In the manga, the bus driver didn't even have a name. He was simply introduced as a man with a happy family, a kind heart, and a strict dedication to his duty.
In reality, the driver obviously had a name. But Li Wu had absolutely no intention of asking for it.
Without saying a single word, he kept his head bowed, paid the fare, and walked to the very back of the bus, taking a seat by the window.
The bus didn't start moving immediately.
The driver glanced at the rearview mirror thoughtfully. His expression was complex, as if he wanted to say something, but ultimately, he chose to just drive.
In his line of work, he met all kinds of people every single day. The vast majority were completely calm, showing no outward anomalies. Occasionally, he'd see office workers with "anger" and "unwillingness" plastered across their faces, or students radiating pure "exhaustion" and "lethargy."
It wasn't that he had never seen a kid as thoroughly depressed as Li Wu was right now, but it was incredibly rare. Most kids traveled in groups of three or four, chatting and laughing the whole ride.
Even the kids traveling alone mostly just stared out the window, lost in thought.
I don't get it.
Ryoma Raiden is out of prison, and the ME Corp heiress likes him so much. Why is he making such an incredibly depressed expression?
The driver couldn't understand it, but it wasn't his place to worry about it.
The only thing he could do was kindly remind the boy when he got too lost in thought, to ensure he didn't miss his stop.
The bus drove steadily.
From the outskirts bordering the suburbs to the city center, the surrounding architecture instantly multiplied. Towering skyscrapers and flashing neon signs made it feel like they had driven from a rural village fifty years in the past straight into a futuristic sci-fi city.
As they approached the terminal station, the passengers gradually disembarked, leaving only a scattered few behind.
Soon, the bus arrived at Li Wu's stop.
Just as Li Wu stood up and walked to the back door, preparing to get off, the driver suddenly spoke up.
"Li Wu. That's your name, right? I saw news about you online. The title was: 'The ME Corp Heiress's Favorite Boyfriend'."
Li Wu stopped in his tracks and looked back. The driver had turned around in his seat, looking at him with a warm smile.
"I'm not her boyfriend. Just a close friend."
"I see. But your response sounds exactly like us exhausted wage slaves. I can't see a single trace of youthful energy in you. Did you run into some kind of trouble?"
"...No."
"You've got too much on your mind. Looking at you, I'd bet you've run into a serious problem and you're planning on just swallowing it all yourself."
The driver instantly saw through Li Wu's symptoms. To save time, he didn't use any euphemisms and directly pierced the truth.
"Kids your age always like to bury their troubles deep in their hearts, thinking that if you just hide them long enough, they'll completely disappear. But that's impossible. I'm not highly educated, but even I know paper can't wrap fire. If you leave rotting garbage alone, it's just going to fester, stink, and eventually cause an even worse disaster."
"Compared to how you look now, I vastly preferred you when you lied to me about your stomach hurting, making me illegally stop and open the doors just so you could take the ME Corp heiress away and save her from being scolded by the other passengers."
Li Wu suddenly felt his face burning up. It was incredibly embarrassing.
"That... I'm sorry. I had no other choice back then. I didn't mean to deceive you."
"Hahaha! What does it matter?! Who doesn't make mistakes when they're young? As long as you don't commit a massive, irreversible blunder, just remember it and correct it. You're still just a kid. You have time for everything."
Seeing Li Wu's sudden burst of guilt, the driver laughed out loud.
"Alright, alright, get off the bus. We've already been delayed for half a minute. If there's another chance... next time you get on my bus, tell me what's bothering you."
"We'll see."
Without delaying any further, Li Wu stepped off the bus.
Watching the bus drive away into the distance, the conversation between him and the driver played on a loop in his mind.
Back then, a time bomb had been planted on the bus. If he hadn't taken Raiden Mei away in time, everyone on board would have been buried with her.
He had exploited the driver's kind nature, faking a severe stomach ache to trick him into pulling over illegally. The moment the doors opened, he grabbed Raiden Mei and ran.
That was the very beginning of his story.
To be completely honest, Li Wu had never treated the driver as an actual, living person. He had never expected the man to offer him any kind of help whatsoever.
He certainly hadn't expected the driver to remember that incident so vividly, or to actually learn his real name in his daily life.
Even if he learned it through completely unverified clickbait gossip videos.
"Even so, I can't just tell my problems to other people."
"Saying it out loud wouldn't help anything, and it might just drag them down with me."
Li Wu let out a long sigh and walked toward a secluded park.
Right now, he just wanted to finish his business inside the Feather and go to sleep.
The Feather determined the structural environment of the consciousness space based on the user's surroundings at the time of use. Anything present in the user's immediate memory would be manifested within the space.
Like the very first time he used it in his bedroom. The textbooks in his backpack and the names written on them appeared exactly as he remembered them. Because of that, Elysia had discovered that he was living with Raiden Mei.
He absolutely could not allow any slip-ups this time.
Li Wu scanned his surroundings. After confirming there was no extraneous, revealing information around him, he pulled out the Feather and pressed it against his forehead.
The moment his flesh made contact with the feather.
Just like last time, the clusters of neurons and nerve fibers on the feather began to shift. A microscopic, nano-scale nerve thread completely invisible to the naked eye drilled into the center of his brow. As if imbued with a life of its own, it purposefully navigated through his brain, locating the specific nerves directly connected to his consciousness.
A bizarre crimson light filled the nerve thread, rapidly merging with his bright red blood.
When he opened his eyes again, three blurry silhouettes had appeared in the park.
Hazy mist drifted in front of them, forming simplistic characters that he couldn't 'read', but could inherently understand.
[Daybreak], [Infinity], and [Deliverance].
Kevin Kaslana. Bearer of the Signet of [Deliverance].
Li Wu stared at the incredibly dense, profound cluster of mist, his heart involuntarily growing tense.
As the absolute strongest combatant of the Previous Era, the only MANTIS capable of breaching the Herrscher of Finality's defenses head-on, and the supreme leader of World Serpent... If it weren't for Kallen, Kevin's will would single-handedly dictate the trajectory of this entire world.
[Infinity] Mobius: "Hehe! [Daybreak], [Mist] is here to collect your debt~"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Do you even have to say it? Do I look like the kind of guy who pulls up his pants and refuses to acknowledge the person?! I bet and lost, so I'll accept my punishment. Tell me, what do you want me to do? It's been so long since you used the Feather, you must have run into some serious trouble, right?"
Li Wu glanced at Kevin. Kevin hadn't spoken. He just stood there, calmly observing the surroundings, seemingly entirely uninterested in whatever history the other three shared.
Does Kevin not have an altered personality?
Well, that's not too bad.
Li Wu genuinely couldn't imagine what an "altered personality" Kevin would even look like.
But up until now, every single character's altered personality had traceable roots. Because their early experiences differed vastly from the original lore, they underwent unforgettable, traumatic events that directly triggered massive shifts in their personalities.
[Mist] Li Wu: "I don't want to waste time. I do need your help with something. I need you to keep an eye on a few people for me. But before that, I need to confirm something first."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Shoot! Tell me, tell me! But I can't guarantee I'll actually know the answer. The vast majority of MANTISes don't actually have endless lifespans. At least, I don't. I spend most of my time sleeping in a hibernation pod, so I don't know much about the outside world. I only get to briefly wake up my consciousness like this when someone else uses the Feather. Sigh... The heavens truly are jealous of geniuses. How could someone as powerful as me have such terrible luck?! The Honkai Beast genes I fused with actually don't support biological immortality! What absolute bullshit!"
Just like last time.
The chatterbox Kosma still maintained his obnoxious, elementary-school-kid way of speaking.
The bratty Mobius's personality hadn't changed either.
[Mist] Li Wu: "You definitely know about this. It's about another Flame-Chaser."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Oh? Let's hear it. I actually might know this one! Don't worry, anyone authorized to use the Feather is a core member of World Serpent. There are basically no secrets between us. As long as I know it, I will definitely tell you!"
[Mist] Li Wu: "The Flame-Chaser, Hua. What is her current status?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "..."
The unexpected occurred.
Kosma, who had just confidently sworn to reveal everything he knew without holding anything back, suddenly fell completely silent.
He subconsciously turned his head to look at Kevin. Seeing that Kevin had absolutely no reaction, he turned back to face Li Wu, remaining completely tight-lipped.
[Mist] Li Wu: "Looking at your reaction... I'm guessing that even within World Serpent, very few people actually know this. You know the truth, but you don't dare to speak."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Uhh... how about we change the question? I feel like if I say it out loud, I'll be beaten to death. Brother Li, have mercy on your little bro! If I leak this, I might never be allowed out of my hibernation pod for the rest of my life!"
[Infinity] Mobius: "Hahahaha! [Daybreak], I never thought I'd see the day! RIP bozo, meow~"
Both of their reactions were extreme.
This indirectly proved that Hua's situation was not simple. It was highly likely proceeding exactly according to the manga's plotline.
Otherwise, it wouldn't be an unspeakable secret.
Li Wu glanced around cautiously.
Thank God Elysia isn't here.
In this consciousness space, any emotional fluctuation would cause the mist shrouding one's body to change. It was incredibly difficult to hide.
As for Kevin... Judging by the complete lack of change in the mist shrouding his body, Li Wu deduced that Kevin didn't seem to care what they were talking about at all. Even though he had explicitly mentioned Hua, Kevin's mist didn't ripple or waver in the slightest.
[Mist] Li Wu: "I will ask the questions. You only need to answer 'Yes' or 'No'. That way, it won't count as you leaking a secret."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Fine! But I'll only allow you to ask three questions! Otherwise, if you just rapid-fire ask every single possibility, it's no different from me leaking the secret directly! I'm not a braindead idiot like [Infinity] over here who only knows how to mock people!"
[Infinity] Mobius: "This [Daybreak] is really lame! Actually using someone else as a human shield!"
Li Wu ignored their banter and asked directly, "Did Hua die five hundred years ago?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "???!"
The mist surrounding Kosma instantly surged and churned violently, like a raging storm. Clearly, his emotional fluctuations were massive.
He guessed it right.
Mobius had a similar reaction, couldn't help but exclaim, "Holy shit! That is one sharp question!"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Uhh... [Mist]... isn't your wording a bit too direct? That's a Flame-Chaser we're talking about! How could she... how could she die so easily? Ha... haha..."
The chatterbox suddenly became completely inarticulate.
The answer was glaringly obvious.
Even though the vast majority of the MOTHs had survived into the Present Era, the critical plot points of the manga remained unchanged.
Hua truly had died five hundred years ago. But Li Wu still needed to confirm one final thing: Was Hua's consciousness preserved and subsequently transferred into the stillborn fetus named 'Fu Hua'?
Thinking of this, Li Wu couldn't help but shoot another glance at Kevin.
Relying on [Future Loan], he was currently slightly stronger than the S-Rank Valkyrie Angelica. But trying to provoke Kevin at this stage was absolute fantasy.
However, inside the consciousness space of the Fenghuang Down... He wouldn't just be instantly obliterated, right?
Exhale.
Li Wu took a deep breath. The mist shrouding his body swirled slightly around his heart like a miniature nebula.
[Mist] Li Wu: "For the next question, you only need to answer 'Yes' or 'No'. Do not try to brush me off like you just did. Of course, you still have the right to brush me off. But if you do, I will no longer take your feelings into consideration regarding my next actions."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Just ask. I'll answer as best as I can."
[Mist] Li Wu: "Did Hua die an unnatural death five hundred years ago?"
[Daybreak] Kosma: "Yes."
Kosma answered very quickly. Since the other party already knew that Hua had died, they probably already had a solid guess as to the cause of death as well.
Attempting to hide it was meaningless. After all, [Mist] only asked him to answer 'Yes' or 'No', which proved he already knew the truth and was simply confirming it.
[Mist] Li Wu: "She's called Fu Hua now, isn't she?"
"After she died, because Hua was a Psychic-Type MANTIS, combined with the effects of SWARA, her consciousness instinctively rejected all living vessels. The MOTHs initially stored her consciousness within the Fenghuang Down. But as time passed, the Authority within the Fenghuang Down gradually eroded her sanity. If a suitable vessel wasn't found in time to house her consciousness, even if she was resurrected with a perfect body, she would just be a braindead vegetable, devoid of all memories and intellect."
"Therefore, over a decade ago, World Serpent transferred her consciousness into a vessel selected by the Fenghuang Down... a female fetus that had died in its mother's womb. She was reborn into this world under the name 'Fu Hua'."
[Daybreak] Kosma: "..."
[Infinity] Mobius: "..."
[Deliverance] Kevin: "..."
The moment Li Wu finished speaking, with the sole exception of Kevin, the mist shrouding Kosma and Mobius surged massively, far more violently than ever before.
They subconsciously looked toward Kevin, seemingly waiting for him to speak.
Li Wu took a deep breath, forcefully suppressing his emotions to prevent his own mist from fluctuating too wildly.
What's going on?
Did the plot diverge?
That shouldn't be possible... Since her unnatural death five hundred years ago hasn't changed, the subsequent plotline should logically follow the manga! So why isn't a single one of them answering?!