Chapter 243

Chapter Nine: Making the Far East Great Again.

Even to the members of the Moth to Fire, Sakura is a rather mysterious person.

She rarely appears in public and has almost never left any video records. Even when she is photographed, it is usually just a back view or a side profile. Therefore, before the "Stage Plan" was launched, most people had only heard of her or had never even heard of her.

Such things are inevitable. After all, on the one hand, Sakura's past as a member of "Poison Cocoon" is not something to be proud of and is difficult to disclose. On the other hand, Sakura herself does not like to interact with strangers—especially after becoming Fused Warrior and growing beast ears that are not human. People's wariness and fear of her have deepened even further.

However, with Ai Yue's arrangements, Sakura's life was gradually changed. She was first assigned by Ai Yue to a team of elite special Fused Warrior to deal with various difficult enemies, and she also gained a place in the "Stage Plan", which made Sakura's contact with others more frequent.

Although, according to Sakura's own request, she had far fewer screen time compared to Elysia and Kevin, and even promotional materials like feature reports were scarce, this global promotional work still brought her enormous popularity.

After all, a long-haired swordsman with animal ears and a cold personality might be a terrifying anomaly in the apocalypse, but in today's relatively orderly environment with a highly developed internet, he unexpectedly has a market.

However, this is not surprising, since all of the elements that Sakura possesses are quite popular selling points, and when they come together in one person, they can lead to results that even the person involved could not have imagined.

This is why a conspiracy theory has been circulating online that "Sakura deliberately piles up cute elements for publicity purposes." Unfortunately, since Sakura herself did not occupy a large share in the "Stage Plan," this conspiracy theory is hard to convince people.

Regardless, Sakura gained many unexpected benefits under these circumstances—such as warriors willing to follow her and the support of countless people.

"No wonder Sakura said those things just now."

Ai Yue smiled. "But I think this should be a good thing, right?"

"Yes, I think so too. After all, the crisis is over. From now on, the role of force will only become smaller and smaller. If my sister continues to live her life with only cultivation and fighting as before, she will not be able to survive."

Ling said earnestly, "So, if we can find another way forward at a time like this, that would be even better."

"A good idea."

Ai Yue seemed to have thought of something and raised his eyebrows. "So, what kind of supporters are they?"

With Ling's explanation, Ai Yue gradually understood the situation.

Before we get to that, we need to know the background setting of the current situation—that is, Sakura and Rin's original hometown, the Far East, is actually in a state of being practically defunct.

In the disaster unleashed by the Third Herrscher, more than a third of the land in the Far East was contaminated by Honkai Energy, and this was the most prosperous region in the Far East. More than 70% of the country's population perished in this disaster, and the fields of technology, military, culture, and economy were almost completely wiped out, to the point that the entire country was on the verge of collapse.

Even the phrase "near collapse" was just a false message used to whitewash the situation and cover up the truth of the Honkai. The reality was that the entire Far East was already like a country that had been destroyed at that moment, and even other small countries not far away suffered annihilation.

It's worth noting that the aftershocks of the Third Great Honkai even reached Canghai City in Shenzhou. It was here that the Judgment-class Honkai Beast "Sesha," under the command of the Third Herrscher, landed and destroyed it.

The straight-line distance between Canghai City and Changkong City exceeds two thousand kilometers, so one can imagine just how exaggerated the coverage area of Third Great Honkai was.

Incidentally, the Third Great Honkai can be considered a turning point no less important than the Seventh Great Honkai, because Kevin, Mei, Sakura, and Hua all joined the Moth to Fire after this disaster.

After this disaster, almost all the surviving Far East fled their homeland and lived scattered in different countries. Even if some chose to return afterward, the number of people living in the Far East today is less than one-thousandth of what it used to be.

In this context, Sakura, one of the Thirteen Flame-Chasers are at the pinnacle of human prestige, actually wants to return to the Far East to rebuild her home. This news naturally attracted a lot of attention.

The most excited among them were the former Far East people. Although they had accepted the fact that their homeland had been destroyed, now that the Honkai Energy was gradually fading from the earth, the Far East, which was originally the most severely eroded and polluted area, was quickly restored to a level where normal people could live. Under such circumstances, some people wanted to rebuild the country.

Such a goal is obviously not something that hundreds or thousands of people can accomplish in a short period of time. Therefore, it requires a highly respected person to step forward, unite everyone, and work together for this plan.

Sakura is clearly playing the role of bringing everyone together—even though she herself may not have had this intention.

That's how it is.

On the way, Ling finished explaining the whole story to Ai Yue and Pardofelis, then looked at Ai Yue, "Brother Yue, what are your thoughts on this matter?"

"Isn't this great?"

Ai Yue said calmly, glancing at Ling at the same time, "Speaking of which, Ling, I remember you weren't just a simple student at the Morning Sun Academy, right?"

"Well, at first I was supposed to help take care of the other children, but later we were short-staffed, so I would occasionally help the teachers with some tasks as well."

Ling nodded and honestly replied, "But after everything got on track, I focused on my studies, and now I'm the first graduate of the Morning Sun Academy."

When talking about this, Ling's face showed a faint sense of pride. After all, she had only been enrolled for a little over a year. To complete all the courses and graduate smoothly at this age was indeed a remarkable thing.

It's worth noting that her classmates were all young people who already had a certain foundation in their studies, but Ling is still several years away from turning eighteen.

"As expected."

Ai Yue nodded, then, feeling the aircraft gradually descend, he didn't say anything more. "We've arrived. Let's go down and take a look."

At this moment, Sakura was standing on a hillside, looking down the mountain. In front of her was the ruins of a city.

This is her former hometown, and the place she wants to rebuild—but few people know that her initial goal was simply to restore the place where she once lived.

Sakura withdrew her gaze and looked at the building behind her.

It was a shrine.

Although the shrine is quite dilapidated, it is still relatively intact compared to the city that has been reduced to ruins. This is where Sakura and Rin once lived, and it was also the place where she initially wanted to live in seclusion.

Yes, seclusion—that was Sakura's original plan.

Unfortunately, this plan is no longer feasible—how did I unknowingly become the leader in rebuilding the Far East?

The girl looked at the rotten signboard in front of her and sighed softly.

Just then, a voice came from behind her.

"Ah, we found Sakura!"

Pardofelis climbed up the hillside and, upon seeing the young swordswoman, shouted down, "Brother Yue, Xiaoling, Sakura is here!"

Sakura quickly composed herself, then turned around and smiled at Ai Yue, "Doctor Ai Yue, thank you..."

"Hey, you're doing this to me too."

Ai Yue casually waved his hand, silencing Ying's formulaic opening remarks, "Looks like you've been dealing with a lot of people these past few days."

"It seems you already know."

Sakura's smile held a hint of helplessness. "To be honest, I'm really not good at this kind of thing."

Although indifference is not Sakura's original personality, after experiencing so many changes, she still chose to reduce communication with others to avoid the social interaction that involves separation and pain.

Although such behavior may seem less necessary after the arrival of peace, changing such a long-standing habit is clearly not something that can be done in a short period of time.

So you actually don't want to rebuild this country?

Ai Yue raised an eyebrow. "In that case, do you need me to step in and refuse them for you?"

As he said this, he glanced to the side and saw that Ling had a hesitant expression on her face.

"No, that's not necessary."

Sakura shook her head, organized her thoughts for a moment, and then said, "Although I didn't expect things to turn out this way at first, I've thought about it repeatedly these past few days and realized that it's indeed the most suitable person for me to do this."

Ai Yue asked with a smile, "Really? But actually Dr. Mei is more suitable than you, after all, she is also from the Far East, and not only does she have a higher reputation than you, but she is also more suitable for doing this kind of thing in terms of intelligence."

Although this statement was blunt and somewhat hurtful, it was the truth, so Ai Yue did not try to hide it.

After all, this is the only way to more directly ascertain the other party's thoughts.

"I don't deny that, but compared to the rise and fall of a nation, Dr. Mei clearly has more important things to take care of now, right?"

Sakura nodded, then said, "So, naturally it's just me."

"I don't know if you understand, but this matter is far from being as simple as you think."

Ai Yue then asked, "Moreover, in this plan, your most prized swordsmanship is practically useless. Even so, can you still persevere?"

"I actually wanted to live in seclusion before."

Sakura paused for a moment, then suddenly brought up something unrelated, "Everyone thinks I'm a hero, someone who saved the world, but I will never forget the murders I committed in the Poison Cocoon —those sins and bloodstains cannot be easily washed away with merit."

"So I thought, why don't I just go back to my hometown, become a shaman, and spend my whole life repenting to the gods?"

Ai Yue didn't speak, he just listened quietly.

He knew very well that beneath Sakura's seemingly cold exterior lay a delicate and tender heart. She had a very high moral standard, and she would never have joined the Poison Cocoon if it weren't for the sake of her sister and her younger sister's survival.

For her, perhaps dying on the battlefield to save the world would have been the best ending, but now that she has survived, she must find a way to confront the pain in her heart.

"But later, a group of people approached me, hoping that I could lead them to rebuild the Far East."

As Sakura spoke, a smile appeared on her face. "Some of them are already very old and just want a place to settle down. Some are in their prime and want to make their country great again. There are even children who were born after the Third Great Honkai. For them, the Far East is just a hometown in a story."

"But they all want to come back here and turn this ruin back into its former prosperity."

Sakura then raised her head and looked into Ai Yue's eyes. "It was only at this moment that I realized that I, who only knew how to destroy and kill, could also create something."

"And this behavior is clearly more effective than mere repentance in atoning for my sins."

She no longer just slightly curled the corners of her mouth, but revealed a radiant smile that almost no one had ever seen before. "As long as this country still needs me, I will never give up. Rebuilding a country is indeed very difficult for me, but I still have Rin with me."

"Elder sister!"

Upon hearing Sakura's words, Rin finally couldn't contain her emotions and threw herself into her arms.

"Seeing that you have such awareness, I am relieved."

Ai Yue nodded, then looked at the shrine behind Sakura. "Speaking of which, is this where you used to live?"

"Yes, the gods and priestesses here adopted us and taught me swordsmanship to protect my sister, which is why we have survived to this day."

Sakura turned to look at the shrine, then suddenly remembered something and awkwardly organized her thoughts, "Since we're already here, why don't we come in and take a look? Although the outside is a bit dilapidated, the inside has actually been almost completely restored."

Ai Yue naturally had no reason to refuse, so he led Pardofelis, who was restless due to the heavy topic, into the shrine under the guidance of the two sisters.

After passing the dilapidated torii gate, the group entered the front courtyard (which seemed to be called the worship hall). In addition to the shrines and statues, the most eye-catching thing was a dead tree stump.

Judging from the diameter of this tree stump, it must have been incredibly old. It's a pity that it's now dead. Judging from the broken marks, it was probably broken by Honkai Beast.

"This tree was once called the Divine Cherry by the shrine maiden. It is said to be older than this shrine, and the shrine was originally built to enshrine the Divine Cherry."

Sakura introduced the tree stump, her eyes revealing obvious regret. "When the divine cherry blossoms are in full bloom, they can even shade the entire worship hall. At that time, we would gather here to cool off and play. The shrine maidens would also collect cherry blossoms to make delicious meals."

"That sounds really good."

Ai Yue nodded, then suddenly snapped his fingers. "Speaking of which, I haven't prepared a gift yet to congratulate you on finding a new direction in life."

"Huh?"

Sakura paused for a moment, then quickly shook her head, "No need for a gift—"

She didn't finish her sentence because the gift had already appeared before her eyes.

Ai Yue placed his hand on the tree stump, and a faint white light emanated from his body, which was then transmitted to the tree stump upon contact.

Thus, Sakura, who had been dead for a long time and whose revival was impossible even with the Sixth Divine Key, began to awaken at an unbelievable speed.

The reason it is described as an awakening is because the speed at which it was awakened cannot be described as growth. Rather than a resurgence of vitality, it is as if time has reversed on it. As a result, the broken tree stump began to grow back to its original height, green leaves and flowers grew on the branches, and eventually it was completely covered in pink, casting shadows over the entire temple.

"Are you sure you don't want it?"

Looking at the two sisters who seemed a bit dazed, Ai Yue jokingly said, "These are the real 'Divine Cherry Blossoms'!"

Looking at the man smiling at her amidst the falling flowers, Sakura suddenly felt an urge to hug him tightly; it was the only way she could think of to express her gratitude.

However, she managed to control her impulse and simply stepped forward, tightly grasping Ai Yue's hand, saying, "Thank you, thank you so much..."

Childhood memories have been obscured by later hardships, becoming ambiguous and unclear. Now, Sakura can't even remember the faces of the elders who raised her.

But the cherry blossom tree in full bloom remains clearly imprinted in my mind.

Seeing this scene, it was as if I had never left this place, and those blurred memories seemed to come back to life.

"Wow, Brother Yue, these cherry blossoms are so beautiful!"

Pardofelis, unable to contain her playful nature any longer, gently caught a falling cherry blossom in mid-air and examined it closely. "It has so many petals! This one actually has... more than forty petals!"

"It's a double-petaled cherry blossom, isn't it?"

Ai Yue said with a smile, "I remember what these multi-petaled cherry blossoms are called again..."

"They're collectively known as Yae Sakura."

Ling chimed in softly, "It's a very suitable name for my sister."

When the topic suddenly turned to her, Yae Sakura looked completely bewildered.

"Indeed, it's a good name."

Ai Yue also showed an expression of approval, "Speaking of which, what is the name of this shrine?"

"The old name is gone. Now that the shrine is being rebuilt, it should have a new name, right, sister?"

Before Sakura could speak, Ling responded to Ai Yue, "Why don't we ask Brother Yue to name it?"

As the most distinguished person present, and even on the entire planet, Ai Yue's naming of the shrine could be considered a blessing. Therefore, Sakura only hesitated for a moment before nodding.

"I think naming it Yae Sakura would be fine,"

For some reason, Ai Yue did not refuse, but instead gave a subtle smile and said, "However, since Sakura will be the new master of the shrine, then we should omit the word 'Sakura' and call it Yae Shrine, how about that?"