Honkai, I Alone Saved Everything

Clearly, compared to Bronya, who was lightly equipped and resembled a girl next door, Raven's appearance was more like that of a warrior.

Even Xiaokong could tell this, and Raven also seemed to bear some battle scars from just dealing with Honkai Beasts, making her presence slightly intimidating.

For a child, this aura was a little frightening.

"Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

Sensing Xiaokong's fear, Raven spoke to her with a gentle smile.

After a pause, she continued:

"You're lucky to have met me. Come, I'll take you to a truly safe place."

A moment later, inside a tall building in the East District.

This was the place Raven called the [Nest].

Because Raven had used World Serpent's black technology to drive away most of the nearby Honkai Beasts, creating a safe zone, it was generally very safe and quiet here, without the commotion and roars of monsters. It was like a paradise, completely different from the other chaotic areas of Changkong City.

Upon arriving here, Ming Yu and Xiaokong saw many children around Xiaokong's age.

Most of them were resting in their rooms due to exhaustion, with only a white-haired boy guarding the entrance, seemingly waiting for Raven's return.

He looked no older than six or seven. Upon seeing Raven return, he immediately ran up happily:

"Teacher, you're back."

"Mm, Lyle."

Raven smiled and patted his head, then gestured to Ming Yu and Xiaokong behind her:

"I met new survivors in the city and brought them back."

Lyle...

Hmm, isn't this the sniper from Honkai's second squad in Post-Honkai Odyssey?

Ming Yu thought to himself as he carefully examined the boy.

Hmm, although he was still small in build, he did look similar to how he remembered him.

—He was also one of the children picked up by Raven in Changkong City.

After performing a basic physical examination on Xiaokong, Raven had her stay in the room to rest with the other children, and then she came outside.

Ming Yu was standing at the edge of a high platform, gazing in the direction of Chiba Academy, lost in thought.

"Miss Raven, thank you."

Ming Yu thanked her politely again.

"It's just a small gesture... You seem to have something else you want to tell me."

The gray-haired woman waved her hand casually.

"Yes, what I want to say is..."

Ming Yu pondered for a moment and informed Raven about Xiaokong's situation.

"You want to leave that child here?"

The gray-haired woman heard Ming Yu's request, glanced back at the room, and nodded, saying:

"Of course, it's very safe around here. If you need to, you can also stay here to shelter until the Honkai ends. And..."

After a pause, Raven continued:

"That child can only stay here now. She can't go anywhere else."

Due to the disaster of the Honkai, they were forced to awaken their Stigmata, but they had not fully awakened. It only granted these children the ability to survive in an environment filled with Honkai energy.

Consequently, they had developed a dependence on Honkai energy. If they left an environment like Changkong City, they would become unable to survive.

The only way to save them was to slowly promote the full awakening of their Stigmata by taking medication—in this regard, the person named [Jackal] did indeed have some methods.

"Besides her, what about you? What are your plans?"

"I have to go back to the other side of Changkong City. I have a friend there."

Ming Yu responded with the same excuse he had used to deal with Bronya.

"There aren't many living people left in Changkong City now. Your friend is..."

Raven's mind was sharp and she quickly thought of something.

However, she didn't press further.

—Because it had nothing to do with her.

Her mission in Changkong City, assigned by World Serpent, was complete. She didn't care about anything else. Rather than getting involved in matters that didn't concern her, she focused on continuing to search for stranded children in the city.

It was better not to pry into others' secrets. As a mercenary, the less you know, the better.

Raven said:

"You have a lot of courage. Normal people, when facing a disaster like this, which is like the end of the world, wouldn't think of returning to the scene of the disaster. They would only think of escaping."

Even within the World Serpent, it wasn't easy to get new recruits accustomed to the atmosphere of battlefield combat and facing danger directly.

She carefully examined Ming Yu for a moment longer before suddenly saying:

"You seem quite talented. If you're interested, I have a good place I can introduce you to."

Did she want to pull me into the World Serpent...

Ming Yu thought as he replied:

"The 'talent' you're referring to is...?"

"Most people are terrified when faced with disaster. Even if they can still move, their minds can't remain calm enough to precisely find an escape route away from Honkai Beasts. The fact that you can do that already means you have sufficient psychological fortitude to face danger. Yes, I'm talking about the talent to become a 'warrior'."

Raven said with a smile.

Even though he still looks like a helpless ordinary person now, if he possesses such talent, his future growth will surely be quite rapid.

Actually, it's just that I've experienced it too many times, so I've gotten used to it...

Ming Yu responded silently in his heart.

After his first few deaths, he had felt unwell and nauseous, but now, with a double-digit death count, he had indeed become accustomed to it.

Or rather, numb.

He pondered for a moment, not directly refusing Raven's offer, but instead replying:

"...After I find my friend, if I'm still alive, I'll consider it."

Although Raven had extended an olive branch, the World Serpent organization was not currently within his priority considerations.

After all, before Kevin was retrieved from the sea, the World Serpent was mostly in a dormant state, doing little besides infiltrating Schicksal and Anti-Entropy.

And after Kevin's return, the organization's main task was preparing for the "Stigmata Project." In the original timeline, aside from the Herrscher of Corruption brought into "Elysium Everlasting" by Mei, they had only dispatched cadres to handle incidents involving the Herrscher of Stars and the Herrscher of Ice.

It could be said that until the final "Stigmata Project" was launched, the World Serpent was mostly outside the crisis—perhaps, in the eyes of the World Serpent, only the crisis of the Herrscher of Finality could be considered a true calamity.

Among the three organizations, Schicksal, Anti-Entropy, and World Serpent, the one he currently wanted to join was Schicksal's St. Freya Academy.

The existence of "The Three Families" was one reason, and another was that as the protagonists, they encountered the most crises.

As for Anti-Entropy... with the current situation where Leader Old Yang is personally undercover at St. Freya Academy and Executive Cocolia is taking advantage of the opportunity to seize power, it's certainly not a good choice.

"Then I wish you a safe return. If you have such plans, you can come back here and leave your contact information. While I won't always be here taking care of these children... I do come back periodically."

Raven said with a low chuckle.

She genuinely wanted to recruit Ming Yu into the World Serpent.

Talented individuals with excellent Honkai energy resistance were rare, and males were even rarer. Moreover, the vast majority of them had already been intercepted by Schicksal or Anti-Entropy.

The World Serpent, which had been hidden underground, had a natural disadvantage in recruiting talent, with a pitifully small number of cadres. They could only recruit talent through such "scavenging" methods.

If he could join the World Serpent and become a cadre, she would also receive a generous bonus.

Well, for Raven, the latter was actually the main point.

—From the past, she had been accumulating wealth, planning to retire one day and start a new life.

More than ten years had passed since she was picked up and trained by Gray Serpent, and her savings were almost complete. Yes, she had already set her sights on a small island near the Mediterranean, planning to build a villa there.

That location was carefully chosen, near Schicksal's floating island headquarters—Raven believed that the area near Schicksal's headquarters would undoubtedly be the safest place in the world, furthest from the Honkai.

As long as she lived nearby, it would be equivalent to the Valkyries at Schicksal headquarters being her bodyguards for her retirement.

She could stay away from the Honkai, from all worldly troubles, and enjoy a free and easy new life.

Originally, she had only planned to live there alone, but now that she had rescued so many children here... once their conditions improved, she would let them move there as well.

"Since you still need to return to Changkong City... would you like a ride?"

Raven suggested.

She wouldn't stay in the "Nest" forever; she still had to return to the disaster sites in Changkong City to search for other surviving children.

Bringing Ming Yu along was a convenient matter.

"Yes, yes, I'll trouble you then."

He certainly couldn't ask for more, as with his current strength as an ordinary person, it would take quite some time just to get to Chiba Academy.

"Then now... oh, that child seems to have something else to say to you."

Raven was about to get up and move when she saw Xiaokong gently push open the door inside the house behind her and peek her head out towards them.

"I'll go prepare the equipment. We'll depart in five minutes."

Raven said, waving to Ming Yu as she walked towards another house on the edge.

"Xiaokong, what's wrong?"

Ming Yu looked at the purple-haired girl who had come beside him.

She clasped her hands in front of her chest and asked timidly:

"Brother Ming Yu... are you leaving?"

"Yes, I still have some things to take care of. You should stay here and live with the other children."

He bent down and patted Xiaokong's head.

"So, will I... be able to see you again in the future?"

The young girl asked timidly.

"Of course."

For a long time, this young girl would have to live in Changkong City.

If he successfully infiltrated St. Freya Academy, returning here wouldn't be difficult at all.

Xiaokong lowered her head in thought for a few seconds, then looked up again. Mustering her courage, she leaned forward and gave Ming Yu a hug.

"Thank you..."

If Ming Yu hadn't rescued her from the collapsed building, she might have already been devoured by those terrifying monsters.

At the same time, Ming Yu felt a warm current flow into his body.

He could clearly feel his Honkai energy resistance had improved.

Is this the so-called "feedback"? From Xiaokong?

Reincarnation and salvation... and receiving feedback because of it?

Ming Yu thought to himself.

Perhaps this was what they called "good deeds are rewarded."

Near Chiba Academy.

Ming Yu had come here once again.

Thanks to Raven, it only took him less than twenty minutes to get here from the East District.