Is it over?
It is over.
The Sixth Honkai Eruption, which lasted two days and one night, spanned a quarter of the globe from start to finish, with the battlefield stretching across nearly half of the Far East, and casualties exceeding five million, resulting in the Fire Moth losing almost 80% of its fighting strength, has ended.
It began with infighting among humans and ended with a Honkai attack. Although the number of casualties might be slightly lower than the First and Third Honkai Eruptions, the destruction inflicted upon human society and the Fire Moth was unprecedented.
Less than a hundred residents survived in the city where the Sixth Honkai Eruption occurred and where they hid in shelters. Nagazora City, which suffered a secondary Honkai Eruption, was hit no less severely than during the Third Honkai Eruption, not to mention the depletion of the earth's energy and the aging of buildings caused by the Sixth Herrscher's bizarre abilities.
Subsequent surveys showed that the lifespan of plants rooted in this city was drastically reduced. Even the most tenacious species could not survive for ten days. It was as if the white flowers that withered after the Sixth Herrscher's death had absorbed the vitality of the area, turning it into a withered city.
Furthermore, it remained perpetually gloomy. Simply walking on the shadeless main roads made it impossible to feel the warmth of the sun.
Therefore, even after the city was rebuilt following the Sixth Honkai Eruption, the population plummeted to about one-tenth of its original size, making it the least populated large city in the Far East.
The headquarters combat forces of the Fire Moth suffered a terrifying 86.5% loss, including various advanced weapons and Autonomous Titans. After inventory, the Titan corps had only thirteen functionally normal Titans remaining, and the headquarters combat squads were sharply reduced to about five teams.
The command function of the headquarters was paralyzed. The operation of the Fire Moth was greatly affected for the next half a year, even leading to loopholes in the governance of some areas. The most obvious point was the sharp increase in Honkai Sickness patients with no means of containment.
However, this cleansing incident and the reduction in the number of soldiers also led to the remaining high-ranking officials changing their original elite strategy, accelerating the expansion of armed personnel, which influenced certain historical processes afterward…
Of course, that is a story for another time.
…
"Lin, I burned a letter of yours."
On the way back to the Fifth Branch, Elysia suddenly said something out of the blue to Lin, who was resting on her shoulder.
She seemed slightly flustered, like someone who had just found an old label while organizing a notebook, recalling an important clue from a past annotation. However, she had often played similar roles, so she still looked as natural as before.
"…What letter?" Lin's tone at this time was much like it was before he left, a composed stability like an old monk in meditation.
Elysia's voice contained a complexity she rarely let others hear. She sighed and slightly pursed her lips, looking down: "A letter… from someone I don't know what they were to you."
"Is that so…"
Elysia didn't know if Lin meant that he knew who it was, or if he didn't care who it was, so she cautiously asked: "Do you want to know what was written inside? I still remember the content."
"No need."
Lin merely shook his head. Elysia felt the slight shake on her shoulder and nodded, saying no more.
Words interpreted by others might fail to convey the original meaning.
She might choose to beautify and elaborate on the negative parts of the letter for Lin's sake, but were those the words the person wanted to say? Were those what Lin wanted to hear?
Since she hadn't wanted Lin to know from the start, then so be it.
"Elysia, have you ever thought about the future after the Honkai ends?"
"…"
"I asked Hua that question. I wanted her to live for that future, but I myself have never thought about it." Lin uncharacteristically opened up the conversation. His helmet was pitch black inside, making it impossible to see anything. "A soldier, an ordinary person, has no time or expectation to imagine the future."
"But now, have you changed your mind?"
"Now I realize that it's precisely ordinary people who imagine a beautiful future. They look forward to a better tomorrow every day. They don't accept that life is short as a matter of course. They want to tell a richer, longer story of their life when they recount it to others in the future."
"That's a wonderful thought." Elysia did not mention the future she imagined, only asking with a serene smile, "Then, what do you want to do after the Honkai ends?"
What to do?
It would be easy to splash colorful paint onto a blank life, but Lin was not the kind of person who longed to experience everything in the world.
Lin suddenly thought of the soldiers who had defected in this incident, and Seele who became the Sixth Herrscher. Their names would not be recorded in the Fire Moth dedicated cemetery. Regardless of their contributions or identity, once they betrayed, they were no longer members of the Fire Moth .
But outside the Fire Moth , no one would erect a tombstone for them. Their past, their names, their biases, their ideals, had left no trace in this world.
It was as if they had never existed.
"I want to build a cemetery," Lin said softly.
"A cemetery?"
"Plop."
The person who had been resting on her shoulder lost consciousness and slid off.
"Lin? Lin! What's wrong with you!"
…
"This is really…" Dr. Spaciel stared at the data in front of him, hesitating to speak. He wanted to use some positive words to express his feelings, but the words stuck in his throat.
Because he couldn't determine if this was a "coincidence" or "destiny."
It had been said that the longer a Honkai Sickness patient fought and struggled against the disease, the more serum could be extracted after death. Therefore, Honkai Sickness patients who had been infected for more than two years were excellent serum providers.
The Council Chairman, however, had not been sick for long. It had only been a few months from infection to death. The amount of serum that could be extracted from him was merely a drop in the ocean compared to the tens of thousands of doses of Honkai Sickness antidote already available.
Even if Spaciel had shot the Chairman then, it would only have shortened his death by a few hours. The serum produced in that time would have been a negligible trace.
But…
Spaciel held the bottle of Honkai Sickness therapeutic serum that he had longed to complete through countless days and nights, and fell silent.
It was that tiny bit of serum condensed in the Chairman's body during those last few hours that became the final, qualitative step for this antidote.
If Spaciel had chosen revenge then, this serum would never have been completed.
"Dr. Spaciel, Lin, he…" Just then, Himiko rushed in, anxiously pushing the door open, but Spaciel nodded to interrupt her.
"I know. Bring him over."
After Himiko left, Spaciel sat beside the dead man's corpse, picking up his liquor flask and taking a sip of the dry, bitter wine.
"Karen… Did you see it… I won… The Fifth Branch won…"
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TL NOTE : this is the end of volume 4 thank you for reading