“In the end, you are nothing more than a creation.
You can never be my child.” “And I can never be your mother.” —o— Herta Space Station, Restricted Zone.
In an unknown subterranean laboratory, a cylindrical cultivation pod shattered, spilling its unknown nutrient fluid, mixed with the blood of some unidentifiable creature, across the floor.
A short-circuited wire sparked a fire, and alarms blared throughout the facility.
Small robots, their screens displaying panicked emoticons as programmed, broadcasted continuous warnings.
“Warning!
Warning!
Warning!
Warning!” A pure and beautiful white-haired boy, naked, opened his gentle, clear, pale green eyes.
He waded through the spreading nutrient fluid.
He ignored the gushing, bloody wound on his fair right fist.
He let the blood drip to the floor, blooming with each step like flowers from the other shore.
He moved toward the depths of the laboratory.
The boy’s eyes held the purest, most innocent, most flawless emotion in this world—an attachment born from the very instinct of life itself.
He repeated a soft, mumbling whisper, his voice as gentle as the wind.
“Mama…
I’m coming for you.” He had never touched the breeze, the grass shoots, the fresh flowers, or the sky.
He had never known any beautiful things.
Except for the one name that embodied all of them—Mama.
The nameless, white-haired boy, ever since he was but an artificial embryo, had been submerged in this nutrient fluid, growing day by day.
He did not understand the meaning of his existence, nor the reason for his birth.
Until that day, when the light of the Erudition ignited in his heart.
From within the translucent fluid, the boy opened his eyes for the very first time.
The first thing he saw was her.
And at last, he had his answer.
She was an exceptionally gentle, elegant, and graceful lady.
Unlike him, she was not naked.
She wore a lace-like silk inner layer and a flowing, ethereal skirt of some unknown material.
On her fair, slender thighs, a pair of cyan, double-helix leg rings were carved deep into the boy’s memory.
Along with the gentle smile she showed him.
They became the tranquilizer, the elixir of immortality that sustained him through one dangerous experiment after another, keeping his spirit from shattering.
Ruan Mei.
That was her name.
He had learned it later, overhearing the fragmented whispers of the researchers conducting the experiments.
But more than that name, he wanted to call her—Mama.
The mother who had created him, who had given him life.
The embodiment of all that was beautiful in this world.
The one and only meaning of his life.
“Mama, I’m coming for you.” It had been exactly nine thousand, one hundred and twenty-three hours, thirty-nine minutes, and forty-five seconds… forty-six seconds… forty-seven seconds… since Ruan Mei had last come to see him.
The white-haired boy possessed a perception and intellect far beyond that of any ordinary person.
Otherwise, without any education, he could not have possibly understood, let alone mastered, this language merely by listening to the researchers’ idle chatter and seeing the characters they inadvertently revealed.
Even in the cultivation pod, with the nutrient fluid clogging his throat and rendering him unable to speak, he had learned to form sounds within seconds of shattering the glass, constantly correcting himself until his pronunciation was perfect.
But this innate gift also brought him unimaginable torment.
His perception of pain, his sensitivity, was dozens, even hundreds of times greater than a normal person’s.
For him, the simple act of walking made the flowing air feel like a thousand sharp blades, slicing into every inch of his skin, his eyes.
Cold, viscous, parched, and burning.
A torrent of sensations sought to dismantle the boy’s mind, to destroy his will.
They were like tentacles, flaying him alive—whipping, coiling, licking… He tore them off, one by one, and pushed forward, bloodied but unyielding.
He carved a path to hell with his own life force.
Behind him, a winding river of blood.
Drip, drop, drip, drop… Drip… [Experiment Body ■■ has breached containment.] [Experiment Body ■■ has taken the wrong path.
He is advancing toward the abyss.] [In the long, dark corridor, the colossal, winged silhouette of a True Sting Bug materializes from the void behind him.
Is he going to die?] [Astonishing combat talent.
Stamina, insight, determination, and will.
He trades non-fatal wounds for opportunities to learn, brushing past death several times.] [He killed the True Sting Bug?
With that frail body of his?
What an unbelievable… creation.] [Stop now.
You have already done well enough.] [Enough… to attract the gaze of that Aeon.] [This is a suggestion, from a mediocrity.] Unfortunately, the boy suffered from the world’s most incurable affliction.
Its name was “Folly.” “I haven’t…
seen Mother yet.” That was his answer.
From the shadows, a man with a face as flawless as a plaster sculpture let out a sigh.
Perhaps he should document the death of Experiment Body ■■ in advance.
Only she could remove the redaction on the file.
To this day, the man still didn’t know if she had ever given the boy a name.
If not, then his march to death would be an utter tragedy.
A tragedy is the act of crushing something beautiful for all to see.
But the definition of “beautiful” varies from person to person.
This pure, white-haired boy with the heart of a child had moved even the man to feel a sense of pity.
But in that woman’s eyes, what was his place?
Riding the space station elevator as it plummeted toward an unknown destination, the blood-soaked boy stared in a trance at the boundless cosmos and the dazzling, brilliant stars outside the transparent window.
He had never seen such a beautiful sight.
He remained lost in it for a long, long time.
“I wish…
I could move it all for Mother to see.” How naive, and how foolish.
But the man, who was monitoring him out of curiosity, couldn’t bring himself to laugh.
Because that was perhaps the most romantic thing he had heard in over a decade.
Spoken with pure joy by a boy who had never truly lived a single day in this world.
Ruan Mei, there was once someone who wanted to move the entire starry cosmos, just to let you have a look.
And what about you?
Will you stop, even for a moment, to look back at him?
The beating of the boy’s sincere heart could not halt the steps of a god.
But it did awaken what slumbered deep in the abyss—the Swarm King: Skaracabaz (Simulated)!
Even as a simulated replica created by Ruan Mei, it was a far cry from a true Emanator of Propagation, who possessed the power to shatter celestial bodies.
But for it to kill a boy who, in a societal sense, had only been born for a little over ten minutes, there was still no question of the outcome.
The colossal Swarm King filled the boy’s entire field of vision.
The hurricane winds from the mere flap of its wings forced the boy back several steps on the vast, cold platform, sending his snow-white hair into a chaotic dance.
The fear of imminent death seized the boy’s throat, suffocating him, preventing him from making a sound, from breathing.
He screamed frantically in his heart.
Live!
Live!
I have to live!
Find the one solution that will let me live!
It was… time!
Fifty-six seconds!
[Even I cannot imagine what power erupted from his being in that instant, all for the sake of survival.] [How did he see through that ocean of data, perform calculations so massive that their formulas, if written on paper, would stack into a towering mountain, and arrive at that one, precise result?] [The time until the replica of the Swarm King would annihilate itself, unable to sustain its own power.] [Fifty-six seconds.
Even I couldn’t help but count down for him.] [Forty-six, forty-five… thirty-four, thirty-three… twenty…] [Three… two… one!] [Plum blossoms!?] [When did she get here?] The secret elevator of the space station took twenty seconds to travel from top to bottom, or bottom to top.
During that time, the elegant woman, exuding the fragrance of plum blossoms, had also come to the window and witnessed the same majestic, starry vista that had so deeply shaken the boy.
To her, however, it was merely dull.
The moment the elevator doors opened, the Swarm King shrieked and struggled as it annihilated, turning to nothingness as if it had never existed.
Its ferocious mandibles were less than an inch from crushing the boy’s skull!
Completely drained of strength, the boy collapsed to his knees.
He lifted his face, the corners of his lips twitching into a slight, upward curve.
A symbol of his ultimate victory in this duel with fate.
But that faint smile was soon washed away by the hot tears that streamed uncontrollably down his face.
The woman walked slowly toward him.
From that moment on, the boy’s eyes never closed, not even for an instant.
He gazed at her with a passion so intense it felt as if he was trying to brand her very being into the depths of his soul.
He no longer had the strength to even tidy himself up.
I didn’t want to meet Mother looking so disheveled… Will I leave a bad impression?
Will she think I’m a bad child… I’m sorry, Mama… But the woman paid no mind to the filth on his face.
She gently took his cheeks in her hands, cradled his head against her, and ran her fingers through his white hair.
It was the warmth the boy had yearned for since the moment of his birth.
He would willingly burn like kindling in that warmth until his life was extinguished.
“Mama…
Mama.” “I finally get to see…” What little strength and energy had returned to him, the boy spent it all on speaking.
He had so, so much he wanted to say to his mother—the product of hundreds and thousands of days and nights spent submerged in the cultivation pod, of endless storms raging within his mind.
Sometimes, the boy felt like a monkey in the vast emptiness of space, randomly hitting keys on a keyboard, trying to write Hamlet.
That was something the researchers in the secret lab had idly discussed—the theorem of giving a monkey infinite time with a typewriter to see if it could produce the complete works of Shakespeare.
The boy knew nothing of that, but he was willing to spend an eternity composing his infinite love for his mother.
Only because she had created him.
She had granted him life.
“You’ve worked hard.” Her voice was just as he had imagined—gentle, with a hint of coolness, like a lightly frosted pastry.
“But please do not call me—’Mama’.” The pastry was made of pure ice.
The boy froze, the rushing blood in his veins turning to ice in an instant.
Ruan Mei continued her calm and orderly explanation, unrelenting.
“As a test subject, your progress to this point has indeed exceeded my expectations.” “So, you have worked hard.
In the future, I will invest more resources into conducting experiments and research on you.
You will be entitled to treatment different from the other test subjects.” “But there is one thing I hope you understand.” “In the end, you are nothing more than a creation.
You can never be my child.” “And I can never be your mother.” “But…” But… but… But… but… but—it was you who created me!
It was you who propagated me!
It was you who gave birth to me!
It was you who arbitrarily brought me into this world!
It was you!
It was you!
Tell me it’s a lie, a joke, a prank!
Don’t… Mama… Don’t deny me!!!
“Your tear ducts seem to be overdeveloped.” “Perhaps you require an emotion-tailoring surgery.
That would also make you closer to perfection, and you would become happier.” Happy… haha… Happy… Ruan Mei’s seemingly rational suggestion was, in reality, incredibly cruel.
A cruelty that surpassed any frost or pain.
In her cold gaze, he was probably no different from the bug that had just been annihilated.
Experiment Body ■■ began to tremble all over, tears streaming down his face as he let out a silent, crazed laugh.
His blood, after a brief moment of cold, flared hot and red like magma, only to freeze again.
Over and over.
It was as if…
he was about to break.
“You arbitrarily created me…” “And just as arbitrarily, you abandoned me.” “You don’t have to see me as your child.” “But you are the only mother I have.” “A child, denied by his mother.” “From this day forward, has no more reason to live…” I once gazed at you with these eyes; now, I shall extinguish them.
I once reached for you with these arms; now, I shall sever them.
You shaped my bones; I shall carve them out, one by one.
You extended my bloodline; I shall let it all run dry.
You gave me the power to think.
Now, like a flower, it withers, petal by petal.
… I return everything to you.
From now on, you are no longer my mother.
… —I’m going to find the mothers who will truly love me.
… [It took me a long time to calm myself enough to describe what I had witnessed.] [How strange.
My eyes have grown moist.] [The abandoned creation used the power of his will.] [He gouged out his own eyes, tore off his own limbs, carved out every single bone, sliced away every inch of flesh, and drained every last drop of blood…] [Even his brain exploded at the final moment, blooming like a splendid flower!] [He returned everything he was given back to her!] [This is the first time, and the only time.] [That for a fool, I felt respect.] —o— Author’s PS: What exactly is the relationship between a creation and its creator?
Perhaps Ruan Mei is not wrong.
Her world is the vast cosmos, billions of life forms, so busy that she doesn’t have a single glance to spare for an ordinary creation.
But for the creations…
she is the only mother they have.
Only the opening is this heavy.
The protagonist will return in a special way in the next chapter!
He will also meet the Honkai: Star Rail mothers’ group who will truly love him!
A future full of sweet, interesting, funny, and tearful moments awaits!
The creator will eventually come to regret it!!!
We’re going to make Ruan Mei chase him to the crematory!
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