There were truly a lot of people to see today. Since becoming more socially active, Lin found that he actually had more free time back when he was an unknown worker; at least then, he didn't have to think about or deal with anything.
Lin had Elysia take him back to his ward to rest, planning to see the others later. He was actually mostly fine; aside from the external wound on his neck, his consciousness was just heavily drained, making him lose his sense of balance when walking independently.
Sitting under the warm light of the living room, Lin took off his helmet. A head of soft, medium-length hair spilled out. In the warm glow, he leaned against the back of the chair and looked toward the only dressing mirror in the room.
The mirror, covered in a thin layer of dust, faithfully reflected what it saw.
The shoulder-length hair looked different than before. At the tips of the ink-black hair, a small, inconspicuous section of something foreign had replaced the original black.
In Lin vision, which consisted only of black and white, all he could see was the pitch black turning into the same silvery-white color as Yama long hair.
Lin breathed steadily. He didn't dwell on his hair for long. Instead, he unwound the bandages around his neck, turn... after turn... until the bandages were completely removed, revealing a long, narrow scar.
Because the weapon that pierced him was so sharp, the wound wasn't jagged; it was smooth. Lin tentatively reached out, pulling at the reddened wound to reveal the bright red muscle beneath, but he quickly met resistance.
"..."
The wound that had originally pierced straight through his entire neck—the internal flesh had already healed. And only a day had passed.
He remembered yesterday, the moment he was pierced by Sakura blade—
Lin had clearly seen a half-section of a transparent, icy blade "grow" out of his throat. Immediately after, he saw the look of shock and horror on Vil-V face before he fell uncontrollably onto her, unable to maintain consciousness, slowly closing his eyes.
But afterward, Lin had clearly perceived everything happening around him. From the moment his heart and breathing stopped, to Spaciel's resuscitation efforts, to Elysia soft calling—even though he couldn't see anything, he could perceive it.
Lin... was not dead.
He knew very well what death felt like; he had died once during the Sixth Honkai Eruption. So this time, even though his heart had stopped—and he was even medically defined as brain dead—Lin knew he wasn't actually dead.
Or rather... he suddenly realized he couldn't be killed.
No, to put it another way, Lin felt that something had changed inside his body that made it impossible to kill him through conventional means. It was just like... the Sixth Herrscher. She was only killed after the Honkai energy in her Core was exhausted and her Authority of Creation was used up.
Subsequently, thirty minutes after his "death" in the conventional sense, his carotid artery healed at an inhuman speed, his heart began pumping blood again, and his consciousness took control of his body.
In other words, Lin came back to life.
Lin re-wrapped the bandages, staring at the figure in the mirror that felt foreign to him.
He was... turning into "something"...
...
Passing under one lamp after another being repaired by Armed Dolls, the wall-hugging, stumbling Lin soon arrived at his destination. Before even entering, he heard conversation inside.
"You don't need to thank me. Surviving was Griseo own doing." Mobius voice sounded deeply weary. "She is different from you; she can't control her power yet, so she will be temporarily placed in the Deep End under that woman's supervision. She is willing to help with these matters."
"No, Doctor, if you hadn't performed the surgery on Griseo in time..." This was Blanca's voice.
"I told you, I was merely forced to exchange a certain death for a slim probability of survival. Living was just luck. And if you had been there at the time, would you have let me operate on Griseo?"
"..."
After a long silence, Mobius sighed softly. "Blanca, just for introducing Klein to my lab back then, I will be grateful to your family for life. So I only did what I should have. Now... I'm a bit tired. You should go back."
Her tone was different from the usual Mobius—no sarcasm, no bitterness, just an overwhelming sense of exhaustion. Even without entering, the image of Mobius with her shoes off, one foot on her chair, hugging her legs, appeared in Lin mind.
...Strange, why was he imagining it in such detail?
Since Mobius had essentially issued a dismissal, Blanca and Ato had no choice but to leave. When they walked out with helpless expressions and saw Lin standing at the door, they froze.
Lin gave them a slight nod. Even though his neck had begun to heal, his vocal cords were damaged and needed time to recover.
"Lin..."
Ato was about to speak when Blanca covered his mouth. Her eyes darted around before she broke into a smile, making a "shhh" gesture to Ato. She nodded to Lin and quickly pulled Ato away.
"Why are you pulling me?" Ato asked in confusion after they had walked a distance away.
Blanca gave him a sidelong glance. "Don't we talk about everything at home? You want everyone else to hear?"
Back at the lab, Lin placed his hand on the doorknob. After a moment of thought, he knocked.
"Come in."
Lin pushed the door open and entered.
The scene before his eyes was exactly as he had expected. The girl in the lab coat was curled up in her chair, unaware that her long hair had fallen into her clothes. She was hugging her legs, a hint of fatigue in her solemn expression.
The office was a mess again. Debris was thrown everywhere, stockings abandoned in corners, leftover instant noodle cups... even the buttons of her shirt under her lab coat weren't properly fastened, revealing a somewhat "dangerous" glimpse of smooth skin. Her pink-green snake-like pupils stared blankly at a spot, lost in thought. Even her golden earrings seemed a bit dull.
Noticing that the person who entered hadn't spoken, Mobius looked up rather impatiently. "If you have something to say, say it qu—"
The man in the helmet stood awkwardly at the door. He seemed to have accidentally disturbed Mobius while she wanted to rest, triggering her "switch" and making her temper even more volatile.
What he didn't notice, however, was that the green-haired girl was staring fixedly at the bandages wrapped around his neck.
Once she realized she was staring, she put on a cold expression. "Not dead?"
"..." Lin could only nod.
"Consider yourself lucky. Get out."
"..."