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

Xi Wang squinted, waiting for the young soldier's reply.

“I…I still have things I can do…and this is what I should do.”

“I want to go back to the captain and ask her in person… whether the person in that body is her or a Herrscher… I want to know if I still have a chance to save her.”

Hua spoke slowly and deliberately, and finally seemed to have made up his mind, responding firmly.

"Oh, then you don't need to go."

"...?"

"She is asleep and is currently floating in mid-air above the city without moving or reacting to the outside world. However, the temperature around her is still rising. My condition is due to my efforts to get close to her. My weapon completely melted when I was 10 meters away from her. You can't touch her without a special method, and you can't talk to her either."

"why is it like this……"

Even the last thing I wanted to do couldn't be done...? Not even just talking to her...?

Hua was somewhat dazed. The power he had painstakingly gathered dissipated at this moment, and he collapsed weakly, kneeling on the ground like a puppet.

"........."

This child is more fragile than I imagined... But it's for the best, at least he's still alive.

Xi Wang tilted his head slightly, without saying much. He calmly stepped forward, grabbed Hua by the back of her collar, and lifted her back like a kitten. He placed her against the broken wall so she could have a place to lean against. Then he returned to the gap in the ruins, keeping an eye on the surroundings and monitoring communications to confirm the arrival time of the support troops.

"Mr. Wang..."

"No need for such formality, Miss Eden. Just call me by my name. I'm practically a fan of yours, actually."

“Basic etiquette is still necessary…but since you have made such a request, there’s no need to be so formal when addressing me, after all, I’m just a singer.”

Eden shook his head and said slowly.

"Regarding the details of this disaster, since you said someone would explain it specifically later, I won't ask you. However, regarding your injuries..."

"Don't worry, it will return to normal after a while."

Xi Wang's calm tone startled Eden. She could hear the calmness and sincerity in Xi Wang's words... But it was precisely because of this that Eden felt puzzled. This level of burns couldn't possibly "recover in a while," could it?

“If you want to ease your emotions through chatting, then I’d be happy to oblige… at least until support arrives.”

"……grateful."

"It's alright, it's a rare time to rest anyway... Of course, if you want to express your gratitude, you can sign an autograph for me later."

"Ha...of course."

Eden did need something to distract himself and free himself from tension and fear, and Xi Wang's calm tone at this moment made people feel relaxed... as if everything in front of them was "nothing special".

"So...were you just stopping this soldier? Preventing her...from going to her captain?"

"I was just offering some advice."

Xi Wang said it as if he didn't care.

“If she doesn’t listen, or insists on going, I won’t stop her.”

"After all, she's no one to me, so I have no reason to force her to stay... Besides, my mission is to search for survivors and find her incidentally, and that's all I'm supposed to do."

"is that so?"

"Of course, and I don't agree with her idea."

Xi Wang shifted her gaze slightly, glancing at the unusually quiet Hua.

"To try to get close to a Herrscher, especially alone and without any help, not to mention whether you have the ability to get close, this reckless act is likely to be questioned by Moth of Flame. If her actions cause a Herrscher to awaken from its slumber and cause greater damage, she will have to take responsibility for it."

"If she dies directly at the hands of a Herrscher, at most she'll be branded with crimes and stigmatized after death. But if she's lucky enough to survive... then she might be forced to bear even more bizarre accusations, which would be torture for her."

"In comparison, I prefer to give the [Herrscher] a clean and decisive release, which would be beneficial for both her and us."

pat-

Xi Wang ate a piece of candy, and as if to emphasize something, she added another sentence.

"But like I said, I was just trying to persuade her. If she insists on going, I don't care. After all, my task is just to find her. As for what happens afterward, I don't care."

"...You're surprisingly a gentle person."

"...You are the fifth person to think I am 'gentle'. I really don't know how you came to that conclusion."

Xi Wang squinted, finding Eden's assessment somewhat strange.

"A fifth one? It seems you have four very close friends..."

Eden sighed, then leaned against the ruins beside him and explained softly.

"This is not a figment of my imagination, but I can sense your concern for this soldier and your regret for your former comrade from your words... Although you are trying your best to distance yourself and keep your concern for them as a kind of 'stranger's advice,' this only shows that you value your friendship with them."

"As a singer, it has become a habit to feel emotions from the words of others, and I am somewhat confident in this regard."

Eden pressed her hand to her chest, a slightly proud smile on her face, but she quickly lowered her eyes, her golden eyes appearing dull and gray, like the jewel pinned to her chest, buried in dust.

"Although I don't know why you are so restrained in your emotions, it would be better if you could be more frank in your words."

"Ah, sorry, I might have said a bit too much... If I've offended you in any way, please just tell me. That's just how I am; I always end up saying too much without realizing it..."

"It doesn't matter, I'm used to it."

As Xiwang responded to Eden, he glanced around at the slowly dying flames and frowned.

"After all, I have a friend who is just like you, who unconsciously talks a lot, and his opinion of me is similar to yours."

"Really? That's my pleasure... May I ask your friend's name? Perhaps... we'll get along very well."

"Her name is Alicia. I'll introduce her to you later. In fact, you're bound to meet her as soon as you come into contact with Moth of Fire... Besides, if she's a big star like you, she'll definitely be happy to come over and be your friend."

"...Alicia?"

Eden paused, seemingly surprised to hear that name here.

"Yes, she is a very lovely and trustworthy girl... just a moment."

Xi Wang raised her hand to signal Eden not to speak, and frowned as she scanned her surroundings.

"...Hua, stop daydreaming and get up to be on guard."

"...?"

Only then did Eden notice that the sounds of the flames burning, and the sounds of the monsters moving that used to ring out from time to time, had all disappeared.

A deathly silence enveloped the surroundings.

"……Yes."

Hua shook his head, suppressing his tangled thoughts and low spirits, stood up again, quickly regulated his breathing, shielded Eden behind him, and warily scanned his surroundings.

She had to pull herself together and fulfill the duties of a soldier... to safely return the only survivor she had rescued.

Looking up, amidst the still-spreading smoke and dust, one could vaguely see white frost spreading from afar, forming tiny ice flowers on the scorched ground.

"........."

Xi Wang frowned, wondering if this was another new trick by that [Herrscher], or if some special [Honkai Beast] had appeared. At the same time, she was also wondering why the promised support from the Fire Moth hadn't arrived yet.

But the message that came through the communication afterwards surprised him.

The Seventh Herrscher Extermination Campaign – Ended, completed by Kevin alone.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Alicia: Want to touch my ears?

The battle to subdue the Seventh Herrscher has ended with Kevin completing the task single-handedly. You don't know how Kevin did it, but it's still a good thing.

When reinforcements arrived, Eden and Hua described your condition to others, so you were semi-forcibly dragged away from the battlefield and returned to the Firemoth to rest and recover.

You couldn't help but feel a little resentful towards Hua and Eden, after all, this would make Alicia and Sakura worry. Rather than that, it would be better to keep it a secret, since things would be fine in a few days... But in the end, you didn't say anything and silently accepted their good intentions.

[But when others lifted your clothes, they discovered that almost the entire combat suit had become one with your skin. You could say you had physically shed a layer of skin, to the point that even the medic in charge of you didn't know where to begin.]

Sakura, having learned of your situation, asked Möbius to come and check on you. Of course, you think that even if Sakura hadn't asked, Möbius would have come anyway, since this is a rare opportunity for her to observe your "special qualities" without any qualms.

[That's exactly right. You rested in the hospital for seven days. During those seven days, apart from Sakura coming to take care of you, Mebius and her assistant came to collect your physical data, and also prescribed some medications and did some tests for you.]

[And it was under this "casual" treatment that your condition recovered rapidly. The burns faded quickly, and by the seventh day, only faint marks remained on your body. In two more days, there wouldn't even be any marks left.]

Your recovery has amazed everyone, with many exclaiming, "No wonder it's Dr. Möbius!"

[Mebius's "interest" in you has grown even stronger, and her two new assistants—Cangxuan and Danzhu—have also developed a strong interest in you... Although one of them is a money-grubber who wants to drag you into doing some "highly lucrative work," and the other is an ACG enthusiast who is very interested in your body, which can maintain perfect skin at any time.]

Perhaps it's because they're both petite, like little girls, that you're more tolerant of them than others. You don't mind them touching you inappropriately, but if Mebius tries to get close, you immediately refuse her advances.

During these seven days, you also learned about the situation of the "Seventh Great Collapse" from Sakura, Mebius, and others.

For example, Kevin was able to defeat the "Seventh Herrscher" on his own because Mebius and May urgently activated the "Fusion Warrior Project," fusing the genes of Honkai Beasts into Kevin's body to gain inhuman power.

[For example, even after the Herrscher was defeated, the fire she spread could not be extinguished. Despite everyone's efforts to save her, and even with the help of Kevin, who had become inhuman and possessed the power to control ice and snow, the fire that affected the entire country of Australia still burned for seven days. The entire country was left in ruins, reduced to scorched earth, and there was still residual Honkai energy remaining on the land, making it difficult to carry out the originally planned revival plan.]

The entire country of Australia could originally support tens of millions of people, but now all the urban areas suitable for rebuilding combined can only support a million.

The good news is that fewer than a million people survived in all of Australia. The rebuilt urban areas are just enough for them to continue living in their homeland, and other countries don't need to worry about the refugee problem anymore, haha!

It's not funny at all.

After all the battles were over, you reunited with your teammates... well, only a quarter remained. It seems they were lucky; at least not all of them died.

[You also met Kevin along the way. He had become inhuman and exuded a chilling coldness that made him unapproachable... He still couldn't control this power, and he didn't have the mind for it. He seemed to be having some psychological issues, appearing very depressed. After returning to the Moth of Flames, he often needed to receive psychological treatment.]

This massive fire, which directly affected the entire continent, also drew the world's attention, forcing the Fire Moths to step into the limelight and announce their existence to the world, along with the disaster known as "Honkai."

Perhaps because the lesson learned this time was too painful, the Firemoth temporarily set aside its internal conflicts and began to take active action. On one hand, it promoted the world's understanding of "Honkai" on a large scale, and on the other hand, it put more plans on the agenda and began to push them forward regardless of the cost. The "Fusion Warrior Project," which had just achieved brilliant results, was naturally the top priority.

Although the success rate of the fusion warrior surgery was absurdly low, there was no time to worry about that now. The Firemoth began recruiting volunteers within the unit to perform the surgery, hoping to find a few lucky survivors.

And you, naturally, are on the list of those undergoing surgery.

You weren't surprised by this; you had a premonition that you might be "abandoned" by your superiors. But you also knew they wouldn't "deal with" you directly. After all, there weren't many people capable of "dealing with" you, and those who could weren't under their direct command. This plan, with its extremely low survival rate, was naturally a good way to "deal with" you.

[If you die during the "fusion warrior" surgery, that would be for the best. After all, you're no longer of any use to them. They already have enough "swords," even if none are as sharp as yours, they're still enough.]

If you survived, all the better. Their "knives" have become sharper, and while they've become more dangerous for themselves, they can still command you safely before things completely fall apart. After all—the "Sheath" plan wasn't a complete success, but it wasn't a complete failure either, was it? Especially since they still retain some control over the "sheath."

Although you vaguely guessed what they were thinking, you didn't intend to refuse... even though you couldn't refuse anyway.

These things don't matter to you. You will survive, you definitely will survive.

[But what you don't understand is... why are Alicia and Sakura's names also on it?]