Luo Lin closed the consciousness maze and opened her eyes, the ceiling of the Helixcraft reappearing before her. She noticed the area was now packed with detectors, their instruments shimmering with protective shields which looked rather intimidating.
"How are you feeling?" Vill-V asked.
"Not bad..." Luo Lin looked in the direction of the voice and saw Vill-V, Herrscher of Sentience, and Raven all keeping a considerable distance, even placing a shield around themselves.
"Why did you retreat so far?"
Herrscher of Sentience straightforwardly revealed Vill-V's secret, "Your mental fluctuations just now were a bit intense, and Vill-V was worried that you might uncontrollably spread emotions again, so she dragged us away to avoid being affected."
The engineer's attitude was quite relaxed, affirming Herrscher of Sentience's explanation, "Exactly, although 'Emotional Diffusion' doesn't have much lethality, I still dislike that feeling..."
Raven nodded repeatedly beside her. She had previously been continuously affected by 'Emotional Diffusion' while assisting Vill-V and Mobius in operating instruments, leaving a deep impression on the mercenary lady.
"Of course, I've also been researching targeted protective measures, and I'll have results soon. But right now, I'm more concerned about your situation..."
Vill-V deactivated the shield surrounding Luo Lin's detectors and eagerly looked at the Valkyrie, "Has the awakening of the 'Helix' Signet been successful?"
"Of course, and I've gained quite a lot."
Luo Lin stood up and pointed to the empty space beside her, where the figure of Stygian Nymph suddenly appeared.
"Let me introduce you formally... This is the secondary consciousness split after my awakening of the Signet..."
The girl in a white dress blinked, holding the newly obtained Path to Acheron scythe in her hands, and spoke in a very weak voice, "H-hello, everyone, I'm... S-Seele..."
Luo Lin looked at the meek expression of Stygian Nymph and couldn't help but twitch her mouth, "You weren't like this when you were in my mind just now, Helix!"
Herrscher of Sentience frowned, having dealt with the real Seele Vollerie before.
In her perception, the consciousness occupying Stygian Nymph had no connection whatsoever with Seele, it was clearly manipulated by Luo Lin herself.
But upon closer inspection, there was a strange feeling about her that even Herrscher of Sentience couldn't understand, just that this feeling was familiar to Herrscher of Sentience... Where had she seen it before?
"Helix...?"
Vill-V glanced again at the monitoring data returned by the detectors. She realized something. She showed a strange smile and jokingly asked, "Luo Lin, are you calling me?"
The Valkyrie hastily waved her hand, "No, not calling you, I meant this secondary consciousness, she gave herself the name Helix..."
Stygian Nymph tilted her head, wearing a bewildered expression, "But Seele is Seele, right?"
"..."
Luo Lin rolled her eyes, "I now agree with what Raven said earlier, I really don't look good at acting cute..."
Raven: "What's that got to do with me?"
Stygian Nymph narrowed her eyes, a hint of mischief flashing across her face, then quickly adjusted herself back to an innocent and cheerful state, continuing to speak in a meaningless manner as Seele.
Luo Lin felt her fist clenching.
Amidst this chaos, Herrscher of Sentience suddenly had a realization, "No wonder it feels familiar, Vill-V also has this strange sense of division!"
Upon hearing this, Vill-V, rarely, widened her eyes in surprise and said, "Herrscher or Sentience, didn't you investigate me carefully before?"
Herrscher of Sentience scratched her head, "Why would I investigate you? Aren't we trusted partners?"
"Hahaha!"
Upon hearing this, the engineer burst into laughter, even bending over from laughter.
Luo Lin and Helix stopped their bickering and turned to look at Vill-V simultaneously.
"I was already prepared to have my secrets exposed by the Herrscher... but it seems... that preparation was unnecessary." The engineer rubbed her cheeks, "And Luo Lin, you didn't even have a hint of suspicion or vigilance toward me..."
Herrscher of Sentience shouted somewhat awkwardly, "What's wrong with you, how can anyone hope to be investigated and be wary against?"
Vill-V took quite some time to stop laughing. She took a deep breath, still with a slight blush on her face, and wiped away the moisture at the corner of her eyes with the knuckle of her index finger.
"It's just that I've always been surrounded by this kind of atmosphere before, and now it feels a bit funny..."
"Before...?" Herrscher of Sentience and Raven wore similar expressions of confusion; neither of them was very clear about Vill-V's story.
Luo Lin narrowed her eyes; she knew a bit about this aspect.
Vill-V had demonstrated exceptional talent early on, falsifying her student identity to enter an advanced academy to study mechanical dynamics. During her studies, she found traces of the organization Fire Moth and even once traced it to its headquarters...
Then she was caught red-handed by Elysia, dispatched by Fire Moth. According to Vill-V herself, she had "fought a prolonged battle against the entire organization and ultimately achieved a record of 'narrow defeat.'"
Vill-V, who was imprisoned, escaped multiple times, showcasing her genius traits fully.
Because of her abilities, Vill-V was later released and remained at Fire Moth as a technician. She even became the head of the engineering department, with most of Fire Moth's important structures coming from her hands.
The first to sixth Divine Keys were all made by Vill-V alone, but unfortunately, her fanciful ideas were not appreciated at the time.
Afterwards, Vill-V's authority over the Divine Keys was gradually revoked, and she even had little involvement in the creation of the twelfth Divine Key, Jizo Mitama.
Perhaps due to her unconventional joining method or jealousy of her talent, Vill-V never received complete trust from Fire Moth.
This situation persisted until the situation became dire, and Dr. Mei stepped forward to lead humanity's last struggle.
However, this change had a somewhat ironic twist:
Because Vill-V's nuclear bomb obliterated the last three remaining human cities, those remaining soldiers didn't care whether to trust or distrust her.
Thus, the Vill-V of the previous era walked toward her end with self-blame and regret.
Now, in the Elysian Realm, Vill-V's memory replica stood with hands on hips. She looked at Luo Lin and Herrscher of Sentience, her mouth involuntarily forming a smile.
"I'm starting to understand Mobius's feeling of being called a good person; it's really strange..." the engineer sighed, "Trust... this feeling..."
---Indeed, it's beautiful.
Vill-V patted her own cheeks and adjusted her expression, "It seems that you and my Signet are very compatible. I won't comment on your secondary consciousness calling itself Helix... Do you need me to provide some advice on getting along with yourself?"
"Uh, not for now..." Luo Lin remembered the thick metal-covered skill book the system gave her and shook her head.
"I think I'm quite easy to get along with."
Vill-V glanced at Helix who stuck out her tongue sneakily.
The engineer whispered, "... I hope so."