"It's alright, Kevin. Dr. Newton is... rather easygoing..."
"As for MOTH's upper management using you against me, I've already resolved it. Otherwise, I wouldn't be here."
Mei took the initiative and pressed her face gently against Kevin's hand, which had grown rougher from training. Her voice was soft as she said, "Kevin, you've already done wonderfully."
Before Kevin could fully feel the warmth of her cheek, Mei stepped back half a pace. Under Kevin's astonished gaze, she slipped away from his touch.
She knew that just now, she should have coldly pushed him away and told him, "There's no possibility between us."
But instead, she had moved closer to him instinctively.
Perhaps, deep down, she still wanted to use him.
After all, she was fragile. She was afraid. And so she wanted to use the bond between herself and Kevin to keep him by her side...
Though that was what she thought in her heart, her tone grew much firmer.
"The greatest regret in life is to easily give up what should not be given up, and stubbornly persist in what should not be persisted in." (Quoted from Plato)
"Kevin, you need to value yourself more. You shouldn't give up the life that rightfully belongs to you and blindly live for my sake... You should leave MOTH as soon as possible."
For the sake of following her, Kevin had already abandoned too many things. Mei did not want to see him continue discarding parts of himself because of her.
Yesterday it was his dignity.
Today it could be his happiness.
Tomorrow, it might be his life.
Kevin and Mei had always been meant to walk different paths. Their aspirations determined that much. Perhaps their roads once intersected.
But ever since the apocalypse brought by the Honkai had descended, the only outcome left for them was to part ways.
That was the best choice for both of them—even if it brought temporary pain.
If Mei was walking her path by constantly exchanging what she possessed, gaining the joy of truth, safeguarding the hope of civilization, and realizing her own value...
Then in Mei's eyes, Kevin, walking beside her, was gaining nothing from that path. He was merely throwing away everything he had, just to keep up with her.
While there was still time to turn back, Kevin should return to his own road. He should recreate his own value and stay far away from this cruel path of hers.
Because Mei knew very well—
The path she had chosen was the path of deliverance.
And at the end of that path lay an endless abyss.
Even she, who prided herself on facing everything with reason, felt fragile before the most arduous road humanity had ever walked.
How could Kevin, who was even more tender and naive than she was, possibly bear the name of Deliverance?
And if she were to die, where would Kevin go?
Without a goal, could he continue walking?
Should he continue walking?
Would he even have another road to choose?
"I won't give up, Mei!"
Kevin understood her meaning instantly and replied without hesitation. "If I gave up here, that's what I'd regret for the rest of my life. A few minor difficulties aren't worth mentioning. I'm not that fragile. It's just some training. Watch me conquer all of it!"
In front of Mei, Kevin returned to being that sunny, cheerful boy. He raised his scar-covered arm and flashed his snow-white teeth in a confident grin as he declared it.
Mei looked at him with faint heartache in her eyes. "Kevin, you don't have to hide it from me. I know about the grievances you've suffered."
Just as Kevin had always been watching over Mei, Mei had also been quietly paying attention to Kevin.
"Ah... so you already knew, Mei. Heh, I guess I really can't hide anything from you." Kevin scratched the back of his head and averted his gaze.
The reason he had never reported the situation further up the chain of command was precisely because he didn't want Mei to find out. He was afraid she would worry.
Otherwise, he would have long since—
Knocked every one of those people he disliked into the air.
"Hmph. Since they dared to lay hands on my Kevin, we'll naturally return the favor in kind."
As she spoke, Mei took out a small notebook from her pocket and waved it in front of him.
Kevin accepted it. It was a portable mobile communication notebook, capable of quickly recording information and uploading it to the network.
"Mei, what's this?" he asked in confusion.
"Using violence to counter violence won't work on people like them. Since they value power, then we'll counter them with power."
"Write down the names of everyone who dared to bully you. I... Dr. Newton and Dr. Mobius will take action."
Ato, standing nearby, looked surprised. "You can even get Dr. Mobius to help? That snake is willing to lend a hand?"
Dr. Mobius was infamous within MOTH—and not in a positive way. She was notoriously difficult to deal with. Her biological laboratory was even nicknamed Devil's Nest and Viper's Den.
Rumor had it that anyone who came into contact with Dr. Mobius either retired immediately—if they were lucky enough to return alive—or retired because they had "lost a leg," "lost an arm," or become "mentally unstable."
It was precisely because of this that, in the eyes of discharged soldiers, MOTH had gradually become a den of ultimate evil—heartless and inhumane beyond description.
To ask the viper for help—wasn't that like the old Shenzhou saying: just out of the wolf's den, straight into the tiger's mouth?
The price to be paid would hardly be comparable to something as trivial as recruit bullying.
Yet Mei nodded unexpectedly.
"Of course Dr. Mobius will help. Her laboratory has always been short of 'temporary assistants.' I doubt those enthusiastic young men from the recruit camp—so eager to pay attention to Kevin—would refuse a 'request' from two department ministers like Dr. Newton and Dr. Mobius."
Cold sweat appeared on both Ato and Kevin's foreheads.
This method of crushing others with power was ruthless.
If two ministers jointly applied for a few newly enlisted recruits to 'assist' them, even MOTH's upper management would not obstruct such a trivial matter.
As for the unfortunate recruits sent to Dr. Mobius' laboratory—
There was no need to think about their fate.
...
(The Kevin Little Black Book Plan is proceeding smoothly. The first batch of recruits who behaved the most excessively—including that squad leader and the camp commander—have all been sent to Dr. Mobius' laboratory. It seems Dr. Mobius won't have to worry about manpower shortages for a while.)
Mei had just returned to the Newton laboratory when she saw Newton lying disheveled on the large, messy sofa... reading HoMu comics.
Snack bags were scattered all over the floor. Her lab uniform and white coat were casually draped over an equipment cabinet.
Various mechanical parts that were originally meant to enhance the professional atmosphere of the laboratory had now been stacked together like toy building blocks—assembled into the shape of a robot.
—
—
40 Advanced Chapters Available on Patreon:
Patreon.com/DaoOfHeaven