Mephisto was completely unaware of the threat posed by the Desire Mother Tree.

Whether it was because he was highly compatible with the Desire Mother Tree or because of its unique nature, he was indeed the only Evil God capable of elevating the Human Form to Sequence One.

As far as Chloe was concerned, facing such a monster, no amount of caution was excessive.

On the other hand, Nini, full of curiosity, flew to the child's side.

"What's your name?"

The girl looked at the Treasure Elf with curiosity. After a while, she opened her mouth and said:

"Abigail Stuart."

The eyes of the Treasure Elf shimmered with curiosity, reaching its peak at this moment.

"You are this year's little genius. I've heard of you. They say you resemble Chloe from back then."

This resemblance, of course, wasn't about looks.

It was about her talent and growth speed, which somewhat mirrored the brilliance of Chloe, the top-ranked in the previous year's healing professional.

Upon hearing the Treasure Elf say this, Abigail displayed a shy smile on her face:

"I'm very happy to receive everyone's praise."

Nini closely examined her for a while before flying to Chloe's side and whispering in her ear:

"Strong Fortune had no reaction."

Chloe then realized that Master Nini had gone to help secretly probe again.

What could he say?

He could only treat Nini well.

He rubbed Nini's head and said:

"No need to test her. I have my means of dealing with her."

Directly using words, this woman isn't a good person.

Mephisto is also an old rogue, not afraid of causing trouble.

Listening to Sally, the healing professional mentor, narrate the recent events, he continually made strange chuckling sounds.

"Kids, young people should do what young people are supposed to do, but remember to find a place just for you next time."

Alright, alright.

The freshmen at the school are promising indeed.

Coming up with tricks, then calling him brother.

This made the old rogue somewhat envious.

Damn it.

In his youth, he was also dashing and had sweetheart after sweetheart.

But now he's old.

If he wants to feast his eyes, he can only find some photo books.

It would be a bit disgraceful to get personally involved.

Seeing him, hey, the deputy headmaster of Ethereal Emblem, Alchemy Master Mephisto, pressing on a girl younger than his granddaughter.

Such a reputation would be terrible if spread.

Damn Alfredo, if it weren't for that old guy tricking him into being the deputy headmaster, he could have hidden away doing research, going out to find a demon lady for comfort and fun.

But now, bound by fame, he had many concerns.

That's why he currently envied Chloe.

"All the youth I can't go back to."

Chloe ignored the mischief-making deputy headmaster and instead gathered intel on the girl who claimed to be Abigail.

Abigail, first-year, healing professional.

Awakened Talent: Life Transformation Surgery

Life Transformation Surgery (SSR): You can create a global or hemispherical space, perceive any object within the space, and freely cut, assemble, swap, control, or combine the targets within the space.

According to Nini, the life that had its body cut by Abigail wouldn't die, bleed, or even feel pain.

She could even use this to quickly extract bullets, disease-causing pathogens, and poison, or even replace diseased or necrotic organs using Flesh and Blood Magic to achieve healing.

Even Chloe felt bewildered upon hearing this.

Why does this talent feel a bit like the Surgery Fruit from "One Piece"?

But this further convinced him that this woman definitely had problems.

No matter what Mephisto said, Chloe absolutely didn't believe it.

He hadn't even heard of this woman in the simulation.

There's something fishy about this event.jpg

But Chloe couldn't act yet.

The Otherworld also had laws.

If you directly kill someone, you're breaking the law.

He didn't want to become an outlaw for this woman early on.

Daring to act directly meant knowing she indeed had the scent of the Desire Mother Tree on her.

"So are you and Xiaoke really siblings?"

Nini curiously asked.

The Treasure Elf didn't detect danger, so it had a slightly better impression of the girl.

After all, love by association.

Abigail bit her lower lip and said:

"Not biological siblings, but I truly consider Chloe as my brother; it's just that he seems to not remember me much."

Abigail spoke of past secrets unknown to others.

The story was actually quite simple.

Chloe had signs of awakening [Recovery] at a very young age.

Children from the slums, in harsh survival conditions.

For a time, to survive, Chloe hung around with some other children from the slums for a while.

Abigail said in a low voice:

"It's not that children can't do evil; living in such a place, there are many who will resort to any means to survive.

Starved rabbits can bite people, let alone children.

The village where I originally lived became an occupied zone; I had just arrived there, and Chloe brother helped me a lot."

The Treasure Elf looked at her prized student, as she had never inquired about Xiaoke's past.

Out of fear of touching old wounds.

Nini was like that.

Carefully protecting Chloe, afraid he might suffer even a little harm.

And Chloe...

He was trying to sift through his past memories.

He had some control over his memories.

Of course, that didn't include the memories from the simulation.

Rephya's simulation system consisted of text simulation combined with certain scene simulations.

The memories brought about by scene simulation were naturally clear enough.

But because text simulation couldn't detail specifics and accelerated the timeline madly, the intelligence garnered from it contained lethal holes.

This was different from Chloe, who directly started a second life using the simulation system.

But even Chloe faced problems.

If Rephya's text simulation phase skipped through the timeline too quickly, an influx of information in a short time would brain-fry him.

And the body, based on its instinct for self-protection, would directly block out the excessive information.

Those excessive pieces of information would be treated like waste and wouldn't leave a trace in the mind.

Only highly relevant content to oneself would be protected and preserved perfectly, due to the overbearing nature of the Blessed with Many Children System.

[True Experience Master]

This refers to him.

But in any case, the advanced application optimization of [Recovery] could directly and precisely alter memory.

If he couldn't manipulate memory, he wouldn't have been able to thwart the Flesh and Blood Hermitage.

But as he accessed his childhood memories, his expression changed slightly.

Because, in his memory, there indeed existed a girl named Abigail.

Some memories which he had willingly forgotten began to flow out under the guidance of [Optimization].

Rainy night, carriage, slum.

The forgotten past poured out.

You can never imagine how malicious children living in such environments can be.

Back then, Chloe mingled with the kids out of a notion of [banding together for survival].

Among those who joined at the same time was a girl.

She claimed to be a lucky escapee from a nearby fallen area.

Perhaps scared, she spoke slowly and softly.

The young Chloe wasn't very optimistic about such a girl.

He felt she wouldn't survive long in the slum.

However, perhaps because they joined at the same time, the girl named Abigail trusted him a bit more.

She would often follow behind him like a little shadow.

Maybe because of memories from a previous life, even without Awakening Innate Wisdom, he was more mature than his peers.

One day he and Abigail were begging on the street.

They happened to encounter a noble's entourage.

"The lord is kind-hearted, he can't stand seeing the poor," although this was said with sarcasm, those who have truly witnessed suffering are still easily touched.

—So many nobles choose to turn a blind eye to suffering.

But there are always exceptions.

Unintentionally, as if wandering like lost souls, the two of them caught a noblewoman's attention on the city's outskirts.

"Oh, what pitiful children."

The woman's voice came, then she took out two Suler pennies from her bag, placing one into his and the girl's hands.

However, Chloe immediately snatched the Suler penny from Abigail's hand and handed it back to the noblewoman.

The noblewoman was quite startled:

"Child, this Suler is enough for you two to live happily for several months."

But Chloe said:

"Madam, this is the Outer City of Tias, a slum."

"So don't you need these more?" The noblewoman said, looking puzzled at the Sulers in her hand.

"Because this is Tias, a gray area even the nobles find hard to manage. If people knew we had such a fortune, by the next day our bodies might be found in a gutter."

"A fortune?"

The noblewoman's voice was incredulous: "2 Suler pennies?"

"Yes." Chloe looked towards the cold slum and said, "Because this is Tias..."

As it turns out, even without this fortune,

he and Abigail were targeted.

That was three days after returning the Suler pennies.

A kid gang member, who witnessed Chloe returning the tip, secretly contacted a slave trader.

"There are two good specimens in the slum. I'll take you to capture them. They're good-looking and will definitely fetch a high price."

But he didn't notice that hidden in the shadows, Chloe was covering the panicked Abigail with his hand, listening quietly to everything.

Since the day the noblewoman gave her Suler pennies, he'd noticed someone in the kid gang watching him.

Chloe survived by being inherently cautious.

So that caution saved both his and Abigail's lives.

He set up a counter-trap.

No need to elaborate on the specifics, just know that the outcome was—

The ones trying to trick him not only failed to sell him for a high price, but they themselves were sold off instead.

That night, rain poured heavily and the cold wind howled.

Abigail curled up in his arms, cold raindrops falling on his neck.

"Why are you still crying?"

Chloe sighed.

"Brother, I want to leave the slum."

Abigail's voice was distorted by her choking.

A faint glow shimmered from her body.

Back then, he didn't know.

That was the light of the Raw Stone.

Not yet polished, but already showing promise; it sounded great, but...

Usually, Raw Stones which activate talents prematurely have undergone significant trauma.

Extraordinary Power granted Abigail strength beyond reason, yet it couldn't make her heart invulnerable.

One day later.

He took Abigail to the river, cleaned her up, and dressed her in a tattered little dress they found somewhere.

"Stay here today, and when you see the lord's carriage, timidly ask for some food as usual."

Abigail wiped her face, frightened as she looked at the fierce expression on Chloe.

He said, "I'm going to get something. Behave and beg for some food from them, then bring it to me."

Then, without turning back, he led the old yellow dog into the night.

He never saw that girl again.

…

He pinched the bridge of his nose.

Was such a person real?

Abigail gazed at him dreamily and said:

"Brother, can you remember? Is Victor still by your side now?"

Chloe fell into silence.

Victor was the name of the old yellow dog.

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