During the Second Honkai Eruption, Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void, trapped Siegfried in a closed, looping spatial maze. An unknown little interlude occurred within:
Kevin once appeared personally, helping guide Siegfried on how to escape the spatial maze, and incidentally, was force-fed a large amount of dog food. Finally, he left gracefully, without a trace...
At that time, according to him, he met Siegfried through "quantum entanglement." The link that helped them achieve this connection was the Stigmata passed down through the Kaslana family.
The reason Lin Wei went to such great lengths was to use "reverse engineering" to conduct a "reverse access" through the "Kaslana Stigmata" "network cable."
To achieve this goal, Lin Wei first induced Yuno to attack Anti-Entropy HQ, then leaked this information to Anti-Entropy in advance, thus successfully luring out Siegfried, who was hiding in the shadows.
After all, with the Kaslana family's fine tradition of playing hero, how could he not step forward when a powerful enemy attacked?
No one ever said that one thing couldn't achieve multiple different goals at the same time. Or rather, Lin Wei had given completely different meanings to different stages of the same event:
Dividing their forces and sending Yuno away was to coerce Otto, forcing him to be cautious and restrain himself, buying more time for him to do other things.
Having Yuno arrive at Anti-Entropy HQ was both to force Siegfried, the fish, out of the water and onto the shore, and to give her a space to freely unleash her power, paving the way for her future growth.
His subsequent arrival was not only to quell the conflict, but also to reveal his true intentions, achieving his hidden, true goal...
After successfully drawing Siegfried out, Yuno's mission was basically complete. Then it was his turn to "interrogate" him, attacking and humiliating him physically, mentally, and spiritually, trying every possible way to provoke and pressure him, forcing him to fight desperately.
It sounded excessive, but it was a necessary measure.
After all, Siegfried had never mastered that power, and Lin Wei didn't have any extra hypervariable factors to catalyze the dormant Honkai beast genes within him. So he could only take an alternative approach—forcing Siegfried to fight desperately through extreme pressure, thus maximizing his potential, to see if he could force out the form he wanted.
For this purpose, to eliminate interference from unrelated personnel and to maximize the "replication of the experimental process," Lin Wei specifically used the power of the Second Divine Key to create a new folded space based on the same principle. This arena, which allowed them to focus without distractions, was also for the purpose of connecting with Kevin more smoothly.
After all, Kevin's first successful connection with Siegfried was in such a folded space. Lin Wei thought it was better to replicate it.
And now, all his plans had been completed, all his assumptions had been realized, only the last step remained...
Lin Wei connected his consciousness to the slightly activated Kaslana Stigmata in Siegfried's body with the feather, took a deep breath, and shouted without hesitation,
"Kevin, come out!"
Lin Wei wasn't sure whether it was Kevin himself or the will of the "Kaslana" Stigmata who had "met" with Siegfried, but based on his guess, he was more inclined towards the latter.
After all, the "Kevin" who appeared then, although referring to himself as the original in his words, didn't have the self-awareness of a Stigmata. But on the other hand, his image and temperament were quite gentle, very different from the cold and aloof Kevin he had seen, both inside and outside the Elysian Realm...
Most importantly, he didn't even speak in riddles, he was even a little helpful!
Could that be the real Kevin?
But it didn't really matter. Whether it was "Kevin" or "Kaslana," to Lin Wei, there wasn't much difference—it was just the difference between directly making a call and having an "operator" in the middle...
Therefore, after shouting, Lin Wei suppressed his slightly uneasy heart and began to wait quietly.
One second, three seconds, five seconds...
Even as the turbulent sea of Siegfried's consciousness began to calm down, Lin Wei continued to wait with bated breath.
"If there's no response in ten seconds, I'll shout again!"
Lin Wei thought to himself, gritting his teeth,
"If you still don't answer, I'll just use Pandora to erode your Stigmata, dismantle your Stigmata space, and see if you can still sit still!"
Although he didn't know if it would work, Lin Wei didn't mind trying.
"You'd better not do that."
A familiar deep male voice sounded not far behind him,
"Otherwise, you will pay an unimaginable price."
"Heh, that sounds like something Kevin would say, it's making me confused..."
Faced with this sudden threat, Lin Wei didn't panic, but chuckled instead. He withdrew from Siegfried's sea of consciousness, turned around, looked at the white-haired young man who had suddenly appeared behind him, and said with a smile,
"May I ask, should I call you 'Kevin' or 'Kaslana'?"
His appearance and clothing were identical to the Kevin in his memory.
"Uh... who are you talking to?"
Before the man who looked like Kevin could speak, Yuno, who was covered in dozens of vines, holding Siegfried firmly while almost completely wrapped in them herself, suddenly asked.
In her eyes, Lin Wei had suddenly turned around and was talking to the air with a smile, as if there was an invisible person standing there.
She didn't know if there was something wrong with Lin Wei or herself, and wanted to confirm, but she couldn't free her hands, so she could only ask.
"Oh, I see!"
Lin Wei glanced at her expression and understood.
He remembered that during the Second Honkai Eruption, "Kevin" had stayed at the scene for quite a while, but the actual time for communication wasn't long, and besides Siegfried, not even Cecilia had noticed his presence.
Lin Wei smiled, threw a feather to Yuno, sharing his sight and hearing with her, smoothly solving the problem.
"..."
Yuno, through Lin Wei's perspective, finally saw the presence of the fourth person, with white hair and blue eyes similar to the fallen Siegfried. After a moment of shock, she immediately became alert.
Her intuition told her that this stranger was not easy to deal with.
"Don't worry, Yuno, he's a guest I invited."
Lin Wei gently raised his hand, signaling Yuno to calm down, then smiled at the silent man in front of him again,
"Mr. Kevin, you haven't answered my question yet."
"You seem to know a lot of things."
"Kevin" remained silent, speaking only after the small interlude caused by Yuno ended,
"This is the first time someone has called me out like this. It's quite surprising."
"Oh? Are you Kevin himself?"
Lin Wei was noncommittal,
"I don't remember Kevin having the ability to read minds, nor do I remember him having such a hobby."
The threat to erode the Kaslana Stigmata just now was only a thought in his mind, not spoken aloud, but he still received such a stern warning.
"I'm just a shadow of him, existing to guard the Stigmata. But the real Kevin has met you, so I'm naturally not unfamiliar with you."
The "Kevin" in front of him said frankly,
"You don't have Kaslana blood, so I naturally can't read your memories. But you just had a brief mental exchange with the Kaslana Stigmata, so it's not surprising that I caught a glimpse of your surface thoughts."
"Oh? Kaslana blood? I almost forgot, you can easily read any Kaslana family member's memories."
Lin Wei raised an eyebrow, glanced at Siegfried, who was still tightly bound and almost unconscious, and chuckled,
"Like his recent experiences... What's your opinion on that?"
"I'm just the will of the Stigmata, an observer of the world. 'Judging right and wrong' has no meaning to me."
"Kevin" said indifferently,
"He's just a pitiful person who tried but ultimately failed, even losing the chance to awaken his Stigmata. You were too harsh on him, it wasn't necessary."
His words revealed some dissatisfaction with Lin Wei.
"Hahahaha, I didn't realize you cared so much about your descendants!"
Lin Wei laughed heartily,
"But there's no helping it. It's not easy to meet you, so I had to resort to this."
"Kevin" was noncommittal and didn't say a word.
"Speaking of which, what I just did should be considered helping him."
Lin Wei pointed at the single horn on Siegfried's forehead and chuckled,
"If I remember correctly, during the Second Honkai Eruption, he needed to inject Meta-Morph ICHOR factors to briefly achieve his current form. But now he achieved it again with just his willpower. Although it's all bark and no bite, it's still progress, right? He might even have a chance to reawaken his Stigmata!"
"...It's difficult."
"Kevin" was silent for a moment, then said.
"Then it's none of my business. I just felt sorry for him and gave him a little help. As for whether he can seize the opportunity, whether he appreciates it, that has nothing to do with me."
Lin Wei glanced at Siegfried and said with a strange expression,
"Speaking of which, this guy is really something. He dared to use a serum that had been buried in the ruins for 50,000 years. Wasn't he afraid it was expired?"
Or perhaps, it had already expired, and it was precisely because of this that the potency of the hypervariable factor was greatly reduced, so he didn't kill himself?
Einstein and Siegfried, one dared to give, and the other dared to use, it was truly amazing!
"..."
Lin Wei's rambling made "Kevin" speechless. After a pause, he decided to change the subject,
"I can't maintain this form for long. If you have something to ask, hurry up."
The will of the Kaslana Stigmata was much gentler and friendlier than Kevin himself.
"Yes, I have something to ask you."
Lin Wei snapped his fingers, and Yae Sakura appeared beside him, silently looking at "Kevin."
"She is a special Stigmata, residing in my body, coexisting with me. For a long time, it was thanks to her protection that I was able to escape death from the Honkai corrosion."
"But perhaps because I don't have Stigmata genes, after our coexistence, my own cells and genes are gradually devouring and absorbing her Stigmata."
Lin Wei said with a serious expression,
"She is a very important friend, even family, to me. I can't tolerate her being harmed like this, especially by me."
"As a fellow will of the Stigmata, and you're the most special, the longest-existing will of the Stigmata, I want to ask, what method can be used to protect her?"
Lin Wei was, after all, just a transmigrator. His understanding of this world was limited. Instead of subjective speculation, it was better to ask for the opinion of a professional.
Lin Wei spoke righteously. Yae Sakura remained calm and silent, but her long ears twitched slightly.
"I'm sorry, I can't help you."
"Kevin" looked deeply at Yae Sakura and shook his head,
"I am a will born from spatial stacking, and my purpose is to guard the Kaslana Stigmata. This lady is different from me. She is an archetype, an existence born before the Stigmata."
"An existence born before the Stigmata?"
Lin Wei suddenly understood. In this world, Yae Sakura existed first, and then the Stigmata she transformed into. Even Yae Village, the Stigmata space, came from her real memories, a manifestation of her most beautiful dreams.
Lin Wei suddenly had a whimsical idea,
"If I were to turn my Stigmata space, which exists in my consciousness, into a real, physical space like your Stigmata space, could that prevent the genetic devouring?"
"A whimsical idea, but impossible to achieve."
"Kevin" gave a cold evaluation.
"Heh, is that so?"
Lin Wei shook his head, also feeling it was somewhat absurd.
Turning a virtual space in consciousness into a real, physical space was no different from a fantasy.
"Heh, let's discuss it later..."
Lin Wei chuckled, put aside his thoughts, and stopped dwelling on it. Then he looked up at "Kevin," who was becoming increasingly faint and transparent, and asked,
"Are you leaving?"
"Yes, time is almost up."
"Kevin" said indifferently.
"Is that so? Then I have another thing I need your help with."
Lin Wei smiled gently and said calmly,
"I want to see the real Kevin. I have something to discuss with him."
Lin Wei's expression was extremely serious,
"I know he can hear me, and I know you can do it. If there are things you can't decide, then let him come personally!"