Chapter 204: Hehe

When she came to her senses, Chang Ye Yue had already let go of her hand, naturally pulled out a chair, and sat down beside them.

She leaned the Black Umbrella against her leg, interlaced her hands on her knees, poised elegantly, her crimson eyes calmly looking at Du Ya, as if the handshake just now were nothing more than an ordinary courtesy.

Du Ya only then jolted awake, recoiling their hand like a shock, cold sweat instantly seeping down their back.

She glanced at the expressionless A Xing across from her, then at the inscrutably smiling crimson-eyed girl beside her, and felt an Absurd sensation surge straight toward the Heavenly Spirit Dome.

Du Ya's mind at this moment was as if a herd of ten thousand alpacas rushed through, wildly spamming countless question marks like a barrage.

She felt as if she were having a bizarre nightmare.

Perhaps the stimulus was too intense, perhaps a dark sense of humor honed over years of licking the blade's blood was triggered under extreme pressure; Du Ya, watching this hyper‑surreal scene, felt the taut facial muscles suddenly twist uncontrollably, and then, with a "Pfft", let out a low laugh.

The laugh was short, tinged with self‑mockery.

That abrupt laugh made Chang Ye Yue tilt her head slightly, her crimson eyes precisely focusing on Du Ya's face, the faint smile still hanging at the corner of her mouth.

"What are you laughing at?"

Chang Ye Yue asked softly, her tone revealing no joy or anger.

"He… hehe…"

Du Ya forced a few dry laughs, raised a hand to brace their forehead, shielding most of their expression and trying to hide the recent slip, "It's nothing, really nothing."

She strained to make her voice sound normal, "I just suddenly thought… the private island I was going to take a loan to buy not long ago seems to have had a dip in the market these past two days, the price dropped a bit… I'm just a little pleased."

She casually tossed out the reason she cared most about, trying to gloss it over.

"Is that so?"

Chang Ye Yue's voice remained gentle; she lifted the ice‑cold black coffee in front of Du Ya on the table, as if merely glancing at it before setting it back, her gaze returning to Du Ya's face, "Miss Du Ya, you'd better… be a bit more careful."

She paused; within her crimson pupils a faint light seemed to swirl, the curve of her mouth becoming subtly nuanced, and she said each word clearly:

"Never let it be destroyed, okay."

"Boom—!"

This sentence, like a clap of thunder, exploded in Du Ya's ears!

The fake smile on her face froze instantly, then shattered piece by piece.

The fingers holding her forehead tightened sharply, the nails nearly digging into the skin.

Under the hood's shadow, the eyes—previous emotions—all at this moment were replaced by sheer horror!

"The island… destroyed…"

This phrase, like a poisoned Ice Cone, hammered deep into the secret at the bottom of her heart!

In the Original Worldline, Du Ya's private island was indeed destroyed by Honkai!

Yet the Chang Ye Yue before her, a character from the Beng Tie Universe who, in theory, could never know this "future" existence, how could she speak with such precise and meaningful tone?!

(She knows… she knows I'm a transmigrator?! She knows what the original "Du Ya" will experience?! Is it because of the handshake just now… Memory Probe?! Right, the power of "Memory" destiny, Chang Ye Yue might also… no, it could just be coincidence? She just said it offhand, am I being too sensitive? Yes, it must be so, I must not lose my composure!)

Du Ya's heart roiled with turbulent waves, countless thoughts clashing wildly.

As a transmigrator, she had guarded this secret cautiously for years, having already fully merged herself into the role of Natasha Xiora.

She refused to believe it, and refused to accept it; her greatest trump card could be so easily uncovered in a bizarre meeting, a brief handshake!

She inhaled slowly, forcing herself to stay calm.

The stiff expression on her face struggled to reassemble, trying to squeeze out a more natural smile.

She slowly lowered her head, avoiding Chang Ye Yue's gaze that seemed able to pierce any disguise, and said hoarsely:

"How could that be… Miss Chang Yeyue, stop joking."

She tried to steer the conversation back to normal, "The place I chose was thoroughly vetted, the scenery is beautiful, the location safe, how could it be… destroyed? Hehe…"

The last two dry laughs were pale and feeble.

Then she heard Chang Ye Yue's voice, still in that gentle tone, yet it slithered into her ear like a cold snake:

"But I've never… actually said that I'm called 'Chang Ye Yue'."

"!!!"

Du Ya's lowered head jolted abruptly, the whole body seemed to freeze in an instant.

(…Ah!)

She frantically recalled the brief exchange just now—Chang Ye Yue walked over, said "Hello" to A Xing, then to herself "Hello, Miss Du Ya, right?", shook hands, sat down… from start to finish, she never gave any self‑introduction!

She never said her own name!

The name 'Chang Ye Yue' was entirely a subconscious output the moment she saw the other's image, based on her knowledge of the Honkai Star Rail abbreviation Plot!

Cold sweat instantly soaked Du Ya's back, icy and sticky.

Neglected! A fatal oversight!

Because the impact of the other's image was too great, because the Absurd of 'Chang Ye Yue' appearing here was so strong, she completely ignored the most basic vigilance!

She directly assigned a "type" to the other in her mind, even blurted it out!

Now, that fatal flaw was lightly seized by the other, and… pointed out.

Du Ya could feel Chang Ye Yue's crimson gaze landing on her lowered crown like a tangible presence, with scrutiny, with playfulness, and with a cat‑chasing‑mouse kind of inquisitiveness.

At her ear came Chang Ye Yue's gentle yet undeniable voice, this time seeming a bit closer:

"So, dear Miss Du Ya…"

Her voice carried a perfectly timed curiosity, but underneath a cold undercurrent, "Can you tell me… where… you learned this name from?"

Du Ya's throat seemed blocked by something, stammering, unable for a long moment to utter a complete syllable.

Clearly, after years of crawling and rolling in this dangerous world, having grown from initial bewilderment into an elite mercenary of the World Snake, having witnessed Honkai's cruelty, having carried out countless perilous missions, she thought her heart had long been forged as hard as iron.

Yet at this moment, under the calm stare of the crimson-eyed girl and her seemingly casual question, she suddenly felt herself revert to the rookie who had just transmigrated into this world, terrified of everything and at a loss.

An intense sense of helplessness seized her—had she changed nothing all these years?

Could the adaptation and growth she thought she had be still so vulnerable before true "abnormalities"?

She smiled self‑deprecatingly.

Then, as if giving up a futile struggle, she slowly lifted her head, and a calm smile of resignation appeared on her face.

She glanced at the still‑silent A Xing across from her, then at the quietly waiting Chang Ye Yue beside her.

(Forget it… forcing it will only look worse. Better…)

She let out a light sigh and said in as relaxed a tone as possible, "Alas, there's nothing I can do. I have this occupational habit—being overly serious about everything. When it comes to information about relevant members in the organization, I always like to get a feel for it in advance, know it inside out; that's also for the Task's smooth progress, after all."

She tried to attribute "knowing Chang Ye Yue" to her "professional competence" and "intelligence‑gathering ability" as an excellent mercenary.

Even though she herself found that excuse absurdly far‑fetched.

Yet she still had to struggle a bit.

She could not accept that the "transmigrator" identity she had guarded for so long, treating it as her greatest secret and final trump card, was exposed in such a ludicrous meeting in this childish manner. She was unwilling to concede.

"Oh?"

Chang Ye Yue's eyebrows lifted slightly, a flicker of amusement like hearing a funny joke crossing her crimson eyes, "Is that so? Then Miss Du Ya really is a… 'serious' person."

She enunciated the word "serious" with a slightly bite, the playful tone almost unmasked.

Du Ya twitched the corner of her mouth, striving to keep the professional mercenary's expression: "Not at all, please don't be embarrassed."

She felt her smile about to freeze on her face, and the cold sweat on her back had already chilled through.