Return to Dusk Street

Dusk Street.

As a crucial talent source for the Fire Moth, a gathering place that has produced four outstanding Flame-Chasers, Zhu Yufeng has visited this place twice. The first time was when he dealt with the Dusk Street incident in his previous life. Sakura dealt with the children infected by Honkai Energy who were being housed in the sanatorium by Aponia, and even fought with Qianjie. In the end, Aponia and Qianjie were both brought into the Fire Moth. Qianjie was sent to the Deepest Place for imprisonment, while Aponia, after being interrogated, was sent to the operating table of the Fusion Warrior Project by the higher-ups who did not get the information they wanted.

Zhu Yufeng was in charge of the cleanup and elimination operation, which was also Xila's first mission in the Fire Moth.

That time, we almost accidentally lost one of the Fire Moths...

Speaking of which, even though she participated in the story of this world, Pardo's incredible luck was still a bug in the world. That time, Lilith was in charge of searching for relevant evidence in the sanatorium in Aponia to corroborate the higher-ups' suspicion that Aponia deliberately caused the Honkai. She was supposed to go in and investigate with Lilith, but she came out first because she felt that it was impossible to find relevant evidence anyway.

Then, while I was standing outside in a daze, I ran into Pardo.

If he hadn't been there, Xila would have disposed of Pardo immediately after taking her Pardo, just like she disposed of the others. But Xila would have waited for his instructions.

He's still a little scared to this day.

And then this time.

However, besides Pardo, who knew Dusk Street intimately, Qianjie was also with him this time. Elysia, Lilith, and the others didn't come because the time for the Fifth Honkai Outbreak was approaching. The Fire Moth had roughly pinpointed the area where the Fifth Honkai Outbreak might occur, which, for Kevin and the others who were responsible for dealing with the Fifth Honkai Outbreak, basically confirmed the village where the Fifth Herrscher was born.

Speaking of this, the Fifth Herrscher was also quite pitiful. Kevin's team arrived at the scene immediately, only to find Lu Zi's torn corpse. The subsequent examination report also stated that the battle ended in an instant.

In other words, Qianjie Jie instantly killed the Fifth Herrscher.

Even so, the Fifth Herrscher still caused considerable damage to Qianjie. Zhu Yufeng had witnessed how strong Qianjie's self-healing ability was. Even though the battle ended in an instant, when Qianjie walked from that village to the sanatorium in Aponia, he was still severely frostbitten all over his body, but this severe frostbite was fine after one night.

This shows how serious Qianjie's injuries were in the beginning.

The official purpose of this visit was to investigate the surrounding area, but in reality, it was also to let Pardo come back and take a look. After all, Pardo grew up here, so this place can be considered Pardo's hometown, even though Pardo herself may not really want to be here.

Elysia originally wanted to come along, but as the leader of the team monitoring the Honkai, she couldn't leave easily, so she left Lilith behind as well...

As for why Sakura didn't come, it's probably because she couldn't face Aponia and the children in the sanatorium because of what happened back then.

As for why Qianjie also came... well, Zhu Yufeng can only guess for himself, he can't ask. After all, your Jie Ge is only soft-hearted. If you really want to ask him, you have to consider whether you can take a beating.

However, having Qianjie around is at least reassuring. After all, when Pardo came to Changkong City from Dusk Street to find him, it was Qianjie who took care of all the fools along the way.

Speaking of talent export...

Zhu Yufeng then recalled that four of the Thirteen Fallen Angels were from Dusk Street: Baal, Abaddon, Astaroth, and Esmodius. They all came from Dusk Street, but Abaddon left early to wander the Dusk Street. Esmodius was probably still a nun in some church. Astaroth, though from Dusk Street, had parents who were alive, but it was better if they had none. As for Baal ...

That guy... After the Dusk Street incident, after he finished cleaning up the mess, that brat followed him around, insisting on coming with him no matter what. He couldn't stand the brat's nagging, and since he did think that the people from Dusk Street might have some skills, he gave him a chance. If it were anyone else, he would have had Xila.

"This is Sister Nia's sanatorium," Pardo said, looking at the sanatorium that was somewhat different from what she remembered. "Sister Eden is really generous. I heard her mention back in Australia that she later sponsored Sister Nia several times..."

"Hmph... all flashy and frivolous," Qianjie sneered.

Zhu Yufeng looked up and surveyed the sanatorium in Aponia. In his memory, the conditions of this sanatorium could only be described as so-so, because most of the funding came from donations from nearby churches, so there wasn't much money for renovations. They could only replace things when they broke, which would also reduce the food for the children in the sanatorium for a period of time.

Fortunately, after the incident Fifth Herrscher, Qianjie made his way to the sanatorium and stayed there. This not only saved him the expense of moving things, but also helped him deal with some other people who were hostile to the sanatorium.

The relationship between Qianjie and Aponia was initially quite good, but somehow it fell apart, Qianjie Calamity ended up trying every means to kill Aponia, only to be subdued by Aponia's Discipline...

Eden's funding was certainly substantial, but the nursing home didn't seem to have been significantly improved; it was just a matter of renovating some old facilities.

Given Aponia's personality, she probably felt that this was enough, and the extra money should have been given to the nearby church.

That's good. Even in Dusk Street, the church's influence is still significant. Aponia gave the church the extra money, so the church will naturally pay more attention to this sanatorium, thus restraining other forces in Dusk Street.

"Who are you?" a childish voice rang out. "What do you want?"

Zhu Yufeng turned around and looked down. There was a child watching her warily.

"Huh? That..."

Just as Pardo was about to explain, Zhu Yufeng casually said, "We're here to see Aponia. We're old acquaintances, aren't we?"

The child's gaze hardened. "What do you want? This is a church-affiliated sanatorium. I'm warning you, don't cause any trouble!"

As he said this, he first glanced at Pardo, and then, seemingly judging that "this older sister seems to be a good person," he turned his gaze to Qianjie and Zhu Yufeng.

This guy with the blank expression doesn't look like a good person at all. Is that masked man his bodyguard? He looks fierce... Or is that masked man the boss, and this expressionless guy his strategist or something?

"Why waste words with him?" Qianjie walked straight into the sanatorium.

Zhu Yufeng and Pardo exchanged a glance, and after looking at the child who had tried to stop Qianjie but was frightened by Qianjie, they followed Qianjie inside.

"Could it be that Jie Ge knows him..." Pardo whispered to Zhu Yufeng, "Jie Ge's tone seems gentler than before?"

"It seems that you didn't know him before you left Dusk Street?" Zhu Yufeng asked.

"I don't know him. At least I didn't see him before Jie Ge and I left Dusk Street," Pardo said after thinking for a moment.

"Those must be the children Aponia took in after that," Zhu Yufeng thought. He had already noticed the traces of Corrosion Honkai the child's hands, though they weren't very deep. With proper treatment, while it couldn't be cured, he could at least live a long time. But in an environment like Dusk Street ...

As soon as the three of them entered the sanatorium, the child seemed to have mustered up his courage and ran in ahead of them, shouting as he ran, "Mommy Aponia, everyone, bad guys have come in!"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Does he really look like a bad guy? Of the three, only Qianjie seems like a bad guy, right?

Zhu Yufeng turned his gaze to Pardo, Pardo looked at Zhu Yufeng seriously and then said, "If you, Brother Yu Feng, were willing to smile more like when we first met, it wouldn't be like this."

So, does that mean I look like a villain the Present? Zhu Yufeng looked away speechlessly. Bad guy it is, he was too lazy to bother trying to build relationships with the kids here.

Aponia came out after hearing the commotion, and when she saw the three of them, she didn't seem too surprised. "It's you guys, Qianjie, Pardo, and Feng."

"It's Sister Pardo and Uncle Qianjie!" said a child who recognized Pardo and Qianjie.

Zhu Yufeng glanced at what they were holding—rolling pins, feather dusters... Wait, are you guys really planning to fight us? With these?

"Actually, they should also prepare thumbtacks, laundry detergent, and things like that..." Pardo whispered to Zhu Yufeng, "When we left with Jie Ge -Jie Ge, we were afraid that someone would take advantage of them, so we taught them some self-defense techniques..."

Thumbtacks, laundry detergent... are you playing Home Alone here?

Well, these little devils do have some fighting ability, provided they're caught off guard.

"Hmph, you're still the same as always," Qianjie said with a cold snort, arms crossed. "Always wearing that same expression, it's really annoying."

Aponia was not pleased with Qianjie's attitude. "So, what brings you here?"

"Uh... it's just that Sister Nia hasn't met everyone yet... it's just that she's passing by, so she came to see." Pardo said. Originally, she wanted to say that only Sister Nia didn't have the Fire Moth, but then she thought that Eden didn't have the Fire Moth either, and since the Fire Moth the Present a secret organization, she changed it at the last minute.

"Is that so..." Aponia nodded, then turned to the children and said, "Alright, children, they are all friends I know. It's alright, just put your things away."

"But...we've never seen that person before. If he's attracted to someone, he's not a man." A little girl pointed at Zhu Yufeng and said, "The older sister at church said that men who look like that are all big liars who deceive girls' feelings!"

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Is this a compliment or an insult?

Just as Pardo was about to speak up for Zhu Yufeng, Aponia spoke first, "It's okay, Evelyn, he's not a bad person, he's... a very sad person."

The little girl called "Evelyn" looked at Aponia with a strange expression. Could Aponia's mother have been deceived by this man? The older sister from the church said that deceived girls would speak up for these big liars.

"Mom Aponia, you can't let him fool you," Evelyn said, sounding a little worried.

"He won't," Aponia said softly and calmly. "Alright, all of you, children, I may need to catch up with some old friends."

Evelyn glanced at Zhu Yufeng, still worried, and said, "Mom Aponia, you must be careful..."

Before leaving, he didn't forget to glare at Zhu Yufeng.

Zhu Yufeng: "..."

Aponia, your ability to explain things is almost as bad as Kevin's; the more you explain, the worse it gets. And... there's something Zhu Yufeng really wants to complain about: Aponia isn't actually that old. She seems to be around the same age as Elysia, maybe just a little older...

The term "Mom Aponia" sounds a bit odd.

Watching the children leave, Aponia led Zhu Yufeng and the others to a room, then looked at Zhu Yufeng and explained, "In a place like Dusk Street, children always need to learn some ways to protect themselves."

"I understand," Zhu Yufeng said. "By the way, what was the name of the child who initially shouted... to notify you?"

"He is Kona. Speaking of familiarity, Qianjie should know him too, right?" Aponia said, looking at Qianjie.

"... How could I possibly remember things from so long ago?" Qianjie turned his face away, but his tone was unusually weak. It was obvious to anyone with eyes that Qianjie did indeed know the child.

"Kona is a very well-behaved child." Seeing that Qianjie was unwilling to talk about it, Aponia explained on her own, "When Qianjie came to the sanatorium and temporarily worked as a porter, he always helped Qianjie."

"Let's not talk about those kinds of things anymore!" Qianjie said fiercely. "You two didn't come to Aponia to talk about these things, did you? Don't waste your time here!"

"Qianjie ..." Aponia glanced at Qianjie, sighed softly, and changed the subject instead of continuing. "So, what brings you here this time?"

"Just like Pardo said, we passed through here on the way and decided to come and take a look," Zhu Yufeng said, looking at Aponia. "The children here must be doing better than before, right?"

If the child named Kona wasn't killed by Sakura in the end, then he must have died before because of the Honkai Corrosion. But judging from the symptoms he's the Present showing, he should have been able to live until the Dusk Street incident. However, judging from Qianjie's unwillingness and resistance to mentioning it... is it because something happened that accelerated the Honkai Corrosion, and that incident is related to Qianjie?