After the bizarre scene vanished, Lin felt a sensation of being watched, as if someone was observing him through some object.
The source of the gaze was not from anywhere within this space, but was "overlooking" him, looking down from another dimension!
It was coming. Something was approaching!
A terrible sixth sense warned Lin that he had to leave immediately, or something irreversible would happen!
But the problem was that he didn't know what state he was in.
If he was in a coma, then why did the people in the "memory" scene notice his presence earlier...
There was no time for contemplation. The uneasy tremor originating from his consciousness made him focus his thoughts on waking up. He could only assume that his consciousness was troubled after the deep coma, so waking up in reality should solve the problem.
It was close. Its breakthrough speed accelerated, as if it would appear before him the next second.
Lin consciousness grew clearer. His connection with this space was gradually vanishing. This should be a sign that he was about to wake up in reality.
"Smash!"
Something shattered.
And Lin consciousness detached from this space at that moment.
In the final second, what he saw was a hand reaching into the space from "outside," and a pair of emotionless eyes watching him quietly.
Then, everything was pulled away.
"You…"
What did it say?
...
"Beep... beep..."
The rhythmic sound of the heart rate monitor echoed in Lin ears as he opened his eyes.
He had never felt so peaceful, as if he had narrowly escaped from the jaws of a bloodthirsty beast, now sitting in the warm sun with a gentle breeze, his beating heart and rapid breathing serving as proof of life.
The anesthesia had just worn off, and the phantom pain in his left shoulder began to flare up. This reassured him completely that he had returned to reality.
But this incident served as a wake-up call. His consciousness entering the Herrscher Core was not truly without any side effects, as he had observed over the past few months. Both the previous incident where the Lin in the simulation thought he was a Herrscher, and this harrowing experience during his coma, urged him to find a way to figure out what exactly was happening.
"Well~ isn't it Lin~ finally awake~"
The sarcastic female voice came from the person sitting in a chair not far from the hospital bed. She put down her communicator and walked over to Lin.
Her beautiful gray hair danced gently in the wind blowing in from the wide-open window.
"…"
Her sneering smile was similar to Mobius's unapologetic grin: "Hmm? Surprised to see me? Why aren't you speaking?"
"...Who are you?"
"…"
Lin consciousness, not yet fully recovered from the strange experience, was momentarily confused. After a while, he suddenly remembered that this person was the main purpose of his and Sakura trip to Australia.
The hacker, Chiaki, who was forcibly detained to study the Fire Moth and AI knowledge.
However, Chiaki's face flushed red. She had intended to mock Lin, but his single question had shattered her defenses.
"Your name is Chiaki, right?"
"You bastard…" Chiaki wanted to say something, but fearing a repeat of the earlier situation, she could only stiffly change the subject. "You're in such a bad state. Your entire arm and shoulder are gone. You can probably retire now."
"It's nothing. A normal injury. I can recover once I return to headquarters."
"...Is your headquarters some kind of resurrection spring from a game?"
Lin was, of course, referring to Mobius's laboratory. As long as conditions permitted, Mobius could create an identical limb. Even she herself complained that she was a researcher, not running a clinic, forced to reassemble new parts whenever there was a problem, like playing with building blocks.
The mention of Mobius reminded Lin of the scene he had just witnessed: he and Mobius discussing a surgery, and from the dialogue, it seemed he had also undergone that surgery with side effects.
He would ask Mobius about it when he returned.
Chiaki also realized that the Fire Moth' technological level could easily heal this level of injury, so she didn't question it further. Instead, Lin began to ask her: "Have you finished your studies?"
"Heh heh…" Chiaki's face darkened at the mention of this. She glared at Lin with eyes that wished to bite a chunk out of him. "Thanks to you people. If I hadn't finished, I would be in the Deepest Abyss right now."
The past three days felt like a nightmare to Chiaki. Unfamiliar terminology and a vast amount of knowledge were poured into her brain, enough to overturn her decades of knowledge and fill her mind anew. That AI, completely devoid of human empathy, drilled her for twenty-four hours straight, giving her no time to rest.
Oh, wait, she could technically rest. Prometheus II had said she could choose to rest for a period, even sleep, and the learning would pause, but there was a risk of being thrown into the prison, so Chiaki dared not stop.
She didn't know if it was because she was naturally a genius, or if her potential burst forth under duress, but she actually managed to master that knowledge through sheer rote memorization, passing Prometheus II's final assessment. She was now a qualified programmer specializing in artificial intelligence development.
"Oh, right, your former Captain and squad members came to see you earlier, but you weren't awake then."
Chiaki's words reminded Lin. He looked out the window and asked, "How long was I unconscious?"
"Three and a half days," Chiaki spread her hands. "You were brought here right after I came out of that room. You were still unconscious after I slept for a whole day, and even the pink-haired girl who was brought back with you is already awake."
Three and a half days...
Lin didn't feel like much time had passed sensorially. However, accurate perception of time would be blurred in that state, so it was normal.
But that was only the normal state. Lin still felt there was something "suspicious" he didn't know about.
"By the way, I know you don't like showing your true face, but is it necessary to hide like this? With bandages wrapped around your face?"
Lin touched his face with his right hand. He was indeed wrapped in bandages.
Someone must have wrapped them while he was unconscious. Was it Himeko? Or Sakura?
"Beep—"
Just then, the communicator sounded. Lin reached for the communicator on the bedside table.
"Lin, the people in the monitoring room informed me you're awake." Himeko voice came through. "I misjudged the situation... I apologize. This mission put you two in danger again."
"It's nothing. I have some information I want to report..."
"We'll talk about that later. Let me tell you something first."
At this moment, Lin detected the weariness in Himeko voice.
"During your time unconscious, a total of seventy-three Emperor-class Honkai Beasts appeared globally."