she had the right to escape, but now...

Pado closed her eyes in pain, but Mei's instructions kept replaying in her mind like a curse——

"Pado, I know the next words are a bit cruel to you, but time is urgent, so I will say it directly.

"In the crater below the headquarters, there are a lot of time and space turbulences. Now the best time for the final arrival has been missed, but when he launches the attack, it is still possible that these time and space turbulences will be affected, thereby creating a connection The gap between the world of real numbers and where the end lies.

"And Padu, the task I want to give you is to throw the terminal of No. 17 into the moment the space-time rift opens. If everything goes well, this will allow us to defeat the possibility of Honkai in the next era. Increase by at least ten percentage points.”

Pado is no stranger to time and space rifts. To be precise, if you remove the word "time", she is no stranger to simple space rifts... because that is the ability that her boss Mikael uses the most.

So she also knows how terrifying it is to stabilize the space rift without the artificial use of power by Mikael. Not to mention, what she is about to face is a space-time rift mixed with another kind of "time" power.

"No! No! Our luck has always been very good! We are cats, and we have nine lives! There is no way we will die here!"

Of course she wanted to comfort herself like this, but in fact she knew very well - in order to ensure that she could throw the terminal on the 17th into the moment the space-time rift opened, she had to stand where she is now, at the center of the turbulent flow of time and space. The center doesn't move.

In this position, once the space-time rift is torn open, she will have no possibility of escaping, and once she is involved in the uncontrolled space-time rift, she will definitely have no chance of survival.

Because this is no longer a problem that good luck can solve - she will be torn into atoms in an instant!

When the probability of something is 0%, no matter how good your luck is, it can only be said to be...

Nine lives are hard to save.

Padu's center of gravity slowly lowered until he sat down on the cold moon soil and slowly curled up.

She shouldn't have made such an action. Having experienced many battles, she knew very well that this posture was the stiffest and least conducive to a sudden escape in times of danger.

But so what? Even if she wants to escape, can she escape?

No! Can escape!

As long as she turns back now, with her luck, she will definitely be able to find a way up again!

You don't even need to go up, just hide to the edge, where the turbulence of time and space can't affect it, right?

As for the terminal in hand and Mei's mission, just throw it away at random when the time comes! Anyway, she is so lucky, maybe the terminal can be sucked into the rift?

In this way, she can complete the mission without risking her life, isn't it the best of both worlds?

Even... even if the mission cannot be completed, even if the terminal is not thrown into the space-time rift... so what?

So what?

"Boss Mikael, Sister Ellie, Brother Kevin... everyone... they are all heroes, but we... but we are different! Our operation is equivalent to not being done. We are just mortals. It is very brave to dare to wade into this muddy water. Why should we sacrifice ourselves?

"Besides... what's the use of such a sacrifice? What's the use, right? Dr. Mei herself said that this can only increase the success rate by ten percentage points, and it is not certain to succeed?

"Besides... besides... whether it can be successful in the end, it will be a matter of the next era! We can't live to the next era, what does it have to do with us, why should we go..."

Why should she sacrifice herself?

If she retreats now, she will still have endless sunshine and snacks in the next era, and no one will blame her, right?

Her mission is special, and she didn't bring a combat recorder. When she returns, she will say that there is no space-time rift. Anyway, she is so lucky, no one will doubt it, right?

Anyway, no one has seen the situation here with their own eyes, and no one can say that she is a deserter, right?

"Heroes have things to do... mortals have things to do! Fighting is left to heroes, and survival is left to mortals! As a mortal, shouldn't we live so selfishly? When we were in Dusk Street before, could we survive without being so selfish? I am most afraid of death!"

Pado kept trying to convince herself in her heart, but no matter how many legitimate reasons she gave herself to escape, she just straightened her upper body, looking like she was going to stand up, but in the end she didn't move at all.

"Move, Phyllis! Move!"

She was so anxious that tears came out, but on the back of the moon at minus 180 degrees, the tears formed into round ice beads as soon as they flowed out of the eye glands, and then the ice beads fell to the moon soil as lightly as feathers.

She suddenly slapped her thighs desperately, but her lower limbs still had no reaction and she couldn't stand up.

So she understood-she just didn't want to leave.

If she was really afraid of sacrifice, why did she come to the moon?

May never forced anyone to go to the moon, right?

If she wanted, she could stay on Earth with the others, right? What about fusion warriors? Didn't Sister Blanca stay on Earth? There are so many mass-produced fusion warriors with stronger abilities than her, didn't they all stay on Earth?

But she is still here, this is her own will, she just wants to be here, all this is her own decision.

"After all...I am...I am also 'Yingjie'..."

That was the honorary title personally awarded by Brother Mikael and Sister Ellie, and Padu knew what this name meant.

"Only heroes who dare to face difficulties can be called heroes."

She has always been very clear about her position. She is just an ordinary mortal. The only time she was brave in her life was when she signed up for the super-transformation surgery.

The surgery was successful. She did not die on the operating table like thousands of experimental subjects.

The surgery was also a failure. In addition to making her look a little less human, and making her disliked by some humans and all cats, it did not seem to bring her any "gains".

She is still as powerless as before. Every time the collapse comes, she can only hide and tremble, watching everyone fight.

For so many years, she has not been able to do anything.

Watching everyone in the anti-entropy become stronger and more mature one by one-not to mention others, Ahua, who is a little younger than her, already has his own God's Key and can kill the Herrscher alone.

But she still can't do anything.

But...but...

Whether you can do it or not is a question of ability, and whether you are willing to do something is a question of attitude.

People can't do everything, but people must have things they want to do.

The days of basking in the sun, eating snacks, and fishing were indeed what she had been looking forward to since she was a child. Such days were indeed very happy, but she always felt that something was missing.

She sneaked out in the middle of the night and brought back more and more spoils. Her business was getting bigger and bigger. Now she no longer had to make up a "boss" to raise her value, nor did she have to flatter and call others boss, but she always felt that something was missing.

There were more and more people around her, including Brother Mikael, Sister Ellie, everyone from Anti-Entropy... and all kinds of people who smiled at her flatteringly with their own thoughts... She no longer had to worry about loneliness, but she always felt that something was missing.

She didn't understand that everything she had now was what she had dreamed of in the past, but if she tasted it carefully, it was so illusory, as if everything was just an empty dream of a little girl who was starving and cold.

But now she understood that sunbathing, eating snacks, fishing, and stealing things were just living out of desire. This way of life might be happy, but it was indeed missing something - it was missing a meaning, a thing that she wanted to do no matter what, and the meaning that she wanted to pursue.

She also understood that there were indeed many people around her, chattering with them all day long. She was indeed no longer alone, but there was indeed something missing - the anti-entropy people became heroes and turned her into a hero. She was left on the spot, and as for those who approached her with ulterior motives, she never paid attention to them. So, she became even more lonely.

So...so she wants to be a hero too.

She doesn't know how to realize the meaning of her life, but at least at this moment, she wants to be a hero.

And she must also become a hero. Only in this way can she be worthy of the name "Ying Jie". Only in this way can she catch up with everyone and get rid of loneliness again.

and……

The wind in the crater suddenly picked up, and silver-gray dust flew into the air. Fine gravel streaked across her face, reminding her of that night on Twilight Street for no reason.

The same darkness, the same cold, the same loneliness...

The same howling wind, the same flying gravel...

But that night, two figures, one silver and one pink, suddenly broke into her life.

Hunger, loneliness, cold... these things were nothing to her who was used to wandering.

But since meeting them, she couldn't stand it anymore.

So...even if it is for Brother Mikael and Sister Ellie, she must stand here until the end and complete her mission so as not to live up to their expectations.

Also, although she still hasn't figured out the current situation of Brother Mikael and Sister Ellie...but if possible, she also wants to do something to save them.

It's a pity that she is too clumsy, but Dr. Mei is smart! As long as you do what she says, it will be fine, right?

Even if...she will be torn into atoms the moment the mission is completed...

But so what?

Life is nothing but an empty dream, and death is an unavoidable outcome.

Then, instead of dying in confusion at the end of life, it is better to choose a more meaningful active sacrifice.

At least they would all remember her, and...

If Brother Mikael and Sister Ellie can really be rescued... they will be both proud and sad after knowing their sacrifice, right? When they come to visit her grave, they will surely bring her favorite cans and biscuits, right?

But... the waiting at this moment is still very lonely...

Padu really wanted to find someone to chat with and divert her attention, so that she wouldn't have to spend too much energy thinking and hesitating, which would lead to the feeling of escape.

"Doctor...are you still there?"

She opened the communication and asked softly.

Echoes soon came from all directions—her own.

There was no sound in the communication.

Padu's tears came out again. She is most afraid of death and loneliness.

But she was even more afraid of dying alone.

The tears were out of control, and they cleverly covered up the gentle footsteps. It was not until a long time later that Padu wiped away his tears that he realized that there was an extra pair of feet in front of him.

She raised her head in disbelief. Cats have excellent vision in the dark, and she could easily see the appearance of the person in front of her.

Of course, a cat's sense of smell is also very sensitive. She could smell the identity of the person before she raised her head, but because of this, she needed to confirm it a second time through the other person's appearance——

"M...Brother Mikael?"

She asked tentatively, then no longer hesitated and pounced on Mikael.

Of course she wouldn't consider such high-end issues as why Mikael is here, whether the Mikael in front of her is Mikael, and whether everything in front of her is an illusion.

She just needed to take some time to vent all the fears she had felt during the long and dead time just now.

Mikael didn't say a word or move, and let her cry in his arms for an unknown amount of time. Until the girl's cries gradually became silent, he picked up the girl's back collar as he had done many times in the past, as if Picked up a kitten.

"Brother Mikael, you finally showed up again. I knew you wouldn't abandon me!"

"..."

A long, long time ago, they once said goodbye without saying goodbye. Pado was really afraid. The disappearance of Mikael and Ellie was the same as the previous goodbye without saying goodbye... abandoning her like this.

"It's okay, Pado, you've done a good job.

"Everything will be fine.

“We, all of us, will never be separated, ever.

"And that's what I want to do."