Lin needed information from the future. Whether it concerned humanity or the Houkai, he needed it. What kind of people fought the Houkai in the future? What types of Houkai would they encounter? He could learn all of this just from Bianka.
To be honest, he had grown to like this girl. She could make calm judgments most of the time, yet she didn't lose the youthful vigor of a "person" outside of being a warrior.
The Houkai took too much from humanity. People and the Houkai were becoming more alike; the growth of power was accompanied by a loss of humanity. If the humans fighting the Houkai fifty thousand years later were all warriors like her, he would feel much more at ease.
"...So you did remember my name?" Bianka was stunned to hear Lin say her full name. Then her expression became a bit strange. "You're not... what Rita often calls a 'Tsundere,' are you?"
"You misheard, Goosey."
"Scumbag-Mushroom."
"Goosey."
"Scumbag-Mushroom."
"Bounce back." (Note: a childish way of saying "I know you are but what am I").
"..."
Bianka suppressed the urge to laugh and said with a stiff face, "Let me go first, then we'll talk."
Lin took a sip of coffee. "No."
"Then do you think I'll just follow your every word?" Bianka gave a proud smile. "If you don't let me go, you won't hear a single word from me."
"I've already heard more than one word."
Bianka didn't care what Lin said. She felt she had temporarily seized the high ground of victory. She tilted her snowy-white neck up. "Are you letting me go or not?"
A drop of rain landed on his nose. Lin wiped it away and looked at the dark clouds. There had been so much rain lately.
"Goosey, because of your great strength, you may never have encountered a situation like this. So, let me teach you a lesson." Lin looked up and drained his coffee, using his thumb to brush his silver hair behind his ear. "Terms are only negotiated when both parties are on equal footing."
He set down the empty cup. Bianka watched as he pointed to the chains on her, then back to himself, his expression as cold as a medieval ascetic.
Lin crossed his arms and spoke softly, like a sigh. "Do you think you can resist me right now?"
The "Goosey's" linear brain finally reacted, and her triumphant expression crumbled.
"I'm going to threaten you now. You only have two choices." Lin held up two fingers. "First, agree to my terms under threat. Second... the bright-eyed, beautiful Goosey gets subjected to my wandering hands, all-out assault, double-teaming, secret maneuvers, burning of the Red Cliffs, full-speed ahead, dragon's lair, turning things upside down, and swallowing the wind and rain... and since you just provoked me, it's very likely that even if you agree, I'll carry out the second option afterward anyway."
Bianka face turned as red as if it were on fire, the blush burning beneath her translucent skin. She looked in panic at the grim Lin, who was leaning forward as if ready to pounce at any second. Her teeth chattered. "If you dare put it in, I'll squeeze it into mincemeat!"
...Who on earth taught her that kind of knowledge? The threat made even Lin hesitate for a second.
He tried his best to look more threatening, taking a step forward with a predatory glint in his eyes. "Do you think your 'playability' is limited to just that?"
"P-Playability..." The girl's face was beet-red. She didn't know what that meant, or rather, she didn't want to know.
"Your body lines are elegant, symmetrical, and athletic. Your skin is warm as jade, your breasts are soft yet firm, your hips are perky and shapely, and your waist is slender yet powerful. And that swan-like, white, smooth neck... it makes one want to bury their head in your collarbone and slowly sniff your body scent upwards."
"I... I..."
Bianka was incoherent. This was the first time she had been praised like this regarding her allure to the opposite sex. People from Schicksal and her squad often praised her, but it was always from the perspective of a woman or a warrior. Before this, she didn't think she had much feminine charm.
She felt like her brain was about to burn into ashes.
"And your legs!"
"Uuuu..." Bianka shook her head, unable to think.
"Those black thigh-highs wrap around your delicate toes and your perfect, lean thighs. You're even wearing tall boots, steaming up a sour-sweet scent of sweat—it really makes one want to take them in their mouth..."
She indeed exercised and fought often, so her toes would sweat, but she never thought it would be a "pleasant" scent. This guy actually... actually wanted to take them in his mouth? It was too shameful...
Lin continued his verbal assault without changing his expression, observing the changes in Bianka face.
Truth be told, he didn't understand why anyone would find a girl's foot sweat "sour-sweet." These were words he had seen from the viewers in Elysia livestream during his three years in the previous world. The things he saw there were enough to write a book of things he found "impressive yet incomprehensible."
After reciting them all in one breath, Lin crossed his arms and said coldly, "Do you understand now? If you do, then surrender."
"..."
The girl tied to the lance had suffered a total thermal shutdown of her brain. She couldn't even organize a full sentence. She could only stare at Lin with a beet-red face. "You... you..."
It seemed he had completely crushed her mental defenses. Lin didn't want to have to fight her again after letting her out; this was a much more efficient use of his time.
However, to his surprise, after her eyes welled with tears for a long time, Bianka gritted her teeth. "Then go ahead and try! I will never let you go! Who would yield to a Scumbag-Mushroom like you!"
With that, she glared at Lin, pursing her lips as if ready to bite or kick him at any moment.
"..."
But she waited for several minutes, and Lin didn't move. He still wore that predatory look, but... he just stayed like that, without taking a single step closer.
Over those minutes, Bianka expression shifted from anger to confusion, and finally to deadpan.
"Could it be... you don't actually dare? Scumbag-Mushroom, you were just talking big?"
Lin silently returned to the campfire and started brewing coffee, keeping his head down without a word.
He looked completely defeated and dejected.
...
"Mr. Lin, thank you for your hard work." Rita handed Lin a bag full of prepared ingredients. She looked at the normal-looking Lin and tilted her head with a light laugh. "Thanks to you and Miss Bianka guarding the rift, we could repair the Star Gate with peace of mind. Did you get along well?"
"Ah..."
"It seems you did. After all, you have a way with girls."
"..."
Lin felt he really needed to pay attention to his image and reputation in the eyes of others.
"By the way, Miss Einstein says she has discovered something that can provide power for the Star Gate."
Lin hand tensed. "What is it?"
"Inside the rift, there is a massive amount of Houkai energy. Among it is an unknown object that aggregates the energy. If we can find a way to retrieve it, we can charge the Star Gate immediately after it's repaired."
Inside the rift...
Lin thought of the severed chains. He slowly looked up toward the distant location of the rift.