Van looked angrily at the Fu Hua beside her and questioned, "Hey! Did you do something tricky?! Why was the you in the illusion unwilling to fall in love with me?!"
The sudden questioning did not cause any ripple on Fu Hua's face. She just quietly looked at the other party and spoke in a cold tone, "The illusion was created by you, Feather Dust is also in your hands, you should know that I cannot interfere in anything inside it."
At this, Van pouted and muttered in a low voice, "Damn! If I had known it would be like this, I wouldn't have added public perspective elements back then, I would've just purely acted as my past self and not interfered with other people in the environment!"
Thinking of this, Van snorted coldly. "Hmph~ Your rejection is nothing to me. In the illusion, I was the hero who saved the whole Australia. Everyone in Fire Moth admired me from the bottom of their hearts!"
Fu Hua, however, shook her head, "So, this is the difference between you and Van. He never…"
Van impatiently waved her hand, interrupting, "Spare me the lecture. Whether it's you or me, neither of us has the right to say this. The ones who truly have the qualification to judge are Kiana and Bronya, who are inside."
———
On the other side, the scene before her made Kiana feel something wrong. Because the Van in this memory gave her a very unfamiliar feeling.
Although the two had the same appearance, the same way of fighting, but Kiana just felt that the person in front of her and Van were two completely different existences.
Thinking of this, Kiana instinctively looked toward Bronya, and the other party happened to be looking at her too.
After exchanging glances, the two did not speak out but chose to continue watching.
Accompanied by light surging, the boundary distorted once again.
This time, they arrived in the ancient Shenzhou. Accompanied by the deafening roar of a giant beast, Van's voice rang out again.
"If only I hadn't agreed to Ji Xuanyuan's request back then… if only I had arrived earlier…"
As soon as the voice fell, the scene quickly began to change.
Kiana and Bronya once again saw that judgment-level Honkai beast named "Chiyou" that they had encountered in the Nether.
Moreover, compared to the Chiyou at that time that had been weakened after suffering a thousand-year seal, the current Chiyou clearly appeared much stronger.
Under Chiyou's rampage, the entire South Sea fell into chaos.
At this, as the wielder of the Xuanyuan Sword, Ji Xuanyuan immediately decided to let Van go save the people in the South Sea who were suffering from the disaster.
And she herself would strive to stall Chiyou until Van arrived.
The result, however, was, Van saved those people, but Ji Xuanyuan and Chiyou sank forever into the abyss called the Nether.
Eventually, in the long thousand-year time, Ji Xuanyuan, who endured loneliness alone, was eroded by the Honkai and became the mimic Herrscher, Dark Ji Xuanyuan.
So this time, Van decided to solve the problem in a different way.
When the disaster happened, Van gave up staying near the South Sea to resist the Honkai and instead chose to go directly to the main battlefield where Ji Xuanyuan was.
Facing Ji Xuanyuan's request once again, Van unhesitatingly chose to refuse.
With Van's joining, the battle quickly ended. Chiyou was successfully killed, but the shockwave caused by the battle destroyed the entire South Sea coastline.
Looking at the South Sea area that, despite victory, was full of wounds, Kiana and Bronya looked at each other.
Then the scene changed again, arriving in Ji Xuanyuan's room.
Van informed Ji Xuanyuan, who was recovering from her injuries, of the news that Chiyou was dead and that she no longer needed to sacrifice her life.
Hearing this, a joyful expression appeared on Ji Xuanyuan's face.
But as Van left, a shadow quickly appeared on her face. Because she had already heard from others about the bloodshed in the South Sea.
About this matter, she would not blame Van who chose to save her. She would only blame her own incompetence.
If she could have been stronger, then none of this would have happened. In the end, though she was saved, Ji Xuanyuan still died in grief not long after.
———
[Outside the Feather Dust Illusion Environment.]
Seeing this, Van was so angry she stomped her foot hard.
"This foolish girl, why is she so stubborn! There's no such thing as no deaths when fighting Honkai! And compared to others, the user of the Divine Key is obviously more important."
"But Van would never think like that…" Fu Hua on the side shook her head and said.
"Van, Van, Van, it's always Van! Right now I am the brand-new me, the better me! Why do you always cling to the past?!"
Speaking of this, the red glow in Van's eyes grew stronger. "It's exactly because the past me was so indecisive that so many tragedies were caused! Listen well, if you want to save some people, you must give up others. How can there be such a thing as having it both ways in this world!"
———
[Although the three-year-old child went into red heat, I actually feel there's nothing wrong with what she said]
[Sometimes, when you're in trouble, you really do face choices beyond your control]
[This is the so-called trolley problem]
———
However, what Fu Hua said next plunged Van and everyone in the real world into silence.
Her expression was calm, but in her eyes flashed a fleeting trace of reminiscence.
"In the past, with the failure of the Fire Seed Project, the Stigmata Project yielding nothing, and the breakdown of cooperation with the forerunners of the Ark Project, Kevin decided to activate the final Stigmata Project."
"At that time, Kevin's thoughts were also the same. He decided to use the British Isles as a test site, sacrificing part of the population so that humanity could continue…"
"But this decision was opposed by Van and Su."
With Fu Hua's narration, the scene began to enter a memory.
In the bubble world 'Sumeru Mustard Seed'.
Facing Kevin with a cold expression, Su reasoned strongly and logically. However, Su's thin words were never able to convince Kevin.
Because in Kevin's view, compared to these negligible sacrifices, the consequences of the End's arrival were obviously even more unacceptable.
Just as Su decided to use his own way to stop Kevin, Van beside him spoke.
"Kevin, I can understand your thoughts, but the consequences of the Stigmata Project are not something we can bear… give me some time, I will find something better…"
"Van, you should know that the Honkai will not give us time to find a method."
Kevin interrupted him, "After all the past failures, are you still naively thinking a world where no one gets hurt can be created?"
Saying this, Kevin's tone trembled a bit, "We… can't possibly do everything perfectly…"
But then his tone turned firm again, "I once made a promise to everyone, no matter what the cost, humanity… will definitely defeat the Honkai!"
Facing Kevin's gaze as cold as ice, Van's expression remained unchanged.
"Kevin, you should know the result of the Stigmata Project. In that situation, the humanity that continues to exist… is that really the outcome she hoped for?"
Recalling the pink silhouette in his mind, Kevin was speechless for a moment. Of course, he knew that the humanity preserved by the Stigmata Project was no longer the humanity of the past, but at least this way…
However, Van's next words left him stunned on the spot.
"Kevin, do you know? The countless pains in the world, most of them are due to the incompetence of the person involved."
"So as long as I become strong enough, then I can save everyone!"
═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═❀═
patreon.com/AmbitiousTranslator
🥳Joining Patreon keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through Patreon.
https://discord.gg/bYAfGyp98y