Chapter 2881 - 2876: That’s My Name
Chapter 2881: Chapter 2876: That’s My Name
This hairstyle... really is dangerous.
Yeah. When he turned around, Fu Qian not only saw a Red Moon who seemed more normal than before, he also saw more Red Moons.
On the Half-step Moon, desolate as far as the eye could see, nothing but shards of rock and sand, some sitting, some standing, some squatting, some lying down—one Red Moon after another was looking his way.
No matter if their postures were normal or twisted, the smiles at the corners of their mouths were all so unified, you couldn’t see a single impurity.
Honestly it was a really reassuring smile. If a kid came home and saw that expression, nine times out of ten they’d already be happily wondering what’s for dinner.
But too many people cooking is a different kind of problem.
To the point that even Fu Qian, who’s always been about "no taboos whatsoever," could feel, in that moment, just how powerful a single-side ponytail really was.
"Mom" didn’t seem to have gotten better—something had gone wrong.
Figures. Pure surprise wouldn’t be this unable to sit still, directly hauling him over.
"I’d actually planned to stop drinking, and then an elder insisted on treating me to one more glass."
Feeling complicated inside, Fu Qian put on a smiling face while earnestly explaining why he’d been messing around at a bar this late.
When "Mom" makes a surprise without asking first, it can be heartwarming.
But the fact that she can decisively ask for help when she’s in trouble is even more comforting.
"You’ve grown up..."
And true to that image, the young guy who came home late and drunk tossed out a random excuse and successfully obtained Red Moon’s forgiveness.
Her gaze never left Fu Qian. Red Moon’s smile grew richer; she even gave off the kind of emotion you get when a child can finally shoulder things on their own, as if she were saying that he no longer needed to report in about drinking.
Well yeah... it’s not just my age and Ranking, I’ve even climbed all the way up to full professor at the Academy, okay?
Thinking he’d completely gotten her meaning, Fu Qian blinked.
"Tilani?"
...
They say once you’re an adult, calling your mother by her real name can successfully trigger motherly love like in childhood.
Turns out that might actually be true.
The moment that particular name left his mouth, everything around him went quiet.
The hundreds of soft calls cut off abruptly, and even the smiles on their faces were put away.
"Tilani..."
Only after a few moments of silence did someone start to repeat it first, muttering under her breath.
The one in front of him even directly squatted down and wrapped her arms around her knees, as if the weight of that name was a bit too much to bear.
"Yes... Tilani."
But it didn’t last long. Soon she’d raised her head again to look at Fu Qian, her gaze now firm.
"That’s my name."
So it really is...
That kind of makes it clear what’s going on here.
There was real weight in that look; it made Fu Qian sigh deeply in his heart.
Of course he wasn’t itching for a beating. Since Red Moon had run into trouble, the first thing was to figure out where that trouble came from.
And for Fu Qian, the guess came to him almost instantly.
The new variables that had appeared lately—there were clearly two most notable ones.
The first is naturally what he’d just mentioned: the major discovery in the Archipelago.
The relationship between the Original Moon and the First Generation Dark Moon, and the possible connection between the Island Dream Remnant and Annalise...
As the current symbol of the moon, it’s perfectly normal for the earlier commotion and the shattering of the Dream to trigger some reaction in Red Moon.
The second point, of course, is this name obtained during the last mission: "Tilani."
Especially given that right after finishing that mission and walking out of the warehouse, he’d even shouted it toward the sky once.
At the time there hadn’t seemed to be any response, and he’d even felt a bit let down.
Is it possible there actually was a response, and Red Moon just didn’t rush to let him know?
To be blunt, between these two, Fu Qian actually leans more toward the second, which is why he opened with using the name as a probe.
And his reasoning doesn’t even involve anything as high-end as Wisdom of the Divine—it’s just the simplest logic: efficiency.
He raised his head then and glanced up at the sky. Under the veil of crimson moonlight, yet another graceful figure was descending from above, toes lightly touching down on the rough rubble.
The number of "Mothers" increased by one.
That’s right—"Tilani" was still continuously being birthed from that moonlight, as if it would never stop.
And regardless of what that means, just judging by the speed in front of him, he could do a basic production-efficiency calculation.
The conclusion was that to accumulate this terrifying number, there was almost no way it had started tonight.
By contrast, starting from when he shouted that name—that felt much more reasonable.
...
So the consequences of calling "Mom" by her real name are really this serious? This reaction is a bit over the top.
As Fu Qian swiftly sorted through his thoughts, the words "That’s my name" still echoed nonstop.
On one hand, this was obviously a major breakthrough: his speculation about the relationship between Annalise and Red Moon had gained explicit confirmation from the person involved.
And naturally, all the related conjectures came along for the ride.
Like Annalise’s Death Words, like the origin of the Archipelago’s Divine Dream.
On this evening steeped in alcohol, the Moon History Record was actually still being filled in.
On the other hand, Red Moon had finally recalled her true name with his prompting. That sounds like good news, but her reaction seemed a bit excessive.
What she was doing right now looked like an attempt to break free from the constraints of the "moon."
And she might have started the moment she heard that name.
Her Spirit, already in complete disarray from Annalise’s "pollution," had finally grabbed onto some kind of anchor and begun trying to purify itself.
The problem is, in theory this is a chronic affliction that’s lasted for a thousand years.
Methods that are too fierce might be more than her shattered body and mind can withstand.
That seemed to be exactly what they were seeing now.
One way or another, there was no way Fu Qian could interpret this as Red Moon having succeeded—or having succeeded many times over.
These "Mothers," each of whom seemed capable of some degree of communication, were clearly failures.
And regardless of who exactly had extended the invitation just now, whether they truly meant to share joy or not, it could all be read as a call for help after stepping into some extreme crisis.
The time left to him might not be much.
Between Annalise and Tilani there should originally have been some kind of balance.
Once that balance was broken, Red Moon, because of her obsession with that face of hers, was very likely pushed into total collapse instead.
And of course, the one who’d called her by her full name—himself—would be the chief culprit behind this tragedy.
And this wasn’t even his only way of screwing over "Mom"—
At a certain moment, Fu Qian’s gaze fell on the Red Moon hanging overhead.
He could vaguely make out those vein-like patterns with traces of something biological in them.
And notably, one of the round marks representing the King of Ye Island had now vanished.
The tonic he’d fed "Mother" seemed to have finally been fully digested by her.