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

Eden herself agreed with this view and was generous with her praise, but... you simply replicated her performance verbatim without adding your own emotions, which made her somewhat regretful.

[It's like playing a piece of music according to a score, perfectly matching the beat, but without any variation in the dynamics or tempo of the notes. Although it sounds beautiful, Eden believes that this kind of music, lacking its own emotion, cannot be considered art, and is even a poor performance.]

It was as if she had simply looked in a mirror and seen a scene from one of her performances, nothing more.

However, this perfect reproduction is also a form of expression, much like the "realism" in painting, which has a unique charm. Therefore, Eden didn't mind it; instead, he admired the extent to which you had achieved this.

[But you don't seem to care about this. If Alicia didn't like Eden's songs, if Sakura didn't enjoy listening to music, and if Rin didn't idolize Eden, you wouldn't deliberately "learn" this kind of thing... Even if you seem very talented, you don't really need it.]

...Alright, any further explanation would just be making excuses. Let's leave it at that.

In conclusion, although it was a little awkward at first, Eden's welcome party ended very well, and everyone was happy.

Even Alicia and Sakura, who returned later, were quite surprised when they learned of this. Alicia even begged you to perform for her, and Sakura did the same... Was it not unexpected?

After the brief moment of joy, life returns to its ordinary routine; it's not a big deal for you.

Today, however, the poisonous pupa has given you a rather strange task...

The mission location is "Twilight Street," a place widely considered chaotic.

This mission is classified—that's normal; many of the missions you carry out are classified, and they don't even leave a record.

But this mission requires... "clearing the sky".

This does not refer to any particular person, group, or organization, but rather very simply to "clear" that area, regardless of age or gender.

[“On that day, He fell from the sky. People on earth looked up and saw the stars…” This is merely to stop this ballad from being sung.]

"...Ugh, that's disgusting."

Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Dusk Street Cleanup Mission

pat-

The crisp, faint sound was the familiar sound of a candy box being opened.

At this moment, Xi Wang had already entered the interior of [Twilight Street] and arrived at the location designated by the poisonous pupa.

Logically, the weapons provided to him by Poison Chrysalis should be kept here. Although Xiwang doesn't have much need for weapons due to his special nature, considering the importance of this mission to the [Fire Moth] and the need to "clear" a place that is generally considered chaotic, Poison Chrysalis still provided Xiwang with weapons and equipment far exceeding those for conventional single combat.

but now……

"........."

Xi Wang stared at the secluded spot filled with nothing but clutter, squinted, and expressionlessly popped a candy into her mouth, using the sweetness to suppress the turmoil rising within her.

After his inspection, he was able to confirm that there should have been a lot of things piled up here, and it was definitely not these miscellaneous items. It was most likely weapons and equipment that had been placed here. But then someone came and took all of these things away, leaving him with nothing.

Moreover, the person who took the items didn't leave many traces, seemingly quite familiar with how to erase their own marks, yet they "accidentally" left some traces, as if to inform Xiwang later that these items had been taken ahead of time.

But this is what annoys Xi Wang even more... You already put the things here, but then you took them away. What does that mean? And you didn't even leave him a single piece of equipment?

While he did state that he had little need for weapons, isn't it a bit much to not provide any of the promised equipment? Even if he's greedy, this is too much!

Or did some guy steal everything hidden here? Are you kidding me? Are there really people like that on Twilight Street?

"Tsk..."

The more she thought about it, the more annoyed she became. Xi Wang couldn't help but smack her lips, wanting to feed herself another piece of candy, but she quickly restrained herself.

"Never mind... it doesn't matter if we don't have the equipment."

Turning her gaze away, Xi Wang looked up at the sky. The sun was obscured by thick clouds, making the sky appear gloomy.

It's obviously going to rain here soon.

As a fusion warrior who controls "water," he will have an absolute advantage in "moist" weather like rainy days, where he can perfectly unleash his skills. Even without the aid of other weapons and equipment, Xiwang can clear the airspace of this area.

...Wait a minute, did those guys find out it was going to rain today and that's why they took those weapons and equipment?

"Tsk, that's disgusting."

Seemingly having discovered the truth, Xi Wang frowned again, unconsciously expressing her disgust for those guys. After a brief pause, she sighed slightly.

"...I feel like my emotions are fluctuating more than before."

Is it because I've spent too much time with Alicia and been influenced by her?

To be honest, this change isn't good for me; it could easily affect the completion of the mission... However, Xi Wang isn't too opposed to it.

"...Let's finish dealing with the immediate issues first."

He shook his head, suppressing his chaotic thoughts, straightened his clothes, closed his eyes, and carefully sensed his surroundings.

"It'll probably start around dusk... Let's finish surveying the surrounding area before then."

With her keen sense of water, Xi Wang determined the time of the rain. She opened her eyes again, scanned her surroundings, and after confirming that there was no one else around, she slowly left the secluded place.

Xi Wang began to stroll along the road of [Twilight Street], gradually exploring the entire town-like area along a somewhat casual route. He even found some hidden alleys. If given the opportunity, he would use his fusion warrior's physical abilities to leap onto the rooftops to observe the surroundings.

Some people tried to cause him trouble along the way, but he dealt with them all... Of course, he didn't kill them, and there's no need to now.

Finally, Xi Wang rested and prepared in an abandoned church... Although Xi Wang herself still had some resistance and aversion to church architecture, staying in a similar place always made her feel that those bad memories from the past would flood back into her mind.

However, after taking a few breaths and having a piece of candy, Xi Wang managed to adjust her mindset and looked around the empty church.

The church courtyard was overgrown with weeds and littered with all sorts of garbage. The iron fence was also rusted beyond recognition. Inside the church, you could see broken wooden chairs and windows with only a few panes of glass left. The ground was covered with dust and all sorts of garbage, and broken wooden planks were scattered everywhere. The damaged walls were covered with bullet holes and even dark red marks left by dried blood.

Inside this abandoned church, there is a stone statue that is so dilapidated that it is almost unrecognizable. It is the only thing that is relatively "well-preserved" here, at least the body and lower body are still intact. However, the head, hands, and what should have been wings on its back are missing. It is unknown whether they were stolen or simply broken.

Hmm... Based on these characteristics, the statue placed here should originally have been in the form of an angel?

A few thoughts flashed through Xi Wang's mind. Perhaps he had been influenced by Eden too much recently, and he unconsciously imagined what the original appearance of the idol looked like.

Then he shook his head, lamenting that he had been corrupted by Alicia again, and that Eden's influence on him had also increased... but it wasn't all bad.

If you continue walking, you will see a small hut that appears to have been used for living and a warehouse for storing supplies. Further on, you will find the cemetery.

...Damn it.

Xi Wang frowned, tapped her head to suppress her surging emotions, and calmed her increasingly rapid breathing.

This similar layout really gave Xi Wang a headache, but fortunately, Xi Wang had already anticipated this. Bypassing the obviously abandoned huts and warehouses, she gently stepped over the not-so-high wall and arrived at the cemetery.

There aren't many tombstones here, so it seems like not many people come here to be buried. But considering the atmosphere of [Twilight Street], probably not many people come here anyway, and even if someone is buried here, they probably won't put up a tombstone.

But it doesn't really matter, as long as we confirm that the cemetery here is big enough.

Speaking of which... I think I saw a building that looked like a church earlier... According to other people here, it was a sanatorium with many children inside.

Moreover, according to what others have said and Xi Wang's own observations, the children there are doing quite well... It seems that it really is a "sanatorium" with the characteristics of a welfare home, without any other bad things.

Xi Wang ate another candy, recalled a certain building she had discovered earlier, and took out the [Simple Honkai Energy Detection Device] that she was required to carry when going on missions, and retrieved the values ​​that had been detected before.

"It really is there..."

After checking it several times, Xi Wang muttered to herself, as if reminding herself. In the end, she could only sigh and put the device away.

Perhaps the people of the Poison Chrysalis had anticipated this, because they had shown leniency towards children like Gretchen. To prevent themselves from softening their stance during the "Cleansing" mission, they deliberately carried this detection device... to let themselves know that the people here, the children here, are infected with the [Honkai Disease], and are carriers of [Honkai Energy]. If they are allowed to exist, [Honkai] will definitely break out here, causing greater destruction and more casualties.

Now, in order to complete the mission, to prevent the [Honkai] from erupting, and to prevent an even greater disaster from occurring, Xi Wang must suppress this leniency towards the children and kill them.

It's really... disgusting.

"........."

Xi Wang leaned against the wall, closed her eyes, savoring the sweet taste in her mouth while adjusting her breathing.

As the sun gradually sets in the west, it contributes its last rays of light to the world that is about to fall into darkness, while the humidity in the air gradually increases.

“…It’s raining.”

Xi Wang murmured softly, opening her eyes, which had returned to calm.

tick-

The soft sound was the sound of water droplets falling to the ground.

At first, it was just a few scattered raindrops, but it quickly turned into a torrential downpour.

The torrential rain arrived as expected.

…………

………………

slam-la-

The torrential rain pounded against the glass, making a noisy sound. Even with the windows and doors tightly closed, the sound of the raging rain could not be blocked. Under the cover of darkness and torrential rain, everything outside the window seemed so unreal. Even the scattered lights not far away appeared blurry, as if the outside world was another world altogether.

Fortunately, the doors and windows kept all of that out, and inside the room was a safe home, with warm lights... even if it was only temporary.

"This rain is too heavy..."

The woman in the house was washing the dishes while complaining about the torrential rain outside the window.

"Hopefully it will stop by tomorrow morning, otherwise I'll have to rush back to work in the rain tomorrow."

Her husband was resting on the sofa, casually responding to his wife.

"Couldn't you have made an excuse? If it's still raining like this tomorrow, you won't be able to work either, will you?"

"You know those guys aren't easy to deal with, and I went through a lot of trouble to get this job. I don't want them to use this as leverage against me and shoot me."

"...I'm sorry, darling, that's not what I meant."

“I know the problem is with them, not us… and we all have to work hard in order to survive here.”

"Ah."

The woman nodded gently and said nothing more. She silently placed the clean dishes and chopsticks into the cupboard, and then habitually glanced out the window at her neighbor's house.

"...Hmm? Those two brothers over there...didn't they come back today? The lights are off."

"They probably went to bed early, since it was raining so hard today and they didn't have much to do... I heard they went to cause trouble for some outsiders this afternoon, but they got taught a lesson and ended up with no income today. They're probably still planning how to get back at the other side."

The man stood up from the sofa, yawning as he stretched his body.

"foreigner?"

"Yes, it's a man, and quite handsome. But the people in the organization say he's not a good person and is probably here to cause trouble. Tomorrow, the organization plans to team up with others to get rid of him, or at least kick him out."

"Okay... just remember to bring back plenty of money."

"Don't worry, I will... I'm going to take a shower now."