Chapter 50: The Hell Ahead
Twilight Street, church.
"Are you sure you're on the right track?"
The two men stood at the entrance of the sanatorium, staring at each other. Kalpas couldn't help but speak first: "How can this place be the same as before?"
The sanatorium today has undergone tremendous changes. The once old and dilapidated church is now brand new. Next to it, a three-story building has sprung up. Everything is completely different from what Kalpas remembered.
If Kalpas had not seen a few familiar figures playing in the courtyard between the two, he would have turned around and left.
"It seems that the Fire Moth has done a good job and has not been perfunctory." Ai Yue nodded, "Okay, let's go in, huh?"
"What are you going in for?" Kalpas said this, but his eyes did not leave the courtyard in front of him, "One look is enough, get ready to go..."
Before he could finish his words, Ai Yue pressed the doorbell nearby. In an instant, all the children in the courtyard focused their attention on the iron gate.
After seeing the familiar mask, the children suddenly became quiet, and then burst into shouts of surprise at the same time.
"It's the porter uncle!"
"The porter uncle is back!"
"Quick, go and ask the teacher to open the door!"
"Hey, Ai Yue!"
Kalpas finally reacted and turned to look at Ai Yue's position, but the other party had already dodged and hidden from the children's sight. Finally, he waved at Kalpas, gave him an expression that said "Just enjoy it", and then turned and disappeared around the corner.
'Damn it, you plotted against me!'
Kalpas's blood pressure suddenly soared. Looking at the group of little guys rushing towards the iron gate, his first reaction was to run away before the gate opened.
However, the brain gave such a command, but the body did not take action.
He couldn't move a single step until the children rushed over and grabbed Kalpas's clothes and arms through the iron bars.
"Alright, stop shouting." Looking at the little brats in front of him, Kalpas shouted in a low voice, "I can't run away, why are you in such a hurry?"
The man who could break free even if he was locked up by alloy chains was now easily tied up by a few children.
'I can only say that he is really stubborn.'
Ai Yue stood on the roof of a nearby building, watching Kalpas walk into the courtyard surrounded by a group of children, and couldn't help but make a sharp comment.
[He always liked children, didn't he? ]
Aponia's voice sounded softly in his mind.
At this moment, relying on the sculpture that Aponia had once given them, the two people completed the mental connection between them thousands of miles apart. Relying on Aponia's powerful mental power, the two people were able to share perspectives, communicate with each other mentally, etc. However, such a mental connection is difficult to maintain for a long time. Now Aponia can only last for half an hour at most.
"Speaking of which, this place is really nice." Ai Yue looked around. "How much money did Dr. Mei invest here?"
[It is said that the sanatorium is treated as a pilot project, the purpose is to observe the changes of children wearing Honkai Energy Adsorption Devices during their growth, so a lot of funds have been obtained.] Aponia's understanding of this aspect is much better than Ai Yue's. [The project leader was also personally selected by Dr. Mei, and he is trustworthy in all aspects.]
"I remember you came back to check once before. Since you said there's no problem, then there must be no problem." Ai Yue nodded with confidence, turned around and jumped off the roof. After activating the recoil force of the soles of his shoes to cushion the impact once, he landed steadily. "Let's go. Let's take a good look around here first, and then come back to find Kalpas."
[Don't you want to go in and take a look? The children miss you too. ]
"I'll let it go next time." Ai Yue turned his back to the sanatorium and walked further away. "After all, the medical department's technology tree is really difficult to climb."
Embracing Honkai and rejecting Honkai are two extremes on the same line. Although Ai Yue has basically mastered the perfect solution of the fusion warrior formula, he has not yet reached the threshold of curing Honkai disease. Naturally, it is not easy for him to face those children who place their hopes on him.
[In that case, please go check on the kind-hearted people who have been donating supplies to the church.]
Aponia did not force it. She knew very well that Ai Yue seemed easy-going on the surface, sometimes even a little frivolous, but he was under tremendous pressure inside. Even if only a small part of this pressure had been revealed in front of her, it almost brought her to the brink of mental collapse.
Therefore, Aponia no longer expects herself to be able to change the fate of the world, but still hopes to relieve Ai Yue's inner pressure as much as possible through various means.
So unless the circumstances are special, she would generally follow Ai Yue's choice.
When Ai Yue returned to the sanatorium, it was already evening. In the quiet night, the children had all returned to their dormitories. Only Kalpas was still cleaning the courtyard, just as he had done before he left.
"How does it feel?"
Ai Yue easily climbed over the wall, landed on the ground, and greeted Kalpas: "The children still like you so much."
"Hmph, the noise is so noisy, it's not as quiet as the dungeon." Kalpas said, but he didn't stop what he was doing, "Are you leaving? Wait a moment, I'll be done soon."
"Don't be in a hurry," Ai Yue said with a smile, "and I brought you back this time to give you a choice."
"What's the meaning?"
"You don't have to follow me back to Fire Moth." Ai Yue looked at Kalpas, "Wouldn't it be nice to just stay in the sanatorium and be your 'uncle porter' again?"
"Interesting." Kalpas stopped what he was doing, and there was not much emotion in his tone. "Can the Fire Moth agree so easily?"
"As long as you make a choice, I will take care of things over there." Ai Yue responded, "Although it may seem a bit hypocritical to say this, I sincerely hope that you can all live a peaceful life."
As for whether the "you" in this sentence refers to Kalpas and the children in the sanatorium, or someone else, I'm afraid only Ai Yue himself knows the answer.
"It's become very good here." Kalpas was silent for a moment, then looked up at the three-story building, "It's so good that I'm no longer needed."
From time to time, there would be a faint light wandering in the building. That was the light from the lanterns in the hands of the teachers who were responsible for patrolling at night.
"I don't think that's the right way to put it..."
Ai Yue subconsciously tried to make up for it, but was interrupted by Kalpas.
"All along, I've actually been the one who needed this place more." Kalpas's tone had a hint of special emotion, "So, this is enough."
Without waiting for Ai Yue to respond, he continued, "Don't forget, you also promised to give me a war without end."
"That was just an excuse to convince you to go with me." Ai Yue scratched his head, "You actually don't like war at all, right?"
"I don't like it, but I need it." Kalpas showed a ferocious smile, "I need to use war to settle a debt with those things that will never be settled."
"So, stop talking nonsense and get going." He leaned the broom against the wall and walked towards the door. "You can use me as a weapon or something else. It's up to you."
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