The Price of Fate
Dusk Street.
When Zhu Yufeng came to Dusk Street again and to the sanatorium in Aponia, Zhu Yufeng feelings were incredibly complicated. At this time in his previous life, Sakura should have come here to carry out the elimination plan and kill all the children infected by the Honkai that Aponia had taken in.
Then, he and Lilith came to conduct a follow-up investigation to prove that Aponia was indeed not involved in the absurd accusation of "causing the Honkai".
At that time, because the Seventh Law destroyed the Australia continent, if Kevin hadn't completed the Fusion Warrior surgery in time, humanity would have faced the crisis of annihilation. Therefore... the Fire Moth were extremely sensitive to Honkai at that time, and even adhered to the principle of "better to kill the innocent than let the guilty go free," collecting suspicious people and information everywhere.
Then, an investigation revealed the sanatorium in Aponia. At that time, people avoided those infected with "Honkai Disease. Of course, it is still the same now. Although the Fire Moth have done a good job of keeping secrets, the public still does not know the detailed information related to Honkai. However, the number of people Corrosion by Honkai is increasing day by day.
Fire Moth found Aponia suspicious. Everyone avoids people with "Honkai Disease," so why is she Corrosion children Honkai by Honkai in this place? In addition, the recent small-scale Honkai events near Dusk Street, and a certain grumpy security guard, made Aponia a prime suspect.
What does the investigation report say?
"The suspect took in a large number of children Corrosion the Honkai, possibly to trigger the Honkai."
When Zhu Yufeng read the report, he couldn't help but wonder if the person in charge of the investigation had something wrong with their brain. There were quite a few people Honkai by Corrosion within the Fire Moth and even in various research institutes, but none of them had caused any Honkai.
However, the situation is different now. Australia was not completely burned down, and the on-site handling is relatively good. The Fire Moth is not so sensitive to Honkai, and Master Qian also acquired the Fire Moth a long time ago.
However, Master Qian left early, and Esmodius started causing trouble. She wiped out the priest and all the other clergy in the church beforehand, and before that, she went to see Aponia! After arresting Esmodius, Fire Moth also detected traces of Honkai Energy infection in her brain... Now, as a serious criminal, she is still imprisoned in the Deepest Place, and Lilith is trying to find a way to get her out...
Fortunately, there was Pardo from Dusk Street who could testify for Aponia, and Eden agreed to join the Fire Moth and provide financial support after the Seventh Law incident, also expressed his support for Aponia. Therefore, the Fire Moth did not have to kill them all right away. After all, the financial backer had spoken up...
Here we have to mention Nahamah and Davien. Nahamah also joined the Fire Moth, and then went down the path of moral depravity with no turning back. Davien, on the other hand, tried his best to find out what was going on with his older sister, and then his usually composed face was full of confusion: When did my sister get a childhood friend named Feng? How come I didn't know? My sister joined the Fire Moth after Feng. Wasn't she on vacation in South America? This Feng is also Fire Moth who is pursuing Elysia. Isn't he supposed to be my sister's childhood friend? He and my sister haven't actually confirmed their relationship yet, and there are more than a few speculations within the Fire Moth about his future relationship.
Then Davien's gaze towards someone became extremely hostile, as if he were looking at a piece of trash, someone he was about to destroy at any moment...
Dude, didn't you notice that when you look at me with a bad attitude, your sister looks at you with a bad attitude too?
Davien: Impossible, absolutely impossible! My sister is such a gentle person, how could she possibly have any negative thoughts?
Zhu Yufeng: If I weren't here, do you think your sister standing behind you right now would be holding a sickle?
In short, after some time, Zhu Yufeng took over the investigation mission in Dusk Street. Since he was now Fusion Warrior, he could rest assured about the Fire Moth. As for Davien, although he didn't say much during the few days he stayed with the Fire Moth, aside from learning about things related to himself, he only whispered a warning to himself when he boarded the plane back to Edayang Peninsula: "No matter what your feelings for her are now, if you like her, you like her; if you don't like her, you don't like her. Don't let my sister be hurt again, otherwise, even if I'm far inferior to you now, I won't let you suffer."
Zhu Yufeng: "..."
Do you think your plane would still be able to fly back safely if your sister found out what you said?
Never mind, this is just a younger brother showing that he cares about his older sister. As long as it doesn't get in his way, he won't mind. So he didn't tell Lilith about it.
Stopping his thoughts, Zhu Yufeng glanced at Kosma beside him. When accepting the mission, Kosma had also insisted on coming along, saying that he had some questions he wanted to get answers to from Aponia.
Speaking of this, ever since the higher-ups decided that Kevin and I would have the right to attend the meeting, in an attempt to balance each other out, Kevin and I were no longer suitable to be in the same team. After some arrangements, the original team was dismantled, and Kosma, Disaster, and Hua followed Kevin to form a new team. Naturally, Hen was also squeezed into it.
Basically, it's back to the state of the previous life, except that I now have Elysia, Pardo, and Sakura on my side.
Lately, Kosma has been in a depressed state all the time. Even Hua felt that he seemed to have suffered a greater blow than she had, so she tried to comfort him...
Zhu Yufeng roughly guessed what Kosma was thinking. Having been reborn, the relationship between Kosma and Disaster was no longer ambiguous. In his previous life, he was helpless about Disaster's departure, and in this life, the trajectory of fate stubbornly circled back, and the Eighth Law incident seemed to be just around the corner.
Kosma began to doubt whether he could overcome fate and save the girl he cared about.
Actually, it wasn't just Kosma; Mobius, Vill-V, Sakura, Elysia, and even Kevin and Su, who was far away at the Fifth Research Institute, probably all had their own thoughts on this. This was probably the first time they had experienced the feeling of powerlessness of knowing what was going to happen but being unable to change it... However, they either let it go quickly or didn't show it obviously.
Pardo didn't seem to have thought that much about it, and as for Griseo, she didn't need to know that much.
If Kosma hadn't insisted on coming, only I, Seele, and Pardo would have been here for this mission.
Yes, Seele also participated in this mission, but she did not belong to his own team. She was directly under the Mobius Laboratory. Although Zhu Yufeng felt that this was no different from being in his own team, since the Mobius Laboratory was still his team, right? As the former Sixth Law Primal, Seele's Honkai Energy adaptability was good, and she was also on the list of personnel who met the conditions for the Fusion Warrior Project compiled by Lionel.
Because the Fusion Warrior Project was modified by Mobius in advance, there wasn't a situation like in the previous life where almost no one could successfully complete the surgery after Kevin. However, the success rate is still not very optimistic. After all, whether the surgery can be successful depends not only on the individual's Honkai Energy adaptability but also on whether they have the aptitude... In the previous life, the Fusion Warrior were first created after the Tenth Law incident. The Law Core of the Tenth Law was made to select those with the aptitude to become Fusion Warrior. For example, Hua was selected as Fusion Warrior at that time.
Hua is not currently on Lionel's list.
Without the Herrscher Core of the Tenth Herrscher, it's basically like opening a blind box.
I recalled how exciting the appearance of the Fusion Warrior was for humanity back then. Unfortunately, just a few months later, the Tragedy of Binding came, and the newly established Fusion Warrior were almost completely wiped out.
At this moment, Seele glanced at Kosma, who looked preoccupied, and then looked at Pardo: "This guy has had a sour face the whole way. We've gone through it all, how come he's back to his old self?"
Pardo thought for a moment and said, "Uh... maybe Amo thinks it looks cooler this way?"
Although Amo is probably troubled by Sister Daisy's love life, it's better not to say it in front of Amo, to save Amo's face.
Seele's eye twitched. She sized up Kosma, then glanced at Zhu Yufeng, comparing the two in her mind, and then muttered, "They're still not the same..."
Dead Wood really can't tell what he's thinking, or maybe he really isn't thinking anything at all; he's just plain expressionless. Kosma, on the other hand, you can tell at a glance what he's thinking.
"We've arrived." Zhu Yufeng stopped in his tracks. Aponia seemed to have anticipated this. At this moment, she was standing at the entrance of the sanatorium, quietly watching their arrival.
Zhu Yufeng hesitated for a moment, but still greeted her, "Aponia".
Aponia nodded slightly, turned slightly to the side and gestured for us to come in, saying, "Please come in."
Zhu Yufeng and the others followed Aponia into the sanatorium. He looked around at the environment around the sanatorium, and it hadn't changed much from when he came before. It was just that there seemed to be fewer children and more children among them.
Aponia looked at Zhu Yufeng and explained, "If you're looking for Evelyn and Kona... Although Kona hasn't left us despite Eden's financial support, his condition has recently started to deteriorate. Evelyn... before she left, Esmodius brought her back, and we all gave her our final blessings."
Zhu Yufeng actually wanted to say that he didn't remember those two names anymore, only vaguely remembering that one child was related to Qianjie and the other to Esmodius. However, after Aponia said that, he didn't say anything more, but only said, "It's not just like that, is it? After that, you and Esmodius talked about fate and love? Not long after she returned to the church, she slaughtered all the clergy in the church."
Esmodius is quite peculiar in this respect. During her interrogation at the Fire Moth, she repeatedly said only, "It is fate," and then said nothing more. She was very quiet and would sometimes pray, making it hard to believe that she was a sinner who had committed such heinous crimes.
As for fate, Esmodius has no such power. It's more likely that she had the same dream as Admil and the others, and then asked Aponia, who knew about it, and Aponia told her the truth...
After all, Aponia bluntly told Zhu Yufeng that he would die...
"Yes, I know. She was just following the path she had set for herself." Aponia lowered her eyes. "Did you come here this time for the same reason? What will become of these children in the end?"
She glanced at the others who had come with Zhu Yufeng. Sakura wasn't there, but Kosma was. That meant the children wouldn't be around for now. And the girl next to Pardo ... she'd never seen her before...
"This is SEELE, from the Mobius Lab," Zhu Yufeng introduced, then lowered his voice and said to Aponia, "Also... the former Sixth Herrscher."
Aponia's expression changed slightly, but she quickly regained her composure. She looked at Zhu Yufeng, her eyes filled with a hint of resentment, and said, "You... have changed other people's fates once again."
Upon hearing this, Kosma glanced at Zhu Yufeng, then at Aponia, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
"It's not just my achievement," Zhu Yufeng said. He looked at Kosma and decided to give him a chance to seek answers from Aponia. "Kosma, you stay here and chat with Aponia for a while. We'll go to the sanatorium and see if we can find what we're looking for."
Anyway, he felt that Kosma would most likely not get the answer he wanted. Aponia could no longer see the fate of anyone else, except for her own death...
After everyone else had left, Kosma looked at Aponia, hesitated for a long time before saying, "... Aponia, the Seventh Herrscher incident, Himiko, in the end..."
Aponia listened quietly as Kosma recounted the general events surrounding the Seventh Herrscher. She was surprised by Uriel's transfer of the Herrscher Core to Himiko's body, but not entirely taken aback.
After recounting the events surrounding the Seventh Herrscher, Kosma asked, "Aponia, tell me, this time... will Disaster leave as before? Are the fates of those connected to us, those who are crucial to us, unchangeable?"
Aponia remained silent. The Seventh Herrscher incident proved that fate had ultimately come full circle. Even though Zhu Yufeng had prevented a complete break between humanity and the Herrscher in advance during the Sixth Herrscher incident, Uriel still took the place of the Sixth Herrscher to carry out this task, and Himiko ultimately became Herrscher as well.
After a long pause, Aponia finally spoke, "Fate is not invincible, but when you decide to change your fate, you must also be prepared to pay the corresponding price."
"I want to save Disaster and I'm willing to do anything to save her," Kosma said. "But... what I fear more is that after I've given it my all, I'll still be left watching her go."
Aponia looked in the direction Zhu Yufeng had left, then said, "I think Feng is more suited to answer this question than I am. I once believed that fate was invincible, but... he made me willing to believe that fate is not unchangeable, only, the price he paid..."
It's too heavy.
"... What price did Maple pay?" Kosma keenly sensed that Aponia seemed to be implying something, but Aponia didn't intend to say anything more, so he could only give up and bury the question in his heart.