The Cleanup (4k)

The next day.

Still the same alley.

Unlike last night's wild and remorseful battle, when sunlight once again fell upon the place that day, it was strangely quiet.

Yes, there was literally not a sound. The bloated and awkward "monster," already corrupted by Honkai, still lay in the alley, glaring remorsefully at the sky. Yet everyone nearby was either off at work or staying home. Even though the enormous noise from the alley the previous night constantly stirred their curiosity, not one person dared stick their head out to see what had happened.

Even the white-haired big boy who had planned to skip class that morning to investigate the clues, along with his external brain, had failed to reach the place.

The area remained unnoticed... No, there was still one person—the only one. The only one... a pink-haired woman with an ice-blue katana at her waist and a strange mask on her face.

On closer inspection, the tall woman's ferocious mask looked remarkably similar to the strange face of the "monster" lying dead in the alley, its gray-white surface glowing with dangerous purple light. Or rather... they were the same species.

"Mm, yes. I've found the source of the Honkai outbreak in Changkong City last night."

The woman raised a slender finger to her earpiece and replied,

"It was a humanoid Honkai Beast that wasn't recorded within the 'Chrysalis.' Its size and weight hadn't broken the 'Chrysalis' records, but by the time I arrived, its Honkai energy radiation had reached an astonishing 786 hw..."

"786 hw?!"

An incredulous voice came from the other end of the earpiece before questioning the woman,

"Forget-me-not, you should know that fabricating data over this matter would do you no good. The largest Honkai Beast the 'Chrysalis' has encountered so far didn't contain more than 500 hw of Honkai energy radiation."

"Yes... I wasn't lying."

The tall woman codenamed "Forget-me-not" patiently explained to her superior,

"I know that's an astonishing number, but you can check the equipment on me yourself. There's no reason for me to lie to you about this."

"Holy—*! It's actually real!"

Through the device link, the person on the other end saw that the Honkai energy detector really did display 786 hw. Their voice was filled with indescribable excitement.

"What are you waiting for?! Bring it back immediately!"

At that, the woman's brows furrowed slightly beneath the Honkai Beast mask.

"Of course. That's my job... But I have to inform you that this Honkai Beast wasn't killed by 'Forget-me-not.' When I arrived... it was already dead here. As for who really killed it... sorry, but I haven't found any clues about the person who acted at the scene."

"Oh? So, from what you're saying, you just picked up the results of this mission for free?"

The voice on the other end suddenly rose, and the speaker said meaningfully,

"Essentially, you only provided the final transportation effort and didn't actually fight... In that case, the 'reward' promised to you may not be as much."

"...That's not what I meant."

The superior's voice made the woman's brows knit tightly, but there was nothing she could do. One rank higher was enough to crush a person, and no matter how dissatisfied she was, she couldn't show it directly. She could only patiently explain,

"I'm telling you that 756 hw is the reading I detected from the Honkai Beast's corpse after arriving today. When it was active last night, its peak very likely exceeded 1,000 hw... Yet a Honkai Beast whose radiation exceeded the total recorded radiation of every Honkai Beast previously encountered by the 'Chrysalis' was dealt with without a sound...

"In other words, the person who dealt with this Honkai Beast must possess power even more terrifying than this creature. That person even deliberately left the corpse here... I suspect there may be a trap. I'm requesting that the 'Chrysalis' seal off the streets of Changkong City. After further investigation, we can attempt to move the Honkai Beast's corpse."

"Seal off the entire urban district of Changkong City?"

The person on the other end seemed angry and snapped,

"You're not joking, are you? Forget-me-not, do you know what kind of metropolis Changkong City is? Do you know how much I'd have to pay to seal off that place?"

"Yes... But among everyone I can contact right now, you're indeed the only one with the authority to seal off a city within a short period."

The woman's tone was serious.

"I need to emphasize again that this Honkai Beast itself isn't frightening. What's frightening is the person who dealt with it... Based on my instincts, I sincerely recommend that you seal off the streets of Changkong City immediately, until the person who acted reveals themselves. I believe it won't take long. Once they expose themselves first, I'll have a chance to arrest them directly and eliminate the possibility of any unexpected outbreak."

"Hiss..."

After drawing out a long breath, the person on the other end suddenly laughed.

"Forget-me-not... you've put me in a difficult position. What do you mean by 'based on your instincts'? 'You believe'? 'You'll have a chance'? Are you trying to fob off your superior with such vague words? I think you've been too tense lately. Let me ask you this: who are we? We're the venomous 'Chrysalis' under the Fire Moth. How could there possibly be a force in this world stronger than us?

"Even if the person who killed the Honkai Beast really has some ability, they must still fear the power of our 'Chrysalis.' Otherwise, why would they leave the Honkai Beast's corpse right where it fell? You should know that organizations both large and small throughout the world are secretly offering astronomical prices for samples of this thing's flesh. Even several of our own doctors are already fighting viciously over the tiniest scraps of Honkai Beast flesh."

"But—!"

"There's no need for buts, Forget-me-not. Put yourself in the proper position. You're the 'Chrysalis's' sharpest blade, but you're still only a blade. I, meanwhile, am your superior, and everything I do has to prioritize the bigger picture. I can't use my authority to seal off Changkong City just because of a few words from you. I can bear the cost, certainly, but there's no need.

"As I said, Forget-me-not, you're simply too tense... How about this? You're in Changkong City now, right? Transport the Honkai Beast's corpse to the usual place and then forget about it. I'll count this mission as fully completed.

"As for your reward... there definitely won't be one, since you didn't kill the Honkai Beast. But! I can approve the leave you applied for last time. Didn't you want to visit your younger sister, who attends school in Changkong City? After delivering the corpse to the usual place, go straight there. Consider it your superior's reward, and give that anxious little head of yours a rest. Don't take your 'instincts' too seriously."

"No, you..."

"Beep, beep..."

Before the woman could finish speaking, the earpiece communication had already been cut off.

Judging from the numb expression beneath the woman's terrifying Honkai Beast mask, this clearly wasn't the first time something like this had happened.

In the past, the woman had always chosen to compromise. This time... perhaps it would be no different.

Looking at the terrifyingly dead Honkai Beast in her field of vision, the woman truly couldn't imagine what kind of power it had taken to kill a Honkai Beast of this level in such a short time.

Forget it... Let it be. At least this mission wasn't directly dangerous. And after transporting the Honkai Beast's corpse, she could go straight to see Ling. Ling had said last time that she wanted to go play in the park... Mm, it happened to be Saturday today. She should be able to catch Ling during her day off.

"Beep beep beep!"

However, the earpiece suddenly rang with another communication signal. The woman frowned slightly and chose to answer it.

"Ah~ Sorry... Forget-me-not, I forgot to tell you something earlier. Since you're going on leave anyway, before you leave, clear out the people in your area who were exposed to Honkai energy radiation. There won't be a small number of them, but with your abilities, you should be able to finish before dark. Just use the methods you're best at. Don't disappoint me."

"You just think hiring someone else to do this would cost more..."

Beneath the mask, Sakura couldn't help muttering under her breath.

"Hm? What did you say?"

"Nothing... Codenamed Forget-me-not. I accept the mission. I'll begin 'cleaning' the nearby streets immediately."

"Good. Then I'll wait for your good news. Remember to report back the day after tomorrow. The work here isn't as leisurely as it looks."

"..."

The earpiece's concealed communication was cut off. Sakura looked at the enormous Honkai Beast in her field of vision, then at the ice-blue katana at her waist, and sighed helplessly.

If they had a choice, who would want to carry out work like "cleaning" infected people? It was bloody, cruel, and difficult to describe... Unfortunately, after understanding this, the woman named Sakura had already fallen into endless darkness. She had embarked on a path from which there was no turning back. All she could do was keep her younger sister, who was still studying at Chiyu Academy, from coming into contact with that darkness and give her a relatively peaceful and beautiful life. That was all.

After thinking for a moment, Sakura slowly drew the ice-blue katana at her waist and said in a low voice,

"Sorry. I'm going to offend you..."

Those words seemed to be directed at Sakura herself, yet also at this place and every resident nearby.

A moment later.

Sakura, who had drawn her sword and looked around in bewilderment, fell into doubt.

No... That shouldn't be right. Even if the four-digit Honkai energy radiation had naturally declined to 786 hw by this morning... After remaining in this alley all night, it should still have radiated at least a hundred people. Why... why did every resident nearby seem completely fine?

Aside from accepting benefits and agreeing to keep secret the violent tremors they had felt last night, the nearby residents showed practically no discomfort at all. Their condition was completely different from the symptoms ordinary people exposed to Honkai energy displayed...

In the past, Sakura had always granted her targets release when they were suffering terribly. Ordinary people exposed to a thousand-level Honkai energy radiation for an entire night would also generally become agonized beyond endurance as time passed.

But the current situation... Did someone really call this people buying vegetables on the street and people playing games at home "suffering beyond endurance"?

Why?

Sakura couldn't understand it at all.

Even if a very small number of people possessed an innate resistance to Honkai energy, such as herself... why was an entire residential community fine? Could all the residents here be highly resistant to Honkai energy and secretly venomous Chrysalis professional assassins?

As she pondered, Sakura happened to glimpse a trace of pink on the enormous Honkai Beast's corpse in the alley.

"Hm?"

Sakura's brows furrowed, and she hurried forward to examine it.

Inside the Honkai Beast's chest, a shattered black crystal lay scattered there. It looked... it looked like an incomplete core. After condensing over ninety-nine percent of the Honkai energy within the Honkai Beast, it had suffered some kind of critical deficiency, leaving the "core" without its most important piece. The entire structure had collapsed, turning what should have been a core that controlled a Herrscher authority into nothing more than a Honkai energy battery that only knew how to draw energy inward.

But that clearly wasn't the main point.

The main point was that outside the decaying core, a pink crystal flower was quietly drifting down. The radiance it emitted gathered up the final one percent of escaping Honkai energy, collecting all the Honkai energy contained within this unprecedentedly powerful Honkai Beast inside the decaying core. As a result, not even a single innocent person had ended their life in unimaginable agony from Honkai energy exposure.

However, a moment later, perhaps because she felt the keyword "pink crystal flower" was too distinctive even within the Fire Moth, Sakura blinked—and the pink radiance changed from a beautiful crystal flower into an utterly ordinary sphere. It wrapped around the black, decaying core within, serving both decorative and insulating purposes.

What... was this thing? It could even perfectly isolate Honkai energy?

Looking at the core wrapped in pink inside the monster's chest, Sakura couldn't help wondering.

At the same time, her curiosity about what had happened here last night grew stronger and stronger.

"So you're saying... you were actually nearby when I was fighting that monster last night?"

At the same time, in the research institute,

Xu Ziling, who had canceled DNA Mimicry and returned to his blond, blue-eyed appearance, asked Elysia,

"You didn't object to the... sudden wicked impulse I had when facing that monster?"

"What are you talking about? Elysia doesn't know anything, okay?~"

Elysia blinked playfully, then said with a smile,

"Last night, poor Miss Elf was locked in a room by Dr. Mobius! How could I possibly have gotten out? I merely sensed through Elf's Magic that this area was about to face danger, so I... shot an arrow at that place. And then there was no 'then,' okay?~"

Shot an arrow...

Xu Ziling pondered for a moment, then looked up at Elysia and asked again,

"Really?"

"Of course it's true!"

Elysia nodded earnestly. Then she pushed Xu Ziling's body and said half-jokingly,

"Ah~ Don't worry about so many details. Little Ziling, stop standing around foolishly, too. Dr. Mobius and the classmate you abducted... no, the classmate who came back with you are about to wake up, you know? Go brew them a cup of hot coffee to help them clear their heads~"