What They Carried

"I'm sorry, Sakura. Even though I was the first to arrive, I was the last... I still couldn't protect Ling..." Zhu Yufeng gently placed the Black Box in Sakura's hands. "I'm sorry..."

Sakura accepted the Black Box with a somber expression, softly calling out her sister's name. She was still immersed in the pain of losing her only family. Even with her sharp senses, she didn't notice Zhu Yufeng's increasingly pale complexion.

Zhu Yufeng looked at Sakura, feeling the pain throughout his body gradually fade. No, it was more like he was gradually losing sensation... All his strength was also draining away. Something in his body seemed to want to break free from its restraints, only to be suppressed by another force. His pupils gradually lost focus, and a faint smile touched his lips as he murmured, "At least this time... I saved you... Fate, it seems I've won half the battle this time..."

After saying this, the man who had never fallen, who had never shown his vulnerability to anyone, collapsed heavily onto the ground like a puppet with its strings cut. The exposed part of his arm began to undergo a terrifying transformation, Honkai Beast carapace growing out like scales, and colored lines appearing on his face.

Sakura suddenly jolted awake, "Feng?! Feng, what's wrong?!"

Kevin, who had arrived, didn't bother asking Sakura what was happening. He quickly helped Zhu Yufeng up and carried him towards Mobius's laboratory. Sakura glanced down at the Black Box in her hands before immediately following.

"Mei! Are you listening?" Kevin opened his communicator. "Feng is in trouble! I'm bringing him to Mobius's lab now. Are you done with your end?"

Mei, on the other end of the communicator, was listening to others report the destruction caused by the Twelfth Herrscher Incident. Human settlements were wiped out. However, before that, Zhu Yufeng, as if prepared, had screened and moved one hundred thousand human elites into the Fire Moth's underground shelter.

Mei calmly assessed the situation, concluding that humanity had not yet been utterly defeated. These one hundred thousand people would carry humanity's last hope.

However, Kevin's tone, compared to usual, showed significant emotional fluctuation, indicating that Zhu Yufeng's condition was likely very grim. He was the strongest Fusion Warrior, and whether from an emotional or rational perspective, he couldn't afford any mistakes...

With that thought, Mei spoke to someone else, "I have a general understanding of the situation. You will be responsible for comforting the remaining humans. I need to confirm a more urgent matter first."

The person she designated nodded, indicating they would complete the task.

Mei made a few more brief arrangements before rushing to Mobius's laboratory without delay. She knew that Mobius's lab housed the most complete data and facilities regarding Fusion Warriors within the Fire Moth, and Mobius had always been Zhu Yufeng's collaborator. It made sense for Kevin to bring him there.

After walking only a few steps, Mei's heart suddenly ached intensely, forcing her to stop and gasp for breath while clutching her chest.

"Indeed, this body is almost at its limit," Mei thought with a wry, helpless smile. She had single-handedly shouldered almost all of the Fire Moth's affairs after the Tenth Herrscher Incident. Furthermore, her act of donning the Key of Blank during the Tenth Herrscher Incident had severely damaged her body.

She knew very well that due to excessive Honkai Energy corrosion and exhaustion, her body was beyond recovery. The fact that she could still stand was thanks to the medicine she and Mobius had jointly developed...

After a brief rest, Mei continued towards Mobius's laboratory as if nothing had happened.

She didn't have much time left, but Kevin had a very, very long time ahead of him. She had to find a way to ensure that Kevin would find his own path when she was no longer around. Su was Kevin's close friend, yes, but if Kevin became stubborn, Su probably wouldn't be able to stop him. Therefore, Feng couldn't be allowed to be in danger...

The distance from the command center to Mobius's laboratory was not far. She had specifically arranged it that way when she took over leadership of the Fire Moth, to conceal her deteriorating body and to facilitate timely communication with Mobius, or as a precaution in case something happened to her suddenly.

Yet, for this short distance, Mei could only walk slowly. Her body couldn't support running.

As she neared Mobius's laboratory, Mei encountered Elysia, who seemed to be rushing. The first thing Elysia said upon seeing her was, "Mei, how is Feng? Sakura told me he's in trouble!"

Mei estimated the time it had taken her to get here since Kevin's message. She recalled that during the Twelfth Herrscher Incident, Elysia had been assigned by her to suppress the large number of Honkai Beasts that had invaded the Fire Moth base. Even after the Twelfth Herrscher was sealed, the invading Honkai Beasts had not been completely cleared. Elysia clearly wouldn't abandon them. This meant Elysia had come as quickly as possible after receiving the news?

"I just arrived too. I don't know the details yet," Mei said, adjusting her glasses. "However, when Kevin notified me, his voice had an unusual..."

Before she could finish, Elysia had already hurried into Mobius's laboratory. Mei was taken aback. She had never seen Elysia like this before. It seemed Feng's position in her heart was indeed not low. But... that incident, Feng would likely never forgive Elysia. Otherwise, he wouldn't have refused to see Elysia until now.

With a soft sigh, Mei also entered Mobius's laboratory.

As soon as she entered, she heard Mobius smash something heavily onto the ground: "Honkai Jamming Bullet... They actually dared... to use Honkai Jamming Bullets!"

Honkai Jamming Bullet?

Mei was stunned by the term, and her expression turned very serious. She knew this weapon. She, Mobius, and Vill-V had jointly developed it. Its original purpose was to suppress Qianjie when he occasionally went berserk. Later, it was found to have a special effect on Fusion Warriors, especially on Fusion Warriors like Kevin and Feng who underwent the Chimera Project. The Honkai Jamming Bullet could cause the Hypervariable Factors within their bodies to repel each other, ultimately leading to bodily collapse.

But that was only if the Honkai Jamming Bullet could hit and enter their bodies. And hadn't she ordered this thing to be destroyed?

Someone had hidden Honkai Jamming Bullets...

She should have realized it sooner. After the Tenth Herrscher Incident, trust between people had almost collapsed. Many people already harbored animosity towards Fusion Warriors. She hadn't expected it to happen at this time...

"Honkai Jamming Bullet? What's that?" Kevin asked, a hint of confusion in his voice. But seeing Mobius's furious and clearly flustered expression, he understood that this matter was very troublesome.

He lowered his gaze to Zhu Yufeng, who was lying amidst a pile of equipment with several tubes inserted into him. The man's hands no longer looked human and were constantly changing. He saw characteristics of various Emperor-class or Herrscher-class Honkai Beasts, previously killed by him or Zhu Yufeng, appearing and disappearing one by one.

Mobius shot Kevin a fierce glare before returning to adjusting the instruments.

Kevin, helpless, could only turn to Mei for an answer. Mei paused for a moment before saying, "Simply put, this weapon is specifically designed for Fusion Warriors. It can suppress or even destroy your control over Honkai Energy, and... cause the Hypervariable Factors in your bodies to repel each other."

Kevin and Sakura's pupils contracted. Elysia asked even more anxiously, "So, what's the final outcome?"

Mei said in a low voice, "Bodily collapse..."

"But I remember this thing was already destroyed, wasn't it?" Vill-V's voice rang out.

"It's my dereliction of duty," Mei decided to take the blame.

With a "boom," the laboratory door was kicked open by Qianjie: "How's that guy? Is he still alive?"

"Enough!" Mobius suddenly roared. "Qianjie, if you can't speak properly, shut up!"

"Huh?" Qianjie walked up to Mobius, about to say something, when an extreme chill emanated from behind him, followed by Kevin's voice: "The situation is extremely urgent right now, Qianjie. You'd better calm down."

Mobius cast a cold glance at everyone present and then said, "Except for Mei and Vill-V, everyone else, get out!"

"I..." Elysia wanted to say something more, but ultimately said nothing and was the first to leave. Sakura glanced at Zhu Yufeng and followed Elysia out. Kevin looked at Qianjie, who in turn looked at Zhu Yufeng. After a moment of silence, he snorted and walked out, with Kevin following closely behind.

The four stood outside the door, which had been damaged by Qianjie's kick. Although they could see what was happening inside, they all tacitly chose not to look and remained silent.

Other Flame-Chasers arrived one after another. Seeing the situation, they also chose to stand outside the door in silence.

After an agonizing period, Mei emerged from inside. Everyone looked at her. Mei first glanced back into the laboratory, then said with a grave tone, "The situation has temporarily stabilized. At least Feng's bodily collapse has been contained, but... we can't be sure what will happen next."

"What... does that mean?" Elysia was the first to ask.

"Feng's body is worse than I imagined. No, it's unimaginably worse. According to the data, his body is riddled with holes. The fact that he can stand before you is a miracle. This didn't happen overnight; it's more like... a cumulative effect of various Hypervariable Factors over time. The Honkai Jamming Bullet was just a trigger that caused everything to start collapsing," Mei sighed and said, "Mobius understands these things better than I do, so for the subsequent treatment, Mobius will be in charge. And if we don't consider him waking up, Feng's survival probability is less than 1%."

"So, even if Brother Yu Feng can survive, he might not wake up?" Pardo asked.

Mei simply watched the situation in the laboratory, saying nothing.

"Accumulated side effects?" Elysia blinked in surprise, then asked with some confusion, "But... Feng has never shown any side effects?"

"For the specifics, you should ask Mobius. I really haven't seen any reports about Feng's side effects. The only explanation is that Mobius deliberately hid all of this," Mei said.

As soon as she finished speaking, Mobius emerged from the laboratory with a grim expression. She scanned everyone present, her gaze softening only when it landed on Griseo. She said gently, "Griseo, why are you here too?"

"Kosma said Brother Yu Feng was in trouble, so I came," Griseo said. "Will Brother Yu Feng leave like Father and the others?"

Mobius shot a glare at Kosma, who lowered his head and remained silent. Griseo then explained, "It's not Kosma's fault, I wanted to come myself."

"It's alright, Yu Feng won't leave. Now Griseo, this is adult talk. Go paint, perhaps by the time you're done, Yu Feng will wake up," Mobius said kindly, then looked at Aponia. "Take her to the art studio, Aponia."

Kosma looked like he wanted to say something but couldn't, finally sighing and choosing silence. Aponia paused for a moment, then walked up to Griseo and extended her hand. "Let's go, Griseo."

Griseo nodded obediently, taking Aponia's hand willingly, and they walked away together.

After watching Griseo disappear from sight, Elysia spoke after a while, "So, Mobius, about Feng's side effects..."

"Heh..." Mobius let out a cold laugh. Her gloomy gaze swept over everyone present, then she said mockingly, "Side effects? So you all still remember that the Hypervariable Surgery originally had side effects? I thought you'd never know if Feng didn't say anything."

"What the hell do you want to say!" Kalpas's temper couldn't tolerate Mobius's passive-aggressive attitude. If Kevin and Elysia weren't here, and considering the person lying in the laboratory still needed Mobius, he would have punched Mobius back a year.

"What do I want to say? I want to say, what use are you all?" Mobius's tone became sharp. "Starting with you, Kevin!"

Kevin blinked. Why was he the first one to be attacked this time?

However, as Feng's close friend, he didn't even know Feng had side effects... Well, it was indeed his dereliction of duty.

"You are the leader of the so-called Fourteen Flame-Chasers, the hero of the people, but what have you ultimately accomplished? Where were you when the Twelfth Herrscher Incident broke out? What were you doing? Being your heroic self, eliminating Honkai Beasts and saving humanity, right? Well done, you saved everyone, except Yu Feng."

Kevin remained silent. He had indeed been clearing out the Honkai Beasts within Fire Moth, and he had enough faith that Zhu Yufeng could handle the situation... However, Mobius was clearly in a rage now, and he was indeed somewhat at fault in this matter, so he chose to remain silent.

Mobius continued, "You want to know his side effects? Fine, I'll tell you. He is constantly suffering from pain like being burned from the inside out by flames! It has been there since he underwent the Hypervariable Surgery! How could he not have side effects? What do you think he is? In the beginning, his Honkai Energy resistance was even worse than Kevin's. Even Kevin had side effects, why wouldn't he?! You never thought about it, did you... Because this guy didn't say anything and didn't show it, so you never would have thought that way."

Elysia's pupils contracted. She remembered seeing Zhu Yufeng after the surgery, his expressionless face, and how he had jokingly told her his side effect was forgetting how to smile... If his side effect back then was this, then at that time...

"Every night that was ordinary for you was a sleepless night for him... I had developed corresponding medicine that could suppress it, but this side effect kept strengthening as he continued to fuse with Honkai Beasts. After the Eleventh Herrscher Incident... the medicine had completely lost its effect on him. He hasn't had a single day of rest since then!" Mobius looked at Elysia. "And you, Elysia... you are the cause of all of this!"

"I..." Elysia wanted to say something, but... The Tragedy of Binding, the annihilation of the Fallen Angels, could indeed be said to have happened because of her...

"The reason he joined Fire Moth was for you, the reason he became a Fusion Warrior was still for you, and the reason he almost lost everything was still you," Mobius said, glancing at the others again. After a pause, she said with a hint of powerlessness, "He has always been like this, always fighting desperately for humanity, to save civilization from sinking. He carried burdens he shouldn't have, but... what did he get in return? What did he receive? Suspicion, slander, and now, the intention to kill him. What has he done wrong to humanity? What mistakes did he make?"

"Then why didn't he say anything?" Kevin couldn't help but ask.

Weren't they friends? Why did Feng keep this from everyone? At least tell him, what can't brothers share?

"Because he felt it wasn't important, because he didn't care!" Mobius said mockingly. "He said you were the chosen hero, and there was no need for you to trouble yourself with such things for him. He believed that compared to humanity's survival, it was better for me to spend more time researching Honkai than solving his side effects! Yes... I actually... believed his nonsense..."

"Hahaha... Hahahahaha..." Kalpas suddenly burst into wild laughter. "Not bad, not bad! I'll settle the score with this guy when he wakes up! Until then, those scum... have finally proven to me that they... are worthy of being crushed into dust by me!"

Saying that, Kalpas charged out with his Collapse.

"No! Quick, stop Kalpas, Kevin!" Dr. Mei's expression changed. She looked at Kevin, who was just standing at the laboratory door, motionless.

"Dr. Mei... how much hope is there to cure him?" Sakura asked.

"Sigh..." Dr. Mei sighed deeply. "To be honest, Feng's condition is very serious right now. He forcibly fused with the Hypervariable Factors of almost all Emperor-class Honkai Beasts. The Honkai Energy Jamming Bullet then broke the balance within his body. I'm afraid..."

She didn't finish.

Sakura closed her eyes and said, "He never retaliated. After being attacked, he persisted and brought Ling back with me..."

Then, she took a deep breath, put on the Poison Pupa mask, and left. No one knew what she was going to do, or perhaps, everyone knew.

Mei looked at Elysia with concern. Elysia stood at the door, gazing at the situation inside, and said softly, "I don't know, I don't know any of these things... Even though I was always watching him... in the end, I still don't know anything..."

Alright, Elysia was no help.

Mei could only look at Su. Su sighed softly, nodded at Mei, and said, "I'll contact Aponia. Hua, you come too."

Hua, who had been silently remaining a transparent figure, nodded and left with Su.

"Yeah, why should it be like this..." Pardo murmured. "Brother Yu Feng doesn't owe this world anything, so why would he end up like this..."

Kosma glanced at Mobius, then after a long silence, he only said, "...I'll go stop Kalpas."

He then left.

At this moment, in Zhu Yufeng's consciousness space.

Lilith stood opposite him.

They were talking about everything Zhu Yufeng had experienced in his life so far.

"Are you satisfied with this ending?" Lilith asked, looking at Zhu Yufeng with half-closed eyes. "You could have killed those people, yet you chose to take the Honkai Energy Jamming Bullet head-on."

"Children... are the treasures of this world. Although I'm not a good person, but..." Zhu Yufeng gave a bitter smile. "At that moment, I suddenly wanted to try, to protect her yearning for the beauty of the world."

"But in reality, she ultimately despaired of the world because of your injury," Lilith said unceremoniously. "And you are also the mastermind who allowed all of this to happen."

Zhu Yufeng fell silent. After a long while, he said self-deprecatingly, "So I was deceiving myself... It's strange, I had everything planned out from the beginning, but in the end, I went back on my word... Maybe I'm just tired and want to let go of everything, and sleep forever."

"Don't you think the reasons you've been fighting all this time are ridiculous?" Lilith said. "You're not even from this world, you don't owe it anything, yet you ended up sacrificing everything for it."

Zhu Yufeng remained silent.

"I know, it was for Elysia, to change the fate of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers, but have you ever thought about yourself? You could have found a way to live until the next era, then met Kiana and the others, and lived a comfortable life using your status as a pioneer and a traveler, but you still chose this path of death," Lilith continued.

"I have no regrets," Zhu Yufeng finally spoke. "And I believe there's a reason I came into this world, into this era… Since I'm here, shouldn't I do something?"

"Heh… You think you're a hero?"

"I'm not, I never have been," Zhu Yufeng denied. "I'm not interested in the survival of this world, but they should have had better lives."

"And what about you? Haven't you thought about yourself?"

Zhu Yufeng closed his eyes and thought for a moment, then said, "I did think about it, but I quickly realized it was meaningless. Because I met Naxamah, I've seen the extravagance of this world, but after my initial interest faded, everything became dull. I'm not from this world after all. Now, all that's left of me is obsession."

"Boring," Lilith commented.

"Actually, I have something I wanted to say to you too. I only understood it after you left," Zhu Yufeng finally smiled. "Even though you always wanted to kill me at first… I still want to say that I never regretted meeting you."

Lilith froze.

This consciousness space began to shatter.

"Looks like I'm waking up," Zhu Yufeng looked up. "We… should be seeing each other again soon, right? … Never mind, it's better if we don't. Don't run into me in the next life."

Lilith watched him silently until the world collapsed.

Zhu Yufeng opened his eyes and saw Mobius beside him, looking exhausted but with unconcealable surprise in her eyes. He then looked up at the laboratory's ceiling.

Did he actually develop feelings for Lilith? Otherwise, why would he dream of Lilith?

That definitely wasn't the real Lilith. He hadn't told anyone that he was a transmigrator.

"Do you know you were almost dead?!" Mobius scolded.

"Mhm," he nodded calmly. "It's fine as long as I'm alive now."

Mobius's eye twitched. She gritted her teeth, wanting to say something, but in the end, she sighed and said nothing.

In Zhu Yufeng's consciousness space.

"If I hadn't covered for you and suppressed these hypervariable factors, you would have reincarnated with me long ago. Mobius wouldn't have even had a chance to save you," Lilith muttered while casually smashing a Honkai Beast. "Ah, reincarnating together doesn't sound too bad… Oh well, it's going to happen sooner or later anyway…"

If you find this book good, remember to add it to your bookshelf to avoid losing it next time.