Honkai Impact 3rd, a simulator of lifelong regret!

This incident further elevated the already high status of scholars.

[As the only remaining, top-tier genius.]

[Mebius's fame was at its peak, and even her poor reputation for human experimentation and lack of emotional intelligence was whitewashed by her fans. Under the grand narrative, all of this became an acceptable sacrifice.]

[—Acceptable.]

[Though those chosen continue to weep and try to escape, though no one will even remember the names of those who perished.]

[It's simply using fanaticism to numb oneself, letting bestiality surpass humanity, causing the basic morality that human society has spent countless years building to vanish, and giving it an acceptable, understandable name.]

You don't care about these things.

They're too lazy to even correct their mistakes, unwilling to waste a single second on them, and lack the ability and energy to change anything.

Even if the boy's reputation is exaggerated—you know Jiang Cheng absolutely dislikes this, using the opportunity to trample on real geniuses to pave his own way.

You're simply following Jiangcheng's instructions to live on, and then searching for paradise.

The forest that had sprung from that small town grew even larger, encompassing the town at the foot of the mountain, transforming it into a veritable paradise.

The original town was completely destroyed and abandoned several years ago. The boy's parents also died due to the collapse of the town. Because they died so completely, some people took it upon themselves to create the illusion that they were still alive.

These lies weren't even exposed until you arrived here, because you brought news that Jiang Cheng was dead.

[In a way, it's not bad.]

[If you didn't see the phrase "only remaining family" in the message Jiangcheng left for you.]

He already knew.

[However, perhaps by the time he found out, he was already overwhelmed by even greater grief, leaving him neither the strength nor the space to grieve.]

The pain of losing everything overnight—losing one's lover and almost all of one's family, and not even being able to find a single person to talk to—has reached a point where it can completely tear one's heart apart.

It wasn't a needle prick, not a knife slice, not just a cut; it was tearing the entire heart apart, leaving almost nothing behind.

[As the only one, the only one who could save the boy, you were still running away back then, unable even to embrace Jiangcheng.]

【ah……】

This small town seems to be regaining its vitality.

[Some stranded people ended up here and were rescued by that seemingly volatile young man. He fought his way through the Honkai beast horde, even carrying back those who were too badly injured to move, making them new residents of Vostok-51—the Eternal Paradise.]

[This place is like spring all year round, with beautiful scenery, fresh fruit always available along the way, and it's untouched by Honkai energy—it's like a fairyland.]

Aside from not being able to eat meat, it has no flaws. It's not that there aren't fools who try to hunt the animals on its back, but they are usually thrown out of the town without hesitation by the young man before they can even make a move.

Your earlier guess was correct; that young man did indeed consider this place his home.

He voluntarily became a security guard, beginning to protect the safety of this small town and everything in this paradise around the clock.

[A person whose combat strength, in your judgment, is no weaker than the First Herrscher or a Judgement-level individual, has volunteered to become a security guard in this small town.]

He prevented some minor disasters from escalating because you were often away from home.

[They even started learning how to control their temper.]

When faced with disputes, I prefer to resolve things through reason rather than force.

Although he gets incredibly angry most of the time, he usually leaves after his stress level is reported and goes to beat up Honkai Beasts to vent his emotions, but the furthest he ever goes is never more than a few thousand meters from that small town.

That young man always maintained a speed that allowed him to arrive in an instant, enabling him to resolve and defeat any disaster in the first moment.

He seems genuinely want to ease your psychological burden and ensure this beautiful paradise continues forever.

[It's just like something out of a fairy tale.]

Among the heroes who search for paradise, there will always be one with a fiery temper, who is actually tough on the outside but soft on the inside, and who is always the first to step up when there are difficulties.

Unfortunately, what he protected was someone else's paradise, his own paradise. Your paradise has long since vanished and can never return.

At twenty-nine, you spotted a blonde nun with an unusually large figure among the fleeing crowd. Even if she were a beautiful young woman, she wouldn't hold any appeal for you in your current state, teetering on the brink of collapse. You wouldn't even bother to glance at her.

[But then that nun, who had fled from danger, approached you. Her deep green eyes, like those of a true Virgin Mary, looked at you with compassion and empathy.]

【why? 】

Can't she see you're a monster?

"Please return to the group."

"Beside me..."

"Very unsafe?"

The girl's tone no longer revealed any emotional fluctuations.

Pushing aside those who try to get close is a natural, instinctive behavior that comes naturally during long journeys and the grief of losing everything.

Normal life should not be near a Herrscher who will only bring disaster and pain.

……

Looking at Alicia, whose pink eyes, though dimmed, still revealed confusion and bewilderment, Aponia's expression remained as sorrowful as ever. She gently extended her slender, soft white fingers and touched what lay ahead.

No longer using her hands to cover her excessive figure, letting the soft, white flesh be squeezed out, she simply used natural gravity to let the breasts cover her chest.

— Difficult to understand.

There was clearly nothing but empty air around Alicia, yet the way she was being touched seemed to be a gentle greeting to someone else.

"she……"

"Is he/she an important friend of yours?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

Alicia simply took a step back, her full thighs moving backward with practiced ease and naturalness to create distance.

"If you have some mental issues, please seek out a competent doctor within the ranks. Mr. Wilson has considerable expertise in psychotherapy."

72. Alicia: The new Herrscher is... dead?

"Your mental state might require a doctor more than mine. Should I call a psychologist for you?"

They've even stopped pretending to be friendly. They no longer have heartfelt conversations with others like they used to, and they're not even willing to exchange perfunctory words. The tragic ending they created with the boy in the past is deeply ingrained in their bones.

It was precisely because he enjoyed chatting with other, unfamiliar, and unnecessary people that Jiangcheng was ignored, leading to the initial tragedy.

Alicia no longer wanted to harm any more lives because of her identity as a Herrscher.

—It's meaningless.

The nun did not simply leave because of this small act. Her eyes, which seemed to see through fate, seemed to have lost all their light at this moment, and she could not even see this rejection.

She took a step forward, her chest throbbing slightly, unhidden and unrestrained, her flamboyant figure bringing a strange sense of oppression.

……

The third seat of the Heroes Chasing Fire.

—Precepts.

Despite what you want to do, whatever you want to do, it usually leads to a bigger disaster and only creates a worse outcome than before.

Sometimes it even makes you wonder if doing nothing would be any worse than doing something.

In a sense, Aponia is someone who has done more wrong things, caused more disasters, and is more extreme in personality than Alicia.

Regardless, this kindness itself cannot be denied.

Although Aponia's abilities cannot be described as a divine weapon to save others—the talent to see the threads of fate is, in a sense, just pure torment, because one can only see them but cannot change them.

Even after taking the precepts.

This power is still nothing but pure torture.

Human language has countless ways of being understood, but the result of her precepts at the moment she opened her mouth was only what was said, not what was thought. In other words, there are countless ways to bypass those words and achieve tragedy through wordplay.

She hasn't experienced so much yet, and she's not even a fusion warrior. Today, she's just a victim, still holding onto goodwill, wanting to help the numb girl in front of her and the one who refuses to leave her side.

“You’re in really bad shape. Even the most desperate beggar in Twilight Street wouldn’t look like this. I… can I offer you some help?”

“If you have someone very important to you, someone you wouldn’t want to leave even after death, I can offer some help.”

"Such numbness and emptiness can be very dangerous if it continues for a long time."

The soft, butterfly-like female voice still lingered in the air.

Her voice seemed to possess a strange magic, calming people down inexplicably. Without the need for lamps or candles, her presence was like a candle flame, illuminating a corner.

If all the priests and nuns in the world possessed such power and beauty, then the entire world would probably fall under the shadow of God's glory.

however……

No matter how bright the candlelight, it can only reflect a tiny ray of light in a bright and clear mirror. Faced with the purest and deepest darkness, even the brightest light cannot illuminate the small space.

The pink, starry eyes were not illuminated in the slightest; they merely reflected the dull, lifeless color of the sky.

"I don't need it."

Don't you think this eccentric nun in front of you can help you in any way?

If Aponia had immediately offered to help you, you might have wasted a little time listening. But instead, she reached out to your side before even trying to help, as if someone were already there in the air.

[These kinds of mystical things ultimately reduce credibility. Even if you don't dislike her that much, you won't dismiss the nun because of it, and it wouldn't matter if it wasted some time anyway.]

[It's just that, for some reason... you're not really keen on getting to know more.]

[It stemmed entirely from an unfounded emotion.]

That's all.

This nun can at most offer you some comfort; she can't possibly help you in any real way, and even this comfort comes from a third-person perspective.