Chapter 115: Awakening

When Mei awakened from her long slumber, she did not see Mo Chen, Ye Jingxuan, or the others she had expected. Instead, she was met by a man who was a stranger, yet strangely familiar.

The man wore a long black robe. His features were not exceptionally handsome, yet they were compelling. His skin possessed a sickly pallor, his gaze was somber, and his thin lips were pressed tightly together. His critical, disdainful expression—all these familiar traits caused Mei to hurl herself into his arms the very next second.

"Cyril, I missed you so much!" She wrapped her arms tightly around his neck, burying her face against his collarbone. Breathing in his familiar scent of medicinal potions, she felt an overwhelming sense of peace.

Cyril hesitated for a moment before reaching out to embrace her, whispering softly, "Fool."

"Cyril, how did you get here? And is this Body Number Three you've merged with?" Although she had been away from him for less than a year, it felt like an eternity. She remained nestled in his arms, refusing to let go, yet she couldn't help but voice the questions in her mind.

"If I hadn't come, would you still be alive, you fool? What happened to your caution? Your wariness? Were they fed to the Tata Beasts? Or did you think you were invincible and could afford to look down on everyone? You knew full well that being told the location of the bracelet was a trap, yet you had no defenses at all. Are you tired of living? Seeking death?"

Hearing her words, Cyril’s face darkened. He pulled her out of his arms and began to lecture her.

"I’m sorry, I really wasn't careful enough this time!" Mei knew she had been far too careless. Had Cyril not arrived, even if she hadn't died, she would certainly have suffered a miserable fate.

During her time at the Longsheng Base, she had reflected on this more than once. She had fallen for the trap partly because she couldn't control her desperate desire to retrieve the bracelet, causing her to ignore her surroundings. On the other hand, the smooth sailing she had experienced since transmigrating, combined with the fact that she was consistently stronger than those around her, had made her subconsciously arrogant. She had convinced herself that no one here could truly harm her, which was why she had suffered such a devastating blow.

She was not the type to deny her mistakes when she knew she was wrong, so as Cyril scolded her, she obediently admitted her fault.

"Hmph! I'll let it slide this time. If there is a next time, I will turn you into an undead myself, so you don't lose your life at the hands of someone else!" Seeing that she had truly reflected on her errors, Cyril stopped his reprimand but still issued a threat.

"There won't be a next time!" Mei nodded vigorously, promising him.

She had suffered enough this time. If she still hadn't learned her lesson, she might as well end it herself before Cyril had to step in.

"How is your collection coming along?" Having moved past that topic, Cyril asked.

"I've only found two fragments of the Source of Darkness! I haven't even seen a shadow of the Source of Light or the Source of Life!" Speaking of this, Mei couldn't help but slump her shoulders helplessly.

"Two fragments of the Source of Darkness? Why didn't I see them in your dimension? You haven't already tried to absorb them, have you?" Cyril frowned, his expression darkening again as he spoke.

The permissions for their respective dimensions were fully open to each other; as long as they were within five meters, they could retrieve items from each other's spaces without issue. He had scanned her dimension earlier and hadn't seen any fragments, leading him to fear the worst.

"Of course not! You and Dilo both said to collect all three before attempting absorption. Even if I had to absorb them due to an accident, I would have to start with the Source of Light or Life. The negative effects of the Source of Darkness are too great, and the energy of the fragments is highly unstable—how could I dare to absorb them recklessly? Because the Source of Darkness is unstable, I was afraid the overflowing energy would affect my dimension, so I’ve been keeping them in my mental world!" Mei hurried to explain.

"How reckless! You knew it was unstable and you still dared to keep it in your mental world! If you were worried about your dimension changing, did it never occur to you that it would affect you?" Cyril’s face darkened again at her explanation.

Of course, there were effects. Her mental fluctuations and the irritability that made it impossible for her to sleep without someone by her side were all caused by the energy leaking from the Source of Darkness.

However, she couldn't bear to risk her own dimension, letting the plants and animals within be corrupted by the dark energy, so she had just been making do. Hearing Cyril’s reprimand, she remained silent, looking at him with pathetic, watery, and aggrieved eyes, hoping he would stop lecturing her.

Cyril could never handle it when she looked at him with those wide, damp, and innocent eyes. Gritting his teeth, he swallowed the words he had been about to say and reached out with a stern face.

"Where is the Source of Darkness? Hand it over."

Mei obediently retrieved the Source of Darkness from her mental world and placed it in Cyril’s hand.

Once in his possession, the Source of Darkness vanished in an instant, stored away into his own dimension. His dimension was the polar opposite of Mei's Life Dimension; it was purely an Undead Dimension, containing only the undead and flora that thrived on death energy. Since death energy was a form of dark energy, the Source of Darkness would not only be harmless in his dimension but would actually benefit the undead there.

"Once all the fragments of the Source of Darkness are collected, I will return them to you," Cyril said after storing the fragments.

"It doesn't matter, just keep them there! I won't need them for a while anyway. It won't be too late to return them when I'm ready to use them," Mei said dismissively.

Cyril disapproved of her nonchalant attitude. This was an item essential for her maturation; how could she treat it so lightly? Cyril couldn't help but glare at her.

Mei didn't mind being glared at and continued to smile back at him.

"Cyril, you still haven't told me, why did you come? And why did you happen to possess Body Number Three? What about Number Three’s consciousness? Did you merge with it?" Mei returned to her previous questions.

"I came because I wanted to; is there any reason needed? As for possessing his body, it’s obviously because his body had the highest compatibility with mine. Do you really need to ask such an obvious question? You really are a fool! As for his consciousness, I wiped it out, of course!" Cyril looked at her with disdain, as if her questions were incredibly stupid, but he answered them nonetheless.

His situation differed from Mei’s. When he possessed the body, Number Three was very much alive. Originally, he had intended to merge with the man’s consciousness—after all, they were both people who loved experimentation, and there would have been no harm in merging. But when he saw fragments of the man's memories and learned that it was his doing that had put Mei in mortal danger, he changed his mind.

How could he tolerate someone who had harmed Mei continuing to live in this world?

As an Undead Archmage, he knew exactly how to wipe out a consciousness while keeping the memories intact. However, Number Three was no simple character; his body was unique and his mental strength was formidable, forcing Cyril to exert quite a bit of effort to wipe him out completely.

He did not understand the genetics of this world, so he had spent a long time merging the memories to ensure he could cure Mei’s illness with certainty. Because of this, he had nearly missed the final opportunity to save her.

Mei didn't know what he was thinking. Hearing his answer, she curiously studied this face that was half Number Three and half Cyril.

"Cyril, to what extent have you merged with this body? Will it stay like this in the end?" she asked while observing him.

"Seventy-five percent. As for the appearance, is there a problem?" Cyril hadn't paid much attention to his looks since the merger. Hearing her, he subconsciously reached up to touch his face.

"There's no problem, I just don't think it's as good-looking as your original face! And what’s up with these eyes? Why do they look a bit strange?" Mei finally focused on his eyes, and the more she looked, the more she frowned.

When she had seen Number Three before, he had always worn glasses, and she had never known his eyes were so different from a normal person's.

He actually had double pupils. Because the color around the pupils was dark, one wouldn't notice unless they looked very closely; if he wore glasses, the difference was completely invisible.

"Is it strange? His eyes were modified, which is why they turned out this way!" Cyril, possessing all of Number Three's memories, explained.

"Do the double pupils affect your vision?" Mei couldn't help but ask.

"Not at all! On the contrary, these modified eyes are a great help when I’m conducting experiments. I can measure drug dosages down to the microgram without any instruments. Is it really that strange?" Cyril felt no repulsion toward these special eyes, but seeing Mei’s reaction, he still asked.

"It’s not bad, really. You should just wear the glasses! That way, no one will discover the secret of your eyes," she suggested.

Hearing his answer, Mei realized how useful the eyes were to him and knew they couldn't be changed, so she advised him to hide them.

"Like this?" Cyril was indifferent about wearing glasses, but seeing her request, he took out a pair of gold-rimmed plain-glass spectacles and put them on.

When Mei saw Cyril with the glasses, her eyes lit up and she nodded vigorously.

"These glasses suit you so well, Cyril! With them on, you look like a completely different person!" she praised.

Cyril had been born into an aristocratic family and had received an elite education, cultivating a noble temperament, though it had been masked by the somber aura of an undead mage. Now, with the glasses hiding the gloom in his eyes, his aristocratic air naturally resurfaced.

With that noble aura, even his ordinary features became charming, and Mei couldn't help but stare at him again and again.

"Huh?" As she watched him, Mei suddenly gasped in surprise.

"What is it?" Cyril asked, confused.

Mei didn't answer. She quickly pulled a mirror from her dimension, wanting to confirm if the reflection she saw in Cyril's glasses was a hallucination.

"Ah, how did I end up looking like this?"