Before crossing over to this world, Ling Ke had once heard a pair of lines from a soft sci-fi movie called Men in Black:
"A person is smart."
"But people are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals."
Those two lines had left a deep impression on him.
Even now, he remembered them clearly.
Today, the earth-shaking battle between Raiden Mei and Kevin at Nagazora International Airport, a battle that looked apocalyptic in the eyes of those who had not transcended, had already shocked the world.
Of course, the "world" mentioned here naturally did not include the ordinary citizens cut off from real information.
Even if some of them had happened to be nearby, even if they had seen or recorded forbidden footage, they would still have to sign confidentiality agreements afterward.
No.
The "world" meant the upper ranks of the major governments.
It meant key personnel in their agencies.
It meant the entirety of The Moths Who Chase the Flames.
In other words, everything Mobius had seen through surveillance footage from another region, anyone with the corresponding status and authority could naturally see as well.
During that time, several surveillance satellites had even been urgently redirected.
Add to that the video footage forcibly collected from civilian sources, from every possible angle…
That real scene, worthy of being called world-ending…
The intelligence surrounding it had already begun spreading at terrifying speed among a designated group of people.
In less than half a day…
"Have we identified those two?"
"Are they new Herrschers?"
"The damage those two caused is far too great."
"They must be captured as soon as possible."
"Two monsters!"
…
For now, there was no need to discuss the situation elsewhere.
On the side of The Moths Who Chase the Flames, an emergency meeting had already been convened.
Mobius had no choice but to attend.
At this moment, however, she was sitting lazily in her seat, legs crossed, her face filled with boredom.
Her right hand propped up her cheek.
Her eyes were full of mockery.
She was only one step away from throwing away her image entirely and yawning out loud.
At this moment, she cast a sidelong glance in a certain direction.
That councilman just now had really said it well.
He truly knew how to choose his words.
In his statement, the word he used was actually "capture."
Not "arrest."
"Are they treating those two as prey?"
"Or even trophies?"
"Heh."
Mobius let out a cold laugh.
A pack of arrogant fools with high eyes and low hands.
They held a little secular power in their grasp.
The first two Herrschers had failed to cause any truly excessive damage.
And so, they had already started floating off the ground?
Such self-righteous judgment…
They did not seem to have considered one question.
Who exactly was challenging whom?
Fortunately, the surveillance footage inside that café had already been deleted by her Little Snakey.
Because of that, the most crucial person…
Along with those two unlucky kids…
Had not been exposed for the time being.
But anyone could guess that with the investigative ability of The Moths Who Chase the Flames, the former would probably be fine, while the latter two…
That is, the young Kevin and MEI…
Would definitely be exposed soon.
However…
"That does not seem like something I need to worry about anymore."
Mobius narrowed her emerald, scale-colored eyes slightly and thought this to herself.
That night…
"Ngh…"
Her head hurt.
Her whole body felt sore.
"Where… is this?"
MEI gradually woke up.
By instinct, she tried to sit up from where she was lying.
But just as she tried to prop herself up with both hands…
"Don't force yourself."
"You need to rest right now."
A voice reached her ears.
Its tone was cold.
Yet within that coldness, there was a softness that could still be heard.
MEI forced her eyes open.
The first thing she saw was an indoor scene that looked like a high-end intensive care ward.
The beeping of medical equipment sounded beside her ears.
At this moment, her left hand was still connected to an IV drip.
And when she turned her head, on her right side…
What entered her vision was a white-haired young man in a black trench coat.
His face was one she knew with painful familiarity.
"Ke…vin?"
MEI murmured softly.
At that moment, the white-haired young man sitting beside the hospital bed seemed to smile.
The corner of his mouth rose by roughly…
One pixel?
As if hearing a familiar person call him by a familiar name was already enough to satisfy him.
Unfortunately…
"No. You're not Kevin."
MEI snapped back to herself.
Her eyes became extremely vigilant.
"Who are you?"
At this moment, she remembered many things.
Many, many things that had happened before she lost consciousness.
Today, she had been deceived into going out by false information.
Then, as if by coincidence, she had met a purple-haired girl who looked exactly like her.
And now…
"…"
The person before her clearly looked identical to Kevin.
But his expression and aura were completely different.
At this moment, he seemed very disappointed.
He obviously gave off an aloof impression.
Yet there was this contrast to him…
"Where is Kevin?"
For some reason, MEI's tone softened subconsciously when she asked.
On top of that, she kept feeling that this person would not hurt her.
This feeling was completely different from when she had seen that purple-haired girl who called herself Raiden Mei.
Right now…
"He is in the ward next door."
The white-haired young man answered MEI's question, just as expected.
"I…"
"Wait a moment."
At this moment, he stood up from the bedside.
Then he walked to the end of the hospital bed and began to gently turn the mechanism along the bedframe.
The section of the bed beneath MEI's upper body slowly began to adjust its angle.
She leaned comfortably against the raised hospital bed.
When she turned her head again to look at the white-haired young man who had returned to sit beside her, it was much easier than before.
"You…"
"My name is also Kevin."
The white-haired young man remained very cooperative and gave her the precise answer.
"Kevin Kaslana."
This time, he was not playing the riddler.
Almost whatever MEI asked, he answered.
So, right then…
"Are you also from fifty thousand years in the future?"
"The Kevin of the next civilization era?"
"Just like that Raiden Mei is the me of the next civilization era?"
MEI asked him this.
And Kevin…
Fell silent.
He thought for a very long time.
He prepared himself mentally.
He weighed the gains and losses.
Of course, what he weighed was not his own gains and losses.
It was the purple-haired girl before him.
After a long time…
"No."
"I am not the same as Raiden Mei."
Kevin seemed to have made a certain decision.
At this moment, this man whose will had remained firm for tens of thousands of years without wavering took a rare deep breath.
Then…
"I am indeed from more than fifty thousand years in the future."
"But…"
"I am a survivor of this civilization era."
"I lived all the way into the next age."
After saying these words, Kevin no longer spoke.
He simply looked at MEI.
His expression was somewhat…
Evasive?
How long had it been?
How long had it been since he had shown this kind of awkwardness?
Perhaps, just as Gray Serpent had said…
The current him already had a weakness.
And before this weakness…
"You!"
On the hospital bed, shock appeared on MEI's face.
Her eyes widened.
Her pupils suddenly shrank.
At this moment, she understood everything.
The reason the person before her made her feel so impossibly familiar, yet also so terribly strange…
The root cause of this contradiction…
Came from the countless traces left behind by long years.
Like cuts carved by a blade.
Their name was wounds.
Wounds that pierced the heart.
Once again…
"Kevin!"
MEI called him that again.
She raised her right hand, wanting to touch his face.
But Kevin instinctively leaned back and avoided it.
"Don't…"
He explained in a low, helpless voice.
"Cold…"
"My body temperature is very low."
"You'll get frostbite."
"…"
MEI also fell silent.
Just like that, the two of them quietly looked at each other.
For a long time.
A very long time.
"It seems the future was not kind to you, was it?"
MEI spoke again.
"No."
Kevin shook his head.
"The future gave me a second chance."
He looked at MEI.
His expression was firm.
"This time, I will not repeat the same mistakes."
"I will make this world become the one we hoped for."