But this was also Mobius's persistence, a persistence that even her assistant found somewhat unbearable.
Rumors really are just rumors, meaningless things.
If this is what they call a Demon Scientist, a great villain, then the world's demands on ordinary Scholars are far too high.
Although the other party is gentle and kind to you, at least ninety-seven percent of the reason is because Vil-V shows her dependence on you.
The girl who was originally sliding into the abyss, after being pulled up by you, could be said to be even more desolate than before. Continuing to be reclusive might have only led to a split personality, with excessive self-loathing causing her to wear a false mask.
So now.
— The girl can't do without you anymore.
The girl will never be able to leave you in this life.
Because of a gathering organized by Aili Xiya, a unique accident, a heartfelt gift, and an ordinary conversation.
The girl found her salvation.
Just like a certain person named Otto fifty thousand years later.
A spring morning, an ordinary wall, a crashed airplane, and a girl smiling in the sunlight, reaching out her hand to the boy.
Greeting the boy warmly, inviting him to play with her.
And just like that, a five-hundred-year obsession was born.
The emotions of life are truly wonderful.
You were the first person she met who understood her and was willing to help her. Years of companionship pushed this to the extreme.
"Only" is a very significant word.
When spoken aloud, her pearly teeth gently pressed against her lower lip, unconsciously forming an upward curve, as if smiling or showing goodwill to others.
Although Mobius could not understand or approve of such feelings, she did not, like those Scholars, consider you a femme fatale.
What kind of femme fatale would pull a girl who had fallen into the abyss out and give her salvation and hope?
You also didn't become complacent or a complete burden just because you gained Vil-V's favor; from the very beginning, you helped the girl escape her inferiority complex.
At least during this time, the girl could already engage in some academic conversations with Dr. Mobius.
Often, Mobius would feel enlightened, and some problems that were stuck from a single perspective were easily overcome with collaborative assistance.
Both are Scholars with top-tier talent, able to keep up with each other's pace and comprehend seemingly large leaps.
If to be judged by your wisdom.
It's probably like…
"I want to tile the Great Wall."
"The lid material for the Pacific Ocean can use this."
"I feel this brand new law can continue to be called Jiangcheng—15."
Not only was every sentence outrageous, but the span was also enormous; one second she might be discussing this subject, and the next she might shift to another.
Yet, if given enough time, you could still find the common ground among them and infer what Vil-V and they were probably talking about.
Geniuses and ordinary people truly cannot be considered the same species.
After their first ten-hour conversation, she was even so excited that she shared her instant noodles with Vil-V.
According to Ms. Blanca, Mobius's assistant, who is a person of both character and scholarship, unlike you, who is somewhat undeserving of your position.
Those instant noodles were the Doctor's most treasured possessions.
They were mostly discontinued models, and even the Doctor herself would only eat them at very critical times.
Although you didn't taste anything special, and Vil-V didn't have any burst of inspiration, they were just ordinary instant noodles.
Also, within these few months, without those troublesome interruptions, you and Vil-V no longer just slacked off, cooped up in the Room together all day, but instead began to do things that matched your positions.
— You came into contact with the energy scientifically known as Honkai energy.
No longer just a superficial understanding as before, but a true realization of some of the fundamental characteristics of this energy.
It is a superior alternative to all currently known energies, almost omnipotent, like the divine power that only exists in myths and legends.
Just at the initial contact, a few Scholars conducted experimental research, and many technologies that only existed in fantasy before, strictly limited by actual materials and energy, were unsealed one by one.
The very foundation of Moth Chasing Fire was also decided by several people, including Mobius, who realized the importance of this energy.
But this does not mean it is a gift from heaven.
Because the energy named Honkai energy possesses an intense erosiveness and destructiveness unmatched by any other energy, directly proportional to its omnipotence.
Each appearance brings at least hundreds of thousands to millions of deaths.
It can even give rise to even more terrifying disasters.
An unimaginable existence, like a doomsday banner, bringing forth monsters of various forms, acting in completely incomprehensible silicon-based postures, possessing powerful destructive force, enough to easily tear apart even the solidity of steel.
In fact, while you and Vil-V were slacking off, a disaster that spanned several cities and caused the national machinery, which had never been fully activated since that war, to operate for the first time, had already descended.
An individual called a Herrscher—a god—caused the demise of tens of millions of lives.
That was an astonishing eight-digit figure.
Even the most terrifying and despicable wars in human history; the most brutal and desolate meat grinders could only barely compare to it.
There was no distinction between high and low ranks; even the most brilliant geniuses and politicians, naturally superior to others, were as lowly as ants before the disaster.
Perhaps this is also why Moth Chasing Fire was formed and its status grew increasingly higher.
Of course, this was meaningless to you.
As someone at the headquarters of Moth Chasing Fire, although your identity had considerable embellishment, your status as an expert was enough to make your every move noticed by others. Moreover, with the girl there, even if you wanted to die, no one would allow it.
The only question that would arise in your heart, the only thing that could carve out a gap in your time.
Was only the safety of another girl.
— Aili Xiya.
No matter what happened in between, no matter how incompatible your personalities were, the other party was your younger sister, one of the very few relatives in your life.
If you had the ability, you still hoped to protect her.
Honkai energy seemed to appear in few places, but you always had a premonition that this was just the beginning, and more would follow.
The current disaster was insignificant; the individuals called Herrschers were merely a start.
Unfortunately, you haven't found any news of her.
Even after explaining it to Vil-V and getting her help, you never found any trace of the girl anywhere in the world.
Perhaps the girl was still traveling.
Embarking on a journey without a destination, a spontaneous adventure.
After losing you, her deadweight, she could go to some dangerous places alone, right?
The girl once gave you a feeling.
She clearly moved among the mortal world, yet seemed not to belong to this world.
Perhaps it was that flawless aura about the girl.
You felt that she seemed distant from the crowd, possessing a natural counter-aura to the lively atmosphere of human life. Although her agile charm drew people into noisy banquets, they were merely intoxicated by her captivating demeanor.
Flawless, perfect, even sacred; it was a mark drawn from everything, like a player, like a god, pitying yet oblivious to the world.
The girl was like an overly real beautiful dream, so real that you almost believed it to be true.
But after the daze, you would still realize.
No matter how beautiful a dream is.
That…
It's still a dream.
It's like a gust of wind; it has indeed traveled to every corner of the world, and you seem to have touched her, touched that fragrant wind.
But why can't you ever grasp it or hold onto it?
Even so, even though that sense of separation, as if not belonging to the world, became a thin film in your memory after you reconsidered it later.
Even recalling and imagining, you couldn't truly imprint the girl's image in your mind.
You always believed the girl could find her ideal.
The wind indeed leaves no trace, cannot be grasped or held, but the water surface caressed by the wind leaves ripples, the leaves rustled by the wind make a rustling sound, and the wind also brings the fragrance of distant flowers, telling everyone of new life.
Even if the girl is a gust of wind, she will always leave her mark in some corner of the world, leaving memories unique to Aili Xiya.
These traces accumulate little by little, engraving the girl's footsteps in this world.
You just need to remember them.
There's no need to chase the wind; the wind will come on its own.
Perhaps when the girl finishes her journey, she will naturally come to see you and talk about the scenery she saw along the way.
Your life is no longer linked to Aili Xiya. What truly matters to you now, what is worth you personally planning a birthday party for, is...
— Vil-V.
The small Room, hundreds of square meters, was lavishly decorated. Orange crystal chandeliers chimed softly in the breeze, creating a warm, dim glow with countless candles. Plush fur, soft underfoot, covered the floor.
Only in the center, a plaque in the style of the Spiral Workshop proudly bore the four large characters: "Birthday Party."
Given Vil-V's talent and status, such a birthday party seemed a bit too modest.
But does a party really need so many people, so many voices?
No, it doesn't.
It doesn't need to be luxurious, it doesn't need to be extravagant.
For the girl, celebrating her birthday with the boy was already enough to satisfy everything.
Only sincerity is truly precious; otherwise, no matter how many people, it is essentially just a difference in magnitude, and more noisy.
Normally, every birthday was Vil-V's happiest time, because each time Jiangcheng would present beautiful, thoughtful gifts.
Yet at this very moment, standing on the carpet, Vil-V, facing the boy who was as usual, was not so happy.
Her silver-gray eyes held an incomprehensible blankness, her cherry lips unconsciously parted slightly, even revealing her white teeth and stiff pink tongue.
"Jiangcheng…"
"You said…"
"You actually knew all along."
"Yes, I knew you actually had the ability to deal with those people, but you just never did."
Jiangcheng was merely calm, nodding gently, his night-colored suit with mithril trim looking exceptionally composed.
His night-colored eyes clearly held nothing, just so ordinary, so usual, even mixed with birthday wishes.
Yet the girl trembled, imagining an accusation in her mind, as if the boy's voice was in her ear… 'The reason I was bothered by them.'
'Was it…'
'— You stood by and watched?'
No… I couldn't do that.
I wouldn't do that.
The girl really wanted to give a different answer, wanted to utter a completely opposite reply from her cherry lips, the reply she loved and expected.
— Yes.