As Always, An Ordinary Day

Three days after the ball, the brief period of joy came to an end. The invited members returned to their respective posts one after another during this time. The team consisting of Fu Hua, Carole, Shiyu Qiluo was also dispatched to leave Australia again for a new round of duty.

Su Qing'an and Seele continued to stay at home, living a peaceful and uneventful life.

Dusk, sunset.

In the living room, the only noises were the television and the bubbling of a pot cooking in the kitchen.

The rustling sounds, so full of life, create just the right amount of noise.

The roses on the windowsill, the postcards on the corner of the table, the oil paintings on the wall, and the dolls piled up in the corner of the sofa—these elements come together and intertwine to give the heart a deeper sense of tranquility.

These are luxuries that are now extremely rare.

Seele sat on the sofa, holding the shark plush toy given to her by Lin Xinchán.

-- Incidentally, about half the credit for the two becoming close can be attributed to these dolls.

The little girl glanced at Su Qing'an, who was texting beside her, and asked:

"Won't you feel reluctant to let go, brother? We only recently became a couple."

Su Qing'an thought for a moment and said softly:

"Yes, but I can't stop her from choosing her path."

Perhaps, just as Fu Xiuran and Himeko said, during the six months that Fu Hua was asleep, she had already quietly undergone some changes.

The Void Sword Qi of the third layer alone is enough to prove many things.

She is not choosing that path, fraught with death and thorns, to comply with the wishes of others or to obey the will of the organization.

In the original timeline Fu Hua might have embarked on a similar cycle, but her state of mind then and now are now separated by a clear path and two extremes.

Modern girls have their own will, their own ideas, and their own visions.

Therefore, even if Su Qing'an had the ability to persuade her to stay, she could not choose to let her stay.

Respecting the other party's will has been the boy's consistent approach to this day, even if the two sides' positions seem unbalanced, it still does not affect his judgment and choices.

Fu Hua maintained the same attitude. Even though she had accumulated a lot of sorrow in her heart, she never mentioned the price Su Qing'an paid for dealing with the Herrscher and the Judgment-class Honkai Beast.

Both of them respected each other's choices, and tolerating each other's emotions and thoughts was perhaps necessary.

The affection between Su Qing'an and Fu Hua has always been difficult to express completely due to various reasons.

Excessive respect and mutual understanding are the root of everything.

I hope the other person can make their own decisions entirely according to their own will; I hope the other person can remain whole and not be bound by the emotions I desire, so as to walk the path they want.

This cautiousness and naivety do not necessarily indicate the correctness of the choice, but they undoubtedly prove how much they cherish each other.

In fact, the boy himself was not unaware of Fu Hua's thoughts on this matter.

After learning the full extent of Su Qing'an's lifespan, the government, in an effort to boost morale, widely publicized the video of him killing the Fifth Herrscher and Chi You, making it almost common knowledge.

Even the free 555 circular bus on George Street in Sydney has clips of this video playing on a loop.

As the main members fighting against the Honkai, the Moth to Fire and other woven soldiers are the ones who receive the most propaganda from the upper echelons.

Judging from this detail, it's impossible for Fu Hua to perfectly miss out on gossip and rumors like she did during her school days.

Given these circumstances, Su Qing'an was naturally able to sense the other party's unusual behavior.

But the boy still didn't bring it up, because the truth was far worse than Fu Hua had imagined.

--Less than two years of life.

At least for now, choosing to remain silent is far better than telling a white lie.

Even though Su Qing'an chose to accept reality after the other party took the initiative, no longer deliberately suppressing his inner feelings and accepting that their relationship had truly progressed to another level, his gradually weakening body still left him feeling like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat.

Su Qing'an had already mentally prepared herself for death.

In essence, his lifespan of less than two years was not enough to make him so pessimistic.

With the help of the Herrscher of Ice's corpse, the progress of the Stigmata Project has made unprecedented strides. Given Mei's talent, it wouldn't be difficult for her to produce a weakened, unfinished version within a year to keep herself afloat.

This also reflects Dr. Mei's own attitude towards the Stigmata Project; the unfinished Stigmata is the best buffer she can come up with at the moment.

Even if Su Qing'an cannot reach a level where he can accept the genes of Emperor-class Honkai Beast, it is more than enough to prolong the experimental period by allowing him to survive a little longer.

The key point is that all of this is based on a plan that maintains life expectancy at its current level.

To achieve this completely, one must cease actively using Honkai Energy for high-intensity combat.

This battered body is no longer able to withstand the onslaught of [Thousand Stars], a chain reaction-like phenomenon similar to Honkai Energy.

If one wishes to fight without compromising their lifespan, the only option is to use [Udu-dust • Critical] to forcibly overdraw [Stigmata] and briefly enter a state of unrestrained freedom.

After several attempts to enter [Udu-dust • Critical] using Soul Resonance, Su Qing'an gradually figured out at what point the [Stigmata] would disconnect.

The conclusion is that he is no longer able to fight against any Herrscher- level opponent.

Otherwise, regardless of whether the outcome is a win or a loss, the next disconnection caused by overdrawing the [Stigmata] will once again squeeze out his already dwindling lifespan, causing the Stigmata Project specifically designed for him to fail.

Assuming the boy only has a few months or even less to live, even Mei wouldn't have been confident in achieving similar results in previous research.

Mei told the higher-ups the true data about Su Qing'an's body, not only to divert the official's attention, but also to prepare in advance for the boy not to fight again in the future.

Clearly, given the reality that asking Su Qing'an to fight Herrscher would be tantamount to suicide, choosing to avoid it was a natural course of action.

The two had already discussed this point initially, Su Qing'an agreed.

If Mei had known beforehand that this battle would have such a profound impact on Su Qing'an, even considering his own interests and the future, he would probably have simply chosen to use other strategies to fight against Chi You.

However, in a sense, this actually had a positive impact on Su Qing'an's future.

Because Mei can find an answer from it.

In other words, Su Qing'an is trustworthy.

Gentle to the point of foolishness, resilient to the point of fearlessness.

A simple transaction, coupled with her alliance with Seele, was not enough for Mei to be willing to apply all of such significant achievements to one person. Before that, she still harbored many calculations and ideas.

People cannot simply communicate their thoughts and achieve mutual understanding out of thin air.

Mei has her own ideals and principles. She must ensure that the fruits of the Stigmata Project and the Fusion Warrior Project are created to produce outstanding warriors with sufficient character and moral values.

Before coming to Seele to make a pact, Mei had already conducted some investigation into Su Qing'an, and his subsequent failure to accept the official revenge also initially met some of her standards.

The future of humanity, the continuation of civilization.

The significance of both goes far beyond one's own moral values and personal feelings. Therefore, if Su Qing'an were to act in a way that violated her own selection criteria during this period, Mei would probably choose to betray the alliance without hesitation.

But now, Su Qing'an's utterly foolish gentleness might be seen as a flaw that allows him to be morally blackmailed and easily exploited, but it is also the key evidence that makes Mei believe he is qualified to be so.

Therefore, Mei formally demanded that Su Qing'an cease fighting against the Herrscher.

The existence of the Herrscher of Ice had convinced her that the data on the powers he granted had some reference value.

This also led Mei to begin targeted research on the nature of the next Herrscher's powers shortly after Chi You's death.

The essence of power is the key element for Herrscher to challenge the entire world as a single individual. As long as the weaknesses within it are overcome, killing it is not such an unattainable outcome in Mei's eyes.

--At least, it's not to the point where humans can't kill Herrscher without Su Qing'an. The only difference is the number of casualties and the consumption of resources.

Prometheus's computing power has gradually evolved to the point where it has the capacity to perform branching operations, using all the historical data on Honkai to try to explore the essence of Honkai.

Although there has been no concrete progress and Su Qing'an has not spoken of the existence of the Finality, Dr. Mei is gradually sensing that humanity's greatest enemy may not have truly appeared yet.

Therefore, overwhelming military force is essential.

She had already done a preliminary calculation: as long as the boy carried the final crystallization of the Stigmata Project and made up for the original problems of output limit and combat duration, then according to the current rate of Herrscher power expansion, it would be roughly Sequence Number to the level of the Tenth Herrscher.

If Mei were to add her new ideas, which she had already conceived for the Fusion Warrior Project, the combination of the two would possess unimaginable potential.

In addition, some thoughts about Kevin's future path are also unfolding. His innate excellent qualities give him a high probability of becoming Fusion Warrior, which allows her to envision many possibilities.

Taking into account the various factors involved in the planning, Mei is not pessimistic about the future.

However, Su Qing'an himself was not like that. He had become accustomed to the sudden Honkai and the many seemingly fateful attempts to destroy him. In the eyes of the young man, no matter how advantageous the tide was, what would happen next was an unpredictable unknown.

Seele glanced at the boy's unconsciously revealed frustration and sensed that his heart was perhaps filled with countless trivialities, and that the pressure that accumulated from them would eventually crush him one day.

How can we make the other person feel more at ease?

As the only person who knew the whole truth and had this relationship with the other party, Seele Fulei was always very concerned about it.

[Dr. Mei's research on the Anti-Honkai Potion has made significant progress, and promising initial results are expected within a year.]

[The Soulsteel quantum computer, established in Australia, is on track, with plans to modernize the military's weaponry within three months.]

[The initial coverage rate of Holy Gate Project in cities worldwide has reached 24%. According to relevant departments, the subsequent deployment rate will continue to increase, and humanity will be able to truly drive the Honkai environment out of the world in about six months.]

The Honkai Cultist have recently emerged in Malaysia, East Timor, Papua New Guinea, and other regions have been Moth to Fire organization...

In the spacious living room, the sound of news broadcasts echoed continuously. Seele switched the channel to an animation channel with soothing background music. Hugging her shark-shaped plush pillow, she watched TV and suddenly started talking, asking:

"Is your brother very worried?"

"For such a world."

Su Qing'an was taken aback, not only because he hadn't expected Seele to ask such a question, but also because this similar question reminded him of the question Fu Xiuran had once asked him.

[Su Qing'an, what does this world look like to you?]

He thought that there was actually not much connection between the two, but just like how vintage jewelry with gorgeous floral and foliage elements always easily evokes the Victorian era, his first subconscious thought was of the man's gaze and the words he uttered.

But Su Qing'an quickly realized what was happening, and he smiled and said in a confident tone:

"It's alright, Dr. Mei's Anti-Honkai Potion is enough to help many people get through this difficult time."

"After several updates and optimizations, Holy Gate Project will soon become humanity's first line of defense against the Honkai."

"At that time, Hua, Pepper, and Qiluo will all have simple stationing missions. Depending on the assignments, they will likely be stationed in Australia for an extended period and will also have regular holidays."

The boy wasn't lying; he was merely downplaying the worst of it by stating all the efforts humanity could currently make and trying to comfort the other person. But these attempts were meaningless to Seele, who knew most of the current situation through Prometheus.

The work of documenting the dead initially sparked some ideas in her, but it gradually became a habit.

Every single day, every single second, in every corner of the world, countless people are sinking into Honkai and turning into dust.

Australia is already one of the safest places, but even so, the number of people who die every day due to the Honkai is still in the hundreds.

Those death tolls are not just numbers, and she still firmly believes that even now, but this belief cannot change the tragic reality and the endless tragedies.

The comfort that Su Qing'an worried about and hoped for was actually unnecessary.

Seele Fulei doesn't care when humanity will perish, whether the process is long or short.

The little girl lacked any sense of perspective; she only cared about living with everyone and about Su Qing'an in front of her.

Because besides that, Seele Fulei had nothing.

She ignored Su Qing'an's response and drew her own conclusion:

"This is a crumbling world, as if it could fall apart at any moment."

The girl whispered to herself:

"In the face of macro-level issues, an individual's power is insignificant."

"As an individual, my brother has accomplished many things that no one else in the world can do. Whether it's me, Sister Hua, Sister Pepper, or Sister Qiluo, we are all saved and able to see the world as it is today because of you."

"Although everywhere is filled with vast expanses of black and gray imbued with cold, hard numbers, and countless instances of Honkai are everywhere, there are still moments of beauty that make one certain that this world is worth living in."

Seele looked up at the silent boy whose lips were moving, and said earnestly:

"Without my brother, the world would be even worse now."

"Because even in such a terrible world, there must be people who want to fight with all their might to survive, and for those people, my brother's existence is undoubtedly very, very important."

"Even so, it's still naive to expect to do things beyond one's own limits."

"No one is omnipotent. Even Dr. Mei, the genius scientist featured on television news Tiāntiān, must have things he can't do."

"Taking all the burdens on your own shoulders will not make problem-solving faster or push you beyond your limits; it will only cause worry and distress to those around you."

Su Qing'an hesitated for a moment, then said softly:

Is Seele worried?

I've always been deliberately trying to appear relaxed and natural in front of the other person.

The boy tried hard not to make the other person worry or feel sad, but in the end he still couldn't do it.

The video promoted by the government did not bring him any joy, but knowing how much unnecessary sacrifice caused by the riots this video could quell, Su Qing'an still chose to acquiesce.

The price to pay is that those around him have to worry about him.

This is an unavoidable situation; the gradually declining Honkai world can no longer support a perfect greenhouse.

The little girl was very insecure; for someone like her to say such things required a great deal of courage and awareness.

Even so, she still had to speak.

"To me, my brother is more important than anyone else."

"I don't care how many tragedies are happening outside, I don't care when the world will end, I don't care when the Honkai will come."

"But I don't like seeing you sad, I don't like seeing you fight with scary guys, I don't like seeing you lying in the medical pod looking like you're about to die."

Seele didn't cry. Her deep blue eyes lowered their gaze, as if tracing the arc of light falling in the room. The tone of her voice was indifferent, as if she were talking about something that had nothing to do with her.

Only as she uttered the last sentence, the little girl gazed into the boy's dark eyes and said earnestly:

"Therefore, I hope my brother can pay more attention to his own thoughts and take better care of his health."

"It's okay to be a coward, Seele will only be happy about that."

That's a terrible and unpleasant description.

Su Qing'an's hand hovered beside the orange-blue hair, but he suddenly recalled the image of the little girl protesting against him. He smiled and stopped what he was doing, pinching her soft cheek with his fingers and softly replying:

"Then I'll just be a coward."

I didn't pat his head.

The other person's restraint stemmed from their own past words.

But after experiencing that moment of disappointment, the little girl suddenly realized that letting her brother pat her head was no longer something to protest.

Rather, I might feel relieved and happy about it.

But Seele quickly put this regret behind her, after all, it was rather shameful to admit it.

She simply hooked her delicate fingers together with the boy's, looked into his eyes, and said:

"Then it's a deal."

Was it an agreement? Su Qing'an was momentarily dazed.

These two words have always been like an indelible curse to me; as long as I am involved with a promise, I will inevitably encounter something that I have no choice but to trample on in order to achieve it.

Therefore, now that things have come to this, I am a faithless person who has broken the promise.

Even so, the deep-seated deformity and distortion still give the word "agreement" a tremendous binding force.

The boy spoke as if joking, yet also as if seriously:

"I've already broken my promises so many times, but if it's for Seele, it's okay to try a little harder."

"So, it's a promise."

"Gurgle, gurgle."

The curry in the pot was almost burnt dry, like a withered honeysuckle.