When Kevin woke up in the hospital bed, he was alone in the room.
Tragically, he had also been strapped down with restraints.
"What's going on?"
The young man's head filled with question marks.
Nothing else for it…
"Hey! Anyone there?"
"MEI?"
"Is anyone there?"
…
He really did have a big heart.
Faced with a situation that looked suspiciously like a kidnapping, his first reaction was not fear or panic.
Instead, he started shouting at the top of his lungs.
The soundproofing in this hospital room, as it turned out, was not very good.
Or rather, it was not built to contain a voice that loud.
So, without the slightest suspense…
"…"
"Uh… hahaha~"
In the room next door, MEI looked at the speechless Returnee Kevin and gave a dry little laugh.
Unfortunately, the shouting from the other room did not stop.
If anything, it only grew louder and more annoying.
Kevin's face grew darker and darker.
Finally…
"Excuse me. I need to step out for a moment."
Pushed past the limits of his patience, he stood up and quickly left MEI's room.
MEI just stared blankly at the hospital room door he had not even managed to close.
Then…
"Haha, finally someone's here… wait, who are you?"
"Why do you look like me… no, wait… stop… don't!!!"
"Awoooooooo~"
…
About ten seconds later, Kevin returned in his black trench coat.
He gently closed the door and sat back down by the bed, his face completely blank.
"Um…"
MEI had been listening with her ears perked up. Now that the room next door had gone quiet, she opened her mouth, hesitated, then tried anyway.
"Don't worry."
Kevin still wore that cold poker face.
"He needs rest too."
"Uh… right."
MEI smiled awkwardly and decided not to dwell on that for now.
There was nothing else she could do.
She knew Kevin would not hurt Kevin…
Uh.
That sounded really awkward.
Sure enough, once things involved a lofty and mysterious concept like time, ideas built on ordinary common sense collapsed very easily.
Thankfully, MEI could still keep up.
In short, now that she knew the younger Kevin was fine, MEI naturally shifted all her attention to something far more important and serious.
Everything related to the future.
In fact, before the younger Kevin started making a fuss, she had already spoken for a long time with the white-haired young man by her bedside.
During that conversation, she realized that compared to Raiden Mei, whom she had met earlier, this returned Kevin Kaslana was far more thorough when explaining the future.
Moreover, he answered everything she asked.
No evasions.
No beating around the bush.
Even minor details and small points were explained with great patience.
Because of that, MEI was able to confirm several shocking facts.
First, the supernatural disaster known as the Honkai truly did exist. The information Raiden Mei had mentioned earlier was real, only incomplete.
Second, the era she lived in would one day be completely destroyed by the Cocoon of Finality, an artifact left behind by a higher civilization.
Third, more than fifty thousand years later, the Current Era would give birth to a tragedy named Ling Ke.
Fourth, that person had personally destroyed the Current Era. Then, to take revenge on a specific group of people, he reversed time back to the present so he could break them heart and soul.
Fifth, Ling Ke had already ascended to godhood. Making an enemy of him was out of the question.
"Yes."
After sorting through those facts, MEI could only sigh helplessly.
"He can even do something like time reversal… even if he is not a true god, to us, there really is no difference."
That was the conclusion she reached through reason.
As for her feelings…
"To be honest, we should thank him."
MEI smiled faintly.
"Even if this salvation was born from the malice he himself mentioned, this second chance was indeed something he gave us."
Kevin nodded in agreement.
However…
Considering that this second chance was not the end, but the beginning of another challenge, and that he still needed to deal with the threat of other Returnees…
"MEI."
Kevin spoke in a low voice.
"Originally, I did not intend to appear in front of you."
"But now, the situation has completely exceeded my expectations. So…"
"I understand."
MEI looked at the white-haired young man before her.
He had clearly once planned to shoulder everything alone and protect this era from the shadows.
She gave a soft laugh.
"Just as that Arbiter, Ling Ke, said, this is a struggle for survival between two civilization eras."
"No one can stay out of it."
"So…"
She nodded slightly.
"I will help you."
"This time, we see it through together."
From the room next door, young Kevin sneezed.
"Achoo~"
That night.
The Middle East.
Sundown Alley.
"Nom nom nom~"
At the top of a run-down building, near the edge of the rooftop, a girl with short light-brown hair sat side by side with a black-haired young man.
Their calves swung idly in the air.
Together, they were gnawing on fragrant, steaming chicken legs.
"Boss, this one's really good too… mmph."
"Right? Iron Bull Barbecue. Charred outside, tender inside. Crispy, fragrant, and not greasy. You take one bite, then tear it open, and your whole mouth is full of meat. I spent ages looking around Shenzhou before I found that stall. The owner's the real deal… come on, cheers."
"Oh~"
The two of them picked up the ice-cold colas beside them and made a show of clinking cups.
"I don't really get it, but it sounds amazing."
The girl, Pardo, said that, then bit down on the straw and took several big gulps of the cold drink.
Then she could not help burping.
"Ugh~"
The bubbles hit a little too hard.
She frowned with a pained look and hurriedly rubbed her forehead.
Seeing this…
"Haha, now that is just lack of experience."
The black-haired young man, Ling Ke, raised his hand and pinched his own nose, turning his head to the side.
"If you burp like this, it won't rush straight to your brain… burp~"
"I see."
Pardo gave him a thumbs up.
"Boss is amazing."
"Nothing special. Just the accumulated wisdom of a foodie."
As Ling Ke said that, his left hand casually reached into the space beside him.
When he pulled it back, there was already another plate in his hand.
He handed it to the girl beside him.
"Crystal jelly. Want to try?"
"Okay!"
Pardo's curiosity immediately perked up again.
Of course, she was only curious about the taste.
As for Ling Ke casually opening a spatial door, she had already gotten used to that.
She knew Boss was not an ordinary person.
These past few days, the two of them would occasionally meet up in private like this.
Well…
Although Ling Ke had promised Aponia that he would not actively appear before her again…
Not going to Aponia's nursing home did not mean he could not come to Sundown Alley.
"Slurp~"
Pardo, who had just finished gnawing on a big chicken leg, was now slurping jelly noodles.
She still did not know how to use chopsticks.
Before, she had simply grabbed food with her hands. Recently, though, she had started trying to use a fork.
She was good at reading the room, and she could tell Ling Ke cared about that sort of thing.
According to him, it was unhygienic and bad for the body.
Right now…
"Little Pardo."
"Mmph?"
The girl's cheeks were puffed up like a large hamster.
She looked at Ling Ke and tilted her head.
"Whass wrong, Boss?"
Her mouth was full, so her words came out a little unclear.
"Let me ask you something."
Ling Ke did not look at her.
It was as if he were looking somewhere much farther away.
"Are you planning to keep staying in Sundown Alley, or do you want to come with me and see the outside world?"
"…"
Pardo's chewing slowed down.
She did not answer right away.
She seemed very conflicted.
These past few days, at least from her own point of view, Boss was a good person.
But…
"Don't think too much."
Only then did Ling Ke turn his head to look at her.
He smiled.
"I'm not trying to ask you to do anything for me. I'm not planning to use a few small favors to make you repay me either."
"It's just that… Sundown Alley may become very unsettled soon."
"So…"
Ling Ke asked again.
"Based on that, do you want to leave, or stay?"
"Don't worry about me. Say what you really think."
Seeing the serious look on his face…
"Mmm~"
Pardo looked straight into his unfocused eyes and hesitated.
In the end, she tilted her head back and swallowed the food in her mouth.
"I… I still wanna stay."
That was her answer.
Clearly, in Sundown Alley, there were still too many people and things she could not leave behind.
One of them was most likely Aponia's nursing home.
And those children who had not grown up yet, the ones who still needed someone to secretly help them.
It was worth mentioning that the help here did not simply mean supplies.
As for supplies…
Because Ling Ke had unilaterally demanded that Aponia cooperate with his stage setting, he had given her plenty of payment already. She was not lacking in that area.
So the real help was this.
If someone got snatched up by black-hearted scumbags, Pardo would still have to sneak into their den and steal the children back out.
In short…
"I know Sundown Alley has always been a mixed bag. It's never really been peaceful."
"Boss, you're someone with real skills. If even you came to warn me like this, then something even more troublesome must be about to happen."
"But…"
"Alright, alright~"
Ling Ke raised his hand and rubbed Pardo's head.
"I already told you not to think too much."
"If you choose to stay, then stay."
His tone was calm.
"You don't need to worry about anything else."
And at the very moment those words fell…
"Squelch~"
"Swish~"
"Gah!"
Less than ten kilometers outside Sundown Alley.
Inside a dilapidated shack, the smell of blood began to spread.
At this moment, heavily armed soldiers lay scattered across the floor.
And among those corpses…
"Which batch is this?"
"Didn't count carefully. Should be the fourth or fifth."
"Heh. This is only the first day… quite a lot of people don't value their lives."
"The more the better…"
Footsteps sounded.
Several Puppets of Domination: Anby sheathed their blades.
"They're all swarming into Sundown Alley like starving bugs drawn to a cake."
"We can earn some points along the way."
"Two birds with one stone."