The Gradually Collapsing Personality

This is a wasteland completely corroded into a sandy state by Honkai Energy, where Honkai Beast are born almost every day.

Along the way, Su Qing'an had lost count of how many Honkai Beast she had killed.

He was gradually becoming overwhelmed by the various Chariot-class, Zombie, and completely unfamiliar Honkai Beast.

Tiny wounds covered Su Qing'an's body, but fortunately, the symptoms of Honkai Infection did not appear due to the presence of the [Stigmata].

The crimson blood had been drained in large quantities due to the body's prolonged lack of energy replenishment, but the ever-improving physical strength and physique silently bore this burden, allowing Su Qing'an to continue moving forward without wavering.

As dusk fell on the second day, the earth before me still seemed to stretch endlessly.

The solitude of being alone and the extremely empty view can sometimes even make a boy yearn for battle.

Even though reason tells me that I should conserve my energy to carry the weight of the future, my emotions stubbornly seek an outlet for their pent-up emotions.

This seemed to be the first time Su Qing'an had faced such a long and arduous battle; the slightest mistake could have restarted the boy's life.

The enemy's numbers and lack of supplies are the biggest fatal flaws.

Death may be a good ending, but the boy determined to change that future has to suppress all his emotions and his own desires.

Therefore, Su Qing'an suppressed her dark and negative emotions.

He refused all unnecessary battles, and would only actively eliminate threats such as Honkai Beast with far greater mobility than himself, or Zombie with ranged attack capabilities.

Even so, the dried, mottled bloodstains still stained the originally white shirt.

This garment was the funeral attire Fu Hua had dressed him in. For Su Qing'an, who had nothing at this moment, it was perhaps the only mark and solace clinging to that already vanished timeline.

But... he still accidentally got it dirty.

Through sheer willpower, physical strength, and various superhuman abilities, the boy finally found a way out on the endless plains after three silent days and nights.

That was an entrance that was mostly buried by sandstorms.

Even though he knew that what lay before him was a glimmer of hope for understanding this era, his emotions remained unmoved.

Su Qing'an's mental state has fallen into a strange state.

For example, Su Qing'an actually felt that her clothes were neither dirty nor torn.

It remains as pure and flawless as it was when I first entered this world.

For example, it automatically filtered out the text at the entrance that was similar to but subtly different from the current civilization's.

For example...

The conclusion he reached after smashing the alloy door with a single punch, entering indifferently, and carefully reviewing the documents inside.

This is Honkai Beast ecosystem used for certain experiments and observations, and the underground research institute is where the people who used to reside here worked and conducted analyses.

For some inexplicable reason, this place seems to have lost its value as a permanent residence, and all the confidential data and expensive equipment have been transferred to other research institutes.

In short, this place is abandoned.

The energy supply here should have automatically stopped, but when Su Qing'an stepped in, the sensing system responded to the inefficient instrument that converts Honkai energy into Honkai Energy, illuminating the view with soft light and dispelling the darkness.

Everything inside appears peaceful and tidy, with an orderly yet technologically advanced interior design as the main theme.

The presence of [momentum] barely disrupted the remaining defense system the moment Su Qing'an stepped through the door. He stepped into the spotless ground like a ghost, encountering no obstacles other than the doorway.

A combination of factors made finding information very simple.

Many details reveal the extraordinary level of technology in this era.

If it's a completely abandoned research institute, it can only mean that the device that converts Honkai Energy into power is only of ordinary value in this era; otherwise, there's no way to explain why it wasn't taken away.

According to the researcher's rambling written report, the instrument was smaller than a refrigerator, but because it was too outdated in terms of technology, it was not worth taking with it and was therefore left behind.

These details should have been noticed by Su Qing'an with keen insight, allowing him to deduce a fact.

But he is completely unaware of it.

Su Qing'an only found some sealed compressed biscuits and bottled water in the box. He began to try to get out of his depressed state after not eating for several days. He chewed the food expressionlessly.

The taste was unexpectedly good.

But the boy didn't care about that; he was now examining the old notebook he had found in the cabinet.

The old, brown cover is quite different from the high-tech style here, but when you touch it, you can tell that it is made of metal, and even the entire outer shell of the notebook is made of this metal.

It is probably made of some special alloy, and its lightness contrasts sharply with the cold, heavy feel of the metal.

The side latch uses a twelve-digit roller code. Su Qing'an's fingertip lightly ran over it, and the hard alloy split in two.

After forcibly opening the notebook, he was puzzled to find that the pages inside were completely blank, with only a few words vaguely appearing in different places as if playing a crossword puzzle. At first glance, they were messy and had no discernible pattern.

Su Qing'an couldn't find any other methods in the materials to help her quickly leave this desolate place disconnected from human society.

He opened the book, which resembled a diary, not to pry into someone's privacy, but to find helpful information.

But now it seems that the owner of this diary really enjoys playing strange code games. Just as Su Qing'an was trying to find the pattern and meaning in it, he turned to a normal page.

The underground electric vehicle is an outdated model; even if it were given away for free, it would still be a bit embarrassing to drive it to pick up my daughter from school.

[It's more cost-effective to just get reimbursed in cash and not take anything with me. I've been in this awful place for a year, and I hope my application for the *** project will be approved so I can finally go to ******.]

Judging from the person's tone and the events described, this should be a diary that has been forgotten here.

Some of the writing was blank, as if it hadn't been written at all. For example, when the researcher mentioned a specific place to apply for, he seemed to have some taboo about the name of that place and simply left it blank. He even left the reason for going there blank.

It was strange, but that wasn't something Su Qing'an intended to worry about.

Are they new energy vehicles?

The boy packed his things, hesitated for a moment, and ultimately decided not to take the diary with him.

This is, after all, someone else's private information. Even if the other party doesn't want it or forgot to take it, since it's already been confirmed that only one page contains useful information, there's no need for me to bring it along.

Su Qing'an turned and left; he was going to find people he knew.

Since the fact of the restart is unchangeable, changing that future is something I have an obligation to do, and finding them is the first priority if I want to change their future.

After Su Qing'an left, the lights in the research institute gradually went out, and the diary on the table was left open.

The writing on it was clearly visible in the darkness.

The Mu Continent has one-sixth of the world's population, making it an ideal place for further development. However, even with such advanced facilities, experimental sites are not accessible to ordinary researchers.

[I was incredibly lucky to be assigned here, let alone to the research institute on the Mu Continent. Perhaps as someone without much talent, I already know a lot beforehand, but for my family's sake, I must strive for even greater things...]

The entire diary is a rambling account of the inner turmoil of an ordinary researcher and his unease after learning the truth about the world. He understands that the world may be entering a crisis that could shake the entire human civilization, and that only by climbing up can he better utilize his value to protect his family.

But Su Qing'an strangely failed to see any of this. In the boy's eyes, it was just a strange codebook containing bizarre secrets that no one wanted to explore. As a traveler eager to find a human city, Su Qing'an naturally wouldn't delve too deeply into the truth.

Therefore, he left.

The new energy vehicle is equipped with very high-end features. Although the researcher said it was an outdated model, Su Qing'an felt that the meaning behind his words was more about disdain for its appearance than technical aspects.

To be honest.

If Su Qing'an had a daughter and regularly picked her up from school, he would refuse to drive a car that would obviously cause his daughter's status in class to plummet.

However, given their current semi-escaped situation, the appearance of the vehicle is irrelevant; instead, these practical functions are what Su Qing'an finds extremely convenient.

He even suspected that this was some kind of specially designed vehicle with Anti-Entropy Schicksal, otherwise why would it be so excessively advanced?

The virtual projection of the recorder showed that 237 days had passed since the car was last started, indicating that the place had indeed been abandoned for a long time.

This vehicle appears to be a common mode of transportation within the research institute, holding a similar delicate status to an electric car used for getting around a villa, so there are no complicated requirements for fingerprint or iris unlocking.

This saved Su Qing'an a lot of trouble.

The vehicle's main decoration is an earthy yellow camouflage color, and its beetle-like structure seems well-suited for concealment in the vast desert plains.

This also explains why the researchers thought the car was ugly; it wasn't originally designed as a daily vehicle for people to see, so practicality was naturally more important than appearance.

The automatic navigation system activated as soon as Su Qing'an sat down, and the vehicle started moving immediately after he tentatively uttered a voice command.

The engine accelerated rapidly, and the energy vehicle sped through the long passageway illuminated by white light.

It took a full two and a half hours for the winding underground passage to slowly come to an end.

Assuming there's no automatic navigation system to calibrate the route map, Su Qing'an wouldn't be able to find the correct exit on his own in a short time.

Just as the outside light was about to pierce their pupils, the car window gradually changed to the color of sunglasses to prevent their eyes from being uncomfortable from the sudden, strong light. After three seconds, the gradient color faded away little by little and returned to transparency.

This kind of human-centered intelligence is truly thoughtful.

The scenery outside the window became clearer, catching Su Qing'an's attention. It was as if he had crossed that hopeless plain directly; the outline of a highway could already be vaguely seen in the distance.

Behind him was a deep tunnel, and three seconds after the car drove away, the door, disguised as part of the mountain, closed again.

This vehicle usually helps the research institute replenish supplies, so it has a default route that it will follow without special instructions.

Su Qing'an didn't care where the journey ended; he only needed to find inhabited cities, access information about this era, and thus determine which timeline this place belonged to.

The energy vehicle continued its journey into the city. Along the way, Su Qing'an tried to identify a lot of information to fill his mind as a basis for judgment, but in the end, his memory was like a disk with data deleted, leaving the boy with only a blank answer.

He should have felt anxious, because the unknown is inherently unsettling.

For some reason, the boy only felt a strange sense of security.

That false warmth is like a fragile shell, beautiful but easily broken.

Su Qing'an leaned back in his seat. He hadn't slept for three days and three nights. The non-stop travel and numerous battles had left him physically and mentally exhausted.

But I still can't rest.

The boy glanced at his sleeve unintentionally; it was pure white.

Looking further, the loose-fitting ancient robes remained pristine white.

Su Qing'an should feel confused; he wasn't unaware that he was bleeding.

There's no reason why the clothes shouldn't be stained with blood at all.

But he took this simple logic for granted, just as he ignored the wealth of useful information in his diary, subconsciously choosing to receive only the information he had to receive.

Su Qing'an is acting very strangely right now.

If he continued to observe the Mind Lake, he would find that whenever he came into contact with information that might reveal the truth, a dark crack would suddenly spread out.

Only by ignoring these cracks can they be prevented from spreading further.

When dark cracks spread across the once clear and icy heart, that is the fate of a shattered sword heart.

The immense pressure, despair, sorrow, and various negative emotions overwhelmed the boy's soul. Subconsciously, in order to protect himself, he rejected any information that could potentially cause him to break down.

Just like Su Qing'an, who initially liked to use escapism to resolve the grief of her family's demise and treated her own life arbitrarily and carelessly.

Now, the boy felt as if he had returned to the very beginning.

But no matter how much he tried to escape, his extremely strong will and external factors combined to cause a certain outcome.

Su Qing'an ultimately had nowhere to escape.