Regarding the question of whether one thousand lives are enough to beat Honkai Impact 3rd.

Move.

【Thousand Stars】 tore apart the tiny meridians, shattered the muscles, and severed the transmission of nerves.

Hurry up and move!

The soul's consumption reached its limit, and the poor Honkai energy resistance could no longer allow it to move its limbs by instinct using the Honkai energy in the world.

Simple requests cannot be answered in the face of a body riddled with wounds.

The boy's fingers rested limply on the ground, the raw skin oozing a ghastly crimson blood, staining the dusty contact points beneath his limbs a bright red.

Su Qing'an stared silently at the corpse that was so close yet felt as distant as if they were separated by a vast ocean, a strange stillness settling over her heart.

The sword heart remained intact and unwavering, but the soul, which no one could see, was stained with an indelible darkness.

He lost.

The price paid for this was so profound and despairing.

How ridiculous.

I didn't lose to myself, I didn't lose to the Herrscher, I didn't lose to the gods.

But... it lost to humans.

……

……

About 15 minutes ago, everyone in the temporary military camp was pulled into the warship and sailed off into the distance without stopping.

The remaining survivors in Canghai City were unaware that this urgent action was to avoid the aftershocks of the Honkai Fission Bomb launch.

The troops remaining in the area were naturally aware of the truth, but in order not to waste any extra time and energy, they could only temporarily announce to the outside world that a crisis had been detected and that they had to retreat immediately.

In a life-or-death situation, the already small number of people, less than three digits, became even more orderly.

The launch of the Honkai Fission Bomb is not subject to their will. As a subordinate structure of the United Nations, the Moth of Fire, even though it has a certain degree of autonomy, still has to obey the leadership of its superiors.

Moreover, the stationed here was only the fifth squad led by Himeko. In such a short time, she had no chance to gain enough authority to revise the orders.

At the same time, as soon as the notification was issued, the Honkai Fission Bomb had already entered the stage of being ready to be launched. Once the fixed time was reached, regardless of whether the local troops had withdrawn in time, the higher command would choose to launch it directly without holding back.

When the survival of the Third Herald is at stake, sacrificing minor details becomes a necessary choice.

Besides a few girls, there were more than a dozen women among the survivors of Canghai City. These were the lucky ones that the mechanical soldiers found in various parts of the city while patrolling.

It is obvious that if these people continue to stay in Canghai City, even if they are not killed by passing Honkai Beasts, they will eventually be brutally annihilated by Honkai fission bombs while waiting for rescue.

There must still be some survivors in this city who are struggling but have not been accepted into the temporary military camp, but under such a decision, their struggle and luck in not being infected and dying have all become a joke.

For the upper-level parliament, this approach continues the previous iron-fisted and efficient style.

The core principle of prioritizing the survival of human civilization is the real reason why the Herrschers failed to cause much widespread casualties in the first two instances.

Cut your losses and survive.

This time was no different. Even though Himeko deliberately suppressed the information that Fu Hua also had the ability to manipulate Honkai energy, she wanted to use this to highlight Su Qing'an's special abilities beyond combat power.

However, the cautious approach still makes it difficult for the authorities to accept giving up the opportunity to kill the Third Herrscher.

Essentially, part of the reason lies in the fact that the means of manipulating the Honkai energy of the human body has always been a project that was planned later in the sequence.

Compared to this, large-scale threat weapons such as the Honkai Fission Bomb are the main research focus of civilization at this stage.

Because of Su Qing'an's existence, the authorities still haven't come to a deep understanding that the so-called Herrschers are enemies that cannot be defeated by such limited means.

After the Third Herrscher was successfully killed, it became difficult for an individual's combat level to continue to be viewed from a higher perspective.

Even though the Third Herrscher did die in the end, the core crisis of the Third Honkai Outbreak was successfully resolved on the first day.

On the surface, it was a major strategic victory, which was very encouraging and helped the government maintain its authority and the morale of its soldiers.

However, the horror that the Third Herrscher did not have time to show the world meant that she was unable to prove that the Honkai Fission Bomb's practicality was not high when unchecked.

This also indirectly kept the civilization's focus and investment in the control of human Honkai energy and the research and development of micro-armor at a normal level.

At the same time, Su Qing'an paid a huge price to sever the Honkai link, and his plan to abduct Herrscher-level combatants was forced to fail.

From God's perspective, the UN's top leadership's decision-making is a complete failure.

The negative impacts are even more profound when extrapolated: the launch of the Honkai Fission Bomb directly resulted in the loss of a Herrscher-level combatant and caused a Martial Immortal to lose basic trust in the United Nations, even developing hatred towards it.

However, if we are in a situation where the information is completely unclear, it is impossible to make the most perfect decision that maximizes benefits and minimizes damage. Under the general direction, the other branches will inevitably have omissions and deficiencies.

The fact that the current authorities can make judgments based on the pure awareness of the survival of civilization is already a stroke of good fortune in this apocalyptic world.

Different positions determine different perspectives; this is true for most things in the world.

Fu Hua looked out at the scene outside the cabin and remained silent.

She sat on the soft sofa, with Himeko next to her and Seele, Shigure Kira, and Carol opposite her.

If Sisi were a little calmer, Fu Hua would probably wonder why Himeko, as the captain of the fifth squad and now in charge of the highest command on the warship, would be sitting next to her, but she had no mind to think about such details right now.

In a little while, Canghai City will be completely out of her sight.

Fu Hua was actually not very willing to follow the official evacuation order.

This is not because of distrust or doubt towards the authorities.

Unlike the survivors who knew nothing about the Honkai, she understood that during such a special period, the so-called crisis by the authorities would basically be a Honkai event.

Even though Kenshin didn't sense any danger, Fu Hua subconsciously thought that the authorities might have used some kind of detection equipment with a wider range than Kenshin's.

So her reason for not wanting to go was simply because there were still important people to her in Canghai City.

Su Qing'an, Sato Yuno.

Ignoring the dire situation where both of them were in grave danger, and instead heading towards a safe haven in the distance where Honkai events were rare, Fu Hua found this behavior unacceptable.

She would rather stay in the original military camp and quietly wait for Master Su to bring Yuna back than go to a safe place first and know nothing about their situation.

But Master Su said that the older sister named Himeko is a trustworthy person.

Given that she was neither able to protect herself nor to search the city, following this person's judgment and choosing to leave temporarily was the outcome Su Qing'an hoped to see.

The girl is enduring this.

Endure the fear and unease that almost overflows from your chest.

Endure the endless turmoil within your heart.

too weird.

After realizing that the person was no longer by her side and was drifting further away, she even felt involuntarily lost about the future.

Fu Hua continued gazing at the scenery outside the window, and softly asked the red-haired woman beside her:

"If Su Qing'an is released, will he be able to contact you, Captain?"

Himeko closed her eyes. She hated lying to these children, even though it was the gentlest thing to do.

The woman swallowed the truth back down her throat. She hesitated for a moment, but chose to remain silent.

Why choose to lie in the first place?

She would soon have to face the cruelest ending, so what difference would it make whether she found out sooner or later?

The reason might be to give her more hope for the world, but it also inevitably reveals her own hidden weaknesses.

Just like Himeko, who was unwilling to continue on the path of scientific research and to personally stain her hands with the blood that was destined to be sinful.

In that instant, she was unwilling to witness a girl's faint hope being trampled into oblivion, sinking into the swamp of despair.

Su Qing'an is very important to Fu Hua.

With her father's survival uncertain, this boy was perhaps one of the few pillars of support in her heart.

And perhaps Himeko herself is trying to believe that the boy who has already given her enough surprises can once again surpass her imagination.

What if he survives?

If Su Qing'an had chosen not to continue entangled with the Third Herrscher and left Canghai City before the official decision to launch the Honkai Fission Bomb,

Judging from the speed measured by the instruments, he had every chance of successfully escaping.

But Himeko herself understood that such a coincidence was too much a matter of luck and unrealistic.

From the human perspective, it was Su Qing'an who entangled the Third Herrscher.

However, from another perspective, Su Qing'an himself was also entangled with the Third Herrscher.

Putting aside the fact that the boy was completely unaware of the fact that the human's actions were no different from backstabbing, even if he knew everything beforehand, it wouldn't be so easy to escape from such an opponent.

Yet this vague hope still gave Himeko a reason to tell a gentle lie.

The woman kept a close eye on her communicator.

If Su Qing'an had successfully left Canghai City before the Honkai Fission Bomb arrived, he would have found his communication device and messages at the only remaining military camp during his escape.

This was one of the agreements that had been reached between the two.

Even though there are still many variable factors, this is the only means of judgment that Himeko currently has.

After five minutes of deathly silence, she gripped the communicator tightly and understood the most likely outcome.

"————".

A subtle rumble, like waves crashing against the world, made even the massive warship tremble for a few seconds. But then the Honkai energy shield and special protective layer blocked out most of the tremors, and the girls on the sofa realized that everything was alright.

Take the untouched juice on the table in front of the sofa as an example. The liquid surface was tilted at a 45-degree angle and swirled back and forth between the glass wall and the rim for a long time, but it still did not spill.

This is enough to show that the evacuation was done very well, and the distance was obviously very safe.

The warship then stopped, waiting for the aftershocks of the explosion to completely subside and for precise signs that the Herrscher's Honkai energy fluctuations had disappeared. After that, the fifth squad, wearing special protective suits, would head to Canghai City to retrieve the remains of the Third Herrscher.

To retrieve the most crucial Herrscher core, special equipment is required. Manually opening it could cause residual Honkai energy to endanger the leader's life.

This instrument, designed with the utmost care and resources to protect the lives of soldiers, stems from a rare humanitarian concern within the United Nations.

Himeko had no time to care when the higher-ups would issue the order to retrieve the items. She looked at the speechless Seele, at Carol with tears welling up in her eyes, and at Shigure Kira biting her lip. Finally, she looked at the girl who still hadn't changed her posture.

As Fu Hua gazed at the distant Canghai City, which had been reduced to a mere black dot in the distance, the roar of the engine tinged it with a subtle yet distinct creamy hue.

She didn't know that it was a Honkai fission bomb, different from normal nuclear weapons, but the Honkai energy fluctuations, as bright as the morning star, seemed to be announcing to the whole world that it was a threat.

Canghai City was thus submerged in a spectacular creamy-colored mushroom cloud and destroyed in an instant.