The Full Terms of the Deal

Frozen blood turned into horrific ice crystals in the sky.

The snow-white sun emitted a pale, melancholy light.

The bird with broken wings cried out in heart-wrenching agony.

The falling man helplessly reached out his hand to the high and mighty Ice Queen.

Dirty purple lines grew rampant on the skin beneath the torn armor.

The whispers of the soul still echoed in my ears.

Everything faded away in winter.

Both Anna and Lin melted away in that winter snow-covered day.

"I'm so tired~"

Anna tried to put her hand on Lin's shoulder, but he slapped it away.

They basically searched all the places the handyman had been to in the past two days, but Lin still couldn't find any Honkai Energy reactions. During this time, they maintained contact with the Third Branch and asked them to keep monitoring, but they still couldn't find any clues.

The trail went cold again.

In the biting cold wind, Anna's feet were numb from the cold, but Lin remained completely unaffected.

"M-Uncle..." Anna's teeth chattered from the cold, "Do your clothes have any warmth-keeping features?"

Lin was actually wearing armor, not clothes. After Sakura's invasion of the Moth of Fire headquarters, the Fourth Generation Lightweight Armor technology she wore was revealed. Lin would wear lightweight armor when not in formal combat.

Most soldiers were upgraded to fourth-generation armor, which represented a technological upgrade for them. However, Lin needed more auxiliary devices and could not achieve compression and lightweighting, so the original Powered Armor was still used in actual combat.

Like his helmet, it cannot be simplified.

"No, if you're cold, go back."

"No, no," Anna said stubbornly. "I'm not comfortable with that."

"..."

"Let me tell you about my past. Ugh... it's so cold."

"Need not."

"It's all because of you! You ruined our home! Get out!"

"Because of me? Don't you bear any responsibility?!"

"How could you do this to Anna! How could you do this to me!"

"You're using Anna as a shield..."

The chestnut-haired little girl sat on the sofa, swinging her legs, listening to the argument between someone who claimed to be her father and someone who claimed to be her mother.

What actually happened is no longer important; they just need a reason to argue, to vent, to hurl insults...

It started a long time ago; she never paid attention to their names after she was old enough to remember "Dad" and "Mom".

They claimed to be her parents and that they loved her, but she had never seen them smile at her; endless noise consumed her entire life.

The parents depicted in those books are not like that at all. They are harmonious and kind, never argue loudly, and never throw things at each other's faces.

But when she asked the two of them this question, their expressions were surprisingly consistent. Like old friends, they pointed at her in unison and said, "This is your 'fate'. Do you still want to complain now?!"

It was all destined.

These were Anna's two biological parents, and this was the first thing they taught her.

When cheap "love" is used as a weapon to attack each other, Anna accepts her "fate".

She doesn't love those two people, nor does she love the world, and she doesn't love herself either.

Then, after countless arguments and insults, the couple who had lived together for many years dragged her out of the house to file for divorce.

The disapproving looks from passersby, the endless downpour, the roar of cars...

It was as if the world had lost its original colors and turned into a single, cold white.

"Dad, Mom... is this also 'destiny'?"

Anna, like a broken rag doll, was still being pulled along by the two men, who wanted to use her to prove that they were good fathers and mothers. At this sentence, their faces were as contorted as rags, and they pushed her to the ground on the street.

"You don't understand us at all! Your very existence was a mistake! If it weren't for you—"

"Bang!"

The bright red liquid fell onto Anna's unmoving eyelid.

The writhing limbs were run over by the wheels, and the words that followed were lost in the screech of brakes before they could be uttered.

The rainwater carried the stench of tires rubbing against the ground; the cold rain and the steaming blood mingled together, indistinguishable, transforming into the color of ice and snow in Anna's eyes.

She's only ever seen this color since a long time ago.

Two people who claimed to be her parents lay mangled and bloodied on the road, just a step away from her, when they were hit by a car and thrown into the air.

This was destined.

For some reason, she still kept thinking about that sentence.

"Oh my god! That child's parents pushed her away!"

"Two wonderful parents!"

This is what Anna heard.

So, they pushed her away not because they disliked her, but because they wanted to save her? Just like the parents in storybooks, willing to give their lives for their children...

Is that really the case?

She smiled involuntarily as she recalled their ugly faces.

"Are you called Anna?"

Sitting on the swing, gazing at the golden harvest, Anna was suddenly called from behind. A woman who looked not much older than herself, dressed in Nun's habit, came to her side.

Being sent to an orphanage was expected; Anna couldn't imagine who would adopt her.

"I am," Anna replied listlessly.

The Nun smiled kindly and said, "My name is Binai, and I just arrived here Nun."

That's a lie.

Anna could tell at a glance that Binai was lying.

She was a rather withdrawn child in the orphanage. Binai had only taken office today, it would have been impossible for him to approach her directly and even mention her name, indicating that he knew about her situation beforehand and wanted to lower her guard by using the fact that they were both "outsiders".

Besides, Binai's smile suggests that this isn't the first time she's tried to comfort a child.

Why are you here all alone?

"Because I think it's fun."

"Is that so? Can we play together?"

"Cannot."

Anna's concise reply caused a subtle shift in Binai's expression.

Binai forced a smile, "Really not?"

"If you want to get along with me, you should talk about my family background instead of avoiding the topic." Anna's eyes shifted to Binai's face. "That way, I might be more interested in talking to you."

Binai paused for a moment, then continued Anna's words, "So you originally..."

"I hate my family, my parents, my birth... just as much as I hate you. I'm destined to hate everything in this world."

Anna forcefully interrupted her, stood up, gave her a cold stare, and turned to leave.

"We've finished talking, don't bother me anymore."

Chapter Sixty-Five: The Complete Transaction

Anna was getting annoyed.

Since leaving that hellish family, this was the first time she felt such genuine disgust for someone, especially when that person relentlessly buzzed around her like a fly; she really wanted to swat that fly to death.

"Little Anna, you didn't come to eat on time again today..."

"I've already eaten."

"Huh? Where did you eat?"

"Your room."

Anna watched with smug satisfaction as the Nun screamed and ran back to her room to find all the snacks she had hidden were gone.

If you chatter incessantly around her, you'll invite her revenge, which is why other children don't want to get close to her.

"I hate you. I've said that many times."

Anna glared at the Nun and said.

The Nun asked, looking wronged, "Why do you have to hate me?"

"Because I've hated you from the first moment I saw you, and that can't be changed. That's your 'fate'."

The only thing those two annoying guys taught me was this sentence.

Winter Solstice has arrived.

Anna sat on the edge of the orphanage's balcony, everything in her eyes seemed so small, as if she could reach out and dismantle whatever she saw at will.

I always felt that she would become a misanthropic destroyer or a murderer in the future. Just looking at this cold world gave me an urge to destroy it.

Even if it turns out that way, it's fate. There's nothing to complain about, and no need to think about it any further.

"Little Anna! It's too dangerous!"

Anna closed her eyes in annoyance, dodged the hand that tried to grab her by turning to the side, and retreated back to the edge of the balcony.

"Why are you always following me?" Anna's patience had run out, and she asked sharply, "Don't you find yourself annoying?"

"I know." Binai chuckled and looked up. "But it's 'destiny'."

Anna was stunned.

"Little Anna hates me, but I don't hate Little Anna. It's destiny, isn't it?"

Anna clearly hadn't expected that Binai had already understood her way of speaking and was using it to respond to her own words.

"You, you're talking nonsense!"

"If I'm talking nonsense, then wouldn't little Anna have been talking nonsense before too?"

"This is different!"

"How come it's different?"

"Different is different!"

Binai chuckled, revealing a smile, "Pfft... Hahaha..."

"What are you laughing at?" Anna felt that Binai was mocking her and questioned her even more angrily.

"I just discovered... haha..." Binai laughed so hard she almost choked, "That little Anna is actually just like any other child, she can throw little tantrums too, she's so cute."

"..."

"Little Anna?"

"Get out of here!"

For the first time, Anna felt that constantly talking about destiny might not be a good thing.

"Lab Rat, what brings you here today?" Mobius, sprawled on the conference table, possessed a captivating beauty despite her childlike body. She gazed at the Herrscher with seductive eyes and said, "Or have you finally come to your senses? Are you here to accept my gift?"