Pick Up the Swim Ring

He clutched his chest, his heart pounding wildly, but perhaps it wasn't his heartbeat, but rather the rhythm emanating from something else, resonating with the distant sphere.

"Lin..." Hen stared at Lin, and was about to step forward, but was stopped by Lin's gaze.

Even through the helmet, Hen could feel the icy, piercing gaze passing over his face.

"Vill-V".

Lin turned around and called out the girl's name.

His body had lost all feeling. His shell, which had regained some of its senses, was now cold again. His lips were numb as he looked at Vill-V emerging from the ruins.

Vill-V pressed her lips together. She said nothing. She knew what Lin was going to do next, but she wouldn't stop him... she couldn't stop him.

A kind and understanding girl is able to understand the ideas of the person she likes, right?

But...

"Give it to Spasi." Lin took the Phase Transfer Device off his wrist and placed it in Vill-V's hand. This device, designed by Delta and remanufactured by her, was a "necessary condition" that Lin had promised Spasi.

"And these... please return them to Aponia."

The ring and the cross also passed from Lin's hands to Vill-V's. Every time he placed something in Vill-V's hands, her body would tremble.

"Finally, the helmet and pistol are given to Kevin."

Lin carried the Black Abyss White Flower and a weapon case on his back. His hair, which was already half white, fluttered silently in the swirling wind.

He looked calmly at Vill-V, who looked as if she was about to cry. He had never seen Vill-V like this before, even the dominant personality... Perhaps, they were actually the same, after all, they were both Vill-V.

"I'm sorry, I can't return the Black Abyss White Flower and the weapon case to you right now..."

"I don't need you to give it back to me."

Lin took a deep breath, closed his eyes, and soothed the noisy voices in his ears. He whispered gently, "Thank you."

Holding the things Lin had "entrusted" to her in her arms, Vill-V lowered her head, her mind reeling with chaotic thoughts.

Why is she left to just watch others leave?

"I have a lot more to say."

"... We'll talk about it when I get back."

"Good."

Hen watched this scene, not knowing what Lin's white hair represented, nor what Lin and Vill-V were conveying in their brief conversation.

But he found himself unconsciously clutching the photos of his wife and daughters to his chest.

Thirty minutes have passed since the Ninth Honkai War outbreak, and the radiation range of Honkai Energy has begun to spread from Atra to the surrounding cities.

This was a "normal" large-scale Honkai.

She was not Herrscher was special enough to communicate with people and possess superb intelligence and strategy. She was born in an "ordinary" way, just like the most common Herrscher. The appearance of the Honkai zombie and Honkai Beast was also "ordinary". There were no "special" situations like those of the sixth to Eighth Honkai War.

This should have been the best response the Moths had made to a large-scale Honkai, aside from the Eighth Honkai War. They possessed ample strength, advanced technology, comprehensive countermeasures, and unprecedented soldier confidence.

But this "ordinary" large-scale Honkai erupted at a "special" time for the Firemoth.

Currently, apart from the Squad Thirteen, which is already in the Branch 10, no other team can provide support. Only they can fight against the Herrscher and Honkai Beast.

And if the Honkai isn't resolved in its early stages... then Australia is a prime example.

"Bang!"

The mangled humanoid figure crashed into the rubble for what seemed like the umpteenth time, tiny stone spikes piercing her body. Her bloodied, gruesome hands pressed against the ground as she dragged her mutilated body, turning her head toward the equally dying monster.

A combination of machinery and flesh, it may not be the Ninth Herrscher's Companion Honkai Beast, but it is indeed a monster created by the Ninth Herrscher to protect herself during her ascension. It possesses everything that Upper-class Honkai Beast has.

Its strong and tough body should not be harmed by mere humans. Even the metal soul steel, which is mainly made by humans themselves, is difficult to damage with human weapons.

But now, it looks like a skinned dog, missing its two hind legs and lying motionless on the ground, its tail is missing a section, and one of its two heads has been completely removed from its neck.

Only an even more deformed cripple remained.

Delta did not pose any threat to its main body, but she used her mouth and hands to roughly rip off every part of it that could be removed.

"Heh... heh..." Delta smiled as she saw its miserable state.

She won.

She won as a Flame-Chaser and as a human.

She dragged her half-crippled body, picked up the sword from the ground, and walked forward. "Next, it's..."

"Bang!"

The sword was broken in two.

Delta felt her body take flight.

The torrential rain and the raging darkness seem to always be the same.

She let out a relaxed breath, gazing at the sky that had been changing ever since she could remember.

When she was a child, at the beach, when she looked up at the sky, she could always see azure murals, as if she could reach out and touch them.

Delta gently reached out her hand towards the unreachable sky, the arm extending from the sphere, and the merciless brown eyes.

Then, her remaining upper body fell into the pool.

Chapter 237 Picking Up the Swim Ring

The metallic sweetness in my mouth was like milk candy melting on my tongue, spreading into a world that gradually lost its color in my eyes, becoming a series of blurry, overlapping images.

The rain is so heavy, it hurts so much when it hits my skin.

She felt as if her body was immersed in ice water, and blood spread in the pool beneath her, forming a blooming blood flower that enveloped her half-body.

It was unclear whether the blood came from the nose, mouth, or the severed opening from the internal organs.

"Thump, thump, thump..."

A strange shadow, shaking the earth, trampled through the rain and walked through a gray world.

Is she going to become a corpse soon too?

The next dead person in this absurd world doesn't sound like... a big deal.

Delta rolled over onto her back, and rainwater trickled into the gaps in her mouth, tasting slightly salty and sweet.

Come to think of it, it's already been a year? I've been Flame-Chaser for so long without even realizing it.

From initially wanting only to uphold her sister's dying wish of being a "Flame-Chaser," to now... the changes are so great that even she finds it somewhat unbelievable when she thinks back on it.

It turns out that it only takes a short time for a person to go from an ordinary person to a soldier.

Huh? I'm so contradictory. One minute I'm talking about how long it's been, and the next I'm saying it's only been a short time.

Raindrops entered her eyes, slid across her unfocused pupils, and then trickled down her cheeks like pearls.

Speaking of which, she really should thank that quirky helmeted guy for his guidance. He seemed unreliable, but he was actually a very reliable person. He taught her to calmly analyze situations and find direction... In that sense, Sakura wasn't lying. Just looking at his back always helped her find her way.

That guy... when we ate together at night, I could always see the sadness in his heart, but he rarely talked about it... He's really not a straightforward man... If he could be more frank, she would probably respect him more...

He must be someone who has experienced and lost a lot.

Sometimes I want to say something comforting, but when I see his profile, I feel intimidated.

Haha, she... isn't frank enough either...

The corners of his mouth were turned up, but they were stiff.

The pupils were unfocused and had lost their color.

The rain submerged her, and she could no longer see anything.

Life has come to an end.

"Honkai Beast! How come there are Honkai Beast here?!"

A bloodcurdling scream echoed through the ruins. The researchers, trapped under the rubble, watched in horror as a monster, seemingly both mechanical and biological, strode toward them with hooves powerful enough to crush everything. Steaming heat billowed from the exhaust vents of its mechanical body, and the moment it detected a human, it emitted the screeching of its mechanical structure and an eerie roar.

"Howl!!!"

Its hind limbs have completely disappeared, and it can only move with its two front paws and two front hooves, approaching the screaming humans with slow, uncoordinated, yet terrifying steps.

At this moment, Lin Hehen, who had rushed over from a distance, saw this step. Lin took a full step and ran towards the victims and Honkai Beast, breaking through layers of rain and shuttling through the ruins.

But it was too late!

The Honkai Beast had already raised its forelimbs, enough to smash the victims and the rubble that was pressing them down into a deep crater, but Lin was still far from being able to reach them!

Lin flung out the chain and drew his gun with his other hand, but from this angle he couldn't hit the core of the Honkai Beast!

The chains, and a distance as vast as an insurmountable chasm.

The victims' eyes were filled with despair. Even Hen, who was also chasing forward, gritted his teeth and wanted to turn his head away, unable to bear to watch the next scene.

Just a little bit more...

Just then, the sphere hovering above the Ninth Herrscher opened a crack, revealing a hand and a brown eye, aimed directly at Lin below.

"Lin! Get out of the way!"

Lin Wangruo lunged forward, watching the Honkai Beast's giant arm gradually descend. The oppressive feeling from above almost made all the blood in his body rush out, but he still reached out to the victims without hesitation.

I'm too late...

But he had to catch up.

"Bass!"

A broken sword precisely sliced through the Honkai Beast's forelimbs, causing it to lose its balance. Its massive body collapsed to the ground like a landslide, causing its slamming fist to miss its target.

Lin seized the opportunity, his speed increased again, he grabbed the victim's hand, then punched the debris off his body, and threw it in the direction of the trace in the distance!

The whole process was so fast it was dazzling. Hen caught the victim in mid-air, but Lin was directly exposed to the Ninth Herrscher's attack, with the "Sword of Damocles" about to fall from above!

But then another giant sword shot out from afar, aiming at the arm and eyeball extending from the sphere. Just as it was about to cut the arm in two, the arm turned and pointed at the incoming sword.

"Snap!"

The giant sword abruptly stopped in mid-air, crashing into what appeared to be an invisible wall, before falling helplessly downwards.

At this moment, Lin looked in the direction from which the giant sword had been shot.

Delta, with only half her body remaining, leaned against the rubble and stood up, her blood-stained face smiling slightly at Lin.

That unremarkable arm, after blocking the sword, this time pointed at Delta.

Lin pulled at his soul and dragged his body toward Delta, his mouth agape as he shouted something, but no one could hear him.

The girl couldn't hear her either; she just smiled with relief and gently opened her mouth to Lin.

"Thank you for your guidance, Lin... This time, please allow me not to call you adjutant..."

She closed her eyes peacefully, rested her head on her shoulder, and fell asleep.

"Go, my hero... you promised me..."

"Bang!"

The girl disappeared in the blood, her outstretched fingers so numb that she couldn't even feel the warmth of her own blood.

Time that had stopped has moved forward.

The waves lapped over her ankles, and the warm sunlight shone on the beach, casting her shadow behind her.

The girl shielded her eyes from the sunlight, raised her head, and gazed into the distance, unable to distinguish whether the azure above was the sea or the turquoise below.

"Clatter."

A swimming ring bumped into her calf, spun her around a little, and then she fell to the ground on the beach.

A little girl with pink hair saw the swimming ring stop, so she stopped too, curiously watching the girl gazing into the distance.

"Sister! Don't run too far!"

The girl's delicate eyelids twitched. She bent down, picked up the swim ring at her feet, and looked at the blue-haired girl waving at her, and the couple standing behind her.

The girl smiled warmly and, wearing a swim ring, slowly walked towards them.

"They've gone way too far."