Chapter 284: There is nothing wrong with dying early

[Afterwards, no one else knew what Elysia said to Mei. They only knew that Mei took Elysia to a more detailed physical examination, and it could even be said that all the existing testing equipment of the "Fire Moth" was used...]

　　[Mei didn't tell anyone the details. She just told everyone that there was something wrong with Elysia, so she needed to be checked... However, the detailed data was only known to Elysia and Mei. Mei didn't show it to anyone else. Even if someone asked about it, Mei would say that Elysia's data was normal and there was nothing to worry about.]

　　[Although everyone was a little worried at first and wanted to know the details from Mei, Mei evaded the question several times and just said that there was nothing wrong with Elysia and it was just a false alarm... Over time, no one continued to ask this question.]

　　[But I don't know if it was everyone's illusion. After that, Mei and Elysia would often stay together, as if they were discussing something in private. Sometimes even Kevin couldn't get involved, which really made many people feel a little weird.]

　　[But... in such a dangerous environment, no one has the mood to care about these trivial matters. Try your best to stay alive... and try to prepare for humanity's last stand. This is the most important thing right now.]

　　[Pardofelis is trying to connect the survivors. Using the semi-finished "Second Divine Key", "Fire Moth" barely gathers the human team again... But at this time, some strange voices appear in the crowd.]

　　[It's not that they are against "Fire Moth", or what Mei is doing, popularizing fusion warriors among all the remaining humans, gaining more and stronger combat power at a cost-free attitude, just for... that last desperate fight, people don't really object to this]

　　[After all, everyone knows that in this crisis-ridden situation, only powerful strength is the only guarantee. Only by becoming a fusion warrior can there be a slight possibility of survival... at least to live longer.]

　　[Yes, everyone knows this, but... facing such continuous blows, facing repeated failures, some people's spirit has been crushed.]

　　[No matter how much encouragement they give, no matter how much they mobilize, no matter how much Pardofelis or even others use… they don't know how to continue.]

　　[Yes, they are willing to undergo the surgery and become fusion warriors, but... people who have no desire to live and no firm belief will most likely become "failures" after the surgery, or even directly become... some weird Honkai creatures.]

　　[After learning this, they simply told the Fire Moth... Just give up, give up on them.]

　　[They know that their existence is a problem, and they know how powerless ordinary people like them are when facing the "Kaiji". They are also very clear about the situation facing the "Fire Moth", or the human race.]

　　[Supplies are extremely scarce. Fresh food is no longer a luxury. People can only rely on synthetic food and nutrient solutions to meet their daily needs... But even so, there will still be a shortage of supply.]

　　[As for supplies, such as canned food? Of course, there are some, but in this situation, they can't withstand consumption at all, and... once such things are taken out, the people who eat them will subconsciously ask if he has been assigned a "special mission".]

　　[Yes, it is the kind that is sending him to his death, and the canned food in front of him is his "farewell meal".]

　　[It has come to this... Let's not waste extra resources on them - that's what they said.]

　　["We are not like you who can still maintain the fighting spirit... We also know that we are a burden. In this case, we can only provide the only help we can - try not to cause you any trouble or burden."]

　　["Exile us, Dr. Mei… You don't need to provide us with any supplies, just let us go, and then gather the resources to do what you want us to do… We will find a way to survive on our own, we will strive to live longer, and we will also strive to… not become "Kaiji"."]

　　["Of course, if you're still worried, you can just get rid of us now. That would be a lot simpler, wouldn't it?"]

　　[But in the end, Mei did not agree with this approach. The existing people of "Fire Moth" did not agree with this approach. Simply abandoning these people and "dealing with" them directly... wouldn't that go against what they have been doing all along?]

　　[Moreover, in such a desperate situation, how can they allow them to "play like this"? The pressure of "survival" is on everyone. In this situation, how can they not feel despair?]

　　[Move, everyone move! Only by trying your best can you find a glimmer of hope!]

　　[So, under semi-forced circumstances, "Fire Moth" kicked all these people who were "playing slack" or even silently waiting for death to their posts... Although the work efficiency may not be counted on, they must not be idle!]

　　[Although this method is somewhat... violent, even cruel, it at least ensures that despair will not spread.]

　　[Besides, these people are not particularly desperate. At least they have not chosen to destroy themselves directly. In this case, there is still hope. As long as we keep them busy and keep their minds from being immersed in thinking about the bleak future, they will not continue to fall into the abyss of despair.]

　　[After running like this for a while... although the mental state of these people did not get better, it did not get worse either. Although they still exuded a low pressure and looked very depressed, at least they did not give people the feeling of continuing to fall into the abyss.]

　　[Huh… Well, let's just cover up this problem for now. Under this semi-tough measure, the survivors begin to prepare in an orderly manner.]

　　[Irine is monitoring the situation in the ocean from the outside and doing her best to clean up the "Kaiji", while Kevin is responsible for running around and patrolling, trying his best to delay the offensive of the "Kaiji" and relieve Irine's pressure.]

　　[Pardofelis naturally continued her mission, looking for the surviving place of mankind, and then connected them with each other, while also shouldering the responsibility of transmitting information between Irine and the "Fire Moth".]

　　[As for Elysia, she became an "instructor" along with several other surviving fusion warriors, responsible for teaching those new fusion warriors how to control their own power, enabling them to have combat capabilities as soon as possible, and leading them to perform some simple combat operations in order to prepare for subsequent battles.]

　　[It seems like everything is fine. Although there were some unexpected things that happened due to the problems of some people, which slowed down the progress of everyone a little, but overall it seems to be fine...right?]

　　[Obviously not.]

　　[Just like those people mentioned before, those who have lost their spirit and energy, and don't know what to do next, they fall deeper and deeper into despair as time goes by. In the end, they will go to extremes under this bad mood.]

　　[Or choose to self-destruct... That's fine, except for the spreading gloomy mood, it will only affect one person.]

　　[Or choose... madness, let their mind be occupied by chaos, indulge their own desires and thoughts, and finally die in madness.]

　　————————

　　In the desert, in a shelter that Pardofelis has not yet "contacted".

　　The smell of food and blood mixed together, and occasionally there was a smell of decay, which made people feel somewhat nauseous.

　　Snap——

　　It was the sound of a wet mop falling to the ground.

　　A man with cloudy eyes mechanically moved the mop in his hand, moving the scattered food on the ground aside bit by bit, and then dragging it back, watching the dark red blood and disgusting debris stick to the mop, and finally being thrown aside, splashing onto the ground or wall not far away.

　　Obviously, the cleaning work would not be completed if he continued like this, but he seemed unaware of it and wasted the already scarce, precious, and clean water resources in the shelter.

　　At this stage, only water treated by special instruments can be drunk by people. After all, the power of the "Herrscher" is related to water and rain. No one can guarantee whether those naturally existing water resources can be controlled by him.

　　Of course, what is more important is the rising sea level. Under the influence of water circulation, too many water resources are contaminated with the taste and smell of seawater. If you drink or ingest it directly... it is very likely to become "Kaiji" without knowing it.

　　This was something that the Fire Moth had specifically instructed and warned about, so the people here still instinctively followed this rule... although this persistence was already on the verge of breaking.

　　"Hello..."

Next to him, another person shouted in a tired tone.

"Don't just mop the floor with water. We're not that rich... and don't we have a special cleaning machine here? Just turn that thing... ahem... start that thing, ahem... damn it, give me some water."

"That machine is broken."

The person who was mopping the floor picked up the mop and poked it into the bucket, dyeing the clean water in the bucket a dark red color filled with all kinds of filth. At the same time, he supported himself with both hands on the pole, barely supporting his body, raised his eyes, which were on the verge of distraction, and responded weakly.

"Otherwise I wouldn't have taken the time and effort to do this."

"Broken? Ahem...tsk...because of those people yesterday?"

His tone subconsciously rose a lot, but the feeling of thirst made him cough. He could only smack his lips and moisten himself with saliva, then he reluctantly stood up from the dim corner, holding his head and muttering in a low voice, as if asking or confirming to himself.

"I knew that those crazy guys would not do anything good. Not only did they waste the stored food, but now they have set their sights on the equipment... Damn it..."

"You broke that thing when you were dealing with them yesterday."

"Oh... (obscene words), it seems so."

He shook his head as if he was recalling some details of what happened yesterday... In the end, he could only curse in a low voice, then stood up and tried to find the remaining water resources, while not forgetting to say something to his companions.

"Don't pour the water out when you're done. We can't waste it. Just throw it back into the water treatment machine. That way we can still use some water..."

"No more."

"…ha?"

He stopped.

"I mean, the machine is gone too."

The man's tone was very flat as if he was dead.

"...Don't tell me I broke that thing yesterday too."

"Oh, no, I did it while you were resting."

The man said very horrible words very calmly.

"...Brother, are you serious?"

"Do you really want to check it out?"

The man poked the bucket beside him with the mop.

"This is all the remaining water. I used it all... How's that? Isn't it great?"

"sigh..."

He took a breath of disgusting air. Although he was somewhat accustomed to the disgusting smell, it still made him feel uncomfortable... and what was even more troublesome was how to deal with the current situation.

"Brother, if you want to die, you don't have to go through so much trouble."

He said so.

"It's unnecessary to deliberately cause trouble like this... You should also know that there are still many people here who want to survive, and many people are trying hard to survive."

"Well, yeah, but what does that have to do with me?"

The man just said this silently.

Crash—

Picking up the mop, the dirty water flowed down the handle into the bucket, and then was brought by the man to the ground full of turbid colors, moving slowly, continuing the seemingly useful yet meaningless behavior.

"Anyway, humans have already lost."

"There's no way we can win."

"There's no point in continuing to live like this. It's better to die sooner rather than later."

"If everyone dies like this, maybe we can meet each other underground...if there really is such a thing as the underworld."

The man continued to mop the floor, stirring together the scattered food, sauce, dark blood, and water.

"...Brother, don't be so depressed. We will survive."

"Do you believe this yourself?"

The man asked in return.

"It has come to this point, but some people still choose to cause trouble, to indulge themselves, and not care about the lives of others. People have no choice but to exhaust their energy to be hostile to each other and kill each other... One side thinks that no matter how bad the situation is, they should try their best to survive, while the other side thinks that since it has come to this, they might as well just have a good time and die directly because they can't win anyway."

"Guided by this idea, they began to wantonly indulge themselves, squandering increasingly scarce supplies, wantonly indulging themselves, and doing everything they could to pursue pleasure... In the end, they even did not spare anything that would hurt others."

"Ah... yes, I am that kind of person too."

The man raised his head and looked at him with his eyes that were becoming increasingly cloudy and on the verge of blurring.

"So, let's just leave it at that. Let's all... die together. This way we can be happier and suffer less..."

"You're a little out of your mind, bro."

He was silent for a long time before he said this.

"I know."

The man looked at his raised hand, at the dark hole pointing at himself, and said very calmly... This is what he wanted.

"...Anyway, thank you for your hard work during this period, brother."

Soon...

Bang!

With a dull sound and a flash of fire, the man's figure slowly fell down, knocking over the bucket, and his blood mixed with the filthy and turbid water.

"...Oh, what a hassle, one more thing to deal with."

He silently put the gun back and looked at the new body. He was silent for a long time before saying this.

He stood up, silently and slowly moved to the place where the water purification equipment was located, and then...

Sure enough, saying that the equipment was damaged was a lie.

"…Ah, I knew it."

He was not very surprised by this. He just sighed again, started the instrument, waited silently by the side, and finally drank a glass of water happily.

"Ah... I'm alive."

He said this comfortably.

He lowered his head, looked at the empty cup in his hand, then looked at the pistol in his other hand. After hesitating for a moment, he put the cup down, loaded the pistol again, and pointed the gun at himself.

"..."

He pressed his finger on the trigger and closed his eyes several times, trying to forcefully pull the trigger and kill himself, but he failed in the end.

"Ah... Really, I don't know how you guys managed to reach that level."

He put the gun down as if he had given up, and his entire temperament became extremely decadent.

"Even now, I don't even dare to commit suicide... How did you do it?"

"It would be great if someone could help me make up my mind to try it~ It's really... so troublesome."

He muttered under his breath.

"But..."

He started the instrument and drank another large glass of clean water. Then he stood up again, returned to where he was just now, grabbed the leg of the "corpse" on the ground with one hand, and dragged him somewhere.

"There's nothing wrong with living like this."