Aftermath 3

After settling everything in, the Fire Moth held a solemn memorial service for the soldiers and researchers who died in the incident.

Zhu Yufeng and the others stood at the front of the mourning crowd, their expressions solemn.

In this tragedy, the Fire Moth lost most of its researchers, and many research projects came to a standstill. Although personnel could be transferred from other branches, the talent pool at headquarters was comprised of the best of the best from the branches, making this loss extremely painful for humanity.

Among the researchers who sacrificed their lives, Dr. Einstein's sacrifice had the greatest impact. Dr. Einstein was the former head of research at the Honkai Research Institute on the Mu Continent. After the sinking of the Mu Continent, he joined the Fire Moth and brought a large amount of research data on the Mu Continent and interpretations of related information to the Fire Moth.

Furthermore, for the World Serpent, the Gray Serpent Network was almost completely paralyzed during this attack by the Herrscher of Binding, resulting in the loss of a large number of Gray Serpent individuals. Rebuilding the Gray Serpent Network will take a considerable amount of time.

Fortunately, the European branch, which Admil was in charge of, still had quite a few researchers who had been transferred from headquarters, which could barely make up for the talent gap caused by the attack of the Herrscher of Binding.

"... Let us mourn here the heroic souls who rest here forever. Their sacrifice will never have been in vain; humanity will surely defeat the Honkai!"

Lionel spoke as the representative of this memorial ceremony. On the one hand, although the Fire Moth was different from the previous life and did not lose almost all of its Fusion Warrior in this incident, it lost a considerable number of scientific researchers. After the two waves of blows, the riot of thousands and the Tragedy of Binding, the leadership was almost completely wiped out.

Therefore, given that Lionel is one of the few remaining high-ranking officials and has a military background and achievements, it is reasonable for him to lead this memorial ceremony.

The Fire Moth is now in a situation that is perhaps even more dire than in its previous life. The leadership has been almost entirely wiped out, but the number of human survivors and surviving cities far exceeds that of the previous life. So, how to fill the leadership vacancy caused by the attacks of the Thousand and the two Herrscher of Restraint is also a problem.

Countless eyes are fixed on these vacant positions, but will they become even worse teammates than those in their past lives...? Based on experience, it's highly likely they will.

The Fire Moth no longer has any experienced leaders who have weathered many storms. If replacements are to be made to fill these positions, it remains to be seen whether those individuals have a concrete understanding of the Honkai, and whether they value humanity's future or immediate power.

This matter also gave May and others quite a headache, especially Lionel, who had deeply experienced the terrible quality of his teammates. He even considered doing the work of several people by himself and working overtime for several hours, rather than having some "greenhorns" fill these positions.

Lionel had seen through human nature. Those who were unaware of the threat of the Honkai, if they were put in positions that did not belong to them, would only be obsessed with using their power to benefit themselves and their cronies. He had experienced this situation deeply back in the Mu Continent.

I'd rather die from overwork than have a useless teammate.

In conclusion, the impact of this the Tragedy of Binding will not be much weaker than the near-total annihilation of the Fusion Warrior in the previous life. The near-total annihilation of the Fusion Warrior resulted in humanity losing its means of defense against Honkai, while the mass deaths of researchers resulted in a significant stagnation of research progress and the inability of newcomers to understand much of the experimental data...

From Zhu Yufeng's perspective, the impact of this the Tragedy of Binding might be even greater than in his previous life.

The average level of Fusion Warrior is not qualified to participate in the War of Finality. In the previous life, there were not many humans left, so the Fourteen Schicksal could still cope to some extent. However, in this life, there are many more humans left. In order to resist the increasingly powerful Honkai of the Honkai, the Fusion Warrior have to be transferred to various parts of the world to guard and suppress the Honkai. The Fusion Warrior stationed at the base... are in a similar situation to the previous life.

But this time, humanity also lost equally important researchers—although most of the key personnel, except for Einstein, are safe, we can't expect Mobius or Vill-V to oversee hundreds of experiments and projects simultaneously, especially since they had to be the ones manually managing them.

Furthermore, in this tragedy, both Hen and Disaster have essentially lost their fighting ability. Hen's body was severely damaged due to the Hypervariable Factor within him, and the damage caused by the Divine Blessing Barrier was too severe; even the Black Abyss White Flower could not fully heal him. Now, Hen can only sit in a wheelchair and become an ordinary disabled warrior. As for Disaster...

Her situation is somewhat better than Hen's; she hasn't lost her status as Fusion Warrior, but... her mental state is no longer suitable for being a warrior.

According to Kevin, after Disaster woke up, she questioned Kosma almost interrogatingly about the final outcome of the incident. After learning that Blanca had sacrificed herself, she completely broke down. Even now, Disaster still locks herself in her hospital room and refuses to see anyone except Kosma.

Most seriously... she started self-harming...

Kosma was also very helpless. Disaster didn't even dare to open the curtains now, locking herself in the dark. Kosma didn't know what to do. Every time he mentioned anything related to Disaster, it would cause her to have a strong reaction.

Did Disaster do something wrong?

Zhu Yufeng was not in a good position to comment on this. He couldn't help but resent Disaster for putting Astaroth and the others in danger, but Michael had already given him a heads-up beforehand, and... considering Kosma and their past friendship, and also because Astaroth and the others had turned out alright this time, he wouldn't be too harsh on Disaster.

But expecting him to take the initiative to visit Disaster... well, you can only hope for the best; don't count on him next time.

There's no hope, at least not in the short term.

Zhu Yufeng's attitude is one thing, but it must be admitted that the other warriors did not blame Disaster too much. In fact, they were all grateful to Disaster and Astaroth for protecting their loved ones and children.

Kosma originally wanted to tell Disaster about these things so that she wouldn't feel too guilty, but as soon as he started, Disaster covered herself with the blanket and her ears.

They simply won't listen to anyone.

Because of Blanca's death, Mobius, whose relationship with Kosma was already lukewarm or even not very good, became even more hostile towards Kosma. Although Hen didn't say anything, his attitude towards Kosma clearly became somewhat distant as well. As for Griseo, she didn't seem to be greatly affected, but what she was thinking was anyone's guess.

Zhu Yufeng could only express his helplessness regarding Kosma's current predicament; he even felt some sympathy for Kosma.

From Kosma's perspective, he might actually support Disaster, but he has more experience and has witnessed more tragedies than Disaster. Therefore, he uses reason to restrain his emotions. His specific action is to throw his thoughts at the berserk Honkai Beast form after the collapse, forcing himself not to think about these things by simply stopping his thinking.

Hen... He had always been a senior whom Kosma respected greatly. Otherwise, in his previous life Kosma wouldn't have completely fallen out with his former idol Kevin because of Hen's death, and would have even defected to the Fire Moth.

Hen survived this time, but his attitude towards Kosma became lukewarm and somewhat distant. Hen certainly understood that Disaster's actions were human nature, but his wife was among the dead. How could he not have some negative thoughts? Back in the Tragedy of Binding, Zhu Yufeng himself stopped seeing Elysia altogether.

Kosma was definitely upset, but Disaster was even more upset than him. Kosma couldn't show it in front of Disaster, for fear of upsetting Disaster again.

And then there's Sakura. This time, she seems to have quite a few complaints about Kosma. She even mentioned that Kosma should make Disaster realize the reality and the situation sooner when Kosma visited Rin and Lilim. For Sakura, this can be considered an accusation, because Sakura usually doesn't easily express any personal opinions. Perhaps it was because Rin almost faced death again this time that Sakura couldn't hold back anymore.

"It can only be said that the Tragedy of Binding has indeed happened once again."

Zhu Yufeng lowered his eyes, thinking to himself.

Having gone through this experience, he had confirmed Michael's words, so he spent several days thinking alone. Michael and Vita had both pointed out the path, and this might be the only opportunity he could seize.

One must never lose hope, but one must never bet everything on one thing. In this respect, he understood Otto to some extent. Perhaps he was the same as Otto in this matter; neither of them could withstand the consequences of a failed bet.

As Zhu Yufeng was thinking this, he suddenly noticed several gazes that kept drifting towards him. Without even looking, he knew that these gazes were from Elysia and the others. After all, to them, he had only come out after being in seclusion for a few days, and his mental state was just as worrying as Disaster's.

Kosma, in particular, was the most obvious one, glancing in our direction quite frequently, his gaze filled with complex emotions.

"Kosma has really been having a tough time these past few days..."

Zhu Yufeng smiled bitterly to himself.

He didn't want to get involved in this; time would heal the wounds, but how long that would take, and whether humanity even had that much time left, remained unknown.

Lilith had discussed that choice with him, Lilith a very direct question, "If you die, I certainly won't live, but Elysia... are you really sure she won't have some extreme thoughts right now? For her, you've long been an indispensable part of her life."

This is indeed a question worth considering...

Talking to Lilith about these things wasn't because he didn't trust Elysia; it's just that Lilith saw things much more clearly Elysia. Or rather, Lilith had fewer worries and lived a more carefree life than Elysia. If he were to talk to Elysia about these things...

Elysia will most likely die early at the [The Final Banquet] as a sign of respect...

Thinking about it this way, it's kind of funny. The two of them made a pact to save each other, but in the end, they started competing to see who would die first.

If it were just Michael saying this, Zhu Yufeng might still have some doubts. But Vita had already said something similar before, only Michael had explained it more clearly, and then the Tragedy of Binding occurred... Reality left him no choice but to believe it...

Regarding the arrival of the Herrscher of Finality previous life, the approximate time of her arrival was already calculated during the Tragedy of Binding. The same applies to this life. However, based on global Honkai Energy levels, the arrival of the Herrscher of the Finality this time might be even later than in the previous life?

But for some reason, the "Thousand Talents Program" and its associated constraints emerged exceptionally early.

Could it be that the next wave of Corrosion will be even bigger? But that doesn't make sense; the Tragedy of Binding has already happened, so the situation Michael described shouldn't happen again...

"If the Tragedy of Binding do not occur, and humanity achieves another complete victory, then war, famine, plague, and death will engulf the entire world. This world is already filled with sin, or rather, humanity's very birth is original sin. To transcend this cycle, one must..."

Those four words were similar to what I knew about the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse before. And according to the comics I read before I transmigrated, Corrosion had caused the Black Death in the Middle Ages, which means that Corrosion can indeed exercise the powers of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Of all the information Michael said afterward, Zhu Yufeng only understood one thing: only if Elysia died could humanity have a future, and only he could save Elysia.

Someone had to be nailed to the cross of punishment in her place, and the only one qualified to do so was herself...

After the memorial service ended, Zhu Yufeng looked at her friends. Kevin was the first to step forward and asked, "Feng... are you alright?"

"My condition is definitely much better than when you were the Seventh Herrscher," Zhu Yufeng joked, trying to sound relaxed. "Don't worry, Kevin, you have to trust my ability to handle pressure. At least in my past life, I never had any problems, right?"

Kevin remained silent. Yes, this guy had never been emo, but when he got obsessed, he was more obsessed than anyone else.

After Kevin, Hen wheeled himself over to him, looked up at the young man he could now only look up to, remained silent for a moment, then smiled, gently patted Zhu Yufeng, and said, "Feng, this time... thank you so much, you and your sister. Griseo was just a naive little boy when she was born, and now she's become the pillar of the Fire Moth... You've worked so hard, Feng."

Looking at Hen's legs, which could no longer support him, Zhu Yufeng said, "I'm sorry, Hen, I..."

Hen raised his hand, stopping Zhu Yufeng from speaking. He said, "You have no reason to apologize to me, Feng. You've done very well so far. I should thank you for rushing back to the Fire Moth in time and saving my life."

Zhu Yufeng remained silent.

Hen sighed softly, glanced at Kosma not far away, and wheeled himself away.

Zhu Yufeng then looked at Kosma. Pardo and Sakura, who had also wanted to come over, seemed to have seen through Kosma's thoughts and did not make a move, waiting for Kosma to take action.

After hesitating for a while, Kosma stepped forward, leaning forward as if to bend over, but Zhu Yufeng Kosma him, saying, "There's no need, Kosma."

"I'm sorry, Feng... I have to tell you this... about this matter..."

"It's only human nature, and understandable," Zhu Yufeng said. "However, perhaps everyone needs time to heal from this wound. Words... might seem inadequate at this moment. It's precisely because we are human that we experience such entanglements of love and hate. Relax, Kosma, let time slowly heal everything."

Kosma nodded silently.

Then, Pardo, Sakura, Mobius, Vill-V, and others came over one after another to greet him and inquire about his mental and physical well-being. He responded to each of them. After answering everyone, Elysia was the last to step forward. She looked up into Zhu Yufeng's eyes and said earnestly, "Can we... have a proper talk, Feng?"