I've already said this isn't a life simulator!

However, quite a few people still have ulterior motives; after all, who wouldn't be tempted by the advanced weaponry of the "Fire Moth"?

Therefore, some people with a侥幸 mentality started to use some sneaky tricks... to put it simply, they would sneak into the rescue station or the stronghold of the "Fire Moth" and steal the weapons stored there.

[Thanks to their painstaking planning, they actually succeeded a few times.]

However, Li and Yin had their own strategy for dealing with this—they found a "little cat" who was quite famous in Twilight Street and asked her to help find the stolen weapons. In return, they would provide her with a stable job and a place to live.

At first, the "Moth Chasing the Flame" personnel assigned here didn't understand why Li and his team were specifically looking for someone who grew up in Twilight Street, and who was also a "kitten" who was practically a thief.

However, after carefully learning about the "local customs" of Twilight Street, the members of "Moths of Fire" still sighed that it was quite conscientious for them to only be thieves in this godforsaken place, and they sincerely admired Li and Yin for being able to establish a gang here.

[And what happened next surprised Moth to the fire... She found all the stolen weapons in just one night. Except for a few that she couldn't take back directly, she brought back everything else and even remembered the gangs that stole the weapons.]

[This ability to find items surprised the members of "Moth Chaser"... This is too outrageous. Twilight Street isn't a huge place, but it's not small either, especially considering the various gangs' hiding places... How did this "little cat" find them all in one night?]

This outrageous incident made "Moth Chasing the Flame" feel that this must be another "special person".

After conducting simple inquiries and tests, confirming that this "little cat" could quickly find both objects and people, and even if you hid an object in the most secluded corner, she could still find it... "Moth Chasing the Flame" was overjoyed.

[Because if her almost unbelievable search ability were used in search and rescue, she could definitely save more survivors... However, this "little cat" is still too timid and needs some special training before she can go to the battlefield and take on search and rescue missions.]

Oh, by the way, this "kitten's" name is "Padofelis".

[And another thing... isn't this Twilight Street place a bit too outrageous? How come there are so many "special people"? We just set up a shelter and already found two, and as time goes by, "Fire Moth" has also gradually discovered problems with Aponia. Her ability to easily "convince" others seems really "strange"... Could she also be a "special person"? That makes three already!]

[What the hell is this job market on Twilight Street? It's ridiculous!]

However, the "Moths of Fire" also felt a sense of relief. Fortunately, they listened to you and made a special trip to Twilight Street out of respect for you; otherwise, they would never have discovered that this place was so "full of talent."

[Especially after Qianjie stepped onto the battlefield and displayed overwhelming combat power, and after Padofelis made numerous outstanding contributions in the search and rescue missions, "Fire Moth" became even more grateful to you. After all, in a sense, these people were introduced by you.]

[Later, "Firemoth" also transferred Aponia to the base. Relying on her persuasive words and desire to help others, she set up a confessional to alleviate the soldiers' psychological problems, and the effect was surprisingly good.]

[To be honest, there are problems... it's just that Thousand Calamities is too prone to causing trouble, and his fighting style is too violent, making it impossible for him to coordinate with other teams. But fortunately, Aponia and you can persuade him to calm down a bit and obey the orders of "Fire Moth".]

[To be honest, it's quite strange, because it's normal for him to listen to Aponia, after all, he used to work as a porter in Aponia's "sanatorium" and was even taken in by Aponia, so it's normal for him to listen to her. But your words... he only chose to listen to you after an accident.]

[That day, Qianjie searched for you as usual in the "Moths of Flame," clamoring to tear off your "hypocritical shell" and make you fight him... In the end, he found you in the isolation area where "Honkai Disease" patients were housed, and there he saw many people who had left the "sanatorium" back then.]

[I heard from others that when Qianjie noticed you singing for those people, trying your best to use your "special qualities" to soothe their emotions, helping them break free from their anxiety and return to a state of peace and ease... when Qianjie noticed the smiles the patients, especially the children, gave you, their expressions full of hope and joy at the continuation of life, Qianjie suddenly stopped, became quiet, became calm, as if worried that his noise would disturb you.]

Since then, Qianjie has rarely been noisy in front of you, nor has he shouted about wanting to fight you within the "Fire Moth" group. Even when faced with your requests, although Qianjie will still complain a few times and retort with a few words in a irritable tone, he will most of the time choose to obey.

[Qian Jie's drastically different demeanor surprised many, revealing that he wasn't a bad person after all; his attitude and speech simply seemed manic and awkward... This sparked a heated discussion within the "Fire Moth" group about "how to build a good relationship with Qian Jie," as everyone wanted to learn more about this strange, powerful, and mysterious warrior.]

Then, at some point, a strange book titled "One Hundred Questions about the Thousand Masks: From Beginner to Expert" began circulating within "The Moth Chaser" and quickly became a popular publication... It's said that this book was written by Alicia.

[Furthermore, according to reader feedback, half of this book is useful and half is useless, but which half exactly... well, everyone has their own opinion. But through this incident, the relationships among the staff at "Moth Chasing the Flame" have unknowingly become much closer.]

[You weren't surprised at all by this, and even exclaimed – As expected of you, Alicia]

Oh, by the way, speaking of which, you also have to talk about Alicia a little, or rather, express your grievances about Alicia a little.

[Damn it, Eden is going to be taken away! No way... just kidding!]

[Mainly because after spending some time together, Eden genuinely liked Alicia, because she could always see similarities to you in Alicia, yet also differences... which made her especially fond of her.]

Alicia also likes you and Eden very much, and cares about your... romance. Plus, there's a bit of girlish curiosity, which leads Alicia to often ask Eden about your "progress," wondering how far you've progressed.

[Over time, the two became familiar with each other, and coupled with Alicia's unique liveliness, it led to many people often seeing Alicia and Eden together.]

Of course, Alicia won't cling to Eden forever. After all, she has other people she likes to get to know, which also gives you and Eden some space to spend time together... ah... no, maybe Sakura should be included occasionally too?

To be honest, when Alicia realized the relationship between the three of you, she was somewhat surprised, and even privately asked Eden for his opinion in a subtle way... When Alicia saw that Eden seemed unconcerned, or rather, so confident that he showed no worry whatsoever, she was slightly shocked, and then once again marveled at your wonderful and romantic relationship.

"Hmm? How did you know that? Well, Eden told you, of course."

As mentioned before, you are like twin stars, supporting and illuminating each other. You don't need many secrets between you.

And so, you slowly passed through these peaceful and gradually improving days. You also gradually became proficient in your role as the "Taunting Doll." With the cooperation of the "Fire Moth" soldiers and the equipment specially made for you by Velvet, you gradually followed the team to more dangerous Honkai outbreak areas to alleviate the problem of massive soldier casualties caused by the "Fire Moth" when facing high-risk Honkai beasts.

Although "Firemoth" had promised not to let you go to high-risk areas, however... with the increasing frequency of Honkai outbreaks, your growing familiarity with the battlefield, the increased combat power on the front lines after Thousand Calamities joined... and at your own request, "Firemoth" has agreed to let you go to those dangerous areas.

[There's no other way. Everything is for the fight against the Honkai. If it can help us kill the Honkai Beasts faster, better, and more reliably, and even save more people, then letting you take a little risk... doesn't seem like a bad idea?]

[And in the end, it turned out that this decision was correct. With your addition and Qianjie's, the soldiers of "Fire Moth" no longer needed to sacrifice many lives when facing high-risk Honkai Beasts. Although there would still be casualties, compared to before, such losses were negligible.]

[The "Moth Chasing the Flame" gradually calmed down and began to deal with other issues... On one hand, it needed to advance some plans that might resolve the Honkai, and on the other hand, it needed to deal with those infected by the Honkai.]

Because of your song, a large number of infected people survived the Honkai outbreak, and most of these people were taken in by the "Fire Moths" and scattered in various countries for quarantine.

The problem is that there's currently no cure for Honkai erosion; we can only rely on your song and the reagents developed by Möbius to alleviate it... This places a heavy burden on society, and the "Moths of Fire" must now address this issue properly.

After all, "giving up" is no longer an option. These people were rescued from the battlefield with great difficulty by the soldiers. Especially after you joined the effort, the soldiers are even more enthusiastic about saving these infected people, since they were the ones they couldn't save before.

If the soldiers discover that "Fire Moth" has "abandoned" or even "voluntarily abandoned" these people again... then the morale of the entire "Fire Moth" will probably collapse.

[But if we leave it unchecked, the burden on society will be too heavy. Even with your song as an aid, mass-producing inhibitors is not an option.]

Therefore, the "Fire Moth" only has one path left to follow—to focus all its efforts on developing a drug that can solve the Honkai erosion problem.

Then, at this crucial juncture, the "Sixth Great Collapse" occurred.

Faced with this newly emerged "Herrscher," "Moth Chaser" hesitated for a long time before deciding to let you try it out to see if your song and "characteristics" could work on the "Herrscher." You yourself were willing to try, and many soldiers, after a long period of hesitation, did not express any opinions, clearly tacitly approving of this order.

[After all... if your song really works, then so many people won't die in future "Herrscher Extermination Battles," and they can all live well—who wants to die? Right?]

But at this moment, this order was opposed by Qian Jie.

[Qian Jie even violently stopped the order, scolding you for being so eager to die while loudly cursing "Fire-Chasing Moth" for daring to issue such an absurd order. Have their higher-ups lost their minds?!]

[Qian Jie's reaction was baffling, but due to his violent defiance, you were unable to participate in this "Herrscher Extermination Campaign"]

[...And the final facts proved that Qianjie's decision not to let you participate in the "extermination war" was correct.]

During this "suppression battle," Qianjie relentlessly pursued and attacked the "Sixth Herrscher." With the combined efforts of Kevin, Alicia, and the other members of the team, the "Sixth Herrscher" was almost completely overwhelmed throughout the battle. If it weren't for the unique nature of its power, it would probably have died long ago.

However, after realizing she couldn't fight the "Fire-Chasing Moth," the "Sixth Herrscher" decided to go all out, unleashing her full power and "exploding" against them.

Even though Qianjie, Kevin, and Alicia realized this, and Qianjie quickly killed it, they still couldn't stop its spreading power.

As a result, the entire city, along with the surrounding towns, fell into complete silence. Even several nearby cities were not spared; after the "Fire Moth" emergency rescue efforts, the number of survivors in those cities was less than four figures.

[In the "Moth Chasing the Flame" team, apart from Qianjie, Kevin, and Alicia, all other team members, including those from the outer support and backup teams, perished; not a single one survived.]

More importantly, due to the nature of the Sixth Herrscher's powers, the Honkai disease began to spread rapidly, and the large number of patients exacerbated the already severe burden on world society.

This has almost pushed the "moths chasing the flame" into a dilemma—should they "abandon" these people?

Chapter Forty: Master Chef [Master Qian]

After careful consideration, "Fire Moth" decided to give it a shot and not "abandon" these patients... As mentioned before, abandoning them now would be an immeasurable blow to the morale of "Fire Moth," potentially causing them to collapse completely, and making it very difficult to revive them later.

Therefore, "Moths of Fire" can only grit their teeth and continue to push forward with the research on related drugs, hoping that a drug that can solve this problem can be developed as soon as possible... But unfortunately, this research is still too difficult to advance, there are too many problems to solve, so they can only take it one step at a time and try to expedite it.

The "Sixth Herrscher incident" served as a wake-up call for you. "Fire Moth" realized that even with your assistance, they could not completely let their guard down. The best way to fight the Honkai was to improve combat power. Therefore, "Fire Moth" began recruiting and training soldiers again, and urged Velvet and May to research various weapons. Plans to improve combat power in various aspects were also proposed and approved.

Meanwhile, after discussing with you and Sakura, Sakura has also been officially assigned to the "Fire Moth" combat team. In special and urgent circumstances, "Fire Moth" will transfer Sakura away from you... However, "Fire Moth" has also guaranteed that Sakura will not be transferred unless the situation is extremely urgent.

The "Sixth Herrscher incident" also dealt you a severe blow, especially when you saw that only Qianjie and the other two had returned, and when you followed the group to see the city completely overrun by deathly silence, you fell into a long silence.

[If you came with them, if your song could work on the "Herrscher"... no, you can't think like that—you shook your head, dismissing such pointless thoughts.]

Simply remember it, and then move forward resolutely; that's all.

Simply focus on the future and do better in the future; that's all.

You rallied and joined the group in cleaning the silent city. As you left, you softly sang a song for the departed, to soothe their souls and offer comfort... You also needed to release your emotions through music, otherwise you always felt like something was piling up in your heart, making it hard to breathe.

You begin to participate more actively in the "Fire Moth" operations and strive to cooperate with Mebius and Mei's research in order to discover other uses for your "traits" or to allow your "traits" to benefit more people.

Unfortunately, this isn't something that can be achieved simply by your hard work and positive attitude. In fact, your overly enthusiastic attitude has made others worry about your condition... You've been working non-stop for days on three things: assisting with research, acting as a "mocking puppet," and maintaining the "bard" project. Even though you're still forcing a smile, anyone can sense your exhaustion.

[Everyone thinks that the "Sixth Herrscher incident" spurred you on, making you wonder if you would have become better if you had participated in the battle... Even if you didn't say it explicitly, everyone could see that.]

When everyone realized that it wasn't your fault, many were actually relieved that you hadn't participated in the battle; otherwise... the losses of the "Fire Moth" might have been even greater.

Therefore, everyone decided to use their own methods to help you relax a little and not dwell on this matter too much.

Just look ahead... that's all.

--------

"Um...may I ask what this is for?"

Sitting at the table, Xi Wang looked at the bowl of hot noodles in front of her, then at the bowls of noodles placed in front of the others, blinked, and looked at Eden and Sakura beside her with some confusion.

"........."

"I heard Kevin wanted to organize a team-building event..."

Sakura remained silent, while Eden offered a soft explanation.

Xi Wang then looked around at the others and found that they all had expressions that were both bitter and as expected.

Does this... count?

"Forget it."

"After that... was there nothing else? Was it just everyone eating noodles together? Or is it some kind of 'moth chasing the flame' tradition?"

"Oh, then it doesn't count... Ah... no, no, it does count."

Hearing Xi Wang's somewhat bewildered yet amused question, the others who were casually slurping their noodles suppressed their laughter as they responded to him. Then they moved closer to Kevin, nudged him with their shoulders, and teased him.

"Captain Kevin, say something!"

"........."

Kevin glanced silently at Hen beside him, his expression pleading for help... He clearly realized that he wasn't suited to organize this kind of event, since it was usually Alicia who did it... But he really wanted to help Xi Wang and make her a little happier... In the end, it turned into this funny yet awkward scene.

"Don't look at me, this is what you need to prepare, you have to take responsibility."

However, Hen simply shrugged and casually refused Kevin's request for help, looking like he was ready to watch the show.

"I don't see anything wrong with it, slurp..."

A girl with chestnut hair and heterochromatic blue-green eyes was wolfing down her noodles while speaking indistinctly.

"There's food, and it tastes pretty good. It's so much better than before, slurp..."

"Pado, there's no need to rush... No one here will try to take it from you..."

Aponia gently reminded him from the side, her voice soft.

"Ah, sorry, Sister Nia, I'm just getting a little used to it... Is there any more? Another bowl, please!"