Chapter 22: The brisk daily life is always disrupted

"[■■Month 27th, 34 stars. Today is the celebration of the Sixth Herrscher subjugation war. Although some accidents occurred because of Dr. Mobius, we still had a lot of fun.

　　Sakura is very beautiful, and Elysia is also very beautiful. In comparison, I haven't paid much attention to my appearance... Maybe I can go shopping with them in the future?

　　There will probably be some weird rumors in the base tomorrow... I just hope those people won't be caught by Dr. Mobius, otherwise I will definitely go over to help... But I'd better not go, otherwise I'll be forced to go on the operating table again.

　　But I promised Hen that I would go see Griseo, and I can't go... I always feel like tomorrow will be unlucky.

　　There is another mission to kill the poisonous pupa in two days, but this time it is not to kill it but to directly hand it over to the poisonous pupa personnel, saying that it will be taken to a place "deep"... It's a bit disgusting, and it's easy to think of bad things. ]

　　Xiwang paused for a moment, poured out another candy from the candy box, put it in his mouth, changed the number to [35], and continued writing.

　　[The tasks given by the Poison Pupa recently are a bit strange and are gradually becoming less and less... Even the sugar supply is less, and it seems that the amount given to me is limited. However, the tasks given by the Fire Moth are increasing, and they are becoming more and more dangerous. ]

　　Having written this, Xiwang paused for a moment, and after going over his clues and inferences in his mind, he wrote down as if to confirm.

　　[…May be abandoned, of course, after all, they have other alternatives.

　　I should be assigned to the Herrscher's expedition team from next time on, and officially face the core of the disaster... Fortunately, Sakura is now directly under the team of Dr. Mobius and Dr. Mei, and is only a nominal member of the Poison Pupa, so she doesn't have to worry about being transferred away.

　　If you think about it carefully, there is nothing wrong with being included in the expedition team. At least I will be closer to Elysia.]

　　Xiwang paused for a moment, his adjutant and members of his team flashing through his mind.

　　Once, because of his and Sakura's "special combat method", although their team suffered casualties, it was very few compared to other teams. After all, the real combat was done by him and Sakura in advance, and the team members could only serve as rescue and support personnel, and do logistics and so on. The atmosphere in the team was not loving, but at least harmonious. Many people even joked in their spare time, "They are just a burden to the two captains. Why don't we just merge them into a rescue team and let the two captains have their own team."

　　Now, Sakura's team was taken over by others. After participating in several Honkai operations, they died one after another and were replaced by newcomers. Xiwang's own team was directly wiped out in a wave in the [Sixth Herrscher Subjugation Campaign], and he was the only one left.

　　This does not mean that those team members are incompetent or lazy in combat. On the contrary, they are very brave. Even when they received missions with extremely low survival rates, they never questioned them and never ran away.

　　Having lived from the early outbreak of Honkai until now, they knew very well what they were facing, but they never retreated - and then they all died, died in heroic battles, and more were infected by Honkai while trying to save others and finally sacrificed their lives.

　　By the way, Xiwang still remembers that one of his team members once asked him for a candy with a smile when he was lying on the ground waiting to die after being infected with Honkai, saying that he "wanted to taste the candy that the captain eats all day long"... Of course, Xiwang didn't give it to him, but only fulfilled his last wish - Xiwang personally killed him, allowing him to die painlessly as a human being.

　　There was another person who used to be in Sakura's team. If I remember correctly, she should be the last person in Sakura's team. She was also carried back, and was gossiping with others in the ward about "the progress of her captain and Captain Xiwang"... Then she died the next day because of the spread of Honkai, and her body was recovered by Dr. Mobius for research.

　　They are all dead... Because of the collapse, there are only a few familiar people left.

　　Xi Wang closed his eyes and calmed himself down. When he opened his eyes again, his eyes had returned to their usual calmness like water. He wrote last.

　　[I will Survive.]

　　Hiss——"

He skillfully tore off two pieces of paper and burned them, then took out a cherry blossom-shaped pink candy from the cherry-colored bag and threw it into his mouth along with the ashes.

——————————

[Although you don't want to admit it, the death of your team members still left a deep impression on you, and it also made you more determined not to be defeated by Honkai... You will survive and will never die in any battle against Honkai.]

[The next day, although you were reluctant to enter Mobius's laboratory, you had to fulfill your promise, so you ended up going there with Mr. and Mrs. Hen.]

[Here you also met an acquaintance—Kosma. He and another team member, Dystopia, occasionally come to look after Griseo. After you came, Griseo also ran briskly to her parents and greeted you obediently.]

[It's strange to say, but Griseo seems to like you very much as if there is something about you that attracts her. Sometimes Hen would tease Griseo that she is closer to you than to them… Naturally, Blanca rolled her eyes at this statement, and Griseo responded with a puzzled look.]

[But this is just a joke between friends. After all, Hen has noticed that you, like Kosma, are the type of people who really like children and are especially gentle with young children. Therefore, they don't object to Griseo getting close to you... They just didn't expect that you would be so close with Griseo.]

[Of course, this will also lead to another problem... Mobius will be particularly "interested" in you, and this interest is different from the interest of "wanting to catch you and study you on the operating table." It is a slightly sour and hostile interest... Especially when Griseo chose to get close to you first and then return to her side between you and her, her "interest" in you will be even stronger.]

[Maybe this is why she wanted to get you on the operating table so badly?]

[Ah... But after what happened last night, Mobius's "offensive" has become more obvious. Although she hasn't resorted to outrageous methods such as "filling your room with hypnotic gas at night," "putting a sack on your back while you're walking," or "mixing sleeping pills into your food," she is indeed getting bolder and bolder, or... her interest in you is getting stronger.]

[By the way, the things mentioned above are all true. Mobius really used them. Although the parties involved were fine in the end, such brutal methods are still scary. I just don't know why she didn't use these methods on you... Maybe it's because she is a good person?]

[Also, as expected, a series of outrageous rumors began to circulate in the Fire Moth, such as "Captain Wang's tragic battle with three women," "Dr. Mobius forcefully declared sovereignty," "Captain Wang, Mobius, Sakura, and Elysia's one night."]

[By the way, the mastermind of the last rumor mentioned above was caught by you within just ten minutes of his appearance. Then, he was hung in the training room for the whole day with a sign saying "I shouldn't talk nonsense" and became a new source of fun among the Fire Moths.]

[Things gradually returned to normal after that. You kept going back and forth between missions and resting in the base. At most, you were dragged by Elysia to meet other people and do some interesting things... at least things that were interesting to Elysia.]

[For example, go to Mobius's laboratory to tease the owner of the laboratory and suggest that she change into a pink skirt or something.]

[But the other party is obviously more "interested" in you. Maybe because she can't win against Elysia verbally, she has set her sights on you?]

[Or you can watch Vill-V's wonderful magic show in her workshop and ask her to make some weird or wonderful gadgets.]

[It's just that you don't quite understand why this person who is supposed to be an "engineer" is so keen on magic… But her magic show is really good to watch. It would be even better if she didn't drag you up to be a "lucky audience member."]

[Then you are invited by Sakura and a few other friends to have a small tea party, and then go shopping together.]

[Although you don't know why you, a man, are dragged into a tea party that is attended by almost only girls, but since Elysia and Sakura are there, you have no reason to object... Maybe it's just to have someone to carry their bags when they go shopping later?]

[You can see that Elysia is trying to help you expand your social circle, but the effect doesn't seem to be ideal... But you are still very grateful to her, so you don't resist.]

[You know she is trying to help you, so you didn't refuse her request, nor did you want to refuse it.]

[It was also during this peaceful and brisk day that the Seventh Great Honkai suddenly broke out.]

——————————

Snap——

He struggled to take out the candy box that was almost stuck to his combat uniform from his pocket, opened it skillfully, and tried to pour out the candy inside. However, after experiencing the horrific high temperature just now, although there was no problem with the candy box itself, the candies inside were stuck to each other. In the end, Xi Wang had to unscrew the lid of the candy box to take out the sticky candy, and threw one into his mouth.

Then, Xi Wang glanced at the sword that he had discarded and had completely melted, then looked at the familiar fiery red figure hovering in the air in the distance. He calmly took the new communicator and pressed the communication button.

"This is Wang. My weapon has been melted and my equipment has been damaged. I can't continue the mission. The other long-range weapons of the team can't cause effective attacks. I request to retreat."

"Received. Request for retreat rejected. Now immediately cooperate with other teams to carry out rescue operations in the surrounding area."

"...Understood."

Xi Wang responded calmly and then gestured to his new team members.

"As you have heard, we cannot leave. We need to continue our rescue mission, and headquarters will not be coming to pick us up for the time being."

"How so…"

"Of course, there aren't many people who can survive in this situation. It's just that it's very troublesome to search for them, and the Honkai energy will continue to rise because of the existence of the Herrscher... In short, it's easy to die if you continue to stay here."

"......"

Looking at their timid expressions, as if they wanted to say something but didn't know how Xi Wang spoke casually.

"If you want to escape, just go ahead. Remember to report back to the base afterward. I won't report you. After all, we all just want to survive."

"......"

They looked at each other, as if surprised that Xi Wang would say that. After a brief hesitation, one of them began to move slowly, and after confirming that you had no opinion, he immediately turned around and ran away.

Once the first person took the lead, everyone else soon left and scattered.

"......"

Xi Wang watched the last team member leave, then calmly withdrew his gaze and looked again at the Seventh Herrscher who was not moving in the distance. He turned around and began to search outward with the Herrscher as the center and a radius of two streets, gradually moving away from the Herrscher—the temperature near the Herrscher was too high, and the combat uniform could not bear it.

But unfortunately, he did not find any survivors. This place was too close to the Herrscher. Ordinary people would basically die if they were exposed to such a high concentration of Honkai energy without special protection. Even if they did not die immediately, they would be burned to death by the flames caused by the Seventh Herrscher.

Trapped in a small space, surrounded by scorching flames, the only oxygen they have is taken away by the flames, and they eventually fall into a coma, with their bodies devoured by flames in the darkness, or they are discovered by wandering Honkai beasts and die in fear of those monsters. The wailing sounds are only heard briefly, and silence returns in a moment.

Every time this happens, we should sigh at how lucky those people who are not resistant to Honkai are. They can simply die when Honkai breaks out, without any pain and without having to struggle for survival.

"…This is Wang. No survivors have been found in the five streets near the Herrscher. I am applying for temporary retirement. When will the follow-up support arrive? I need weapons."

"Received. The support troops will arrive within half an hour, along with the weapons you need. You can now go to this location (a string of coordinates) to rest and search for the survivors of the Fifth Squad nearby. Also, please keep an eye on the movements of the Seventh Herrscher and report any abnormalities immediately."

"…Is there anyone still alive in Himeko's team?"

"Yes, Hua, a member of the Fifth Squad, was last seen here (a string of coordinates). According to our speculation, she should still be staying nearby."

"Hua... Got it. I'll move towards the target point now."

Xi Wang raised his eyebrows, feeling a little surprised... Facing the Herrscher's explosion at such a close distance, she was able to retreat to this position in the end. She was really amazing.

As for why there was no subsequent contact with the Fire Moth, this is not very important. After all, anything can happen on the battlefield of Honkai, and it is normal for communications to be damaged due to special circumstances.

After obtaining permission to temporarily retreat and rest, Xi Wang quickly moved towards the target point, while also keeping an eye on the movements of the Seventh Herrscher.

"......"

However, the Seventh Herrscher did not move. Instead, she stayed quietly where she was, floating in the air without moving. If the flames around her were not still active and the high-temperature area was not getting wider and wider, people would probably think she was asleep in mid-air.

I thought she would be like she was at the dance before, with passionate emotions, igniting the emotions of the people around her like a flame, driving everyone's passion, but retaining her own tenderness at the critical moment... just like a flame, the outer flame is hot, while the inner flame is gentle.

But I didn't expect that after becoming a Herrscher, she would become so quiet, so quiet that it was completely opposite to the nature of the power she displayed, so quiet that it was completely different from her past self... Maybe this is the Honkai.

Xi Wang withdrew his gaze temporarily.

[Seventh Herrscher Himeko]... I never thought that we were partners fighting side by side some time ago, but in the blink of an eye, we became enemies and one of the sources of disaster. It's really sad.

If possible, let her die a little more peacefully. At least she will feel less guilty for killing the people and her companions... if she can still feel this emotion.

But then again…

Xi Wang raised his head slightly and looked at the huge ruins... This used to be a huge building, but now it has become ruins, and flames are still raging around it.

That seems to be the landmark building here, right? It's called the "Australian Dome". The famous star Eden seems to have held a concert here... but I don't know if she's still alive.

Snap——

He gave himself another candy. The sticky feeling left on his hands was annoying, but there was nothing he could do. It was a good thing that the sugar didn't melt directly at this temperature. At this moment, Xi Wang was extremely glad that he accepted Elysia's suggestion and asked Vill-V to make a better candy box, otherwise he might not be able to eat it in this battle.

That somewhat neurotic magician is still useful sometimes... I'll prepare a return gift for her when I get back.

Of course, he knew why Elysia had made this suggestion at the time, but because of this, he did not ask Vill-V to modify the old candy box, but directly asked her to make a new one.

As for the old candy box, it was returned to Du Pupa for them to recycle. After all, there were traces of "sugar" left in it, and Du Pupa didn't want others to know about this kind of thing... This would also prevent it from being obtained by Elysia.

This is the only thing Xi Wang will not let Elysia get... absolutely not.

Not even Sakura.

After replenishing himself with a wave of "sugar," Xi Wang temporarily interrupted his ever-diverging thoughts and began to search around the ruins, looking for shelters that might hide people. He was quite good at this.

Soon, he faintly heard a long sigh.