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

The good news is that Alicia is still alive, Sakura is still alive, and Rin is safe.

The bad news is that Alicia and Sakura are both away on combat missions and won't be back for a while, so I won't be able to see them right away.

Furthermore, Xiwang cannot go to them, nor can he go to Ling; the Fire Moth only agrees to bring Ling to him.

The Moth of Fire didn't give a reason, they simply told Xiwang that he couldn't go out. Even when Xiwang pressed for an answer, they only told him to stay in the base and rest well, and not to go out for the time being.

Xi Wang realized that there might be something wrong with her.

…………

………………

"Doctor, he's gone."

Klein stood in the doorway and spoke softly.

"……Um."

Mebius sat beside the operating table, responding softly, his lowered eyelids filled with exhaustion and dejection.

Only when no one else was around would Mebius show a slight hint of her vulnerability... no, she wouldn't even normally show it, but only now...

"........."

He raised his head slightly and looked at Gretchen, who was fast asleep on the operating table. Her peaceful sleeping face contrasted sharply with her obviously weak aura... Mebius had just saved this lovely girl from the brink of death. Gretchen had only survived by becoming a [Fusion Warrior].

Mebius knew she had made a terrible choice, pushing her beloved child into an operation with a low success rate, even she herself admitted. But at that moment, she had no other choice. Gretchen's health was already poor, and after being affected by the Herrscher's power, her aura visibly weakened. If she didn't make a choice soon, Gretchen might die on the spot.

It's simply a choice between two extremely bad outcomes: "inevitable death" and "high probability of death."

She used every method at her disposal to do everything perfectly in a short period of time in order to increase Gretchen's chances of success in the surgery... Fortunately, she succeeded.

"...Thankfully, you survived, Gretchen."

Mebius reached out and gently brushed aside Greta's bangs, speaking in a rare, gentle voice.

Gretchen continued to breathe steadily, as if Möbius's actions had not affected her dream.

Mebius extended his finger and gently pressed against Gretsch's movement as she tried to turn over to sleep on her side, while softly stroking her head to soothe her.

"Doctor, Miss Gretsch's condition has stabilized."

Klein spoke up at the opportune moment.

"……Um."

Mebius nodded, the gentleness on her face slowly fading—she returned to her original self.

Then, she reached out and removed the syringe from Gretchen's body, carefully transferring the dark blue liquid inside back into a pre-prepared container, making sure nothing was spilled.

If Xi Wang were to see this thing, he would surely recognize it as the same "blood" that dripped at the end of his dream... No, in the end, is this thing really "blood"?

Mebius was not lying. At the end of the Eighth Herrscher Extermination Campaign, she took over two Fusion Warriors who were trapped in nightmares. While Xiwang was unconscious, she did perform a physical examination on him and, of course, charged him some "fees".

Perhaps Xi Wang encountered something in his nightmare, and the Honkai Beast genes in his body began to become active, even unconsciously emitting Honkai energy. Although the range was small, this sign was already very dangerous.

Mebius naturally seized this opportunity to examine Xiwang's physical condition and discovered that the "blood" part of his body had begun to mutate. Some of the blood quickly transformed into this dark blue liquid, and Xiwang's own recovery ability became extremely terrifying in an instant. The numerous injuries caused by the [Eighth Herrscher] were visibly healed. In the blink of an eye, Xiwang returned to his original appearance, and even the incision that Mebius had made for research healed.

At the same time, this mutated "blood" seemed to be alive. After being extracted from Xi Wang's body, it would unconsciously move towards Xi Wang, as if it wanted to return to his body. However, the action was not violent or anxious. It was just gentle, slow, and silent, as natural as water flowing into the sea along a river.

After a while, Xiwang returned to normal and stopped emitting Honkai energy. Her blood returned to its normal red color, but the part that Mebius extracted was still dark blue. After Xiwang returned to normal, it calmed down and stopped moving towards Xiwang. It seemed to have become a liquid that was just a little special.

However, at that time, Mebius no longer had time to study the abnormal "blood" of Dawn... After the physical coordinates were locked, the Eighth Herrscher launched a final attack on the Moth of Fire. Although drugs to resist mental attacks had been distributed, the quantity was still insufficient to cover everyone. Many people fell into a deep sleep in an instant, and some were even directly controlled by the Eighth Herrscher, who began to indiscriminately kill those around them.

At the last moment, the Eighth Herrscher concentrated her power, forcibly breaking through the drug of the Fire Moth, and disregarding her own safety, spread her ability on a large scale, causing "sleep sickness" to spread to several cities in an instant, bringing another major loss to humanity before her death.

Gretchen and her mother Blanca... were also within the range of the Eighth Herrscher's attack.

Even if the medicine was taken in advance, it was useless. A Herrscher who has mastered the ability of [spirit] cannot be resisted by medicine alone, let alone this is a Herrscher's counterattack in the face of death.

Blanca fell into a deep sleep in the blink of an eye and died within a few breaths. If Gretsch hadn't been staying in Möbius's laboratory for a long time due to her physical condition, and if Möbius hadn't noticed the abnormality the moment it occurred, Gretsch's life would probably have ended there as well.

Mebius was frantic, using every method at her disposal to prolong Gretsch's life, but in the end, she had no choice but to choose the "Fusion Warrior Surgery," a method with an extremely low success rate, because it was the only way to keep Gretsch alive at the time.

Mebius did her best to make the surgery as successful as possible, and in the end she even won the gamble, making Gretsch a fusion warrior. But... Gretsch is still in a dream, and her body is still weak, showing no signs of returning to normal, or rather, her recovery is very slow.

In order to save Gretchen's life and prevent her from dying due to physical weakness, Mebius began to search for various ways to accelerate the recovery of Gretchen's vital signs. Then, he accidentally thought of the abnormal "blood" extracted from Xiwang's body, which was as if it were alive.

After several tests, she confirmed that this special, deep blue liquid was extremely vital and harmless to humans... or rather, to fusion warriors. Once inside a fusion warrior's body, the deep blue liquid would transform into unique "nutrients" to nourish the Honkai Beast genes within, activating them to a certain extent and stimulating the fusion warrior's physical recovery ability. It was somewhat like a special nutrient for fusion warriors.

As for how Möbius knew... wasn't she herself a perfect experimental subject?

After confirming that the method worked, Mebius injected Gretsch with this unusual "blood." However, she was well aware that it was something obtained from a certain "mutation" in Dawn, so she stopped immediately after Gretsch's condition stabilized.

As for the remaining abnormal "blood"... she needs to keep it to study it, perhaps she can discover something else.

However, let's leave those things for tomorrow.

Mebius is no longer in the mood for further research.

“Klein.”

"I'm here, Doctor."

"I'm starting to feel like having a drink."

"There's still research to do tomorrow, Doctor."

"It's okay, it's just tonight... just tonight."

----------

The campaign to subdue the Eighth Herrscher has come to an end. Although a great many lives were lost, it was ultimately a victory.

[At night, after burying the fallen, the Fire Moths held a ball as usual to celebrate the victory.]

Although many familiar faces are no longer here, and we can no longer dance with them under the lights and to the music, they must now be happy and celebrate the victory.

No matter how sad they are, they cannot show it at this moment. Even those immersed in sorrow will not show it. They will only stay at the edge of the ball, silently admiring the happy faces of everyone and returning a polite smile to them.

Everyone has tasted the bitter fruit of sadness here; there's no need to bring it up again now.

You also met Alicia and Sakura as you wished. They seemed to be in a bit of a hurry, obviously having changed into their gowns and rushed to the ball after completing their mission, without even putting on makeup.

Perhaps sensing your lack of enthusiasm, Alicia, unusually, didn't bring Sakura to tease you. Instead, she naturally stepped forward and invited you to dance the first song with her, to which Sakura had no objection.

To the beautiful music played by Eden, you and she hold hands and dance gracefully under the lights. She smiles, humming along to the tune, her steps keeping time with the beat, drawing you closer.

You instinctively tightened your grip on her hand, as if worried she might suddenly disappear, and she gently squeezed your palm in response.

"Don't worry, I'm right in front of you, aren't I, Wang?"—she said, comforting you as you became a little tense.

Then, Alicia, with graceful dance steps, gently led you to the edge of the dance floor, and then placed you in Sakura's hands, allowing you to dance to the second piece of music.

[As you feel the familiar, nearby fragrance of flowers, your heart calms down a little, the inexplicable tension disappears, and the resentment towards the "Eighth Herrscher" and that nightmare gradually dissipates.]

"That's it—that's what you're thinking."

Being able to accompany each other is already the greatest happiness.

Chapter Thirty-Five: Gretsch's Paints and Paintings

[After a night of revelry, you will still need to face the aftermath of the "Eighth Honkai Impact." Due to the special abilities of the "Eighth Herrscher," combatants like you will find it difficult to play a significant role... because the psychological damage inflicted on humanity by the "Eighth Herrscher" far outweighs the actual physical harm.]

Even though the Fire Moth locked onto the physical coordinates and dispatched Sakura to quickly kill it, and even though Aponia provided pre-emptive support and control, the "Eighth Herrscher's" indiscriminate release of "Sleep Syndrome" at the end didn't actually kill many people. After all, even though the passage of time in reality and "dreams" is not the same, there is still a process between falling into sleep and dying in the dream. Sakura and Aponia killed it precisely at this point in time.

Therefore, the actual casualties caused by the Eighth Herrscher's final counterattack were not as great as imagined. However, after the Eighth Herrscher dragged a large number of people into the "dream," many people developed varying degrees of psychological and even mental problems, which is the most troublesome aspect.

Even some soldiers within the Firemoth were so captivated by the ideal world of their "dream" that they resisted reality, eventually succumbing to madness and attacking their comrades. This is even more true for ordinary people.

Various cities have experienced varying degrees of unrest, with numerous violent incidents occurring. Ultimately, however, it all stems from the inability to accept reality. After all, the "dream" is so beautiful, and dying in a "beautiful dream" seems insignificant.

However, more than anything, it's a resistance to this world where disasters occur frequently and we have to live in constant fear.

That's why, as the "vanguard" of the Flame-Chasing Moths, as Fusion Warriors, you need to fight the Honkai even harder.

Everything is for humanity.

Everything is for the sake of defeating the Honkai.

[By the way, speaking of fusion warriors, you have a new companion, and in a sense, you know him too—Su.]

Like Kevin, you met them when you and Sakura went to the Eden concert together, so you had a brief encounter with them.

[Of course you remember, after all, you've always had a good memory. But Sue, just like when Kevin first saw you, only felt that you looked familiar, but couldn't remember who you were.]

As for Sue, he can be considered a major contributor to the "Eighth Herrscher Extermination Campaign." It was he who entered the spiritual world and then further pinpointed the physical coordinates of the "Eighth Herrscher"... Unfortunately, in order for him to survive, his mentor, Spacie, died.

Now, Su has taken over the position of mentor and become the head of the Fifth Science Department of the Fire Moth, also serving as the Fire Moth's "psychologist."

[This is unavoidable. After all, the aftereffects of the "Eighth Herrscher" are too great. Many people have developed psychological problems, and those who already had psychological issues are in even worse condition. If they are not treated by psychologists, many soldiers of the Flame Chaser may suffer a mental breakdown.]

[Therefore, the Firemoth plans to first arrange psychological counseling for combat personnel, especially the Fusion Warriors, and, together with the big star Eden, to hold several small dances and performances within the Firemoth organization to ensure that the soldiers' mental state remains within a safe range.]

[You naturally need to receive psychological counseling, but you don't seem to care much about it, responding calmly to Su's questions.]

And finally, Su's evaluation of you... wasn't very good.

[A dangerous individual disguised as a normal person—this is how I would describe you in simple terms.]

You are very normal, even peaceful, in your normal state. If you can accept your slightly strange way of speaking, or see the emotions hidden in you, then it will be very pleasant to be with you. However, once certain matters or words are touched upon, your emotions will become exceptionally... vivid, even somewhat obsessive, and may eventually become extreme.

Although you didn't see a detailed report from Su, you could tell from his expression that he thought you were...something troublesome.

Su started advising you to seek more psychological counseling, mentioning it almost every time she saw you, since your problem... is somewhat serious.

However, you don't seem to care much about this; you're more concerned about Gretchen's condition than about Sue, your new companion.

During this period, you went to Möbius's laboratory to inquire about the situation whenever you had free time, but you were never allowed to enter. Even Gretsch's father, Hen, was not allowed to enter. The two of you were even warned by the Fire Moth, which left you both confused, but correspondingly, your hearts became anxious.

[Having already lost his wife, and now without even a chance to see his daughter, the Fire Moth is trying to transfer him away. How could he not be anxious?]

Although Hen knew it was his duty as a soldier, shouldn't the Fire Moth be more compassionate? Can't he even see his daughter once?

Not to mention, judging from the current situation, Gretchen's condition is probably very bad, perhaps even... she is still struggling on the verge of life and death.

[Hen grew increasingly anxious, and all you could do was comfort him again and again—after all, you were ordered by the Firemoth to stay in the base and not go out, so you came to keep him company... Even Desdovia was allowed to go out on missions, but you still had to stay in the base, and you realized that there might really be something wrong with you.]

[However, looking at Hen's anxious appearance, you sometimes think that it would be better to shoot a few of the higher-ups in the Fire Chaser who always make crazy decisions... For example, those guys in the Poison Chrysalis who always like to threaten you with Bell and Sakura.]

There's absolutely no personal grudge involved, are you sure?

Fortunately, you eventually met Gretchen, but bad news followed immediately.

[Some... bad news for Hen]