Late at night, in the garden of the MOTHs, the air was practically boiling with hormones.
This was a rare place for the MOTHs' warriors to relax. So now, at night, there would always be couples—men and women, men and men, women and women—who were tired of being together and had no qualms about handing out dog food.
After all, in this era of constant uncertainty, most of them would not hide their love and admiration when it came time to rest, choosing to cherish their last happy moments.
Take Fu Li and Eden, for example. Even though the love letters they received each week could fill an entire drawer, they had never confessed their love to anyone's face.
But whether it was him or Eden, they always simply and politely rejected the affections that came their way.
Of course, those love letters filled with girlish friendship would not be thrown away at will. They were stuffed into a large, unified box, preserved as a kind of memento.
Just as Fu Li was lost in thought, the couples and strollers beside them suddenly moved in unison, walking toward the center of the garden.
"Is this? Oh, come to think of it, should we go to the concert together? I remember Eden had no mission today and was supposed to hold a concert in the middle of the garden."
Looking at the moving crowd, Fu Li's hand, which was petting a cat, paused. After thinking about what day it was, he asked the two women beside him who were humming leisurely songs.
"Eh? Is Sister Eden having a concert today?"
Hearing this, both Pardo and Naiyisi couldn't help but be interested.
After all, the people of this era were divided into only two types: those who liked Eden, and those who did not know Eden.
The latter, in their time, were either in areas of extreme backwardness or were wanderers left homeless by disaster.
"We're going! Of course, we have to go to Sister Eden's concert!"
"Yeah! You know, in the past, Sister Eden's tickets could be sold for exorbitant prices, but here we can often enjoy it for free."
"That's right! Every time I listen to Sister Eden's concert, I feel like I've made a huge profit."
"Exactly! Long live freeloading!"
Looking at the two wailing little girls, Fu Li also smiled. He immediately changed his pace and walked toward the depths of the garden.
Coincidentally, he hadn't seriously listened to Eden's singing for a long time.
As one of the few Fusion Warriors currently present, Fu Li's arrival naturally attracted a lot of attention.
However, they had no intention of making a scene. After nodding to a few people who recognized them, they found an empty corner and sat down.
On the stage in the center of the garden, the members of Eden's exclusive orchestra were ready. She herself sat at the piano, placing her long, pale fingers on the keys.
Under the silver moon, there was no host, only the shining woman.
As her fingers danced, Eden began with a soft hum. The beautiful music spread like a deep blue fragrance, arousing the most primitive desires in people's hearts.
Hope for life, thirst for tomorrow, and... missing a loved one.
These were the emotions and spiritual sustenance that people living in this era needed most and treasured most dearly.
In this world, there was no one who was truly not afraid of death. Even Kalpas had let down his pride when he was about to die, asking the questions in his heart to the Aponia he despised most, like a child.
Although Eden's power was outstanding among Fusion Warriors, she was not skilled in combat. What she was good at was soothing, healing, and giving people hope.
And although Fu Li knew that Eden disliked using technology as a tool to inspire soldiers, she still went against her original intentions in order to allow them to temporarily ease some of their pain in comfort.
The song ended with a powerful appeal that made the entire audience applaud in unison. Even Pardo and Naiyisi stood up and applauded, swept up in the emotion.
Eden on the stage also smiled from the heart as she accepted the applause.
But suddenly, as if fated, her eyes met Li's across the distance for a moment. When she saw the gaze full of praise and satisfaction, her heart couldn't help but speed up.
However, her loss of composure lasted only for an instant. Almost immediately, she withdrew her gaze and evasively swept her eyes across the rest of the audience.
But when she saw the couples in pairs, her mind would ring with the same glance she had just seen.
And beside her, at this moment, there was no familiar figure.
Life in the past was broken and withered like a scattered flower. Though it can be reluctantly pieced together in time, the memories left behind follow like ghosts.
Whether it was because of the impending arrival of the Eleventh Herrscher or not, an unprecedented sense of unease in Eden's heart entangled her like a serpent.
Of all the many reincarnations, only 'The Constraint', 'The End', and 'Elysia' were their insurmountable mountains.
Although she had something on her mind, Eden still brought the opera to a close with the most perfect smile.
[After the show, people either went back to their rooms alone or took their partners to someone else's room.]
[You, on the other hand, took the two girls back to your room under the surprised, teasing, and strange gazes of others.]
[You feel helpless about their dirty thoughts because you know very well that your relationship with them is pure, and that you brought them to the room as a gift.]
[Although you did have the idea of 'taking care of your wife in the game' when you first met Mobius, you have now abandoned the pride of a transmigrator and regard them as real people.]
[Therefore, you feel that even if you die, outside of death itself, you will not become a couple with anyone among the Flame-Chasers.]
[After all, except for Kevin's love-addled brain, the rest of the Flame-Chasers seem to be single.]
In the room, Fu Li took out three gift boxes and gave them to the girls according to the Q-version labels specially made for them.
The one given to the black cat was a cute collar with an exclusive nameplate and a small, handmade dried fish.
And the gift for the two girls...
Although they had long suspected what was inside, when Pardo and Naiyisi opened the gift boxes and saw the two cute cat dolls dotted with countless precious gems, they felt a warm feeling in their hearts.
They knew very well that in order to find gems suitable for the two of them, Fu Li had stayed at Sister Eden's place for four nights without returning home.
This was a treasure that they would absolutely never sell, even if others offered a higher price.
[The month after that, although Pardo was no longer the same person she once was and was very careful, she was still stabbed by a poison needle that flew in for no apparent reason on the battlefield and fell into a coma.]
[You could have quickly given her the antidote, but this time you didn't. You just looked at her sleepy face and sighed.]
[As for the reason...]
Inside the institute, Mobius looked at the central computer and said expressionlessly:
"Li, the Eleventh Herrscher has arrived."
"Yes, I know. I'll be leaving soon."
Fu Li looked at the poison needle in his hand, marked with the 'infinity' symbol, and sighed deeply.
His power was not enough to change the world, so he must not let something that was established and had a better outcome go wrong.
After all, he couldn't afford to gamble.
(Author's Note: After thinking about it, I still feel that I should complete the settings of other characters. Of course, the main one is Pardo.)