"Lin, you're... you're joking, right..."
Hearing Elysia mutterings, Spaciel shook his head and walked out of the operating room, wanting to find a place to stare blankly for a while. He needed time to process this—both for Elysia sake and his own.
Upon stepping outside, he saw Sakura standing there, her head bowed in a daze. She looked up slightly, meeting Spaciel's eyes. He shook his head slowly. At that, an indescribable expression surfaced on Sakura face—one that was utterly exaggerated, utterly distorted.
And so, in the vast operating room, only Elysia and a cold corpse remained.
"You just became my adjutant... I still have so many things I want to do, so many words I want to say..." The pink-haired girl unconsciously gripped Lin hand tight. "That's right... I haven't even told you my secret yet... A Fairy secret is very valuable. Please, I beg you, wake up..."
"If you wake up, I'll tell you..."
"Lin..."
"..."
Unknowingly, Elysia fell asleep amidst her own whispers. Even in her dreams, she refused to let go of Lin hand.
"..."
When she woke up again, it was from the biting chill of the operating room. Sorrowful memories flooded back into her mind. In that moment, she hated her own clarity; even just having woken up, she remembered the established fact.
Lin was dead.
The man who looked cold on the outside but was warmer than anyone else on the inside was dead. Elysia couldn't bear it, but she forced herself to look up, wanting to see Lin face one last time—
A pair of ink-black eyes flecked with glowing green met her blue ones.
"..."
"..."
The other person blinked calmly, proving that he wasn't just a corpse with eyes left open or in a state of rigor mortis.
Elysia mouth fell open, forming a perfect "O." She reached out and pinched her own cheek.
"...It's not a dream." Elysia expression shifted from shock to pure ecstasy.
Before Lin could react, he was pulled into a fierce embrace. The wound on his neck let out a pfft as blood sprayed outward. He let out a few muffled, miserable groans, but he was powerless against the monstrous strength of a MANTIS.
Since he couldn't speak, he could only let her hold him. After all these years, her habit of talking to herself and doing whatever she pleased hadn't changed a bit.
Lin shook his head helplessly.
"Welcome back, Lin," the girl whispered tenderly in his ear.
...
"How is this even possible?"
Spaciel checked Lin over in astonishment, performing a rigorous examination of his vital signs and wounds. Finally, he looked at him as if he were looking at a monster.
"It doesn't make sense. At that time, all your vital signs had ceased. Even a miracle shouldn't happen if the heart has stopped for over thirty minutes." Spaciel looked down at the test report in his hand, which showed someone indistinguishable from a normal person, and then glanced at Lin, whose neck was wrapped in bandages and who was unable to speak.
He had been absolutely certain then that Lin was, by every metric, declared dead. Having the carotid artery severed was basically a death sentence. But Lin was sitting here, alive and well. He couldn't possibly be a zombie or a hallucination, could he?
Lin thought for a moment, took out his communicator, and typed some words with a hand speed that was a mere blur, then showed the content to Spaciel.
[My carotid artery wasn't severed. The blade shifted slightly and only cut my trachea.]
"Trachea?"
Spaciel froze. If it was only the trachea, it was indeed possible to be resuscitated, but at that time...
Lin continued typing: [I checked that ECG monitor. It seems it was broken when it was used.]
"No." Spaciel frowned. "Even if the equipment was broken..."
He stopped mid-sentence, noticing Lin was watching him quietly. Once noticed, Lin gave a very slight shake of his head.
"...It seems I made a misjudgment. My apologies, Lin, for accidentally 'killing' you once."
[It's fine.]
Waiting outside the door, Elysia saw Lin walk out and immediately went up to support him, wearing her usual smile. "They say an adjutant is the captain's assistant, but here I am, your flowery and cute girl captain, taking care of you instead, Lin~"
"..." Lin really wanted to say something, but Elysia was clearly taking advantage of his inability to argue back, staring at him with a mischievous grin.
...Then again, a beautiful girl's radiant smile did tend to leave one speechless anyway.
Lin didn't let Elysia take him straight back to his room. Instead, they went to another ward quite a distance away. Along the way, the air was filled with the groans and complaints of the wounded; the medical department was overwhelmed.
"This time, the Eighth Honkai Eruption is the first one without any casualties. Lin, this is all thanks to you."
"..."
Lin shook his head. He didn't feel this was all his credit. This was humanity's own choice; he was merely one part of it.
However, the vitality permeating the headquarters this time far exceeded anything before. The grand victory against the Honkai and the result of zero casualties had greatly encouraged them. Even those coming in for treatment were smiling despite their injuries.
They moved through the crowd, not appearing particularly special. Soon, they arrived at their destination.
Elysia helped Lin open the door. As they entered the ward, they heard a voice filled with utter disbelief: "C-C-Captain? Adjutant Lin?!"
The person sitting on the hospital bed eating a clinical meal with a face full of worry was Erwin. Dressed in patient robes, he dropped his spoon on the floor the moment he saw Lin and Elysia walk in.
"W-Why are you here?!"
"Hee-hee, to visit our squad member, of course! And to let you see our Adjutant Lin, your brother-in-misfortune, so you'll feel a bit better."
"I... why would I feel better because of something like that..."
Erwin was actually very surprised he had survived. At the time, after forcibly closing all exits of the branch, he had prepared to die. But those who were corrupted seemed to stop moving once they realized they couldn't leave, as if a program had encountered an error and stopped responding.
Furthermore, the position where Erwin was shot was extremely lucky, missing his vital organs. After giving himself a simple bandage, he waited until the branch lockdown was lifted and the others woke up.
Because of this, his title of "Lucky Erwin" became even more prestigious. Having survived four major Honkai Eruptions purely by luck, many people wanted to come by just to rub off some of his fortune.
"Haha, don't be so stiff! Look, our Adjutant Lin isn't saying anything, right, Lin?"
"..."
He obviously couldn't say anything. If he could, he would have immediately roasted this person for cracking jokes during someone else's recovery.
"Alright, we won't disturb you anymore. Rest up. Don't worry, you're on paid leave."
"Huh? We actually have a salary?"
Elysia merrily supported Lin as they left.