A Familiar Face in a Foreign Land, St. Peter's Cathedral

During the four months that Su Qing'an was in slumber, both humanity and the Honkai were advancing at their own pace.

In such a world, roughly half a year is enough to completely crush a person, or enough for a person to be reborn from the ashes.

Fu Hua, Shiyu Qiluo, and Carole successfully graduated from the recruit camp and stepped onto the battlefield.

In the past, recruit training in military camps lasted up to three months, followed by various procedures and screenings. Only after this process could the survival rate of soldiers entering the battlefield be considered normal.

However, these rules and regulations had to be relaxed due to a shortage of personnel.

Currently, the only condition that cannot be relaxed is Honkai Energy literacy. Without this crucial element, going to the battlefield is simply a waste of resources.

Without exception, all the personnel in the Fifth Squad's recruit camp who possess the necessary Honkai Energy skills are women.

Expecting most people who don't meet the physical requirements to reach the physical fitness level of a qualified soldier in just one month is nothing short of wishful thinking.

Therefore, the gap above this can only be filled with basic armor.

As the earliest proposer and inventor of the concept of armor for Honkai Energy applications, Himeko's emphasis on armor is self-evident.

However, she simply didn't have the time to work part-time researching armor, so she submitted a proposal to her superiors regarding a general-purpose Honkai Energy combat armor.

In fact, this was a request that had been made earlier, but it had been delayed in being put on the agenda.

Even though Himeko's own armor was gradually becoming less effective in supporting combat than the frequent appearances of Emperor-class Honkai Beast, she had no choice but to apply for armor optimization.

Su Qing'an, who killed Ganesha with a single sword strike, may not have had any profound insights, but the reality is that the Emperor-class Honkai Beast of the Previous Civilization era and the Emperor-class Honkai Beast of the post-civilization era are completely different levels of beings.

Even though they are all Ganesha, their strength cannot be generalized.

However, the limits he himself had crossed were far beyond those, which led to the seemingly identical situation.

Therefore, the current situation is that the Emperor-class Honkai Beast are a very troublesome problem at this stage, given the current restrictions on large-scale weaponry.

Even though the top leadership's policy is to vigorously develop large-scale weaponry such as Honkai Fission Bomb- type weapons.

However, to defend the remaining cities, these large armed forces can only play a decisive role at crucial moments.

However, given the constraint of not affecting the city itself, the individual combat effectiveness of the soldiers was inadvertently increased.

This also meant that even if it meant temporarily deviating from the core policy, the authorities had to pay attention to the casualty rate attached to Himeko's application.

Humans with Honkai Energy literacy are not like cabbages; they are a rare resource that must be taken seriously from a long-term strategic perspective.

The fully autonomous robot soldiers meant that the casualty rate was not so high as to be unacceptable to the authorities, but the overall casualty trend in the battle presented in this report is an issue that needs attention.

Eliminating potential problems before they manifest is the most cost-effective approach.

Just as the authorities were preparing to continue allocating substantial funds and resources to the original armor project team, the progress report from the Sea of Quantum Experiment Group drew the attention of the higher-ups to Mei's existence.

This girl, who had joined the Sea of Quantum Experiment Group less than half a month ago, easily overcame a problem that should have taken ten years to begin to show results.

No one can doubt her talent in this area; in fact, many believe that Dr. Mei may have been born specifically for the Sea of Quantum project.

But Mei herself was far from satisfied with this; she no longer had time to waste on getting people to slowly accept her uniqueness.

With Doctor Muen as his guarantor, Mei gained another identity.

That is, an advisor to the general-purpose Honkai combat armor design team.

From the perspective of officials and academics, this is an arrogant act that treats the entire project team as if they don't exist.

However, Mei's natural talent still earned her this insignificant, nominal position.

Therefore, in May, the general-purpose Honkai Energy combat armor was successfully optimized.

This is an unreasonable talent, a powerful disregard for logic.

This young girl, not even twenty years old, completely crushed the skills that all her predecessors had accumulated over the years into dust, and in an absurdly short amount of time.

The answers to everything seemed to appear naturally in Mei's eyes; she was never wrong and never failed.

While others needed hundreds or thousands of failed experiments to arrive at a theory, Mei proved the correctness of his theory with a single experiment while simultaneously constructing it.

However, what truly solidified Mei's position was not the optimization of its armor.

It was because of yet another deal between Seele and her.

Upon Awakened and seeing the girl's serene profile, Seele was stunned for a moment.

If you are unharmed, it means the experiment has been a success.

The girl's lips curved into a joyful smile. She gazed into Mei's calm eyes and asked in a light tone:

"Am I still of any use to you, Dr. Mei?"

The unusual tone in which Seele said this, and the question itself, struck Mei, who was still quite naive at the time, as odd.

These are words that shouldn't have been uttered in this situation, but they seem understandable given the context.

She adjusted her glasses and said quietly:

"... Miss Seele, please don't use such a misleading way of speaking."

"In short, I think I understand what you mean."

"You still have things you want me to do, right?"

The little girl recalled the girl's tear-filled blue eyes, and she nodded obediently, saying earnestly:

"I want Dr. Mei to research a reagent that can cure Honkai Sickness, and then help me use it to save someone."

"All we need to do is let him live a little longer."

Mei remained silent for a while. She was actually quite puzzled as to why the little girl in front of her seemed to believe in her abilities even more than she did.

Unlike projects like the Sea of Quantum, which are currently ethereal and uncertain, the existence of Honkai Infection is a fundamental issue affecting the entire civilization.

The history of gradual Honkai is so long that it has spanned more than a century.

In the very early stages, some people attempted to research methods to kill the Honkai Sickness and resolve the Honkai Infection.

Even today, despite the rapid advancements in technology, there are still very few ways to stop the Honkai Sickness from spreading, let alone find a solution.

Seele's words were as if she believed that Mei was able to, in the brief time before the Honkai Sickness needed treatment died, traverse more than a hundred years and initially grasp the veil of the divine realm.

To put it bluntly...

Mei herself doesn't even have that kind of confidence.

She is very rational, and rational people are not so prone to dreaming.

Reality and dreams, constraints and limits—these elements always restrict one's imagination of oneself.

This constraint is precisely what Mei previously wanted to overcome directly.

But now... it seems like I no longer need to deliberately overcome that hurdle.

Seele Fulei, you are a very competent ally.

Unconditional trust, is that right?

While strange, it's also understandable. For Seele Fulei, Mei's existence is the last straw and hope she can grasp.

No matter how illogical, impossible, or beyond her wildest expectations, she would trust Mei wholeheartedly.

And at this moment, what Mei needs is precisely this kind of unreasonable belief.

"Okay," she replied softly.

As a result, Fu Xiuran's death was postponed until July.

This young girl truly lived up to her absurd expectations and visions, using her talent in scientific research to ignite the first spark for the world.

The reason this flame was initially created was simply to fulfill a promise made to a little girl.

But behind the glamorous stories, there are always those who can see the gray areas beneath.

Look.

Both the body and the will have their limits, and those who can rely on these two to overcome illness and death are ultimately only a very small number of exceptional cases.

Those results that seem to be achieved through one's own efforts have actually come at a price that someone has paid silently for.

Under Himeko's special care, the nascent team consisting of Shiyu Qiluo, Fu Hua, and Carole narrowly escaped death several times within the first month of entering the battlefield, thus gaining invaluable experience.

One war after another, filled with the smoke of gunpowder, quietly transformed these naive girls, who should have been chatting and laughing in high school, into qualified soldiers.

Himeko tacitly acknowledged that Fu Hua gained the right to fight alone only after she had fully mastered [Thousand Stars], and shortly thereafter, the three of them became official members of the Fifth Squad the Moth to Fire.

Given the current shortage of personnel, the vetting process for official team members is already quite lenient, but even so, very few soldiers are approved by Himeko and allowed to join.

This shows that even though their experience is relatively shallow compared to others, they have ultimately earned the qualifications to stand on their own.

From this perspective, it's not just Fu Hua is special; even Carole and the most delicate Shiyu Qiluo must have made considerable efforts during that period.

However, there are reasons for allowing these three to form a team to carry out the mission. If relying solely on their individual combat skills, the other two, apart from Fu Hua, would only receive an unsatisfactory evaluation.

Himeko's permission was based on the optimized armor developed by Mei.

With the new general-purpose armor, Himeko believed that minor accidents would no longer require her to worry about their lives.

Taking care of people at this stage is arguably the limit of what a woman can do.

Moreover, Fu Hua, who was the most worrisome among them, is now perhaps the least worrisome team member.

Without considering combat experience and differences in armor, Himeko can no longer guarantee a high chance of winning against the enemy.

This was the result before Fu Hua entered the Mirror of Light.

July 13th, early morning.

Today will be the third mission for the three-person team. Unlike the previous basic reconnaissance missions, this mission is a prelude to official actions given the lingering effects of the battle.

After stepping into the helicopter, the group silently readjusted their equipment once more.

The new armor still uses the same nanotechnology to integrate all the necessary weaponry, so on the surface, the three girls are just seriously checking their appearance, as if they are about to head to an important meeting in their lives, not a battlefield.

They remained silent, exchanging glances before simultaneously fastening their seatbelts and preparing to await the helicopter's departure.

Unlike previous reconnaissance missions, this mission focused on reconnaissance while also searching a designated area.

However, since the mission did not have a very specific objective, the group did not discuss it further.

It would be a lie to say that the three girls were completely unmoved, but the resilience forged in blood and fire prevented them from wavering.

Just as the group was preparing to greet the blue sky and white clouds, the female pilot, whose face had been hidden until now, turned around, looked at the group in the cabin, and said casually:

"Um, just to confirm, the address is Adelaide, right?"

The solemn atmosphere was instantly shattered. The pilot's behavior, reminiscent of a taxi driver routinely asking a passenger where they were going, felt quite out of place in the current Ironblood setting.

The way she lazily put on her helmet and fastened her seatbelt when she turned around was particularly eerie and unserious, completely out of place with the current atmosphere of the Moth to Fire.

It's like an old man selling roasted sweet potatoes in a food street politely handing you a sweet potato while skillfully pulling a gleaming sword from his cart.

While skillfully twirling his sword, he begins to boast about its origin, materials, craftsmanship, and historical significance, all in an effort to sell this precious sword and thus successfully get himself into a life insurance company.

Just imagining this scene evokes a sense of jarring incongruity, and it remains so today.

But the moment the pilot's deadpan gaze met Fu Hua's eyes, her large, dark eyes involuntarily widened and instantly became lively.

Lin Xinchán stared at the girl dressed in black with a cool and aloof demeanor, speechless with a daze, until the girl's lips curled into a familiar smile, revealing a warmth that was no longer present in her. Only then did she come back to her senses and understand what had happened.

Meeting an old friend in a foreign land.

In a world rife with war between civilization and Honkai, where the population is dwindling by percentages, it is undoubtedly a very fortunate thing to meet friends you knew before the catastrophe struck.

After a brief moment of joy, the two fell almost speechless.

How should we bring up the past?

All those beautiful memories are buried in that ancient eastern town, which has been swept away by Honkai river. Now, all that can be heard is the sound of white porcelain bowls shattering on bluestone slabs.

The crisp cracks became scars on the earth. Unnamed, Emperor-class Honkai Beast crushed ancient alleys and exquisite skyscrapers into countless wrecks, and all the remaining survivors perished in this Honkai.

Absolutely no one survived, including Lin Xinchán's family.

This is the current state of the world; it's considered lucky for a small city affected by the Honkai to have any survivors.

But total death is the norm.

Fu Hua had known all this for a long time, so many warm memories and past events that only they knew about each other now seemed to have become taboo topics that neither of them could mention. All that could be said...

It seems to be nothing more than a meaningful "long time no see".

Fu Hua looked at Lin Xinchán and said softly:

"Xin Chan, it's been a long time."

"Hua, it's been a long time."

The armed helicopter took off, and under Lin Xinchán's skillful control, it soared like a large, dark bird towards the predetermined direction.

The atmosphere reached a stalemate as Carole and Shiyu Qiluo remained silent, each keeping to themselves.

After a moment's hesitation, Lin Xinchán asked:

"Master... you went on vacation back then, right? How are you doing now?"

Fu Hua said softly:

"Dad has contracted Honkai Sickness and is currently in a hospital near the Australian branch."

"If you have time, Xin Chan should go see him."

She gazed at the wispy clouds outside the window and murmured:

His time is running out.

Lin Xinchán didn't react much after hearing this.

Death is the normal outcome; survival is the unexpected.

The reason why Master was bedridden in the past, in retrospect, was largely because he was injured while killing roadside Zombie, which led to him contracting Honkai Sickness.

Although the master briefly recovered his body for some unknown reason, staying in an area with a slightly higher concentration of Honkai Energy for a while could very likely cause a relapse.

Fu Hua's description of the current situation may seem cruel, but compared to others, it is already considered incredibly fortunate.

Even though this was clearly a lucky thing, the girl couldn't help but feel a pang of sadness. She remained silent for a moment and then said:

"I will go see Master, Hua."

"I have no family left in this world."

Lin Xinchán encouraged herself, took a deep breath, and said in a light tone:

"It's already a good thing that I can see my master and you again."

Shiyu Qiluo Kira whispered something to Carole:

"While it's great that Hua met a good friend at a time like this, isn't it a bit unprofessional for the female pilot to be catching up with old friends while flying the plane?"

Carole said quietly:

"I think so too, but at this time it depends on the atmosphere, so just trust the other party's professionalism."

The following conversation caused all three of them to freeze for a moment.

"By the way, Xinchan, how did you actually become a pilot?"

Lin Xinchán has recovered her composure. She has always been an optimistic and positive person, and all those painful past experiences have been buried in the quiet of the night.

But now, the girl seemed remarkably relaxed and at ease, casually saying:

"They're forcing me into it. I've crashed hundreds of times in the Virtual Pod, and the higher-ups still dare to send me. It just shows that the current situation, with Honkai 3rd awareness as a new military indicator, has directly filtered out most pilots."

The amount of information conveyed in that statement made it difficult not to question her professional competence, but Lin Xinchán seemed completely oblivious to this, and began to complain:

"My parents made me join the army so I could have a job and wouldn't have to worry about making a living. They probably never imagined their daughter would become a pilot."

The little girl sighed as she recalled the miserable life she had endured over the past few months.

"Don't even mention them. When I first crashed the plane in the virtual scenario, I questioned my life choices. Why was I pulled in here to be a draft soldier and fly this thing?"

"Our instructors initially said that dying a few times inside would help us learn quickly, but I didn't truly complete a virtual mission until after my thirty-eighth crash."

"Virtual Pod are amazing! Without them, I doubt I'd ever seriously die that many times in my entire life, and learning to fly a plane would be an impossible task."

Lin Xinchán's personality remained as talkative as ever; she continued to ramble on:

"It's roughly the same concept as your recruit camp, Hua. Our Logistics Department also has to do a month of standardized training. Anyway, I went through a lot of hardships before I finally graduated."

"At first, I thought I would be nervous when I sent people to do tasks, but after sending them a couple of times, I found that it was not much different from my dad's old job."

"It's all about picking up and dropping off people, just the methods are different."

Shiyu Qiluo tugged at Fu Hua's sleeve, sensing something was amiss, and whispered:

What did her father do before?

Fu Hua was silent for a moment. She glanced at the world outside the window, where the clouds seemed within reach, and replied softly:

"The technology in our area is very backward. Xin Chan's father... is a taxi driver."

Carole touched her arm and felt a little cold.

Shiyu Qiluo checked the seatbelt and the parachute that came with the seat, and only felt slightly relieved after confirming that everything was in order.

As Captain Himeko was right, unexpected events are never lacking when going out on missions.

She carefully observed Lin Xinchán's fluid and natural movements, feeling as if she were facing a formidable enemy.

Half an hour later, in Gulf St Vincent, in southern Australia.

The jet-black armed helicopter landed precisely in the area most vulnerable to the Honkai Energy. The sound of its wings cutting through the air gradually diminished, and the rear compartment automatically opened several intelligent flight instruments responsible for reconnaissance, heading towards the city.

The three of them walked out of the cabin and onto the ground without any serious injury.

This down-to-earth feeling and the uneventful journey made the group re-evaluate each other's professional abilities.

Even though her talkativeness is indeed very similar to that of a taxi driver, making the overall style somewhat off, Lin Xinchán's hundreds of deaths in the Virtual Pod still gave her excellent driving skills.

Lin Xinchán shouted to Fu Hua, who was standing on the ground and about to head to the city:

"Hua, be careful."

"Remember to treat me to a meal when you come back!"

Immediately after Fu Hua nodded in affirmation, the armed helicopter streaked across the sky and disappeared from sight within a minute, becoming a black dot.

"Regardless of whether or not anything unusual is discovered, we must return within three days."

"Given the current shortage of personnel, you must face all the unknowns with the mindset that your own safety is more important than the mission itself."

They silently recited Himeko's words and looked in the direction of their mission objective.

St. Peter's Cathedral.