The Closer

The next day.

Still the same alley.

Unlike the wild and regretful battle of last night, as the sun shone down on it again today, the alley was surprisingly quiet.

Yes, literally silent. The "Oddity," bloated and unwieldy from the Honkai's corruption, still lay in the alley, frozen in a pose of resentful defiance towards the sky. Yet, everyone nearby, whether heading to work or staying home, acted as if nothing had happened. Even though the tremendous commotion from this alley last night had constantly pricked their curiosity, not a single person dared to peek out and see what had occurred.

Even the white-haired young man who had planned to skip class today to investigate the clues here, along with his external brain, hadn't made it.

The alley remained in this state of unnoticed quiet... no, there was one person. Just one. A woman with an ice-blue katana at her waist, wearing a bizarre mask, and with flowing pink hair.

Upon closer inspection, the terrifying mask worn by the tall woman bore a striking resemblance to the grotesque, purple-tinged, grayish-white face of the "Oddity" now lying dead in the alley. Or rather... they were the same kind of creature.

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

The woman raised a slender finger to her earpiece, replying to the voice on the other end.

"It's a humanoid Honkai Beast not recorded in 'Pupa.' Its size and weight didn't break any 'Pupa' records, but when I arrived, its Honkai energy radiation had already reached an astonishing 786 hw..."

"786 hw?!"

An incredulous voice came from the earpiece, followed by a question directed at the woman.

"Forget-me-not, you know there's no benefit in falsifying this. The largest Honkai Beast 'Pupa' has encountered so far didn't exceed 500 hw in Honkai energy radiation."

"Yes... I'm not lying."

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

"I know this is a staggering number, but you can check the equipment on me. I have no reason to lie to you about this."

"Holy— It's real!"

Through the device's link, the person on the earpiece, upon seeing the 786 hw displayed on the Honkai energy detector, spoke with barely contained excitement.

"Then what are you waiting for?! Hurry up and bring it back!"

Hearing this, the woman's eyebrows furrowed beneath her Honkai Beast mask. "Of course, that's my job... However, I must inform you that this Honkai Beast was not slain by 'Forget-me-not.' When I arrived... it was already dead here. As for who truly killed it... I apologize, but I haven't found any clues about the perpetrator at the scene."

"Oh? So, you're saying you just stumbled upon the mission's objective?"

The tone on the earpiece suddenly sharpened, and the voice spoke with an ambiguous intent.

"Essentially, you only provided the final transport effort, without any actual combat... Then the 'reward' we promised you might not be as substantial."

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

The woman's brow furrowed at her superior's voice from the earpiece, but there was nothing she could do. Rank held sway, and despite her dissatisfaction, she couldn't express it directly. She could only patiently reply, "I meant to tell you that 756 hw was the reading I detected from the Honkai Beast's corpse after I arrived today. When it was active last night, its peak could have easily exceeded 1000 hw... And a Honkai Beast with Honkai energy radiation exceeding the total radiation of all previous 'Pupa' records was dealt with silently...

In other words, the person who resolved this Honkai Beast must possess even more terrifying power than this beast. And that individual even deliberately left the Honkai Beast's corpse here... I suspect there might be a trap. I request 'Pupa' to implement a lockdown of the Changkong City district. After further investigation, we can attempt to transport the Honkai Beast's corpse."

"A lockdown of the entire Changkong City district?"

Upon hearing this, the person on the other end of the earpiece seemed to grow angry, scolding, "Are you kidding me? Forget-me-not, do you know what kind of metropolis Changkong City is? Do you know the price I'd have to pay to implement a lockdown there?"

"Yes... but among everyone I can currently contact, you are indeed the only one with the authority to lock down a city in such a short period."

The woman's tone was serious. "I need to emphasize again, the Honkai Beast that appeared this time isn't the frightening part. What's frightening is the person who dealt with it... Based on my intuition, I sincerely suggest you implement a lockdown of the Changkong City district immediately, until the perpetrator reveals themselves... I believe this process won't be long, and once the other party makes a mistake, I'll have a chance to apprehend them directly, eliminating any possibility of unexpected outbreaks."

"Hiss~..."

The person on the earpiece took a long breath and then suddenly laughed. "Forget-me-not... You're making things difficult for me. What do you mean by 'based on your intuition'? 'You believe'? 'Have a chance'? Are you trying to fool your superior with such ambiguous words? I think you've been too stressed lately. Let me ask you, who are we? We are the 'Pupa,' the potent venom under the 'Fire Moth.' How could there be a force stronger than us in this world?

I think even if the person who killed the Honkai Beast has some strength, they must still fear our 'Pupa's' influence. Otherwise, why would they just leave the Honkai Beast's corpse there, right? You know that samples of its flesh and blood are being bought at sky-high prices by organizations all over the world, and even some of our own Doctors are fighting fiercely over even the smallest samples of Honkai Beast flesh and blood."

"But!..."

"There's no 'but,' Forget-me-not. Please adjust your attitude. You are 'Pupa's' sharpest blade, but you are still just a blade. And I am your superior. My actions must always consider the bigger picture. I cannot mobilize my authority based on your mere words. I can afford the cost of locking down Changkong City, but it's unnecessary.

As I said, Forget-me-not, you're just too stressed... How about this: you're in Changkong City right now, aren't you? Transport the Honkai Beast's corpse to the usual location, and then you don't need to worry about it. I'll mark this mission as successfully completed.

As for the reward... there won't be any, of course, since you didn't kill the Honkai Beast. However! I can approve the leave you requested last time. Don't you want to visit your sister studying in Changkong City? Once you transport the Honkai Beast to the usual location, you can go directly. Consider it a reward from your superior, and give your anxious little head a rest. Don't place too much importance on your 'intuition'."

"No, you..."

"Beep, beep..."

Before the woman could even speak, the earpiece communication was abruptly cut off.

Judging by the numb expression beneath the woman's terrifying Honkai Beast mask, this kind of situation was clearly not the first time.

Previously, the woman had always chosen to compromise, and perhaps this time would be no different.

Looking at the horrifyingly deceased Honkai Beast in her field of vision, the woman found it hard to imagine what kind of power the other party possessed to kill a Honkai Beast of this caliber in such a short time.

Never mind... It would be like this. At least this mission posed no direct danger, and after transporting the Honkai Beast's corpse, she could go see Ling. She had mentioned wanting to go to the park last time... Yes, it was Saturday today, so she should be able to catch her before her day off ended.

"Beep beep beep!"

However, at this moment, a voice came through the earpiece again. The woman frowned slightly and chose to answer.

"Ah~ Sorry... Forget-me-not, I forgot to instruct you earlier. But since you're on vacation, why don't you 'clean up' the people in your area who've been exposed to Honkai radiation before you leave? It won't be a small number, but with your abilities, you should be able to finish before nightfall. Just use your usual methods, don't disappoint me."

"You just think it's more expensive to hire others for this kind of job..."

Beneath her mask, Sakura couldn't help but mutter softly.

"Hmm? What did you say?"

"Nothing... Codename Forget-me-not, mission accepted. I will immediately begin 'sweeping' the nearby streets."

"Very well, then I'll await your good news. Remember to report back the day after tomorrow; the work here is not as leisurely as it appears."

"..."

The hidden communication in the earpiece was cut off. Sakura glanced 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 do the work of "cleaning up" infected people? It was bloody, cruel, and indescribable... Unfortunately, after understanding this, the woman named "Sakura" had already fallen into an endless darkness, embarking on a path from which there was no return. All she could do was ensure her younger sister, who was still studying at Chiyu Academy, wouldn't be exposed to this darkness and could have a relatively peaceful and beautiful life. That was all.

After a moment of thought, Sakura slowly drew the ice-blue katana at her waist and said softly:

"I'm sorry, please forgive me..."

This was said as if to herself, or perhaps to everyone in this area, every resident nearby.

A moment later.

Sakura, who had drawn her sword and looked around in confusion, fell into a state of [Doubt].

No... it shouldn't be like this. With Honkai radiation in the thousands, even if it naturally degenerated to 786 hw this morning... after sitting in this alley all night, it should have affected at least a hundred people. Why... why do the residents living nearby seem perfectly fine?

Aside from accepting benefits and promising to keep quiet about the violent tremors they felt last night, the residents near this alley showed no discomfort whatsoever. This was completely different from the symptoms of people normally affected by Honkai radiation...

In the past, Sakura would always grant release to her targets when they were in extreme pain. And ordinary people exposed to a thousand levels of Honkai radiation for an entire night would usually become unbearable in their suffering as time went on.

But the current situation... How could she call people going out to buy groceries or playing games at home "unbearable"???

Why?

Sakura couldn't figure it out.

Even if there were a very small number of people with natural resistance to Honkai energy, like herself... why was an entire residential area unaffected? Were the residents here all professional killers with extremely high resistance to Honkai energy, like Pupa?

As she pondered, Sakura's gaze accidentally fell upon a hint of pink on the massive corpse of the Honkai Beast in the alley.

"Hmm?"

Sakura frowned slightly, then quickly moved forward to investigate.

Inside the Honkai Beast's chest cavity, a shattered, pitch-black crystalline object was scattered. It looked like... an incomplete core. It had condensed over 99% of the Honkai Beast's Honkai energy, but due to some crucial missing piece, this "core" lacked the most important part, leading to a complete collapse. What should have been a core that wielded [Authority] had become a Honkai energy battery that only knew how to absorb Honkai energy.

But this was clearly not the main point.

The main point was that outside this decaying core, a pink crystal flower was quietly floating. The halo emitted by the crystal flower had collected the last 1% of the dispersed Honkai energy, gathering all the Honkai energy contained within this unprecedentedly powerful Honkai Beast into the decaying core. This prevented even a single innocent person from ending their life in unimaginable pain due to Honkai radiation.

However, after a moment, as if realizing that the keyword "pink crystal flower" was quite recognizable within Fire Moth, Sakura blinked, and the pink halo transformed from a beautiful crystal flower into an ordinary sphere, encasing the decaying black core within. It served both an aesthetic purpose and acted as an insulator.

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

Looking at the core, wrapped in pink, within the monster's chest cavity, Sakura couldn't help but think.

At the same time, she became even more curious about what had happened here last night.

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

At the same time, in the Research Institute...

Xu Ziling, who had deactivated his DNA Mimicry and returned to his original blond-haired, blue-eyed appearance, asked Elysia, "You don't object to my sudden mischievous impulse when facing that monster...?"

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

Elysia winked playfully, then said with a smile, "Last night, the poor Miss Elf was locked in her room by Doctor Mobius! How could she have gotten out! I just sensed through Elf's Magic that a nearby area was about to face danger, so I... shot an arrow in that direction. And that was it~"

Shot an arrow...

Xu Ziling pondered, then looked up at Elysia and asked again, "Really?"

"Of course, it's true!"

Elysia nodded seriously, then nudged Xu Ziling's body, half-jokingly saying, "Oh dear~ Don't dwell on the details, Little Ziling. Stop standing there foolishly. Doctor Mobius and your classmate whom you... no, who returned with you are about to wake up? Go quickly and make them a cup of hot coffee to help them wake up~"