The Man of Miracles, Part Six / The Man of Miracles, Part Seven

The man felt that he was gradually becoming like his former self, which was a good thing, since wasn't that the self they admired back then?

I almost forgot, it wasn't just him who changed; they changed too.

The man chuckled self-deprecatingly, a strange expression forming on his metallic face.

Fortunately, there was one person who never changed.

The man returned to his room and waved to the pink-haired girl who was doing housework. "Sakur, I designed a super interesting coffee maker today, but unfortunately I can't make it."

"Really? How interesting is it?" The pink-haired girl wiping the table asked with a smile as she turned around.

"That would be so interesting..."

He briefly explained his idea, and the pink-haired girl was amused by his vivid and expressive way of speaking, and laughed along with him.

It felt like they had returned to the time when they first met, when they could smile from the bottom of their hearts even though they didn't know each other well.

After that, they talked about other things, such as what dishes the girl had learned to cook that day, what gossip the man had heard about the people at the base, and the strange new phenomena they had discovered during the experiments...

They talked about everything, but never once mentioned the Honkai or those cruel realities.

But they didn't want to escape; they just didn't need to.

Reality doesn't require them to re-understand it, and what they need to do is not spread pessimism.

"By the way, Lin, just burn my body and scatter the ashes in any river."

Suddenly, the girl laughed and said something strange.

The atmosphere took a sharp turn for the worse.

"..."

The man's metallic face was still smiling.

On the cuffs of the pink-haired girl's clothes, some purple stripes were faintly visible.

Chapter Sixty-Seven: The Miracle Man, Part Six

The girl sat at the table playing with an empty instant noodle bowl and fork. She had taken off her helmet, and her long, dark blue hair cascaded over her shoulders like a dark waterfall.

Kosma has already gone back, and he still hasn't answered that question.

The girl didn't actually want the answer from him. Everyone has different ideologies, which leads to different perceptions and completely different answers. If you want to know the answer to a question that determines your values from someone else, you will only end up imitating others blindly.

She simply wanted to see what other people besides Lin were like, and that question was a clever way for her to form her final opinion about a person.

"... What were you trying to say back then?"

"In the end, even after getting married, I still didn't know."

The girl was muttering something to herself, but no one heard her, not even herself.

Men hate funerals.

Ever since he was old enough to understand, he had been extremely reluctant to attend funerals.

Whether the world has its own consciousness or not, it was raining at every funeral he attended.

The clouds were thick, the sky was heavy, and the strong wind could not penetrate the clouds, nor could it dispel the gloom in his heart.

When his parents died, he wasn't as tall as their tombstones; when his grandmother died, he was barely a head taller than her tombstone.

After that, no matter how unwilling he was, he attended many funerals, such as the funerals of his students and some of the elders who joined Meteor's Demise around the same time as him. But most of them did not have remains. After all, the continuous influence of Honkai Energy meant that either there were no remains, or... the remains had turned into monsters.

However, he was no longer so opposed to funerals. Many people regard funerals as a final memorial service for a person, and the tears shed will accompany the soul of the deceased as it departs. But he couldn't cry. It always rained at that time, so he just pretended that he had already cried.

Tears should be shed at birth.

However, this was the first time he had ever organized a funeral for his wife.

"... Is it okay not to go to work? There are still many things to finish, aren't there?" The pink-haired girl sat in the colorless room and smiled at the man who had been silent all along.

"It's alright, they'll understand." The man shook his dazed head. After his body was completely replaced with Soul Steel, he no longer experienced any physical abnormalities, but he was still mentally disoriented. "There's still plenty of time."

"Hehe... Actually, at this moment, I feel really sorry for you." The pink-haired girl's smile remained unchanged despite her illness, filled with the warmth of the morning sun. "And now we're going to be separated after only a few years of marriage..."

"..."

She cannot survive by replacing her physical body with soul steel.

Even if the man could defy public opinion and use the already scarce Soul Steel to treat the girl, the girl still couldn't withstand the pressure and aftereffects of the surgery. Not everyone is qualified to live like the man... No, apart from him, no one else has done it yet.

"To be honest, I used to really want a child..."

"Stop talking."

The man clenched his fists, unable to control his facial expression. Why was this damned soul steel so difficult to control?

The child? This couple has never had any marital relations since they met, because he was transformed into his current form the day after their marriage.

What should he do now? Should he believe in a miracle?

Is the girl an exceptional case, possessing serum that resists Honkai Energy and thus becoming immune to Honkai Energy erosion at the last moment?

Or should we invest all our resources now in researching the Honkai Energy, which is still a mystery to us, and complete it before the girl's life ends?

He can't do anything.

He could only sit there and quietly wait for the girl to die.

Even his hugs were cold to the girl.

"Did I... do I do something wrong...?"

For the first time, the man began to doubt whether he was on the wrong path.

Since joining Meteor's Demise, his companions who once shared the same high aspirations to save humanity have died, as have the kind-hearted students who dreamed of the future. He, however, can only survive again and again until this last straw comes his way.

"Don't talk nonsense!"

The girl's drawn-out tone pulled him back to reality. He rarely saw the girl with her cheeks puffed out, glaring at him as if to say, "I'll get angry if you keep talking nonsense."

"Now that things have come to this, I don't want to lecture you about believing in yourself anymore, Lin. Are you questioning the past created by humanity? Isn't it precisely because you accepted the imperfections of humanity that you intend to strive as their miracle?" The girl's solemn expression, in the twilight, was sacred and pure. "Remember, even if I die, you must not lose your way."

"... Even so," the man looked up, shaking his head with a wry smile, "I still can't be sure what will happen to me in the future..."

"No, because you are my husband."

"..."

"Even though my husband was afraid that he couldn't shoulder the responsibility, he still went ahead of everyone else. He was confused, fearful, and even fell into depravity, but in the end he never forgot his original intention."

The girl clutched her chest, which was throbbing with pain, and forced a smile, "He is my miracle, he is the miracle of humanity."

Men hate funerals.

Now, more than ever, I hate it.

"Ding-a-ling—"

The communicator and alarm sounded simultaneously, and the man couldn't help but tremble at that moment. His normally unresponsive Soul Steel body was shaking uncontrollably, and his whole heart was pounding with fear.

Don't want...

"Lin".

Don't do it at a time like this.

"Take it."

Please, have mercy, at least in these final moments, let me...

"Young fiancé, don't run away from me."

At least let her...

The man numbly pressed the answer button.

"Doctor Lin, the Ninth Honkai War has erupted."

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...I see."

The busy tone of the call being disconnected was drawn out for a long time.

As the man listened to the growing clamor of voices outside, he felt as if everything was drifting away from him.

He longed to ignore everything and simply stay here with her until the end of human history.

But the girl was right.

She always told the truth, and this time was no exception.

There's a fool who, no matter how scared he is, will still walk ahead of everyone else.

"... I'm leaving."

"Yes, have a safe trip."

A solitary figure left the room.

He returned here a week later.

The girl also fell asleep in the light.

Chapter Sixty-Eight: The Miracle Man, Part Seven

"In a person's life, there will always be countless losses. It's just that some people don't realize the losses, while others... only see the losses."

This sentence is the girl's epitaph; the last words she left for the man were written on the bedside table of her hospital bed.

The man didn't know if she was trying to give him one last piece of advice or expressing some kind of sentiment, but he still decided to have those words engraved on her tombstone.

Similarly, there was nothing beneath that grave; the remains lay in Meteor's Demise headquarters, in a container designed to prevent the Honkai Energy.

Even now, standing before her body, which seems to be still alive and no different from when she was alive, he is still somewhat dazed.

The past ten years have been like a dream, and now the dream is nearing its end, and the people in the dream have vanished like bubbles.

There are four more major Honkai before the end of the Honkai.

Perhaps humanity can hold out until the day dawns, but... this night before dawn is far too long, so long that countless people have been lost, so long that no one realizes that they are no longer who they used to be.

"Doctor Lin."

"I know, I'm coming right now."

Before the person who called him could utter another word, the man turned and left.

He wasn't someone who reminisced about the past; even looking at that corpse would only waste more of humanity's time.

Now, he is going to protect the world and humanity that the girl loved in her lifetime, and to become a miracle for humanity.

"Bang!"

Lin extended the battle line, turned around and threw three grenades, which bounced out in the aftershocks of the explosions. He danced in the air, using various weapons in a dazzling display.

Emperor-class Honkai Beast are the most common type of Upper-class Honkai Beast that are born as Companion Honkai Beast of Herrscher during large-scale Honkai. They often possess abilities similar to those of their companion Herrscher, but sometimes there are many differences. Their bizarre abilities are no less than those of Herrscher.

However, this does not mean that Upper-class Honkai Beast cannot be born outside of large-scale Honkai. In fact, even among Judgment-class Honkai Beast, apart from Sessha during the Third Honkai War, there have been two Judgment-class Honkai Beast Honkai were born outside of large-scale Honkai, causing damage no less than a Herrscher's Descent.

However, the Emperor-class Honkai Beast they face in today's mission is even more special...

Lin Kongkong cleaved the attacking claws with a single slash, using his auxiliary Jetpack to adjust his body so that he could just squeeze through the gap created by the cleavage. Then, he drew his gun and fired continuously at the Honkai Beast's massive core.

Meanwhile, Sakura dodged the attacks with ghostly agility, then seized the opportunity to stab the Honkai Beast's weak joints with her ice blade and standard-issue knife, instantly paralyzing its ability to move.

Today, two highly similar Emperor-class Honkai Beast were born. This is the new mission Lin received after dealing with the mutated Lower-level Honkai Beast.

Generally speaking, even one Emperor-class Honkai Beast requires at least three squads to jointly subdue, let alone two. Such a highly dangerous mission would never be the turn of Lin and Sakura's Poisoned Cocoon Squad. However, these two Honkai Beasts are quite special.

Their Honkai Energy reaction barely reached the minimum standard for Upper-class Honkai Beast, even lower than some mutated low-rank Honkai Beast. It is speculated that the Honkai Energy content at the place where they were born was not high, and the birth of two individuals led to the dispersion of Honkai Energy. Therefore, in terms of strength, they are not as strong as ordinary Emperor-class Honkai Beast.

After careful consideration, the Branch 19 decided that Lin and Sakura would be sent to subdue the two Honkai Beasts. They were no ordinary team either. Lin had subdued more Honkai Beast than most people combined, and his experience was more than enough to handle these two Honkai Beasts.