Chapter 14: It turns out that the sky cannot be touched...

　[Time flies by so fast. The conversation between Elysia and Sakura can only be regarded as a small episode. However at the end of that conversation, Sakura did not tell Elysia the story of your experience with her, such as the emotional transformation or the heart-beating moment. After all, as Elysia herself said, she wanted to treasure the memories with you... But after that, the relationship between Sakura and Elysia improved a lot.]

　　[But now all this is irrelevant. After all, the Honkai... to be precise, the Third Great Honkai Eruption has arrived, and the place where it appeared happened to be Sakura's hometown - Far East.]

　　[You all take your respective teams to rescue... Although in the place where the Great Honkai occurred, there are actually very few people who can be saved even though it is called "rescue"]

　　[Most people are either directly corroded by Honkai energy and turned into monsters, or are harmed by humans who have turned into monsters, and then turn into the same or similar monsters. Very few people can survive.]

　　[Not to mention the difficult-to-handle Honkai beasts. Even you "soldiers" have to handle them with extreme caution.]

　　[However, fortunately, the missions you and Sakura received were mainly to "clean up the Honkai", and you guys happened to be good at this. As for the rescue missions and the more dangerous "killing the Third Herrscher" missions, they were handled by other teams.]

　　[This is not difficult for you, especially for you and Sakura. On the battlefield, you killed the Honkai creatures at an absurd speed. Your team members could not keep up with your speed at all, and even made them think "Are they a burden to you two?" so that in the end they turned to help the rescue team to save people.]

　　[As for you and Sakura, you strolled along this somewhat familiar street, dealing with the wandering Honkai creatures while looking at the destruction of everything familiar... Of course, if you find any survivors, you will directly report the location to the rescue team and let them take over, while the two of you continue to advance and try to clear the nearby streets.]

　　[Although sakura left here early because of you and moved to Mu Continent with rin, she couldn't help feeling sad when she saw her hometown destroyed.]

　　[Countless people died, the streets were reduced to ruins, the cherry blossoms that should have been in full bloom were pushed down and trampled by wandering Honkai beasts, and everything that was once familiar and unfamiliar was completely destroyed.]

　　[At this moment, Sakura deeply realized what you were about to face, and was determined not to let rin encounter such danger.]

　　[Unlike Sakura, you didn't have too many feelings. You just showed some sadness when you saw Sakura, Elysia, and many other colleagues were sad about this scene, but that was all. It can be said that it was quite perfunctory.]

　　[After all, this is not your hometown, nor is it your home - besides, you don't have a place that can be called "home". You have seen too much of the withering of life over the years, and you have become accustomed to the strong smell of blood a long time ago.]

　　[For you, only Elysia and Sakura are worthy of your attention. The others... don't matter. They are not important.]

　　[The Third Great Collapse lasted for about three days. The Third Herrscher Crusade was completed on the afternoon of the first day. Although there were heavy casualties, you finally won. The remaining two days were spent dealing with the aftermath. After all, the scope of this Great Honkai was too large. Not only did it cover the entire Far East, but even several cities along the coast of East Asia were affected. We have to let you spend more energy to deal with it.]

　　[This great collapse also made the top leaders of the Fire Moth realize that they must start recruiting people and expanding the organization. After all, according to current speculation, such disasters will continue to occur.]

　　[But after that, who should lead the increasingly powerful Fire Moths, and who will have more say... that is something that needs to be discussed separately.]

　　[Of course, those have nothing to do with you for now. After all, we have just achieved a major victory, and as frontline soldiers you should celebrate. In addition, there are new people joining us, so we naturally have to hold a big enough welcome party.]

　　[Well… although those new recruits still have necessary training to go through before they officially join, who knows why they happened to run into you guys who are holding a celebration party? So of course you pulled them in to get familiar with them! ]

　　[You saw a familiar figure among the new recruits. It was the boy who sat next to you at the Eden concert. He seemed to have some impression of you, but he couldn't remember who you were - this was understandable, after all, it had been quite some time since the concert.]

　　[As for the reason why he came to Chase the Fire Moth, it was honestly a little funny - he came here to chase his girlfriend. When hearing this answer, several people present laughed out loud, and even thought he was joking. Of course, when everyone knew who his girlfriend was, they expressed admiration instead.]

　　[After all, she is a super "genius" praised by many experts and doctors - Mei]

　　[At the same time, there is a slightly younger girl in the team of new recruits. Her gray hair in ponytail is also quite conspicuous. Although her eyes are confused, they still look firm. Even though she knows that this is a welcome party, she subconsciously maintains a serious expression and stands straight. You subconsciously look at this girl twice, and think that she will be a good soldier in the future.]

　　[she was just too nervous. she seemed to have no experience in this kind of gathering. she was trying his best to behave "appropriately", but she was obviously stiff... This kid probably doesn't have many friends.]

　　[Hmm... I heard that it was the survivor brought back by Himeko, the captain of the fifth squad. If it was Himeko, that wouldn't be bad. With such a "passionate" captain leading her, I believe she will make a lot of friends in the future... maybe?]

　[Ah, here I have to mention this celebration, which is also an interesting story at the welcome party - because of the habits of most people, this celebration is still held in the form of a "dance party". Since it is a "dance party", there is naturally dancing.]

　　[And then... many people saw you showing an extremely tangled and embarrassed expression after being invited by both Sakura and Elysia, which made everyone laugh at the same time as they were amazed.]

　　[After that, there was a rumor that you were two-timing... If you find out who said that again, you must tie his tongue into a knot and then stuff it down his throat.]

　　[But as I said before, happy times are always short-lived. After a day of revelry, everyone must return to their posts and conduct adequate training for the next battle. After all, what you are about to face is not an ordinary disaster.]

　　[The training for new recruits is also over. Almost anyone who passes the test will be assigned to the team. It can be seen that the situation is indeed very urgent.]

　　[And the white-haired boy also showed amazing talent. His monstrous physique made many instructors sigh, "Is this guy really just a student?" In the final assessment, he broke all the records held by Elysia and achieved the fastest legend of "becoming a regular team member from a recruit", making many people in the Fire Moth remember his name - Kevin.]

　　[As for you and Sakura, there haven't been many changes. You are still going back and forth between the three events: the Poison Pupa mission, the Fire Moth mission, and the walk in the base. Only once in the middle did Sakura take the time to go back and see rin. The rest of the time, there was basically no change.]

　　[Elysia introduced you to many people, such as Dr. Mobius, who has various rumors about the Fire Moth, and her assistant Klein. On the way, you also met Hen and Blanca, who already have children.]

　　[This couple, who are rare among the Fire Moths... are now married. When they came to Mobius Laboratory and saw you and Elysia, they were a little surprised. After all, this is not a place that ordinary people like to come to. But when you think about it carefully, it doesn't seem so strange that it was Elysia who brought people here.]

　　[Hen and Blanca greeted you warmly and introduced their daughter, Griseo, to you. She was also a very cute girl, lying in her mother's arms, looking around curiously with her gorgeous purple eyes.]

　　[You like this child very much, or you like "children"]

　　[After all, it represents the future and hope. Although you have given up on that "name", it does not mean that you hate it. On the contrary, you particularly like it. Therefore, you are quite tolerant and gentle to children... This is something that others have not noticed.]

　　[And unexpectedly, this child also likes you very much. Even though it's the first time you meet, she took the initiative to reach out to you and even let you hold her. This surprised everyone else. Elysia seemed to know something and smiled very happily.]

　　[It's just… I don't know if it's your illusion, but as you and Griseo have been getting closer and closer, Mobius has developed some subtle "dissatisfaction" with you, and in the end, she even developed some… uh… "hostility"? ]

　　[What is this? Are you jealous? ]

　　[Of course, you don't mind or care about this]

　　[Perhaps because of Griseo, Hen, and Blanca also became friends with you and usually take good care for you. I don't know why Dr. Mobius' attitude towards you has become worse and worse. Her sharp words are a little hard for you to handle. However, she didn't actually target you, at least not in her actions.]

　　[The days suddenly become somewhat peaceful and relaxed, which makes you a little uncomfortable]

　　[But... you don't hate me either]

　　——————————

　　At night, Xi Wang casually opened the notebook he had placed in his room, took out a pen, and habitually wrote down what had happened that day.

　　[■■ month 14th, 39 stars. Elysia is not here today. It seems that Fire Moth has issued a mission for her to catch a person who sneaked out of Fire Moth... The other party seems to be particularly willful. I heard that she has caused a lot of trouble to Fire Moth and even publicly declared war on Fire Moth. It is said that she once sent a letter of challenge to the projector in the conference room, which scared everyone at that time.

　　I haven't seen Hen much recently, maybe he's taking care of the kids? Kevin has become much more active, and I heard he's going to be promoted to vice-captain recently, but he's been talking less and less, and even saw a psychologist once or twice... He's still a student, and he's experienced too few battlefields, but I think he'll get used to it after a few more missions.

　　I met sakura at noon and exchanged a bag of candy with her. She still gave me pink cherry blossoms. The taste was a little different from the white stars I usually eat, but I liked them too. She must have encountered something. She was always hesitant... She is always like this. She hides many things from me, but she doesn't tell me either. It makes me worry...]

　　Having written this, Xiwang paused for a moment, took out a candy box and stuffed a white star into himself, then changed the original [39] to [40] before continuing to write.

　　[I was caught by Dr. Mobius again while taking a walk with Sakura in the afternoon. She seemed to know about my special physique and was thinking about capturing me for research all day long... To be honest, I feel a little disgusted and it makes me think of bad things.

　　At night, I saw another group of people leaving. They must be going to deal with the Honkai Impact. Although I don't know the people in that group, I still wish them good luck.

　　There has been no movement from the Poison Pupa recently. I don't know if they have encountered some obstacles or if something big happened. I just hope they can still provide me with information about "those guys". It would be best if they could find the coordinates of the "island".

　　But... never mind, I've been pretty stable these past few days, and I'm very happy. I hope it will be the same in the future. ]

　　At this point, Xi Wang put down his pen, glanced at what he had written, then tore off the page he had written and the one behind it, and lit them with a lighter.

　　He stared blankly at the fire for a while, and when the paper was burned to ashes, Xi Wang took out a white star and stuffed it into his mouth along with the ashes.

　　Today it is [41].

　　Xiwang corrected the number in his mind again, then stood up and went back to his bed to rest - he had to practice with others tomorrow morning and couldn't be late.

　　I don't know when Elysia will come back.

　　Before closing her eyes, Xi Wang's mind flashed with the pink figure. he moved his arm, touched the candy box that he had placed next to him, and finally took a look at the white star in it.

　　Maybe I should eat less.

　　Xiwang thought so and decided to reduce the number of times he ate sweets in the future. Well... although the process might be painful.

　　But he will persevere.

　　He closed his eyes and gradually fell asleep.

　　...On an island somewhere...

　　What's it like outside?

　　The girl leaned on the small window, looking at the early morning and thinking.

　　Birds...are so nice.

　　She saw a few birds flying and heard a few cheerful bird calls, and couldn't help thinking so.

　　They can fly freely, they can fly freely in the beautiful and dazzling blue sky, which is the "home" of the birds.

　　That's great… She thought so and she also wanted to live there.

　　It's obvious that we are not human, but I have no choice but to stay here.

　　The girl looked back at the dim room. Only through the small window she opened could she see outside and be illuminated by the light outside.

　　It's pretty good here, with food to eat when you're hungry, medicine to take when you're sick, painkillers when you're in pain, and you don't feel cold or anything... No one cares what you do, no one will scold you even if you lie in bed and sleep, and no one will laugh at you even if you imitate a bird waving your arms. It can be said that you're quite free - as long as you're in this room.

　　She should be happy, right? She is indeed happy, right? After all, she doesn't have to worry about anything, and even has a job.

　　But... I still want to go out and live in that dazzling and beautiful blue sky like the birds.

　　She thought of the person she had received a few days ago. He was a very gentle and patient person, at least more patient than most people she had met in her previous reception work.

　　He took me to eat a lot of new and better-tasting food than usual, took me for a walk, danced with me at the dinner party, and even took me to see a movie - a movie about a man chasing a bird, longing to fly, and finally succeeding in breaking free from the constraints of the ground.

　　Although his actions at night were as rough as everyone else's, it was really fun at that time.

　　Birds...are so nice.

　　She thought so.

　　"rustle--"

　　A slightly strange noise brought the girl back to her senses. In a trance, she found that she was not in her own room, but in a more closed secret room. In the dim light, only the reflection of the projector on the screen could slightly illuminate the surroundings, just like the small window in her own room.

　　On the table nearby were several medicine bottles with their caps opened, as well as several used syringes, cotton swabs that smelled of disinfectant, several bloody cotton balls, and bandages that had just been changed.

　　She gradually regained awareness of her body and slowly curled up, but her eyes remained on the screen.

　　"Have you come to your senses?"

　　Someone asked in the darkness.

　　"Birds...are flying..."

　　"..."

　　The man in the dark made a gesture, and the doctor at the side saw this and inserted the prepared syringe into the girl's neck.

　　The girl did not resist and seemed very quiet. After a while, her consciousness seemed to have just returned here, but it seemed as if something was missing, and her eyes were filled with confusion and bewilderment.

　　"…What do you mean when you say some people are unworthy of being human?"

　　"…I explained it before."

　　"I forgot..."

　　Her memory seemed to be stuck at a certain moment in the past, or she had lost her memory from that time to this moment.

　　"It's not a complicated truth. I'll say it again--"

　　The man in the darkness spoke patiently and calmly.

　　"Every person has his or her own essence, and the essences of people are divided into different levels."

　　"The superior are destined to be noble, and the inferior are destined to be lowly."

　　"Low-class people have many characteristics, such as having long hair and not wanting to take care of it."

　　The girl subconsciously touched her messy long hair.

　　"For example, they like low-level entertainment"

　　The girl watched the short film playing in front of her, looping continuously.

　　"For example, bad skin."

　　The girl touched her forearm and felt something rough.

　　"For example, they are unwilling to accept education from the upper class and other characteristics like that."

　　The girl vaguely remembered that someone must have said these words to her, but she couldn't remember...

　　"And these inferior people cannot be called human beings. They are not worthy of being called human beings. They are simply consumables in human form."

　　"Now, do you know what you are?"

　　"I see..."

　　The girl responded dazedly, and her consciousness seemed to become blurred again.

　　The doctor next to the girl slowly wrote down [memory impairment, impaired consciousness, difficulty concentrating, severe hallucinations...] on the paper. In the end, even the doctor couldn't help but smack his lips and speak.

　　"If we don't deal with it..."

　　"It doesn't matter. People who come to the island like this."

　　The man in the darkness waved his hand, interrupted the doctor, and continued to ask questions.

　　"Now do you know what you are?"

　　"I am... a lowly person..."

　　The girl whispered softly.

　　"Not a human being... not worthy of being a human being..."

　　"Yes."

　　The man affirmed the girl.

　　"But even so, you don't have to feel sad or cruel. Even if you are born inferior, as long as you learn to accept and obey, there will be many happy and joyful things pouring into your arms, just like before."

　　"Yes... yes... just like before..."

　　The girl was in a trance.

　　Didi——

　　It seems to be the sound of some communication equipment.

　　"Look, there are guests coming."

　　The man said with a smile.

　　"You can have fun with your guests."

　　'It's time to work' - the girl thought subconsciously.

　　The girl gradually stood up, and with the help of the man, she staggered out of the dim secret room and came to the outside where the sun was shining.

　　All kinds of lewd music came from everywhere, some were unbridled, some were very light, but no matter where you went, you couldn't avoid it.

　　"Gugu…"

　　She heard the sound of birds singing again. She raised her lifeless eyes slightly and looked towards the rising sun. A few seagulls were flying along the sunlight.

　　Birds... are so nice...

　　You can live under the beautiful and dazzling blue sky...

　　I also want to go and see it... I also want to have wings as beautiful as a bird, so that I can fly freely...

　　She thought so.

　　Then, the cyan wings spread out behind her, and the breeze blew, dyed with emerald green, and lifted her up.

　　"ha..."

　　Seeing the blue sky getting closer and closer to her, she couldn't help but smile and stretched out her hand, wanting to touch it.

　　"ah..."

　　It was not until her figure was side by side with the flying birds that her expression suddenly became stiff and her figure stopped in mid-air.

　　She stretched out her hand towards the blue sky and felt around, but felt nothing. She then subconsciously grabbed but still caught nothing.

　　It turns out that the sky...cannot be touched...

　　The girl's consciousness stopped at this moment.

　　Then a strong wind swept in, sucking in all the birds flying around and tearing them apart.

　　Soon after, alarms rang in the Fire Moth base, and countless people were awakened from their sleep and hurried to the assembly point.

　　[The Fourth Great Collapse]——It broke out.