The Journey

December 26, 2013, 10:05 a.m.

Changkong City.

The Zombies he encountered along the way were practically countless. On the cramped streets, Su Qing'an could no longer use the Kawasaki H2R's speed and horsepower to leave them behind. Most of the remaining routes had been destroyed and rendered impassable by enormous Honkai Beasts such as Temple-class and Chariot-class ones.

Because of this, he had no choice but to hide the Kawasaki H2R and continue on foot.

In areas with more Zombies and fewer Honkai Beasts, Su Qing'an could still advance without injury. He was already close to Senba Academy, but the increasingly dangerous enemies were gradually making every step difficult.

Wrapped in Honkai Energy, the blade of [Calming the Tempest] easily severed the approaching Zombies. The foul-smelling fluid spilling from what might no longer even be called flesh made people sick, but after cultivating the State of Still Water and accumulating countless kills, Su Qing'an no longer wavered when killing Zombies.

He had no time to dwell on whether he was destroying other people's remains—a pointless matter.

To Su Qing'an, dealing with Zombies was far simpler than dealing with Honkai Beasts. The Taixuan Style could unleash most of its power against these humanoid monsters.

Even so, without the ability to cover the blade in Honkai Energy, even a good sword made of excellent material like [Calming the Tempest] would have its edge rolled after cutting through dozens of bones harder than those of an ordinary human.

Su Qing'an realized that manipulating Honkai Energy left him mentally fatigued. In theory, it was perfectly normal for the Honkai Energy cycle established through his Soul Essence to consume that price.

Therefore, once he discovered this, he began consciously conserving his use of Honkai Energy, no longer releasing it from his sword in the form of sword qi.

That was the Form Concealment of the Void Sword Qi. It consisted of four movements—Guard, Transform, Initiate, and Open—for a total of twenty-one forms.

Because he had no reference material, his learning speed was not abnormally fast like that of ordinary martial arts.

For the time being, he could only attack by releasing sword-qi-like Honkai Energy through the blade.

Since controlling only the Honkai Energy on the blade would not affect his combat, he kept Honkai Energy wrapped around the sword's surface during battle to prevent the weapon from rolling its edge.

Although he had memorized most of Changkong City's routes, routes that had not been recorded had now appeared before him.

The city had become a veritable concrete jungle. Dangerous Zombies and terrifying Honkai Beasts roamed through it, destroying the city's buildings and slaughtering the few humans who had survived thanks to their resistance to Honkai Energy.

Even Su Qing'an was only in the middle of the food chain here. Compared with some Honkai Beasts that preferred moving in groups, he was undoubtedly far too weak.

If he were struck in a place that affected his mobility or in an artery where he would lose a great deal of blood, he would die from the severe reduction in his combat ability.

Adrenaline accelerated its secretion in such an atmosphere, and even after swinging his sword nearly a hundred times, the force and speed of his strikes remained unchanged.

At that moment, he hid expressionlessly at the corner of a small alley. The Zombies nearby had already been wiped out. He chewed his food to replenish his depleted stamina. The supplies in his bag amounted to only about two days' worth of food and water.

According to the plot, the events in Changkong City had lasted for a very short time—around ten hours. Everything would already be over by then.

So his preparations were already quite thorough.

But with the Honkai outbreak having occurred three months early, the so-called plot had become unreliable information.

Blindly trusting the plot was no longer an option.

Therefore, whenever necessary, stopping by supply points such as supermarkets to replenish his food and water was a prudent measure.

He put the half-full water bottle back into his bag. His brief rest was over, and Su Qing'an had never once lowered [Calming the Tempest] from his hand.

He opened the manhole cover at his feet. It was decorated with images of Qingyue Temple buildings and cherry blossoms, apparently part of this country's ordinary manhole-cover culture.

The routes he had memorized even included the city's sewer map. Every night, he repeatedly committed it to memory to keep the details precise, so he could use them for escape.

This manhole led to a sewer route near Senba Academy. Honkai Beasts seemed to possess an innate urge to destroy. Less than two hours after the Honkai outbreak, Su Qing'an had already changed routes several times, but every path had been blocked along the way by collapses caused by Honkai Beasts.

According to his calculations, the previously collapsed sewers did not conflict with this route leading to Senba Academy.

In theory, the distance was only a few thousand meters, but the groups of Assault-type Honkai Beasts near the academy had become an obstacle he could not cross.

Su Qing'an had discovered a possible habit of Honkai Beasts—or perhaps it was simply a biological instinct?

The weaker the Honkai Beast, the more it liked to move in groups. The stronger the Honkai Beast, the more it preferred roaming alone.

Thus, to Su Qing'an, the physically stronger Knight-class and Chariot-class Honkai Beasts were actually less dangerous than the Assault-type Honkai Beasts that preferred acting collectively.

In theory, there was no fixed pattern to where Honkai Beasts appeared. No one could guarantee that Honkai Beasts would not appear in the sewers.

Even encountering many Assault-type Honkai Beasts roaming around was not a low-probability event.

But compared with facing danger that had appeared right before him and clearly could not be crossed, he was more willing to gamble on the sewers being safer.

At the very least, in the quiet environment of the sewers, he could detect enormous Honkai Beasts early enough to escape.

More than an hour had already passed. He had no time left to waste. Su Qing'an understood that Satou Yunona's only chance of survival was to possess resistance to Honkai Energy, survive the First Kill, and leave Senba Academy under Kiana's protection.

But according to the plot he could refer to, Kiana and Raiden Mei (the Herrscher personality) would engage in a loving yet deadly struggle, ultimately succeeding in awakening Raiden Mei's own personality and bringing about a happy ending for everyone.

Yet even if Satou Yunona truly survived, she could still die at any moment under a casual area-of-effect attack from Raiden Mei.

A Herrscher's power was too terrifying. In theory, if she wished, she possessed the ability to destroy the entire city outright.

The closer he got to Senba Academy, the heavier the fear in his heart became. It was the despair that sank deep into his heart—the panic and oppression of having his life no longer in his own hands.

Someone as weak as him, unable to even kill a Temple-class Honkai Beast—how much use could he possibly be in a battle on that level?

Even whether Kiana, who had awakened Raiden Mei in the original fate, could accomplish such an absurd feat in reality remained unknown.

At the end of the day, this was reality. Even Kiana Kaslana, despite being the protagonist, merely had a high survival rate. The risk of death still existed.

Understanding all this, Su Qing'an entered the sewers and advanced toward Senba Academy without hesitation.

Fear, despair, cowardice, and other emotions were forcibly suppressed as he silently recited the Sword Heart Technique. His extreme self-control made him appear calm and decisive.

In the Mind Lake, ice-blue floes slowly formed.

When the Mind Lake froze completely, it would mean that his Sword Heart realm had reached the state of being free of dust.

At that point, the risk of transforming into a Zombie would arrive as well.

I'll deal with that when the time comes, he muttered silently in his heart.

He was only an ordinary person.

But ordinary people had the resolve of ordinary people, and ordinary people had the courage of ordinary people.

The hymn of humanity was a hymn of courage, and the greatness of humanity was the greatness of courage.

The youth who understood everything and still chose to shoulder the burden and move forward was already different from the person who had first arrived in this world.

To Satou Yunona, who might still be hiding somewhere, alive, Su Qing'an was undoubtedly her hero.