Chapter 23 Eden: You are unexpectedly a gentle person

"I'm sorry for bringing back bad memories for you... I understand, just like what I just went through."

It was a highly recognizable, angelic voice, but her words were tinged with deep fatigue.

"I watched helplessly as everything I was familiar with, everything I cherished... vanished in the blink of an eye. Sadness, despair, helplessness... these heavy emotions oppressed me, making it particularly difficult to breathe. Until just now, I was still thinking over and over again, whether this was reality or an overly cruel nightmare..."

Xi Wang listened to the other party's words silently and gradually approached the place where the sound came from... He could hear that the other party was using these words to ease her mood and to comfort her companions. Therefore, Xi Wang did not deliberately make the sound of approaching footsteps but just maintained silent steps according to his habit.

"...I can't bring back the past that's gone, but I can remember the present. This is what I can still do now."

"......"

She finished speaking.

Snap——

Xi Wang understood and deliberately made some footsteps approaching. Then he took out the candy box and added a candy to himself. Although the sound of closing the candy box was not loud, it sounded crisp at this moment.

"It looks like you're done talking... Miss Eden."

Xi Wang looked at the gorgeous figure hiding in a corner of the ruins. Her beautiful performance clothes were covered with scratches and burn marks, and her long burgundy hair was now covered with dust. She was praised as the "brightest star" of this generation, but now she was buried under the ruins, covered with dust.

"You are..."

"... Captain Wang."

When Eden saw him coming, she asked with some confusion, and the shout of the girl sitting on the other side of the broken wall gave her the answer.

"You are here, Hua. It seems that the inference of those people at the headquarters was correct."

Xi Wang nodded to Hua, who quickly stood up and approached, and said, then glanced at the equipment on Hua and reminded her casually.

"...Also, your team's communications are down."

"sorry."

Hua seemed to have just noticed this and quickly checked, only to find that her team's communication had been cut off at some point, so she had to apologize.

"Be careful next time... Have you found any other survivors?"

"…Sorry, no more. Miss Eden was just someone I happened to save."

"Really? That's pretty good."

Xiwang understood what was happening, and then extended his hand to Eden who had already stood up.

"Captain of the Fire Moth Special Response Team - XiWang, greetings to you, Miss Eden."

"Hello, Mr. Captain."

After the two of them exchanged a brief greeting, Xi Wang turned and spoke.

"Although finding you, Hua, and also finding survivors are two good things, I still have some very unfortunate news to tell you - we currently don't have any external support teams, so we can only wait for the follow-up support team to pick you up. Judging from the time, the team should arrive within 20 minutes."

"We can continue to rest here until the team arrives."

"...us?"

"...Yes, my combat mission failed. My weapon melted as I approached, so my mission became a search for survivors."

Xi Wang first reported the situation through communication, and after getting permission to rest and wait on the spot, he sat in the gap facing outwards of the ruins, paying attention to the surroundings while responding to Sakura's questions.

"That..."

"Unfortunately, we have only found one now."

Without giving Eden and Sakura time to ask, Xi Wang spoke immediately and turned to look at Eden. It was self-evident who the survivor who was found was.

"......"

This caused the two of them to fall silent for a while, and their moods became even lower.

"Then...Captain Wang, may I ask your teammates..."

"They all fled."

"...ah?"

"Nothing to be surprised about. Everyone is afraid of death, and soldiers are no exception... Moreover, with this level of Honkai, there will be basically no one left alive, and rescue is not that necessary, so it is reasonable for them to escape."

Seeing Eden's slightly shocked expression, Xi Wang responded calmly.

"Besides... there's nowhere to escape to now. The best we can do is find a place to hide and wait for this disaster to subside and for the flames to die down."

"...What's the meaning?"

"This fire has spread across the entire Australia and is rapidly spreading. Several small islands near Australia have also experienced abnormally high temperatures. We must first eliminate the Herrscher to stop this disaster and prevent the flames from spreading further... However, Australia is unlikely to be saved. A fire of this magnitude cannot be put out. We can only wait for the fire to die out naturally... We must first eliminate the Herrscher."

"How could it be…"

Hua was a little dazed for a moment, and Eden was just stunned where she was. It was obvious that they did not expect that the fire would spread to the entire Australian continent.

"…and Miss Eden."

After a brief pause, Xi Wang changed the subject and turned to look at the big star Eden.

"You may be recruited by the Fire Moth in the future. Whether it is your fame or wealth, or the fact that you can survive in this situation, the Fire Moth will choose to contact you... Maybe we will be companions in the future."

"As for what the Fire Moth is, you can think of it as an organization that responds to special disasters like this fire. I think you will know the truth about this fire in the future. A specialist from the Fire Moth will explain more details to you later."

"...Okay, I understand."

Xi Wang said everything he wanted to say at once without giving Eden any chance to ask questions. Eden opened her mouth, but in the end, she could only swallow back the questions she was going to ask and just nodded to show that she understood.

"Please have a good rest. We will send you away when the reinforcements arrive... Hua, what are you going to do?"

Xi Wang stood up and looked at Hua, who wanted to leave.

"If you want to go find Himeko, I advise you not to go unless you can handle this."

As if he had guessed what the other party was going to do, Xi Wang tugged at his collar as he spoke. It seemed that the high temperature caused his combat uniform to stick to his skin. With a painful tearing sound, the collar at Xi Wang's neck was lifted up along with part of his skin, revealing the burnt flesh underneath.

"Captain Wang, you?!"

"The protective suit you are wearing can't withstand the temperature around her right now. If you go there now, you can't even get close to her, let alone see her. You will be burned unconscious by the high temperature halfway through."

Xi Wang let go of his hand as if nothing had happened and continued speaking in a calm tone.

"Then you would fall to the ground and be engulfed in flames, adding another body to the collapse. That would be all."

"No matter what you want to confirm, or what you want to do with her, you can't do it now."

"Of course, if you insist on going, I don't mind, provided that you are mentally prepared and ready to deal with the consequences of doing so."

Xi Wang rolled his eyes, waiting for the answer from the young soldier in front of him.

"I... I still have things I can do... and this is what I should do."

"I want to go back to the captain and ask her in person... Is the person in that body her or the Herrscher? I want to know if I still have a chance to save her."

Hua spoke bit by bit, and finally seemed to have made up her mind and responded firmly.

"Oh, then you don't have to go."

"......?"

"She is asleep. She is floating in the air above the city without moving. She does not react to the outside world, but the temperature around her is still rising. This condition of mine was caused by getting close to her. My weapon also completely melted when I was 10 meters away from her. You can't touch her without special methods, and you can't talk to her."

"Why is this so..."

Is it impossible to do what I wanted to do in the end... Is it impossible to even just talk to her...

Hua was a little dazed. The strength she had gathered with great difficulty dissipated at this moment. She fell down powerlessly and knelt on the ground like a puppet.

"......"

'How come this child is more fragile than I thought... But it's better this way, at least she's still alive.'

Xi Wang tilted his head and didn't say much. He just walked forward calmly, grabbed Hua's collar, lifted her back like a kitten, and put her next to the broken wall so that she could have a place to lean on. Then he returned to the gap facing the outside of the ruins, paying attention to the surrounding environment and the communication to confirm the arrival time of the support troops.

"Mr. Wang..."

"No need to be so formal, Miss Eden. Just call me by my name. I'm half your fan, after all."

"Basic etiquette is still required... But since you request so, you don't have to be so formal when addressing me. After all, I am just a singer."

Eden shook her head and spoke slowly.

"As for the details of this disaster, since you said someone will explain it later, I won't ask you. However, the injuries on your body..."

"It's okay, everything will be back to normal after a while."

Eden was stunned by Xi Wang's calm tone. She could hear the calmness and sincerity in his words... but that was why Eden felt confused. This degree of burns could not be "recovered after a while," right?

"If you want to talk and lighten the mood, I'd be happy to do it...at least until help arrives."

"...appreciate."

"It doesn't matter. Now is a rare time for rest. Of course, if you want to thank me, please sign an autograph for me later."

"Ha... of course you can."

Eden needed something to divert her attention and get rid of her tension and panic, but Xi Wang's calm tone made people feel relaxed at this moment... There was a feeling that everything in front of him was "nothing more than that."

"So... were you trying to stop this soldier? Stop her from... going to find her captain?"

"I'm just trying to persuade her."

Xi Wang said indifferently

"If she doesn't listen, or insists on going, I won't stop her."

"After all, she is not my person, so there is no need for me to keep her by force... Besides, the mission I received was to search for survivors and find her by the way, and that was all I had to do."

"is that so?"

"Of course, and I don't agree with her idea."

Xi Wang shifted his gaze slightly and glanced at Hua, who was unusually quiet.

"She wants to get close to a Herrscher, and she has to do it alone, without any help. Not to mention whether she can get close, this reckless action is likely to be questioned by the Fire Moth. If her actions cause the Herrscher to wake up from her slumber and cause greater damage, she will have to take responsibility for it."

"If she died directly at the hands of the Herrscher, it would be fine. At most, she would be accused of a crime and stigmatized after her death. But if she survived by chance... then she might be forced to bear more bizarre crimes, which would be torture for her."

"Comparatively, I prefer to give the Herrscher a clean and neat release. This will benefit both her and us."

Snap——

Xi Wang gave himself a piece of candy and added another sentence as if to emphasize something.

"But like I said, I'm just trying to persuade her. If she insists on going, I don't care. After all, my mission is just to find her. As for what happens next, I don't care."

"You are unexpectedly a gentle person."

"...You are the fifth person who finds me [gentle]. I don't know how you came to this conclusion."

Xi Wang rolled his eyes, feeling a little strange about Eden's evaluation.

"The fifth one? It seems you have four very good friends..."

Eden sighed, then leaned against the ruins beside her and explained softly.

"It's not an imaginary evaluation. I can sense from your words that you care about this soldier and feel sorry for your former colleague... Although you are doing your best to distance yourself from them and try to keep your concern for them as 'dissuading them like a stranger,' this actually shows that you value the friendship between you and them."

"As a singer, I have become accustomed to feeling the emotions from other people's words, and I am somewhat confident in this aspect."

Eden pressed her chest lightly and smiled with a hint of pride, but soon she lowered her eyes. Her golden eyes looked gray, like the jewel on her chest, buried in the dust.

"I don't know why you are so restrained in your emotions, but... it would be better if you could be more frank in your words."

"Ah, sorry, I may have said too much... If you feel offended in any way, please tell me directly. This is how I am. I always say a lot without realizing it..."

"It doesn't matter. I'm used to it."

Xi Wang responded to Eden while looking around at the slowly dying flames and frowned.

"After all, I have a friend who is just like you. She talks a lot unconsciously, and her evaluation of me is similar to yours."

"Really? It's my pleasure... May I ask your friend's name? Maybe... we can get along well."

"Her name is Elysia. I'll introduce her to you later. Or rather, as long as you come into contact with the Fire Moth, you'll inevitably get to know her... Moreover, if it's a big star like you, she'll definitely be happy to come over and make friends with you."

"…Elysia?"

Eden was stunned, as if she didn't expect to hear this name here.

"Well, she is a very lovely and trustworthy girl... Wait a moment."

Xiwang raised his hand to signal Eden not to speak for the time being, and glanced around with a frown.

　　"...Hua, stop being dazed and get up and be alert."

　　"......?"

　　Only then did Eden notice that the sounds of the burning flames, the occasional sounds of the monsters moving, had all disappeared.

　　Silence enveloped the surroundings, as dead as death.

　　"...yes."

　　Hua shook her head, suppressed all her complicated thoughts and low mood, stood up again, quickly adjusted her breathing, protected Eden behind her, and looked around vigilantly.

　　She had to pull herself together and fulfill her duty as a warrior, a soldier... to get the only survivor she had saved back to safety.

　　Looking up, in the still diffuse smoke and dust, one could vaguely see white frost spreading from afar, forming tiny ice flowers on the charred ground.

　　"......"

　　Xi Wang frowned, not knowing whether this was another new trick played by the [Herrscher], or whether another special [Honkai Beast] had appeared. At the same time, he was still wondering why the support promised by the Fire Moth had not arrived yet.

　　But the news that came later stunned him.

　　[Seventh Herrscher Subjugation Battle]——Ended, completed by Kevin alone.