Chapter 644 I Killed the Thunder Dragon Horse

"Mi... No, who are you Mikael?"

As soon as her left foot took a step forward, Meiyi took another breath of air and looked at the man in front of her warily.

"This kind of thing... no matter which answer I tell you, you won't believe it, Mei Yi."

"..."

Speechless, because the truth is exactly what Mikael said.

She met Mikael not many times in the Paradise of the Past. Whether it was the current Mikael or the Mikael in the bubble of the world, she did not have a particularly effective way to distinguish between the two.

clothing? Mikael's outfit is not as unchanged as Kevin's, but no matter how it changes, no matter in the past or present, he can't escape the two colors of black and white - if it weren't for a black jacket and a white T-shirt/shirt/hoodie , or reverse the inner and outer colors. And this is indeed the case for Mikael right now.

hairstyle? In the past, Mikael always had short hair. On the contrary, I heard from Kiana and Bronya that before the Salt Lake City base was destroyed, Mikael disguised himself as having shoulder-length hair, but this obviously does not mean that What a problem.

pupil? For some reason, the Mikael she was more familiar with had a pair of pink oval pupils that were completely different from those before, just like Alicia, while the eyes of the guy in front of her were completely silver-gray, but this still didn't mean anything. , because this level of disguise is easy for this guy.

The only difference that Mei Yi can think of between the two Mikaels is the difference in personality brought about by different experiences. In the past, Mikael also had an extravagant side, but these were all restrained after the sixth and seventh collapse, and his whole person had a lifeless feeling no matter what he said or did. And now Mikael...if you remove the symptoms of occasional epilepsy, it seems that there is not much difference from the former.

Well, to sum up, it is not a simple matter to tell which Mikael is Mikael, even for Mei, who may know Mikael the best among humans in this era. But not being simple doesn’t mean it can’t be done——

Just like in the past few times, as the conversation increased, she could always find discernible highlights from the small details of her words and movements.

But this means that she can no longer take an evasive attitude - in fact, she cannot avoid it. If it were the real Mikael, Mei would never believe that she would have nothing to do to take a walk in the paradise.

So she jumped up to the steps of the rest area in three steps and then sat next to Mikael. Their shoulders were only ten centimeters apart.

"What big trouble is going on outside? You look worried. Although I'm not [him], you can talk to me if you want. However, compared to me who can't prove my identity, you are still more Trust Alicia and Mebius.”

"You are quite self-aware."

Not caring about Mikael's gentle attitude, Ya fought back with a gun and a stick.

However, Mikael just shrugged and smiled, and the smile was fleeting, and the corners of his mouth were soon pursed into a long "one".

Mei Yi's brows relaxed slightly - if it was the Mikael she was familiar with, he would have taken out the [Self-Knowledge] and talked to her for hundreds or thousands of words. However, the attitude of Mikael in front of her was that he didn't care. , and it seems that he has no desire to care.

But this alone still cannot fully confirm Mikael's identity. If a person wants to play his past self, this may not be as easy as imagined, but it is not impossible.

Especially Mei still remembers that in a rare conversation between Alicia, Mikael, and Eden, both Ali and Eden once praised Mikael's acting skills. Ellie even joked in private, teasing Mikael that when the war is over, she would go to Eden for help and let him become an actor.

Somehow, as a [daughter], Mei Yi feels that she is quite talented in this area.

At least at this moment, she just looked tired and helpless on her face, resting her right elbow on Mikael's shoulder, making a fist and gently pressing it against her cheek:

"There is some trouble, no, it should be said that it is not an ordinary trouble. But no matter who I talk to, it won't bring about any changes."

"That's not necessarily true. Anyway, you won't lose anything by talking about your worries, right? You always accumulate negative emotions in your heart. Maybe it seems fine on the surface, but as time goes by, at a certain moment, your mind One of the strings [duang] broke instantly.”

"Is this a rule of thumb?"

Mei Yi glanced sideways at Mikael, the meaning in her eyes was clear.

"That's right. You know very well what has happened to me, and you even know what has not happened to me yet, but it is what will happen on the road to becoming me in the future, right?"

This is a bit difficult to say, but it is not difficult to understand.

The next moment, a glass of steaming orange juice was handed to Mei Yi. And in the glass in Mikael's hand, the sound of ice cubes clanking could still be heard.

"Thanks."

Meiyi took the cup with both hands. In the Paradise of the Past, you don't always feel the severe cold of winter like outside, but your body always prefers warmer things in the corresponding season, while Mikael's habit is just the opposite. Whenever and wherever, you prefer a temperature that can make your gums ache from freezing.

After taking a few sips, Mei Yi closed her eyes tightly and her facial features quickly wrinkled together.

"Ahem! Why is it so sour and astringent..."

“Because it’s squeezed with the orange peel.”

"Even the orange peel...didn't you make this up?"

"Just a joke."

Mei Yi raised her eyebrows and lowered her eyebrows. Just reading the description, such out-of-the-box words and tone would inevitably make people think that this must be the current Mikael, but...the lifeless way he spoke made people think that this The tone of the joke is not a joke at all, and...

"So, what happened? Mei and the others came back and said that you have become the Lord of the World Snake. But those people have been following Mebius all year round, and many of them may not necessarily pay attention to 'me', and they must give Have you caused a lot of trouble?"

"That...it's pretty good in this regard."

Mei Yi scratched her hair in distress, obviously the situation was not as "okay" as she said.

For some reason, even though I know that the most important thing at this moment is to verify who this Mikael is, I still feel a desire to talk in my heart:

"What their attitude is is secondary. Whether they despise me or want to take advantage of this opportunity to gain more power in the organization, it doesn't matter to me. At least I don't have the time to deal with it, but sometimes I do feel very uncomfortable. ”

"Now that you say that, I guess what's bothering you isn't something within the organization."

"Well...recently...we captured a group of believers whose beliefs have collapsed."

"Oh? That kind of thing happened in our time, but it didn't happen in the end. This kind of thing is mainly handled by Sakura. You can ask her if she has any experience - although her way of handling it is very likely to be wrong. Knife, put away the knife, and then put down another forget-me-not."

"That's not necessary... to be precise, does this matter have something to do with you?"

"oh?"

Mikael's eyes narrowed, and then he quickly sunk his upper body into the back of the sofa, raising his eyes to face the light above his head.

Meiyi took back her right hand, spread it flat on her knees, and then explained in a low voice:

"Not only have their beliefs collapsed, but they also worship the stigmata. The most important thing is this sentence - [When the flood of the last days comes again, only those with noble souls can enter the ark in the dream and seek eternity]. To put it bluntly Well, when the end comes, the Stigma holder can enter the [Ark] and gain eternity... Do you know what this metaphor is talking about?”

"I have no idea."

Mikael answered simply.

"As far as my memory is concerned, Stigma is something I have just come into contact with. However, Mei also taught me a lot of lessons. If it is true as expected, this should be talking about the Stigma Project, right?"

Mei carefully observed Mikael's expression, and as expected could not see any flaws.

"Why do I feel that you are deliberately emphasizing to me that you are the [past] Mikael?"

"Doesn't this need to be emphasized?"

Mikael turned his head and looked at Mei Yi unusually calmly.

In the short exchange of glances, Mei Yi was quickly defeated, and Mikael also didn't look like a winner. He just nodded slightly and explained in a lower tone:

"No matter what the external form is, the essence of the Stigma Project will not change - that is, it is a screening method to allow all or some of the Stigma Awakeners to survive the end in a certain way. This The method can be to forcefully awaken everyone's stigmata, and then make everyone move towards a similar law. Considering the huge base of human beings, there will definitely be enough to survive as a population. Naturally, the stigma holders can be protected in some way, but one thing will not change. , the vast majority of ordinary people without stigmata have been abandoned.”

Mei nodded, but her doubts were obviously not answered. What Mikael said was nothing more than information she already knew.

But she didn't expect to get the answer from Mikael from the beginning, because...

"However, if we interpret what you said carefully, it is not that there is no more information."

Mikael slowly raised the index finger of his left hand.

"Huh?"

Mei turned her head in disbelief.

"The meaning of my existence here is to use this equal body to become a container for something, and finally make up for the mistakes I will make in the future, right? In this case, it is natural to help you as much as I can. Bar?"

The corners of Meiyi's eyes twitched twice, and she suddenly had the illusion that she had been battling with the air for a long time. Fortunately, the red eyeshadow given by the Herrscher's power was thick enough, and her embarrassment should not be visible without looking at it with a magnifying glass.

"If there is anything particularly noteworthy about the description of the Stigmata Project in that passage, it is probably the so-called [dream]. Mei, you know me, so you should also understand that dreams are very important to Mikael. It has some...unexplainable meaning. Thinking about it carefully, my long and unclear meaning. A short life is like one layer after another of dreams, constantly waking up and peeling off dreams, but each time I have to face a more miserable reality... So, if I really regret it, I will definitely think so. ——If only you could treat everything as a beautiful dream from the beginning.”

"Beautiful...dream?"

"Yeah. Compared to facing reality, humans always think that it would be nice if they never wake up from a dream, right? Some people even fantasize that death is just falling into an eternal dream, and in a dream, people can selectively distinguish between falsehood and reality. As long as it is bad, it must be false, and as long as it is in line with their own wishes, it must be true. So, if the Stigma Project is launched in the form of a dream, so that most people are immersed in a dream that they don't want to wake up, I think this is something I can do."

"!?"

Mei tilted her head, and her breathing became heavy and rapid:

"What good will it do for him to do this?"

"Benefits? Does he need to consider the benefits of what he does now? No, not really. At this point, everything he does is for the ideal and to avenge everything that happened in the past-you have seen the ending of the human beings on Earth corresponding to that story. Indeed, he never subjectively thought To destroy this world, he just hopes that humans will destroy themselves in the past. Now he has to defeat him in the opposite way, and also defeat himself. In the tenth collapse, what you did may not be perfect, but humans have indeed united to the greatest extent in the shortest time. What is left to be defeated next? "

"You mean, you... no, he hopes that humans can defeat dreams?"

"How should I put it... In the tenth collapse, you proved with facts that no matter how bad this world is, humans will always yearn for beauty. Then, he will give humans a beautiful world-in dreams, everything you want will be granted, and everything you don’t want to face will not appear. How about it, such a world is still easy for people to immerse themselves in it? However, as the last test, both the difficulty and the meaning are appropriate. "

"Is that so..."

As Mei listened, she suddenly felt a sense of loss in her heart.

"I hope everything will go as you said..."

What exactly is this sudden sadness?

Is it because of the last two words of the last test mentioned by Mikael in front of her?

When a story comes to an end, recalling its beginning, there are too many sighs in the heart.

Of course, this is a good thing for everyone. The premise is that everyone can pass the test. If not, Mikael has proved with too much blood and corpses that he can be a bad guy.

But what if everything is not as Mikael analyzed in front of him?

"Wait, what are you-"

"By the way, Mei, you came to the paradise, are you looking for Ai Li? Or looking for Mobius?"

Mei spoke in a lower voice, so she was interrupted by Mikael in front of her.

"I... look for Alicia, uh, and also look for Mobius, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing. But if you happen to meet Mei, remember to ask me, when will the final plan start?"

"The final plan? What is that?"

Seeing that Mikael had stood up, Mei, who has always been accustomed to breaking the casserole and asking questions since coming to the paradise, hurriedly spoke.

"Speaking of which, it seems that recently, except for the squad leader, Yingjie has returned to the paradise, and Weiwei has also withdrawn a large number of Honkai energy piggy banks from the World Serpent... What are your plans? Could it be..."

"Ahhh——"

Mikael suddenly screamed expressionlessly, louder and louder, until Mei's voice was completely covered.

Mei blinked innocently, not knowing what the man in front of her was doing, but saw him smile helplessly again——

"Sorry, Mei, I should have told you that sometimes, aggressive inquiries will only backfire, and whether I can tell you some things is not up to me. After all, I am not the one you are familiar with. He can do everything he wants, but I can't."

"Uh... I'm sorry, I overstepped a little..."

Mei lowered her head embarrassedly, no longer doubting which Mikael was in front of her.

"Well, it's not a particularly serious problem. Hey, are you going to rest here?"

Mikael tiptoed gently and stepped down the steps of the rest area.

"Well... I'm a little tired. I'll sit for a while and then go find Alicia."

"Okay, if I meet her, I'll let her know for you."

"Okay."

There was a slight sense of disharmony, but it faded away in Mikael's almost unrecognizable smile.

And Mikael...

Mikael maintained a faint fake smile and slowly turned his head——

[The concentration of Honkai energy in Paradise is indeed abnormally high. Do Mei and the others have any plans... If the usage of the me from the World Bubble is consistent with what I imagined, plus a large number of Honkai energy storage tanks, is this going to copy the trick used in the Tower of Babel? 】

The Cocoon of the End will not choose anyone to be the End, nor will it choose anyone to be the Herrscher. Even the End itself, when it comes to issues in this regard, will be subject to higher-level rules.

For example, when The End wanted to lead Mikael toward the end step by step, he could not directly determine the result. He could not even directly let Mikael become the First Ruler. Instead, he had to eliminate all wrong options within the scope allowed by the rules of the world.

Similarly, if the collapse in the Paradise of the Past can accumulate to a scale sufficient to form an imaginary singularity, then even Mikael cannot reverse the fact that the Herrscher was born, let alone choose who will become the Herrscher.

The way to stop all this is to kill the Herrscher-eligible person they have chosen in advance.

But is it necessary to do so?

Mikael turned his head again and looked at Meiyi, who was leaning on the sofa with her eyes closed, and suddenly turned his eyes away with a guilty conscience.

Since it has come to the end... I should tell her about that.

"Raiden Meiyi."

Meiyi opened her eyes in response, but found that Mikael, who had left, had returned to her again.

"There is something that Su told me. In fact, everyone already knows it, but no one wants to be the first to speak. Then let me tell you."

"What?"

Instinct told Meiyi that it would never be good news, otherwise, she would not have been kept in the dark.

"In order to deal with the final battle, Anti-Entropy cooperated with Destiny, and through Youlan Dell, contacted the former A-level Valkyries Shigure Kira and Cheng Lixue who were drifting in the Quantum Sea. Both of them were former members of the Snow Wolf Team, and Cheng Lixue was Hua's last disciple..."

"Then... then..."

"Your father, Thunder Ryuma, died."

"Uh."

Mei was stunned for a moment, and quickly replied:

"I know."

Mikael closed his eyes and took a deep breath:

"When the third collapse broke out, A-level Valkyrie Cheng Lixue had just retired from active service, and then accepted the mission of rescuing Thunder Ryuma from Anti-Entropy through Hua's connection."

"!?"

"According to Ms. Cheng Lixue's accusation, when she arrived at the scene, she saw your father Thunder Ryuma being killed by Mikael Shaniat."