A Brief Peace

"Recently, Honkai have become increasingly frequent worldwide... The habitable space for humans is shrinking again and again. If this continues, where will we go?"

"Don't be discouraged. It's not time to despair yet. Dr. Mei and the others said that the more frequently the Honkai phenomenon occurs, the closer it means that our decisive battle against the Honkai is approaching."

"Yeah... the final battle against the Honkai... that doesn't really concern us ordinary soldiers, right? Those who will participate in the final battle will definitely be the people from the Fire Moths, like Feng and Kevin. It feels like as long as they appear, there's no enemy they can't handle."

"Of course! I've been with the Fire Moth ever since I joined, listening to their legends all the way to where they are now. Since you think so too, why do you always look so sighy and resentful?"

"No matter how strong Feng and the others are, it's only a few of them who are strong. The whole world is in Honkai right now, we can't expect them to handle everything, can we? But without them, it's much more difficult for the others to deal with the Honkai."

"That makes sense... Hey, speaking of which, I haven't seen Elysia much since the Fire Moths was formed?"

"Didn't they say that because too many people from higher up died, Elysia took over some of the clerical work? I don't recall there being anything Elysia couldn't do..."

"That's what they say, but it seems like Elysia hasn't been seen with Kaede much lately. Before, when I saw Kaede, I'd almost always see Elysia or Lilith... Hmm, Lilith hasn't been showing up much lately either, although I saw her carrying a bunch of documents not long ago..."

"Speaking of which, although I've said this countless times before, I still have to say it: I really envy Feng..."

"I'll say it again: when you can reach Feng's level, you won't have to envy him anymore."

"I'm going back to sleep and have a dream first!"

"Huh? Sigh... You were looking so dejected just now, but you perked up when we talked about daydreaming... Hmm? Maple?"

The two soldiers were somewhat surprised to see Zhu Yufeng appear to the side. Zhu Yufeng looked at them, simply nodded to indicate that she had said hello, and then left.

"Uh... did you see what was in the bag Feng was carrying just now?"

"It looks like some kind of book?"

"As expected of Feng, if I remember correctly, Feng's academic level was quite high before. Even now, he still doesn't forget to read and study. I can understand once again the pressure the seniors felt when Feng first joined the Fire Moth."

"After all, he's the number one boss of the Fire Moth... someone even Commander Lionel couldn't find fault with. Wait, I remember Feng just recently accepted a mission to kill an Emperor-class Honkai Beast, right? Is he back so soon?"

"For Fusion Warrior of Maple and Kevin's caliber, the Herrscher are easy prey; a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast..."

"Don't forget, we can't even handle a 'mere' Emperor-class Honkai Beast."

Zhu Yufeng carried the bag back to the villa. He had just returned from a mission to exterminate the Emperor-class Honkai Beast. The frequency of Honkai worldwide is increasing. Ordinary Honkai can be dealt with by the Titan Unit in the city and the barely rebuilt Armed Doll forces. If there are too many Honkai Beasts and a large number of Honkai Emperors are born, then the Fusion Warrior stationed in the city will be responsible for fighting them off.

Previously, Emperor-class Honkai Beast could only appear before or after the Great Honkai, and Judgment-class Honkai Beast could only appear when Herrscher was born. However, now, Emperor-class Honkai Beast appear quite frequently. Zhu Yufeng can't even remember how many Ganesha he has killed, and Judgment-class Honkai Beast have appeared twice recently.

However, there probably won't be any more End-of-Law Honkai Beast...

In the previous life, the situation was similar at this time. Many places were occupied by Emperor-class Honkai Beast. However, since there were only three human settlements left, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast basically only roamed the uninhabited areas.

There are only five End-of-Law Honkai Beasts in the records of the Fire Moth: Maheshvara, Vishnu, Brahma, Gabriel, and Ugar. Among them, Ugar is the only Honkai Beast that is still running rampant and humans can only watch helplessly. It is also the strongest End-of-Law Honkai Beast.

The weakest was Vishnu, which was only at the Emperor-class when it was killed. However, subsequent research on Vishnu revealed that this Honkai Beast had almost unlimited growth potential, so it was classified as the End-of-Day level.

As for Gabriel, in its previous life, it was identified as Judgment-class Honkai Beast, and the weakest of the Judgment-class Honkai Beast. It was only because it was immune to the effects of the Divine Blessing Barrier and its own Honkai Energy was high enough that it was classified as Judgment Level Honkai Beast. This time, however, its Honkai Energy has reached the threshold of the End-of-Dharma class, and it can release the Divine Blessing Barrier, so it has been classified as an End-of-Dharma class Honkai Beast.

Without a doubt, Gabriel has been strengthened compared to his previous life.

In order to suppress the development of Honkai Beast in other uninhabited areas and prevent them from forming a beast tide to attack nearby human cities, Zhu Yufeng had Ugar cause chaos in the uninhabited areas and take down the stronger Honkai Beast wandering there. It seems that Ugar's absorption of Honkai Energy has not yet reached its limit, and it can continue to grow stronger.

What level will the Dharma-ending Age evolve to next?

In short, although Ugar has never actively harmed humans, because it is Honkai Beast and is constantly absorbing Honkai Energy become stronger, Mei has proposed more than once at the meeting to formulate a plan to eliminate Ugar in order to prevent it from becoming uncontrollable later on. The newly appointed council members also have similar ideas.

The Fire Moth's council has been rebuilt, but it doesn't actually have much power anymore. Lionel is firmly against anyone in the council touching the military.

Although the newly appointed guys all had their own agendas, as Zhu Yufeng once read in a book, even mediocre people have their uses. It was just right for them to handle some of the paperwork for the Fire Moth organization. In any case, they couldn't command the Fire Moth soldiers, and with the Gray Serpent Network monitoring them, they couldn't cause any major trouble.

Hen... Only now, after the Tragedy of Binding, has he barely emerged from the shadow of his wife's sacrifice, or at least that's how it seems. I remember years ago there were rumors that Hen was a playboy in his youth, but as soon as he met Blanca, he settled down and became a devoted husband.

That's why it's understandable that Hen tries his best to avoid meeting Disaster.

As for Disaster, after a period of recuperation, she is finally much better than before and has stopped self-harming. After leaving the ward and returning to the villa, she is still reluctant to see people and basically keeps herself locked in her room. Fortunately, Kosma is currently living with her.

Even though Kosma sleeps on the floor... what's there to be afraid of sleeping together...?

I remember when I complained about Kosma like that, Kosma looked at me with a speechless expression, as if to say, "Why don't you take a look at what you were like before?"

How can these be the same?

Zhu Yufeng returned to the villa. The books in the bag he was carrying were actually... books about how to be a good father and how to take care of his pregnant wife.

He had told Mobius long ago that he preferred children born naturally to those born through artificial insemination, even though naturally conceived children might have some flaws and be less perfect than artificially conceived children. What mattered was the process, the process of being with the people he loved.

In a sense, Zhu Yufeng and Kevin are actually the same kind of people. They both love their children, but not much; the majority of their love comes from the children's mothers.

"You're back, Maple♪ I was just telling Lilith that you should be on your way back by now♪"

Elysia greeted Zhu Yufeng with a smile. Her belly was already slightly protruding, indicating that a new life was being born. To conceal this, Lilith also began to stay in Elysia, reducing the suspicion of others.

"After all, he promised you that no matter what the situation or what mission he was given, he would come back on time every day," Lilith said with a shrug. "Besides, for Feng, a mere Emperor-class Honkai Beast is something he can handle in a flash."

"Hmm? Feng, what's in the bag you're carrying?" Elysia noticed the bag in Zhu Yufeng's hand.

"Uh... some books for studying," Zhu Yufeng said. Even with Lilim, he wasn't quite sure how to be a good father. He could only try his best to take care of Lilim the same way he had taken care of Griseo and Astaroth. Moreover, Lilim's growth rate was much faster than that of ordinary children. But now that a new life was being born, he was starting to think that he should at least act like a father.

Besides the books, the bag also contained local "specialties" he had picked up from the cities where he was on his mission—dolls modeled after himself and Elysia.

"You got a doll so soon?" Elysia picked up the doll that resembled herself, somewhat surprised. "I don't think everyone has shown up much, right? This doll... it's cute, but it's still not as pretty as me♪ And this outfit... it's pretty cute too, I want to wear the same one♪"

"You didn't order this, did you?" Lilith glanced at Zhu Yufeng and said, "Although the Fire Moths are now recognized by the Fire Moth as a group, and the public knows that such an organization exists, the image of the Flame-Chasers within it is probably inaccessible to ordinary people, right?"

"I was surprised too. Rather than calling this a doll of the Fire Moths, it's more accurate to say it's a doll of a savior Heroes that a girl designed herself based on a vague memory from back then," Zhu Yufeng said, looking at Elysia and her doll. "I didn't expect that she would recognize me just because I was passing by."

"Huh?" Elysia, who was examining Zhu Yufeng's doll, tilted her head. "Is this someone we've met before?"

She looked at the two dolls in her hands. Her own doll smiled warmly, like a spring breeze, while the doll modeled after someone else had a "cool" look. How to put it... it really did resemble that person who usually had a poker face and didn't like talking to strangers...

"Yes, I have indeed met her before." Zhu Yufeng's expression turned somewhat strange. "At first, when she recognized me, I didn't really remember. Then she reminded me... It just so happened that it was the first time I encountered Xila after my rebirth, so I do have some recollection. It's not like I couldn't remember when I had seen her for a long time."

"The first time I met Xila?" Elysia thought for a moment, "Was she the girl I lent her the umbrella to back then? I remember her name was..."

"Valentina," Zhu Yufeng said, "I talked to her for a while and learned that she left shortly after we finished our mission and left the city. Although she encountered many difficulties and often cried alone at night, she persevered and settled down in the city I passed through on this mission."

"If I remember correctly, that should have happened before the Fourth Herrscher incident, right?" Lilith said. "It's been at least seven or eight years since then, and she still remembers it so clearly after only a few encounters. The accuracy is quite high."

"Heh... For her, the appearance of me and Elysia was undoubtedly the warmth she felt from this world during the darkest time of her life," Zhu Yufeng said. "She remembered it for a long time..."

"And then someone forgot about the person the day after the mission was over, right?" Lilith said to Zhu Yufeng with a hint of amusement. Didn't she know Zhu Yufeng? This guy wouldn't waste any time on irrelevant people, especially strangers he had only met once.

"I still have some recollection of it..." Zhu Yufeng tried to save face.

"Come on, Lilith and I share the same opinion on this matter♪" Elysia said with a smile, then looked at the two dolls in her hands, "But to be honest, I don't really remember much about that incident. After all, I just did what I was supposed to do."

"But for her, it's something she'll remember for a lifetime," Zhu Yufeng said, lowering her eyes. "She remembered what we looked like, and she remembered our names. Although we never saw each other again after that, in her heart, we were her Heroes... her Heroes... ha..."

Is he truly a Heroes? Is he really... capable of saving the world?

Zhu Yufeng looked at Elysia, then at the two dolls in Elysia hands. He suddenly felt that it wouldn't be so bad if life just continued like this. He... was probably just a greedy yet easily satisfied person.

Seeing the people he cares about every day, awaiting the birth of a new life, he also thinks about what kind of birth gift he should prepare for his child when he has free time, and imagines his child's life when he grows up...

But... can he really see it...?