"You'll have to make a choice sooner or later, Silas," Kevin said calmly.
Silas narrowed his eyes at him. "You know the one making the choice is me, right?"
Even if he were forced, he wouldn't choose—because he honestly didn't have the mind for it right now. And even if he explained this clearly to Elysia or Lilith…
Well, it wouldn't be useless, but the effect wouldn't be much different from saying nothing at all.
There was another path: deliberately distancing himself, choosing to keep away from them…
But that was no different from suicide.
Think about it—his weapon needed Vill-V's maintenance, his future Meta-Morph surgery required Mobius's help, and yet he was supposed to cut ties with them while still asking for their assistance?
If he didn't end up locked in a black room somewhere, it would be a miracle.
As for Elysia, that was even worse. She'd definitely be heartbroken. And the thing that weighed on him most was that, in his past life, the person who hurt her most deeply had been him. If he did the same thing again now… would Eden tear him apart with her bare hands? That was another matter entirely.
And Lilith… he couldn't even imagine how he could possibly distance himself from her. That woman had no bottom line. No matter where he went, she'd find a way to show up eight or nine times out of ten.
So, since he couldn't resist anyway… why not just give up and roll with it?
"The choice is yours, sure. But the choice of who I support is mine." Kevin shrugged, a teasing smile tugging at his lips.
Silas: "…"
Kevin… even you, with your thick brows and 'serious face,' can make an expression like that? Tch. I've gotten so used to your stiff, stone-faced look that I almost forgot—at your core, you're still a blockhead, and blockheads can smirk too.
"So, Silas makes the choice, and I choose who to assist, huh…" Kosma murmured thoughtfully.
"Kosma, I'm warning you. One Kevin stirring up trouble is already more than enough." Silas felt an ominous premonition. Kosma wasn't even pretending anymore—no echo effect, no disguise, just speaking plainly.
"Mm. I understand." Kosma smiled. But no matter how Silas looked at him, he couldn't bring himself to relax.
(Of course I can't make any moves now. Michaela is still at an age where Silas could get thrown in jail over it. For now, I'll just wait and see. Besides… I really do need to think seriously about how to handle things with Dystopia… Seeking answers in our contradictions, understanding each other, accepting each other… Is that really the way?)
As Kosma's expression shifted from a faint smile back into seriousness, Silas finally let out a sigh of relief. Good—at least Kosma's focus wasn't on him right now.
Most likely, Kosma was caught up thinking about his own relationship with Dystopia, and how to deal with it.
After finishing his talk with Kevin and Kosma, Silas decided it was time to seek Hua and learn Taixuan Blade Mantra. This was something best begun sooner rather than later—and besides, he was nearly an adult already. For an adult, learning Taixuan Blade Mantra was like trying to grasp the wind with bare hands—completely futile.
Unless he underwent Meta-Morph surgery to reshape his body, there was no way he could continue training.
The essence of Taixuan Blade Mantra training wasn't just about honing control over Honkai energy—it was also about reshaping the body, making it capable of holding and channeling more energy.
Compared to the brutal and high-risk procedure of becoming a fusion warrior, Taixuan Blade Mantra was a gentler, safer method of transformation.
But before that—
"Silas, what were you and Kevin talking about?" Elysia asked.
Silas's answer was short and sharp: "His stance hasn't changed."
Elysia: "..."
As expected, she had still gone too easy on Kevin.
"After this, I'm planning to study Taixuan Blade Mantra with Hua. And when today's training ends, I'll be hanging out with Sakura and Rin to play games," Silas told Elysia about his schedule.
Hearing that he was going to train under Hua, Elysia originally thought about trying it too—but personality-wise, she simply wasn't suited for Taixuan Blade Mantra.
After all, she was interested in everything. How could she ever sit still long enough to condense something like a "sword heart"?
Not to mention, with her physique and her mastery over Honkai energy, she didn't even need to learn this in the first place. Wouldn't it be better to spend that time figuring out new ways to whack Kevin around?
The only things she could commit to doing every single day without fail were weighing herself and figuring out how to keep teasing Silas.
So she smiled and said: "Then let's meet again at dinner~ Promise me, don't be late!"
"Alright." Silas nodded.
Standing nearby, Pardofelis thought for a moment. She felt it would be wise to pull someone else in to back her up. And that person was…
"Perfect timing. Sis Dys should be done with her stuff at Dr. Snake's today. Why don't we call her and Kosma, and chat together over dinner?" she suggested.
Elysia: "..."
So Felis was learning bad habits now… Still, it didn't matter. No matter how many people came, none of them would stop her from getting closer to Silas. The only real problem was Kevin… She'd have to think of a way to dump him over at Mei's place.
"Silas, speaking of learning Taixuan Blade Mantra, I just thought of something. Do you think spreading its training method throughout Fire Moth would raise our chances against the Honkai?" Hua asked.
"Obviously, it would," Silas said, arms crossed. "But Taixuan Blade Mantra requires two things: talent, and the ability to settle one's heart. More importantly… for ordinary people, tempering the sword heart takes far too long. And what we lack most… is time."
"I don't have the same complexities that you and the others carry. What I can accomplish, most people could accomplish as well," Hua said seriously.
Silas looked at her. "The ups and downs of life—defeat first, then victory. Hua, do you know why Elysia gave you the Flame Chaser name Vicissitude?"
Hua blinked at Elysia in confusion. To be honest, she'd never spent much time reflecting on the meaning of her title. In her previous life, she was just a dutiful soldier, never meddling in the schemes of those above, never getting caught up in the quarrels and entanglements among teammates.
Even after rebirth, most of her thoughts were about why me—and what exactly she could contribute.
"Hua, what you've endured… most people could never bear," Silas said. "And having gone through all of that, your will, your heart, are far stronger than you give yourself credit for."
The Immortal Red Kite had safeguarded Shenzhou for thousands of years without wavering. Her will had never faltered, her heart always resolute.
That alone made Hua stand above the majority—she was no ordinary soldier.
"Then… couldn't we also begin now…"
"With our current identities? How?" Silas gave a helpless smile. "Mobius is already busy enough. What are we supposed to do, claim that she 'happened to discover' this technique out of nowhere again?"
Mobius already had her hands full—researching how to treat Honkai erosion, running countless experiments dictated from above, and on top of that, the Chimera Project Silas had asked her to handle…
If Taixuan Blade Mantra were suddenly submitted under her name and pushed for wide adoption, the higher-ups would immediately take notice. They'd want to know how she discovered it, they'd investigate her recent work and research logs…
After all, Mobius's reputation among the higher-ups wasn't great.
If that happened, certain things would be exposed—and the consequences could be far more damaging.
Tell one lie, and you need countless more to cover it, until the entire bubble bursts.
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