Dialogue, Heartfire.

The hospital's isolation ward.

Fu Hua peeled the apple into delicate little cat shapes and placed them on the tray. She listened to the man's rambling words, her thoughts a jumble of complex emotions.

He said that Su Qing'an knew long ago that a calamity might occur, and the two of them had thought about it a lot on their own without knowing anything about it.

Master Su thought for a very long time, but still didn't know any good way to get through this calamity.

The father, on the other hand, was prepared to face death, yet worried about whether he could survive in such a world.

Finally, to avoid upsetting Fu Hua, they made a silent promise together.

On the same day that I went to Canghai City, my father embarked on a long journey to travel around the world.

If we follow the route given by Master Su, even if we end up dying under the blazing sun, we will still be able to see more scenery before then.

For Fu Xiuran, who had been bound by himself and martial arts his entire life, this was already extremely gentle.

If the boy's efforts can truly change some of his fate, it will be a crucial turning point for both him and Fu Hua.

The man faced many hardships after that day, but following the route given to him by the boy, he arrived at his final destination on the night of the 19th.

The next morning, Fu Xiuran Awakened in the hotel breathing in the Melbourne air.

A few hours later, he passed by Carl and, like the local old men, had a refined lunch at an Italian restaurant.

Fu Xiuran gazed at the Yala River shrouded in mist on the television screen. His weathered, blue eyes held a mixture of longing and melancholy, which gave the man a unique charm. He then chatted with the diners next to him in fluent English, discussing everything from Tianwen and geography to the philosophy of life, before politely saying goodbye.

Shortly after leaving, Fu Xiuran left the printed business card he had politely accepted on the table of the Crown Casino. He didn't even glance at the hickey on it, and left with his chips, which had multiplied several times over.

On the morning of the 21st, the man rented a motorized vehicle and headed to Portsea, having heard that it had azure seas and world-class golf courses. He thought that Hua might enjoy the scenery and brought his DSLR camera to take many photos.

However, the journey ended without any resolution, and the trip, which was fraught with the possibility of death at any moment, successfully came to an end.

The Third Honkai Outbreak successfully erupted, and the news from all over the world made Fu Xiuran understand that the reality Su Qing'an had foreseen had arrived.

But since I didn't die, it means that Xiao Su's plan has succeeded halfway by some twist of fate.

The man didn't elaborate on what happened next to Fu Hua, presumably because the hardships and crises he went through were things he didn't want his daughter to know.

Looking at the girl's downcast face, he finally asked the question:

"Where is Xiao Su?"

Fu Hua didn't know how to respond to this question; the fact that Su Qing'an was not dead was something that couldn't be revealed at the moment.

Even if it's highly likely that no one will care about this matter afterward, girls tend to be more cautious when it comes to the safety of the other person.

But if he lies and says the other person is dead, in such an apocalyptic world, the father will inevitably worry about whether he can support his future.

Even if it was to avoid worrying Fu Xiuran, I shouldn't have fabricated such a lie.

So Fu Hua chose to lie again. She only needed to make the lie appear as if there was no consensus in the outside world, turning it into a fragile illusion that could be easily shattered. Then, even if someone tried to find a breakthrough from this, they would only find out that they were lying.

The girl arranged the fruit beautifully, looked into the man's eyes which showed little worry, and smiled as she said:

"He's joined the Moth to Fire, Dad."

"He's already in basic training, and with Master Su's skills, he'll be a full member soon."

Fu Xiuran did not doubt Fu Hua's words; the fact that his daughter was completely unharmed was enough to demonstrate the role Fu Hua played in the matter.

How could someone with that kind of martial arts and mystique possibly die so easily?

Even in this hellish All living beings where all beings are corrupted and surrounded by demons, the boy's unyielding Martial Intent will never be easily defeated.

For a pure martial artist, Su Qing'an's existence silently proved that there were even higher limits beyond what he previously believed to be the limits of martial arts.

This is an act that breaks boundaries, allowing men to see a wider world, and it contains profound meaning.

This is precisely why Fu Xiuran possesses a strong sense of confidence in Su Qing'an that he himself is unaware of.

It feels like opening a game and seeing how desperate and desolate the world is, where people's hearts are like demons and monsters, and war and killing are the eternal themes.

Even so, when you control the protagonist as he faces this desperate beginning, you would never believe that he would die so easily in the chapter that sets the stage for the new era.

How can such a trash game exist?

That's Fu Xiuran's mindset right now.

The man didn't believe that a teenager would become the key figure in saving the world, but he also didn't believe that he would die on the first day that the whole world was engulfed by Honkai.

It's like a prologue poem that ends abruptly after only the beginning, so disjointed and regrettable that it makes one instinctively avoid considering such a possibility.

Fu Xiuran tried his best to lift his lips, and even the change of expression to show a smile seemed to be consuming the invisible energy within his body.

The Honkai Infection, which Su Qing'an had temporarily suppressed with the [Stigmata], received a new catalyst during the battle with the external environment and the Zombie. From then on, it began to continuously drain the life force from the man's body, causing him to slowly walk towards death.

Su Qing'an had previously used medicinal cuisine to try to make up for the physical depletion caused by the Honkai Infection, and the effect was very good. It even helped Fu Xiuran recover to his peak physical condition at one point, which is the core reason why he can still withstand the second Honkai Infection.

But the girl was unaware of these factors; all she could notice was the terrible state her father was in.

Kenshin keenly sensed that this so-called Qi was entangled in every corner of the man's body. Like a ravenous demon, it laughed and devoured his father's flesh and blood in front of Fu Hua, consuming his lifespan and causing him to age rapidly at a visible rate every day.

Fu Hua gazed at her father, who was not yet fifty, but looked as old as he was.

It is Qi.

It's Honkai Energy.

Humans who lack the necessary adaptability would die inexplicably simply because of the existence of these things.

Doesn't this kind of world seem strange?

Sorrow, anger, and doubt.

Then all of these were reduced to ashes, falling into the turbulent Mind Lake.

The girl's gaze was slightly cool, and something quietly took root in her heart.

Upon hearing this, the man responded without hesitation:

"Like Moth to Fire? Perhaps, given the current situation, this is the best choice."

Fu Xiuran thought for a moment about the current situation, sighed, and continued:

"When I first learned about the Moth to Fire, my first thought was that Xiao Su used to be a member. But now that you mention it, Hua, it's still unknown which organization he actually belonged to. What a mysterious kid."

Fu Hua earnestly uttered the difficult words:

"It's okay, as long as Su Qing'an is Su Qing'an."

Looking at her resolute expression, Fu Xiuran patted the little girl's head, his feelings complicated, and remained silent.

In a world where every day is uncertain, shouldn't we bring forward the age at which our daughters get married?

February 27th.

In less than a week, the aftershocks of the Third Honkai Outbreak continued unabated.

Himeko's hospital visits in the past few days were squeezed out under the guise of assessing the new recruits' qualities. After Seele and Fu Hua joined the team, she naturally returned to a high-frequency work schedule.

The primary task of the Moth to Fire at this stage is to suppress the Honkai Beast tide approaching important areas, while the talent retrieval plan has been transformed from a short-term task into a long-term priority policy.

This means that if you see someone on the list, you can choose to abandon lower-level tasks and bring them back to a safe area; if you don't see them, you can simply assume the plan doesn't exist.

Very few people will survive if the golden rescue time is missed, unless they are extremely talented geniuses or experts in a certain field. Otherwise, Moth to Fire will no longer expend extra manpower to try to rescue them.

The only reason to expend a large number of troops to suppress the Honkai Beast tide is because, given the current extreme circumstances, it is necessary to do so.

The beast tide's target is not empty cities, but the Mu Continent, which is home to one-tenth of the world's remaining population.

It's important to understand that while many places have been forced into wilderness, some areas are quite different.

When signs of the early stages of the Honkai appeared, it had already been nearly a century.

From that moment on, the higher-ups had already made the appropriate decision.

Whether you call it being mindful of potential dangers in times of peace, or saying it's merely using the guise of righteousness to seek personal gain, it doesn't matter.

In short, the core is Mu Continent, which already gathered all kinds of scientific research talents and was known as a global leader in science and technology for a century.

The United Nations leadership implemented a covert policy within the most central city on this continent, carrying out a decades-long overhaul.

They ruled out most of the possibilities of Zombie within their ranks through various methods.

This means introducing a large number of residents with the ability to withstand Honkai environment and the literacy to Honkai Energy as new blood, while excluding residents who have no such qualifications.

The core of this policy is this brutal approach, but its actual implementation is another matter entirely.

This policy, which lasted for decades, continued even after all the parliaments had changed.

The United Nations' long-standing authoritarianism has prevented ordinary people from recognizing these undercurrents that have been brewing for some time.

It's clear that the higher-ups have been trying to find a better way to enable the entire population to resist the Honkai. Even setting aside the so-called greater good and the future of humanity, from the darkest perspective, if such an approach succeeds, it would be entirely beneficial.

Even if one wants their descendants and family to inherit rights, social order must be maintained in a false peace that does not completely collapse.

In the absence of a vaccine and the inability to improve the situation through natural means, the United Nations can only resort to this clumsy and massively complex method to try to create a new generation with the same resistance among these people who possess Honkai Energy resistance.

Unfortunately, this approach was not very effective, and the final result was just a few technological cities that remained almost intact even after the Honkai outbreak.

Himeko is currently in charge of operations in one of the areas. She also needs to coordinate information gathered by the Logistics Department, make her own judgments, and issue relevant instructions.

Because these battlefields were so intense, she had agreed to Fu Hua's request to fight, which meant becoming a full member.

However, even with someone to look after her, it would be irresponsible to send Fu Hua into the battlefield immediately.

For this reason, Fu Hua was sent by Himeko to the recruit camp in the Australian region, where she is currently undergoing basic training.

Her qualities are different from those of ordinary people, but her specific advantages are reflected in the results after the Honkai Energy manipulation assistance.

In terms of physical fitness and fighting skills, she is actually quite good, as evidenced by her previous experience of defeating a scythe-wielding Zombie with her bare hands.

However, elements like fighting spirit are still something that girls today lack.

The sparring matches between recruits in the boot camp build up valuable training experience, which is an essential part of the training process.

In addition, instruction in physical fitness, mental discipline, Honkai knowledge, as well as the virtual equipment that best trains a person, are all factors that contribute to the birth of an excellent warrior.

This more advanced virtual equipment, compared to later generations, allows these inexperienced recruits to face all sorts of Honkai Beast, extremely dangerous virtual missions, and various emergencies in a life-threatening manner.

This allows these untrained recruits to quickly gain sufficient experience.

Only after undergoing this month-long, high-intensity, and mentally demanding training can a batch of soldiers barely be quickly produced to be ready for battle.

However, whether they are qualified or not still depends on their specific performance on the battlefield.

No matter how realistic the virtual devices are, the sense of alienation that new recruits feel after realizing they won't actually die still exists.

Therefore, even if a 100% realistic depiction of intense suffering can prevent many misjudgments in reality, whether one has enough courage to go into battle can only be confirmed in a real life-or-death struggle.

However, if Fu Hua is to develop a true fighting spirit, the tempering of the battlefield is essential.

But even after overcoming these trials that were like purgatory to his past self, such awareness and willpower alone are far from enough to truly catch up with Su Qing'an.

The conversation with Fu Xiuran a few days ago was still fresh in the girl's memory. Perhaps in her father's eyes, Master Su possessed a more profound and powerful strength.

That quality was something he hadn't even realized he possessed.

If Fu Hua wants to become stronger than him, she must first overcome that threshold.