Chapter 199: Total Recall 『 Part Two 』
「 The pink-haired girl whipped her head around, huffing with arrogant pomp: "If we are to resolve the Stellaron disaster, we must first clarify a single question: What is the crux of the problem? We generally believe that once the crux is grasped, all else will be easily solved."
"The consequences of the Stellaron catalyzing the Ambrosial Arbor are unforeseeable by anyone. As the ancients said, blessings bring about misfortune, and vice versa. Nature has its own algorithm, and it is precisely when fate wends betwixt blessing and misfortune that I, a master diviner of masterful proportions, am called on to save the people of the Luofu!"
This speech by "Fu Xuan" left March 7th a bit bewildered. Beside her, the authentic Fu Xuan let out a long sigh, her tone thick with grievance: "It appears that in your heart, this seat is merely someone who drones on with long-winded speeches and speaks nothing but nonsense."
March 7th scratched her head guiltily, offering a stream of apologetic smiles. "H-How could that be! The Master Diviner in my mind is… uh, possessed of vast and magical powers! Hehe." 」
「 .....」
〜Dragon Raja World〜
Inside the command center, Su Enxi sat with her legs crossed, slowly tearing open a bag of potato chips while focusing intently on the two cute pink-haired girls on the light screen.
"To be honest, I can't stand Master Diviner Fu's way of speaking either. The most important thing in communication is efficiency. Her obscure, archaic wording… I'm afraid only top students in Chinese Literature could match her wavelength."
Su Enxi slowly placed a chip into her mouth.
"However, given that she scores a nine, maybe even a ten out of ten on the cuteness scale, I still like her quite a bit."
"Tsk, tsk. Chip Girl, are you sure you don't just like her divination ability to foresee the future?"
Mai Sakatoku smiled knowingly.
"If this little girl were actually by our side, I bet you'd be dying to have her calculate the winning numbers for every lottery in the world about to be drawn."
"…You make me sound even more black-hearted than the Boss."
Su Enxi sized up Fu Xuan's petite, adorable figure and changed the subject.
"Say, do you think Lu Mingfei would like her type?"
"No,"
Mai Sakatoku answered categorically.
"Have you forgotten there's already an impeccably beautiful girl beside him, flawless in both figure and looks?"
She glanced at Fu Xuan's chest, which possessed almost zero destructive power.
"Given his personality… he'd probably prefer Erii Uesugi, right?"
With Nono as a reference point… it wasn't hard to guess what type of girl Lu Mingfei liked.
"That being said…"
Su Enxi smiled playfully.
"If you threw a body pillow with Fu Xuan on it into his room at night, who knows what weird things he might do to it."
—
「 "Although this experience is clearly distorted, the raw material constituting it depends on your memory. It cannot lie." Fu Xuan suddenly lowered her voice, gritting her teeth in resentment. "…Which is to say, in your subconscious, you believe the words this seat speaks are no different from tongue twisters."
"Ehehe…" March 7th laughed awkwardly. "It's mainly that… usually, when I listen to the Master Diviner's high theories, I really don't understand them…"
Now was not the time to be petty. Fu Xuan instructed March 7th to nock an arrow and shoot the "Fu Xuan" beside her to eliminate the distortion. Fortunately, this Master Diviner didn't put up much of a fight and was easily dispatched.
But March 7th looked around, eyeing Stelle, Uncle Yang, Jing Yuan, and the others, speaking somewhat timidly: "I don't have to fight them one by one, do I…? The Master Diviner was okay, but I probably really can't beat General Jing Yuan…"
"Hey! What do you mean, 'The Master Diviner was okay'?!" The veins on Fu Xuan's temples throbbed with rage.
But business came first. Even if Fu Xuan was grinding her teeth in anger, she could only let March 7th continue searching for the person triggering the distortion.
March spoke to her acquaintances in the plaza one by one. But strangely, whether it was Welt, Stelle, or General Jing Yuan… at the end of every conversation, they all urged March not to recall the past. 」
「 .....」
〜One Punch Man World〜
"Strange… why is everyone advising March not to remember?"
Inside the Hero Association, Child Emperor watched the light screen with puzzlement as the figures were gradually dispelled by March 7th. According to Fu Xuan, these materials were entirely dependent on March 7th's memories, including every word they spoke.
Beside him, Drive Knight spoke indifferently:
"Perhaps this implies that March 7th's past conceals a massive secret. A secret of such magnitude… that merely knowing it would be enough to destroy her current life."
"Forgetting is not necessarily a bad thing; curiosity about the past is what is truly terrifying. Although March 7th has forgotten her past, her brain has formed a defense mechanism, constantly dissuading her."
"Drive Knight, what you're saying is too scary."
Child Emperor shot him a resentful glance. Although he was also startled by this scene in March 7th's memory, he didn't think March 7th's seeking her past would be as severe as Drive Knight suggested.
He remembered there were members of the Garden of Recollection on the Express. As a faction that worships Fuli, the Star God of Memory, they surely possessed the means to restore memories. Just ask them, and wouldn't everything come to light?
—
「 After eliminating General Jing Yuan's figure, a metal object unfamiliar to Fu Xuan suddenly appeared.
While she was puzzled, March 7th explained from the side: "I know this one! This is a Heater from Belobog! Hmm… wait a minute, why would a Belobog Heater appear in the Healer's Market?"
Fu Xuan deduced that this was a foreign object mixed in from another of March's experiences, indicating that the Matrix of Prescience had successfully traced back another segment of her past.
To enter this experience, one had to touch the red-hot Heater. Just as Little March was worrying whether her delicate skin would turn golden and crispy, her hand was suddenly seized by Fu Xuan and slammed onto it.
"Hey! Don't pull on my hand, I — ow, ow, ow, hot, hot hot!"
Amidst Little March's cries of pain, the scene shifted abruptly again, and the two found themselves inside the Goethe Hotel.
It was the same this time; March 7th needed to find the source of interference and reveal the anomaly. However, before setting off, Fu Xuan's tone suddenly changed, asking solemnly: "By the way, Miss March, there is one more thing I must ask clearly. Is it possible that you have experienced some immense pain?"
March was curious why Fu Xuan would ask this. Fu Xuan, brows furrowed tightly, stated that in the memory of the Luofu just now, everyone was urging her: [Do not continue to remember]. It seemed like words her subconscious was speaking to herself, but the possibility that someone had used external force to leave a hypnotic suggestion in her brain could not be ruled out.
March 7th naturally had no impression of this, but the thought that an outsider might have tampered with her memories only fueled her drive to explore further.
She spoke in turn with Seele, Bronya, and others here. Just like the figures in the Xianzhou memory, they spared no effort in dissuading March 7th from continuing to recall her past.
"Why is everyone in your memory stopping you from remembering…? Things are getting stranger and stranger…" Even the knowledgeable and experienced Fu Xuan now vaguely sensed that this matter was likely far from simple. 」
「 .....」