Honkai, But with a Spirit Simulator

Carole cracked a small smile.

"It's good if I didn't cause you any trouble. I'll lead the way. The quickest route out of the city might be unknown to the entire school—ah, the school probably also..."

"...Yes, according to my calculations, a meteor should have directly struck the school. Fortunately, it was during school vacation, so there shouldn't be many people there."

Although their current situation wasn't necessarily good, this at least counted as good news.

"Hey, wouldn't you say it helped me fulfill a wish? I've wanted to blow up the school for ages." Carole was joking, but there wasn't a hint of a smile on her face.

"Hua... I've made up my mind."

While running, Carole suddenly spoke.

"Hmm? About what?"

"I don't want to be an adventurer anymore."

"Carole, you?"

Hua's pace involuntarily slowed by a fraction.

"I also want to... eradicate them from this world!"

Chapter 66: Hua's Vulnerability

"Hua! This way!"

After navigating various obstacles, Hua finally saw the temporary base of Moth Chasers to Fire, and that familiar red-haired figure.

"Captain Himiko, I'm back... I'm sorry..."

"Sorry for what?"

Himiko patted Hua's shoulder with a hint of relief.

"You should say, 'Reporting! Hua, member of Moth Chasers to Fire Fifth Squad, returning to duty!'"

"Yes! Reporting! Hua, member of Moth Chasers to Fire Fifth Squad, returning to duty!"

Hua saluted Himiko in a passable imitation of proper form.

"Pfft—you kid... Welcome back, Hua."

By the end of her sentence, Himiko had become serious.

"If you're talking about rescuing survivors, you've already done a great job."

Himiko looked at Carole behind Hua.

"Being able to judge the limits of your own strength is what makes a qualified soldier... We can't save everyone—it's a cruel reality, and we should face it."

There was a hint of relief hidden beneath Himiko's cold demeanor.

"Honestly, I regretted giving you the order after I initially issued it. After all, you had no support and no equipment... But when I tried to contact you again, the intense Honkai pulse directly cut off communications."

"..."

Hua listened quietly to Himiko's explanation.

"But anyway, it's good that you're back safe... Hua, how are things in the city on your way back?"

"...Terrible. All I saw along the way were Death Soldiers and corpses, and then just ruins."

Hua's expression turned heavy as she thought of the scenes in the city.

"...Just as bad as I imagined."

Himiko nodded, her face devoid of any extra expression.

"It's not just Canghai City. In fact, this disaster has affected most of East Asia... This is already the third time. I really don't know how long this subjugation will last..."

Kevin and Mei joined Moth Chasers to Fire during the Third Honkai Eruption. Before that, every Herrscher subjugation by Moth Chasers to Fire could be said to have been bought with lives.

"And... I'm sorry, your hometown is also within the affected area, and... it's quite severe. It's said that it's almost completely wiped out."

"Then my dad..." Although Hua had expected it, her heart still skipped a beat when she heard the news.

"Your father is fine," Himiko comforted her. "Because of your father's excellent level of education, he was transferred away long ago, and the Moth Chasers to Fire base can also withstand the disasters brought by Honkai."

This news made Hua breathe a sigh of relief.

Himiko looked at Hua and, after thinking for a moment, whispered a secret:

"Speaking of which... actually, Moth Chasers to Fire received news about this Honkai Eruption a month ago."

"Huh?"

Himiko's sudden words made Hua look puzzled. She couldn't understand why, if they had received the news so early, things had turned out like this.

Seeing the undisguised confusion on Hua's face, Himiko explained with a heavy expression:

"Because... it was a very roundabout cipher." Himiko couldn't help but smile wryly. "At first, the technicians at Moth Chasers to Fire didn't pay much attention to it, because it was too roundabout. So after a brief study, it was treated as something accidentally sent by a hacker."

"What happened after that?"

"After that... it seems that a few bored technicians wanted to 'teach the other party a lesson', so they wanted to trace the source of the cipher, but found that the other party seemed to be a network ghost, completely untraceable. Only then did the technicians begin to take this matter seriously."

"Couldn't... couldn't this person just speak more directly!?"

Carole, hearing this, said with some anger, "You're right... Although the cipher was cracked quickly thanks to everyone's efforts, the cipher itself was full of doubts. For example, why be so roundabout? Why hide the identity? And how did they foresee the Honkai?"

Himiko gave a wry smile.

"These doubts made it impossible for the Moth Chasers to Fire's higher-ups to make a judgment. After all, it involves half of Asia, and no one dares to make a decision lightly. However, based on the principle of 'better safe than sorry,' the Moth Chasers to Fire's army had been preparing for all possibilities a week ago... However, the intensity of the Honkai is also getting higher and higher.

Now that I think about it, the person who sent the message must have had some kind of difficulty."

In other words, even with all the preparations, the Moth Chasers to Fire still failed to react in time. The speed at which the Honkai grew far exceeded their expectations.

"...This is terrible." Carole's expression was a bit gloomy.

"Captain, was there a signature on the cipher?" Hua suddenly thought of something.

"Yes... The signature seems to be Liu? -- I haven't seen the original version of the cipher myself, though."

That lines up. Hua subconsciously glanced at Liu Bai.

Hua had a vague idea about some of the restrictions on Liu Bai.

[Fu Hua Compatibility +10%]

"Hua, watch carefully. This is the disaster you will face in the future."

Liu Bai also looked solemnly at the city in front of him, which had almost been reduced to ruins.

This was Hua's first personal experience with a major Honkai outbreak, but wasn't it also Liu Bai's first personal experience?

"Hua, this is a desperate battle without any warmth." Liu Bai spoke the insights of Reanna, the Valkyrie who fought against the Honkai for a hundred years, "The Honkai cannot bargain with you, and the Honkai will not have mercy on any life. They are cold and ruthless."

"..."

Hua was speechless.

"This is your enemy in the future... Now, I can protect you and the people around you as much as I can, but I will eventually leave. When that time comes, you may have to face true 'loss'."

"..."

"...Really, I'm increasingly unsure if putting the responsibility of a warrior on you so early is a good thing... Maybe I'm forcing things a bit too much?"

Liu Bai said to himself with some self-deprecation.

Don't be fooled by how sensible Hua is, she's only sixteen years old.

"Hua, don't make such a sad face."

Himiko patted Hua on the shoulder.

"This is our dereliction of duty, it has nothing to do with you... You've already done the best you can. Leave the rest to us negligent folks... Little girl, take her back to rest."

"O-okay!"

Faced with Himiko's suddenly strong aura, Carole nodded hastily.

"Hua, let's go rest first... You don't need to blame yourself too much. I think Captain Himiko is right, you've already done your best. If it weren't for you, I would have died in this disaster long ago."

"...Mm."

Will Teacher Liu... leave?

Hua felt a rare sense of confusion.

She actually knew very well that she was able to steadfastly reach this point entirely because of Teacher Liu.

She didn't think she was a very strong person. She felt that if Teacher Liu wasn't by her side, she might have been crushed by the pressure very quickly...

If it weren't for Teacher Liu, her father would probably be recovering from a Death Soldier attack in the hospital in his hometown, and then die in the sudden Honkai outbreak, instead of being able to stay away from the disaster as an instructor for the Moth Chasers to Fire like he is now.

And Carole, if Teacher Liu hadn't reminded her to stay a little longer, then she should be just leaving to start the search and rescue operation, right?

Could Carole have survived in that situation?

Based on what she had seen along the way, could even one-thousandth of the population of this once giant city of ten million people survive this disaster?

Maybe one-thousandth is a luxury.

So, how could Carole have survived in such a dangerous place on her own?

"Hua, what's wrong?"

Carole keenly noticed the change in Hua's emotions.

"...No, it's nothing, just... a little bit of joy from surviving a disaster."

"Hua, has anyone ever told you that you're not good at lying?"

Carole curled her lips. "Your excuse is even more ridiculous than when I hid my test paper after failing... Well, maybe you really need some peace and quiet. Let's go over there."

Carole led Hua to a large tent with the words "Rest Area" hanging on it.

Obviously, this tent had just been set up, and there was no one inside yet.

"I'm going to wander around first! I'll go ask how to join the army."

After leaving these words, Carole scurried away.

Being able to get along well at school, Carole's emotional intelligence was indeed good, leaving this space for Hua alone.

"Master Liu..."

"I'm here."

A reassuring voice.

But the more it was like this, the more Fu Hua felt an inexplicable sense of unease.

"You said... you will eventually leave, won't you?"

"That's right, though I don't know when."

Liu Bai replied calmly.

"But we will meet again in the future."

"The future... how long will that be?"

For the first time, Fu Hua showed a look of helplessness.

"...I don't know, but it shouldn't be too long."

For Liu Bai, the next "soon" would naturally be after his return, when he would go to find Fu Hua—even though at that point in time, it was Senti acting as Fu Hua's substitute.

But for Fu Hua, that was more than fifty thousand years in the future—a number that would be enough to make any normal person despair.

"...Is that so."

Fu Hua tried hard not to appear too distraught.

The atmosphere between the two became silent, as if neither knew how to speak.

But Fu Hua knew very well that she was being willful.

Willful for no reason at all.

Willful to the point that even she couldn't understand it.