Honkai Impact: Starting from Wandering with Kiana

Xi'er and Penglai Temple Jiuxiao pursued relentlessly, eventually splitting up to surround and corner the guy.

She was a slender, brown-haired girl wearing the uniform of the Fire Moth Engineering Department. Her entire body was deathly pale, devoid of any color, due to prolonged lack of energy replenishment. Even with her skin covering her, the outline of her ribs was clearly visible.

"This outfit... Are you the missing member of the engineering department? Why are you here?"

Upon seeing that she was also a member of the Firemoth, Seele breathed a sigh of relief and relaxed completely.

But the missing engineering staff member did not relax at all; instead, his nerves tightened even more, and he began to tremble and go mad.

"Don't worry, everything's alright now. We'll protect you back to base, so please don't be afraid..."

Seele tried to soothe the girl with gentle words, but when she heard Seele mention returning to the base, she went completely mad and hysterically yelled at everyone.

“Go back? Impossible, I will never go back!” Sera, a girl from the engineering department, trembled as she backed away, pressing the detonator in her hand at the same time.

boom--

A series of massive explosions echoed from afar. The powerful blasts caused the underground tunnel to shake violently. With lightning speed, Seele grabbed the wall beside her and pulled Penglai Temple Nine Heavens back to safety.

Sera was flipped upside down on the ground, but her eyes showed no panic, only happiness and madness.

"Hey, are you alright? That explosion was..."

“She did it. I just saw it; her backpack was full of explosives.” Jiuxiao floated over from behind, coldly watching Sera lying on the ground.

"Heh, that's right, I did it all! I've had enough! No food... no medicine... all that talk about protecting us, when in reality we're just left to die stupidly in that cramped base!!"

Sera made no attempt to hide her feelings and admitted it directly, then shouted angrily at Seele. However, due to her extreme weakness, she was breathless and gasped for air after shouting.

Seele looked at Sera in disbelief.

"What are you saying...? That's the base that my sister worked so hard to build, our last home!"

"Home? That's just a grave... A real home should be a warmer, happier place. I will find a new home for everyone in my own way!"

I've already investigated; there's a large shopping mall above this area, filled with supplies! I've already planted explosives inside the tunnel! Once we blow this place up, we can enter from underground!

This is much better than hiding in the cramped train station. As long as we can get into the shopping mall, everyone can get food and medicine... then no one will die anymore!!

Seele sternly stopped Sera from having such a crazy idea.

"No! The explosion will attract the attention of the Honkai creatures! You'll only expose everyone and the base to danger! And even if we succeed, with our manpower, we simply can't defend such a large area!"

Jiuxiao also spoke up to stop Sera, because he had just arrived at the situation above.

"Things aren't as simple as you think. Honkai can contaminate food. If there were really usable supplies up there, Bronya wouldn't have come here without bringing people to search for them! Besides, there's nothing up there at all! The shopping mall up there has already been taken over by Honkai creatures!"

"Ha... So we're just going to hide underground like rats? I don't want to die in that cold place... I want to live!"

Sera ignored the words of Jiuxiao and Seele and pressed the detonator in her hand.

boom--

The enormous explosion could be heard several kilometers away, leaving the people present dazed and disoriented.

Still shrouded in smoke and haze, Sera staggered toward the breach that had been blasted open.

"Hey! Seele! Come with me inside and move the supplies back... move them back..."

But are there really any food and supplies? Jiuxiao already said there's nothing inside... only rampaging Honkai creatures...

The last glimmer of light disappeared from Sera's eyes, and she walked blankly and absentmindedly toward the Honkai creature.

"...Heh...dying like this...isn't so bad..."

Without food, returning alive would be a torment. Sometimes, living is more painful than dying.

Sera turned around one last time, her face no longer showing pain and despair, but instead revealing a relieved smile.

These were the last words spoken to Jiuxiao and the other two.

"Run!"

Startled by the explosion, the Honkai creatures surged forward like a tidal wave, engulfing Sera in a frenzy. In less than a second, Sera vanished completely from this hopeless world.

She wanted to live; Jiuxiao would save her, but she didn't. Even though she had wanted to live before, her hope was shattered. After discovering that the food and medicine she craved were just illusions, and that the mall only contained Honkai creatures, Sera's heart died. Even if she survived, she had no words to face the Moth Chasers again.

Nine Heavens' thermal vision swept across the area, clearing an opening in the tide of Honkai creatures, only for countless more Honkai creatures to surge forward the next moment.

Penglai Temple Nine Heavens also picked up the ethereal weapon array heavy cannon and began firing rapidly at the Honkai creatures, but it was just a drop in the ocean.

Seele glanced at Sera's location one last time, then resolutely called out to the three of them to turn and leave.

"Let's go... There are too many Honkai creatures. The three of us can't defeat so many. There will be even more and stronger ones, drawn in by our presence!"

Chapter 253 I didn't cry, it was just windy.

"But we can't just let them go unchecked; we have to stop them from reaching the base. Jiuxiao, you said there was still explosives in that backpack left behind by that guy from the operations department, right?"

"Ah."

"We might be able to stop them by blowing up this tunnel... otherwise we'll be overwhelmed by the Honkai beast horde."

"You go ahead, I'll buy you some time."

Xi'er and Penglai Temple Jiuxiao exchanged a glance, then said nothing more and turned to plant the bomb.

Nine Heavens' thermal vision scanned the area several more times, and after confirming that Seele and Nine Heavens of Penglai Temple had gone far away, he walked to the place where Sera had been devoured.

Using thermal vision, he drew a circle around the area where Sera's remains were located, and then erected a small tombstone.

"Mortals utterly crushed by false hope"

"You're so boring... What's with the pretense now? You could have saved her, couldn't you?"

"She ultimately chose death, so why save someone who had lost all hope, a living corpse? Letting her live only to continue her suffering and despair... letting this world see no hope..."

"Ah…"

Faced with Tianqi's cold laugh, Jiuxiao shook his head helplessly and said no more to her.

--------------

Even though Jiuxiao was clearing the battlefield ahead and relieving a lot of pressure, some escapees still managed to get past Jiuxiao by listening to the commotion from other passages and came to Xier and Jiuxiao of Penglai Temple.

Seele fought them with a scythe in hand, and then Penglai Temple's Nine Heavens went to plant the bombs.

"I'm sorry to have you all come with me on this adventure. But it's our duty, and we absolutely cannot fail."

"I wonder how things are going on the Nine Heavens side. Have the explosives at Penglai Temple been set up? There are too many Honkai creatures; I can't hold out for much longer!"

Boom——

The Honkai creatures carved another path through the underground tunnels, breaking through Seele's defenses and charging forward.

The next moment, a greatsword was plunged into the head of the Honkai Beast that was in the first place, and Houraiji Kusho appeared to the side.

"We haven't settled in yet, let's retreat, it's too late!"

"No, someone needs to hold these guys off. If we don't blow this place up, our base in the rear will be in danger. Go and inform Jiuxiao, then leave immediately. Leave the rest to me."

Seele picked up the explosives beside her. There was no time to set them up, so she decided to sacrifice herself and the explosives to detonate them. Once Jiuxiao returned, she would destroy the tunnel.

"No, I can't accept such an order. I won't leave Seele alone to risk her life; I want to protect my home!"

Penglai Temple Nine Heavens directly rejected Seele's order, snatched the explosives from Seele's hand, turned around, drew his greatsword, and fought against the Honkai creatures.

"Hey! Are you out of your mind?!"

Seele shouted at Penglai Temple Nine Heavens, but Penglai Temple Nine Heavens acted as if she didn't hear her, continuing to fight her way deeper into the Honkai creatures...

Deeper still, so deep that Seele could no longer see the figure of Jiuxiao at Penglai Temple…

boom----

The bomb was detonated, the tunnel collapsed, and the Honkai creatures were kept outside the tunnel.

"How could this be... Why did this happen..."

Seele collapsed to the ground in despair, tears streaming down her face, her hands pounding weakly on the ground.

“Damn it…Damn it!”

rustling sounds—

With a large bag on its head but completely unharmed, Jiuxiao flew back into the tunnel from the opposite direction and landed behind Xier.

Penglai Temple Jiuxiao originally intended to use herself as a bomb to blow up the tunnel, but Jiuxiao, who had been watching the situation closely, discovered this and punched her hard. He then took the explosives and blew up the tunnel himself.

Hearing the noise behind her, Seele mechanically turned her head, her mournful face gradually turning into a joyful smile.

Suddenly, she stood up from the ground, rushed towards the two of them, embraced them, and knocked them to the ground. Tears streamed down her face, wetting Penglai Temple Jiuxiao's cheeks, and her little fists kept pounding on Jiuxiao's chest.

"You're all alright...that's great...that's great...you scared me to death!"

"Don't cry~ We're alright, aren't we?" Penglai Temple Jiuxiao reached out to wipe away Xier's tears and comforted her with a smile.

Jiuxiao smiled and comforted Xier. "We're the main characters~ How could anything happen to us! You crybaby Xier~"

"I didn't cry! It's just that smoke from the explosion got into my eyes!"

Seele stubbornly insisted she wasn't crying, but her trembling sobs and tears didn't lie.

Finally, Jiuxiao grabbed Xier and Penglai Temple Jiuxiao with both hands and flew back to the base.